"The first emperor was not in the middle of his business, but the middle road collapsed. Today is three points. Yizhou is exhausted. This is the autumn of sincerity and danger." Zhuge Liang Before the Northern Expedition, this "( Before) Apprenticeship List", which shows Zhuge Liang's wish to "rejuvenate the Han Dynasty" for Liu Bei and repay Liu Chan's trust.
The determination to join the Northern Expedition, I can still feel the sincerity of my words and the firmness of my attitude when I read it today. After Liu Bei's death, the power was handed over to Liu Shan, and Cao Wei has been eyeing them for a long time, Soochow is also always ready to annex their land, the situation of Shu Han is very critical.
After preparing for several years, Zhuge Liang decided to take the initiative to attack Cao Wei, who was a great threat. From 228 to 234, a total of five expeditions (called "six out Mangshan " in the art), although quite successful, but failed to achieve the goal of the northern expedition.
Zhuge Liang finally fell to Wuzhangyuan, declaring the failure of the Northern Expedition. So, what important events happened in Zhuge Liang's five northern expeditions? Why did he fight and lose so many times when he used his soldiers like a god? The reason behind this is really surprising.
The late emperor took care of his loneliness, and he was not broken or standing
Liu Bei's death was not the last straw that broke Shu Han, but it was definitely an important reason. Why did Shu Han not begin to decline after Liu Bei's death? We can refer to Chen Shou 's " Three Kingdoms ", it is not difficult to find that the Shuhan regime began to decline when it attacked Jingzhou from Soochow.
Guan Yu After his death,Jingzhou was completely occupied, and Liu Bei completely disregarded the opposition of Zhuge Liang and others, and led a group of elite generals to crusade against Eastern Wu. As a result, under the fire plan of Lu Xun , the losses were heavy. Many civil servants and generals died in Yiling, and the Shu Han realized the despair of "losing his wife and losing his troops".
The most shocking thing is that Liu Bei died on the way back, and in a hurry, Zhuge Liang was summoned to Baidicheng to entrust him with , "You are ten times more talented, Cao Pi, you will surely be able to secure the country, and the event will be finalized. If the heir can help, help him; if he is not talented, you can take it yourself."
Zhuge Liang cried and expressed his willingness to assist Liu Chan. Liu Bei was pleased and asked Liu Chan to recognize Zhuge Liang as his father and treat Zhuge Liang like his father. In April 223, Liu Bei died of illness, and after the national mourning, Zhuge Liang began to govern the country.
He first sent people to form an alliance with Soochow Wu, stabilize the situation in the East, and then appease the people and consolidate people's hearts. The strength of Shu Han has been restored to a certain extent. Although from the outside, Shu Han was prosperous under Zhuge Liang's governance, but Zhuge Liang knew in his heart that when Liu Bei died, Shu Han would definitely decline in a faster rate. There were two reasons:
First, the internal contradictions of Shu Han intensified. Having said that, briefly mention several major local groups in Shuhan. The first is the Jingzhou group composed of old Liu Bei generals such as Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu. They are the oldest and most trusted by Liu Bei, and they almost monopolize the important positions of Shu Han.
Next is the Dongzhou Group formed by Yizhou Liu Zhang and the former generals of Hanzhong Zhang Lu, and then the suppressed Shudi Group. When Liu Bei was alive, the hearts of all groups were towards Liu Bei, and his leadership and appeal maintained the balance of power among all parties.
after his death,The contradiction between the three major groups has intensified, and Zhuge Liang must find a way to transfer the contradiction. Such "yang conspiracy" is not uncommon in the history of our country, and it is easy to solve the contradiction and problem.
The second is external hostile forces. Liu Bei died and Liu Shan ascended the throne. He has not yet established his own prestige. This is the most chaotic moment in Shuhan. Cao Wei will definitely take the opportunity to harass or even attack, not to mention that Soochow, who has just defeated the army of Shuhan, is also waiting for the opportunity.
How will Zhuge Liang deal with the fact that Shu Han is declining? We don't know what kind of thinking Zhuge Liang went through, but from " Apprenticeship Table ", we can know that "Northern Expedition to Cao Wei" is Zhuge Liang's response.
He will use the Northern Expedition to divert domestic conflicts, kill two birds with one stone, and use offensive methods to make Shu Han take the initiative. As for "reviving the Han Dynasty and returning it to the old capital", Zhuge Liang was not very sure about it, let alone cared about it very much.
Five northern expeditions, two out of Mangshan
However, Shuhan has just been defeated, how can he have the energy to expedition Cao Wei? As the saying goes, "As long as the mind doesn't slip, there are always more ways than difficulties." As long as the Shu and Han people unified their minds and strengthened their determination to the Northern Expedition, then the soldiers, horses, and forages would be easy to solve.
On the one hand, Zhuge Liang restored the agricultural production of Shu Han, and on the other hand, he conquered the southern barbarians and obtained a large number of materials and soldiers. In 228, when Cao Pi died, Zhuge Liang took this opportunity to launch the first northern expedition.
Although they won the first battle and captured three counties Longyou in one fell swoop, but the Ma Su defending Jieting made a serious mistake, causing Jieting to be captured by the Wei army, and Zhuge Liang had no choice but to withdraw. In the winter of 228, Zhuge Liang took advantage of Cao Wei to fight against Soochow Wu. Guanzhong is empty, launching the second northern expedition.
This time, Zhuge Liang led tens of thousands of troops to attack the fortress Chencang , but due to the tight defense of Chencang City, the Shu army could not be attacked for a long time, lacking food and grass, and eventually retreated. In the spring of 229, Zhuge Liang made his third Northern Expedition and successfully captured Wudu and Yinping counties, and successfully defended Hanzhong in the following year.
In the spring of 231, Zhuge Liang took advantage of the drought in the Yongliang area of Cao Wei and made his fourth northern expedition, using wooden cattle flowing horses to transport food and grass, surrounding Qishan . Sima Yi The Wei army led by Zhuge Liang and the Shu army led by Zhuge Liang started a fierce battle in Lucheng, and the Shu army was victorious. But in June, because Li Yan failed to deliver food and grass in time, Zhuge Liang withdrew from the army.
In 234, Shuhan recovered his strength after three years of rest, and Zhuge Liang began his fifth and last northern expedition in his life. He ordered the army to be stationed at Wuzhangyuan , while Sima Yi built a camp against the water, and the two sides began a long confrontation.
During this period, there were several battles between the two sides, but the scale was not large. In the end, Sima Yi directly did not move. Zhuge Liang sent women clothes to humiliate Sima Yi, but he still refused to fight. In August, Zhuge Liang became ill from overwork and his condition deteriorated. Liu Chan sent him from Chengdu to inquire about his funeral arrangements.
Soon after, Zhuge Liang passed away, Jiang Wei and Wei Yan were responsible for the breakup,The Shu army retreated. In order to delay Sima Yi's pursuit, Jiang Wei pretended to attack, so that Sima Yi did not dare to confirm the news of Zhuge Liang's death. It was not until the Shu army retreated safely that Sima Yi realized that he was in the game, and laughed at himself: "I expect life, but it is not convenient to expect death." h131h1
In the end, Zhuge Liang made five northern expeditions. Although he captured some cities, it also consumed a lot of national strength. In the end, it was also because of Zhuge Liang's death that the Shu army failed and returned. Later generations talked about the reasons, most of them thought that the late master Liu Shan was weak and incompetent, dragging Zhuge Liang's hind legs.
However, judging from the attitude of Liu Chan on several northern expeditions, he did not oppose or obstruct Zhuge Liang's decision, but instead gave him great trust and support. So, what is the reason why Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition failed?
First of all, the conquest of Cao Wei is a long way, and the supply of food and grass is insufficient. As can be seen from the above, Zhuge Liang was forced to retreat twice because of lack of food and grass. The terrain of Shu is steep and the transportation is inconvenient, so the transportation of grain and grass has always been a big problem. When the weather is bad, the date is often delayed.
Second, Shuhan is not a place for progress. Shu land is easy to defend and difficult to attack, because the roads entering Shu land are mostly mountain road plank roads, which makes it difficult for the enemy to enter the hinterland. But at the same time, it was difficult for the Shu army to send troops to fight. And if you want to conquer the hinterland of Cao Wei, you must cross Qinling , which is even more difficult.
After Liu Bei's death, the reason for Zhuge Liang's repeated defeats in the Northern Expedition was not the lack of manpower that everyone thought, or the blame on Liu Shan, but the real reason was that Shu Han did not occupy the land, which led to the final failure. What do you think about this, eh?
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