The Battle of Red Cliffs, the Battle of Guandu... Compared with these famous battles in the early stages of the Three Kingdoms, the Battle of Xingshishan, which took place in 244 AD, on the north of Yang County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province today, is nameless. There are only a few words in "The Three Kingdoms" about this battle in the late Three Kingdoms. However, later strategists praised this battle very highly and listed it as a classic example of "retreat" and believed that the Shu Han could therefore last for 20 years.
Battle of Chibi, Guandu, Yiling, Hanzhong Battle... Compared with these famous battles in the early Three Kingdoms, the Battle of Xingshishan, which took place in 244 AD, today's Battle of Xingshishan, which took place in Yang County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province today, is nameless. There are only a few words in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" about this battle between Wei and Shu in the late Three Kingdoms, but there is no single word in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which uses war scenes as the important content of the novel. However, later strategists had a high opinion of this battle and listed it as a classic example of "retreatment", believing that Shu Han could continue the country's life for 20 years. After Zhuge Liang died in 234 AD, Jiang Wan and Fei Yi were successively ruled by Shu Han. The two believed that the Wei State had a vast territory and strong power, and it was difficult to win when fighting head-on. Under this situation, the two decided to change Zhuge Liang's offensive strategy when he was alive and not launch a large-scale attack on Cao Wei for the time being.
As the strategic policy shifts from offense to defense, the deployment of the Shu army has also been adjusted. In the spring of 242, some of the Shu army led by Jiang Wei first retreated from Hanzhong to Fu County (now Mianyang, Sichuan). The next year, Jiang Wan also led the main force of the Shu army to withdraw from Fu County. Since then, Fei Yi became the general of Shu Han and took over the military power from the sick Jiang Wan. Compared with Hanzhong, Fu County is geographically closer to the heart of Shu Han. At the same time, the local area has the advantage of transportation of Fushui, which is located at the border Jiangyou and is placed in the important town of Jiangzhou (now Chongqing). It connects Jiange by land to the north and is only more than 300 miles southwest from Chengdu. It provides convenient food and salary supply and can be used to connect to all directions. Jiang Wan and Fei Yi’s idea was that if there was an emergency on the border, they could lead troops north to reinforce.
However, this deployment of troops inevitably weakened the defense of Hanzhong, the frontier position of Shu Han. When Zhuge Liang was alive, Hanzhong, as the advance base for the Northern Expedition of Shu Han, once gathered the main force of the Shu army, and the scale remained at about 100,000 people. After the main force of the Shu army retreated south in 243, the military and political affairs in Hanzhong were presided over by Wang Ping, the former general of the army supervisor and Zhenbei. His troops were only more than 20,000, and they were scattered among many strongholds within hundreds of miles, showing a relatively weak trend. If the enemy invades a large-scale and reinforcements from the rear do not rescue them in time, Hanzhong will be in danger of falling.
Wei State also saw this situation. Since 243 (the 4th year of Wei Zhengshi), there have been calls for an attack on Shu Han. After the death of Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui, General Cao Shuang (son of Cao Zhen) and Grand Tutor Sima Yi jointly assisted in the administration. Sima Yi was in charge of the military affairs of Jing, Yu, Liang and Yong for a long time, stationed in Qin and Long, resisted Zhuge Liang of Shu Han in the west, and destroyed Gongsun Yuan of Liaodong in the east. In the early days of Zhengshi, he was in charge of the division along the Huaihe River every year, repelling the Wu army's invasion, and made outstanding contributions. Compared with Sima Yi, Cao Shuang, who was in charge of the government because of his identity as a royal family in the Wei State and the favor of Emperor Ming of Wei, made no achievements in the military field. Therefore, Cao Shuang was eager to make contributions on the battlefield to establish prestige. In the spring of the fifth year of Zhengshi (244), Cao Shuang used his cousin Xiahou Xuan as the general of the Western Expedition, and the commander of the military affairs of Yong and Liang. He recruited 60,000 to 70,000 troops on a large scale, and used Guanzhong and Di Qiang people as their transporters, with a total of more than 100,000 people preparing to attack Shu. In March of that year, despite Sima Yi's opposition, Cao Shuang personally went to Chang'an (now Xi'an, Shaanxi) as a general, determined to use his superior troops to capture Hanzhong.
"Nan Zheng Tianzhuo"
Hanzhong is a relatively narrow mountain basin between the Guanzhong Plain and the Chengdu Plain. Its north is the vast Qinling Mountains and the south is Daba Mountains. Since ancient times, it has been called the "land of situation". The so-called "the army that controls six routes in the front, and then controls the grain of the two rivers, connects the wealth of Jingxiang on the left, and leaves the horse of Qinlong on the right, and commands the Central Plains, which must be based on this." The transportation here is convenient, "the situation is the most serious, the situation is the one that looks at Guanzhong in the north, the other is Bashu in the south, the east is Xiang and Deng, and the west is Qin and Long."
Hanzhong has always been a military important place in Shuhan. Not only is the city wall high, but the moat
is also the main channel connecting Guanzhong and Bashu. Both hostile sides have always tried their best to compete for this place for their own advance and retreat. Under the situation of the three kingdoms, Hanzhong has a greater significance to Shu Han than to Cao Wei. On the one hand, this is due to the Jialing River and Han River, Hanzhong has a closer connection with Shu Zhong, and on the other hand, it is because the Qinling Mountains are more steep than Daba Mountain. It is difficult to advance north from Hanzhong to Qinling Mountains, but it is easier to advance south from Daba Mountain. Wei and Shu used the Qinling Mountains as the boundary, and could still share the dangers of the Qinling Mountains. If Daba Mountain is the frontier, the geographical advantage would turn to the Wei Kingdom. Therefore, people at that time said, "Hanzhong is the throat of Yizhou, and the opportunity for survival and death. If there is no Hanzhong, there will be no Shu." Without Hanzhong, it will be difficult for Shu Han to establish a country.
However, it is not easy for Wei to seize Hanzhong! The closer and closer to Hanzhong are the passages through the Qinling Mountains, namely the Baoxie Road, the Tangluo Road and the Ziwu Road. The Baoxie Road is named after the Baogu south and the Xishui River north. The journey is more than 500 miles. The north entrance of the road is the famous Wuzhangyuan on the coast of the Wei River. This road saves relatively time and effort among the Qinling roads, so the post road from Guanzhong to Bashu in the Han Dynasty was set up on this road. Even so, Cao Cao suffered a lot from the steep mountain road of Baoxie Road in the war with Liu Bei for Hanzhong, and sighed that "Nan Zhengzhi is the Heavenly Prison, and Zhongxie Valley Road is the five hundred miles of stone cave."
In comparison, the traffic conditions of Tangluo Road and Ziwu Road are not as good as those of Baoxi Road. Located on the south entrance of Ziwu Road to the east is the farthest from Hanzhong in the middle of several passages. Military troops advance to Hanzhong and generally do not follow this path. Tangluo Road enters the Tangshui River Valley from Chenggu (now Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province) at the eastern end of the Hanzhong Basin. After passing the watershed, it will enter the Guanzhong Plain along Luogu. Although the road is short (420 miles in total), the middle Jushui area is longer than Baoxie Road, and the mountain road is steep. Among them, the section crosses the main peak of the Qinling Mountains, and the winding mountain road is twisted and circumcised for more than 80 miles, with a total of 84 plates. It is difficult to march and is easily blocked. Cao Shuang chose the army to attack Hanzhong from Tangluo Road. As it turned out, this was not a good choice.
Shu Army fought against
The news that the Wei army was invading reached Hanzhong, which shocked the defenders of Shu Han. At that time, there were less than 30,000 defenders of Shu Han in Hanzhong. Including the local peasants became the righteous bravery during the war (according to the population statistics of the early Taikang years of the Western Jin Dynasty, there were 15,000 households in Hanzhong County, and there might be a fewer in the Three Kingdoms period). Based on the calculation that each household was given one cent, it is estimated that nearly 10,000 righteous bravery could be collected in total. The number of people does not have an advantage, and the combat effectiveness of the righteous and bravery is naturally incomparable to the regular army. Therefore, facing the fierce invading 100,000 Wei troops, the Shu Han defenders in Hanzhong were at an absolute disadvantage.
Hanzhong general Wang Ping insisted on fighting the Wei army
In this case, some Shu Han generals suggested that they abandon the dangerous Qinling Mountains on the periphery, and the entire army shrink to the fortresses built during the Zhuge Liang period. The two places were in Mianyang (now Mian County, Shaanxi) and Chenggu (now Yang County, Shaanxi Province), respectively, and were important castles to reject Cao Wei in the north - allowing the Wei army to enter the hinterland of Hanzhong. During this period, the main force of Shu Han had enough time to set out from Fu County to rescue Yangping Pass (the main gateway to northern Shu, where the Baima River in the west of Mian County, Shaanxi Province entered the Han River. The Baima Mountain flowing through was high and steep, and it was dangerously stubborn). However, Wang Ping, the chief general who guarded Hanzhong, once advised Ma Su not to station on the Bing Mountain in the Battle of Jieting, did not agree to withdraw. He believed that if the enemy conquered Yangping Pass before our reinforcements would lead to a disaster, so he insisted on defending the Qinling Mountains. Among the generals, only Liu Min, the general, supported Wang Ping's decision. Liu Min believed that the Hanzhong people were covered with men and women, and the crops were still in the fields. If the Wei army was allowed to enter the plains, the major event would be gone. So, Liu Min led his troops to occupy Xingshi Mountain. Xingshi Mountain is 43 miles northwest of Yang County. It is "shaped like a pot, with a dangerous place on the outside but a large valley inside". It is a strategic location for the south exit of Tangluo Road. Shu Han built a "siege of Xingshi" against the mountains, and this place became a must-fight for military strategists.
Due to the serious shortage of troops, the Shu army had to adopt the bluffing method when defending, "multiple flags, covering more than a hundred miles."The number of "Hou Jue" (mobile reserve team) led by Wang Ping was pitifully small. If the Wei army divided some troops from Xingshi Front to change to the Ziwu Road not far away into Hanzhong, Wang Ping, as the governor, could only lead a thousand people to rescue.
Fortunately, the narrow and steep Tangluo Road helped the Shu army a lot of help. As Cao Pi said back then, "The terrain in Hanzhong is actually dangerous, and the four mountains and three tulips are not enough." "A man can swing a halberd, and a thousand people can't pass." The Wei army entered Luogu for hundreds of miles and formed a long snake formation, and its advantages in military strength were not exerted. The disadvantaged Shu army not only relied on the dangerous throne, but also had the advantage of geographical advantage. The "Wudang Flying Army" composed of ethnic minorities in the southern center was extremely brave. This unit was dressed in iron armor, crossing mountains and ridges like walking on flat ground. Its best raid was night attacks, and was equipped with crossings and steel knives painted with poisonous arrows. Under this, the Wei army "did not get a fight and cannot attack" and fell into a passive situation.
Wang Ping's persistence won valuable time for the arrival of the main force of the Shu army. In March of the leap, the later ruler Liu Chan ordered Fei Yi to lead his army to rescue Hanzhong. However, Fu County and Hanzhong are too far away, almost a thousand miles apart. According to the daily itinerary of the Han Dynasty army, "traveling 50 miles lightly and 30 miles heavy". In addition, the Shu Road is dangerous and difficult to march. It was April that reinforcements arrived in Hanzhong, and it has been almost two months since the Wei army invaded.
Cao Shuang retreated
When the main force of the Shu army led by Fei Yi arrived late, the most critical moment of Shu Han had passed. On the other hand, the Wei army led by Cao Shuang is in a dangerous place at this moment. The Wei army was blocked from the rise and failed to leave the valley road in the wealthy Hanzhong Plain "because of food from the enemy". The thousands of miles of transportation between Guanzhong and Diqiang could not ensure the supply of food. A large number of cattle, horses, mules and donkeys died during the transportation, and the husband was crying on the road. Sima Yi, who was far away in Luoyang, was cunning and realized that the situation was not good, and wrote a letter to warn Cao Shuang: Now the Shu army has occupied a dangerous situation. You are in a situation where you cannot advance and fight. If you retreat, you will be intercepted and wiped out. How can you bear such a great responsibility? ! Guo Huai - Cao Shuang's pioneer and Sima Yi's old subordinate. This man has been guarding Qin and Long for a long time and has always been known for his bravery and good combat. At this moment, he also noticed the situation is dangerous, so he took the initiative to withdraw his troops, thus avoiding unnecessary losses to the army. In May, Cao Shuang finally accepted Sima Yi's advice and led the army back to China, but Fei Yi did not want him to walk so easily and easily. He took the opportunity to advance and rely on the Shenling, Yaling and Dividing Mountains on the way to retreat to attack Cao Shuang. The Wei army fought hard for the mountains and barely passed, but the cattle and horses used for transportation were almost lost, and all the materials accumulated in Guanzhong were consumed for many years. At this point, the Xingshi defense battle ended with the victory of the Shu army.
With the change of strategic policies, Jiang Wei led some Shu troops to withdraw from Hanzhong
This battle was not noticed by later generations, largely because of the lack of the "famous general" effect. The entire battle was not only incomparable to the Battle of Red Cliff, which was a star-studded battle in the Three Kingdoms period, but even famous figures in the Three Kingdoms period such as Sima Yi and Jiang Wei were also out of the matter. Among the generals participating in the war, the most famous one was probably Sima Zhao, who would be known to everyone in the future. However, at that time, this person was just a "General of the Shu" under Cao Shuang. Therefore, compared with other battles of the same period, many writers have less attention to this battle and even ignored it.
However, the significance of this defensive battle is by no means insignificant. In his book "The Strategy of Hundred Battles", the Ming Dynasty strategist Liu Ji listed this battle as a classic example of "retreat": Once the enemy has an absolute geographical advantage, it is difficult for you to continue fighting, and the only feasible option is to retreat quickly. To a large extent, Xingshi Defense War was one of the most important and underrated battles during the Three Kingdoms period. On the one hand, Cao Shuang suffered a crushing defeat in his first use of troops, which caused his prestige and influence to plummet, laying the groundwork for his final fall in the power struggle with Sima Yi five years later.The failure of three consecutive attacks on Hanzhong (Cao Cao was defeated by Liu Bei in 219, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi were defeated by Zhuge Liang in 230, and Cao Shuang was defeated by Wang Ping and Fei Yi in 244), made Wei feel fear of attacking Shu. When Sima Zhao decided to attack Shu 20 years later, only Zhong Hui was the minister in the court, and even Deng Ai, who had fought with Jiang Wei for many years, felt that Shu Han had no gaps to take advantage of and opposed the attack on Shu. At that time, Cao Wei, who had spanned the entire northern China, was afraid of Shu Han, which was only in Yizhou, which was really shocking.
According to the Baoxi Plank Road restored by the ancient plank road
On the other hand, the situation of Xingshi defense war shows that the strategic deployment of Shu Han's troops has flaws, that is, the distance between the front line of Hanzhong and the reinforcements in the rear is too far, and it will take a lot of time to rescue him in case of emergency. To this end, after Fei Yi took office as Jiang Wan, he immediately moved the main force of the Shu army to Hanshou (now north of Zhaohua, Guangyuan, Sichuan), hundreds of miles northeast of Fu County. This place can be relied on the transportation convenience of the Western Han River (Jialing River), and the distance from Hanzhong has been shortened by half, which can support the front more quickly, and is a skillful trick to both offense and defense. After Fei Yi led the Shu army, Jiang Wei mistakenly summarized the experience of the Battle of Xingshi, believing that he could defend the Qinling periphery and "can defend the enemy without gaining great benefits." He decided to give up the outside of Hanzhong, shrink his defense, and cancel most of the strongholds on the periphery, concentrate the Shu Han army in the two cities of Han and Le (it was exactly the opinion that Wang Ping opposed during the Battle of Xingshi), in an attempt to lure the enemy's heavy troops into the Hanzhong Basin, and counterattack when it retreated in short supply of food and wipe out the invaders. As a result, Jiang Wei's decision made a big mistake. When Zhong Hui attacked Shu, the Wei army easily entered the Hanzhong Plain and captured Yang'an Pass (Editor's Note: Yangping Pass was also known as Yang'an Pass in the late Shu Han Dynasty), causing the entire line of destruction system in the northern Shu Kingdom to collapse within three months. Shu Han collapsed and declared destruction. This proves from both positive and negative aspects that Wang Ping, who made the correct decision in the Battle of Rising the Movement, was a great hero who lasted the 20-year reign of the Shu Han Dynasty. As the image of a famous general, Wang Ping has long been obscured in history as this defensive battle...
(Global Military, the above excerpt does not represent the views of Xinhua News Agency Outlook Think Tank)
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