The Northern Expedition of more than 40 years after the founding of the Shu Han Dynasty was divided into two stages.

The first stage was Zhuge Liang's five Northern Expeditions. Among the five Northern Expeditions, the First Northern Expedition was the closest to success, and the Fifth Northern Expedition was the most tragic.

Zhuge Liang's strategic goal of the Northern Expedition was to take Liangzhou and rule here. Narrow the gap in national strength with Cao Wei. And then Tuyongzhou.

The second stage was the Northern Expedition presided over by Jiang Wei. Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition was much more scattered than Zhuge Liang's. Moreover, the Northern Expedition of Shu Han at this stage was no longer obsessed with the competition for one city and one place, and paid more attention to the capture of Cao Wei's population in Longxi. But in any case, the overall strategic goal of Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition was still very clear: to weaken Cao Wei's rule in Liangzhou, especially Longxi, through frequent attacks. made Cao Wei keep losing blood in Longxi. Eventually, I had to quit here. And once Cao Wei withdrew from Longxi, Liangzhou would naturally break away from Cao Wei's rule (the Hexi Corridor was very narrow, and once Longxi was lost, the gateway to the Hexi Corridor would be gone, and Liangzhou would lose contact with the Central Plains). At that time, it was the time for the diplomats of Shu Han to play.

It can be said that Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei both knew very well in their hearts that with the weak national strength of Shu Han, they would not be able to swallow the two states of Yongliang in one go. First cool and then Yong, slowly and gradually. It is the basic strategy of the Northern Expedition of Shu Han for more than 40 years. Although the methods are different, the goals are the same.

And what about Guan Yi's Northern Expedition this time?

Before that, it is very necessary for everyone to have a geography lesson.

Now, please sit down at an empty table and prepare two pens (preferably one thick and one thin).

First, place the thicker pen horizontally on the table.

Then, place the thinner pen vertically on top of the thick pen. The end side of the thin pen is close to the middle of the thick pen body.

After that, adjust the angle of the thin pen so that the angle between the thin pen and the thick pen is 60 degrees on the left and 120 degrees on the right.

Well, this is the simplest topographic map of Yibei Guanzhong.

This thick pen is Qinling. Below the thick pen, south of the Qinling Mountains, counting from your right-hand side, there are Hanzhong County, Wudu County, and Yinping County of Shu Han.

The north of the Qinling Mountains is divided into three parts.

That fine pen is Longshan. He is the dividing line between the Guanzhong Plain and the Tianshui Loess Hills. It is also the boundary mountain of today's Shaanxi Province and Gansu Province.

On the east side of Longshan, which is your right-hand side, is the Guanzhong Plain, which is the core area of Yongzhou that is often mentioned in this book.

The west side of Longshan, that is, your left hand side, is the loess hills, which is the key node of Liangzhou often mentioned in this book - Longxi. (The so-called Longxi is the west of Longshan.) This is the starting point of the Hexi Corridor).

Because of the existence of Longshan, it is Cao Wei or Jin Guo. Its Yongzhou and Liangzhou are geographically separated. The traffic between each other is very inconvenient.

Therefore, the Northern Expedition of Shu Han has always revolved around Longshan.

Because the national strength of Shu Han was weak and could not eat Yongliang in one go, the Northern Expedition of Shu Han mainly started from Wudu and Yinping and entered Longxi.

Liangzhou's output is relatively small, and it can't afford to support a large army. As a result, the garrisons of Cao Wei or Jin in Liangzhou were relatively small—at least not as numerous as the main forces of Shu Han. Therefore, after the Northern Expedition of Shu Han entered Longxi, it was often able to occupy a certain advantage in the early stage. However, when the main forces of Wei and Jin in the Guanzhong Plain entered Longxi, the military strength of Shu Han would become a disadvantage. At this time, the Northern Expedition often had to be terminated.

Then the problem comes, it is extremely difficult for Shu Han to cross the Qinling Mountains. Although Longshan is much smaller than Qinling, it is also a mountain with a main peak of nearly 3,000 meters. Where is so easy to climb. How could the main forces of the Wei and Jin dynasties be quickly put into Longxi?

This is because, in the middle part of Longshan, there is a canyon suitable for the passage of large armies. As long as this canyon is in hand, Cao Wei or the Jin State can quickly put the main forces of the Guanzhong Plain and even Luoyang into the Longxi battlefield. In this way, a strategic advantage over Shu Han was formed.

In particular, this canyon is there. The starting point on the east side is called Qinchuan. The end of the west side is called, Street Pavilion.

Sao Nian, do you now understand why when Zhuge Liang was on his first Northern Expedition, why after Ma Tan lost the street pavilion, the entire army of Shu Han collapsed instantly, right?

In 228 AD, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu Han, launched an army of 100,000 to carry out the first northern expedition against Cao Wei. At that time, Zhuge Liang's strategy was: with Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi as partial divisions, he led an army of 20,000 troops from the north of Hanzhong County out of Guanzhong, and made a posture of attacking Yixian County on the west side of Chang'an to contain Cao Zhen's corps in the Guanzhong area. Then he led 80,000 main forces out of Qishan and went to the west of Longshan. For a time, three of the five counties in Longxi surrendered. If Zhuge Liang captures the remaining two counties, then the entire west of Longshan will be completely returned to Shu Han, and the strategic goal of annexing Liangzhou will be achieved (once the five counties of Longxi are broken, Zhangye and Dunhuang in the west can only surrender with it.) Even the Western Regions Changshi Mansion with Cao Wei had to surrender with him). If such a situation arises, many problems behind Shu Han can be completely solved. (For example, the gap in national strength is too large, the contradiction between the Jingzhou faction and the Yizhou faction, etc.)

Fortunately (perhaps it is more appropriate to call it misfortune), Cao Wei Chaotang's reaction speed was extremely fast.

On the one hand, he ordered Sima Yi, the commander of the Jingzhou Army, and Xu Huang, the right general, to set out from Jingzhou and enter the Ankang Basin (Shangyong Three Counties) to pacify Meng Da, who responded to Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition.

On the other hand, Emperor Cao Rui of Wei led 200,000 Chinese troops to march into Chang'an.

And the most critical move is to send the general Zhang He, leading 50,000 elite Chinese troops, galloping all the way through Qinchuan, through Longshan, and reaching Jieting!

Of course, Zhuge Liang also saw the key strategic node of the street pavilion. So 25,000 men were sent out of the 80,000 army to Ma Tan and told him to go to guard the street pavilion...... Everyone knows the rest of the story.

What if Ma Tan had guarded the street pavilion at that time?

Then Wei will be embarrassed. Because they have to complete the projection of troops to Longxi without a street pavilion, or go over Longshan. Either you have to travel more than 400 miles to the north to today's Ningxia, and then go more than 400 miles south to bypass Longshan...... And once this situation occurs, it is estimated that Zhuge Liang has already taken down all the five counties of Longxi at that time. Moreover, you should know that if you go north from Chencang, it will not be long before you enter the Loess Plateau. The straight-line distance on it may be short, but it is fatal to walk! (For specific examples, please refer to Hu Zongnan's pursuit of the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty on the Northern Shaanxi Plateau)

Therefore, if Shu Han guards the street pavilion, wait until Cao Wei's army makes a detour into Longxi. Zhuge Liang has already eaten the five counties of Longxi. At that time, Zhuge Liang was the host, and Cao Wei became a guest. Zhuge Liang had the resources of the five counties of Longxi, while Cao Wei's logistics route was extremely difficult. As a result, the strategic roles of the two sides were reversed, and at that time, Cao Wei would become anxious to fight, while Zhuge Liang could play turtle flow...... In short, the street pavilion is not lost, and Liangzhou can be obtained!

And Ma Tan lost the street pavilion after all. Cao Wei's strong national strength and hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers can be quickly invested in Longxi. At this time, there were still two counties in the five counties of Longxi that had not been taken, and the three newly acquired counties were not even equipped with officials. What's more, Cao Wei's logistical pressure is not great...... Shu Han's Northern Expeditionary Army had no choice but to retreat on all fronts.

The first Northern Expedition of Shu Han was the closest to success among the more than a dozen Northern Expeditions of Shu Han in more than 40 years, and of course it was also the most regrettable.

After that, Zhuge Liang's second Northern Expedition was to echo Sun Quan and Lu Xun's competition for Hefei. This Northern Expedition was to go to Chencang, but he ran into a pervert like Hao Zhao. Of course, Zhuge Liang was not prepared to fight (the first Northern Expedition was sent in the spring of 228 and defeated in the autumn. The second was the Northern Expedition, which was in the winter of that year. The main thing is that the strategy echoes, and there is an explanation to the allies, not that they want to really fight), so Chen Cangwei couldn't take it for more than 20 days and then retreated.

The Third Northern Expedition, strictly speaking, is not to the north, but to the west. Took the two counties of Yinping and Wudu. As long as you carefully read the above geographical introduction, you should know that Cao Wei's Guanzhong area is separated from Yinping and Wudu counties by a Longshan Mountain and a Qinling Mountains. Therefore, as long as Hanzhong is not in hand, the cost of these two counties to hold is very great. Strategic abandonment is the best option.

In the Fourth Northern Expedition, Sima Yizhi, who had just succeeded Cao Zhen as the commander-in-chief of the Yongliang Corps, was so proud that he had to fight against Zhuge Liang. As a result, when the number of troops was half more than the other party, he was slapped into a pig's head by Zhuge Liang. Since then, the Sima family's art of war has changed from a blade flow to a turtle flow. But in that Northern Expedition, Shu Han's national strength was finally overwhelmed, and Zhuge Liang encountered the dilemma of retreating from the army for the first time.

The Fifth Northern Expedition, which recuperated for three years, accumulated enough grain and grass. And Zhuge Liang, who knew that his time was short, was desperate. Lead an army of 100,000 directly from Hanzhong into the Guanzhong Plain - it doesn't matter what strategy is to take Liangzhou first, come on, have a decisive battle! If I win, I will win Yongliang in one fell swoop. Defeated Shu Han and almost perished!

In this battle, Shu Han's march was extremely smooth at the beginning, and it didn't take much to drive to Wuzhangyuan. Ascend high and look into the distance, you can see the palace of Chang'an. But Sima Yi is stuck here.

Regardless of Zhuge Liang planting food on the spot in Wuzhang Plain, it is good to make a look like I won't leave if you don't defeat me. Or maybe Zhuge Liang gave him women's clothes to wear. Anyway, Sima Yi, who has achieved great success in the turtle stream, just doesn't accept the move. I just can't get out of the fortress.

The final result is what everyone knows as the sad wind......

After Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wan's prestige was insufficient, and Fei Yi was a pacifist. Jiang Wei could not completely control the national politics of Shu Han. So since then, Shu Han has never launched a northern expedition of 100,000 people. Jiang Wei's strategy could only be changed from occupation to loosening......

So, what is the strategy of the Northern Expedition led by the traverser this time?