After the failure of the first Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang was not ready to launch another battle in the short term, but the plan was not as fast as the change. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

However, Cao Wei had already prepared for this battle, Cao Zhen had already deployed a defense in Chencang, Zhuge Liang returned in vain, and the second Northern Expedition was inconclusive.

【Sending troops again】

According to the records of the Spring and Autumn Period of the Han Dynasty, after the defeat of the First Northern Expedition, some people persuaded Zhuge Liang to send troops again, but Zhuge Liang said: "When the army was in Qishan and Keigu, there were more enemy troops than the enemy (Note 1), but they did not defeat the enemy, but were defeated by the enemy, and the problem was not that there were few soldiers, but that the generals were defeated." Now I intend to reduce the number of soldiers, to show the punishment, to reflect on the mistakes, and to think of alternative ways in the future. If you can't do this, even if you have a lot of soldiers, it's useless! From now on, all those who are devoted to the country's worries and allegiance only need to criticize my mistakes a lot, then the great things can be settled, the enemy can be defeated, and the great achievements can be waited. ”

Therefore, he inspected the meritorious soldiers, did not omit even the slightest merit, screened the heroic men one by one, led to self-blame, publicly announced his own mistakes in the territory, trained the troops and emphasized martial arts, and prepared to forge ahead in the future. The soldiers were leaning and capable, and the people forgot about their previous defeats.

That is to say, after Zhuge Liang lost the first Northern Expedition, he was originally ready to reflect on it first, and did not want to send troops again in a short time, but later Cao Xiu's army was defeated, the Wei army went east, and Guanzhong was weak, so Zhuge Liang planned to send troops to attack Wei, which is the background of the second Northern Expedition.

[Reluctantly retreated]

However, the road is one foot high and the demon is one foot high, Zhuge Liang wants to take advantage of the fire to rob, and Cao Wei has already prepared. After Cao Zhen pacified the three counties, he thought that Zhuge Liang would attack Chencang in the future, so he ordered the generals Hao Zhao and Wang Sheng to guard Chencang and build the city.

In the winter of the sixth year of Jianxing (228), Zhuge Liang launched the second Northern Expedition, sent troops to disperse the pass to surround Chencang, but was rejected by Wei general Hao Zhao, Zhuge Liang failed to persuade him to surrender, and the grain and grass did not continue, Cao Wei's reinforcements were about to arrive, and Zhuge Liang had to return to Hanzhong. Wei chased Wang Shuang and was beheaded.

After Zhuge Liang surrounded Chen Cang, he first sent Hao Zhao's fellow villager Jin Shen to lobby Hao Zhao to surrender several times outside the city, but Hao Zhao resolutely refused. This incident is recorded in the "Wei Luo".

After Zhuge Liang surrounded Chen Cang, he asked Hao Zhao's fellow villager Jin Shen to persuade him to surrender far outside the city, and Hao Zhao said to Jin Shen on the city tower: "You are familiar with the laws of Wei, and you understand my personality." I am deeply favored by the country and my family is noble, you don't need to say more, only one death. You go back and tell Zhuge Liang to come and attack. Jin Shen told Zhuge Liang what Hao Zhao said, and Zhuge Liang asked Jin Shen to advise Hao Zhao again, saying: "The disparity between the soldiers and the number of soldiers is unstoppable, so why destroy yourself in vain." Hao Zhao said to Jin Shen: "It has been decided before, I know you, but the arrow doesn't know you." Jin Shen had no choice but to return.

At that time, Zhuge Liang thought that tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and Hao Zhao only had more than 1,000 soldiers, and estimated that the rescue troops from the east might not be able to arrive, so he marched to attack Hao Zhao, first used a ladder and a car to attack the city, Hao Zhao used a rocket to shoot a ladder, when the ladder burned, the people on the ladder were burned, Hao Zhao tied a stone mill with a rope, and threw the rushing car of the Han army, and the rushing car was destroyed. Zhuge Liang made a hundred-foot-high tic-tac-toe wooden fence (well diaphragm) to shoot arrows into the city, fill the moat with clods of earth, and want to climb the city wall directly; Hao Zhao built a wall in the city, making the well ineffective. Zhuge Liang dug a tunnel again, wanting to enter the city through the tunnel, and Hao Zhao dug a horizontal tunnel in the city to intercept it. Zhuge Liang used the car again, but it was discounted.

This war is the first recorded use of ignition arrows in Chinese history, and the record of this war also became the first time that the Chinese word "rocket" appeared in history.

After more than 20 days of attacking and defending day and night, Zhuge Liang was still unable to capture, at this time Cao Zhen sent Fei Yao (that is, Fei Yao) to lead the reinforcements, and Zhuge Liang had to retreat.

After learning that Zhuge Liang sent troops again, Cao Rong sent a stagecoach to summon Zhang He to Beijing, and also personally went to Henan County to set up a banquet to see Zhang He off and crusade against Zhuge Liang.

Cao Rong sent 30,000 soldiers and two battalions of warriors from Wuwei and Huben to guard Zhang He, and asked Zhang He: "When the general arrives at the front line, will Zhuge Liang already occupy Chencang?" Zhang He knew that Zhuge Liang's lone army was deep and would not carry too much grain and grass, so he could not attack for a long time, so he replied: "It is estimated that Zhuge Liang has already withdrawn before the minister arrives at the front line." Chen Qu calculated that Zhuge Liang's grain and grass could not support ten days. Zhang He marched day and night to reach Nanzheng, and Zhuge Liang really retreated.

Although Zhuge Liang returned in vain, it was not without results, Cao Wei's general Wang Shuang led his troops to pursue Zhuge Liang, but Zhuge Liang was killed by Zhuge Liang, and he was taken a blood by Shu Han. Although Wang Shuang had some status within Cao Wei, his military ability was not strong, and he was captured by the Wu army when Cao Pi's three-way army marched south.

【Reasons for failure】

Although Zhuge Liang's Second Northern Expedition ended in failure again, the losses were actually very small. Unlike the first Northern Expedition, this Northern Expedition itself was a speculative operation, Zhuge Liang was not prepared for winter operations before, he saw that Cao Xiu's army was defeated, the Wei army went south, and Guanzhong was weak.

This is also the first reason for the failure of the Second Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang himself was not well prepared, and the supply of grain and grass was not enough, so Zhuge Liang only surrounded Chencang for less than a month, and he was not well supplied and was forced to retreat.

In addition to Zhuge Liang's own reasons, Cao Wei's group has long been prepared, which is also an important reason for Zhuge Liang's failure. After Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition shocked Longyou, Cao Wei had already begun to guard against Shu Han, as Cao Wei's general, Cao Zhen understood the importance of Chen Cang, and sent Hao Zhao and others to defend here early, so although Hao Zhao did not have many troops, he was well prepared, resulting in Zhuge Liang being unable to take Chen Cang in a short period of time, and the second Northern Expedition died.

【Post-War Reward】

After this battle, Emperor Cao Rui of Wei Ming rewarded Cao Zhen, Zhang He, Hao Zhao and other meritorious heroes. For Cao Zhen to increase the number of households, and the first 2,900 households, the edict ordered Zhang He to return to the capital and appointed him as the general of the western chariot cavalry.

For Hao Zhao, Emperor Wei Ming not only issued an edict to praise him for being good at defending the city, and gave him the title of Marquis of Guannei, after returning to Luoyang, Emperor Wei Ming also personally met with him, and said to Sun Zi in the Chinese book: "There are such bold people in your township, for the sake of burning like this, what else do I have to worry about?" He planned to reuse him, but soon Hao Zhao became seriously ill and eventually died.

Note 1: Cao Zhen was Cao Wei's general at that time, and the troops under his command can be said to be the main force, while Zhao Yun's troops can only be said to be partial divisions, and their strength should be inferior to Cao Zhen, and the record here may be wrong.