The purpose of the Northern Expedition

1. In order to repay the first emperor and fulfill his last wishes

Zhuge Liang said in "The Teacher's Table": "The first emperor knew that his ministers were cautious, so he sent his ministers to major events before the collapse." Since he was instructed, he has been worried all night, fearing that the entrustment will not work, so as to hurt the wisdom of the first emperor... Now the south has been decided, the armor is sufficient, when the award rate of the three armies, the north of the Central Plains, the exhaustion of the dull, the removal of the traitors, the revival of the Han Dynasty, and the return to the old capital" It can be seen that Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition is to repay the first emperor Liu Bei's kindness to him, and complete the last wish of the first emperor to restore the Han Dynasty.

Second, if Cao Wei is not attacked, Shu Han will die

Since Cao Rui, the emperor of Cao Wei, agreed to the suggestion of the minister Sun Zi, he took a fortress against Shu Han and vigorously restored the strength of Wei.

Zhuge Liang had already realized that if Cao Wei was given time to develop his national strength, then the gap between Shu and Wei would become wider and wider. Once Cao Wei's national strength is strong, Shu Han can only sit and wait for death. Only by going out of Shu and occupying Yongzhou and Liangzhou, first, you can obtain Qinchuan horses and organize cavalry, second, you can have a roundabout space when you fight, and you can launch large-scale battles, and third, you can greatly weaken the strength of Cao Wei's cavalry troops.

It is difficult to go to Shu and it is difficult to go to the sky. For Shu Han, the danger of the mountain is undoubtedly a natural barrier. But there is relativity! No one else can attack it, but you can't kill it either!

The world is in chaos and occupies the land of Shu. You can develop your own economy, expand your own army, intend to the world, and attack and retreat can be defended.

But the world is going to be unified, so Shudi is definitely a death row, because you can't fight it yourself. Moreover, the steep mountains and mountains are not suitable for large-scale operations. You can't fight on a large scale, others can't hurt you, and you can't hurt others.

There is only a stalemate between the two armies, but your rear will definitely be dragged to death. In the end, you have no soldiers, no financial resources, and no people's will, and you can only surrender.

3. The Northern Expedition to the Central Plains shifted contradictions

Shu Han was a regime established by Liu Bei in Shu by relying on the Jingzhou clique (represented by Zhuge Liang and led by Liu Bei into Shu). Therefore, in Shu Han, the first class is the Jingzhou group, the second class is the Dongzhou group (represented by Li Yan, the military generals led by Liu Zhang), and the third class is the Shudi group (represented by Qian Zhou, the local forces in Shu).

The basic national policy in Shu Han is that it is the Jingzhou group that is in power (all the four phases of Shu and Han are Jingzhou people), the Dongzhou group that is co-opted by the alliance, and the Shudi group that is excluded and suppressed.

Since Shu Han had Jingzhou and Yizhou at the beginning of the founding of the country, the contradiction between the three forces was not obvious. But since Guan Yu lost Jingzhou and Liu Bei defeated Yiling. The Jingzhou Group has experienced the loss of Jingzhou and the defeat of Yiling, which can be said to be a top-level veteran with heavy casualties, and is unable to continue to suppress the powerful Shudi Group, so it must unite with the Dongzhou Group. After the three parties went on for a long time, the contradictions became more and more prominent. Liu Bei also realized this, so when he was entrusting orphans, in addition to appointing Zhuge Liang as the "minister of entrusting orphans", he also appointed Li Yan as the "deputy minister of entrusting orphans". First, it can enable the two sides to supervise each other, and second, it can take the opportunity to win over the Dongzhou group. Moreover, Li Yan can be regarded as half of the Jingzhou group, and does not conflict with the basic national policy set by Liu Bei.

Zhuge Liang launched the Northern Expedition, which could transfer the internal contradictions of Shu Han to the external contradictions of Cao Wei. Once Yongzhou and Liangzhou are defeated, the contradictions between the three major groups of Jingzhou, Dongzhou, and Shudi will be greatly reduced. And it can give Shu Han a chance to win the Central Plains.

Situation of the Northern Expedition

Shu Han: In 223, Liu Bei, Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han, was defeated by Lu Xun of Eastern Wu in the Battle of Yiling.

The national strength of Shu Han was greatly reduced. After Liu Bei died in the White Emperor City, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang was entrusted with the important task of assisting the queen Liu Chan, and the national strength of Shu Han slowly recovered.

In the same year, Zhuge Liang sent Chen Zhen and Deng Zhi as envoys to Eastern Wu, and Xiao persuaded Sun Quan with benefits. Wu and Shu re-established their alliance.

In 225, Zhuge Liang marched south, pacified the war in the south of Shu and Han, and subdued the hearts of the people of the southern barbarians. The armor and materials needed for the Northern Expedition were stockpiled.

In 226, Zhuge Liang led a large army into Hanzhong and began to train the three armies, preparing to wait for the opportunity to attack Cao Wei in the north.

Cao Wei: Since Liu Bei's death, Cao Wei began to devote his main energy to dealing with Sun Wu. In 222-223 AD, Cao Pi dispatched a three-way army to attack Wu, but was blocked and retreated;

In 224 and 225 A.D., Cao Pi went to Guangling twice in person, but withdrew because he could not cross the river.

However, Guanzhong and Longxi, which border Cao Wei and Shu Han, were obviously lax in their defenses.

In 226, Cao Wei Wen Emperor Cao Pi died of illness, Cao Rui ascended the throne, at that time there was a discussion in the Wei court, you can take advantage of Zhuge Liang in Hanzhong, in one fell swoop to send troops to crusade against them, Cao Rui also intended, but Sun Zi thought that Hanzhong, Nanzheng and other places are precipitous, and the world will be in turmoil and the cost is huge, so he proposed to order the generals to defend the dangerous places respectively, just wait for the Wei State to be strong, Shu Han and Wu must surrender without a fight.

Soon after, Zhuge Liang learned what happened in the court of Cao Wei in Hanzhong, and understood that if Shu and Wei continued like this, the gap between the two countries would become wider and wider. Moreover, at this time, Cao Wei's armaments in Guanzhong, Longxi and other places were lax, while the Shu army had experienced the southern expedition and two years of drills, and its military strength had been greatly improved. With the intention of attacking, Zhuge Liang thought that the opportunity for the Northern Expedition had arrived.

In the spring of 228, Zhuge Liang wrote the book "Teacher Table" to Liu Chan. The importance of the Northern Expedition was expounded, indicating the ripeness of the time. After receiving Liu Chan's edict agreeing to send troops, Zhuge Liang raised troops in Hanzhong and vigorously opened the prelude to the five Northern Expeditions.

Northern Expedition Strategy

In Nanzheng County, Hanzhong (Hanzhong County; When I looked at the map before, I mistakenly regarded Xicheng as the seat of Hanzhong, which has been changed, please forgive me), Zhuge Liang discussed with all the generals in the army.

At that time, from Hanzhong to the north, you must pass through hundreds of miles of mountains and dangerous valleys, as Cao Cao said: "South Zhengzhi is the heavenly prison, and the middle slope valley road is 500 miles of stone caves." Since ancient times, there have been three directions, five passages. One direction is to go out of the Qinling Mountains and enter the customs. There are three valley roads in this direction, Meridian Valley, Baoxie Valley, Fuluo Valley, the valley is long and the road is dangerous, all rely on the plank road to pass, and the movement of the army is more difficult. In addition, there is a branch road in the Baoxie Valley, at the western end of the Qinling Mountains and the boundary of Longshan, it is the valley area of the upper reaches of the Jialing River, the terrain is flat, but there are two fortresses of Sanguan and Chencang located here, since Cao Cao withdrew his troops from Hanzhong, there are heavy troops to guard, it is difficult to cross lightly. The other direction is from Hanzhong through Yangpingguan, Wudu, Jiancheng, Qishan out of Tianshui, the road is farther, but relatively flat. The third direction is from Hanzhong to the east, detouring to Wuguan and Lantian, this road route is too long, and close to Luoyang, the capital of Wei, is heavily guarded.

At this time, Wei Yan proposed the Meridian Valley Conspiracy to exile Baishi, which had not been carried out, intending to occupy the entire Weihe Plain west of Tongguan by Cao Wei in one fell swoop. But Zhuge Liang felt that this plan was too risky, and chose a relatively well-thought-out strategy to surprise attack Longyou.

The matter of war is somewhat gambling in nature; There are too many factors involved in the number of wins and losses. The side with a large number of troops, a large number of generals, and sufficient food may not be able to win the war, but it is only said that they can be defeated and come back. But Shu Han is different, there are fewer soldiers than Wei State, there will not be more than Wei State, and food is even more problematic Zhuge Liang, knowing that once Wei Yan's strategy succeeds, Shu Han will get several times the reward of 5,000 soldiers, but he still did not choose this path because it was too risky.

Why is Wei Yan's plan an adventure? Chang'an is one of the largest cities in the Wei State, and it is the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, which has been built very solidly for hundreds of years, while Wei Yan walked the steep valley road, and even the supplies of the soldiers were carried by people, of course, it was impossible to bring any siege equipment; With those 5,000 combat soldiers and 5,000 baggage soldiers, it was really reluctant to capture Chang'an. Even if it is captured, it is inevitable that the enemy will not give Wei Yan a counter-encirclement from Luoyang and Wancheng. And Wei Yan envisioned that Zhuge Liang's main force could rush to Chang'an to meet him in more than 20 days, and the time was too tight, the western part of Chang'an was heavily blocked, as long as there was a figure like Hao Zhao, it was enough to snipe Shu Han's attack.

The above is not conclusive, saying that Wei Yan's plan will not succeed, the key is that Zhuge Liang has little capital, and he can't afford to take this risk. Therefore, he chose a well-planned strategy, that is, to go out of Qishan, make a detour to Longyou, connect Zhurong in the west, and seize Chang'an.

This was the purpose of Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition. Longshan is a large mountain range that runs north-south, Yongzhou takes Longshan as the boundary, the east of Longshan is called Guanzhong area, and the west of Longshan is called Longyou. The general location of Guanzhong is basically east of Longshan.

The goal of Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition was to seize the Longyou region, and then use Longyou as a base to open up fields and expand land in Longyou, produce grain and grass, and engage in a protracted war with Cao Wei. The difference between Wei Yan's Meridian Valley plot and Zhuge Liang's plan is that Wei Yan wants to take the fertile land of Guanzhong at the same time.

At that time, Zhuge Liang formulated a method that he thought was perfect and safe, and it was completely impeccable. His plan was actually very simple, that is, to let Zhao Yun lead the suspicious troops all the way to send troops from Xiegu Road, creating a lot of momentum, so that Cao Wei thought that Shu was going to send troops from Xiegu Road to attack Yiguo City in Fufeng County. In fact, Zhuge Liang himself led the main force of Shu State, passed through Wudu County, went directly out of Qishan, occupied Longyou, and used the vanguard troops to occupy the street pavilion, and defended it; Relying on the natural barrier of Longshan, it blocked the Wei army and turned Longyou into the territory of the Shu Han Kingdom.

Zhuge Liang's strategic planning is not complicated. He asked Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi to lead the army to create momentum and pretend to attack Yiguo, but due to the lack of troops, they did not advance at all, but stayed at Nangukou Keigu on Xiegu Road, which is actually very close to Nanzheng County, easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi followed Zhuge Liang's instructions and concentrated on guarding, even if Cao Wei's hundreds of thousands of troops came, they would not be able to pass through such a valley.

The first line of the street pavilion, because it is a military place, there is a small city that can be used to defend, although the city is not big, but it is no problem to garrison thousands of troops. As long as the street pavilion is held, it can make it difficult for the Wei army to advance.

Zhuge Liang's strategy was calculated seamlessly, and a lot of preparation work was done in advance, but when the real battle was actually fought in the end, it still fell short.

In the spring of the sixth year of Jianxing (228 AD), Zhuge Liang finally began to act, and some of them seemed to be proceeding perfectly according to his plan. Wei really thought that Zhao Yun's army intended to attack north, because Guanzhong was empty, so the Wei military naturally mobilized the only elite army in Yongzhou who had seen the battlefield, and the general Cao Zhen controlled the fight against Zhao Yunjun.

Emperor Cao Rui of Wei Ming heard that the army of Shu planned to send troops to attack the state of Yi from the valley road, so he immediately sent the general Cao Zhen to lead a large army to garrison the state of Yi to defend against the Shu army, and after Cao Zhen arrived in the state of Yi, he found that Zhao Yun was only a suspicious army here. And the main force led by Zhuge Liang successfully crossed from Wudu County and left Qishan, Zhuge Liang immediately sent his cronies Ma Tan to Jieting to guard the town. This is the biggest failure of Zhuge Liang's life, and it is also the root of countless Lianghei criticisms of Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang is really inappropriate.

At that time, Zhuge Liang had famous generals such as Wei Yan and Wu Yi available by his side, but he didn't need them. Ma Jian is a staff officer-type talent, and he is not suitable for leading troops to fight independently, but Zhuge Liang wants to train Ma Jian as his successor, because Ma Jian is a civil and military all-rounder, so Zhuge Liang wants to give Ma Jian a chance to exercise.

The Shu Han army was neatly arrayed, the rewards and punishments were solemn and the orders were clear, and the three counties of Nan'an, Anding, and Tianshui rebelled against Wei Yingliang, and the earthquake sounded in Guanzhong. Wei only then figured out where Zhuge Liang's main goal was, and the ministers of the imperial court were also panicked at this time, and the young Emperor Wei Ming was still quite calm, in order to build confidence for the ministers, he ordered the right general Zhang Jaw to lead 50,000 foot cavalry to Longyou to help the war, and he himself went to Chang'an to supervise the war.

Everything that happened at this time seemed to be developing towards Zhuge Liang's expectations, but Ma Yan's mistake shattered Zhuge Liang's dream. After Ma Tan arrived at the Jieting, he found that the narrow road (valley mouth) of the Jieting was not as narrow as Zhuge Liang thought, but a relatively open area. This is a bit difficult to resist the attack of the opposing army. Ma Tan thought he was smart, remembering that during the battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei had defended the high mountain and forced Cao Cao back, so he also wanted to follow suit, so he did not garrison the city, but led the army to climb Nanshan and set up camp on Nanshan.

The adjutant who followed Ma Tan was Wang Ping, who felt that the Nanshan Mountain where Ma Tan was guarding was far away from the water source, so he advised Ma Tan that he should obey Zhuge Liang's arrangement and garrison the city. However, Ma Jian did not listen to Wang Ping's advice, believing that the war should not be conformist, and should be won by surprise and ruin. Speaking of which, I also doubt whether Ma Jian is Zhuge Liang's descendant disciple, Zhuge Liang has been cautious all his life, and every battle is planned completely, and there is a degree of advance and retreat, but Ma Jian is a person who loves to be scheming, which is the opposite of Zhuge Liang's thoughts.

Cao Zhen's army reached the state of Yi and was stationed there. However, after Cao Zhen inquired about the garrison of Yiguo, he learned that Shu Han did not have any troops coming out of the Baochuan Road, and it was just a bluff. Cao Zhen knew that he had been fooled, and the real main force of Shu Han was in Longyou. So at that time, Cao Zhen made a quick decision, left his cronies, and led a small number of elite troops to defend the country, and he could go to investigate the situation if necessary. And Cao Zhen himself led the main force to immediately go to the Longshan front to support.

At this time, Zhang He had also reached the Longshan front, and learned through horse reconnaissance that Ma Tan did not defend the city, but was stationed on Nanshan, wanting to rely on the steep mountain to block the Wei army. Zhang He knew that his opportunity to make meritorious service had come, and he was gearing up to improve the morale of the army every day, hoping to defeat the enemy with one move.

At that time, Zhuge Liang did not give Ma Tan a lot of troops, after all, the street pavilion was too important, and he also hoped that Ma Tan could win the battle. So Zhang He ordered the siege of Nanshan and installed a large number of antlers in the encirclement to prevent Ma Jian from breaking through. After confined Ma Tan's army to the mountains, Zhang He ordered Ma Tan's army to be cut off from the road to get water, so that Ma Tan's army had no water to drink. Because the Nanshan Mountain guarded by Ma Tan was far away from the water source, it was easy for Zhang He to cut off the road to get water.

Zhuge Liang sent troops to the Northern Expedition in the spring, when it was already summer, the temperature was high, and Ma Tan's army was thirsty. After besieging for about two or three days, Ma Tan's army had basically lost its combat effectiveness, and Zhang He ordered the whole army to attack and encircle and suppress Ma Tan's army on the mountain. At this time, Ma Tan's army was already crushed, vulnerable to a blow, and was about to collapse at the first touch. Ma Jian himself saw that the general trend had gone, so he had no choice but to break through, only Wang Ping stuck to his post and ordered the army of more than 1,000 people around him to hide in the dense forest and beat drums loudly. The cautious Zhang He thought that it might be an ambush, so he did not rush in, but accepted it when he saw it and retreated. When Wang Ping saw Zhang He's army retreating, he led his army and slowly collected the remnants of the stragglers.

At this time, Zhuge Liang had already captured Ji County, the seat of Tianshui County, and was on his way to the front line of Longshan. But soon he heard the news of Ma Tan's defeat, and his expression suddenly sank when he heard it. At this time, Ma Jian was also arrested, and when he heard this, his face turned even redder, and Zhuge Liang reluctantly put his own successor, Ma Tan, into prison, ready to behead the public to correct the law and discipline. Ma Tan wrote a sincere letter to Zhuge Liang in prison, saying that although he died, he had no regrets. Ma Tan's final ending did not escape death, and as for how he died, there is no need to delve into it.

The end of the Northern Expedition

Losing the street pavilion is equivalent to losing the natural barrier of Longshan, Zhuge Liang has no barrier, and he will not be able to resist the Wei army, after all, the national strength, or the strength of the Shu Han can not confront the Wei State, and the Wei State has many years of elite soldiers, and brave cavalry; And the elite soldiers of Shu Han have been completely damaged in the defeat of Yiling, and the cavalry has not yet had time to form on a large scale.

At this time, Zhao Yun of the Xiegu Road front did not know the news of the defeat of Ma Yan's army, Zhao Yun found that Cao Zhen's army had withdrawn, leaving less troops than the troops he led, so he began to march forward slowly, and he was also ready to make some achievements, after all, it was his last time to lead the army, even if he died in an ambush, it was just his final belonging.

Cao Zhen's left-behind troops saw Zhao Yun marching, so they also went to the Baochudao Valley to block the attack, the two armies met in a narrow way, at that time Zhao Yun was careless, thinking that the opponent's troops were less than his own, and the army was led by an unknown unknown young general, where was his opponent? But he underestimated the Wei army, Cao Zhen left behind the elite of the Wei army, and the training was very strict in peacetime, and the war broke out in the narrow Baoxie Valley after all, and naturally the elite Wei army had the upper hand, and soon defeated Zhao Yun's Han army. In the chaotic army, Zhao Yun gathered scattered troops and guarded them at dangerous places, minimizing casualties.

But the Wei army did not accept it like Zhang He of the Longshan Front, Cao Zhen, a young general who was close to him, was also a fierce general, and still did not give up, and continued to pursue the remnants of Zhao Yun, and Zhao Yun knew that the army had been defeated, and punishment was indispensable, so he led his own guards and rejected the Wei army. After Zhao Yun personally broke off, the Han army naturally returned to Hanzhong safely, but in order to prevent the Wei army from going and returning, Zhao Yun ordered the plank road to be burned.

This was the end of the First Northern Expedition. For Wei, the biggest gain was that the anti-Wei forces of the Han people in Longxi were exposed, and the rebellion of the three counties was an exposure of the anti-Wei and pro-Han forces, which were uprooted by the Wei government. For Shu Han, the loss was very great, and the most regrettable thing was that he lost the best opportunity to take Longxi lightly, and there will be no such opportunity in the future.