After the defeat of Jingxiang Campaign, Liu Bei Group lost three counties in Jingzhou. Fundamentally speaking, Shu has dropped out of the world. When Liu Bei attacked Wu, he was actually making a final struggle. Before attacking Wu, Liu Bei tried to establish diplomatic relations with Wei, which was the only time in the history of the Three Kingdoms that Shu extended an olive branch to Wei. What do you mean? In other words, after losing the three counties of Jingzhou, the first enemy of Shu is not Wei, but Wu, whether for the world or for self-defense.
Here we can mention the geographical advantage: Wei established by Cao Cao was the latest to attack Hanzhong. After the occupation of Hanzhong, the army did not consider attacking Yizhou at all. In Cao Cao's eyes, it doesn't matter to win Yizhou. On the contrary, it forced back the main force of Liu Bei Group and increased the pressure on Jingzhou. If Liu Bei lost Yizhou, he had not lost four counties in Jingzhou at that time, and he could still resist Cao Cao in Jingzhou direction. Therefore, the focus of the world is only Jingzhou. Of course, Yizhou's geographical location is also an important factor, but it is definitely not the first factor. If Yizhou had played an important role in the struggle for the world, Cao Cao would have won it under such favorable circumstances at that time.
When Liu Bei lost Jingzhou, in the direction of Hanzhong, the basic situation was that he could not attack and Wei could not attack. If you can't attack, you can use Zhuge Liang's five defeats in Qishan as evidence, but Wei can't attack. There is no evidence. If you have to produce evidence, you can only tell Jiang Wei after Zhuge Liang's death after years of tossing and turning. At that time, Zhuge Liang had not left Qishan five times, and Liu Bei was a strategist. He is really accurate in judging whether he can attack, but his estimation is a bit conservative. Due to the failure of establishing diplomatic relations with Wei (the emissary was killed by Cao Pi), the situation forced him to settle down first, otherwise he could cut more than 50 thousand soldiers of Wu.
What about the direction of Jingzhou? If Liu Bei wants to compete for the world, he must have a place. This is the so-called place where he can enter and retreat. Be military. If you can't occupy a part of Jingzhou, even if you just want to keep it, you can't keep it. It only takes tens of thousands of soldiers to attack Yizhou from Jingzhou, and Liu Bei himself has just succeeded. So the final result can only be that Wei destroyed Wu and then sent troops from Jingzhou to destroy Shu, or Wu destroyed Shu. As for whether Wu destroyed Wei first and then Shu, Shu first and then Wei, or was destroyed by Wei, it is no longer something that the leaders of Shu need to consider. In short, you can't keep the direction of Jingzhou, and you can only die faster if you want to defend on both sides. If Wei and Wu join hands to destroy Shu from Hanzhong and Jingzhou, Wu Deli's geographical advantage will be even greater. So Wei didn't want to carve up Shu with the Wu family; If the situation is reversed, at that time, Wu was the most powerful, Wei was the second child, and Shu had already been destroyed by Wu.
Therefore, Liu Bei will attack Wu with an army of 50 thousand. In Liu Bei's vision, 50 thousand troops are almost enough. Obviously, his goal was not to destroy Wu, but to force Wu to return several counties in Jingzhou under the powerful situation of Wei at that time. If the March goes smoothly, it is best to capture several counties directly, and you can exchange Jingzhou territory with Wu. Even if the siege is unfavorable, as long as the hostile situation is maintained, after a certain period of time-because while Liu Bei is attacking Wu, Wei will continue to gather troops in Jingzhou, and Wei will also gather troops to a certain extent. Wu Hui gave way to Shu under pressure, and Liu Bei was returned to Jingzhou, three counties and two counties, which seemed acceptable. Everything depends on Wei Fang's speed and strength. Unfortunately, the result of this war was Liu Bei's direct defeat. Of course, this paper contract can't appear in history books.
Even if Liu Bei attacked Wu Deli, he wouldn't be stupid enough to attack important cities in Wu Dong and confront Wu Jun's main force. Is it possible for 50 thousand troops to destroy Wu? Don't you know that fighting is not afraid of losing, but of winning? In ancient and modern times, at home and abroad, which extremely tragic defeat did not appear until Lien Chan's winning streak finally led to a long front? It is precisely because his purpose is not to destroy Wu that he is not in a hurry to attack, but is content with stalemate.
Because Liu Bei only used 50,000 soldiers to attack Wu, Wei would never consider attacking Shu in Hanzhong direction, and Liu Bei's main force was obviously in Hanzhong defense. So Liu Bei doesn't have to worry about Hanzhong. He lost, and he doesn't have to worry about Wu's massive pursuit of Shu. Because Wei does not consider attacking Shu from Hanzhong, and the Shu army in Hanzhong is in a purely defensive posture, Wei Jun's main force will be in Jingzhou. If both Liu Bei and Wu suffered heavy losses and Wei took the opportunity to attack Wu, it would be possible to destroy Wu in one fell swoop. The troops prepared are absolutely powerful. Liu Bei has only fifty thousand soldiers, so he can't compete with Wei. However, Wu hurried back to Jingzhou to reconcile with Liu Bei, and it is more likely to join hands with Wei again. When Liu Bei was defeated, Wei would not let Wu take the opportunity to destroy Shu, and the troops prepared were enough to ensure that Wu did not dare to cut Shu on a large scale. Judging from the situation that victory can benefit, equality can benefit, and defeat is worry-free, Liu Bei's purpose is to win the world and make the last blog. Adventure? Fifty thousand troops can be said to be risky, but this is only a local war. It is impossible for Wu to deal with Liu Bei's attack with the power of dumping the country, and there is no fear of losing. It can be said that there is no risk at all. The only thing worthy of our admiration is that Liu Bei wrote this blog after his attempt to establish diplomatic relations with Wei failed.
Liu Bei's ambition is obviously to fight for the world. He is indeed a hero. And judging the situation is like seeing it. Naive great strategist! It's a pity that Liu Bei was so bad as a tactician that he was defeated by the young Lu Xun.
Strategic overview: strive for the world
Zhuge Liang era:
After Liu Bei's death, it was Zhuge Liang's time. At that time, Shu was unable to defend Jingzhou. If two-thirds of the troops defend Jingzhou and one-third defend Hanzhong, the result can only be that both sides can't defend. So how can Zhuge Liang live all his life, not only saving Shu, but also saving five trips to Qishan?
Actually, the problem is very simple. Zhuge Liang's attack on Wei was based on the unguarded direction of Jingzhou. Only in this way can he attract his troops to attack Wei. We can calculate that Jingzhou Legion was completely annihilated, and Liu Bei's attack on Si Wu was almost completely annihilated. How many Shu soldiers can Zhuge Liang keep? After the rebellion in the south continued, the ethnic minorities were hostile to the Shu government and garrison troops were sent from all directions, could Zhuge Liang still have enough troops to attack Wei? Or to put it bluntly, will Zhuge Liang still have soldiers in his hand?
Then the problem is coming. Now that you have withdrawn from the fight for the world and are bent on success, why should you cut Wei? The unguarded direction of Jingzhou actually sent a message to Wu: If Wu attacked Shu, Shu might immediately unite with Wei and even surrender to Wei. Therefore, Zhuge Liang will probably only send weak defenders at the defensive points such as Ba County and Luocheng, and its significance is only to prevent Wu from quickly destroying Shu. For example, it took only three to five months to capture Chengdu, giving yourself enough time to return from Hanzhong to accept peace talks with Wei or send troops to attack Wu after surrender. In this situation, did Wu dare to attack Shu? The weaker the defense against Jingzhou, the less likely it is for Wu to attack Shu casually. For Zhuge Liang himself, this layout is equivalent to directly saying that if Wu is destroyed, Shu will be destroyed, so Wei will be cut.
Cutting Wei can have the following meanings: first, it can contain Wei soldiers so that they can't attack Wu with all their strength and Wu Bao can survive; Second, boost morale; Third, expand the territory.
Zhuge Liang attacked Wei, facing the second main force of Wei, and the first main force of Wei was always in Jingzhou. No matter how busy Qishan is, Wei will not be transferred from Jingzhou, the first main group. Wei has the ability to fight on both sides, which can be proved by the fact that Shu was destroyed first after Wei and Wu was destroyed after Jin. It's just that the terrain in Hanzhong is conducive to defending against attacks. Zhuge Liang did not attack Wei, but only wanted to protect himself. Zhuge Liang's troops used to attack Wei should be placed on the defense line against Wu in Jingzhou direction. In fact, the effect is that Wu and Shu are not aligned with each other, and most of Wei Er's main group can go to Jingzhou battlefield. I'm afraid the situation in Jingzhou has changed a long time ago, with the destruction of Wu and the death of Shu.
Therefore, every time Zhuge Liang attacked Wei, he almost informed Wu, asking Wu to cooperate in sending troops, or attacked Wei while Wu was fighting Wei in Jingzhou. But Wu never really cooperated, whether laying bricks or bluffing. Yao Ming and Wei are fighting a fierce battle. When Zhuge Liang sent troops, Jingzhou stopped fighting for the two families. Why? For Wei, if Zhuge Liang in Qishan is defeated and the main force is destroyed or greatly damaged, Wei is fully qualified to fight on both sides, and Jingzhou will take the defensive and destroy Shu first. And Wu? It was before Wei destroyed Shu that Jingzhou was also on the defensive. Wu has two advantages over Wei. There is a precedent of Liu Bei's success on the route. Jingzhou's defense line, Shu is weaker than Hanzhong, much weaker than when Liu Bei attacked Yizhou.
If Zhuge Liang wins Qishan, for example, Wei Yan's plan of "Meridian Valley Raiders" is adopted and successful, Wei Jingzhou Corps will go to put out the fire. What about Wu? In fact, Wu has two choices, that is, it can attack Wei or Shu, which all depend on the offensive intention of Wu's decision makers after judging the situation. If Wu's final decision is to attack Shu, he may not even have to conquer Chengdu, but seize the meaningful barrier to defend Zhuge Liang's return to the army. At this time, it is difficult for Zhuge Liang to return to the army to deal with Wu, because Wei may not agree to a truce. Zhuge Liang forced Wei to use Jingzhou's main force, and the war situation had too great an impact, which was the so-called menace. Wei may decide to stall Zhuge Liang's main force and try to eliminate it, or chase after him. In the end, Zhuge Liang's main force was completely annihilated under the attack of Wu and Wei, and there was no way to retreat.
The situation has developed to a certain extent, for example, Wu has captured Yizhou, or captured the defensive point in the direction of Hanzhong, and the geographical position already belongs to Wu. Wei is not afraid of rushing to attack Jingzhou. Even if Jingzhou is captured by several counties and Yizhou is captured, the gains outweigh the losses. As long as Yizhou Jingzhou Yangzhou can be connected in a line, the war will take the initiative to hold hands. Therefore, Zhuge Liang's desire to occupy a piece of territory is almost equal to his desire to succeed in an unprofitable business. It is not surprising that Zhuge Liang lost all five wars. We can't say that Zhuge Liang's military level is extremely poor, let alone doubt his political level and ability to govern the country, accuse him of wasting national strength and so on.
Zhuge Liang's attack on Wei is tantamount to a brilliant game of playing with fire, and he has very strict requirements on the control of the temperature. Its main force can neither lose troops nor act rashly. His purpose can only be to defeat and destroy Wei's military power, not to stop attacking and destroy the army that Wei can mobilize from other sources, and it must be at a low price and with extremely low losses. Once Wei has to use Jingzhou No.1 main group to deal with Zhuge Liang, the military balance of Jingzhou Wu and Wei will be broken, which is the point where Wu entered the war. If the State of Wu decides to fight against the State of Wei, there will be an opportunity for Wu and Shu to join hands to destroy Wei. In order for Wu to choose Wei as a side of the war, Zhuge Liang must not lose too much in his own strength or burn the war too brightly. If all the first main forces of Wei in Jingzhou go to war, Zhuge Liang will really get burned.
Therefore, when Zhuge Liang was slightly frustrated in cutting Wei, he immediately withdrew. He never fought the main battle, occupied three counties, and only moved the population to Shu, but he didn't keep it at all. If you send troops to guard it, it will become a war of attrition, and Zhuge Liang does not have this capital. Please note that Zhuge Liang did not use the guards in Hanzhong to attack Wei, so he lost every time, and he will be fine when he comes back. Wei's pursuit could not shake his carefully constructed and well-prepared Hanzhong defense line at all.
Therefore, it is natural that Wei Yan's military plan for the Meridian Valley was rejected. If there is a surprise attack on the meridian valley, Zhuge Liang's main force must quickly attack the oblique valley to cooperate with it, and that is the main decisive battle. No matter how successful Woods Valley Raiders are, even if Tongguan is captured, what's the point of capturing Chang 'an? Although the steamed bread is big, the question is whether it can be swallowed. The first main group of Wei Jingzhou was transferred to fight against Shu, while Wu attacked Shu from Jingzhou with the power of dumping the country. Who will stop it? Even if Wu's choice was to go to war with Wei, and Wu and Shu joined hands to successfully destroy Wei, would Zhuge Liang still have the strength to compete with Wu for victory after the destruction of Wei? That's not a wedding dress for people to wear, to help Wu destroy Wei, and then he will be destroyed by Wu soon.
Strategic overview: defend the country and fight for the world.
Jiangyi era:
Zhuge Liang's game should be explained to his successor, Jiang Wan. More likely, Jiang Wan saw through the game and put forward and discussed Zhuge Liang's weak defense in Jingzhou, so Zhuge Liang chose him as his successor. After Jiang Wan took over, he completely overthrew Zhuge Liang's layout, gave up cutting Wei from Hanzhong, and transferred all Zhuge Liang's troops to Jingzhou to build a defense line in Jingzhou. The advantage of this is that the security is greatly increased, eliminating the danger that Wu suddenly attacked and destroyed Shu during Zhuge Liang's period; The disadvantage is that giving up the expansion of the army and not provoking the burden of recruiting troops in Weiyi will greatly increase the pressure on Wu. Under the principle of destroying Wu, the life span of Shu will be greatly shortened. Zhuge Liang's strategy is to try to maintain a glimmer of hope for the world, that is, the possibility of Wu and Shu joining hands to destroy Wei, but at the same time it is in danger of being destroyed by Wu Su; And it is precisely because of Jingzhou's lack of defense that even if Wu and Shu joined forces to destroy Wei, the income of Shu can be imagined. This is determined by the innate conditions of Shu as the weakest party, which is irreversible and has nothing to do with Zhuge Liang's talent. And Jiang Wan's policy really doesn't mean to fight for the world.
If Jiang Wan wants to change Zhuge Liang's original layout, he can't let his subordinates let the people know that we are weak, that Wu can't attack from Jingzhou, and that he is not qualified to attack Wei at all, let alone let the people know Zhuge Liang's adventure in this game. If it is leaked at this time, it will also make people panic. Zhuge Liang just died, maybe the situation in Shu will collapse soon. Therefore, when Jiang Wan overthrew Zhuge Liang's layout, he announced that the reason was: with the superb intelligence of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, it was impossible to attack Wei from Hanzhong, let alone us, so we had to change our strategy and attack Wei. Shout or attack slogan, the recovery of the Han dynasty, but throughout his life, never from Zhiyong to Wei used a single soldier. In fact, without affecting the morale of the people, he quietly transferred all Zhuge Liang's soldiers who attacked Wei to protect Jingzhou's big move. Powerful, therefore, Zhuge Liang, the successor, made the right choice.
Strategic overview: defending the country
With this game set by Jiang Wan, we can know that whether Wei destroyed Wu or Wu destroyed Wei, how they played and how lively they played, Shu was basically all right. Jiang Wan's game is the most common double-sided defensive game I mentioned earlier. It can be said that this game is not creative, but its only advantage, two-sided defense, combined with the situation of Wei and Wu at that time and the geographical location of Shu, ensured that Shu must be a country that was later destroyed. Only when Wu and Wei divide and rule and one side is destroyed will Shu perish. But in the end, how did Shu perish first? Strange, isn't it? Then I have to mention Jiang Wei.
Jiang Wei era:
Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Zhuge Liang were all contemporaries. After several years, I paid them all. It's the younger generation's turn to perform on stage. Jiang Wei first transferred all the defenders in Jingzhou to attack Wei. Why? Don't the people hand-picked by the marquis of Wu know the mind of the marquis of Wu? In fact, Zhuge Liang did not choose Jiang Wei as his successor in history, or even had the intention, so it was impossible to explain the game to him. In fact, he did not have the weight to contain Wu like Zhuge Liang, so that Wu did not dare to attack Shu easily. Why? Wu didn't start work because he didn't touch the Jingzhou defense line set by Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wei attacked Wei and fought a war of attrition. When his troops were exhausted, he fled back, then adjusted the defensive forces of Hanzhong and Yizhou deeper, supplemented them, and then went to war. Therefore, after capturing Seoul and Lecheng, the two most important defense points in Hanzhong, there are only 5,000 defenders left in each city. There is such a way of consumption and such a way of adjusting troops. The Hanzhong defense line laid by previous generations of soldiers, including Zhuge Liang, is riddled with holes, and the whole Yizhou defense system is riddled with holes. Therefore, it is not surprising that Wei randomly chose one of these caves to sneak in and destroy Shu.
Strategic overview: consuming mountains and rivers