Chapter 43 3. Northern Expedition

Ma Su died, Zhuge Liang wiped away his tears, and continued to mobilize troops and talk about martial arts, preparing for a new Northern Expedition.In December of the same year, Wei Guo and Wu Guo fought in Shiting. The main force of the Wei army was sent to the east, and the troops in Guanzhong were weak. Zhuge Liang took this opportunity to launch the second Northern Expedition. Zhuge Liang went out of Sanguan and surrounded Chencang.However, Chencang's terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Hao Zhao, the defender of the state of Wei, also made full preparations. Zhuge Liang led the army to attack and failed, so he sent Hao Zhao's fellow countryman Jin Xiang to the city to persuade him to surrender, but Hao Zhao refused.Zhuge Liang considered that he had tens of thousands of soldiers, and Chen Cang's garrison only had more than a thousand people. In addition, it would take some time for Wei's reinforcements to arrive, so he decided to launch a strong attack.

He used ladders and chariots to attack the city. Wei Jun shot the ladders with rockets, and smashed the chariots with ropes connected to stone mills. Both the ladders and chariots were burned and destroyed.Zhuge Liang built a 100-foot-high well fence, that is, a wooden building, and let the soldiers climb up the wooden building and shoot arrows into the city to cover the soldiers who filled the trench with soil and climbed directly into the city. The attack failed again.Zhuge Liang ordered people to dig tunnels into the city again. The Wei army used the tunnel to counter the tunnel and dug tunnels horizontally in the city to block the Shu army.

The two sides were defeated and defended, you came and went, and refused day and night. Before you knew it, more than 20 days had passed, Zhuge Liang's army ran out of food, and he had to lead his troops back.When Wei general Wang Shuang saw Zhuge retreating, he led his cavalry in pursuit.Zhuge Liang's inability to attack the city did not mean that his combat ability was weak. He turned around to fight Wang Shuang, easily defeated the Wei army, and killed Wang Shuang.At this time, General Wei's reinforcements were still on the way and had not reached Chencang. In 229 AD, Zhuge Liang made his third Northern Expedition.This time, in order to consolidate Hanzhong and open up the territory, Zhuge Liang sent Chen Shi to attack Wudu and Yinping counties, which were recovered by the Wei army after the first Northern Expedition to Shu and the Battle of Jieting.Guo Huai, governor of Yongzhou in the state of Wei, sent troops to rescue. Zhuge Liang personally led the main force to Jianwei to block the attack, and Guo Huai was forced to retreat.The counties of Wudu and Yinping returned to the Shu army. Zhuge Liang left troops to garrison and returned to Hanzhong by himself.

This time the Northern Expedition was victorious, and Liu Chan issued an edict to restore Zhuge Liang's prime minister status. Wudu and Yinping were occupied by the Shu army, and Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui was naturally reluctant. In 230 AD, he decided to launch an army to attack Shu.In August of that year, the Wei army divided into three groups. The chief Sima Cao Zhen led the main force to enter the Ziwu Valley from Chang'an, the left general Zhang He went out of the Xiegu, and the general Sima Yi went out from Jingzhou to Xicheng to attack Hanzhong.Zhuge Liang did not show weakness either. He led his troops to Chenggu and Akasaka, and ordered Hushi General Li Yan to lead 20,000 reinforcements to Hanzhong. Disturb the Wei army's rear to contain the Wei army.In Yangxi, the Shu army and the Wei army encountered each other, and the Shu army defeated Wei general Fei Yao and Yongzhou governor Guo Huai.General Wei continued to march. On the way, heavy rain fell for more than 30 days, mountain torrents occurred everywhere, roads were blocked, soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and luggage wasted a lot.The counselors Hua Xin, Yang Fu, and Wang Su wrote to Emperor Wei Ming, advising him not to force his way forward, but to retreat in spite of difficulties, so as to try again.Emperor Ming of Wei listened to the opinion, and in September issued an order for all the troops to return to the army, and the campaign against Shu was suspended.

In February 231 AD, after two years of preparation, Zhuge Liang made his fourth Northern Expedition and surrounded Qishan Mountain.In the past, the Shu army was always trapped by the shortage of military supplies. This time Zhuge Liang used wooden oxen to transport the military supplies, and made preparations for a long-term battle with the Wei army. Wei Mingdi sent General Sima Yi to Chang'an, left General Zhang He, and Yongzhou Inspector Guo Huai to defend the Shu army.Sima Yi asked his subordinates Fei Yao and Dai Ling to lead 4,000 people to guard Shangyu, and led the main force to rescue Qishan.Zhuge Liang continued to attack Qishan while dividing his troops, and at the same time personally led the main force to attack Sima Yi.Guo Huai and Fei Yao led their troops to attack the Shu army, but were defeated by Zhuge Liang. The Shu army took advantage of the situation to harvest the local cooked wheat as rations.Sima Yi defended according to the danger, no matter how the Shu army challenged him, he would not fight, Zhuge Liang had no choice but to retreat.Sima Yi followed him to Lucheng again like a shadow, but built his camp against the mountain, only confronting the Shu army and never attacking.In May, the generals of the Wei army couldn't bear their temper and asked to attack. Sima Yi had no choice but to order Zhang Yun to surround the Shu army in Qishan, but failed to conquer.Sima Yi himself led his troops to attack Zhuge Liang, but was defeated by Wei Yan and other troops sent by Zhuge Liang.The Shu army defeated the Wei army and obtained 3,000 armor heads, 5,000 black armor collars, and 3,000 horned crossbows. Sima Yi hurried back to the camp.

In June, Zhuge Liang ordered Li Yan to transport rations to the front line. At this time, it was raining heavily and the mountain roads collapsed, making it very difficult to transport rations. Li Yan wrote to Zhuge Liang to explain the situation.Zhuge Liang saw that the army food was not enough, so he had to withdraw his troops.Sima Yi sent Zhang He to pursue him and chased him to the wooden gate. The Shu army set up an ambush on a high place, fired bows and arrows, and finally shot Zhang He, who was a confidant, and Zhuge Liang returned to Hanzhong. The fourth time the troops were withdrawn was again because of the difficulty in transporting military rations, so Zhuge Liang set up a ration station at Xiegukou to prepare for the war.In February 234 A.D., Guanlong, which had been silent for three years, started to smoke again. Zhuge Liang led an army of 100,000 to carry out the fifth and last Northern Expedition.In this Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang sent envoys to Wu at the same time to ask Sun Quan to send troops at the same time, in order to seek support from east and west.Zhuge Liang himself went against the old routine of marching troops from Qishan, entering the inclined valley and exiting Longdong.

In April, Zhuge Liang went to Mei County and stationed in the south of the Wei River.Sima Yi also led his troops across the Wei River and built fortifications against the Shu army.Zhuge Liang entered Wuzhangyuan, and Sima Yi sent his governor, Guo Huai, to seize Beiyuan.Zhuge Liang was worried that the difficulty in transporting military rations would be a hindrance again, so he divided his troops to garrison the fields and made preparations for a long-term garrison. In May, Sun Quan cooperated with Zhuge Liang's offensive and led an army of 100,000 to conquer Hefei. At the same time, he ordered Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin to lead troops to attack Xiangyang, and Sun Shao and Zhang Cheng to attack Guangling and Huaiyang.Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui sent Qin Lang to lead 20,000 people to assist Sima Yi, and he personally led the main force to block the Wu army.After the Wu army arrived north of the Yangtze River, the acclimatization of the water and soil affected their combat effectiveness, and they hurriedly withdrew in July.

In August, Sima Yi followed Wei Mingdi's instruction of "holding the wall and refusing to defend, and waiting for work with ease", no matter how Zhuge Liang challenged him, he resolutely ignored it and did not fight.Unknowingly, more than a hundred days have passed, it was still summer when it came, and now the coolness of autumn is gradually approaching, and the long-term hard work has made Zhuge Liang exhausted physically and mentally, and his physical condition is getting worse and worse.Helpless, Zhuge Liang had no choice but to ask someone to give Sima Yi a special gift. In contrast, Sima Yi was much more relaxed. It seemed that he was not here to fight, but to experience life in the wilderness.On this day, when he was leisurely admiring the autumn scenery by the river, an envoy from Shu Han came to the military camp of Wei State, claiming that Zhuge Liang had a gift.Sima Yi politely invited him into the big tent, opened the gift box and saw that it was a brightly colored woman's clothing.Sima Yi laughed and said, "I've heard that the Shu brocade is extremely beautiful. Seeing it once is better than hearing it a hundred times. However, this dress may be a bit too big for a woman to wear." The envoy of Shu Han replied coldly: "Wrong, this is not The ones for Mrs. Zun are for you, the governor. My prime minister said, since you are a general of the Wei state, you don’t want to fight, but hiding in the camp is no different from a woman. If you still have a little manly spirit, go early Come out and decide the winner!"

After Sima Yi heard this, his face was flushed with anger, and after sending the envoy away, he summoned all the generals and said: "The people of Shu Han are deceiving too much, so I will go to your Majesty and ask him to cancel the imperial decree he insisted on, and do whatever he says. Fight to the death with Zhuge Liang!" Cao Rui was confused when he received the letter asking for a fight, the general is out, and the king's order is not acceptable, so why bother to ask for it?Simpi smiled: "You don't understand Zhongda, he doesn't want to fight now at all, he just waits for you to issue an edict to deal with those subordinates who want to fight." Cao Rui suddenly realized, and sent Simpi to bring the stick festival Serve Sima Yi as a military adviser.

From then on, whenever Zhuge Liang came to challenge, Sima Yi would lead his troops to fight, and Simpi would hold the stick knot to block the entrance of the camp, and Sima Yi would not send troops.After Jiang Wei heard about it, he came to Zhuge Liang and said: "Xin Pi has come with a stick festival, and the enemy will not fight." Of course Zhuge Liang knew what the Wei people were playing, so he sighed and said: "Sima Yi is not at all. I don’t want to fight, that’s why I go to fight for thousands of miles, so as to block the mouth of the three armies. The general is out, and the king’s life is not accepted. If he can really win us, he won’t go back to go to fight.”

Zhuge Liang was able to see Sima Yi's tricks, but he couldn't force him to submit, so he had to send an envoy again to inquire about the news. Sima Yi still smiled and entertained the envoy with good wine and good food. He didn't mention military and political affairs, but asked Zhuge Liang about his diet living.The envoy replied: "The prime minister is busy with official duties every day, sleeps from morning to night, forgets to eat and sleep, and he has to personally interrogate all punishments of more than 20 rods, and eats very little every day." Sima Yi nodded his approval when he heard this, "It's really touching. As soon as the envoy left, he shook his head to his own people and said: "Zhuge Liang has worked so hard, his life will not be long." That month, Zhuge Liang fell ill from overwork and could not afford to fall ill.The Empress Liu Chan then sent Li Fu to visit Zhuge Liang's condition. A few days later, Li Fu left and returned, and Zhuge Liang's condition had deteriorated by this time.Knowing the meaning of Li Fu's visit, he said: "After I die, the military and political affairs can be handed over to Jiang Wan. After Jiang Wan, I can hand over to Fei Yi." Li Fu asked again, what about after Fei Yi?Zhuge Liang was silent and didn't answer any more. The Wuzhang Plain is vast and green, the Qinchuan River is endless, and the autumn wind whimpers across the field with a cool feeling. Zhuge Liang knew that he was going to bid farewell to the world here.Since he left Longzhong with Liu Bei at the age of 27, another 27 years have passed like this.He spent half his life working hard, fighting and fighting but never got half of the country. Even though Zhuge Liang was willing to endure the pain of pommel and horse fatigue and realize the ideal of governing the country in peace and stability, God did not give him time.The autumn colors are bleak, the autumn sounds are bleak, Zhuge Liang passed away in endless regrets, at the age of 54, and the seven-year battle of Zhuge Liang's defeat of Wei came to an end. After Zhuge Liang's death, the Shu army retreated orderly under the leadership of Yang Yi.When Sima Yi received the report, he became violent immediately, and immediately led his troops to pursue it. Jiang Wei ordered the Shu army to turn around and prepare for a decisive battle.After the Shu army withdrew, he carefully inspected the camp left by Zhuge Liang, and couldn't help admiring: "Zhuge Liang is really a genius in the world!" What kind of praise can compare with the praise of the enemy? ! The national power of the Shu State is several times that of the Wei State, and it cannot compete with the Wei State at all.What's more, the Kingdom of Shu occupies dangerous terrain, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Why doesn't the Kingdom of Shu defend its territory, recuperate, and accumulate national power?This is a question that many people don't understand, and some people criticize Zhuge Liang's military strategy because of this.In fact, the real purpose of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was not a decisive battle with Wei, but to get Xiliang, which has a strong people and more horses. Zhuge Liang realized that Jingzhou could not be regained, and Yizhou was not enough to rule the world. Once he controlled Yongliang, he could not only cut off the right arm of Wei State, but also save his own strength.Moreover, there is no Soochow who will renege on the covenant at any time, so that the revision of "Longzhong Dui" can be realized on the whole, and the great cause of restoring the Han Dynasty can be realized step by step. The entire Northern Expedition took Yongliang as its strategic goal and fought around the Guanlong area.Looking back at the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang would be able to achieve a slow plan for Guanzhong if the street pavilions were not lost for the first time; the second time Li Yan was lucky with food and grass, he could defeat Sima Yi with his post-war advantage; It can shake Wei's western interests.There is a possibility of victory every time, but Zhuge Liang missed the victory every time, and finally drank and hated Weishui.Perhaps success not only depends on one's own efforts, but also requires the fulfillment of God. The objective situation was not conducive to him, and the opponent was too strong, which made Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition only blossom but not bear fruit.However, the greatness of Zhuge Liang's personality is reflected in his courage to challenge fate, and never bow to difficulties and despair. As long as he is alive, he will keep working hard and making progress. In his own words, it is "bow to do your best, and die , As for success or failure, it is beyond the knowledge of a minister to see against it."In this sense, Zhuge Liang has a perfect life journey, and people love and admire him not only out of admiration for his ideal of helping the world and helping the people, but also for his admiration for his wisdom and outstanding ability to handle affairs, and because of his admiration for difficulties. The admiration of the strength of personality that is progressive and enterprising.