Zhuge Liang, a famous face through the ages, shows more than just loyalty. After the pillars of Shu Han passed away one after another, he kept Liu Bei's promise when he was "the White Emperor City to support the orphans", fully assisted Liu Chan, and finally died on the way to the Northern Expedition. However, his heart disease could not be lifted, and he died with regret. Although later generations believed that Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was far-sighted, at the time, he considered his strategy a complete failure. During the first Northern Expedition, 11 generals were sacrificed.
So, who are these 11 generals?What kind of impact did the loss of them have on the political situation of Shu Han?After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang's body became weaker and weaker, and Liu Chan was suspicious of the court, so he could only rely on the support of his common ideals with Liu Bei. At that moment, he was not just to repay the kindness, but to integrate Liu Bei's ideals with his own pursuits. Only when the Shu Han regime is stable can he enjoy his old age in peace. Once upon a time, he hid in the deep mountains and old forests to observe the general trend of the world.
Fame was far and wide, and there was a constant stream of visitors, but few people were willing to listen to him or talk to him, and only one did. On that day, he slowly came out of the inner chamber, looked at the three men of different temperaments who were close to him, and realized that no matter what the future may be, they could not be separated, that this close alliance was solid, that the central characters also had great ambitions, and that their common cause would be accomplished. When he looked at Liu Bei's eyes, a surge of determination surged in his heart.
Liu Bei stopped Zhang Fei's reckless move and saluted Zhuge Liang respectfully. As a descendant of the royal family, he does not have the arrogant aura of repeatedly visiting the thatched house but being rejected. Unlike those who are impatient, he knows how to grasp people's hearts. In the more than 20 years that Zhuge Liang has been away from the world, he heard Liu Bei's plan for his future path for the first time, as well as a complete life ideal. It was also at that time that Zhuge Liang decided to go out of the mountain with Liu Bei at the moment when he raised the fan and put the fan.
Following Liu Bei, "reviving the Han family" has also become his lifelong ambition after that, this commitment is not easy to let go, he walked out of the thatched hut, which means life and death together, a lifetime of perseverance. When Zhuge Liang served Liu Bei with his generals, he did not receive their respect at first, but as time went on, they began to change their views and even began to obey his commands. Zhuge Liang successfully integrated into Liu Bei's team with a series of exquisite strategies.
However, as time passed, he had to bid farewell to his former comrades-in-arms one after another, until finally it was the turn of the lord. On the dying moment of the White Emperor City, Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei clasped hands and expressed their regret and worry about the lord. He knew that once Liu Bei left, the entire Shu Han regime would face downfall, and Zhuge Liang would need to support the entire regime.
Zhuge Liang's promise to Liu Bei before his sickbed was not a lie, just as he promised to follow Liu Bei many years ago, he once said that "do your best, and then die", and he will live up to his promise. In the last stage of his life, Zhuge Liang felt that although he was powerless, his frequent expeditions aggravated his physical illness. He tried hard to realize the ambition left by Liu Bei, but his physical weakness made him unable to do so. After Zhuge Liang's death, power was completely handed over to Liu Chan, but who would be as obsessed with the Northern Expedition as he was?
Every time he sent troops, he was determined to win, but the results were not satisfactory. Perhaps, the fiasco of the First Northern Expedition had already foreshadowed the final outcome?Therefore, Zhuge Liang was full of worries, and died of illness on the way before he could wait for the victory of the Fifth Northern Expedition. Even at the last moment of his life, he still looked at the direction that Liu Bei's group had always wanted to attack, that was the world of the Han family, the place where the Han family ruled the whole territory, and the place where he and his companions had tried their best but still failed to capture.
In 234 BC, Zhuge Liang died in Wuzhangyuan, and like Liu Bei, he died at the age of fifty-four with deep regret. The end of his life symbolized the defeat of the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty, and also foreshadowed the collapse of the Shu Han Group's goal of "reviving the Han Dynasty". Zhuge Liang repeatedly regretted the failure of the first Northern Expedition until his death. Would it have ended differently if 11 generals hadn't been lost in the first campaign?
The most unsuccessful battle of the First Northern Expedition, the Battle of Jieting, is considered the most crucial battle of the Northern Expedition. At that time, Zhuge Liang personally led the army to the valley, and he needed to choose a suitable person to defend the strategically important place of Jieting. However, although Zhuge Liang has made great achievements in strategy, his vision is far less vicious than Liu Bei's. At that time, Zhao Yun, the most reliable general in the Shu Han camp, was difficult to get out of the side battlefield.
In the choice between Ma Tan and Wei Yan, Zhuge Liang finally decided to let Ma Tan go to Shoujie Pavilion, because he only took into account the great military exploits that Ma Tan had made when he accompanied him to the Southern Barbarians. Ma Tan ignored Liu Bei's warnings, showing his recklessness and rashness in military decision-making. Although he performed valiantly on the battlefield, he lacked military intelligence, overconfidence, and was a good talker. Such a style often leads to failure, and as Liu Bei foresaw, Ma Jian is not a qualified manager.
Although the people around him repeatedly advised him to choose a place to be stationed carefully, he insisted on leading his army to attack Gushan, boasting: "This terrain is dangerous, we will stay here, wait for Cao's army to come, kill from the mountain in one fell swoop, and ensure that the opponent is caught off guard!."However, he ran into Zhang He, a veteran of Cao Wei's camp, who immediately discovered his flaw and cut off the Shu army's food and water sources, so that the Shu army was defeated without fighting. The loss of Ma Tan's street pavilion completely disrupted Zhuge Liang's plan for the Northern Expedition.
The main force was cut off from the grain route, and fell into the enemy's flank, Zhuge Liang had to abandon the three counties of Longxi that he had just captured, and urgently withdrew his troops back to Shu. This was Zhuge Liang's closest Northern Expedition to victory, but an incompetent Ma Tan directly disrupted all plans, making his first Northern Expedition a failure. Even if Zhuge Liang valued Ma Jian again, he could not avoid severe punishment. Ma Tan knew that he had made a big mistake, and he was willing to be punished, and took the initiative to ask Zhuge Liang for his guilt.
He knew very well that in order to appease the army, Zhuge Liang had to sacrifice the military flag with his blood today. "Over the years, the prime minister has taught me like a son, and I have respected the prime minister as a father. Now that Ma Jian has committed a capital crime, I am willing to accept the guilt and accept punishment, and I only ask the prime minister to take care of my family, and Ma Jian has died without regret. ”。Although Zhuge Liang was saddened to lose the opportunity of the Northern Expedition, he was also very painfully aware that he had to personally execute the generals he valued. Faced with Ma Tan's sincere confession, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but burst into tears.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have died, Zhao Yun died of exhaustion on the battlefield due to this strategic mistake, and now he has to kill Ma Jian and his two deputy generals, Shu Han lost four powerful generals at once, how should the future battle start?Despite his deep affection for Ma Jian, Zhuge Liang still obeyed the military order and personally killed Ma Jian and his two lieutenants, Zhang Xiu and Li Sheng. At this point, Shu Han's first Northern Expedition ended in complete failure.
In addition to the sacrifices of these four generals, seven other generals died in this war, causing heavy losses to the Shu Han camp. After Zhao Yun's death, Zhuge Liang was deeply distressed. However, when he received the ** list, the whole person quickly declined. Among the fallen soldiers listed on the list, there are seven generals mentioned in the "Later Division" such as Yang Qun, Ma Yu, Yan Zhi, Ding Li, Bai Shou, Liu Jaw and Deng Tong, all of whom were personally selected by him before leaving the army, representing the best military force of Shu Han.
Their sacrifice made the future Northern Expedition even more difficult. Yang Qun, Yan Zhi, and Deng Tong are all highly regarded figures. Yang Qun was the person Zhuge Liang had to surrender with great effort, known as the "Sword King of Sichuan", and was once a general under Liu Zhang, and he had dozens of battles at the peak of Zhao Yun without a winner. He was loyal and upright, Liu Bei refused to surrender after entering Shu, and even gathered his troops to fight a decisive battle with Liu Bei's army, showing a firm will.
Zhuge Liang valued his talent and adopted the strategy of "three captures and three verticals" to successfully recruit him. After the generals of the Shu Han camp died one after another, Zhuge Liang cultivated them as the main forward force. Yan Zhi had an outstanding talent for both strategy and force, and after Zhang Fei's death, he succeeded Zhang Fei as the Taishou of Bajun. In terms of local governance, he is more wise than Zhang Fei, good at recognizing people and making good use of them, and promoting benevolent governance. In military operations, he was no less impressive.
When Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Xun's "Burning Joint Venture" plan and almost died, Yan Zhi led his troops to arrive in time, turning the tide of the battle with only 5,000 cavalry and saving the elite forces of the Shu Han camp. Deng Tong was known as the "invincible general in Sichuan", and he was extremely brave on the battlefield, and even Zhao Yun recognized his combat effectiveness. For the Shu Han camp, which lacked young generals, the loss of such a spare military talent made it more difficult for the Shu army in the subsequent battles.
The other four generals are not clearly recorded in the history books, but they can be mentioned in Zhuge Liang's "Teacher Table", and it is conceivable that they are by no means ordinary people. The loss of these military forces made the situation of Shu Han decline day by day, and it came to an end from prosperity to decline. After the failure of the Northern Expedition many times, criticism of Zhuge Liang gradually rose within the Shu Han regime, believing that Zhuge Liang's belligerent behavior was draining Shu Han's combat power, and in the long run, Shu Han's combat power would gradually be exhausted.
However, only Zhuge Liang and his supporters, who were able to see the overall situation, knew that in order to revive the Han dynasty, this war must be carried out, otherwise once the northern forces gathered enough strength to go south, Shu Han would be destroyed in an instant. Zhuge Liang was not only a lofty goal for himself, but also the object of his lord Liu Bei's ardent expectation on his deathbed. However, once he is gone, the comrades who once fought with him will dissipate like candles in the wind. Without support and a central figure, Shu Han was ultimately doomed.