Strategy master Zhao Kuo and Ma Tan, Changping and Jieting, who is stronger in the competition between the two generals?
Zhao Kuo and Ma Tan can be said to be in ancient Chinese military history"On paper"Two typical. Both had a high level of military theoretical literacy, but they were unable to actually lead and command troops, which ultimately led to failure. However, because of the different times they live in, and the different environments and opponents they face, the author believes that if we want to compare who has the stronger ability to lead troops, we need to comprehensively consider all kinds of factors, and only in this way can we be fair and objective.
Both are very theoretically focused, but have no practical experience.
There is no doubt that Zhao Kuo and Ma Jian are superior in military theory, which can be seen from the official history.
Regarding Zhao Kuo, "Historical Records - Lian Po Lin Xiangru Biography" said:"When Zhao Kuo was young, he practiced the art of war and talked about military affairs, thinking that the world could not compete with him. His father talked about military affairs with him, and he couldn't fight the enemy"。According to this account, Zhao Shu often discussed military knowledge with his father Zhao She, but his father Zhao Shi could not compete with Zhao Shu. What kind of person is Zhao Shu? He was one of the eight famous generals of the six eastern countries during the Warring States Period, he defeated the invincible Qin army in the Xiongnu War, according to military theory, he could not even beat Zhao Kuo, which shows the strength of his military theory.
About Ma Tan, "Three Kingdoms - Shu Shu - Dongliu Ma Chen Donglu Biography"."(Ma Tan) is a talented and good army, and Prime Minister Zhuge Liang is a deep article"，"Liang still disagrees with him to join the army, and every time he talks about it, from day to night"。Ma Tan not only had deep respect for Zhuge Liang, but also often stayed up all night talking about the army. It can be seen from Zhuge Liang's attitude towards Ma Jian that he has more trust in Ma Tan's military theoretical ability, and sometimes even accepts Ma Tan's strategy.
Although they have superb military theories, their only weakness is that they lack actual combat experience and experience in actually leading troops to fight wars, and they have no theories, but they cannot respond and adjust in a timely manner according to the actual situation on the battlefield, and this is also the reason for the great defeat in the Battle of Changping and the Battle of Jieting.
The difference between the Battle of Changping and the Battle of Jieting.
To compare Zhao Kuo and Ma Tan who is the better military leader, it is necessary to comprehensively analyze the different forms they faced:
1. The strategic purpose is different. In the battle of Qin and Zhao Changping, Zhao Kuo's strategic purpose was to lead the Zhao army to launch a general attack on the Qin army, which meant that Lian Po and the Qin army faced a situation where they could not win for up to three years (and a few months), and Zhao's national strength in the face of Qin was far greater than his own strength, and it was difficult to have an inevitable choice in the case of complete failure in diplomacy. It can be said that from the moment Zhao decided to replace Lian Po, there was only one choice left to attack Zhao. In the Battle of Jieting, Ma Tan's strategic goal was to contain and blockade the Wei army, so that it could not support Longyou in time, and buy time for Zhuge Liang to liberate Tianshui, Nan'an, and settle Longyou. Zhao Kuo's strategic goal was to defeat the Qin army, and Ma Tan's strategic goal was to blockade the Wei army. In terms of the difficulty of the task, Zhao Kuo is better than Ma Yan.
2. The strength of the enemy is different. Who is the enemy Zhao Kuo, it is the Qin army led by the god of war Bai Qi, Bai Qi, as the head of the four famous generals of the Warring States, has experienced a hundred battles in his life, and has not been defeated, so it is needless to say that the commander's ability is naturally needless to say. After decades of development, since the Shang Dynasty changed the law, the Qin army has long been very powerful, while the six kingdoms of Shandong only have the power of Tiger Hill, and the Zhao army is difficult to parry. As for Ma Tan, his opponent was Zhang He, who led an army of 50,000 Wei. Although Zhang He was a famous general of the Three Kingdoms and the combat effectiveness of the Wei army was not bad, he was obviously unable to compete with the Qin army led by Bai Qi. Moreover, although the Shu army was at a disadvantage, Zhao Kuo did not know that the Qin State had secretly changed commanders for a long time. Therefore, I think that Ma Jian may only face a model difficulty, while Zhao Kuo is facing almost hellish difficulties.
3.Differences in the level of command. The failures of Zhao Kuo and Ma Jian were all due to their own command mistakes and lack of practical experience, but at the same time, the two still showed a certain difference in strength when they failed. After Zhao Kuo fell into the siege of the Qin army, "Historical Records - Lian Po Lin Xiangru Biography" wrote"(The Qin army) was divided into two cities, and the soldiers were centrifuged. For more than 40 days, the army was hungry, Zhao Kuo sent elite soldiers to battle, and the Qin army shot Zhao Kuo. The Qin army shot Zhao Kuo. Zhao Kuo was defeated, and hundreds of thousands of people surrendered to the Qin state. "Zhao Kuo led the Zhao army and held out for more than forty days, until Zhao Kuo collapsed and died, and the Zhao army surrendered"。Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms - Shu Shu - Dongliu Ma Chen Dong Liuma Chen Dong Circulation"."In the street pavilion, he clashed with the Wei general Zhang He, and was broken up by the combined army. "And Ma Tan suffered a major defeat immediately after the Wei army entered the siege. Therefore, from this point of view, Zhao Kuo is obviously stronger than Ma Yan.
At the same time, in terms of the difficulty of commanding, it is obviously much more difficult to command hundreds of thousands of soldiers than tens of thousands.
Although both of them lost badly in the first battle, I think Zhao Kuo is better than Ma Jian in terms of leading troops and commanding ability.