Zhuge Liang made seven Northern Expeditions, and the most promising success was the first one. It's a pity that because he trusted Ma Tan and asked him to guard the street pavilion, this Northern Expedition failed, and Shu Han never had a chance to shake Cao Wei after that.
And the defeat of the Battle of Jieting has nothing to do with whether Ma Tan went up the mountain or not. Sima Yi's words have already revealed the heavenly opportunity.
In 226 AD, Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi died, and Emperor Cao Rong of Wei Ming succeeded to the throne, followed by a blood exchange in the court of Cao Wei. At the same time, Cao Wei's main forces were attacking Eastern Wu, and the rear was empty. For Shu Han, this is a godsend.
Shu Han Prime Minister Zhuge Liang immediately decided to send troops to the Northern Expedition, according to Zhuge Liang's estimate, this battle can be the worst to take Cao Wei's Longyou region, if you are lucky, you can even go straight to Huanglong, and then unite with Eastern Wu to completely defeat Cao Wei.
However, Zhuge Liang was not careless, after all, the situation in Shu Han was not very good at that time, and this battle can be described as a national army. To this end, he sent Zhao Yun to lead a partial division to attract the attention of the Wei army and attract Cao Wei's already small reserve force to the Guanzhong area.
Then he personally led a large army to attack the Longyou region of Wei, and in just a few months, most of the Longyou region had fallen into the hands of Shu Han, and only a few cities were still resisting.
Emperor Wei Ming had no choice but to use the old minister Sima Yi. It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and Sima Yi does not have many soldiers in his hands, and he will definitely lose if he fights Zhuge Liang head-on. He had no choice but to make a desperate bet, concentrate all his forces to sneak attack Zhuge Liang's rear, cut off his retreat, and come to surround Wei to save Zhao.
And the key to this battle is the street pavilion. Jieting is the only way for Wei to lead to Zhuge Liang's rear, and it can be said that the gains and losses here determine the outcome of the entire battle.
What Sima Yi could think of, Zhuge Liang naturally thought of it a long time ago, after all, how many resources Sima Yi had in his hands and what options he had, Zhuge Liang knew it.
He expected that Sima Yi would definitely come to attack, so he arranged for someone to guard the street pavilion early, but the choice of the main general has not been decided.
At that time, the morale of the Shu army was high, and the generals asked for help. Surprisingly, Zhuge Liang finally chose Ma Yan, who was unknown at the time.
Ma Jian is the younger brother of Ma Liang, a famous minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, and their brothers are collectively known as the "Five Chiefs of the Ma Family", but Ma Jian has always been the most inconspicuous among the brothers.
When Liu Bei was alive, Ma Jian had never done anything, just being a minor official such as a county commander and a taishou. Obviously, Liu Bei didn't value him.
But Zhuge Liang is different, he thinks that Ma Jian is full of poetry and books, rich in knowledge, and is a talent that can be created, and he attaches great importance to him, and plans to cultivate it well.
When Liu Bei was in charge of Emperor Baicheng, he specially warned Zhuge Liang: "Ma Jian is a beautiful person, but he is unreliable when he does things, and he is embarrassed and useful." ”
For Liu Bei's words, Zhuge Liang still listened. He asked Ma Jian to be a strategist by his side, and often took the school exam. Every time Ma Tan's answer made Zhuge Liang very satisfied, he felt that Ma Tan was a first-class talent.
In order to train Ma Tan, Zhuge Liang decided to let him go to guard the street pavilion. Of course, he also knew that Ma Jian lacked experience in fighting, so he asked Wang Ping to make him a deputy general to assist him. Zhuge Liang also deliberately explained the combat strategy, which seemed foolproof.
But what Zhuge Liang didn't expect was that Ma Jian didn't come according to his arrangement, and he didn't listen to Wang Ping's advice, so he went to the mountains to set up camp, and finally the Shu army was defeated and lost the street pavilion. Zhuge Liang's plan was unsustainable, so he had to abandon the Longyou region and withdraw to Chengdu.
Shu Han's first Northern Expedition ended in vain.
So, if Ma Jian does what Zhuge Liang explains, will the Shu army win? Not. In fact, Sima Yi's words broke through the heavenly opportunity.
In fact, when Sima Yi learned that Zhuge Liang had arranged people in the street pavilion, he was shocked, sighing that he was not as good as Zhuge Liang, and felt that his chances of winning were not good.
And when Sima Zhao reported again, saying that the Shu army did not set up a village on the main road, but ran to the mountain to defend it, Sima Yi smiled: "If the Shu army runs to the mountain, then our chances of victory will be great." ”
Listening to the Chinese, you can't just listen to the surface. Is it really wrong to guard the mountain? Sima Yi didn't say that.
In fact, when Liu Bang was besieged by the Xiongnu army on Baishan Mountain, the Han army faced a Xiongnu army several times larger than itself, but it could make the other party unable to advance an inch.
If Mao Dun Shan Yu can take down Liu Bang, even if his princess intercedes for Liu Bang, will he really let Liu Bang go? He couldn't eat Liu Bang, so he had to release him in exchange for some benefits.
Moreover, Liu Bang only has the level of a third-rate military general in terms of fighting, and he has no problem guarding the mountain, how can it be said that Ma Jian can't do this?
There are many tactics and tactics that not everyone can use. For example, on the mountain, Liu Bang can use it, but Ma Jian can't.
Ma Tan had never experienced a battle formation, lacked prestige in the army, he could not command his group of soldiers at all, and the soldiers did not trust his strategy. With such a group of people, Ma Jian can only use decent tactics.
If you change people, such as Wei Yan, Zhao Yun and other generals in the army, what does it matter if you are on the mountain?
If it was Han Xin who was guarding the street pavilion, he could divide his troops and wait for the opportunity to outflank the Wei army and eliminate the vanguard of the Wei army while going up the mountain. Then defeated Sima Yi, then Zhuge Liang would have no worries.
If it was Xiang Yu who was guarding the street pavilion, it would be simpler, the whole army would charge directly, and then go directly to Xuchang. In the Battle of Pengcheng, Xiang Yu's 30,000 cavalry defeated the 560,000 princes' coalition army, which is what he did.
Zhuge Liang's real problem is that the talents of Shu Han are withering, which is why there is a saying that "there is no general in Shu", the first-class talents under him all have tasks, even if Zhuge Liang does not send Ma Yan, he will not be able to come up with any future.
The lack of talent is the real reason for the loss of street kiosks. Sima Yi actually bullied Shu Han for his lack of manpower, so he dared to sneak attack the rear of Shu Han, if the five tiger generals were still there, it is estimated that Sima Yi would have no choice but to take Zhuge Liang.
Of course, back to Ma Tan, if he follows Zhuge Liang's instructions and guards the road in a proper manner, he can at least buy some more time, so that Zhuge Liang will have the opportunity to mobilize the army. Therefore, Zhuge Liang was not wronged to behead him.
On the way home is the New Year