Why did Sima Yi withdraw his troops? The suspicions of the two scholars behind the empty city plan are revealed
Shu Han lost the street pavilion, why does Sima Yi still believe in the empty city plan? The martial arts allusion of the empty city plan has become a household name, and whenever the empty city plan is mentioned, the first thing that comes to people's minds must be the feats of Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi.
In this year, the Shu Han army lost the street pavilion, and the Northern Expedition plan was blocked. During this period, Sima Yi led the army to attack, and Zhuge Liang was forced to set up an empty city formation. Sima Yi clearly saw through Zhuge Liang's tricks, why did he order a retreat?
Military defeat led directly to"Empty city"Implementation of the plan.
In 226, the news of the death of Emperor Cao Pi of Wei reached Shu Han, and Shu Han was troubled internally and externally, and the dragons were leaderless. Liu Bei, who lost the Battle of Yiling, asked Zhuge Liang to attack the Central Plains as soon as possible. Now that Emperor Wei is dead, it is a good time for Shu Han to seize the opportunity of the Northern Expedition.
However, at this time, Shu Han, for a long time, was not the master of the Ming Dynasty who followed Liu Bei around the world. Liu Bei, Guan Zhang, Zhao Zilong and many other famous generals died one after another. Now only Zhuge Liang, a famous anti-Wei general, remains. On the one hand, it is necessary to train the new army, and on the other hand, it is necessary to attract talents, and Zhuge Liang feels pressure.
At the same time, civil servant Ma Tan took the initiative to ask Ying to fight on the front line. Zhuge Liang was a little reluctant at first, because Ma Jian was not born in Jiangmen. However, Ma Jian is good at talking about the art of war, and Zhuge Liang has no better candidate. In the end, Zhuge Liang decided to use Ma Tan as the attacker.
In the spring of 227, the Northern Expedition officially began. Zhuge Liang personally commanded the Chinese army, and Ma Jian served as the vanguard, guarding the street pavilion. Zhuge Liang clearly instructed Ma Jian to hide under the mountain, but Ma Jian did not listen to the advice and insisted on camping on the mountain. This directly led to the Wei general Zhang He cutting off the water source of the Shu army. Ma Tan was defeated, and the street pavilion was lost. This mistake directly caused Shu Han to lose the springboard for attacking the Central Plains. The Northern Expedition plan was in trouble.
At the same time, Sima Yi, who had always regarded Shu Han as a major problem for Wei, was appointed commander of the Western Expeditionary Army. Sima Yi was afraid of Cao Pi, and after Cao Yi ascended the throne, Sima Yi made a comeback. Although the great general Cao Shuang deliberately weakened his power, Sima Yi's military prowess made it necessary for him to be reappointed.
The purpose of this expedition was not only to eliminate the Shu army, but also a good opportunity for Sima Yi to improve his prestige in the imperial court. If he can defeat Zhuge Liang in one battle, he will become famous in one fell swoop and seize the opportunity to ascend to a higher position of power.
The West Side is threatened. We had to come up with a plan to deal with Sima Yi's invasion.
After the news of Ma Tan's defeat came out, the momentum of the entire army of Shu Han was greatly reduced. Zhuge Liang lost the strategic location of the Northern Expedition, so he could only give up the attack and retreat to Xicheng to resist Sima Yi's army.
This time, Sima Yi led an army of 50,000 from Longxi into Shu. The army took Xicheng directly and attacked the main force of Shu Han. But at this time, Zhuge Liang only had a few thousand old and weak soldiers left. Xicheng City's air defense is weak, and the army's morale is unstable.
If Xicheng falls, it will definitely deal a devastating blow to Shu Han. The defense line of Shu Han will completely collapse, and the Central Plains will be separated from the country of abundance by only one river. At that point, it will only be a matter of time before the country is destroyed. After Zhuge Liang calculated countless countermeasures in his heart, he finally made the final decision - the empty city plan.
He ordered people to go to the homes of the people in the city and asked dozens of soldiers to sweep the streets at the city gates wearing the clothes of the people. And he himself was on top of the castle tower, dressed in monk's robes, drinking tea slowly, and this life-and-death duel was placed in front of him like a god floating in the clouds.
Sima Yi knew that Zhuge had a strange plan, why did he refuse to send troops for a long time?
Sima Yi led his army to Xicheng and finally witnessed the legendary decisive battle of the military division. He saw that Zhuge Liang did not send a single soldier to defend the city, but both gates were open, allowing the Wei army to enter. Sima Yi was puzzled by this sudden scene.
Historically, the other party was very cautious about Zhuge Liang's strength. Could it be that at the risk of not defending the city, Zhuge Liang retreated and lost his fighting spirit? But this is not Zhuge Liang's style. Sima Yi was full of suspicion.
The generals under him have long been gearing up, waiting to take Xicheng in one fell swoop and make a windfall. But Sima Yi was hesitant to attack the city. Under the persuasion of the strategists, Sima Yi continued to weigh the pros and cons. He was convinced that Zhuge Liang was playing with something. It's just that he doesn't understand what it is yet.
After a long time, Sima Yi was finally convinced. His gaze fell on Zhuge Liang and the two children accompanying him on the city tower, and his expression was very calm. They are young and inexperienced, and if there is a crisis in the city, it is inevitable that they will appear panicked.
However, the boys did not show the slightest fear, but were very relaxed. Sima Yi concluded that Zhuge Liang must have set up an ambush in the city, and this was just a ploy of his. So, he decided to withdraw and fight again the next day to preserve his army.
Since you know Zhuge 's tricks, why did you decide to retreat?
That night, the generals in the camp were full of discussions, puzzled by Sima Yi's decision. They clearly saw through Zhuge Liang's tricks, why did they order a retreat? In fact, Sima Yi also knew that there was no ambush in Zhuge Liang's empty city plan. But there is no other way.
Although it was a great achievement to break through Xicheng, it was not the best policy for Sima Yi himself. If he wins the battle, he will be despised by Cao Rong and Cao Shuang. With his power, they will definitely find a way to get rid of themselves. As Cao Cao's suspicion of Ji and Cheng Yu indicates, the Cao clan has always been afraid of being ruled by heroes with different surnames. If Sima Yi achieves another decisive victory, his fate will be no different from theirs.
Although the empty city plan was full of loopholes, Sima Yi could only endure the pain and be ordered to withdraw the army. He must preserve his strength in the face of a possible power struggle between the DPRK and China. This retreat can be described as a dilemma.
Later, it was said that Sima Yi was facing the attack of two Shu Hans - Zhuge Liang at the head of the city, and behind him were the Cao clan relatives and ministers. Therefore, even though Sima Yi knew that he was facing an empty city, he had to make the difficult decision to retreat. The real danger is the enemy behind him.
In military history, the empty city plan is considered to be a highlight of Zhuge Kongming's military career. Sima Yi's retreat was also criticized by many people, who believed that he should take advantage of the situation to win. However, under the circumstances at the time, Sima Yi's choice was hopeless.
After this battle, Zhuge Liang rose to fame and was praised by the whole country, while Sima Yi was demoted to a commoner. However, the following year, the Shu Han army was defeated again at Qishan. This time, Sima Yi was determined to lead the army deeper. Zhuge Liang died of illness in Wuzhangyuan, unable to fight his old opponent anymore.
History is fleeting, and heroes cannot escape death. Today, when we look at the fog of this empty city, we will not only admire the minds and resources of these outstanding people, but also sigh at their helplessness and predicament. As the saying goes, there are talented people from generation to generation, and they have been leading for hundreds of years.