In 534, Emperor Xiaowu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Yuan Xiu, was dissatisfied with the great prime minister Gao Huan's overseeing of the government and broke with him. But in the face of Gao Huan's wolf-like soldiers in the six towns, the imperial army did not have the courage to resist, and seeing that Gao Huan had crossed the Yellow River, Yuan Xiu hurriedly fled westward, and only after meeting with Yuwentai, who came to respond, did he dare to put his mind at ease. Since then, Wei divided the east and west, Gao Huan set up Yuan Shanjian, the son of the king of Qinghe, as the emperor, and it didn't take long for Yuwentai to find that Yuan Xiu was unwilling to be a puppet, and he was very ridiculous, and directly poisoned him and set up Yuan Bao Torch as the emperor. More than ten years of mutual attack between the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasty began.
Battle of Tongguan
In 536, Guanzhong suffered a famine, and Gao Huan refused to let go of this God-given opportunity, first negotiated peace with Southern Liang to avoid fighting on two fronts, and then ordered the three-way army to march westward. Situ Gao Ao Cao attacked Shangluo (now Shangluo Shangzhou) from the south, Dou Tai, the governor of the capital, attacked Tongguan head-on, and Gao Huan himself led his troops to erect a pontoon bridge at Puban (now Yuncheng Yongji) north of the Yellow River to prepare to cross the river. At this time, the strength of the Eastern Wei Dynasty far surpassed that of the Western Wei Dynasty, and the combat power of Gao Huan's troops was beyond doubt.
However, Yuwentai was as wise as a torch, and believed that although Gao Huan was making a gesture to erect a pontoon bridge on the Yellow River, it was actually a delaying strategy to delay the Western Wei army, and the real main force was Dou Tai who attacked Tongguan. Although Gao Aocao on the south road is brave, there are no big cities on his offensive route, unless he can directly take Chang'an, otherwise he doesn't have to worry too much. And since Gao Huan started his army, he often takes Dou Tai as the vanguard, and his elite attacks are all overcome, and he has become a proud soldier, if he launches a surprise attack on him, he will definitely succeed, and defeated Dou Tai Gao Huan naturally retreated without a fight. The generals thought that this was too risky, but Yuwen Tai overrode the public opinion, and even made a promise: "In these five days, I will take Dou Tai." ”
As a result, Yuwentai personally led 6,000 cavalry to retreat to Chang'an, and secretly marched to Xiaoguan near Tongguan. Dou Tai suddenly saw Yuwentai's army, and in a panic, he lined up in the mountains, and before he could form a formation, he was attacked by the cavalry and was immediately defeated. Yuwentai's vanguard Li Bi rushed back and forth to kill, killing countless enemies, and finally more than 10,000 people in Dou Tai's army were captured, Dou Tai committed suicide in defeat, and was rumored to be the head of Chang'an. Gao Huan in the north could not be rescued because of the thin ice of the Yellow River, so he had no choice but to withdraw his troops, and Gao Ao Cao in the south had already conquered Luozhou, and after getting the news of Dou Tai's defeat, he burned the baggage and abandoned the city.
The battle of Tongguan was the first large-scale confrontation between the Eastern and Western Wei, the land of Shandong in the Eastern Wei Dynasty was much richer and stronger than the withered Guanzhong of the Western Wei Dynasty, and Gao Huan's three-way army was difficult to resist in each of the three road Yuwentai, if it really divided the troops and refused to defend, the probability was to be broken by each one. Thanks to Yu Wentai's superb strategic vision to renew the life of this nascent regime, the three-way army was completely victorious in a battle, and it has to be said that he is indeed a first-class military strategist in the world.