Since 220 AD, [1] has successively established three countries in the history of our country, namely Wei, Shu and Wu, which divide the world into three parts and dominate each other, claiming hegemony and confronting each other. This kind of political situation is often called "the three countries stand in the balance".
2 detailed information
Historical background
During the tripartite confrontation between Wei, Shu and Wu, although the war of annexation continued, the rulers of the three countries paid more attention to the development of social production and the stability of social order in order to consolidate and develop their power. Compared with the chaotic situation of many warlords in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, it is much better. In fact, the tripartite confrontation between the three countries is a transitional stage of China's gradual reunification after more than ten years of destruction. The rulers of the Three Kingdoms adopted some political and economic measures in their own countries, such as Cao Cao's reclamation and the implementation of the Jiupin Zheng Zhi system. Zhuge Liang's strategy of "going west and going out, entering foreign enemies in the south, Sun Quan outside, politics inside"; Sun Wu's ruling policy of developing aristocratic families objectively played a beneficial role in the unification of the whole country, and their emergence and existence were reasonable.
Among them, Cao Cao contributed the most. No matter military or literature, he has led the trend of this era. It was his appearance that made the originally complicated situation in the Three Kingdoms more colorful and confusing.
The tripartite confrontation during the war was also the beginning of a long-term and more complicated dispute among the three countries.
The strategic locations in the period of the tripartite confrontation mainly include Huainan, Jingzhou and Hanzhong. Huainan and Hanzhong were the border areas of Wei, Wu and Shu, respectively, while Jingzhou was bordered by the three countries, each occupying its own side at that time, which was the most hotly contested area. After Cao Cao was defeated in Chibi, Jingzhou, and returned to the north, he successfully fought the battle of Weinan, which was completely based in Guanzhong, and opened up a naval training base in Qiaocheng (now Bozhou, Anhui). In the face of these two rivals, Sun Quan and Liu Bei, we should adopt the general plan of attacking the west in the east or attacking the west in the east, and try to avoid fighting on both sides. One is to compete with Sun Quan for the land of Huainan, win the battle of Hefei, and curb Sun Quan's offensive. After fighting for Hanzhong with Liu Bei, concentrate on fighting for Jingzhou with Sun and Liu.
Jingzhou dispute
Wei, Shu and Tachileik fought for Jingzhou, which triggered the three wars of Fancheng, Jiangling and Yiling. Liu Bei's progress in Bashu aroused Sun Quan's dissatisfaction. When Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, Guan Yu, a famous Shu Han soldier, guarded Jingzhou, led his army from Jiangling (now Jingsha, Hubei) to the north, and besieged Cao Jun in Xiangyang and Fancheng (now Xiangfan), which further shocked Cao Wei. Cao Cao used the stratagem of Sima Yi and others to further alienate Sun Quan from Liu Bei, which led to Sun Quan sending troops to attack Jiangling and killing Guan Yu, while Cao Wei benefited the fisherman. Liu Bei tried to avenge Guan Yu and retake Jingzhou, and regardless of the opposition of his ministers, he attacked Wu with all his troops. Sun Quan failed to make peace and made further reconciliation with Wei. He appointed Lu Xun as the commander-in-chief, led 50 thousand troops to reject the Shu army, and adopted the strategy of retreating quickly, concentrating troops and fighting with cameras. In the second year of Zhangwu (222), he burned down the company camp and defeated Liu Bei, thus winning the battle of Yiling. As a result, the national strength of Shu Han was greatly damaged, and Sun Wu was also worried about going north. After the war, the two sides reconciled and jointly resisted the powerful state of Wei, which led to a long-term confrontation between the three countries.
Cao Wei encouraged Wu and Shu to weaken each other, won the opportunity to recuperate, and the country became stronger and stronger. In the meantime, Cao Cao died of illness, and Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor. Taking Wei and Jin Dynasties as an example, he planned to go south. Sun Wu adjusted his deployment in time and turned to Cao Wei. With the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and the relatively strong water army, Xelloss first repelled the three-way attack of Wei Jun, and then twice retreated to Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu) where Wei Jun was located, making it impossible for Xelloss to cross the river until his death.
Liubei entrust an orphan to
Shortly after the battle of Yiling, Liu Bei died of illness, and the powerful forces of Han and Yi in the south (now Yunnan, Guizhou and southwest Sichuan) turned against Shu. Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu and Han dynasties who assisted the imperial court, marched into South China in three ways in the third year of Jianxing (225), taking attack as the first priority, supplemented by attack, pacifying South China, strengthening exchanges between foreigners and Chinese, and promoting the development of South China. After the consolidation of the Shu-Han rear area, Zhuge Liang continued to develop the economy at home, carefully managed the army, constantly strengthened his national strength, and strengthened his alliance with Wu abroad, which created conditions for the northern expedition to Wei. In the fifth year of Jianxing, Zhuge Liang unified the 654.38+ 10,000-strong army north of Hanzhong, which kicked off the attack on Wei. Instead of suggesting that the meridian passage (from Ankang, Shaanxi Province to xi 'an) directly attack Chang 'an (northwest of Xi 'an), we should implement a prudent strategy of attacking Longyou first and then taking Qinchuan (Guanzhong area). The following year, due to the street pavilion in Ma Su (now southeast of Tianshui, Gansu, north of Sol Zhang), the Shu army returned to Hanzhong. After the unification of tens of thousands of troops, Chencang (now Baoji East, Shaanxi Province) was surrounded by the north, so it was impossible to make a quick decision and the grain and grass were exhausted. After several battles with Sima Yi, the general of Wei State, he died in 12 years. Zhuge Liang did not achieve remarkable results in the battle against Wei.
Although Sun Wu defeated Cao Xiu of Fu Wei in Shi Ting (now Qianjiang, Anhui) and contained Cao Wei's offensive, he was still unable to advance northward. It is to resist Wei while consolidating the south and developing to the sea. In the second year of Huanglong (230), Wei Wen and others were sent across the sea to Yizhou (now Taiwan Province Province), but more than a thousand people returned. After that, he sent his generals to Liaodong twice to contact Gongsun Yuan to contain the northeast of Cao Wei. After Wei Mingdi sent his troops to defeat Gongsun Yuan, in the second year of Jingchu (238), he ordered Sima Yi, the commander of Qiu, to levy Liaodong and pacify Liaodong, Xuantu, Daifang.
Sima seized power
Sima Yi successfully prevented Zhuge Liang from attacking and fighting in Liaodong, and his prestige and power increased greatly. After Ming Di's death, Sima Yi, eight-year-old Prince Cao Fang and general Cao succeeded to the throne. Cao Shuang was afraid of the rise of Sima Yi, eager to make contributions, build a strong army, and rashly led the army to attack Shu, which was defeated and prospered (now Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province). Sima Yi resigned because of his old age and illness, kept a low profile, secretly guarded his confidant, and cooperated with Qiu Jiang Ji. In the first ten years (249), Cao Shuang was remonstrated, executed and monopolized the military and political power. He also sent troops to Huainan to quell the rebellion in the tomb. Later, Sima Yi, Sima Shi and Si Mazhao successively put down the rebellions in Qiu Jian and Zhuge Dan, and completely eradicated the forces of Cao Shi, known as the "Three Rebellions in Huainan". The Cao Wei regime has existed in name only, and the Sima family has now completed its preparations for Wei.
In the late Three Kingdoms, Wu and Shu gradually weakened, and the alliance was unable to compete with Wei. After Sun Quan's death, Wu won in Dongxing against Wei Jun, but it was a spent force. Jiang Wei of Shu Han fought in Longxi many times, but it was not worth the loss, and his dream of rejuvenating the Central Plains had long been shattered. Due to the serious shortage of troops, all points in the periphery of Hanzhong were forced to give up and retreat to Han and Yue. However, Sima Wei developed the economy, stabilized the political situation, and its military strength was constantly enhanced, and the conditions for unifying the world gradually matured. In view of the weak filial piety at the border between Shu and Han, a strategic decision was made to destroy Shu first and then swallow Wu along the river. In the fourth year of Jingyuan (263), Si Mazhao, the general in charge of state affairs, sent troops to attack Shu in three ways. When the main force was blocked in Jiange (now northeast of Jiange, Sichuan), the famous Deng Ai made a surprise attack across the Yinping path, and the battle of Wei destroying Shu Han was successful.
Three into one.
In the second year of Wei Xianxi (265), Sima Yan, the son of Wei Xianxi, proclaimed himself emperor, openly took Wei from the rulers, and stepped up preparations to destroy Wu. When Wu was destroyed, his lips were cold and his teeth were cold, and political corruption made people deviate, which led to rebellion against Wu and Jin. In the first year of Fenghuang (272), Lu Kang, the general of Wu, kept up the crisis and won the battle, which forced the Jin army to retreat and delayed the realization of Jin's strategic intention to destroy Wu. After eight years of preparation, from November of the fifth year of Xianning (279) to March of the following year, Jin sent more than 200,000 troops to March from Bashu, Xiangyang, Shouchun and Xiapi, and the naval forces cooperated in an unprecedented scale, winning Jianye (now Nanjing) and destroying Wu.
Historical position and function The war in the Three Kingdoms period promoted the historical process of the three kingdoms from division to partial reunification, and then realized national reunification, and promoted the great development of political, economic, cultural and ethnic relations. There has been a new development in the form of war, and there has been a large-scale operation on water, infantry and cavalry. Countries pay attention to the development of arms adapted to their geographical characteristics. Cao Wei's cavalry, Sun Wu's water army and Shu Han's infantry all have strong fighting capacity. With the multipolarization of war objects and the complexity of the strategic situation between the enemy and ourselves, there are many examples of military deployment and strategic application, among which Cao Cao's war strategy of unifying the north is particularly prominent. Zhuge Liang guided the development of Longzhong Dui, although the situation changed later and failed to be fully realized, it was still an epoch-making and relatively complete strategic plan. Frequent military diplomacy and flexible alliance strategy. Battle of Red Cliffs, the Three Kingdoms Jingzhou War is an example. In the battle against remote ethnic areas, "attacking the heart is the best" has also been used more brilliantly. In terms of operational methods, Zhuge Liang's "Eight Arrays" and the widely used fire attack, surprise attack, ambush, tunnel and so on. Are handed down from generation to generation.
With the development of the war, the commander-in-chief is becoming more and more sound, and the three pillars are good at selecting generals and employing people, relying on them to plan and implement the war; At the same time, it promoted the reform and establishment of some military systems, the formation of Chinese and foreign military systems, the implementation of the world military system and the improvement of the staff system, which had far-reaching influence. Logistics support pays more and more attention to the construction of rear supply bases, and all of them have implemented unprecedented scale reclamation. The equipment of the army has improved obviously. Shu Han created a crossbow with ten arrows, which is suitable for mountain transportation. The improved steel knives, stone carts and compass carts made by Cao Wei, a large number of vests used, and various ships with good performance made by Sun Wu are all very famous.
The study of military theory in the Three Kingdoms period has been deepened with rich war practice. Cao Cao's annotation of Sun Tzu's Art of War initiated the study of Sun Tzu's Art of War. Zhuge Liang's military exposition is highly praised by later generations.