For Wei, Shu and Wu, Shu Han was the first to perish. In August 263, Si Mazhao, the powerful minister of Wei, decided to wage war against Shu Han, so he sent Zhong Hui, Wargo and Zhuge Xu to attack Shu. Jiang Wei and Liao Hua, the generals of Shu, led the army to take the dangerous road of Jiange (now Jiange, Sichuan) as a barrier to stop Wei Jun's main force. For the battle of Wei destroying Shu, it was originally a relatively tight battle. However, Wargo sneaked into the level tone and succeeded in forcing Liu Chan, the late ruler, to give up his resistance. Then, the problem is coming, and Shu is in danger of mountains and rivers. Why did Si Mazhao destroy Shu Han first, not Wu Dong?
one
First of all, regarding the dangers of mountains and rivers in Shu, Li Bai once said in Shu Dao Nan: Shu Dao is difficult, and it is difficult to go to the sky, and the smell of it turns pale. The highest cliff is less than a foot from heaven, and the withered pine trees hang low on the cliff surface. One thousand waterfalls rushed forward one after another, sending out the thunder of rotating stones in ten thousand valleys. You've come a long way at all risks! Although the pass of the watchtower is strong and steep, one person guards it and ten thousand people can't beat it. For Li Bai, he developed a rich imagination in a romantic way, artistically recreating the spectacular, abrupt, tenacious and rugged Sichuan road and the incomparable majestic momentum, thus singing the magnificent show of Sichuan mountains and rivers. Li Bai pointed out in Shu Dao Nan that Jiange "is guarded by one person, but cannot be forced by ten thousand people".
Sure enough, in the battle to destroy Shu, Jiang Wei and other soldiers retreated to Jiange and successfully blocked the 65,438+10,000-strong army led by Zhong Hui. If Wargo hadn't used his quick wits and thought of the strategy of smuggling level tone, Zhong Hui's army would probably have retreated because all the food had run out. Accordingly, as far as Wu Dong is concerned, the risks of the Yangtze River are actually easier to cross than those of mountains and rivers. Besides, the Yangtze River is too long, and it is impossible for Dongwu to lay heavy troops in every part of the Yangtze River, which obviously gives Cao Wei's army an opportunity. However, even so, Si Mazhao chose to launch the war to destroy Shu first. The reasons are mainly divided into the following points.
two
On the one hand, this is because in the later period of Shu Han, Wargo and others defeated Jiang Wei many times, which gave Si Mazhao the confidence to destroy Shu Han. In the 19th year of Yan Xi (256), Jiang Wei and Hu Ji, the general of Zhenxi, sent troops and agreed to meet in Gao Shan, but Hu Ji didn't come, which led to Jiang Wei being defeated by Wargo, the general of Wei State in Duangu, and Jiang Wei suffered heavy casualties. In the eyes of many historians, after this battle, Jiang Wei encountered great pressure in Shu Han, so that Jiang Wei could only follow the example of Zhuge Liang, the prime minister, and asked to be demoted to a post-general and become a general in the military. In the fifth year of Jing Yao (262), Jiang Wei led an army out of the Han and Houhe rivers and was defeated by Wargo. Jiang Wei retreated to the middle of the stack. It can be seen that Jiang Wei's northern expedition to the Central Plains is not only difficult to succeed, but also will make Shu Han lose troops. In Si Mazhao's view, this is undoubtedly a good opportunity to destroy Shu Han.
More crucially, due to the failure of Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition, the interior of Shu Han also showed a trend of disintegration. At the end of Shu Han Dynasty, eunuch Huang Hao played politics, trying to abolish Jiang Wei and train right-wing general Yan Yu. Jiang Wei asked Huang Hao to be beheaded, but Liu Chan refused. Jiang Wei dared not go back to Chengdu to grow wheat. In addition to the contradiction between Jiang Wei and eunuch Huang Hao, Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition was also opposed by Zhuge Zhan, Dong Jue and others, that is, in the view of Zhuge Zhan, the son of Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition lost the national strength of Shu and should seize Jiang Wei's military power. All these have caused Jiang Wei to stay in the stack and dare not go back to Chengdu. If Si Mazhao had not launched the war to destroy Shu, Shu Han would have suffered more serious infighting.
three
Compared with Shu, which was beset with internal contradictions, Wu maintained a relatively stable situation. In the third year of Taiping (258), Sun Chen made Sun Xiu emperor, and Sun Xiu accepted it and changed it to Yong 'an. Sun Xiu acceded to the throne, named Sun Chen as the prime minister, Sun Chen was in power in one's hand and one's hand, and Sun Xiu and Zhang Bu conspired to recall Sun Chen. After getting rid of the powerful ministers, Emperor Sun Xiu promulgated a good system of benefiting the people, which promoted the prosperity of Soochow. Compared with the mediocre Liu Chan, Sun Xiu is obviously a wise monarch. Therefore, from Si Mazhao's point of view, it is more willing to attack Shu Han than Wu Dong.
On the other hand, in my opinion, Shu is in danger of mountains and rivers. However, if you attack Shu Han, you only need to mobilize infantry and cavalry. However, attacking Wu Dong, which is dangerous in the Yangtze River, requires the construction of ships. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of Han Dynasty, it was impossible to build a ship overnight. Especially if Wu Dong is destroyed, at least 200,000 soldiers and horses will be dispatched, which means that Cao Wei needs at least half a year's preparation time to build ships and train the navy. So obviously, the cost of attacking Wu Dong is relatively high, and it takes a long time. However, attacking Shu Han is relatively simple and easy.
four
Finally, as early as AD 222, Cao Pi attacked Soochow in three ways, with the intention of destroying each other. In this battle, Cao Pi promised to go south, and all the soldiers went hand in hand. Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu and other roads won a great victory, defeated Sun Sheng, defeated Lv Fan, set fire to Zhu Gejin, and almost captured Jiangling. Sun Quan refused to defend the great river, and several fronts collapsed or fell. Only Huan Zhu and Ruxu broke Coss all the way. However, because of the weather, acclimatization and other factors, Cao Pi's three-way battle against Wu finally failed. And this will undoubtedly affect Si Mazhao, who holds the power of Cao Wei. For Wu Dong, it is more familiar with water warfare than Cao Wei, which makes Si Mazhao dare not launch the campaign to destroy Wu Dong easily. In addition, Si Mazhao's physical condition is also an important reason why he launched the war to destroy Shu in the first place. On March 30th (May 2nd, Gregorian calendar) in the fifth year of Jingyuan (264), Cao Huan, the Emperor of Wei Yuan, wrote to the Prime Minister again, making him King of Jin and adding nine tin.
In August of the second year of Emperor Xianxi (265), Si Mazhao died at the age of 55 and was buried in Chongyang Mausoleum. Two years after the Battle of Wei Shu, Si Mazhao died. That is to say, before the Battle of Wei Shu, Si Mazhao was probably ill. As I said before, it doesn't take too long to prepare for attacking Shu Han, but it takes too long to build ships and train naval officers to attack Wu Dong. For Sima Zhao, there is no doubt that he hopes to destroy Shu and Wu before his death, thus laying a good foundation for Sima Yan to establish the Western Jin Dynasty. Therefore, based on the above reasons, Si Mazhao decisively launched the war to destroy Shu in August 263. However, what Si Mazhao probably didn't expect was that it was in 17 after the demise of Shu Han that the Western Jin Dynasty launched the Jin-Wu War, thus completely ending the era of tripartite confrontation among the three countries.