In 534, the Northern Wei Dynasty was divided into the Eastern Wei and the Western Wei. The real power of the two Wei Dynasties was in the hands of the prime minister, Xianbei Han Chinese Gao Huan and Xianbei Yu Wentai respectively, and the monarch was just a puppet. The Yellow River was the boundary of the two Wei Dynasties, and Ye was the capital of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, occupying most of the former Northern Wei Dynasty east of Hanguguan. The Western Wei Dynasty took Chang 'an as its capital and occupied the Guanzhong area of the former Northern Wei Dynasty. The two Wei dynasties opposed each other, and were later replaced by Qi and Zhou respectively, and finally Qi was destroyed by Zhou. Shanxi has always been the first place to fight.
Gao Huan, a combatant, relied on the strategic advantage of more people and abundant food to destroy the Western Wei Dynasty in one fell swoop. Although Yu Wentai lived in seclusion in Kansai, he serenaded a vast area with few people and lacked food and grass, but he worked hard to govern, paying special attention to the accumulation of victory in the battle, and his confidence and strength increased day by day. In 534 AD, Yang Dongdu, a veteran of the Western Wei Dynasty, crossed the Yellow River and took advantage of the Eastern Wei Dynasty to enter Hedong. Since then, the natural barrier of Guanhe, which relies on each other, has become unique to the Western Wei Dynasty. This historical phenomenon and the Anyi where Qin had Wei in the Warring States period were very important to the rise and fall of Qin and Wei, and now they are also very important to the rise and fall of Wei. Because of this, Hedong became the focus of the desperate struggle between the two Wei Dynasties.
In 538 AD, the platform of Xiwei East Road in Wang Sizheng was located in a dangerous place with a jade wall. It is written that Hengnong in Henan wants to build a city and move the jade wall of the town. The Western Wei authorities gladly obeyed, and ordered Wang Sizheng to supervise the military affairs of Fen, Jin and Bing. Why did Wang Sizheng invite the city to move to the town to build a jade wall? Why did the Western Wei authorities greatly appreciate and support it? Just look at the geographical location of this fortress, and you will know the reason: Yubidi is six kilometers southwest of Jishan County, located in the lower reaches of Fenhe River and the northern edge of Emei Garden in the watershed of Sushui River. Emei, the so-called Emei platform in geography, is located at 3452-3536 north latitude and 1 1020 east longitude, between1120 in the middle of Yuncheng basin, with an area of 6,000 square kilometers and a circumference of 300 kilometers. The platform edge is eroded by running water and rivers, forming steep loess cliffs and gullies. Most of the cliffs along the river are more than 50 meters, and the whole platform is like a huge loess castle. In the center of the platform, there are two Gufeng Mountain and Wangji Mountain, which are more than 1000 meters long and face each other from east to west, just like the two eyes of the platform. Occupy Emei Plain, the south-north tunnel in Sushui Valley can be controlled in the southeast, and the east-west tunnel in Fenhe Valley can be controlled in the northwest, which can be used for long-distance assault and retreat, the southwest can be used to defend Chang 'an, and the northeast can defend Yan Ping Jinyang. At the same time, the station is located in the warm temperate zone, with mild climate, fertile land and rich grain and hemp, which is an ideal place to provide military supplies for the people. Therefore, whoever owns the Emei Plain will have the strategic initiative. Now that the Western Wei Dynasty has entered Hedong, if it wants to gain a foothold and further consolidate its development, it must hold on to the original Emei, which is also the reason why the Western Wei Dynasty built the city and moved the Jade Wall to the town. Hedong is the key to the competition between Wei, Jin and Eastern Wei, and it is also the soft spot. Before Gao Huan set foot in Hedong, he was already on pins and needles. Nowadays, he is more like a bone in his throat building a jade wall. This is why Gao Huan is willing to gamble on national fortune in order to tear down the jade wall.
The battle between the two Yu Wei has been fought twice, which was triggered by the attack of the Eastern Wei Dynasty on the Jade Wall of the Western Wei fortress. East Wei Jun was personally commanded by Prime Minister Gao Huan; For the first time, Wang Sizheng, the commander of West Wei Jun, was the general, and Wei Xiaokuan, the secretariat of Jinzhou, was the general. The first battle of the Jade Wall took place in the early winter of 542 AD. Gao Huan, with great military potential, is known as 40 Li Lian, which runs south along Fenhe River and Gu Dao to the west of Jiangzhou. Gao Huan Enemy at the Gates, a carrot and stick, first gave him a secretariat of Bing and advised him to surrender, but Wang Sizheng did not accept it; Gao Huan then surrounded the Jade Wall and attacked it for nine days. It snows every day, there is a war outside the city, and the foot soldiers are hungry and cold, with heavy casualties, so they have no choice but to retreat.
In 546 AD, Gao Huan descended to western Shandong, aiming at Guanzhong, with Jade Wall bearing the brunt. He even camped for dozens of miles, as if he were at the gates of Yubi. At that time, the soldiers in the city wore tough police uniforms; Gao Huan made the archer Yuan steal it and hit it in the eye. There are heaped-up mountains outside the city and south of the city, and they want to attack the city condescendingly; Opposite the heaped-up mountains, there are two watchtowers in the city. Wei Xiaokuan is tied upstairs with wood, which is higher than the heaped-up mountains, and there are a lot of weapons waiting. Gao Huan made people shout to the city to tie the sky upstairs. I wanted to go through the south of the city to get it, so I dug tunnels in the south of the city to approach the south, and at the same time attacked the city day and night from the heaped-up mountains in the north of the city. Xiao Kuan dug a trench along the city to intercept the tunnel and strictly ordered the soldiers to hold the trench. Once the trench was dug outside the city, they immediately captured and killed it, and stored firewood outside the trench and prepared enough bellows. If the enemy lurks in the tunnel, he will blow it up and burn it with fireworks. There is no water in the city, so the water is diverted to Fenhe River. Gao Huan transferred the soldiers to Fenzhou. Filial piety is digging wells in the city. There are attack vehicles outside the city, which are strong and sharp, and will be destroyed wherever they go; The city is sewn with cloth, and the cloth is laid in the direction of the car. Since the cloth is hanging, the car can't break down. Outside the city, turpentine is tied to a high pole, pouring oil and adding fire, burning cloth and burning buildings; Long-handled iron hooks were built in the city, and the rods were cut with hooks, and all the loose hemp fell. Outside the city, the 265,438+0 road passes around the city, putting beams and columns, pouring oil, setting fire and collapsing. However, in this city, people erected wooden fences to stop the collapse. The siege outside the city has been exhausted, and the city is broken. Gao Huan was helpless, making people shout to Wei Xiaokuan, knowing that there were no reinforcements, why not surrender; Wei Xiaokuan answered me that the city is strict and solid, and there is more than enough food and grass. The attacker is futile and the defender is comfortable. Why did they come to the rescue? I'm worried about whether your soldiers will come or not. Gao Huan sent people to shoot Yuncheng: those who can behead the Lord and surrender will worship Qiu, seal off the country and county, and reward thousands of silks.
Wei Xiaokuan wrote on the back of the book, reflecting the clouds outside the city: Whoever beheads Gao Huan will be rewarded accordingly.
Gao Huan put Xiao Kuan's son at the gate, put a knife rest around his neck, and threatened to kill people if he didn't drop the city. Wei Xiaokuan remains unmoved, and the soldiers will feel righteously and have a heart to live and die with the city.
Gao Huan fought hard for 60 years, and nine times out of ten soldiers died, so he got sick and fled at night, and soon he died of resentment in Jinyang. In the Western Wei Dynasty, Wei Xiaokuan was awarded the title of ancient general for his meritorious service in guarding the city, and was awarded the title of Duke of Zhong Jian with Kaifu. In the early years of Baoding in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Wei Xiaokuan was proud of building a jade wall and setting up a state in the jade wall, and he was still proud of granting Wei Xiaokuan the secretariat of the state.
In the YuBi War, from the tactics used by Gao Huan to Wei Xiaokuan's guarding city tactics, it can be said that Jin Mu has everything from fire, water and soil, and all of them have reached the extreme level in ancient wars. This may be the richest and most complete tactical connotation involved in a battle in the history of ancient wars. During Gao Huan's illness, Yuxiu was trained as a teacher after Jinyang. After the defeat, he inspired the soldiers and asked his master Hu Lvjin to make a Chilean song. This is a famous sentence that has been told through the ages: Chile River, under the shady mountain, the sky is like a vault, and the cage covers all fields. The sky is wild, and the wind and grass are moving to see cattle and sheep. This nomadic folk song, which depicts the vast and magnificent grassland in the north, was handed down from the official book by the Battle of Jade Wall.
As far as the overall national strength and military strength of the two Wei Dynasties are concerned, the Eastern Wei Dynasty has an absolute advantage, but the Gao Huan Group: First, relying on its vast territory and abundant resources, enriching the people and strengthening the horse, blindly underestimating the enemy, and only revealing its upcoming tactics to the enemy through the propaganda of war. Second, corruption in official management, the so-called civil and military rule, is rarely honest. Before engaging in foreign aggression, liegeman should rob thieves from all the people, while Gao Huan insisted that all the scholars charge ahead and die for their position.
Since the authorities are insatiable, eager to travel, uneven and unworthy, how can the army win? Third, the war work was weak. Although the two battles in Yubi were both field battles and siege battles in winter, it was the first time that the soldiers were caught in heavy snow, and many people died. The second time, they struggled for 60 years, the wounded and the dead. How can they win? The Western Wei Dynasty was the antithesis of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. First of all, despite being at a strategic disadvantage in terms of national strength and military strength, Yu Wentai Group can pay attention to carefully planning every battle, define a small victory as a big victory, and gradually increase its strength and morale. Secondly, the official management is relatively clean and the military discipline is relatively clean. As Yu Wentai said when he was sworn in at the battle of Tongguan in 537 AD, there was no greed to underestimate the enemy, and there was no bully mob. If you use your life, you will be rewarded; Don't die, be slaughtered; Take several key figures in the battle of Jade Wall as an example. General Wang Sizheng got 30 Jin of gold and sealed it. Wei Xiaokuan was sensitive and honest, dabbled in history and was good at caressing the court, which won the hearts of the people. Pei Xia, with a long history, is thrifty and loves the people like a son. He left his post after eating only hard wheat, salt and vegetables, but found nothing. Therefore, the Western Wei Dynasty was able to turn defeat into victory and win the battle of Jade Wall.
The ancient battlefield of Yubi has been summarized in ancient literature: the ancient city of Yubi is twelve miles south of the county seat.
The city is eight miles away, surrounded by deep valleys.
According to today's field investigation, Yubi ancient town site is located in the north of Baijiazhuang, 6 kilometers southwest of Jishan, with geographical coordinates of 3534 15 north latitude and 0105650 east longitude. When you are in the right place, you must run to the northern edge of Emei, and the Fenhe River is in the north. The situation changed suddenly. The wall of the north city collapsed after being washed by Fenhe River, and most of it did not exist. The south is cut by loess gully, and the south slope is broken. Up to now, there are still 150 meter walls well preserved. Bottom width 1 1 m, height 1 to 3 m, rammed layer 10 cm. There are also huge gullies on the east and west sides, eroded by running water, and the gullies collapsed, leaving 30 meters left in the Dongcheng wall. According to the macro-restoration of the remains, the ancient city of Yubi is roughly in the area north of Baijiazhuang, north of Pingmu Paper Mill in West Beijing and south of Pingmu Screw Factory in East Beijing. According to the natural topography, it is a slightly concave city about 4 kilometers long. There are still remnants of tunnels dug by Gao Huan in the ditch outside the Dongcheng wall. There is a mass grave outside the west wall, and there are still white bones in the cliff, which is creepy. For the 70,000 people who died in the besieged city of Gao Huan that year, gather in a burial place; There are still beacon towers in the north and west corners.
From the split of the Northern Wei Dynasty into the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty in 534 AD to the unification of the Sui Dynasty in 589 AD, in about half a century, the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty had two wars in 542 AD and 546 AD respectively. In the tripartite battle of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty and the Southern Dynasty, the Eastern Wei Dynasty had advantages in national strength and military strength, and they won and lost each other in actual combat. After the war of Yu Bi, the weakest and poorest Western Wei Dynasty won two wars of Yu Bi, so it always took the strategic initiative in the tripartite competition, maintained an unbeaten record in previous major battles, and its national strength came from behind until the Northern Zhou Dynasty based on it and the Sui Dynasty based on the Northern Zhou Dynasty finally realized the second great reunification in the ancient history of China. From this, we can see the historical and strategic position of Yuxiu Battle and Yuxiu Fortress in the ancient history of China.