In July of 22 1 year, Liu Bei personally led tens of thousands of Shu-Han troops and launched a large-scale war against Wu. At that time, the border between the two countries had moved westward to Wushan, and the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River became the main channel between the two countries. Liu Bei sent generals Wu Ban and Feng to lead about 30,000 people (with the participation of Wu Yi in the later period, and the total strength should reach 50,000 people) as the vanguard troops, and seized Xiakou, occupied the territory of Wu, defeated Wu Jun's Li Yi and Liu Abe, and occupied Zigui (now Badong, Hubei). In order to prevent Cao Wei from taking the opportunity to attack, Liu Bei sent Huang Quan, the general of Zhenbei, to the north bank of the Yangtze River, and sent Ma Liang, the deputy commander, to Wuling, in order to win over the local tribal leader Shamok and the Shu-Han army.
Facing the strategic attack of the Shu army, Sun Quan stepped forward. General Zhenxi and right-back Lu Xun were appointed as viceroy, commanding Zhu Ran, Pan Zhang, Han Dang, Xu Sheng and other 50,000 people to go to the front to resist the Shu army. At the same time, messengers were sent to Cao Pi to make up for it and avoid fighting on two fronts (the so-called saying that Liu Beiyou had 40,000 former troops was mainly based on Liu Bei's 40,000 party in Sun Quan's distress letter to Cao Pi at this time).
After Lu Xun took office, through careful analysis of the strength, morale and terrain conditions of both sides, he pointed out that Liu Beibing was strong, well defended, full of momentum and eager to win. Wu Jun should temporarily avoid the edge of the Shu army, wait for the opportunity to break the enemy, and patiently persuade Wu Jun generals to give up the requirement of an immediate decisive battle. Decisively implement the strategic retreat, and always retreat to a front line (now Yidu, Hubei Province) and Xiaoting (now Gubei, Yidu, Hubei Province). Then stop retreating and turn to defense to curb the continued invasion of Shu army. And concentrate our forces and prepare for the camera war. In this way, Wu Jun completely withdrew from the mountainous area, leaving hundreds of miles of mountains that were difficult to deploy to the Shu army.
Remain deadlocked
In the first month of AD 222, Wu Ban and Chen's water army entered Yiling area and stationed troops on both sides of the Yangtze River. In February, Liu Bei personally led the main force from Zigui to Xiaoting and established the base camp. At this time, the Shu army had penetrated 200-300 kilometers into the territory of Wu, and stopped the eastward movement because it began to be resisted by Wu Jun. Under the condition that Wu Jun held the important position, the Shu army had to set up dozens of camps in Wuxia, Jianping (now Wushan North, Sichuan) and Yiling for hundreds of miles. In order to mobilize Lu Xun, Zhang Nan, the former commander-in-chief of Liu Bei School, led his troops to besiege Sun Huan, who was stationed in the Post Road. Sun Huan is Sun Quan's nephew, so the generals in Wu Jun asked for troops to rescue him. However, Lu Xun knew that Sun Huan won the hearts of the people, and Yi Daocheng had plenty of food and grass. He resolutely refused to divide his troops to help Yi Dao, avoiding the behavior of dispersing troops and consuming troops prematurely.
From 1 month to June, the two armies were still at loggerheads. In order to fight Wu Jun quickly, Liu Bei frequently sent people to the front to insult the challenge, but Lu Xun ignored it. Later, Liu Bei sent Wu Ban to lead thousands of people to camp on the flat ground, and in addition, he ambushed 8,000 troops in the valley in an attempt to lure the enemy deeper and annihilate Wu Jun. But the plan still failed. Lu Xun's insistence on not fighting undermined Liu Bei's strategic intention of relying on superior forces to make a quick decision. The soldiers of the Shu army gradually lost their fighting spirit and their dominant position. Jiangnan in June is in the heat season, and the heat is pressing, and the soldiers of the Shu army are miserable. Liu Bei was helpless, so he had to transfer the navy ship to land, set up a military camp in the deep mountain forest, rely on the stream, station troops to rest, and prepare to wait until autumn to attack. Because the Shu army is located on the rugged mountain road of 200-300 kilometers in Wu, far from the rear, it is difficult to provide logistical support. In addition, Liu Bei's battalion is within a hundred miles and his troops are scattered, which provides an opportunity for Lu Xun to carry out strategic counterattack.
fight back
Seeing that the morale of the Shu army was low, Lu Xun gave up the operational policy of advancing by land and attacking the Shu army, and thought that the time was ripe for a strategic counterattack. To this end, he wrote to Sun Quan, the king of Wu, saying: At the beginning of the war, he was worried that the Shu army would go hand in hand with the land and rivers. At present, the Shu army has abandoned the boat and camped everywhere. Judging from its deployment, there will be no change. In this way, there is a chance to defeat the Shu army without difficulty. Sun Quan immediately approved Lu Xun's battle plan from defense to counterattack.
On the eve of a large-scale counterattack, Lu Xun first sent a small group of troops to carry out a tentative attack. Although the attack failed, it enabled Lu Xun to find a way to defeat the enemy-the method of burning the Shu army company. Because Jiangnan was in midsummer and the climate was sultry at that time, the camps of the Shu army were all built with wooden fences, surrounded by Woods and thatch. In the event of a fire, it will burn to pieces. After the decisive battle began, Lu Xun ordered Wu Jun foot soldiers to raid the Shu army camp at night and set fire to the wind. During the dinner, the fire was fierce and the Shu army was in chaos. Lu Xun took the opportunity to launch a counterattack and forced the Shu army to retreat to the west. Wu Zhuran led an army of 5,000 men, broke through the front of the Shu army, plunged into the rear of the Shu army, and surrounded the Shu army in Zhuoxiang (now west of Yichang, Hubei) with the Korean party, cutting off the retreat of the Shu army. Pan Zhang and his men stormed Feng's Shu army and broke it. In Xiaoting, Zhu Gejin, Luo Tong and Zhou Yin cooperated with Lu Xun's main force to attack the Shu army. Defending Yi Dao, Sun Huan also took the initiative to fight. Wu Jun went smoothly, and soon broke through more than 40 camps of Shu army, cutting off the connection between water army and both sides of the Yangtze River. General Shu, Feng and Sha were killed, and the commanders Lu and Liu Ning surrendered. Seeing the whole line collapse, Liu Bei fled to Ma 'anshan, northwest of Yiling, and ordered the Shu army to defend itself around the mountain. Lu Xun concentrated his forces and was besieged on all sides, destroying nearly 10 thousand Shu troops. At this time, the Shu army was in flight, most of the casualties fled, and military supplies such as cars and boats were lost. Liu Bei fled overnight and arrived at Shimen Mountain (now northeast of Badong, Hubei). He was chased by general Wu, almost captured, and the defender Fu Tong was killed. Later, relying on the postmen to burn the equipment abandoned by the defeated soldiers and block the mountain road, they were able to get rid of the pursuers and escape into Yong 'an City (also known as Bai Di City, now Fengjie East, Sichuan).
At this time, Huang Quan, the general of the Northern Town of Shu Army, was leading his troops to defend Wei Jun in Jiangbei. After Liu Bei's defeat, Huang Quan's way home was cut off by Wu Jun, and he had to lead the people to surrender to Cao Wei in August. In the same month, when Ma Liang retreated from the south to the northwest, he was stopped by Bu Zhi and died.
In this war, Liu Beijun was almost completely annihilated, and tens of thousands of people were killed. According to Fu Zi's records, Wu Jun wiped out more than 80,000 Shu-Han troops, only Liu Bei survived.
After Liu Bei fled to Baidi City, generals Pan Zhang, Xu Sheng and others all advocated the pursuit of 56-point victory to expand the results. But at this time, Liu Bei assembled scattered troops, and Zhao Yun's rear troops came to help, and the Yongan garrison was nearly 20,000. Lu Xun has lost the opportunity to conquer Yong 'an. Coupled with the scruples that Cao Wei took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters and attack the rear, he stopped chasing and took the initiative to withdraw. In September, Cao Wei really attacked Wu, but because Lu Xun was ready, Wei Jun finally failed. In April of the following year, Liu Bei was ashamed of Yiling's fiasco. He became ill and died in Baidicheng. The battle of Yiling ended like this. Soochow held Jingzhou, while Shu Han was badly hit and weakened. The strength of the two countries was affected, which laid the foundation for the two sides to eliminate contradictions and confront Wei in the future.
Liu Bei, the defeated Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han, fled to the west, but when he reached Yong 'an in the east of Yizhou, he stopped going west. Although Sun Quan won, he was still scared when he heard that Liu Bei was stationed so close to the border and sent messengers to make peace. Liu Bei, exhausted by long-term campaigns and repeated defeats, agreed to a truce and died in April of the following year. The military and political power of Shu Han was handed over to the Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Liang immediately sent someone to restore the alliance with Wu Dong to jointly fight against Cao Wei.
The defeat of Yiling dealt a heavy blow to the newly established Shu-Han regime, which not only lost a lot of troops and materials, but also killed many generals. The following year, the death of Emperor Liu Bei caused the country based on his reputation to fall apart, and there were many rebellions in the country. Prime Minister Zhuge Liang spent about five years rebuilding the army, quelling these rebellions and raising the national strength to the point where he could send troops overseas.
In the nearly forty years after this battle, the territory between the three countries remained basically unchanged, while the restoration of good alliance between Wu Han never wavered, and the situation in the three countries showed stable confrontation. Therefore, the battle of Yiling is considered as one of the demarcation points of the three countries.
It is precisely because of its great influence that it is called the three major battles of the Three Kingdoms together with Guandu of Cao Yuan and Chibi of Wei Wu. The cause of victory or failure
In the battle of Yiling, Lu Xun was good at correctly analyzing the enemy's situation, boldly withdrawing troops to lure the enemy, concentrating his forces, attacking him unprepared, and skillfully attacking him with fire. In the end, he defeated the aggressive Shu army with 50,000 Wu Jun in one fell swoop, creating a successful example of changing from defending to attacking, reflecting his superb command art and military talent, which shows that he deserves to be an outstanding military commander. As for Liu Bei's failure, it was no accident. He "urges teachers with anger", relies on strong aggression, and commits the taboo of military strategists. In the specific operational guidance, he did not observe the geographical position, and took the troops into the rugged mountain road of 200 to 300 kilometers, which was difficult to expand. At the same time, in the face of Wu Jun's stubborn resistance, he didn't know how to change the operational deployment in time, but adopted a wrong camping method that didn't focus on everything, and finally fell into a passive position, leading to a fiasco and suffering the consequences of "destroying the army and killing the generals", which made people deeply touched.
Historical evaluation
The battle of Yiling, "burning camp" can be regarded as an important turning point, which is not only Liu Bei's biggest military mistake, but also an important embodiment of Lu Xun's military strategy. When Cao Pi, the Emperor of Wei Wen, learned that Liu Bei had a battalion of 700 Li, he said to his ministers, "How can a battalion of 700 Li be able to repel the enemy without knowing soldiers?" ! This soldier is also taboo,' protect the yuan and the good fortune, and the army is the enemy bird'. Sun Quan's business is today. "
With regard to Lu Xun's excellent command, Chen Shou, a historian in the Jin Dynasty, wrote in the Biography of the Three Kingdoms Wu Shu Lu Xun: "Liu Bei is a hero in the world, and he was frightened all his life. Lu Xun in the Spring and Autumn Period was very strong, but he was not famous. If he destroys it, it will be better than his ambition. " It is both a strange strategy and a sigh of power, so it is also a big deal. "
Lu Ji, a writer in the Jin Dynasty, praised Lu Xun in On Death and said, "Hanwang is also the emperor, leading the people of Bahan, taking advantage of the crisis and building a thousand miles, reporting Guan Yu's defeat and trying to seize the land of western Hunan." And I, Duke Lu, also fell to Xiling, and I was defeated by the division. I was rescued after being trapped and despaired of Yong 'an. Continue to use the shackles of the shackles, Linchuan will be destroyed, and the battle of the cage will be irreversible. "
Luo Guanzhong, a novelist in Ming Dynasty, wrote three poems praising Lu Xun for the Battle of Yiling. First, he said, "Let's talk about soldiers first, and hunt whales according to the six towers. Three points are more handsome, and Jiangnan is also high. " The second is: "Lu Xun is blessed to share the worries of Wu. I will fall down. If I brush my hands, I will burn the armor of King Shu. His achievements last forever, and his reputation spread far and wide in Kyushu. Today, in martial arts, vegetation is still worrying. " Third, "holding a spear to raise fire to break the company camp, Liu Bei ran to Bai Di City as poor as a church mouse. At one time, it was awesome, and Wu did not respect the scholar. "
Deng, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, commented in The Mirror of Soldiers: "Sima Yi picked Zhu Ran and Wu Ban picked Lu Xun, but they couldn't do it. Why not make it possible? "
Mao Zedong read Lu Bi's comment on writing in Volume 58 of Lu Xun Biography of Wu Shu, and said, "Earthwork can't last long, and food is not enough. It is advisable to go out of the basin and go straight to the west of Xiangshui. Because of the food given to the enemy, we will fight mobile warfare and disperse the enemy. We should be at a loss, we can break them one by one. "