"The History of the Three Kingdoms" records: "Ming is more resourceful, gains and losses are even crossbows, and horses are floating, all of which are unexpected; Deduct the art of war and make an eight-array map, which is salty. " As an official history, Mingdao mentioned Eight Arrays. Obviously, the existence of this "eight-array diagram" is beyond doubt. When Du Fu, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, visited the Three Gorges, he also wrote a poem called "Eight Arrays": "The Three Kingdoms, torn apart, have been bound by their greatness, and the Eight Pavilions stand in their name. Next to this ever-changing river stands the sadness that he never conquered Wu. " Obviously, in the poet's eyes, the power of "Eight Arrays" is very powerful.
The earliest record of the Eight Arrays of the Three Kingdoms in Qingbaijiang is Yi Zhou Ji written by Schumann Mars in the Liang Dynasty in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Although this book is lost, Cao Xuequan's Zhong Shu Guang Ji in the Ming Dynasty quoted the relevant records in Mars's Yizhou Book: "One son is five miles north, and there are eight arrays of Wuhou, starting from the four gates of Tucheng, with sixty-four as the chief, eighty-eight as the line, and the chief height is one foot and three feet." Yi Zhou Ji recorded four "Eight Arrays" sites in Mimou Three Kingdoms, with 64 soil foundations, one for every eight. From this passage, we can find that this is an array designed by Zhuge Liang for the close combat and street fighting between the Shu army and the enemy. This kind of training with both offensive and defensive skills may be to train special forces in Shu.
In the ninth year of the Tang Dynasty (867), Lu Qiu, a native of Chengdu, recorded in Chengdu Ji: "Among the sixty people, there are four true talents, and the square array method is also; In Mi Mou, there are eight out of 110, and they are also in charge; Those in the board market, six out of 250, also went to camp. " The ancient military strategist explained this eight-array diagram and said: "The eight-array method, two arrays follow each other for a while to prevent World War I; Chinese and foreign countries are light and heavy, combining rigidity with softness, each other's reality, subject and object have changed, and latitude and longitude have also changed. It is precisely because of the sudden progress of the foundation and strange reasons, mostly because of interaction and logistics support. "Thus, the emergence of eight arrays, is indeed famous for its flexibility and ingenuity.
Su Shi often travels from Meizhou to Kaifeng, and Mi Mou Town is his only way. Therefore, he has carefully read the Eight Arrays. Su Shi mentioned in Dongpo Zhi Lin: "I often pass it, overlooking 100 feet from the mountain. Every eight lines are sixty-four, and there is no bump, such as the shadow of Japan and China. As far as it is concerned, it is strange that pebbles are long and inseparable. " Su Shi was very surprised to see that Zhuge Liang's "Eight Arrays" absorbed the arrangement and combination of mineral fields and Taoist gossip, and was compatible with the array method of astronomy and geography.
Lu You almost traveled all over Chengdu, and his poems stayed around Chengdu. Among them, he wrote in "Eight Songs": "A passenger rode to Xindu (note: after liberation, Mi Mou Town was classified as Qingbaijiang, originally belonging to Xindu), and everyone pointed out that it was Mi Mou. Moved by this, I dismounted and thanked him, and the eight battles of Wuhou were ruined. " It can be seen that the ancients were very superstitious about Zhuge Liang's "Eight Arrays". Mi Mou Town's "Eight Arrays Map" only leaves relics, but there is no specific "instruction manual", which confuses future generations and naturally becomes more and more mysterious.
In Wei Lue, Song Dynasty Gao introduced the location of the town's Eight Arrays map in more detail: "Eight Arrays map, in Xindu, is mainly made of soil, with river stones, four doors and two blocks, sixty-four blocks, eight or eight rows, and two arrays stand side by side, with 472 steps a week and 130 blocks." It can be seen that Gao believes that there are four gates in the Eight Arrays Map Site of the Three Kingdoms, with a perimeter of 472 steps, and 130 earth foundations, which are divided into two arrays, each array has 64 bases and a row has 8 bases. These accounts are basically consistent with the predecessors.
The sixty-seventh volume of Ming Shi Lu records: "The Eight Arrays Map is located in Mi Mou Town, 30 miles north of Xindu County. Zhuge Liang has three in eight arrays, four in Kuizhou, and the square array method is also; In Mi Mou, 8 out of 120 people are also in charge; There are 250 people in the chessboard market, and they are going to camp. "
As a local, Yang Shengan, the champion of Xindu, naturally has a deeper understanding of "Eight Arrays". He introduced the "Eight Arrays Map" of Mi Mou Town in the "Eight Arrays Map of Xindu", saying: "It turned out to be eight vertical and horizontal bases ***64 bases, and each base has several martial arts skills, which can accommodate several people or dozens of people. It is surrounded by earth walls and has four gates. It seems to be a phalanx of piles of soil, but with the change of orders, bases, either advancing or retreating, or dividing or combining, can evolve into various formations for killing, attacking and defending. " Then he introduced: "There are two eight arrays of Zhuge Wuhou in Shu: one is in Baidicheng, Kuizhou, East Sichuan; First, in Mi Mou Town, the new capital, it is the robbery of Chengdu in the south, commonly known as the' eight droughts'. "
It is also recorded in the "Xindu County Records of the Republic of China": "There are 20 third bases on the left side of the temple, and four bases on the right side of the temple 10, and the rest are destroyed and the shape is incomplete. There are more than 20 Lei Yun, which can be traced. "
Later, some local scholars verified that the "Eight Array Map" of Mi Mou Town was built in 22 1 year, covering an area of 95 mu. It was indeed Zhuge Liang's "performance field" in those days, probably to train infantry to deal with cavalry tactics. The training area is nearly 100 mu. It is estimated that the team that can train one or two thousand people at a time should be the elite of the Shu army.
In the era of cold weapons, when the two armies were at war, they paid special attention to "time, place and people." As two warring parties, it is very important to arrange troops and use array method. On the one hand, a good array can quickly defeat the enemy and reduce the damage of one's own side. On the other hand, a good array can form a huge psychological advantage, especially when the enemy is at a loss, it is easier to improve his own morale and weaken the other's. Eight arrays should be a masterpiece of confrontation between the two armies in ancient times, because it is really difficult to find the flaw of attack according to Taoist gossip.
Some scholars have pointed out that the eight-array diagram should be a kind of array method, or a general term for various arrays. Some people think that the eight-array diagram is a square array, a circular array, Zhen Niu, Zhen Niu, a rushing array, a wheel array, a floating array and a flying array. Some people think that the Eight-Array Diagram is eight formations, namely, heaven, earth, wind, cloud, dragonfly, tiger wing, bird and snake, namely, heaven, earth, wind, cloud, dragon, tiger, bird and snake. It is said that in Sun Bin's The Art of War, there is a description of "using eight Chen Zhi Yong Shi, because of the advantages of the land, using eight Chen Zhi Zhi Shi". Chen Shou mentioned that Zhuge Liang was "extremely clever, deducing the art of war and making an eight-array map" in the History of the Three Kingdoms. The word "deduction" shows that Zhuge Liang is also innovating on the basis of his predecessors.
According to historical records, when the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou fought in ancient times, both sides developed various tactics. Zhuge Liang's "Eight Arrays" should be an array with both offensive and defensive functions, which was developed on the basis of ancestors and through actual combat. For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dou Xian once laid eight arrays (Dou Xian, the main commander of Xerox in Ran Yan), twice went deep into the desert to defeat Wang Ting, the northern Xiongnu, and captured Da Khan and the empress dowager Xiongnu, which directly led to the decline and westward migration of the northern Xiongnu tribe. "Ran Yan Xerox" is a way for Dou Xian to commemorate Xerox on his second expedition to Ran Yanshan. ), this incident was written by Ban Gu, the author of Hanshu, in an inscription commemorating victory: Le Yi Bazhen, Shen, Xuanjiayaori, Zhu Qijiang Tian.
According to "History of Song Dynasty", during the Xining period in Song Shenzong, it was suggested that Zhuge Liang's Eight Arrays be taught to frontier generals to train soldiers. Song Shenzong looked at it and thought it was unrealistic. After all, the enemy won't leave you enough time to set up a real war. He also textual research: "The Yellow Emperor began to set up eight arrays and defeated Zhuolu Chiyou. Zhuge Liang made an eight-array map on the fish sand, with eight rows of stones. Huan Wen saw it and said,' There are always snakes in the mountains.' This is the formation of the ninth army. In the Sui Dynasty, Han Qinhu was well versed in the law, thus giving his nephew Li Jing. Jing has been in trouble for a long time, and many generals know it well, so the world can't know the method of changing six flowers into nine armies. "
It means that the Eight Arrays method was initiated by the Yellow Emperor and used to defeat Chiyou in the battle of Zhuolu. Later, Zhuge Liang made an eight-array diagram according to the eight-array method. Han Qinhu, the general of Sui Dynasty, was proficient in this skill and taught it to his nephew Li Jing. Li Jing thought there were too many people in the eight-array map, so he changed it and created six-array maps. In Li's question, ask what the eight formations of Li Jing's Eight Arrays mean: heaven, earth, wind, cloud, dragon, tiger, bird and snake. Excavate replied that this is a misinformation. The ancients came up with these eight names in order to make the array appear mysterious. In fact, eight arrays are not eight arrays, but only one array. Among them, heaven and earth are flags, clouds are flags, and dragons, tigers, birds and snakes are team names.
Eight arrays have not been handed down. I think there are two main reasons: first, generals should have long-term actual combat experience, otherwise their essence is commendable. The "Eight Arrays" created by Zhuge Liang have a good effect, but the command and dispatch are complicated, and an ordinary military commander rarely gets the gist. Second, the "Eight Arrays" is probably a defensive counterattack array, which is Zhuge Liang's line of defense against Chengdu in Mimou Town. Therefore, when he was in the Northern Expedition, this kind of array was difficult to come in handy. Especially later, the form of war has undergone a fundamental change, and there are no more regular tactics such as "calling for battle" and "rushing for battle", and the war value of "eight-array map" has gradually declined.
Mi Mou Town is a transportation hub connecting Chengdu and the northern part of the Central Plains. Whether Liu Bei entered Chengdu via Mi Mou Town to establish the Shu-Han regime, Zhuge Liang went to Qishan six times and Jiang Wei nine times to the Central Plains, or Deng Aizhong raided Chengdu and destroyed Shu, Mimou Town witnessed the rise and fall of the Shu-Han regime and was an important gateway for Zhuge Liang to defend Chengdu. Mi Mou Town's "Eight-Array Map", also known as "Drought Eight-Array Map", is an important defense line for interpreting the art of war on land and training troops.
However, perhaps because Dunaibel met them too quickly, Liu Chan may always have the heart of "surrender". Therefore, even though Zhuge Liang created an "eight-array map" in Mi Mou Town, Liu Chan failed to save Shu Han, and the "eight-array map" carefully polished by Zhuge Liang was gradually abandoned. Therefore, many people are still skeptical about Zhuge Liang's "Eight Arrays".
However, according to the literature, in the Five Dynasties and the late Tang Dynasty after the death of Shu Han more than 600 years ago, there was a great war in the land of Mimou Town, which was called "Mi Mou decisive battle" in history.
It was in 925 AD, that is, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, in the third year of the Ming Dynasty (932) at the end of the Tang Dynasty, Dong Zhang led elite troops to attack Chengdu, and the situation in Xichuan was critical.
In the late Tang Dynasty, Shu was divided into east and west rivers. In order to control the power of the two rivers, the late Tang emperor asked the two rivers to provide one million and two hundred gold. Therefore, Dong Zhang and Dongchuan made an agreement with Meng Zhixiang and Xichuan, and both sides resisted. Later, Meng Zhixiang went back on his word and slandered Dong Zhang's rebellious heart, which led to the emperor's order to recall his official position and kill his son. In a rage, Dong Zhang led more than 70,000 troops to crusade against Meng Zhixiang and successively captured several cities.
On the third day of May, Dong pushed on, and Meng Zhixiang struggled to resist. The two sides fought a decisive battle in the area of Mougu Town and Jizong Bridge, which was called "Mi Mou decisive battle" in history. Meng Zhixiang first ordered 3,000 troops to sneak into eight forests and lay in ambush under the cover of mounds. Another 30,000 troops will be formed to fight the enemy tenaciously. In the evening, just after dark, the enemy let go of the river. The enemy didn't know what to do, so they camped at the edge of the eighth forest.
Just after the camp, there was a smell of food in the eight-array forest, and suddenly several strange soldiers flashed out of the forest and disappeared into the forest. Dong Zhang ordered the whole army to search in the Woods, but there were mounds everywhere in the Woods. He didn't see the other soldiers, but was confused.
As soon as the Dongchuan Army entered the Eight Arrays, the sky was clouded, surrounded by countless elite soldiers buried in the Woods, making a "rustling" sound from time to time. All the torches held by Dongchuan Army were extinguished, and the ground bombs buried in advance exploded instantly, causing countless casualties to Dongchuan Army. Give up the army disappeared in the woods, from time to time out of the attack. The Dongchuan army was caught off guard and trampled on itself. Thousands of people died and more than 80 main generals were captured. Dong Zhang escaped with only a few riders, and more than 7000 residual soldiers surrendered. Surprisingly, the army turned defeat into victory.
Subsequently, Meng Zhixiang occupied eastern Sichuan and western Sichuan. In 934, Meng Zhixiang was proclaimed emperor, with the title of Shu, commonly known as Houshu. In this battle, surprisingly, the eight-array diagram was skillfully used to turn defeat into victory, which shows the great power of the eight-array diagram.
Seeing this ending, I would like to ask the late ruler Liu Chan who surrendered to Wei Jun in a hurry. What do you think?
Photo: Tang Yong.
Editor: Zhao Xia
Submission email: cd3000y @126.com.