Is it feasible for Zhuge Liang to take Longyou, encroach on Liang Yong and then enter Guanzhong?

During Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, he had a conflict with Wei Yan because of the tactics of the Northern Expedition. This conflict has also become a topic of debate for many years in later generations. Wei Yan wanted to March into Guanzhong with Zhuge Liang in another way, seize Tongguan by himself, block the east-west motorway of Cao Wei, and give Zhuge Liang time to occupy Guanzhong. Only in this way can the problems in Guanzhong be solved in one fell swoop.

Zhuge Liang thinks Wei Yan's tactics are too dangerous. His strategy is to take Longyou as the level, encroach on Liang Yong, and then try to solve Guanzhong. There is a profound strategic intention behind his strategy. This intention has rarely been recognized for thousands of years. They took Zhuge Liang's tactics of taking Longyou first and then Guanzhong as a strategy, which caused misunderstandings about Zhuge Liang for thousands of years.

The strategic difference behind Wei Yan's and Zhuge Liang's tactics is actually one point, that is, the difference in the strategic policy of the Northern Expedition. Objectively speaking, both have their merits. But Zhuge Liang's tactics are more practical and clever than Wei Yan's.

Wei Yan's tactics were to acquire land in Guanzhong. Taking the occupation of Tongguan as the key to divide the strategic position of Cao Wei, so that Cao Wei has no time to take care of things. In this way, the army led by Zhuge Liang took advantage of the situation and captured Guanzhong. Wei Yan put forward this idea in Zhuge Liang's many northern expeditions.

Wei Yan's plan may succeed. Especially in the first northern expedition, Cao Wei was completely unprepared and had a greater chance of success. However, Wei Yan did not consider several aspects.

The first is the quality of the army. There is no doubt that the quality of the Shu-Han army is not as good as that of the Cao-Wei army. In the fiasco of Xiangfan War and Yiling War, Shu Han lost most soldiers who could be good at fighting. This new army trained by Zhuge Liang has not received much actual combat training and its combat effectiveness is very low.

The second is the establishment of the Shu-Han army. The strength of the two arms of Shu and Han is uneven, stronger than that of mountain infantry, and cavalry is no match for Cao Wei's fighters. Moreover, the Shu-Han army has to cross the Qinling Mountains, so it is difficult to carry heavy siege machinery, so its offensive ability is low. This seriously restricted the military action of Shu Han.

The third is the local natural conditions. After a long period of war and Cao Cao's immigration, Guanzhong has withered everywhere. The vast Guanzhong is deserted. The occupation of such a barren land is of little significance to the Shu-Han army, and even the supply is difficult to solve.

Therefore, according to Wei Yan's plan, even if Tongguan was blocked, it would be difficult to storm the fortified city of Shimonoseki. Even if the city is captured, it is difficult to ensure the supply of Shu and Han troops. If we fight Cao Wei in Tongguan area, the Shu-Han area is only tens of thousands of troops, with strong enemies outside and no food and grass behind, which can be described as run. Smart and prudent Zhuge Liang will certainly not adopt Wei Yan's plan.

So as Zhuge Liang, how did he solve the problem of the Northern Expedition? First of all, the way he took was to leave Longyou, especially Qishan. This is because Qishan area is densely populated and rich in products. At that time, there were 10,000 households in Qishan alone, which was more prosperous than Guanzhong. In this way, Zhuge Liang's Shu army can solve the supply problem here and reduce the logistical pressure.

Secondly, Longyou is the birthplace of good horses, and the Qiang and Han in Longyou have strong resistance to Cao Wei. Relying on the military forces in Longyou, the cavalry of Shu Han can be formed to make up for the shortage of Shu army. Later, Wei Yan and Wu Yi led the Shu army into Longdong, formed tens of thousands of cavalry in a very short time, and defeated Wei Jun led by Guo Huai in the battle of Yangxi.

In the third aspect, we can give full play to the strength of Shu-Han mountain infantry. The mountain infantry in Shu and Han dynasties is the superior arms against Wei and Wu, and the flying army is its leader. In the hilly area of Longdong, the army of Shu Han can compete with the cavalry of Cao Wei and reduce its advantage. This is also one of the reasons why Zhuge Liang has been in and out of Longdong Mountain. In the later battle of Lucheng, Zhuge Liang attacked Sima Yi's Cao Weijun, making Sima Yi no longer compete with Zhuge Liang in the mountains.

In addition to the comparison between the above two sides, there is also the most fundamental comparison between the two, which is also the core strategic difference. That is, Wei Yan's strategic thought is to occupy land, and Zhuge Liang's strategic thought is to annihilate the other army. Zhuge Liang adopted the method of destroying each other's effective strength first and then occupying each other's fields.

Wei Yan's method can only block the other side's main force and occupy part of the other side's territory, but it can't fundamentally solve the problem. Zhuge Liang's eyes are always fixed on annihilating each other's main forces.

Zhuge Liang went in and out of Longdong, which is near Hanzhong and far from Cao Wei's base area. It is both the subject and the object. Then Zhuge Liang arranged a battlefield in Longdong to attract Cao to a place far away from Longdong. In the favorable battlefield of killing Cao Wei cavalry, give full play to the advantages of Shu Han mountain infantry and annihilate Cao Wei's main force in one fell swoop. In this way, the whole Guanzhong is at your fingertips.

After the capture of Guanzhong, while the main forces of Cao Wei were wiped out, the campaign against Kanto would be supported by Soochow. Only in this way can we achieve the goal of restoring the Han Dynasty.

Zhuge Liang carried out his military action according to this strategy. Unfortunately, the quality of his army is too poor to reach his military goals. During the first Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang Bing went to Qishan and set up a battlefield there. Deliberately let go of Longdao and let Zhang He's army travel thousands of miles to the battlefield in Longdong.

Zhuge Liang's intention has basically come true. As long as he is in a panic, he can find a way to sweep the Guanzhong. Unfortunately, Wei Yan couldn't understand his strategy, and Ma Su exaggerated it, which made his strategy bankrupt. As a result, the first Northern Expedition not only missed the opportunity to annihilate Zhang He's army in vain, but also suffered a crushing defeat in Jieting and was forced to retreat.

If Zhuge Liang wiped out tens of thousands of Zhang He's troops during the first Northern Expedition, Shu Han would have occupied the whole Guanzhong area. That situation will be much better than Wei Yan's plan. Therefore, no matter how good the strategy and tactics are, they also need people to achieve them. The strength of the Shu-Han army was so weak that even Zhuge Liang's carefully designed plan could not be realized, let alone Wei Yan's plan.

But before he conquered, he died, and since then the heroes have been crying on their coats. Although Zhuge Liang's plan did not succeed, his dedication is worth remembering forever by future generations.