Capture of the Three Counties – Cao Zhen was tricked into taking Yucheng
During Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, he threatened to take The Wei state of Yu County through The Xiegu Road.
Located on the north bank of the Wei River, west of Chang'an, Yi County served as the western barrier of Chang'an City, and if lost, it would pose a great threat to the Guanzhong region of the Wei state.
The Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui ordered Cao Zhendu to supervise the right armies of Guan to resist the Han army, and Zhuge Liang, with Zhao Yun as the vanguard and Deng Zhi as his deputy general, only led a suspicious army along the Xiegu Road, but personally led the main force to march towards Qishan with Wei Yan and others.
Cao Zhen received the news that the Han army had invaded Guocheng, and without carefully analyzing the authenticity of the intelligence, he hastily entered The City with the Guan Right army.
Zhao Yun's troops were limited, and it was originally a bluff, so he lingered in Jigu Valley, and Cao Zhen did not understand the strength of the Han army in time, so he led the Guan Right army to confront it.
Because the Wei army was defenseless in the Longxi region, the counties of Longxi were caught off guard by Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Liang captured the three counties of Longxi almost without bloodshed:
In the spring of the sixth year, Yang Sheng took his eyebrows from Xiegu Dao, making Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi suspicious, and according to Jigu, the Wei general Cao Zhen rejected them. Liang Led the armies to attack Qishan, Rong Chen was neat, rewarded and punished and ordered Changming, and the three counties of Nan'an, Tianshui, and Anding rebelled against Wei Yingliang, and Guanzhong resounded. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The Battle of the Street Pavilion - This is the credit of Zhang Gao!
Then came the turning point of the war, the Battle of the Street Kiosks.
At the Battle of Jieting, the Han army was defeated, resulting in Zhuge Liang having to abandon the three counties of Longxi and only relocate part of the population to retreat back to Hanzhong, and Zhao Yunbu was also defeated by the Wei army because he was outnumbered.
This was also a battle that many people touted Cao Zhen talked about, saying that Cao Zhen defeated Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, causing Zhuge Liang to have to degrade himself to the third degree of apology.
However, Zhuge Liang's failure in the First Northern Expedition is not false, can the merits of defeating Zhuge Liang really be counted on Cao Zhen?
First, when the Cao Wei court learned of the fall of the three counties of Longxi, Cao Zhen was still confronting Zhao Yun in Jigu, thousands of miles away, and it was the Wei emperor Cao Rui who personally rushed from Luoyang to Chang'an to sit in the town, and sent Zhang Gao to lead the Jingzhou soldiers into the street pavilion:
Emperor Ming of Wei ordered Zhang Guo to resist Liang, and Liang ordered Ma Chen to oversee the troops in front and fight Tai at the street pavilion. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Zhang Gao was personally transferred from Jingzhou by Emperor Ming of Wei to fight against Zhuge Liang, which was nothing for Cao Zhen at all.
Cao Zhen, as a general of Cao Wei, failed to see through Zhuge Liang's plan to attack the west from the east, and was deceived into guocheng, resulting in the Longxi region being almost included in the territory of the Shu Han Dynasty, and being toyed with by Zhuge Liang.
Battle of Jigu - Although Zhao Yun was defeated, Yu Rong
As for defeating Zhao Yun, there was nothing to blow.
First of all, the purpose of Zhao Yun's march was itself to attract Cao Zhen's army and drag him down, Zhao Yun completed the purpose of attracting Cao Zhen's army, and successfully dragged Cao Zhen's army, and its strategic goal had been achieved.
After Zhuge Liang captured the three counties of Longxi, in fact, Zhao Yun's task had been successfully completed.
As for the loss of the three counties of Longxi after the loss of the street pavilion, that was Ma Chen's problem, not to mention zhao yun or anything, and then look at how Zhao Yun was defeated:
Yun and Zhi were weak and strong, and they lost to the valley, but they held on to the crowd and did not lead to a major defeat. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The real main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army was in Qishan, and Zhao Yunbu was only used to attract Cao Zhen's suspicious troops, and its strength would not exceed 10,000 people, but Cao Zhen brought 100,000 elite Guanzhong troops, and the balance of strength between the two sides was very large.
Zhao Yun faced an enemy army ten times larger than himself, he was still able to face danger and retreat with his whole body, Cao Zhen's 100,000 elites could not keep Zhao Yun less than 10,000 soldiers and horses, so that Zhao Yun fought and retreated safely, I don't know whether it was Cao Zhen who had a false name, or Zhao Yun created a miracle.
Obviously, Zhuge Liang's military talent is above Cao Zhen, and the loss of the street pavilion can only be said to be improper employment, and Cao Zhen is seriously overestimated! Zhuge Liang's military ability dumped Cao Zhen who had been tricked into going to Yucheng a few streets!
bibliography:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms