Phase GAR: Finale

“杀千刀的。。。贼国蜀汉本应可取之。。。” ~曹真。子丹

"Curse them all... We should have taken down the lands of Shu Han..." ~Cao Zhen. Zidan

Note: Text formatting has hit a major glitch. So if the fonts look funny, you all know why. T_T

五年，随诸葛亮驻汉中。明年，亮出军，扬声由斜谷道，曹真遣大众当之。亮令云与邓芝往拒，而身攻祁山。云、芝兵弱敌强，失利于箕谷，然敛众固守，不至大败。

《赵云本传》

Fifth year (of Jianxing). Yun followed Zhuge Liang unto Hanzhong. The following year, Liand raised his army and declared an invasion via Xie Valley. Cao Zhen sent his men in response, Liang attacked via Mount Qi  with Yun and Deng Zhi under the orders to repel the enemies. Alas Yun and Zhi's soldiers are weak compared to the enemy troops, hence losing the fight at the Ji Valley. However via regrouping and mounting a stubborn defence, a catastrophe was avoided.

(Orignal Account of Zhao Yun)

Analysis: Remember what I've said in the previous part? That only Chencang and Xie Valley are the key routes to Hanzhong? Somehow or another, things went wrong here. So now comes the big question: How did everything get salvaged in the end?

至有街亭违命之阙，箕谷不戒之失。。。臣明不知人。。。[大军在祁山、箕谷，皆多于贼，而不能破贼为贼所破者，则此病不在兵少也，在一人耳。]

《诸葛亮传引[汉晋春秋]》

前赵子龙退军，烧坏赤崖以北，阁道缘谷一百余里。。。时赵子龙与邓伯苗，一戍赤崖屯田，一戍赤崖口，但得绿崖与伯苗相闻而已。

《与兄瑾书》

Hence causing disobedience of orders at Jieting and the defeat at Ji Valley due to lack of caution... Indeed I have a poor eye for the appropriate people... [The forces at Mount Qi and Ji Valley far outweighed the enemy. To be defeated and not defeat, its not down to a lack of numbers but rather that one person.]

(Account of Zhuge Liang with annotations from the [Annals of Han and Jin])

Back then, when Zhao Zilong had retreated, he destroyed the bridge north of Chiya as the fires raged across a li of hundred plus... At that time Zhao Zilong and Deng Bomiao (Zhi) were stationed at the fields (for military agriculture) and the entrance respectively, yet Yun was far from Bomiao.

(Letters to beloved Brother Jin)

Analysis: Part 1 was actually Zhuge Liang's account to Liu Shan in terms of the debacle at Jieting. As it turns out, Zhao Yun's forces were meant as decoys. But a lot of trolls failed to mention (or even remember) that the decoy soldiers suck. Plainly. So now comes the biggest question of them all. Who should be blamed? In the accounts, Zhuge Liang stated that the fault lies in one man, but its not Zhao Yun. Or even Deng Zhi for that manner. The main forces were at the enemy territory of Longxi. （陇西） Which was pretty far flung to the west from Hanzhong to be honest. The key area has always been Jieting. Simply put, Ma Su lost the plot. (马谡失街亭) 

Part 2 is all about what went wrong at Zhao Yun's end. Simply put, if the first part indicated the process of retreat, then the latter part is all about Deng Zhi and his commander in chief outdistanced from each other. Simply put, Zhao Yun was in charge of overseeing the military agriculture while the other was stationed at the entrance. To effectively deploy the dummy troops, its strategically logical to say that Ji Valley was extremely near to the Hanzhong borders. In fact Chiya was indeed situated within that area. (Note: Exact location of Ji Valley has yet to be known. I'm speaking this via military commonsense.) So its a deployment problem coming from Kongming. i.e. he's the one in charge of task delegation for crying out loud! Now remember what I've said on Xie Valley and Chencang being the key routes in the previous post? Yet its still possible for Cao Zhen to launch a sneak attack via other routes that will otherwise be impossible to move an army. (Read: A small number of elite troops will do the trick while organizing the main troops can be intended as diversionary.) [凡战者，以正合，以奇胜。。。奇正之变，不可胜穷也。《孙子兵法：兵势第五》]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms = Truth or Lies

 

曹真字子丹，太祖族子也。。。常猎，为虎所逐，顾射虎，应声而倒。太祖壮其鸷勇，使将虎豹骑。

以偏将军将兵击刘备别将于下辩，破之，拜中坚将军。从至长安，领中领军。是时，夏侯渊没于阳平，太祖忧之。以真为征蜀护军，督徐晃等破刘备别将高详于阳平。

明帝即位。。。迁大将军。

安定民杨条等略吏民保月支城，真进军围之。条谓其众曰：“大将军自来，吾原早降耳。”遂自缚出。

真以亮惩于祁山，后出必从陈仓，乃使将军郝昭、王生守陈仓，治其城。明年春，亮果围陈仓，已有备而不能克。

《曹真传》

Cao Zhen, styled Zidan, part of Taizu's clan... Often hunting, he was pursued by a tiger. Upon a single shot, the beast was felled. Seeing the bravery in him, Taizu made him a leader within the Panthera Cavalry,

Leading his forces as a Brigadier General, he defeated Liu Bei's general upon Xiabian. Upon routing the enemy, he was made General of the Middle Fort. Unto Chang An, he was made Commander of the Central Army. At first when Xiahou Yuan was killed at Yangping, Taizu was worried. As the Army Protector who Conquered Shu, he supervised Xu Huang and the rest in defeating Liu Bei's general Gao Xiang at Yangping.

Upon Ming Emperor's ascension... was promoted to the Grand General.

As citizens of Anding led by Yang Tiao held fort in the city of Yuezhi, Zhen deployed his army to surround them. Tiao told all before him, "I have intended to surrender ever since news of the Grand General's arrival." Hence binding himself in front of the gates.

Zhen assumed Liang to attack via Chencang upon his earlier defeat at Mout Qi. Hence he deployed Hao Zhao, Wang Sheng to defend Chencang and maintain order from within. Upon the following Spring, Liang indeed laid siege on Chencang yet foiled due to preparations beforehand.

(Account of Cao Zhen)

Analysis Part 1: Headshot the tiger=Badass. Being drafted to the highest elite forces as a leader=3x badass.

Part 2: Liu Bei got owned twice in a row+Commanding your central military operations+Bossing the likes of Xu Huang=Profound Badness.

Part 3: Highest ranked in the Cao Wei military hierarchy=Baddest proof of a S.O.B.

Part 4: Post-Jieting=Its good to be bad.

Part 5: Zhuge Liang got owned. The novels are lying after all! O_O

Conclusion: Truth to be spoken, Longxi has yet to be 100% secured upon Jieting just being taken. Hanzhong on the other hand has always been the natural fortress preventing invasions coming from the Wei faction. Simply put, Zhao Yun saved Shu Han. 

Moral of the story: This is how you lose a fight. Constructively.