Traveler Major League

Chapter 233 The Battle between Ancient and Modern Times ([-]) This Chapter is Very Important
Several east-west rivers and several north-south rivers intersect with each other, dividing China's hinterland into several relatively independent regions.

The three terraces of China's terrain are roughly distributed in the northeast-southwest direction.

Among them, the second step located on the eastern edge is an important dividing line between the east and west parts of China. It starts from Yanshan Mountain, goes south along the Taihang Mountains, passes through Songshan Mountain and Fangcheng Mountain, crosses Tongbai Mountain and Dahong Mountain, and then heads to western Hubei. And the Xiangxi Mountains, connected to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, are two important dividing lines between the east and west of China.

The north and south are divided into several layers, bounded by the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Qinba Mountains, and supplemented by Zhongtiao Mountain and Dabie Mountain.

These crisscrossing mountains and rivers divide the hinterland of China into a number of relatively independent geographical units.

The hinterlands of these geographical units often have a certain spatial carrying capacity, and there are steep mountains and rivers on the periphery as barriers; large and small rivers form traffic arteries in these areas and also connect different areas.

A mountain and a river all have different strategic significance.The purpose of the mountain is to block, but the value of it is to have a passage; the significance of this river lies in its circulation, and its value lies in defense.

Generally speaking, valleys and lowlands formed by mountain cliffs or rivers cutting through mountains are the only way for transportation in mountainous areas.For example, the four major passes in Guanzhong, the eight passes in Taihang and the plank road across the Qinba Mountains are one of them.

Rivers mainly play the role of transporting people and materials.With the river as a risk, strongholds must be established at important ferries, tributaries and the intersection of the main river to ensure control.For example, Mengjin and Pujin on the Yellow River, Guazhoudu and Caishidu on the Yangtze River, and Yingkou, Wokou and Sikou on the Huaihe River are all classified as important military towns.

With these dangerous places as a basis, it is easier to establish one's own base in a chaotic situation and form a local order and strength. This is why Liu Ze insisted on going to Majiazhai in Chengcheng and other plain places at that time. This is the reason why we run at the junction of mountainous areas and go deeper into the mountainous areas of Yijun County.

With waterways, power can be better transported outwards, it is easier to expand outwards, and it is easier to intervene in the overall situation.

Most of the nine important strategic locations mentioned above meet these conditions.

It should be noted here that these nine strategic locations are not all divided according to today's provincial administrative divisions, mainly because they are relatively independent geographical units formed due to topography, topography and other factors in the military geographical pattern. In previous wars, these regions have shown their own independent individual characteristics.

The Guanzhong area is bounded by the north of Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province; the Hanzhong area, due to its relative independence, has become an independent strategic location; the southeast is centered on Jiangsu and Anhui, the middle is centered on Henan, and other places are basically The current provincial capital.

Whether it is Guanzhong or the Central Plains, the ancient names are still used because it is a strategic symbolic continuation.

On the edge of the strategic locations mentioned above, certain specific geographical locations also play a very important role.However, due to its geographical location, these dangerous terrains protected it, but also limited its contact with the outside world, preventing it from fully participating in the overall situation, so it did not play a decisive role in history.

Of course, with the changes in China's national defense pattern in modern times, the national defense pattern has also changed, and its position in the military geographical pattern has also changed. However, this pattern was still followed under the backward technological conditions of the Ming Dynasty.

Guanzhong, Hebei, Southeast, and Sichuan are located in the four corners of this chessboard pattern.

Each of the four directions has its own advantages. Generally speaking, the mountains and rivers are relatively superior, the rear is relatively stable, the terrain is difficult, and it can be attacked and defended; it has superior economic conditions and can support huge military and political forces; it has certain Social foundation, it is easy to form some kind of political force in society.

When any force first rises, it will occupy the dangerous terrain in the four corners, using this as a foundation to grow and develop, laying a solid foundation for future expansion.

Guanzhong, where the Popular Alliance is located, has the hardware conditions to unify the world. There are four major passes in Guanzhong, the Qinling Mountains in the south, the Longshan Mountain in the west, the Loess Plateau in the north, and the Huashan Mountain, Xiaoshan Mountain and the mountains of southwest Shanxi in the east. There is also the Yellow River, which can be described as beautiful and magnificent.

From the topographic point of view, the plain area east of Guanzhong has a condescending atmosphere.

Guanzhong is surrounded by mountains and the terrain is dangerous, and several important roads are guarded by passes.

Importantly, Tongguan and Hangu Pass guard the throat of the Xiaohan Mountains and are the only way from Guanzhong to the Central Plains;
Wuguan controls the strategic geographical position of the eastern section of the Qinling Mountains and guards the southeastern gateway of Guanzhong; Sanguan controls the passes at the western end of the Qinling Mountains and guards the transportation arteries between Guanzhong, Hanzhong and Bashu; Xiaoguan controls Longshan and guards the northwest arterial roads of Guanzhong. They are all military strategists. The battleground is also the target of the first phase.

The four fortresses are dangerous and solid. You can defend yourself in seclusion, and you can conquer the world when you go out.When the situation is favorable, expand outward; when things go wrong, stay shut and observe the situation.In this way, we have a well-grounded advance and retreat, and we can attack and defend. This is also the reason why Li Zicheng captured Tongguan and established his basic base in history. And at a time when the world has not yet been corrupted, the power represented by the People's Alliance has dropped even more. dimension blow.

For Guanzhong, Hanzhong and Shanxi are its two wings, especially operating Shanxi is the key; for Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong are the "two wings", and they are also the key to operating Shanxi.

This is because the battle in the north is often manifested as the battle between Guanzhong and Hebei, while Shanxi is a wedge wedged between Guanzhong and Hebei. The battle in Shanxi often determines the outcome of both sides.

As for the southeast, Shandong and Hubei are its two wings; occupy Shandong in the north and secure the upper reaches of Huaisi, defend Jingxiang in the west, and secure the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. This is the most advantageous strategy to defend the southeast, especially Hubei. Since it is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, it is more It is a battleground for military strategists.

With Sichuan as the boundary, Hanzhong and Hubei as its two wings; only when Jiangling is to the east and Hanzhong to the north can the dangerous territory of Sichuan be stable.

Defend Jiangling, defend Wushan, defend Hanzhong, and defend the dangerous Daba Mountain.Among them, Hanzhong is particularly important due to its dangerous terrain.

The Central Plains is the center of the entire Ming Dynasty and can gather the power of the entire Ming Dynasty together.The Central Plains extends in all directions and is a hub connecting the four directions.It is very convenient to get from the Central Plains to the surrounding areas, and then from the surrounding areas to the Central Plains.

Its situation is closely related to the surrounding areas. Whatever happens in the Central Plains will involve all directions.If something goes wrong in the four directions, the Central Plains will also be affected.Only when the Central Plains is stable can the Quartet be stable.

If there is chaos in the Central Plains, the four sides will inevitably fall apart.

However, in the early days of the Troubled Times in ancient times, the Central Plains was besieged on all sides, and the centrifugal force generated by internal divisions was enough to turn the Central Plains upside down and turn it into a turbulent place.The raging floods are enough to wash away all efforts in the Central Plains.

At this time, it was easy to occupy the dangerous terrain in all directions, but it was even more difficult to occupy the Central Plains.

If the Central Plains is compared to a chessboard, then Luoyang is the Tianyuan on the chessboard. Many dynasties in history used Luoyang as their capital.Although Luoyang claims to be one of the four major centers, it is actually on the periphery.The so-called periphery of Luoyang can be divided into several layers. The first layer is the dangerous areas around the Sanchuan River Valley, such as Chenggao, Xiaohan, Mengjin, Longmen, etc.; the second layer is the four borders of Henan, the Nanyang Basin, the upper reaches of the Huaihe River in the southeast, and Hanoi in the northeast. These four regions, Sanchuan River Valley, Northwest, and Weihan, form the connection between the Central Plains and the four surrounding regions.

If we look further, its borders can extend to important places such as Guanzhong, Hebei, Southeast and Jingxiang.Luoyang is located on the periphery of these layers, and its geographical location has an important impact on the characteristics of the Central Plains' offensive and defensive posture.

The capture of Luoyang and the occupation of the Central Plains were carried out layer by layer from the outside in; while the defense management of the Central Plains formed a layer-by-layer pattern radiating outward from Luoyang.

Although the Central Plains is a place for competition, those who are truly qualified to participate in the struggle for hegemony are not the Central Plains, but the Quartet.In history, most of the forces that dominated the world stood in the four corners.

First occupy one or two horns, accumulate strength, then expand to the two wings, and then march into the Central Plains to dominate the world.

The inheritance hierarchy of Qin, Western Han and Sui can be traced back to the Western Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, which all used Guanzhong as the base to unify the world.Starting from Guanzhong, the Qin State unified the world and set a precedent for great unification. The unification of the Western Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties all followed the old path of the Qin State. Guanzhong was the foundation, and the two wings were the Central Plains. The final battle took place in the Central Plains. .

However, with the historical development of the Ming Dynasty at this time, the status and strategic significance of various regions were also constantly changing. The tendency of the Ming Dynasty's political center to be in the east is the best example.

When the political center of gravity fell on Guanzhong, the status of Guanzhong in Guanzhong was self-evident; but at this time, the center of gravity of the Ming Dynasty gradually shifted to Hebei.In this process, Guanzhong's status declined and Hebei's status rose.

This led to the fact that when the political center of gravity was concentrated in Guanzhong, Hubei served as a link connecting the northwest and the southeast, and its status became more important. After the political center of gravity shifted to Hebei, Guanzhong's status declined, and Hubei's status also declined. Shandong has become a hub connecting the political and economic centers of the north and south, playing an important role.

This is the general trend of Ming Dynasty at this time.

In fact, its status and strategic significance are not static no matter when and where, but vary with the political and military situation of the times. Liu Ze naturally wants to copy this path to quickly unify under such low-tech conditions.

(End of this chapter)