When facing Zhuge Liang, why did Sima Yi never take the initiative to fight?

The key to war lies in whether or not the strategic intent of the battle is achieved, not in the final number of enemies killed. In some battles, it is necessary to leave troops to block the enemy, and the final result is that the troops blocking the enemy are likely to be annihilated in the end, but they successfully delay the arrival of the enemy's large forces, creating an opportunity for the transfer of the main force or the annihilation of the enemy by the main force, so that even if this battle is higher than the enemy, it is also strategically victorious.

And this truth, Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi actually understand it, these two are both strategists in the Three Kingdoms period.

understands this truth, so it is easy to understand why Sima Yi always took a defensive position in the face of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition during the Three Kingdoms period.

In Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang was the attacking side, and Sima Yi himself was the defensive side. The purpose of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was to seize the land of Wei, and Sima Yi's strategic purpose was to hold the land of Wei and repel Zhuge Liang.

Therefore, from the perspective of this strategic intent, the offensive and defensive situation of Zhuge Liang's attack and Sima Yi's defense is determined by the strategic form of both sides.

When Zhuge Liang went on the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang was a laborer expedition, and Sima Yi was waiting for work. Shu road is difficult, it is difficult to go to the blue sky, this Shu country is on the defensive, it is naturally geographically advantageous, but when Shu attacked, it became an obstacle for Shu, and the transportation of logistics grain and grass will be very difficult. At this time, Sima Yi was fighting on the home turf of the Wei State, and the logistics supplies and reinforcements were easy to reach, occupying the advantage of geographical advantages.

In addition, as a defensive side, Sima Yi also has many cities and camps to rely on, which makes his defense easier.

In this case, if Zhuge Liang comes to attack, and Sima Yi's strategic intention is only to defeat Zhuge Liang, then Sima Yi will naturally take a steady defense and avoid a decisive battle with Zhuge Liang's main force.

As long as Sima Yi ensures his main force and holds a few key strategic nodes, in the rest of the place, even if Zhuge Liang occupies some advantages and captures a few cities, but because of the difficulties of Shu's logistics supply, as long as he can't get the key points, he will not be able to stand firm, and he will inevitably withdraw his troops, so that the cities that have been captured by Shu will come back. Although this method of warfare cannot severely damage Zhuge Liang's Shu army, it is not easy to make mistakes, and it is the safest and most secure plan to achieve the defensive goal.

On the other hand, if Sima Yi adopts an offensive posture and wants to have a decisive battle with the main force of Zhuge Liang's army that is attacking, then he will give up the defensive advantage of the city he owns, and pull the armies of both sides into a more equal state for a decisive battle. Such a method of warfare, if it wins, then it will naturally be Zhuge Liang's army suffered a heavy loss, and may even repeat the defeat of Shu in the Battle of Yiling. But it also gave Zhuge Liang the opportunity to hit the main force of Wei hard, if Zhuge Liang wins, then Shu will take advantage of the situation and gain a firm foothold.

Therefore, attacking is a choice with great benefits and risks, and with your own side having many advantages, choosing to defend is actually a safer and safer choice.

Because he's a stingy person, and he wants to expend his energy to fight on his own, so that he can win.

The offensive and defensive consciousness of the two sides is different, Zhuge Liang is an expeditionary force and wants a quick battle, while Sima Yi is a soldier who insists on dragging down the Shu army and surrenders without a fight. Moreover, Sima Yi's role as the big Sima in Cao Wei was not an iron rice bowl, and if he wins, he will lose his troops and lose his generals, and if he loses, he may move his head, so he has to preserve his strength.

Because Zhuge Liang was a very smart person, Sima Yi had to be very cautious when fighting to achieve victory.

Zhuge Liang came from afar during the Northern Expedition, intending to achieve a quick victory, because their grain and grass cannot be endless. Sima Yi understood this, so he deliberately avoided Zhuge Liang and insisted on fighting a protracted war.

Because Sima Yi knows Zhuge Liang's strength, he is also psychologically jealous of Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Liang is a senior after all, Sima Yi does not take the initiative to attack, but also wants to fight steadily, and does not want to lose everything.

Si Dongzi regretted that Ma Yi and Zhuge Liang faced each other for more than 100 days, Zhuge Liang challenged several times, but Sima Yi insisted on not fighting. Zhuge Liang sent Na Zhengren to give Sima Yi the clothes of the woman, Sima Yi was furious, and wrote a letter requesting war...

I think the fear is more than that, or a little bit scared, but it's not the main reason. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms said that this matter was a bit simple, and the people under Sima Yi said that Sima Yi was "afraid of Shu like a tiger", and the reader simply thought that Sima Yi did not go to war because he was afraid of Zhuge Liang, which inevitably oversimplified the problem.

Sima Yi's step-by-step efforts made his grandson the emperor, which shows that his talent is very outstanding, but his opponent is Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and he should not be underestimated. Sima Yi looked at the camp of Zhuge Liang's garrison before his death and sighed that Zhuge Liang was "a real genius in the world", it seems that Sima Yi was in awe and cautious when he fought against Zhuge Liang. The word fear is too exaggerated.

Whether it is a modern war or an ancient war, it is not as simple as we think, when it comes, it will be a random fight, if it loses, it will be chased if it wins, and then celebrate and put on a scissor hand. At that time, Shu Han's advantage was the bow and crossbow, which was the crossbow "Yuan Rong" invented by Zhuge Liang, so Zhuge Liang intended to defeat the enemy. Tell me about the wounded soldiers and the loss of generals, can Sima Yi be willing to do it?

Sima Yi knows Zhuge Liang's weakness, that is, the road to Shu is too difficult to walk, the grain can't be transported, and if it is consumed, it will not be enough to eat, so he can only go back, Sima Yi thought about it, they are all masters, who is much smarter than whom, then I will ignore you and not fight with you, and you will not take me, anyway, Cao Wei's grain will be transported up.

There is another one that I think may be more obscure, Sima Gangyi is not the supreme commander who came to fight, the supreme commander is Cao Zhen, a member of the Cao family, Cao Zhen's talent is much worse than Sima Yi, Sima Yi is a conspirator, and his heart said that I am fighting and killing here, and I may not get any benefits, not to mention, it is too high-profile, like bo, I don't mean to belittle bo, I just give an example, how to realize my plan.

From Sima Yi's own point of view, he once pretended to be sick at home for ten years in order to keep a low profile, this is a very calm, very cautious and steady person, and the practice of sticking to it is very in line with Sima Yi's character, which is also one of the reasons why he did this.

Sima Yi didn't need to be afraid of Zhuge Liang at all. Sima Yi's general strategy was to defend and fight a war of attrition with Zhuge Liang.

Of course not, it's just a war strategy.