Zhuge Liang’s diagram of the Bagua array

The Eight Formations were a formation that existed long before Zhuge Liang. Sun Tzu has eight formations, and their formation diagrams are recorded in "Hanshu Yiwenzhi". In Zheng Xuan's "Notes on Zhou Rites", Sun Tzu's Eighth Formation has the "Ping Chao Formation", which is a defensive method that uses "a chariot that hides itself from the enemy". After Sun Tzu, Sun Bin also wrote the "Eight Formations" in his "Sun Bin Art of War". During the Eastern Han Dynasty, eight formations were commonly used in combat or combat training. The chariot and cavalry general Dou Xian "organized eight formations" and defeated the Shanyu of the Northern Huns. By the time of the war in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Eight Formations became more popular and became a "customary practice" for scholars and people. It was also a formation method that Zhuge Liang was familiar with.

Since the Shu army's combat targets were Wei's infantry and cavalry, and the combat terrain was the Longyou Mountains, Zhuge Liang based on the actual situation of the Shu army, reformed the original eight formations and gave full play to the Shu army's infantry and crossbow The specialty of soldiers is more suitable for mountain combat. Zhuge Liang used his ingenious thinking to "deduce the art of war and make eight formations." His eight formation diagram is an innovative formation diagram based on the ancient eight formations.

Ge Liang claimed that "the eight formations are completed, and from now on when we practice, we will never be defeated." People at that time also spoke highly of Zhuge Liang's eight formations diagram. Even Sima Yi sighed: "There are geniuses in the world." Li Xing of the Jin Dynasty said: "The eight formations of pushers are not among Sun and Wu."

Zhuge Liang’s eight formations were lost in the Tang Dynasty, but Zhuge Liang once built stones to make eight formations, leaving three traces of the eight formations: one is on the gravel beach by the Yufei River. Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty recorded: "The river flows eastward to the south of Zhuge Liang's fortress. The stone moraine is flat and open, looking at both Sichuan and the mainland. There are eight formations made by Liang. They span the old fortress in the east and are made of fine stones. From the fortress to the west, The eight rows of stones are gathered together, and the distance between the rows is two feet. Because the eight formations are completed, from now on, the troops will not be defeated. They are all seeking the right to hide their troops. Those who know deeply from now on will not be able to do anything this summer. Over time, the upper part can be two or three feet high, and the lower part is completely obliterated.” The second one is at the old Gaoping base east of Dingjun Mountain in Hanzhong. "Shui Jing Zhu" said: "The name of Shandong is Gaoping, which is where Liang camped. Zhong Shiji conquered Shu, and in vain he built a temple to the east of the camp, which is the eight formation map. The foundation is slightly there, but it is difficult to recognize because it collapsed. The third place is in Xindu. Mimu Town (now part of Chengdu). Of these three, the first one is the best preserved. These 8,864 piles of stone ruins contain information about the Eight Formations.

Now we have Zhuge Liang. An introduction to the formation, maneuvers, battle formations, use of arms, and formation changes of the Eight Formations

1. The formation and principles of the Eight Formations

The Eight Formations are group square formations. . From the perspective of formation formation, each of the eight formations has eight directions. There are eight directions in the entire formation, namely sky, earth, wind and cloud. , dragon, tiger, bird, snake. The so-called "scattering into eight and reuniting into one" means that they are regarded as eight central formations, and together they form one large formation, which is composed of generals and subordinates. Yu Qi's soldiers, "If there is zero in the center, the general will hold it". There is a saying in "Tang Li Wen Dui" that "there are nine in the number of formations", so the eight formations can also be regarded as a central formation, so the Song Dynasty also considered it. The eight formations are called the nine army formations.

Each central formation is usually organized into six small formations, and is divided into sixteen small formations. The entire eight formations have sixty-four small formations. Formation. After the large square formation, there may be twenty-four small formations of rangers, so the *** is organized into eighty-eight small formations. Some people speculate that the formation of rangers is to organize the two small formations into one group and the three. In order to delay the enemy's attack during defense, obstacles such as rush cars and antlers were set up around the eight formations.

When forming, , the deployment of troops within the formation follows the following three principles:

First, it is inclusive and symmetrical. The large, medium and small formations of the eight formations have an inclusive and accommodating relationship. The central formation is composed of small formations. From the perspective of the whole formation, the "large formation contains the small formation" maintains a balance in pairs, forming a "corner and hook connection." The state of "Zigzag and Opposition" (the corners of the formation are intertwined with each other, twisting and turning, facing each other). The left and right formations and schools A and B mentioned in Zhuge Liang's "Military Order" are manifestations of the formation confrontation.

The second is the internal and external forces. The eight formations are divided into central and external forces, that is, they are divided into central and peripheral areas. Thin and weak, the deployment of troops that is strong on the outside and weak on the inside. On the ground, there are often terrain obstacles such as hills, ravines, and trees. Therefore, we pay attention to separation and make necessary dispersed deployment of our troops to avoid obstacles; we also pay attention to cooperation. After dispersed deployment, we can quickly combine operations under unified command. .

The third is Qizheng. When organizing, the troops are divided into regular troops (conventional combat troops) and Qizheng troops (unconventional combat troops). The formation is divided into "four are upright and four are odd". When deploying odd uprights, "Each one should be upright and one odd in between." "In addition to the eight central formations, "Yu Qi" soldiers are also distinguished, that is, the soldiers directly under General ***.

2. The maneuvering method of the eight formations.

After the eight formations are formed, the direction can be adjusted at any time according to the change of the enemy's combat direction. Due to the symmetry of the formation, as long as the front part is changed to the rear part, the rear part is changed to the front part; or the left part is changed to the right part, and the right part is changed to the front part. On the left, you can turn around and move very flexibly. However, due to the large and complex formation, in order to maintain order, you are not allowed to run fast when moving forward, and you are not allowed to run hard when retreating, so the maneuvering speed is greatly restricted.

This is what the eight formation formula in "Tang Li Wen Dui" tells us: "The past is behind, the future is forward, there is no speed in advance, and there is no rush in retreat."

3. Eight formations of fighting methods.

The eight formations have the function of all-round combat. There are four positive ones that can act as the four heads (flanks), four odd and four red ones that can act as the eight tails (reinforcements). If attacked in any direction, no action is required in that direction. By making fundamental changes, the deployment of the main combat directions can be completed, forming the configuration of troops at the front, flanks and rear. When one area is attacked, the adjacent left and right center formations can automatically serve as two wings to flank the invading enemy. This is what the "Summary of the Sutra of Martial Arts" says: "Four heads and eight tails, the head is where it is touched. If the enemy rushes into it, save both ends."

4. Use of arms.

The most active and mobile ones in the formation are the cavalry. They "rescue each other from head to tail, and can be used in many ways, all for the purpose of charging and riding." The method of its use is to give it a wide range of tasks such as flanking, feinting, ambush, cutting off enemy food routes, blocking, night attacks, tail attacks, marching, camping, and guarding during formation. In normal times, they are arranged in two rows and placed behind the large square formation. As stated in "Wu Bei Zhi", "If you move, you will be in the front, if you stop, you will be in the back. In war, there will be no permanent position for advancement or retreat."

The crossbowmen in the formation, with the cooperation and protection of other troops, made up for the weakness of self-defense and took advantage of long-range shooting. The method of using crossbowmen emphasizes coordination. Zhuge Liang stipulated in the "Military Order" that when the invading enemy is blocked in front of the antlers, the crossbowmen in the formation should stand up to fire, and the spearmen and halberdmen should advance and fight in a crouching position to coordinate with each other. The spearmen and halberdmen must not stand or stop fighting, otherwise it will affect the shooting. boundary, hindering the use of crossbows.

The chariot soldiers use their vehicles to set up obstacles to delay and separate the enemy's impact and maneuvers, provide cover and protection for infantry, crossbows, and cavalry, and enhance the stability of defense. Its application is: in a mountain encounter, if the enemy's cavalry comes to attack from the left and right, and our infantry switches from marching to hasty defense, and it is inconvenient to climb the mountain, we will use vehicles to deploy outside the formation to block the enemy. impact; when the terrain is narrow and difficult to deploy, the vehicles outside the formation are arranged in a zigzag shape to defend against enemy impact.

5. Formation changes.

In order to adapt to different terrains and enemy situations, the Eighth Formation must adjust its formation into square, round, curved, straight, sharp, etc. shapes as appropriate. It must also adjust its center according to the needs of different stages of combat. Troops are deployed into different formations. For example, when marching, a formation is formed to send troops and form a formation; when preparing for war, a formation is formed to gather troops and wait for the enemy; when defending, a formation is formed to be a vanguard to meet the enemy; when pursuing, a formation is formed to defeat the pursuit, gather and reorganize the troops, etc.

In short, Zhuge Liang took advantage of the Wei army's cavalry advantage, supported it by the most advanced rapid-fire weapon Yuan Rong, and comprehensively exerted the power of infantry, crossbow, cavalry, and chariot coordinated operations to form eight formations. His eight formations are a group square formation composed of four upright and four odd formations. The formation can be separated, combined, and changed. The formation is tolerant and symmetrical, and has the ability to respond quickly and flexibly, with the front as the back, the back as the front, four heads and eight tails, the first at the point of contact, the enemy rushing into it, and the rescue of both ends.