The terminator of the Qin Empire

Background of the times

The third century BC was a landmark century in Chinese history. This milestone was the unification of China by Qin Shi Huang, which was the first time in the history of the development of Chinese civilization, just as Ying Zheng made himself the first emperor, which was the beginning of China's rule with the emperor alone. Qin Shi Huang's unification of China was a real unification, and he unified not only the written language, the weights and measures, but also the length of the axle. This is very creative, everyone knows that the invention of the train is a modern thing, and now many countries in the world have trains, so is it not that the trains of all countries can be unimpeded as long as there are tracks, obviously not. For example, the standard railway gauge in China is 1435 mm. The neighboring Russia uses the 1524 mm gauge of the "broad gauge", the difference in gauge causes a lot of inconvenience, in the Sino-Russian border trade exchanges, the two countries often have to take the way of changing wheels, the carriage is hoisted to the wheels of their respective gauge to convert, the whole train wheel change takes several hours. As early as the Qin Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, horse-drawn carriages with unified axle lengths could run freely on the roads between the six countries.

From this point of view, Qin Shi Huang played an immeasurable role in the formation of China in the future. But the good times did not last long, in the later period of the reign of Yingzheng, cruel exploitation and oppression, heavy servitude, harsh government and tyranny made the people struggle in misery, "Hanshu Jiashan Biography" described the tragic situation at that time: "The laborers were not allowed to rest, the hungry and cold were not allowed to eat and clothing, and the condemned had nothing to tell", and the tragic situation of "the road was jammed with clothes and the city was full of prisons" appeared in the whole country, which led to the comprehensive intensification of social contradictions. Finally, in the first year of Qin II (210 BC), a great peasant uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang broke out. The uprising was quickly responded, and the old nobles of the Six Kingdoms who were destroyed by Qin also took the opportunity to raise troops, and there was a situation of anti-Qin in the world. The rulers of the Qin Empire, of course, were not willing to accept defeat and engaged in a death struggle, they mobilized their armies and suppressed the peasant uprising. Among them, the most ferocious one is the army commanded by Shaofu Zhanghan. Prior to this, this army had suppressed the rebel armies of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, destroyed the armed forces of Qi Wang Tian Dan and Wei Wang Jiao, and killed the leader of the rebel army there and Xiang Yu's uncle - Xiang Liang in Chu. Then he pointed the finger at the Zhao State in the north, for a time, the survival of the Zhao State became the focus of attention in the world, if the Zhao State was occupied by Qin, it would be a heavy blow to the anti-Qin cause of various countries. If Zhao can win, it will play a great role in encouraging those trembling rebel armies everywhere.

Character Analysis

Xiang Yu, name, word feather. An important leader of the anti-Qin rebel army at the end of Qin, he was called the "overlord of Western Chu" by later generations. He was a native of the state of Chu (now Suqianxi, Jiangsu). His ancestors were nobles of the Chu State, and his grandfather Xiang Yan was a famous general of the Chu State. Xiang Yu learned the art of war and was known for his bravery. At the beginning of the Chu-Han War, he led 30,000 elite soldiers to attack, defeated Liu Bang and the allied army of the princes who had occupied Pengcheng, and almost captured Liu Bang alive. Subsequently, he fought with the Han army for a long time, one gram of Xingyang (now northeast of Xingyang, Henan), and two capture of Chenggao (now northwest of Xingyang), forcing Liu Bang to flee in a hurry. In the spring of the first year of the Han Dynasty, he claimed to have made himself the merit of destroying Qin and sealed 18 princes. He called himself the overlord of Western Chu and built the capital of Pengcheng (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu). In August of the fourth year, he returned to the east and was defeated by Liu Bang in Guling (now northwest of Huaiyang, Henan). Later, he was surrounded under the wall, lost the decisive battle, and broke out. To Dongcheng (now southeast of Dingyuan, Anhui), Ju commanded 28 cavalry to attack the encirclement of thousands of Han troops twice, killing dozens of people. In December, he retreated to Wujiang (now Anhui and the county), saw the Jiangdong father and old man with no face, and was unwilling to cross the river to escape, and finally calmly killed himself at the age of 31.

In "Historical Records: The Biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin": Han Xin, a Han general who once followed Xiang Yu, once commented on Xiang Yu, saying: "King Xiang is a person who sees people who are respectful and loving, who vomits and vomits, and who are sick, and who weeps and eats and drinks. When his subordinates made military exploits and should be crowned knights, he held the engraved official seal tightly in his hands and was reluctant to give it to others, which is a typical woman's kindness. It is not difficult to see from this sentence that in Han Xin's eyes, people like Xiang Yu cannot achieve great things. History also seems to confirm Han Xin's judgment. However, when we look at Xiang Yu with today's eyes, this upright, brave and resourceful overlord of Western Chu is not only a general who gallops on the battlefield, but also a true man with chivalrous bones. No wonder Li Qingzhao, a talented woman of a generation, still felt sorry for this hero in the Song Dynasty hundreds of years later. Maybe history loves to play tricks on people like this, obviously it is a job that I shouldn't be engaged in, history pushes you to this position, let him bear the torment of this ideal and reality, to put it in my heart, Xiang Yu is suitable to be a general, not an emperor.

▲ Portrait of Xiang Yu, the first fierce general in Chinese history

Zhang Han, a general of the Qin Dynasty, was made a general. Qin II was the Shaofu at the time, and he was the last general of the Qin Dynasty. In September of the first year of Qin II (209 BC), he was ordered to lead the prisoners and slaves of Lishan to meet the Zhou Wenbu of Chen Sheng's rebel army, and won many battles, so that the Qin court could survive. Subsequently, he attacked and killed the anti-Qin armed leaders Wei Qi, Tian Dan, Xiang Liang, moved across the river to attack Zhao, was defeated by Xiang Yu in the battle of Julu, and was defeated by Xiang Yu again in the battle of Zhangzhen and surrendered, and entered the pass with Xiang Yu and was crowned King Yong. In the Chu-Han War, Zhang Han fought with Liu Bangjun repeatedly in August of the first year of the Han Dynasty (206 BC), and retired to the Waste Hill (now southeast of Xingping, Shaanxi Province). In June of the second year of Qin II, Chengpo committed suicide.

Wang Li, a general of the Qin Dynasty, the grandson of the Qin general Wang Jian and the son of Wang Ben. When Qin II first succeeded him, Meng Tian was seized of military power, and the northern army was taken over by Wang Li. In 207 B.C., the rebel army of the world rose together, Wang Li surrounded Zhao Wang Zhao with heavy troops in Julu, the offensive was fierce, the military situation of Zhao was critical, and he constantly sent envoys to Chu to ask for reinforcements. Chu sent Song Yi, Xiang Yu, and Fan reinforcements to rescue Zhao, but Song Yi did not fight and was killed by Xiang Yu. After that, Xiang Yu broke the cauldron and sank the boat, fought the Qin army for nine times, killed Wang Li's hundreds of thousands of troops, captured Wang Li alive, killed Su Jiao, and committed suicide unyieldingly among the generals.

The course of the engagement

Julu County is a small county town located 110 kilometers southwest of Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province. It was one of the 36 counties canonized by Qin Shi Huang that year. Historically, the name Julu is closely associated with war, and many wars such as Liu Xiu's crusade against Wang Lang, the Yellow Turban Uprising of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the "Battle of Jingyan" in the Ming Dynasty have been staged here, and the earliest familiar to everyone is the life-and-death decisive battle related to the fate of the Qin Empire. The story also begins with that seminal event, in July 209 BC, two prisoners Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who were afraid of being executed because they missed the construction schedule, launched an uprising in Daze Township (now in Nanqi County, Suzhou City, Anhui Province). In September, Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu of Chu killed Huiji County (Huiji County was ruled in present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu Province during the Qin Dynasty) and held an uprising, which soon gathered more than 8,000 people. By the following year, Xiang Liang led 8,000 "subordinate soldiers" to cross the Yangtze River and the Huai River and march to the Central Plains to cooperate with Chen Sheng's rebel army. Along the way, Yingbu, Lü Chen, Liu Bang and others all led their troops to rendezvous, and this rebel army grew to more than 100,000 people. Soon after, Xiang Liang heard the news of Chen Sheng's death in Xue (present-day north of Xuecheng, Shandong Province), and summoned the anti-Qin generals of various ministries to discuss the plan. Fan Zeng, a native of Juchao (present-day Chaohu City, Anhui Province), suggested to Xiang Liang: "Your family has been a Chu general for generations, and if you can restore the descendants of the king of Chu, you can win the hearts of the people." Xiang Liang thought that he was reasonable, so he found the grandson of King Chu Huai to be the king of Chu, and he was still called King Chu Huai. The capital was Xuyi, and the second peasant regime at the end of the Qin Dynasty was established. Xiang Liang called himself Wu Xinjun and led Xiang Yu, Liu Bang and others to defeat the army of Zhang Han, the general of the Qin Dynasty, many times. However, in the face of victory, Xiang Liang had a feeling of contempt for the enemy and relaxed his vigilance. In September 208 BC, when Xiang Liang led his troops to the northwest of Dingtao, he was attacked by Zhang Han's superior forces. Xiang Liang was killed in battle, and the rebel army was defeated.

After Zhang Han's main force defeated Xiang Liang, he marched north, crossed the Yellow River, and fought a decisive battle with the main force of the Zhao army, and the Zhao army was defeated. Zhao's general Chen Yu fled north to Changshan County, and the other two generals, Zhang Er and Li Qi, escorted Zhao Wangxie and led his army to retreat into the city of Julu (now southwest of Pingxiang, Hebei) east of Xindu. The Qin army soon conquered Handan, and Zhang Han razed the city of Handan and moved the people to the Hanoi region southwest of Handan. At this time, Chen Yu recruited tens of thousands of troops in Changshan and stationed them in the north of Julu City far away from the Qin army, and Zhang Er's son Zhang Ao recruited more than 10,000 troops in Daidi, which was also close to Chen Yu and stationed in the north of Julu. The Zhao army resisted stubbornly, and Julu was difficult to break for a while, so Zhang Han ordered Wang Li and Shijian to surround Julu, while he led the main force to be stationed in the Thorn Plains south of Julu City, and built a road to connect with the Yellow River to provide supplies for the besieging troops.

The situation is critical. Zhao Wang Xie asked King Chu Huai for help. At this time, the king of Chu Huai had moved the capital to Pengcheng, for the great cause of the world against Qin, but also for the interests of Chu itself, the king of Chu Huai agreed to the request of Zhao Wang Xie, he appointed Song Yi as the general, Xiang Yu as the second general, and led the troops north to rescue Zhao. When Song Yi led the army from Pengcheng, the troops of the Chu State had been resting for several months, and when they heard that they were going to fight with the main force of the Qin army, they were all gearing up and had a strong fighting spirit. However, coach Song Yi is an extremely selfish and despicable person. On the one hand, he used sweet words to gain the trust of King Chu Huai and deceive the military power; On the one hand, he hooked up with Qi Guo and sought his own foreign aid. Now that he has the military power in his hands, he didn't think of the Giant Deer City and the Qin army fighting at all. When he walked to Anyang, he ordered the whole army to camp and rest in place. He stayed for more than 40 days, and he only drank and had fun in the big tent every day, and did not mention the matter of military aid to Zhao. At this time, the second general Xiang Yu couldn't bear it anymore, so he came to see Song Yi and said, "Now that the Qin army is besieging Julu, King Zhao is in danger. We should hurry up and lead our troops across the Yellow River, and join forces with the Zhao army, so that we can break the Qin army. Song Yi glanced at Xiang Yu with slanted eyes, and said contemptuously: "Where do you know how to use the art of war." Let me tell you, now that the Qin soldiers are attacking Zhao, if they win, they will be exhausted, and then I will send troops to take advantage of their exhaustion to attack it. So my idea is to let Qin Zhao fight to the death first, and we can take advantage of the fisherman. You have to understand: When it comes to being stubborn and stubborn, I am not as good as you, but you are far from being able to strategize and win a thousand miles!"

After Xiang Yu left, Song Yi sneered at his back, and then drafted a military order and announced it to the whole army. "A soldier in the army, whether he is as brave as a tiger, as strong as a sheep (sheep is very tenacious in gladiatorial combat), or excellent in martial arts, as long as he dares to disobey orders, he will be beheaded!" This order is obviously aimed at Xiang Yu, and everyone in the army understands this in their hearts. Song Yi put Chu Huaiyu's orders on the shelf, but stepped up his hookup with Qi State. Tian Rong, the king of Qi, saw that he had a heavy army in his hand and was trying to win him over, so he invited his son Song Xiang to Qi to be the prime minister. Song Yi was overjoyed when he received this letter, and personally sent his son to Wuyan (now Pingdong, Dongdong, Shandong), where he held a grand farewell banquet.

At this time, it was the severe cold of Sanjiu, and the cold wind was biting. The soldiers were hungry and cold, and they complained. But Song Yi still drank on the stove and talked and laughed. Xiang Yu was anxious about saving Zhao, and said angrily to the soldiers: "At this time, we should have worked together to attack Qin and save Zhao, but General Song did not lead troops across the river and drank all day. What else did you say to let Qin Zhao fight, and then sit back and reap the benefits of the fisherman. How can a newly built little Zhao State withstand the Qin of the tiger and wolf? In the battle of Qin and Zhao, the victory or defeat is obvious, what are the benefits to be gained? General Song has a heavy army in his hands, and he has the main order, but he has bad intentions, I don't think he is a courtier loyal to the country!" The fighters were also furious. The next day, Xiang Yu was fully armed and strode into the tent of Song Yi's army, once again demanding that troops be sent to rescue Zhao immediately. Song Yi saw Xiang Yu rushing over, lost his temper, and shouted: "My military order has been issued, do you want to try the order with your head?" Xiang Yu was indignant and shouted: "I'm going to borrow a hair order today!" As he spoke, he cut off Song Yi's head with a sword. He walked out of the tent with a human head in one hand and a sword in the other, like a fierce god. Xiang Yu said to everyone: "Song Yi fornicated with the Qi State, betrayed the King of Chu, did not move, and lost the war, I have executed him on the order of King Huai." ”

Everyone knew that this was not King Huai's order, but no one debunked it. First, they were afraid of Xiang Yu's majesty, secondly, most of them were Xiang Liang's old subordinates, and they had great feelings for Xiang Yu, and thirdly, they were dissatisfied with Song Yi's misdeeds, so when they saw Xiang Yu kill Song Yi, they immediately expressed their willingness to obey Xiang Yu's command. Xiang Yu took the military power into his own hands, and on the one hand sent people to hunt down and kill Song Xiang, who was on his way to the Qi State, and on the other hand, he reported the execution of Song Yi to the King of Chu Huai. King Chu Huai had no choice but to make Xiang Yu a general. Xiang Yu served as the commander of the army to aid Zhao, and immediately sent Yingbu and Pu generals to lead 20,000 horses as the vanguard to cross the Yellow River to relieve the siege of Julu. The main force led by Xiang Yu also drove to the south bank of the Zhanghe River. Xiang Yu ordered to bury the pot immediately for cooking, prepare a boat to cross the river, and cross the river immediately after eating. Suddenly, the envoy of Zhao came again and said urgently: "Although the reinforcements of Qi, Yan and other countries have arrived in Julu, because they saw that the Qin army was numerous and fierce, they just camped from afar and watched, and did not dare to fight. The safety and survival of the Zhao State are all on the general!" It turned out that Zhang Han ordered the generals Wang Li, Shijian, and Su Jiao to besiege Julu, and stationed his troops in the Thorn Plains south of Julu, specifically intercepting all roads to rescue Zhao's reinforcements, and at the same time building a road to the city of Julu, transporting grain and grass, and arranging a tight and invulnerable formation. Xiang Yu discovered the deployment of the Qin army and knew that it would not be easy to relieve the siege and save Zhao, but he waved his hand and said to the envoy of Zhao: "You repay the king of Zhao, Xiang Yu will definitely live up to the high expectations of your country!" Xiang Yu sent the envoy away and ordered the soldiers to bring enough rations for 3 days each. The next day, as soon as the sky was dawn and the whole army was ready to cross, Xiang Yu ordered to smash all the cooking pots of the march. The army crossed the Zhanghe River, and Xiang Yu ordered the soldiers to sink all the ferries and burn all the marching tents. Xiang Yu expressed his determination to win by breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat.

Crossing the Zhanghe River, Xiang Yu led a large army to penetrate the gap between the two armies of Zhang Han and Wang Li. On the one hand, Zhang Han's reinforcements were blocked, and on the other hand, the Yongdao was cut off and the grain transportation was cut off, which made Wang Li's army under Julu City lose support and grain and grass supply. Seeing that the Chu army was so brave, the Qin general Wang Li hurriedly commanded his soldiers and horses to intercept it. Xiang Yu's army fought desperately and was unstoppable, killing countless Qin army casualties. The king retreated three times before he fled back to the camp.

In the previous battle of Dong'e, Zhang Han had learned Xiang Yu's bravery, this time the forward was defeated, Wang Li was defeated, he didn't dare to be careless, and immediately rearranged the troops, wanting to lure the Xiang army to go deeper, gather and annihilate it. Zhang Han led the Chu soldiers deep into the formation, thinking that the Chu soldiers were in the middle of the plan, but unexpectedly, the Chu army was cut off from the back road, and they were in groups of three or five, fighting for each other, and within two days, the Qin army suffered 9 defeats. Xiang Yu saw that the Qin army had collapsed, so he sent Yingbu and Pu generals to seize the Qin army's Yongdao, kill the Qin general Su Jiao, capture Wang Li alive, and be buried in the fire. Seeing that the general trend had gone, Zhang Han was forced to lead 200,000 Qin troops to surrender to Xiang Yu, and the Battle of Julu was declared over.

War Impact

The Battle of Julu was a great victory in the Peasant War at the end of the Qin Dynasty. It essentially destroyed the main force of the Qin army, turned the tide of the war, and played a key role in overthrowing the brutal Qin rule. After this battle, the Qin Dynasty has existed in name only. And Xiang Yu broke 200,000 with 60,000, such a disparity in results made countless later generations full of admiration and admiration for him.

Strategy analysis

After Xiang Yu arrived in Julu, he began to plan a gamble of the century against the Qin army, the bet was his own life plus tens of thousands of Chu troops, and if he lost, the whole army would be annihilated and he would die on the battlefield; And if you win, you will get the world of Daqin. Faced with all kinds of disadvantages in front of him, this seems to be a gamble without suspense, for the following reasons:

First of all, the strength of the opponent is unusually strong. Xiang Yu's opponent was the elite troops of the Qin State, known as "a hundred victories in a hundred battles". These two Qin armies, one is the border guard army built by the famous general Meng Tian of Qin, this army has been on the battlefield for a long time, has defeated the northern Xiongnu, and made great achievements, leading them is Meng Tian's deputy that year, and later the general Wang Li, who led the border army, was once named the Marquis of Wucheng, and repeatedly toured the east with Qin Shi Huang, and made great achievements. Secondly, his own strength is unusually weak. The composition of Xiang Yu's army was complex, with its number roughly between 50,000 and 60,000. Among them, the vanguard of 20,000 was the army of Yingbu and General Pu. That is, Xiang Yu's main force still has 30,000 to 40,000. Again, there is no way back, and you can't fight for a long time. Because of the relationship between Xiang Yu and King Huai, Xiang Yu was in a place where there was no foreign aid and no way out. Finally, the allies are afraid of war, and the strength is preserved. Although the reinforcements of all the princes knew that the world was in this move, because of the lack of soldiers and generals, their hearts were different, and no one was willing to accompany them. Therefore, it is more difficult to count on the reinforcements of the princes to help him than to ascend to the sky.

Xiang Yu defeated the warlike Qin army in the case of such a huge disparity in the number and quality of Julu's troops, in addition to the cooperation of the right time, place and people. The key is to plan ahead, to be bold and break the rules, and to use all the clever tactics and factors in your favor. With a small number of miscellaneous troops, the elite Qin army was completely annihilated, creating a miracle in the history of war in China and even the world.

☆☆ War Archives ☆☆

Campaign Name: Battle of the Giant Deer

Time of occurrence: December of the third year of Qin II (207 BC)

The warring sides: the allied forces led by the state of Chu VS the Qin Empire

Place of battle: Julu (located in the southwest of Pingxiang County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province) Strength comparison: 60,000 Chu allied troops VS 400,000 Qin troops

The result of the war: the main force of the Qin army was annihilated, and the rest surrendered

Nature of War: Rebel war

Intelligence Level: ☆☆☆☆☆