War is the highest form of struggle between political groups, nations, and countries, and is the highest and most violent means of resolving disputes. It is also the most effective and quickest means.

China is a country with a long history of civilization. For thousands of years, countless wars have taken place in this ancient land.

Mao Zedong said in the article "The Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of China": "In feudal society, only peasant uprisings and peasant wars are the real driving force for the development of history. Here, we will not speculate on the accuracy of this sentence, but from Mao Zedong's own point of view, the war pushed history forward.

A war is not only a contest of army size and military equipment, but also a contest of wisdom and courage between people.

At the end of a great battle, the winner is king, and the loser is the loser. There is no question of convincing or not being convinced. In people's minds, war is often a game dominated by the strong, where the strong will defeat the weak and the majority will defeat the minority.

However, this is not the case, and many times, due to the full use of personal wisdom, the weak can defeat the strong as well.

In the countless battles in Chinese history, the weak defeated the strong accounted for a large part. In this book, we have selected 36 classic wars, which not only played a role in turning the tide and changing the fate of the time, but also had a profound impact on the subsequent Chinese history.

In these 36 wars, we can see a number of emperors with pioneering spirit, such as Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu, Cao Cao, Emperor Cao of Wei, Li Shimin, Taizong of Tang, Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of Song, and Nurhachi, Taizu of Qing; You can also see a number of well-known art of war masters such as Sun Wu, Wu Qi, Bai Qi, Han Xin, Lian Po, Le Yi, etc., as well as Jiang Shang, Zhuge Liang, Lu Su, Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Xie An and a number of strategists; We can see the generosity and tragedy of Tian Heng, Zhang Xun, Xu Yuan, Nan Jiyun, Wen Tianxiang, Yuan Chonghuan and other loyal and righteous people.

It can be said that behind these 36 wars is a condensation of Chinese history. They are the outlines, from which the branches of Chinese history are branched.

In these wars, many of them were decisive battles for the establishment or turning of a dynasty, such as: the Battle of Muye, the Battle of Julu, the Battle of Kunyang, the Battle of Weishui, the Battle of Yashan, the Battle of Poyang Lake, and the Battle of Baigou River.

In terms of writing, the author has given different emphases to the 36 wars, some focusing on explaining the process of the war, some spending a lot of ink on the background of the war, and some making an in-depth analysis of the characters in the war.

Regardless of the length of the book, the aim is to make the book more conducive to the reader's comprehensive understanding of these wars and the underlying reasons behind them.

And, of course, the wisdom of war. These wisdoms have had an impact not only on ancient China, but also on modern China.

It is said that Mao Zedong once made an in-depth comparative study of more than a dozen battles in Chinese history in which fewer won more battles, and flexibly applied them to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, creating many classic examples in the history of Chinese warfare.

Now, these ancient wisdom of war have long become a precious treasure implanted in the depths of the Chinese spirit.

We live in an era that has not experienced war for more than 30 years, but the absence of war does not mean that we can forget war, especially in a complex and changeable environment, it is necessary to maintain the awareness of being prepared for danger in times of peace under any circumstances, and perhaps only by doing so can we better achieve: concentrate on construction and seek development wholeheartedly.