In order to prevent the Jin army from retreating to the Yangtze River and achieve the strategic goal of annihilating the main force of the Jin army in one fell swoop in the Shouyang area, Fu Jian ordered that the secret that he had arrived in Shouyang should not be revealed, and "those who dare to say that I go to Shouyang will pull out their tongues". At that time, not only Xie Shi and Xie Xuan did not know that Fu Jian had arrived at the front line, but even the forward soldiers of the Qin army did not know that their Heavenly King had arrived.

Fu Jian's trip has no meaning except to increase his own risk factor.

Immediately afterwards, Fu Jian made a stupid move and sent a messenger, Zhu Xu, to the camp to make political persuasion.

It was the Eastern Jin Dynasty general Zhu Xu, who was captured in the Battle of Xiangyang, who was finally put to use.

Theoretically, it was a clever move, which had the effect of deterring the enemy's courage, but after Zhu Xu arrived at the Jin army's barracks, he not only reported to the Jin army the news that Fu Jian had arrived in Shouyang, but also explained to Xie Shi, Xie Xuanhe, the virtual and real situation of the Qin army's troops, and suggested: "If Qin's millions of people are exhausted, it is difficult to be the enemy, and now the army has not gathered, it is advisable to attack it quickly, if it defeats its forward, then he has been angry, and it can be broken" ("Zizhi Tongjian").

If you don't fight at this time, after the enemy army gathers, it will be "us" who will die!

The situation was completely unexpected by Fu Jian, the high-ranking official Houlu did not exchange loyalty, and his trust facilitated Zhu Xu's espionage operation. I believe that what Zhu Xu planned in the Jin army camp must have included the cry of "the Qin army has been defeated".

It was precisely because of Zhu Xu's intelligence that the Eastern Jin Dynasty accurately grasped the situation of the Qin army, and under the persuasion of the generals, the commander of the Jin army, Xie Shi, was determined to attack the advance of the Qin army.

In November, Xie Shi ordered Guangling Prime Minister Liu Gaozhi to lead 5,000 elite (Beifu soldiers) to Luojian and launch an attack on Liang Cheng, a former Qin Wei general. Liang Cheng heard the news, and Yiluojian lined up to wait.

After Liu Gaozhi entered Luojian, he crossed the water at night, launched an attack on Liang Chengjun in the form of a night attack, defeated it in one fell swoop, beheaded Liang Cheng, Wang Cheng and other ten generals, the Qin army was killed and drowned 15,000 people, Qin Yangzhou assassin Wang Xian and others were captured, and the Jin army captured all the ordnance and baggage of Liang Chengjun.

The victory of Luojian was a crucial and major victory, as the Jin army broke through the Qin army's blockade of the Huai River, creating favorable conditions for the later victory in the Battle of Weishui. More importantly, the victory in this battle greatly boosted the morale of the Jin army and strengthened the confidence of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in breaking the enemy. On the contrary, due to the defeat of this campaign, the Qin army lost the favorable situation of blockading the Jin army along the Huai River, and the Liang Cheng army was almost completely annihilated, which dampened the morale of the army and had an extremely negative impact on the later decisive battle.

After Fu Jian personally arrived in Shouyang, he did not make careful arrangements for the overall situation of the war, but had illusions and sent Zhu Xu to persuade him to surrender, intending to win without a fight, but instead exposing his weaknesses to the Jin army. When the two armies faced each other, the former Qin side obviously did not make careful planning, and after Liang Cheng, as the vanguard force, was attacked, the Qin army did not take corresponding rescue measures. On the one hand, it was due to the surprise effect of the Jin army's sudden counterattack; On the other hand, it also shows that the Qin army lacked the ability to be flexible and mobile in the use of troops.

When the Eastern Jin Dynasty was fierce in the former Qin army, it was a very correct strategic decision to be able to hold on to the time with weak forces and strike later. When it was found that Liang Cheng's lone army was prominent and out of touch with the main force of Furong, Xie Shi, Xie Xuan and others were able to make a decision immediately, abandon the combat intention of passive defense, seize the enemy's flaws in time, and send strange soldiers to attack Luojian at night, attacking the enemy unprepared, and the results were remarkable.

After the victory in the Battle of Luojian, the Jin army marched along the Huai River waterway, reaching the bank of the Huaishui River in the northeast of Shouyang, and confronted the former Qin troops across the river, and the decisive battle of the Huaishui was formed.

In November 383 AD, the Battle of Qin and Jin, which determined the direction of Chinese history, officially began.

Shuishui, also known as Feishui, one of the tributaries of Huaishui, originates from Jiming Mountain in the northwest of ancient Luzhou (now Hefei, Anhui), and is divided into two tributaries, one passes through the east of Hefei and flows into Chaohu Lake to the southeast; One passes through the northeast of Shouyang and flows into the Huai River to the west. It is not a big river of the Yangtze River, but it is famous in the annals of history because of this war.

After learning that the Jin army was in the water, Fu Jian climbed to the head of Shouyang City to observe the situation of the Jin army, but saw that the opponent's army was tightly organized, the soldiers were elite, and he looked at the Bagong Mountain in the distance, the grass and trees were all humanoid, and he mistakenly thought that he was also a Jin soldier, and turned back to Fu Rong and said: "This is also a strong enemy, what is weak!" "Change the original idea of "there is a conquest without a war", and there is a fear of color!

The king is still like this, so it is natural to imagine the mentality of the soldiers at that time, and the idiom "On Bagong Mountain, the grass and trees are all soldiers" came out from this. It should be said that the defeat in the Battle of Luojian made Fu Jian realize the strength of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and he was not fully prepared for the resolute resistance of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Although the idiom is used to mock Fu Jian, it is not a portrayal of the fear of the soldiers of the Qin army. It turns out that the enemy is so strong, we will also be defeated, and we may be defeated very badly.

The two armies were in a stalemate across the river, there was no way to advance, and they were unwilling to retreat, let alone go down the river to bathe, so they could only consume.

Xie Xuan, the former commander of the Jin army, grasped the Qin army's eagerness for a decisive battle, and sent an envoy to Fu Rong to suggest: "Jun hangs the army deeply, and puts Chen to force the water, this is a long-term plan, not a quick battle." If Chen Shao is moved, so that the Jin army can cross, to decide the victory, wouldn't it be good? (Book of Jin).

Fu Jian thought that it was very "good" and could "attack the Jin army halfway through" when they crossed the river, and Fu Rong also agreed, so he accepted Xie Xuan's request and ordered the Qin army arrayed along the river to retreat a stone's throw (about 200 meters), just waiting for the Jin army to cross halfway, and the cavalry took advantage of the situation to cover the kill.

There is indeed such a saying in the art of war, but as far as the situation is concerned, the Qin army is newly defeated, the morale of the army is unstable, and there are many people, and it is difficult to command, and it is not suitable for changing formations in front of the enemy, and the strength of the troops is like water, once it moves, it is not so easy to control. In my opinion, the best approach should be to force the main force into formation, attack with cavalry flanks in a roundabout way, and then cross the river to attack after the Jin army's position is in chaos; Or wait until all the main forces of the Chinese army arrive and force the river crossing. In any case, it is much better than wishful thinking of "half-crossing and attacking", you know, if the other party dares to cross the river, it will definitely be on guard.

Sure enough, after the Qin army received the order to retreat, the formation was suddenly chaotic and could not be stopped. The spy named Zhu Xu even took the opportunity to shout in the back, "The Qin soldiers are defeated!" "The former Qin soldiers who were retreating really thought that the Qin army had been defeated, so they rushed to flee and were out of control.

At this time, the 8,000 elite cavalry led by Xie Xuan had already crossed the river and took advantage of the situation to rush forward, and the former Qin troops were even more chaotic. Fu Rong fell off his horse while preventing the troops from retreating, and was killed by the Jin army, Fu Jian was also lost and shot in the chaos, and the commander of the Qin army's vanguard was killed, which directly led to the collapse of the whole army. The Jin army pursued and killed until Qinggang (northwest of Shouyang).

Seeing the defeat of the former army, the follow-up troops of the former Qin also retreated together and fled for their lives. On the way to escape, when they heard the rumors, they all thought that the Jin army was chasing them, and they didn't dare to rest day and night. According to historical records, in this battle, the former Qin soldiers were killed by the Jin army, froze to death, starved to death, trampled on each other and died, "covering the wild Saichuan"!

Fu Jian fled to Huaibei on a single horse, burst into tears, and said to Mrs. Zhang (who had advised Fu Jian not to send troops) who accompanied him: "What face will I rule the world now!" ”

Not only did he have no face to rule the world, but after this battle, Fu Jian even lost his qualifications and strength to rule the former Qin.

At the same time as Fu Jian's fiasco, the troops of the Youyou and Ji armies advanced to Pengcheng, and the troops of the Liangzhou army advanced to Xianyang, retreated one after another.

Yao Chang, the general of Long Xiang, was going down the river from Shu, and Wen Fujian's army was defeated and retreated to Yuanzhou County.

In the direction of Jingzhou, Murong Wei was defeated, his troops were killed, and he abandoned his army and fled.

At this point, the largest battle in ancient Chinese history, the battle between Qin and Jin, ended in the fiasco of the former Qin.

After Fu Jian fled back to Huaibei, most of the troops under his command were scattered, and only Murong Chui led more than 30,000 people to return with the whole division, and escorted Fu Jian back to Luoyang.

At the end of 383, Fu Jian returned to Chang'an, and what awaited him was the total collapse of the entire Former Qin regime.

When the news of the victory reached Jiankang, Xie An, the commander of the Jin army, was playing chess with the guests, and after a casual glance at the battle report, he put it on the bed, and continued to play chess calmly as usual. However, the guest couldn't hold back and asked him how the situation was on the front line, Xie An slowly replied: "The younger generation has broken the thief." Later, the guests said goodbye, Xie An returned to the house, and when he crossed the threshold, he accidentally broke the clogs he was wearing, and he didn't notice it, which showed the joy in his heart. And this is the origin of the allusion "Xie An's folding clogs".

An enthusiastic but calm heart inspired the entire Eastern Jin Dynasty to resist the war.

After the Battle of Weishui, the Eastern Jin Dynasty successively recovered all the territories lost before the Battle of Xiangyang, Pengcheng, and Shudi, and had the tendency to take the opportunity to expand northward. However, after the external threat was lifted, the potential internal contradictions within the Eastern Jin Dynasty became apparent again, and the Xie family's father, son, uncle and nephew were ostracized, and Xie An became ill with grief and became ill, and died two years after the Battle of Weishui (385 AD). The Eastern Jin Dynasty failed to seize the opportunity to recover the Central Plains.

The Battle of Weishui, which was launched by the Qin Dynasty to destroy the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was a major battle of unprecedented scale in Chinese history, with a huge disparity in power, unexpected results, heavy losses, and far-reaching impact. In addition to the reasons for the failure mentioned above, the following points are summarized:

First, Fu Jian miscalculated the domestic situation.

The battle of the Jin Dynasty was bound to happen, and when the tone of the former Qin's unification of the north was formed, this became the inevitability of historical development. However, the timing of the attack on the Jin State could be artificially chosen, and when the Former Qin launched a war, the timing chosen was not in its favor.

As mentioned by the ministers who opposed the invasion of the Jin Dynasty in the text, the time for the Former Qin to unify the north was still young, and the foundation was not stable enough; There are many contradictions between ethnic groups within the regime, and the Xianbei and Qiang tribes who were forced to surrender are always waiting for the situation to change and make a comeback; There was no unity within the Fu group, rebellions occurred from time to time, and the internal friction of the ruling forces was quite serious; In the battle of the Jin Dynasty, the ruling class had serious differences of opinion, and it was difficult to form a unified will and fight together; Moreover, in the process of reunifying the north, the national strength was seriously depleted, and the soldiers were exhausted and the people were in need. Many factors constituted the unfavorable situation of the former Qin when it sent troops to attack the Jin.

It is necessary to settle inside first, let alone take the initiative.

If Fu Jian can listen to the opinions of the ministers, according to the strategy of accumulating troops and valleys, in order to observe the changes in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and then wait for the opportunity to move; Or follow Wang Meng's last words, "Xianbei and Qiang people should be gradually eliminated", focus on internal unity and stability, and eliminate the Eastern Jin Dynasty will only be a matter of time.

Under the circumstance that the domestic situation was not yet fully equipped with the conditions for victory, Fu Jian was anxious to "mix one and six together" and conquer the country, which cannot but be said to be the basic premise of the defeat of the former Qin.

Second, pride underestimates the enemy

Before going south to attack the Jin, Fu Jian's process of unifying the north was too smooth, and it took only a year to destroy the most powerful Yan State, and the rest of the small countries were even more desperate, and basically did not fight any hard or evil battles. This made Fu Jian arrogant and contemptuous of the enemy, believing that in the battle of the Jin Dynasty, as long as he relied on the military advantages of "the power of the Jiejie" and "the number of millions, and the battle is like a mountain", it was enough to "be loyal and not restrained", and even "have a campaign without a battle", and did not see that behind the "the power of the Jiejie" there was a fatal shortcoming of the Qin army, which was "tired and tired, and had the intention of fearing the enemy" due to long-term battles.

Because of the existence of pride and the desire to underestimate the enemy, Fu Jian was very rash and rough about the mobilization of troops, preparations for war, the formulation of strategies and tactics, and the organization and command of the battle. They are even more ignorant of the enemy's war strength, will to resist, the number of troops, and the quality of combat. A military commander who falls into such wishful thinking and blind arrogance will naturally find it difficult to escape the historical law that arrogant troops are bound to be defeated.

In "Zizhi Tongjian", Sima Guang commented that "the reason why Jian died was because of the sudden victory and the arrogance of the enemy", not "because he did not kill Murong Chui and Yao Chang", which hit the nail on the head.

Third, mistakes in strategic command

In the process of attacking the Jin Dynasty, Fu Jian's strategy of attacking Jiankang in three ways was extremely correct, but judging from the situation of the march, the armies of each route only divided and did not attack together, let alone coordinate the attack. In the entire battle of Weishui, in fact, only the forward troops of Fu Rong's Middle Route Army entered the battle, and the unit first suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Luojian, the advantage of troops has been weakened, and the morale of the army has been hit. Such an army was not obvious against the elite troops of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Beifu Army.

Fu Jian threw off the main force of the Chinese army and went to the front line in person, not only putting himself in a dangerous and dangerous place, but also breaking away from the command center and losing control of the overall situation, which is also a major strategic mistake.

If Fu Jian could have been able to sit in the capital division, or when he entered Xiangcheng, he would have held the base camp, commanded and dispatched all the armies, and coordinated the attack. Then, even if there is the defeat of Luojian and Weishui, the Qin army can still rely on the arrival of follow-up troops to launch a continuous attack on the Eastern Jin Dynasty, at least it will not cause a general collapse of the overall situation.

Fu Jian's battle against Jin was very blind, and there was no detailed and careful arrangement for the overall planning of the war and the deployment of strategy and tactics.

Fourth, the former Qin army retreated after the battle

Fu Jian had made too many mistakes, but his strength still made it highly likely that the Qin army would have won the war, if not that retreat.

This was an extremely important fortuitous cause, but it was a direct factor in the rout of the Qin army. Fu Jian pinned his hope of defeating the enemy on wishful thinking, but he didn't know that facing the enemy's chaotic formation violated the taboo of the soldiers, gave Zhu Xu the opportunity to disturb the morale of the army, and gave Xie Xuan a precious opportunity to attack while the chaos was in chaos.

If you accidentally lose all the games, even if you have planned it in advance, such an ending is unexpected by the Jin army.

The Qin army's active retreat could not but be a decisive and accidental factor that led to the Qin army's fiasco.

As far as the battle itself is concerned, the Battle of Weishui ended within a few hours, and it did not even go through the process of fierce fighting, but it was undoubtedly a decisive battle in Chinese history. Northern China has relapsed into a long period of division and warfare, but it has also left China not completely under foreign rule. Otherwise, Fu Jian would become the first alien leader in Chinese history to unify China.

After this battle, until Liu Yu's Northern Expedition, there was no large-scale formal war between the north and the south.