South Korea's Feng Ting dedicated the party to the Zhao State to trigger the Battle of Qin and Zhao Changping, which was the most tragic war in the entire Warring States period, with countless casualties on both sides, and Bai Qi even killed more than 400,000 Zhao Guo and reduced his pawns, and the Shandong countries were shocked, although this figure seemed to be very watery in later generations, but it was enough to show how heavy the losses of the Zhao State in the Battle of Changping were.
During the Warring States period, there was no shortage of robberies between countries, the Zhao state because of the sharp decline in the strength of the Warring States of Changping, the generals were not picked up, naturally let many princely states to pay attention, the State of Yan is one of them, the State of Yan and the State of Zhao are both northern princely states, but also neighbors, the relationship has always been tense, especially since the State of Qin put forward the diplomatic strategy of "long-distance friendship and close attack", the State of Yan has almost become a small follower of the State of Qin.
For example, in 265 BC, King Xiaocheng of Zhao had just ascended the throne, and generally when the first king died and the monarch was newly established, it was a period when the defense of the country was relatively weak, and many wars would also be selected at such a point in time, at this time, the State of Qin united with the State of Yan to attack the State of Zhao, and even three cities.
Although the military strength of the Zhao state has increased greatly since the Zhao Wuling king Hu Fu rode and shot, the zhao xiaocheng king was originally young and not enough to confront the qin state, let alone add a Yan state, so the zhao state had to seek the help of the state of Qi, but the state of Qi had a condition, that is, to let Chang'an Jun go to the state of Qi as a hostage.
You must know that Chang Anjun is the youngest son that Zhao Wei loves the most, how can he be willing to let him do it? Thus there was the famous "Touching the Dragon and Saying Empress Zhao", and eventually Chang'an Jun arrived in the State of Qi, and the State of Qi sent Tian Shan to lead troops to support the State of Zhao. Tian Dan led the Qi-Zhao coalition to capture Zhongyang of the Yan state, and the Yan state did not take advantage of this battle.
Although in this battle, Zhao Guo found Qi Guo as a helper, but Yan Guo still realized the gap between himself and Zhao Guo, and for a long time afterwards he did not dare to go to war with Zhao Guo head-on. However, the Battle of Changping caused heavy losses to the State of Zhao, which made the State of Yan want to move, especially after the State of Qin besieged Handan again, and the State of Zhao had to use the strength of the whole country to defend Handan.
It was also by taking advantage of this opportunity that the State of Yan attacked again, this time the State of Yan did not directly send troops, but sent emissaries to induce Wuyuan in northern Zhao to order Fu Bao, Wang Rong, and Su Jie to lead the crowd into the State of Yan.
Wuyuan was originally the land of the Yan State, but during the reign of King Wuling of Zhao, Wuyuan became the land of the Zhao State, but the Zhao State did not have this place for effective management, and it was still the Yan people who managed the Yan people, so the Yan State sent emissaries this time to persuade them to return to the embrace of the Yan State.
After wuyuan was lost and regained, the State of Yan once again stopped coveting the State of Zhao, after all, after the Battle of Changping, the State of Zhao was actually able to relieve the siege of Handan, although with the help of the State of Wei and the State of Chu, it was enough to see that the State of Zhao was still a big country that could not be shaken, even if it could no longer fight with the State of Qin alone, in terms of the situation of the Shandong countries alone, the State of Zhao was still very strong. Therefore, Yan Guo can only wait for the opportunity.
In 251 BC, the State of Yan sent Xiang Guo to send an envoy to the State of Zhao, called the Alliance, which was actually to inquire about the news. King Xi of Yan was generous and let Li Belly take out five hundred gold to give King Zhao Xiaocheng a wine and feast, the two sides made a friendship pact, Chestnut Belly stayed in the State of Yan for several days, through inquiry and observation to have a general understanding of the situation in the State of Zhao, and then returned to the State of Yan, he said to King Xi of Yan: "King Zhao is strong and dead, and his loneliness is not strong, but he can also be cut down." ”
The generals of the Zhao State were in the stage of not being able to connect with each other, too old, too small, and very few young adults, and the opportunity for the Yan State to attack the Zhao State had arrived. King Xi of Yan was very happy to hear this, and quickly brought Le Yi's son LeJian to ask him if he could attack the Zhao Kingdom, and Lejian gave a negative answer, in Lejian's view: "The country of the four wars of Zhao, its people and soldiers, cannot be cut down." ”
King Xi of Yan was not dead-hearted, and continued to ask if he could win more than less, such as two to one, five to one, but Le Jian thought that he could not attack the Zhao Kingdom, and Qing Dafu General Qu also advised Yan Wang Xi not to attack the Zhao Kingdom, he said: "Pass the customs with people, drink the king with five hundred gold, and the messenger will counterattack, ominous, and the soldiers will not succeed." ”
However, King Xi of Yan did not listen at all, and he finally sent two thousand troops to attack the Zhao state in two ways, the chestnut belly led the army to attack, qing Qin led the army to attack Daidi, and he himself led the flanking troops to set off with the army. Yan Wang Xi originally wanted to solve the Zhao state, and the last time he also wanted to capture several cities, but the war was not good for him at all, and Zhao Xiaocheng Wang Ordered Le to take advantage of the enemy as a cheap deputy.
Soon, Lian Po defeated Li Bao, and Le Cheng also solved Qing Qin on behalf of Qing. Not only that, Lian Po also chased out more than five hundred miles and surrounded the capital of the Yan state, and Yan Wang Xi knew what a wrong decision it was to attack the Zhao state, and he did not expect that after the Battle of Changping, the Zhao state would actually be able to fight the Yan state without any ability to fight back.
So, why is that? Why, after the Battle of Changping, the State of Yan attacked the State of Zhao, but instead the State of Zhao was beaten without the ability to fight back, and then besieged the capital of the State of Yan? The reasons for this are manifold.
First, as LeJian said, the Zhao state is the land of four wars, and after the Hu costume riding and shooting, the soldiers are washed through the battlefield, the combat effectiveness is very strong, even ordinary people, are also familiar with the battlefield, just like the handan defense war, the people of the Zhao state played a huge role, so such a country is difficult to be defeated, even the Qin state after the Battle of Changping hundreds of thousands of troops can not take Handan, let alone the Yan state.
Second, as General Qu said, the Yan King Xi launched this war itself is very unorthodox, the front foot has just concluded a friendship pact with the Zhao state, and the back foot knows the armament situation of the Zhao state and quickly sends troops to attack the Zhao state, such an unjust war itself is difficult to win, moreover, the strength of the Yan state is average.
Third, the strength of the Yan state is average. The State of Yan was the longest neutral state of all the princely states, but this did not mean that the strength of the State of Yan was very strong, but the geographical location gave the State of Yan a great guarantee, plus it did not set foot in the Central Plains for a long time, so it has always existed, and the State of Yan was really strong during the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period or the Period of King Yan Zhao.
After King Yan Zhao took the throne, he set up a golden platform to recruit talents and carry out reforms in the Yan kingdom, and the Yan state was able to become strong and join the ranks of the seven heroes of the Warring States, even if Le Yi once led an army to almost destroy the qi state, it did not mean that the strength of the Yan state was really strong. In fact, the strength of the Yan kingdom itself can only be regarded as the last of the seven warring states, or it can compete with Korea, which is incomparable with the Zhao kingdom.
Fourth, the strength of the Zhao state is still strong, after the Battle of Changping, and later the Defense of Handan, the Zhao State did suffer heavy losses, the effective force that could go to the battlefield was greatly reduced, the generals were not connected, and the national strength plummeted, which made it impossible to resist the attack of the Qin state alone, but this only meant that it lost the qualification to compete with the Qin state. But this does not mean that the Zhao Kingdom has become the last of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States.
It should be known that before the Battle of Changping, the only one who could fight against the Qin State alone was the State of Zhao, and after the original Zhao Wuling King HuFu rode and shot, the military strength of the State of Zhao was quite strong, known as Zhao Fei Riding, and the expansion of the territory of the State of Zhao was during this period.
Even if Zhao Fei's horse fell later, but the strength is still not to be underestimated, at least not comparable to such a princely state as the State of Yan, even if the State of Zhao has experienced the Battle of Changping, its strength is still above the State of Yan, coupled with Lian Po, an experienced veteran, the State of Yan only has to suffer defeat.