Looking at history, if there is one person or thing in history that has been hacked the most tragic and difficult to overturn, it is Zhao Kuo and the Battle of Changping that he commanded. The blessing of Sima Qian's "History of History", Zhao Kuo's image of "talking on paper" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of everyone who has read the book "History".
However, if we know anything about Sima Qian's "Records of History", we will understand that this book is "a rhymeless departure". It is the work of Sima Qian's song Yongzhi. There are a lot of subtle words in the middle, making it difficult to distinguish between true and false. Sima Qian wrote about people, mostly for the grievances of the wronged elderly, and denounced those young newcomers. The Battle of Changping is Sima Qian's best theme. As a result, the image of Lian Po being positive and heavy and Zhao Kuo's arrogant image of not knowing the height of the sky and the thickness of the earth were presented to everyone under Sima Qian's pen.
First, the course of the Battle of Changping.
The Battle of Changping was relatively simple. That is, during the reign of King Qin Zhao, after years of hard work, the State of Qin finally achieved major achievements in the Kwantung Region. In the fifty-fourth year of the Zhou Dynasty, the State of Qin captured the Wild King of Korea. In this way, the connection between South Korea's Shangdang County and south Korea itself was severed, and South Korea was cut into two pieces. The king of Korea had no choice but to offer the Qin state a tribute to dang county for peace.
However, just when the Qin state thought that Shangdang was within reach, the Shangdang County Shou Feng Ting in South Korea was unwilling to sacrifice land to Qin. In order to pull the Zhao state into the water and cause the Zhao state to clash with the Qin state, as an opportunity for the Kwantung countries to join forces against the Qin, he dedicated the Shangdang to the Zhao state.
Zhao Guo could only accept shangdang. Because the strategic position of the Shangdang was very important to the Zhao State, the capital of the Zhao State was under the shroud of the Shangdang situation. If the State of Qin occupies the Shangdang, then the State of Zhao will be under the threat of the State of Qin, and the strategic situation will be very unfavorable.
However, if he accepts the party, he will inevitably suffer retaliation from the Qin state. Originally, it was the land that Korea dedicated to the Qin State, and it had nothing to do with the Zhao State. Zhao Guo took over the Shangdang, and neither the situation, nor the law would be recognized by any country. This left Zhao Guo diplomatically unprecedentedly isolated. It only had to fight against the Qin state alone, which its national strength could not bear.
Therefore, in the early stage of the Battle of Changping, the Qin state took the righteous spirit, fought a treacherous and unreasonable enemy, and quickly occupied most of the Shangdang. A partial general, Wang Gong, beat Lian Po, a famous general of the Zhao State, to one defeat after another, suffering heavy casualties. Even his own camp was captured by the Qin army, and he had to desperately defend in the Changping area to barely stabilize the battle situation.
Later in the campaign, the State of Qin exerted a counter-plot to induce King Zhao to change the commander and Zhao Kuo to replace Lian Po. After Zhao Kuo took over the Zhao army, he changed his generals, changed his deployment, and prepared for a counterattack. After the Qin state received the news, it also changed the general and sent Bai Qi as the commander.
In the ensuing battle, Bai Qi took advantage of the opportunity of Zhao Kuo's elite in front and a full-line counterattack, and sent elite cavalry to encircle the rear road of the Zhao army and surround the Zhao army. After forty-six days of food shortage, Zhao Kuo divided his army into four teams and repeatedly charged and broke through. Zhao Kuo was shot dead by the Qin army while personally leading the elite assault. The Zhao army eventually surrendered, and Bai Qi killed all 400,000 Zhao troops who surrendered.
Second, the reason why zhao guo must lose the battle of Changping.
The reason for the defeat in the Battle of Changping was partly Zhao Kuo's command, but the main reason for the defeat was not Zhao Kuo's body. Before Zhao Kuo took over the Zhao army, the defeat of the Zhao army was already doomed.
First of all, Zhao Guo violated the bottom line of morality, disregarded the conventions and regulations between countries, crossed the shangdang's supposed master Korea and Qin state, and accepted the land he should not have received at all. This puts it in an extreme isolation. Other countries would rather stand idly by than assist it. No country can encourage such evil tendencies. Diplomatically, the State of Zhao was already defeated before a war began.
Second, the national strength of the Zhao and Qin states was very different, and they were unable to resist the Qin state. As other countries stood by, the State of Zhao had to fight against the State of Qin alone. The military, economic, political, and military states of the State of Zhao were not at all hierarchical. At the strategic level, the result of the confrontation between the two sides is that zhao guo will be defeated.
Third, Zhao Guo's planning was not at all an opponent of the Qin State. We can see that in the war between the Zhao State and the Qin State, there is a phenomenon, that is, the Every move of the Zhao State, the Qin State knows it very well. As for Qin Guo's actions, Zhao Guo knew nothing. It can be said that Zhao Guo's strategy has not yet been implemented, and qin guo's countermeasures have already been implemented. In this way, how could Zhao Guo have any hope of victory?
Fourth, tactically, there was really no way to deal with the elite Qin army. After repeated defeats in the field, Lian Po had to turn to defense. After being captured by the Qin army in many places, he had to retreat step by step, build more fortifications, and continue to defend. The art of war is cloudy, the strength of the small enemy, and the capture of the big enemy. In such a stalemate, in the end, only failure is annihilated.
Therefore, when Zhao Kuo took over the Zhao Army, the Zhao Army had already fallen into the disaster of failure. No one could save Zhao Jun, including Zhao Kuo himself.
Third, Zhao Guo's only way to break the situation.
Due to the mistakes in Zhao Guo's strategy, diplomacy, tactics, etc., in the end, zhao guo had fallen into a situation of inevitable defeat. At the time, there was only one way to break the deadlock. Zhao Kuo also adopted this strategy, but unfortunately, due to the internal treachery of the Zhao Kingdom, Zhao Kuo finally had to use his life to realize it.
This strategy was formulated in response to the flaws of the Qin state. At that time, although the results of the confrontation between the two sides were favorable to the Qin state, the Qin state was not willing to hold on for a long time. This is because the national conditions of the Qin and Zhao states are different. Zhao Guo only needed to face a strong state in the Qin State, and there was only one weak state around him, the Yan State, that needed to be vigilant. And the State of Qin not only had to face the State of Zhao, it also had to keep an eye on the countries of Chu, Wei, and Han. If these countries take advantage of the opportunity of the confrontation between Qin and Zhao, then the Qin state will be very unfavorable.
The biggest flaw in the Qin state in this Battle of Changping was that its mouth was too wide open. The strength of the Qin state was not enough to deter other countries while eliminating the main force of the Zhao army. This is a strategic mistake of the Qin state, and it can only be compensated by diplomatic means. However, this can only be deceived for a while, and when the deception is broken, it is when the Qin state fails.
At that time, zhao guo's advisers also tried to achieve a connivance with the kanto countries. However, Zhao Guo accepted the evil deeds of the shangdang, which made the Kwantung countries very disgusted and wary of it. None of the Kanto countries wanted to drive out an insatiable Qin state, and then an insatiable Zhao state would emerge from around them, and the Zhao state would be more dangerous than the Qin state.
As a result, the Kanto countries remained unmoved. In order to achieve the condition of convergence, that is, the two countries of qin and Zhao weaken each other. When the two sides reached the point of losing both, it was possible to join forces with Zhao Guo. In this way, the decisive battle between the Zhao state and the qin state became a necessary condition for the cooperation.
Fourth, Zhao Kuo's only chance to turn the tide of the war.
King Zhao appointed Zhao Kuo for two main reasons. First, Zhao Kuo was a general who agreed with his own counter-offensive opinion, and he was also the only general in the Zhao State at that time who dared to fight with the Qin State. Second, Zhao Kuo came from a military family, and his father Zhao Hao defeated the Qin army in the Battle of Fuhe. However, the situation is similar to the current situation in the Battle of Changping, the veteran generals Lian Po and Le Cheng are helpless, and it is Zhao Hao who has created a miracle. Zhao Kuo is Zhao Hao's son, taught by his father's words and deeds, what if this time can also create a miracle?
Therefore, when Zhao Kuo took over as the commander of the Zhao army, it was the King of Zhao who wanted him to take over, and Zhao Kuo also wanted to prove himself and wanted to take over. One willing to fight, one willing to be beaten, has little to do with the so-called anti-interpolation.
Zhao Kuo took over as the commander of the Zhao Army, which was actually a task. That is to fight back, this is because Zhao Guo has difficulty supporting the pressure of war, only desperate counterattack to gamble on national fortunes. However, due to the above reasons, the betrayal of the traitor, Zhao Kuo lost the gamble, and he was surrounded by Bai Qi.
After being surrounded, it was time for Zhao Kuo to truly show his general talent. In the case of forty-six days of grain shortage, the Zhao army did not collapse, and the military's morale remained unchanged. During this time, it was the only chance that Zhao Guo could save the war. The Qin army also made the mistake of opening its mouth too wide tactically, and wanted to use more than 300,000 Qin troops to surround and annihilate 400,000 Zhao troops.
Qin Jun Bai Qi originally thought that once he surrounded the Zhao Army, he could see the collapse of the Zhao Army, but he did not see it. Moreover, his mouth opened too wide, but he put himself in the most dangerous situation. If the rescuers of The Zhao State of Handan arrive and attack inside and outside, Bai Qi is likely to collapse the whole army. The King of Qin had no choice but to rush to Hanoi to personally recruit Zhuang Ding, who was over fifteen years old, to rush to the Changping front for reinforcements.
But Zhao Kuo was not able to wait for reinforcements. King Zhao did not send reinforcements from Handan, the specific reason is unknown. In this entire Battle of Changping, the only fighter that the Zhao Army could win was lost. Therefore, Zhao Kuo decided to break through and make the Qin army pay the greatest price.
In the final decisive battle, the Zhao army led by Zhao Kuo destroyed most of the Qin army, and finally ran out of ammunition and food, and the entire army was destroyed. Zhao Kuo was also killed on the battlefield, and the first time he went to war, he achieved the point where he did not die and the Zhao army did not surrender. This is something that the vast majority of generals in his position cannot do.
After the Battle of Changping, due to Zhao Kuo's fighting, the Qin army suffered heavy losses. With both the Qin army and the Zhao army fighting and losing both, the time was ripe for the various joint ventures in the Kwantung Region. In the ensuing Battle of Handan, the severely weakened Qin army could no longer intimidate the Kwantung countries with false words. The Kwantung countries immediately agreed, and under the leadership of Xin Lingjun, the Combined Forces inflicted the Qin army's greatest defeat in history, losing the territory of the Kwantung and retreating to Hangu Pass for decades. All this originated from Zhao Kuo's bloody battle in Changping.
epilogue:
Due to the influence of Sima Qian's "Records of History", Zhao Kuo's image of "talking about soldiers on paper" was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. However, behind this, there is a heart of serving the country with Zhao Kuo's fist. Zhao Kuo was a very talented general, and his performance on the battlefield also showed this. If, when Zhao Kuo was surrounded, the King of Zhao quickly sent reinforcements from Handan, it was possible that those who were annihilated would be white.
Unfortunately, the mediocre and incompetent King Zhao, as well as the disintegrating Zhao Kingdom, easily abandoned the fighter that Zhao Kuo had created with his life. However, Zhao Kuo did not surrender. He exchanged his life for the results of the Qin army being annihilated, creating conditions for the future cooperation of the Kwantung countries. Under the efforts of Zhao Kuo, the Qin army was eventually beaten back to Hangu Pass for several decades.
Unfortunately, the crowd of gold accumulation destroyed the bones. Because of Sima Qian's "Records of History" and because of Sima Qian's personal likes and dislikes, Zhao Kuo's crime of "talking about soldiers on paper" is difficult to clear.