In 262 BC, the State of Qin captured the Wild King of Korea, completely cutting off the connection between Shangdang County and the Korean mainland. This situation frightened Korea, and in order to seek peace with the Qin state, they decided to dedicate Shangdang County to the Qin state.
Whoever holds shangdang county in his hands will be able to grasp the initiative in the Battle of Changping, which is beyond doubt. As we all know, Shangdang County is not only a strategic town in South Korea, but also the gateway of the Qin State to the Zhao State, and since the Warring States, this place has always been a place of contention for soldiers.
Stills of the Qin army?
Was it a mistake for Zhao Guo to accept Shangdang County?
The State of Qin was looking at the tiger and its desire to chase after it for a long time. The gains and losses of Shangdang County were the key to the Qin state's eastward expansion strategy, so the Qin state spared no effort and was bound to win.
Surprisingly, the county sheriff dedicated Shangdang County to Zhao Guo. Historians once had a point of view: Zhao Guo's acceptance of Shangdang County was a mistake.
In fact, Zhao Guo had no choice. The tiger and wolf heart of the Qin state has been clearly revealed, if the Zhao state does not accept the Shangdang County, the Qin state will gain it, and the Qin state will inevitably attack the Zhao state by defending the Shangdang County, and the situation at that time will be even more unfavorable for the Zhao state. It can be seen from this that the scourge of the Zhao State is not whether to collect or not to collect the Dang County.
Schematic of the Battle of Changping
The reason for the defeat of the Zhao state was that the army was poorly fed and grass, and they were completely isolated in terms of diplomacy.
In the three years of confrontation with the Qin army, the problem faced by zhao guo was first of all a lack of food - "the Zhao army has no food". There is a place on the ancient battlefield of Changping called "False Grain Mountain". It is said that Lian Po once ordered his soldiers to make noise at night, pretending to be carrying grain and grass, in order to confuse the Qin army.
However, the real situation is - "please Su Yu Qi, and Qi will not listen". It can be seen that the State of Qi, an ally of the State of Zhao, has adopted an attitude of standing idly by, and there has been no movement on the part of the State of Chu.
There were two reasons for the centrifugation of the allies of the Zhao State: on the one hand, qi and Chu were in a period of change of monarch and had no time to take care of him; on the other hand, the powerful military power of the Qin state completely deterred these two countries, especially the Chu state, and they still had a shadow of dialogue in their hearts.
White up stills
In the absence of food and foreign aid, Zhao Guo finally bowed his head and made peace with the Qin state. Who knew that Zhao Guo fell into the trap of the Qin State during the negotiations. The State of Qin received the emissaries of the State of Zhao with courtesy and also publicized to other countries that the two countries had reconciled, which can be imagined to further isolate the State of Zhao.
Will Zhao Kuo only "talk on paper"?
Historians have always cited Sima Qian's theory that Zhao Kuo would only "talk on paper" to explain Zhao's defeat in the "Battle of Changping". The "Chronicle of History" says that this is the anti-plot of the Qin people in the Zhao Kingdom, but in fact it is only the Qin people who "hindsight Zhuge Liang".
We all know that Lianpo has always been cautious in combat, which is his strength and weakness. It was precisely because of his personality that he never had a record of defeating the Qin army.
Lianpo stills
After Zhao Kuo went to the front line to replace Lian Po, he took the initiative to attack and launched a surprise attack. In fact, if Zhao Kuo's surprise attack was successful, he would be able to intersperse it for a long time and take the main road directly without the Qin army noticing. If the main force of the Zhao army launched a full-line attack at this time, the main force of the Qin army would most likely be doomed.
Unfortunately, Zhao Kuo overestimated the execution of his own army. The main force did not move, making Zhao Kuo's surprise attack completely meaningless. The final result we all know, the main force of the 400,000 Zhao army on the defensive line was all disarmed and killed by Bai Qi.
Zhao Kuo stills
Is Bai Qi still the "God of War"?
During the Warring States period, it was originally "Shang Shou Gong", but scholars found a phenomenon when studying two ancient tombs excavated in Shanxi (the bone pit when Bai Qi pit killed soldiers): the corpses in the pits all had heads. It can be seen that the killing at that time was very hasty.
These corpses were the soldiers of the Zhao State who were sitting and watching the commander Zhao Kuo fall and surrender voluntarily, and it was no wonder that Bai Qi could kill 400,000 people so easily and quickly. Is that white or "God of War"? In the author's opinion, Bai Qi basically killed prisoners of war who had no ability to resist, and judging from the Battle of Changping alone, his name of "God of War" was really far-fetched.