The famous Qin Dynasty general Zhang Handan was a very special figure and a puzzling figure.
Saying that he was special was that his ability to fight was almost like Duan Yu's "Six-Pulse Excalibur", which was suddenly extremely powerful, and suddenly there was nothing. It's completely elusive.
(Zhang Handan stills)
He was originally a young man. In fact, this young mansion had nothing to do with the war, but was just an official in charge of the logistics support in the imperial court. There is no record of him leading soldiers to fight before, and from the situation of his officials, it seems that he has not led soldiers to fight. However, at that time, Qin II and Zhao Gao asked him to lead his troops to fight. I don't know why Qin II and Zhao Gao made such a decision at that time, it is likely that Zhang Handan put forward resolute resistance at that time, so Zhao Gao and Qin II, two people who did not learn and had no skills, felt that no one was sent to fight anyway, and simply let Zhang Handan fight.
Let Zhang Handan fight, and there is no army for him, just let him lead a group of migrant workers from Lishan to the battlefield. It can be said that before the war, no one may be optimistic about him.
Unexpectedly, he fought very strongly. At that time, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's peasants revolted, and all the way they broke through the bamboo and laid a large piece of land. Many counties could do nothing about Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, but Zhang Handan extinguished Chen Sheng's Wu Guang uprising.
Breaking the peasant uprising may not be a big deal. But later, Zhang Handan also defeated the princes of the Six Kingdoms and even beat Xiang Liang to death. If it weren't for the appearance of an ancient wizard Xiang Yu, it would be really difficult to say whether anyone could defeat Zhang Handan in the end.
Speaking of which, Zhang Handan was not completely defeated by Xiang Yu. Mainly because Qin II and Zhao Gao were jealous of Zhang Handan and wanted to kill him, Zhang Handan became rebellious. At the same time, it was also Xiang Yu's solicitation, and Zhang Handan only surrendered his weapons.
It can be said that at that time, Zhang Handan's combat effectiveness exploded.
(Han Xin stills)
However, when Xiang Yu made Zhang Handan the King of Yong and let him garrison the land of Three Qins. Han Xin and Liu Bang secretly attacked Chen Cang, but they quickly defeated Zhang Handan. At that time, Zhang Handan could be said to be vulnerable, and there was no resistance at all.
Some people may say that the reason why Zhang Handan failed was because Han Xin was a sneak attack, and Zhang Handan was unprepared.
This statement is obviously unreliable. Because in fact, the reason why Xiang Yu made Zhang Handan the King of Yong at that time and let him garrison the land of Three Qins was only one purpose, that is, to let Zhang Handan defend Liu Bang. It is foreseeable that Xiang Yu had explained this to him when he divided Zhang Handan. Xiang Yu also treated Zhang Handan as his own concubine troop.
At that time, after Xiang Yu was divided, the only thing he was worried about was Liu Bang. He felt that Liu Bang was an unstable factor, and Liu Bang was a threat to him. That's why he let Liu Bang leave his hometown and seal him up to such a remote place as Hanzhong. But even so, Xiang Yu was still uneasy about Liu Bang, so he let Zhang Handan defend.
Since Xiang Yu had assigned such a heavy task to Zhang Handan, it was naturally impossible for Zhang Handan not to be vigilant. As a generation of famous generals, Zhang Handan should have made at least two preparations at that time: on the one hand, strengthening the defense of the city and training soldiers, so that he could maintain a high degree of vigilance. On the other hand, spies were sent to spy on Liu Bang's troops, knowing themselves and knowing each other, and never losing a battle.
But it seems that all this Zhang Handan did not do, so in the end he lost so badly.
Zhang Handan went from a man who could not fight, to an invincible general, and finally suddenly could not fight again. From this point of view, Zhang Handan is indeed a confusing person.
(Xiang Yu stills)
However, I think it is not right to say that Zhang Handan is a confusing person. In fact, the reason why Zhang Handan was able to win the battle, and the reason why he would lose the battle, were all issues that the people wanted.
The unit that Zhang Handan commanded at the beginning was very supportive of Zhang Handan. It was composed of a group of criminals who were repairing the mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin in Lishan Mountain, and the reason why they fought so bravely was mainly because according to the military merit reward system of the Qin Dynasty, as long as they could win the battle and get more heads, they could remove the status of the prisoners, and even get the reward. So they fight bravely.
In other words, it may not be Zhang Handan who leads, but someone else who leads the way and will also fight. Because of these generals, they won the active support of the soldiers.
However, when Zhang Handan was stationed in the land of The Three Qins, the soldiers under him were no longer prisoners. Not only were they not prisoners, but they were still full of hatred for Zhang Handan.
Why hate? Because after Zhang Handan led the army to surrender, Xiang Yu made Zhang Handan king and killed 200,000 of Zhang Handan's men.
Where did these people come from? Obviously, they were those young adults in the Land of Three Qins. These people were killed by the pit, how could their parents, their brothers, not resent Zhang Handan in their hearts? You are the chief, we put the soldiers into your hands, and in the end you become the king yourself, and the sons we give to you end up being killed! Who can stand this! Therefore, it can be said that no one will support him at that time.
From here, we can see that There is only one reason why Zhang Handan was able to win and later failed, that is, the will of the people. When he wins the hearts and minds of the people, he can fight, and he is a famous general throughout the ages. And when he loses the hearts and minds of the people, he is nothing.
(Reference: Chronicle of History, etc.)