In fact, the answer is very simple, although there are 6 opponents of the Qin State, it does not mean that the Qin State is a six-front battle. On the contrary, the State of Qin has always tried its best to maintain a single-front operation and avoid multi-line operations.
However, this sentence is easier said than done, how did the Qin State specifically do it? Let's start from the shang martingale transformation method, Qin Huiwen Wang began to go out to the east to start the conversation.
I. The period of King Huiwen of Qin: vertical and horizontal, see stitches and needles
After the Shang martingale changed the law, the national strength gradually became stronger, and the Qin state took the land of Hexi from the Wei state and began to have the opportunity to peek east. By the time of King Huiwen of Qin, he had begun his strategy of going east.
But in fact, throughout the period of King Huiwen of Qin, the gap in strength between the princes was not obvious, and the changes in law and new policies were also emerging in an endless stream.
The strength of the State of Qi and the State of Chu is not weaker than that of the State of Qin, while the State of Zhao has the potential to rise, the strength of the old power of the State of Wei is still strong, the name of "Jinhan" of Korea is still there, and the State of Yan also began to change the law in the later years of King Huiwen.
Therefore, this can almost be said to be the most exciting 20 years of the Warring States Period, and the strongest overall strength of more than 20 years. The countries strife with each other did not regard the Qin state as a common enemy, basically in the era of collectively fighting whoever was strong and taking advantage of the fire to rob whoever was weak. And the Qin state naturally did not have the problem of the so-called six-front operation.
In this era, the main strategic task of the Qin state was to strengthen itself as much as possible and gain an advantage in strength. At this time, countries are also like this: choose allies and expand their own strength as much as possible.
Therefore, the strategy adopted by the Qin state is:
First, in the six countries between the vertical and horizontal, found who fell single will go up to bite, see the good to receive, and when the other side finds allies ready to fight back, they will hide in Hangu Pass. In the early years of King Huiwen, the State of Qin continued to attack and encroach on the State of Wei; in the middle and late period of King Huiwen, with the help of Zhang Yi and Li Liyi, the State of Qin deceived the State of Chu and seized the land of Qianzhong. The Qin state was more popular, or caused the jealousy of the princes, so the first Five Kingdoms cutting down Qin also occurred in this period, when the Qin state tried its best to converge, first breaking the alliance, and then breaking each one.
Second, outside the six countries, those places that are not very noticeable, try to expand their strength. The backyard of the Qin state was basically established during the reign of King Hui. First of all, the State of Qin eliminated the Yiqu tribe that had been enemies for hundreds of years, set up counties in the local area, and officially removed the threat of the northern steppe tribes. Secondly, at the suggestion of Sima Cuo, the State of Qin took advantage of the dispute between the two countries and sent troops to attack Bashu and have its own land, which greatly expanded the territory and strength of the State of Qin.
In general, during the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, the expansion of the strength of the Qin state was relatively obvious, the blow and weakening of the State of Wei was obvious, and the Battle of Xiuyu against the Three Jins showed that the strength of the State of Qin was already vaguely stronger than that of the states. However, the eyes of the Qin state were mainly on the bordering Wei and Chu states, and due to the strength and geographical limitations of the Qin state, it was not enough for Qi Yanzhao to regard it as an opponent. Except for the rhinoceros head and the three Jin Dynasties attacking Qin, the Qin state basically fought on a single front.
Second, the early qin zhao king: crush the weak country, strike the strong country
During the reign of King Wu of Qin, there were excessively brief radical measures to forcibly destroy the Zhou royal family. However, King Zhao, who immediately ascended the throne, changed his radical measures and continued his father's strategy. This period basically coincided with the reign of Empress Xuan and Wei Ran.
During this period, although the general strategy was the same as that of King Huiwen of Qin, its characteristics were also obvious. First, due to the strength of the Qin state, although Empress Xuan and Wei Ran were in power, they were generally stronger than during the reign of King Huiwen, forming an overwhelming military advantage over Han Wei and gradually gaining the upper hand in the struggle with the Chu state; second, the qin state's vision began to really pay attention to the seven kingdoms under the heavens, and the diplomacy and wars with the far east Of Qi, the northern Zhao state, and even the Yan state also began to increase.
If we talk about six-front warfare, only this period and the Qin Dynasty period belong to the real six-front combat. Because of this period, the State of Qin launched campaigns against the five kingdoms outside yan.
However, in fact, the main direction of attack of the Qin state was still Han Wei and Chu in the Three Jin Dynasties, and the Qin state won the battle of Yique and the Battle of Yanying, and greatly weakened the strength of the Chu, Korean, and Wei states, and from then on Han Wei was basically unable to confront the Qin state head-on.
At the same time, due to the attack on all sides, the Qin state also suffered a lot of defeats. The Six Kingdoms launched several Five Kingdoms attacks on Qin, two of which defeated the Qin army and drove the Qin army back to Hangu Pass, but for other reasons did not attack the Qin army deeply.
During this period, the State of Qin simultaneously digested Yiqu, Bashu and other places, and its strength became the highest of the Seven Kingdoms, attracting the attention of the Six Kingdoms. The State of Qin had to fight on multiple fronts, so there were victories and defeats, but in general, the State of Qin still won the land of Hedong and Yanyin, and the victory was greater than the defeat.
Third, the late Qin Zhaowang: long-distance and close-range attack, completely victorious
However, with the arrival of Fan Sui, the Qin state avoided multi-front warfare and began the process of unification.
Fan Sui formulated a clear unified strategy for the Qin state, internally, Fan Sui assisted King Qin Zhao's depose of the four nobles and tighten the king's power; externally, Fan Sui proposed a strategy of long-distance and close attack, not to fight meaningless battles, and at the same time, the main purpose of the campaign was to kill and injure the enemy's living forces and seize the enemy's land.
In this way, the target of the Qin state was changed back to Han Zhao Wei Chu, avoiding multi-front combat. However, at this time, it was very different from the time of King Huiwen of Qin, and the qin state was strong enough to crush Wei Han, and the Jianghan Plain also achieved a comprehensive suppression of Chu under geography. Therefore, in military wars, the Qin state often concentrated its forces to attack a country, and deterred the rest of its neighbors from attacking Qin or rescue, such as the Battle of Changping.
Therefore, during this period, the Qin state rarely fought on multiple fronts. Because of the bribery and obstruction of the Qin state, the Six Kingdoms combined and returned many times without success, and gradually became ineffective.
Fourth, Zhuang Xiang wang period to Qin Shi Huang: each broken, swept away six
By the time of King Xiang of QinZhuang, the strength of the Qin state was enough to crush the Six Kingdoms. During the reign of the Qin Dynasty, the Six Kingdoms also organized a six-kingdom alliance and won a victory, but the army of the Six Kingdoms was no longer able to attack Hangu Pass, and the time for the unification of the Qin State had come.
If you want to talk about six-front operations, this period is a typical six-front operation.
However, in fact, except for Liu Jia, the acting king (a continuation of the State of Zhao), who had joined forces with the State of Yan to resist the Qin army, the State of Qin had little rescue when attacking the Six Kingdoms, and did not encounter the actual situation of multi-front combat, and the countries seemed to be waiting for the State of Qin to be destroyed.
This situation is due firstly because the strength of the Qin state has far exceeded that of the six countries, and second, because the political leaders of various countries have been bribed, and the courts of various countries have a spokesman for the Qin state, and it is difficult for all countries to concentrate their efforts on dealing with the Qin state.
Therefore, in the final period of reunification, although the Qin state fought with one dozen and six, it never fought on six fronts.
Even if there are six countries, they are not six lines
From the above point of view, although the Qin state is based on one dozen and six, the strategy of the Qin state has always been to fight one and pull one, and try to avoid multi-line combat. In fact, except for the multi-front battles in the early Qin Zhao and Qin Shi Huang periods, with one enemy and six enemies, the qin state rarely fought on multiple fronts in the rest of the period.
At the same time, even if the six countries jointly attacked Qin, it was not a six-front battle. Because Qi Yan and Qin did not border each other, it was difficult to attack Qin alone, and they often jointly attacked Qin with Han Zhao, Wei Chu.
There are three main routes to attack the Qin state, one is to cross wuguan from Yanying, the second is to enter Hangu Pass from the land of Sanchuan, the third is to cross the land of Hexi from the east bank of the Yellow River, and of course, there is the plan of Attacking the back of qin from the clouds planned by King Wuling of Zhao, but it is difficult to achieve the main route without being the main route.
Therefore, the Qin state fought on the third front at most and not on the six fronts, in fact, the six kingdoms attacked Qin often from Hangu Pass, while the Chu state often lacked strategy when attacking from Wuguan.
I think the above can clearly explain why the Qin State was able to win the victory with one enemy and six enemies.