The Battle of Beishui, also known as the Battle of Jingxing, occurred in the third year of Han Gaozu (204 BC), the Han army and the Zhao army fought in Jingxing, first of all, let's look at the strength of both sides, the Han army general Han Xin only led 10,000 new soldiers at that time, while the Zhao army had 200,000 troops by Chen Yu, the strength of the two sides was huge, originally the Zhao army was a victorious game, but helped Han Xin unlock the achievements of the Battle of Beishui.
Let's take a look at the terrain at that time, when the war took place at Jingxingkou, and the Zhao army troops with Chen Yu as the main force had already occupied the throat point east of the Taihang Mountains, Jingxingkou, and west of Jingxingkou, there was a narrow road about a hundred miles long, flanked by mountains, although the mountains were full of river valleys, but the narrow roads were not conducive to the passage of people and horses, but it was a necessary place for Han Xin, according to the map, as long as the Jingxingkou wanted to defeat the heavens, it was not allowed.
Chen Yu, on the other hand, said, "Han Xin has only a few thousand people, thousands of miles away, if we avoid attacking, won't we let the princes see the joke?" ”
However, after Han Xin learned of the arrangement of the Zhao army, he decided to take a surprise victory, and took advantage of the night to send two teams of soldiers and horses, one consisting of two thousand light horses, and a remote path detoured to the flank of the Zhao army's camp to hold the Calf Zhai Mountain, so that he took the opportunity to capture the Zhao army camp after the main force of the Zhao army attacked, and the other team arrived at the east bank of the Mianman River and lined up against the river to confuse the Zhao army.
The next day, the Zhao army saw that Han Xin had committed a taboo against the soldiers, so he despised the Han army even more, while Han Xin led the remaining Han army to kill jingxingkou, and the Zhao army left the camp to fight, and Han Xin pretended to be defeated and retreated to Mianmanshui, where he joined the Han army that was lined up with the water. The Zhao army launched a fierce attack on the Han army lined up behind the water, in a vain attempt to annihilate in one fell swoop, who had thought that the Han army was surrounded, and there was a river behind it to block the road, there was no way to retreat, everyone fought to the death to meet the battle, although the Zhao army had the advantage of strength, but it could not be attacked for a long time due to terrain restrictions. At this time, the cavalry holding the calf Zhai Mountain had already taken advantage of the emptiness of the camp to occupy the Zhao camp and planted the Han flag. However, Chen Yu ordered the withdrawal of his troops when he saw that he could not attack for a long time, but found that his large camp was full of Han flags, and the army was suddenly scattered and fled. Han Xin took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, and the Battle of Jingxingkou came to an end.
A battle of backwater refers to putting yourself in a desperate situation and fighting to the death for a way out. Han Xin was able to put his life to death and live after life, but he fully considered the situation of the enemy and us and the rational use of special terrain, and made a strategic deployment supplemented by strange troops. If you just simply put it to death, I am afraid that in the end there will only be a place of death, and many people in later generations have told us with their personal experience that tens of thousands of troops can only make dumplings in the face of the river behind them without reasonable arrangements. This battle of winning more with less is a classic.