The Chu-Han War was a famous war in ancient China in which the weak defeated the strong, and it was also a relatively typical example of strategically winning the outer line from the internal line, winning the initiative from the passive, and winning the offensive from the defense.
Section 1 The Initial Struggle Between Liu and Xiang for feudal rule
After the peasant revolt at the end of the Qin Dynasty overthrew the rule of the Qin Dynasty, history entered a new stage. Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, the leaders of the peasant army, formed two new groups, and the two sides launched the famous Chu-Han War in history in order to compete for the right of feudal rule.
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Liu Bang, who was the head of the Surabaya Pavilion, was more aware of the people's suffering. After he defeated the prince of Qin, in order to win the hearts and minds of the people, sealed the treasures, treasures and treasury of the Qin Dynasty, and agreed with the Qin people in three chapters, stipulating that "the murderer dies, injures people and steals to compensate for the crime", and celebrates the harsh laws of the Qin Dynasty, so the people of Qin all hope that Liu Bang can be the king of Guanzhong.
Xiang Yu, who was born of an aristocratic family, defeated the main force of the Qin army at the giant deer and gained the status of a general of the princes, and his momentum grew stronger and louder. Before he led the princes' army into Guanguan, in order to prevent the Qin rebellion, he killed 200,000 people in the south of Xin'an (present-day Shichidong, Henan). This brutal act of slaughtering surrendered soldiers aroused the hatred of the people of Guanzhong. When Xiang Yu marched to Hangu, he was dissatisfied when he heard that Liu Bang was going to call Wang Yu Guanzhong, and commanded his army to break through the pass and garrison at Hongmen (present-day Eastern Lintong, Shaanxi). Since then, the contradictions between Liu and Xiang have become increasingly acute.
At that time, Liu Bang's army was about 100,000, and Xiang Yu's army was more than 400,000. Relying on his superior strength, Xiang Yu attempted to eliminate Liu Bang and monopolize Guanzhong. Fan Zeng also believed that Liu Bang's "ambition is not small", advocating "not to lose a quick blow", and Xiang Yu made up his mind to destroy Liu Bang.
Just as Xiang Yu was preparing to act, his uncle Xiang Uncle told Zhang Liang all the plans. After Liu Bang knew this, he expected that his strength was invincible, so he tried his best to win over Xiang Bo, and in order to mediate, he personally went to Hongmen to apologize, so that Xiang Yu dispelled the original plan, and the war did not break out immediately. Soon Xiang Yu marched into Xianyang, killed the Prince of Qin, and Jing wantonly burned and killed in Xianyang City, plundering treasure goods and women, which caused a strong resentment among the people of Guanzhong. In February of the first year of Emperor Han Gao's reign (206 BC), Xiang Yu took advantage of his overwhelming military superiority and established himself as the overlord of Western Chu, placing his position above the princes, taking Liang, the nine counties of Chu, and fixing the capital pengcheng (present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu), and at the same time dividing the eighteen kings. He deliberately wanted to expel Liu Bang from the customs, but he had reconciled with Liu Bang and was afraid that others would say that he was "negating the contract." He secretly planned with Fan Zeng that "with Bashu road danger, Qin's relocated people (sinners) all live in it", just to trap Liu Bang, so he made Liu Bang the king of Han in the land of Ba, Shu, and Hanzhong, and coerced him to leave Guanzhong.
Before Xiang Yu was divided, Han Sheng offered advice to him and said, "Guanzhong obstructs mountains and rivers, the land of the four plugs, the land is fertile, but all of them are hegemonic." Xiang Yu was attached to Peng Cheng, but believed that "the rich and noble do not return to their hometown, such as clothes embroidered at night, who knows", and rejected Han Sheng's opinion. However, in order to subdue Liu Bang, he divided Guanzhong into three parts, and Feng Qin demoted Zhang Handan as Yongyu, Sima Xin as the King of Sai, and Dong Shu as the King of Zhai, in an attempt to control Guanzhong through these three people, trapping Liu Bang in a dangerous border area, so that he could not advance east. Although Tian Rong, Chen Yu, peng Yue, and others had some strength, they did not follow Xiang Yu to attack Qin, so they were not crowned kings. The result of such a division of the seals not only violated the people's desire for reunification at that time, but also sowed bad seeds for the later expansion of disputes.
Liu Bang lost Guanzhong and was extremely dissatisfied and wanted to fight with Xiang Yu by force. His subordinates all believed that the strong and weak were invincible and tried to dissuade them. Xiao He analyzed: "If the present crowd (no) is like, hundreds of defeats, ... The subject wang Hanzhong, the great king, raised the common people to (recruit) sages, adopted Ba and Shu, and also fixed the three Qins (that is, Guanzhong, who was divided by Xiang Yu to three generals), and the world could be Tuye. Liu Bang then adopted Xiao He's suggestion and left Guanzhong with a sigh of relief. On the way, he burned the path he had crossed to prevent sneak attacks by the princes' armies, and thus showed no intention of going east. After Liu Bang arrived in Southern Zheng (Hanzhong County), he actively prepared for war in accordance with the policy of taking over Bashu, returning the Three Qins, and fighting for the world in the east, in an attempt to eliminate Xiang Yu.
Section 2 The use of the strategy of the two sides during the period of the Han army's attack by taking advantage of the gap
In May of the first year of Emperor Han Gao's reign (206 BC), Tian Rong and Chen Yu, because they were not allowed to become kings, joined forces against Chu, and Old Rong drove out the Qi king Tian Du, killed Jiaodong Wang TianShi, and established himself as the King of Qi. In July, Peng Yue, who was also jointly occupying LiangDi (in present-day eastern Henan), killed Tian An, the king of Jibei, occupied sanqi (the fiefdom of the three kings of Qi, Jiaodong, and Jibei, in present-day Shandong), and instructed Peng Yue to attack Chu, and the evolution of the situation broke the situation of Xiang Yu's monopoly, leaving him with no time to look west, giving liu Bang, who was weaker, an opportunity to take advantage of the gap and move east.
As soon as the Kwantung (east of Hangu Pass) war broke out, Han Xin, who was well aware of the chu army's inside story, made a detailed analysis to Liu Bang, saying that Xiang Yu was "the courage of a puppet", unable to employ people, and internally ununified. Then, comparing the political conditions of the two sides, it is believed that "king Xiang has been destroyed by all the people, the world has many grievances, the people are not close to him, and they are particularly robbed of weijiang (strong) ears." Although the name is hegemonic, it is really out of the heart of the world. Therefore, its territory is easy to weaken." "When the Great King (referring to Liu Bang) entered Wuguan, Qiu did no harm, except for the harsh law of Qin, and the covenant with Qin Min, the three chapters of the law, and the Qin people all wanted to get the Great King Qin." Finally, it is suggested, "Now that the great king has moved to the east, the Three Qins can be passed on to determine the same."
Liu Bang adopted Han Xin's suggestion, ordering Xiao He to collect rent from Ba and Shu and replenish the army, while deploying troops and preparing to advance east. In August, the Han army sneaked out of gudao (near present-day Liangdang, Gansu) to attack the Yong king Zhang Handan, defeated Zhang Handan at Chen Cang (present-day BaojiDong, Shaanxi) and Haoshi (present-day eastern Ganxian County, Shaanxi), and besieged the abandoned hills (雍的都城, southeast of present-day Xingping, Shaanxi), and sent troops to take Longxi, Beidi, and Shangjun, forcing Sima Xin the King of Sai and Dong Feng the Prince of Zhai to surrender. After Liu Bang had basically achieved his desired goal of the Three Qins, he disregarded the remnants of the enemy and immediately sent Xue Ou out of Wuguan to unite with the Wang Ling army in Nanyang (one of the rebel armies at the end of Qin, which had already returned to Han), and quickly developed in the direction of Pengcheng, but was rejected by the Chu army at Yangxia (present-day Taikang, Henan).
Because Tian Rong raised an army in Shandong, Liu Bang took the opportunity to return to the Three Qins and then quickly advanced eastward, at this time, Xiang Yu was already in a disadvantageous position of being attacked on both sides. Continuing to strike qi or hitting Han is a matter that Xiang Yu has a lot of time considering in decision-making. Just when he was hesitating and undecided, Liu Bang, in order to encourage his mistake, asked Zhang Liang to give him a letter, saying: "The King of Han has dereliction of duty (finger technique, want to get Guanzhong, as promised, do not dare to go east." He also deliberately sent him a counter-letter to Tian and Peng, saying that they would unite with Chen Yu to jointly destroy Chu.
Xiang Yu was therefore determined to strike with the main force and temporarily take a defensive position against the west, and only sent Zheng Chang, who would serve as the commander of Wu County (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu), as the king of Han, and used weak troops to prevent the Han army from advancing eastward. In this way, Liu Bang formed a local advantage. At this time, Xiang Yu adopted the strategy of first Qi and then Han, mistaking Tian Rong as the main target of attack, allowing Liu Bang to take advantage of the gap.
In January of the second year of Emperor Han Gao's reign (205 BC), Xiang Yu broke the Qi army at Chengyang (present-day Jiupu County, Shandong), and Tian Rong was defeated and killed in Pingyuan. Xiang Yu also assumed the title of King of Qi and marched into Beihai (present-day northeastern Shandong). Along the way, he burned the city, pit down pawns, and abducted old and weak women, so that the Qi people rebelled. Tian Rong's younger brother Tian Hengde took the opportunity to collect tens of thousands of scattered troops, and Tian Guang, the son of Li Tian Rong, became king and occupied the area around Chengyang (城陽, in present-day Ju County, Shandong) against Chu. Xiang Yu attacked Tian Heng, unable to fight even though, and was pinned down in Qi Jing.
Liu Bang took advantage of Xiang Yu's attack on Qi, that is, hangu passed out of Shaanxi County and entered the central plains, and Wang Shenyang of Henan surrendered first. He then sent Han Wangxin (grandson of King Xiang of Han) to defeat Zheng Chang at Yangcheng (present-day Dengfeng, Henan), taking control of the Luoyang region and approaching the Chu territory. At the same time, Liu Bang moved the capital east to Liyang (栎陽, northeast of present-day Lintong, Shaanxi) in order to command; and distributed the gardens and hunting grounds of the Qin Dynasty to the common people for cultivation to facilitate the development of agricultural production, which was conducive to the subsequent eastward expansion.
In March, when Liu Bang took Xiang Yu to march into the North Sea and penetrate deep into Qi, he led his army to cross the Yellow River from Linjin (present-day Dalidong, Shaanxi) and forced the surrender of the Wei king Leopard, capturing Hanoi (in present-day Henan, north of the Yellow River), and capturing Sima Wei, the king of Yin. In a short period of time, Han occupied a large area of present-day Henan and south-central Shanxi, creating a favorable situation to continue eastward, and changed these areas into counties for direct control. After pacifying Hanoi, Liu Bang crossed the Yellow River south to Luoyang, and on the pretext that Xiang Yu killed King Huai of Chu, he sent emissaries to the princes yi to say, "The world has established a righteous emperor, and Xiang Yu jing dares to kill him, which is really a great rebellion, I personally mourn for the yi emperor, send all the soldiers in Guanzhong, and I am willing to fight with the princes to attack Xiang Yu and avenge the yi emperor." This propaganda offensive was immediately echoed by those who were dissatisfied with Xiang Yu, such as Chen Yu, who first sent troops to help Han.
In April, Liu Bang took advantage of Qi Chu's presence at Chengyang (Ju County) and led a combined army of 560,000 princes to attack Pengcheng. When the army reached Waihuang (外黄; northeast of present-day Qixian County, Henan), Peng Yue led his 30,000 men back to Han, and Liu Bang ordered him to continue to attack Liangdi and cover the main side of the back, and the Han army occupied Pengcheng without fighting along the way. At this time, Liu Bang was satisfied with what he had gained, and he was not wary of Xiang Yu, and even "received his goods and treasure beauty in Pengcheng, and held a high meeting of wine every day" in Pengcheng.
Although Xiang Yu heard that the Han army was advancing eastward, he did not follow the plan to attack Tian Heng and still adhered to the strategy of breaking through Qi and then attacking Han. When Pengcheng fell, he left the generals to attack Qi, led 30,000 elite troops, and rescued Pengcheng, from Lu (present-day southeast of Shanxi) out of Huling (present-day Nanyutai, Jinxiang, Shandong), into Xiao County (present-day Xiao County, Jiangsu), taking advantage of Liu Bang's pleasure in Pengcheng, from west to east to counterattack the han army's flankback. The battle began in the morning, and at noon, the Han army was destroyed and oppressed in Gu Surabaya (present-day east of Xuzhou), killing more than 100,000 people. The Han army retreated to the southern mountains, and the Chu army pursued to Suishui, east of Lingbi (present-day west of Anweisu County), annihilating hundreds of thousands of people. Liu Bang escaped from the siege with dozens of horses and ran to Xiayi (下邑; present-day Shandong, Jiangsu).
Section 3 The Han army turned into the application of the strategy of both sides during the defensive period
After Liu Bang's great defeat at Pengcheng, the main force was annihilated, and the princes turned their backs on Chu one after another, such as Chen Yugui Chu, Sima Xin and Dong Feng also took the opportunity to flee to Xiang Yu, and the situation was very unfavorable to him. At this time, he realized that the Chu army was strong and brave, and was not capable of the enemy, and when he retreated to Xiayi, he tried to carve out the Kwantung territory to win over the anti-Chu forces and deal with Xiang Yu. Zhang Liangxian said: "Jiujiang Wang Bu (Yingbu), Chu Owl General (Fierce General), and King Xiang have a gap, peng Yue and Qi King Tian Rong oppose Liangdi, these two can be anxious. And the Han King's general Du Han Xin can be a big thing, one side. That is, if you want to donate (share), donate to these three people, Chu can break it. This proposal is to win over Yingbu, reuse Peng Yue and Han Xin, and form a powerful anti-Chu force from all aspects. Liu Bang agreed with Zhang Liang's advice, and immediately gathered the armies of the princes, and also defended Chenggao (成皋, in modern Panshui, Henan) and Rongyang, dividing his troops to guard the dangerous points, deep ditches and high fortresses, in an attempt to negotiate with Xiang Yu for a long time. Judging from the above plans and arrangements, Liu Bang adopted a strategy of protracted defense, trying to counterattack and eliminate Xiang Yu after the comparison between advantages and disadvantages had changed. Under the guidance of this strategy, the Han army determined a large-scale deployment.
Frontal battlefield: Insist on the Chenggao and Xingyang areas, block Xiang Yu's offensive, and order Peng Yue to open up a battlefield behind enemy lines in Liangdi, cooperate with the front, mobilize and fatigue the Chu army, and ensure the development of the two wings.
Northern Battlefield: Han Xin was ordered to lead a force to annihilate the separatist forces north of the Yellow River one by one and develop on the flank of the Chu army.
Southern Battlefield: Plotted against Wang Yingbu of Jiujiang, causing him to attack the flank of the Chu army and contain Xiangtu.
The activities of the Chu and Han armies in various battlefields.
A frontal battlefield
In May of the second year of Emperor Han Gao's reign (205 BC), Liu Bang gathered the defeated troops at Xingyang, and Xiao He also recruited Guanzhong soldiers to the front to replenish, and after the Han army was rested and replenished, morale was restored. At this time, the Chu army had entered the Chongyang area and fought with the Han army between Jing and Suo (京, Jujun place name, in the south of Xingyang). The Chu army had superior cavalry, which posed a great threat to the Han army. To this end, Liu Bang quickly formed a new cavalry force to break through the Chu cavalry east of Xingyang, so that the Chu army could not continue to advance westward, stabilized the war situation, controlled Xingyang and Chenggao, and made Yongdao (grain transportation roads with earthen walls on both sides) to the Yellow River to cover the grain transportation, and sent the general Zhou Bo to hold the grain depot in Aocang, thus turning into a protracted defense.
After the front was temporarily stabilized, Liu Bang returned to Guanzhong in June in order to further consolidate the rear, diverted water to attack the abandoned hill, and Zhang Handan committed suicide, all of which pacified Yongdi. He also ordered Xiao He to guard Guanzhong, legislated orders, set up counties, investigated household registrations, transferred grain and soldiers from Guanzhong, and constantly supported the front.
In December of the third year of Emperor Han Gao (204 BC), the Chu army invaded the Han army Yongdao several times, causing great difficulties in supplying the Han army. Liu Bang consulted his subordinates for a strategy to break Chu, and Li Suggested that the descendants of the Six Kingdoms should divide Chu, a dangerous proposition that was fortunately prevented by Zhang Liang. Chen Ping analyzed Xiang Yu's capable generals, but Fan Zeng, Zhong Liwei, Long Ji, Zhou Yin, and several others said that "King Xiang is a man, and he is afraid of believing in rumors, and he will be punished from within", and then he will be able to break through Chu with a military attack. Liu Bang then gave Chen Ping a large amount of gold and silver, so that spies were widely spread, and rumors were spread, saying that King Xiang's subordinates had done a lot of work and did not get a fief, and they all wanted to unite with Han to jointly eliminate the Xiang clan and claim the title of king in separate places. Xiang Yu therefore doubted his subordinates, causing Fan Zeng, who had been following him for many years and always advising him, to leave, and died of illness on the way, and the core of the Chu army's leadership gradually became divided.
Although Liu Bang took the above measures, although it played a role in consolidating the rear and dividing the chu army, the positive pressure was still very large. In April of the same year, the Chu army attacked very quickly, and Xingyang was in danger. In order to ease Xiang Yu's offensive, Liu Bang proposed that "Chu east of Xingyang" be the condition for peace, but Xiang Yu refused. In May, the Chu army attacked Xingyang and Chenggao. Liu Bang fled back to Guanzhong, and after receiving a group of soldiers, he planned to retake Xingyang. The strategist Yusheng did not think it was a good strategy, and he offered a plan to Liu Bang: "Han and Chu are several years away from Xingyang, and Han is often trapped. May the king go out of Wuguan, and King Xiang will lead his troops south. Wang Shenbi did not fight, so that Xingyang and Chenggao could rest, so that Han Xin and other An Ji (Fu) Hebei Zhaodi, Lian Yan, Qi, and the king were to return to Xingyang. In this way, chu has more (defenses) and the strength (dispersion of troops); Han has to rest, and the battle of resuming and fighting will be broken! ”
Liu Bang adopted this opinion and marched to Wan (present-day Nanyang, Henan) and Ye (present-day Ye County, Henan), and indeed mobilized Xiang Yu to go south to seek war. At this time, Peng Yue's guerrilla army (guerrilla army) was operating along the Yellow River, and in order to move the Chu army further afield, Liu Bang ordered Peng Yue to attack the rear of Chu, attack Xia Pi (present-day Pi County, Jiangsu), and threaten the Chu capital Pengcheng. Xiang Blade could not take care of the end and the end, and quickly led the army to attack Peng Yue in the east, and Liu Bang took the opportunity to retake Chengquan one by one.
After Xiang Yudong attacked and took Peng Yue, he returned to the west in June of the third year of Emperor Han Gao,dexterously attacked Xingyang and Chenggao, and the Han army retreated to the Gong County area. Although the Chu army's attack was successful, its strength was exhausted and it could no longer cross Gong County and advance westward.
Liu Bang defeated Chenggao for the second time, crossed the river to Han Xin's camp, took back most of the army commanded by Han Xin, and increased it to the front of Gong County, still deep ditch and high fortress, and depleted the Chu army. In order to strengthen the activities behind enemy lines, Liu Jia was sent to lead 20,000 people to cross the river from Baimajin (the old Yellow River ferry port, in present-day north of Huaxian County, Henan) to chu land, assist Peng Yue, burn Chu warehouses, materials, and cut off their supplies. After Receiving strong support, Peng Yue captured the seventeen cities of Waihuang and Suiyang (present-day Shangqiu, Henan) in August, cutting off the chu army's communication between Chenggao and Pengcheng. The threat to the Chu army's flanks and backs was getting bigger and bigger, and Xiang Yu had to stop the offensive and personally attack Peng Yue again. In September, Xiang Yu led his army east, leaving his grand Sima Cao to defend Chenggao. Before leaving, he told Cao Wei: "Keep to Chenggao." If Han challenges, do not fight with it, and there is no order to win the east. On the fifteenth day I will be on the ground and revert to the general. Xiang Yu took away Peng Yue for the second time and quickly recaptured seventeen cities, but did not destroy this guerrilla army, which was still active between Liang and Chu, always threatening Chu's rear.
In October of the fourth year of Emperor Han Gao (203 BC), the Han army took advantage of the Chu army's eastward transfer and dispersed troops to counterattack Chengquan again. At first, Cao Wei still followed Xiang Yu's instructions and could not hold out, but he could not withstand the stimulation of several challenges and humiliations of the Han army, and finally led his troops to attack in a fit of rage. When Niu Crossed the Flood, the Han army took the opportunity to attack, and Cao Zhao's soldiers committed suicide in defeat. After the Han army recaptured Chenggao, it advanced to Guangwu (northeast of Xingyang), and the well surrounded Zhong Weiwei east of Xingyang.
Xiang Yu wen Chenggao lost his defense for the second time, and hurriedly led the army back to the rescue by Suiyang, and the Han army insisted on not fighting according to the dangerous terrain. The Chu army rushed from place to place several times, extremely tired. At this time, due to the needs of the northern battlefield, another 200,000 troops were divided to rescue Qi, so the attack force was insufficient, and they had to form a confrontation with the Han army in Guangwu. A few months later, the Chu army was short of food, and Xiang Yu's quest for battle was more cut, which would provoke Liu Bang to say: "I am willing to challenge the King of Han to decide between male and female." Liu Bang replied sarcastically: "I would rather fight with wisdom than with strength." Jing exposed Xiang Yu's ten major crimes in front of the two armies to demoralize his army. Stimulated by this, Xiang Yu could not fight, could not retreat, and was stalemated in Guangwu, consuming his strength in vain. Peng Yue's guerrilla army (guerrilla army) continued to harass the rear of the Chu army, capturing more than twenty cities such as Changyi (present-day Jinxiang West, Shandong), and repeatedly cutting off the Chu army's supplies. By August, the Chu army had run out of food, and Han Xin would go to Chu after breaking through. Xiang Yu felt that the situation was serious and was forced to make peace with Han, drawing a chasm (south of Xingyang) to the west of Han and east to Chu.
II. Northern Battlefield
In May of the second year of Emperor Han Gao's reign (205 BC), the Han army prevented the Chu army from advancing westward in a frontal battlefield, but due to the anti-Han of the Wei king Leopard, a dangerous situation appeared on the side of the back. East of the Wei Saw River (present-day southern Shanxi), the westward advance could be Weifu Guanzhong, and the southward could cut off Guanzhong's communication with Xingyang, and create a pinch attack on Xingyang with the Chu army. In order to remove this thorn from his back, Liu Bang would send him to persuade Wei Leopard, but when it failed to take effect, he sent Han Xin and Cao Shan to attack Wei. In August, Wei Bao gathered heavy troops at Pusaka (蒲坂, in present-day Yongjibei, Shanxi) to cut off the Jin traffic and prevent the Han army from crossing the river. Han Xinsheng attacked from the east to the west, avoiding the real and attacking the virtual, gathering ships to accompany him to cross the river from Linjin, but secretly mobilizing his army, and unexpectedly crossing the river from Xiayang (present-day south of Hancheng, Shaanxi) with wooden poppies (small-mouth wooden barrels) to attack the rear of the Wei army. Wei Baocang panicked and was defeated and captured. Liu Bang replenished xingyang with all the surrendered Wei soldiers and strengthened the frontal defenses.
After the defeat of Wei Bao, there were still three fragile separatist forces on the north bank of the Yellow River: Dai, Zhao, and Yan. Tian Qi in Shandong, through war and chaos, suffered great devastation. They only want to protect themselves from the stronghold and do not help each other. In view of these circumstances, Han Xin proposed to Liu Bang a strategic encirclement plan of "raising Yan and Zhao in the north, attacking Qi in the east, cutting off the grain route of Chu in the south, and meeting the great king in the west at Xingyang". Liu Bang agreed to increase Han Xin's troops, and Jing sent Zhang Er, who was familiar with the situation in Hebei, to assist Han Xin.
In September of the same year, Han Xin led his army to first attack the Daiguo, collect its elite troops to replenish the xingyang front, and then cross the Taixing to the east and attack Zhao. Zhao concentrated Chen Yu's 200,000 troops at Jingxingkou (井陉口, in present-day Jingxingdong, Hebei), occupied favorable terrain, erected barriers, and prepared for a decisive battle with the Han army. The strategist Li Zuoche suggested to Chen Yu that the front wall should not be fought, and that Han Xin should be cut off from the Han grain road with strange soldiers, so that Han Xin "could not fight before, and could not return when retreating, ... Make the wild nothing to plunder", can be captured in one battle. Chen Yu believed that Han Xinbing was few and tired, and should not avoid attacking, and rejected Li Zuoche's opinion. Han Xin detected Chen Yu's incompetence, so he commanded his troops to the west of Jingxingkou.
In the middle of the night, two thousand light horses were dispatched, each holding a red flag, advancing from the side road and lurking near the Zhao army's barrier. On the front side, it entered the east bank of Mianmanshui (present-day east of Jing District, Hebei) with a dangerous road of ten thousand in and out, deliberately causing The Zhao army to despise it, thinking that Han Xin did not know how to use troops. At dawn, Han Xin and Zhang Er led the main force out of the well to lure the Zhao army to attack; they pretended to be defeated and retreated, and entered the backwater array. The Zhao army controlled by the barrier believed that the Han army had been defeated, so it fell out of the nest in pursuit of victory, and the Han army ambushed the soldiers to occupy the Zhao army barrier, pulled down the Zhao flag, and replaced it with the Han army flag. The Zhao army attacked the Han army on the backwater, and when it was about to retreat, it suddenly saw the Han army on the barrier to collect the flag and display it, mistakenly believing that the general was captured, and there was chaos. The Han army took advantage of the situation to attack, breaking the Zhao army, cutting Chen Yu, and capturing Zhao Wang Xie and Li Zuoche.
After Han Xin broke Zhao, although Xiang Yu sent strange troops to cross the Yellow River several times to attack the Han army, because the time was lost, it did not work, but instead Han Xin and Zhang Er exchanged back and forth to rescue and consolidate Zhao Land.
Han Xin humbly asked the captive Li Zuoche for advice on how to break Yan. Li Zuoche believed that it might be protracted to rely only on a military attack, so it would be better to rest the soldiers and horses, appease the people of the Zhao state, pose a posture of attacking the Yan state, and then send a debater to publicize the prestige of the Han army and persuade it to surrender, and the Yan state would not dare to disobey. This suggestion was the "first sound before the truth" in the art of war, And Han Xin acted according to the plan, and the Yan state indeed surrendered.
After Han Xin broke Zhao and surrendered Yan, Tian Qi, the only remaining one in the north, made preparations for resistance at Lixia (present-day Licheng, Shandong) in order to prevent the Han army from attacking. Liu Bang sent Li Shiqi to persuade the King of Qi to withdraw his garrison and drink with Li Shiqi by threatening and luring diplomatic means. Taking advantage of his lack of preparation, Han Xin led an army to attack Linzi in October of the fourth year of Emperor Han Gao (203 BC). The Qi army defeated Gaomi and asked Chu for help. Han Xin entered Qi and bowed to Chu's side, posing a great threat to Chu. In order to save himself, Chu sent Dragon in the name of saving Qi and led 200,000 people north to join the Qi army at Gaomi. At that time, someone offered a plan to Long He, saying: "The Han soldiers are fighting far and fighting, and their peaks are not to be taken. It is not as good as the deep wall, and the king of Heqi makes his followers summon the dead city (to appease the people in the fallen area), and the dead city hears that the king is there, and Chu comes to save it, and will oppose the Han. The Han soldiers lived in a guest house for two thousand miles (the lone army went deep), and the Qi city was the opposite, and the common situation had no food, but it could surrender without a battle. This proposal grasped the weakness of the Han army's long-distance battle, and called on the military and civilians in the lost areas to protest together, which was a good strategy for breaking the enemy. However, Long Jisu looked down on Han Xin, had long harbored the heart of a light enemy, and after trying to win the battle, he could occupy most of the qi state by the way, so he did not need this plan and rushed to fight a decisive battle with Han. In November, the Qi-Chu coalition forces and the Han army formed a position in The Water Cloth. Secretly dispatched ten thousand people, with bags of sand, by night in the upper stream to block the water, after dawn to lead the army to attack the dragon, and then falsely defeated and lured the enemy. The dragon did not notice the situation, blindly pursued, and the upper Han army released water in time to rush the dragon and the army into two sections. Han Xin counterattacked with his army, completely annihilating the Qi-Chu coalition army that had crossed the river, and Long Committed Suicide, and the army on the east bank of Weishui collapsed without a fight. The Han army took advantage of the victory to destroy the remnants of the enemy and completely occupied Qidi.
The Han army won a great victory in the northern battlefield, marching east for more than 2,000 miles, occupying the area west of Xingyang, south of the Great Wall, north of the Yellow River and most of present-day Shandong, and its strength also expanded significantly. After the breakthrough, a strategic encirclement of the Chu army had been formed.
3. Southern Battlefield
Wang Yingbu of Jiujiang was a famous brave general of the Chu army, who made many military achievements and was very highly valued by Xiang Yu, so his fiefdom was vast, and he was close to the State of Chu, and he had considerable strength, becoming a threat to Han in the south, so he became the object that Liu Bang was eager to fight for. Liu Bang said on the way to the defeat of Pengcheng: "If you can make Jiujiang for me, lingzhi (referring to Yingbu) send troops to double (back) Chu, stay (contain) Xiang Wang for several months, and I can take the world perfectly." "It shows that Yingbu's back is very important to Han. At this time, Xiang Yu and Yingbu had already had a conflict. Xiang Yu attacked Qi, and Yingbu did not participate; the Han army attacked Pengcheng and did not send troops to help Chu. Xiang Yu sent people to rebuke him many times, and Yingbu was afraid in his heart. Although the two sides were not broken on the surface, their suspicions deepened, so they gave Liu Bang the opportunity to plot a rebellion.
In November of the third year (204 BC) of Emperor Han Gao, he went to Jiujiang on the orders of Liu Bang to lobby Yingbu. He said that King Xiang went north to attack Qi, and as a pioneer soldier, the Great King (referring to Yingbu) personally led the troops of Jiujiang as the Chu forward, but only sent four cadres to assist in the battle, which was the attitude that a courtier should have. The King of Han entered and occupied Pengcheng, Xiang Yu was far away in Qidi, and the Heavenly King should have led troops to cross the wei and rescue Pengcheng, but he also had a crowd of tens of thousands of people, did not send a single soldier and a pawn, and sat and watched the success or failure. This remark exposed the contradiction between Yingbu and Xiang Yu, and had already hit the nail on the head. Sui He then tempted Eli to say, "The great king will send an army and double (back) Chu, and the king of Xiang will stay (constrained); stay for a few months, and Han Zhi will take the world perfectly."
The subject asked to raise the sword with the great king (commanded) and returned to Han, and the king of Han would split the land and seal the great jade, and Huainan would be the great king of Huainan. Yingbu agreed in his heart, but did not dare to openly break with Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu sent someone to Jiujiang to urge the dispatch of troops, and he seized this opportunity and announced in front of Yingbu's envoy to Chu that "the king of Jiujiang has returned to Han, so why did Chu send troops?" "It was difficult for Yingbu to ride the tiger, and he had to kill the Chu envoy and immediately send an army to attack Chu." At this point, han relieved the threat from the south, and Jing opened up a new battlefield.
Since Yingbu returned to Chu and Returned to Han, a new threat appeared on Xiang Yu's flank, so he had to divide his troops and be led by Xiang Sheng and Long He to attack Jiujiang. The two sides fought until December, when the Yingbu army was defeated, and the remnants of the cadres who collected the remnants retreated to Chenggao. Although the Chu army advanced and occupied Jiujiang, it did not take advantage of the situation to develop westward and win. The Han army, on the other hand, achieved the purpose of containing Xiang Yu and dispersing the Strength of the Chu Army, reducing the positive pressure.
Section 4 The application of the strategy of both sides during the period of pursuit by the Han army
The Chu and Han armies held each other in Chenggao for two years and five months, and by the time the peace treaty was concluded, the Chu army was short of food and fatigue, had changed from strong to weak, and the situation had undergone fundamental changes. Xiang Yu saw that the situation was unfavorable, took the initiative to seek peace, and wanted to temporarily truce the army and strike the war, and then make a comeback after seeking a breather.
In September of the fourth year of Emperor Han Gao's reign (203 BC), when Xiang Yu retreated to the east, Liu Bang also planned to retreat west. However, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping unanimously agreed that the enemy could not be indulged. They said, "Han has most of the world, and all the princes are attached to it." The Chu soldiers had eaten up, and when Chu died on this day, it was better to take it because of his chance. Nowadays, the enemy does not strike, which is also called "raising tigers and leaving one's own troubles". Liu Bang, determined to take advantage of Xiang Yu's paralysis and negligence when he retreated to the east, suddenly launched a pursuit, and Jing Yu Han Xin and Peng Yue lowered their divisions to jointly annihilate the Chu army.
In October of the fifth year of Emperor Han Gao's reign (202 BC), Liu Bang pursued the Chu army to Guling (固陵, northwest of present-day Huaiyang, Henan), but Han Xin and Peng Yue did not move and did not meet as scheduled. The Chu army counterattacked, breaking the Han army, and Liu Bang was forced to defend himself. He asked Zhang Liang, who thought that the Chu army would be defeated, while Han Xin and Peng Yue did not get a fief, so they did not move. If they could be given a fief, they would naturally send troops immediately. Thus Liu Bang made Peng Yue the King of Liang in the land north of Suiyang (present-day Shangqiu, Henan) north of Gucheng (present-day Dong'a, Shandong), and han Xin (Shi Xin was already the King of Qi) east of Chen (present-day Huaiyang, Henan). After the fiefdom, both Peng and Han came to meet the division.
Han Xin's army entered Pengcheng and forced Xiang Yu to retreat at Xiaxia (垓下, in modern Lingbi, Anhui). The main force of the Han army was pursued by Chen to the east, and Liu Jiabu also crossed the Huai River south and entered Shouchun (present-day Shou County, Anhui). The Chu Jiujiang garrison general Sima Zhou Yin surrendered to Han and welcomed back Yingbu, joining forces with Liu Jia to advance north. In December, the Han army surrounded Xiang Yuyu, the Chu army was repeatedly defeated, Xiang Yu heard that the Han army was surrounded by songs at night, saw that the general situation had gone, took advantage of the night to lead eight hundred horses to break through and flee south, for the Han army to pursue, he felt faceless to see His father and elder in Jiangdong, unwilling to cross the river, committed suicide on the Wu River (on the Yangtze River in the northeast of present-day Anhui And County). The Han army completely annihilated the Chu army and won a complete victory.
During this period, the Chu-Han War was coming to an end. Xiang Yu only made a strategic retreat when the soldiers were running out of food and the situation was critical, but it was too late, so he could not escape from Baotu, and was re-annihilated by the whole army. Liu Bang did not raise tigers for trouble, immediately launched a pursuit, did not give the other side a chance to breathe, and was strategically successful. As for giving Han Xin and Peng Yue a fiefdom, although it was "lured by profit", it was still an expedient strategy to mobilize all forces to deal with Xiang Blade in order to achieve total victory.
Comments
A political
The Chu-Han War was a war for feudal rule, and it represented two different political ideas of unification and division. In the Anti-Qin War, the remnants of the Six Kingdoms took advantage of the achievements of the peasant uprising to take advantage of the results of the peasant uprising and to take up their own positions one after another, restoring a unified China to the divided situation of the Warring States era. Xiang Yu represented the interests of the old feudal aristocratic class, and he divided the kings, which further expanded the situation of division and division. After he defeated Tian Rong, he then established Tian Fei, and after killing Han Wangcheng, he established Zheng Chang. It has been repeatedly reflected that he is turning back the clock on history, violating the aspirations of the people at that time to hate division and demand reunification. Liu Bang represented the interests of the emerging landlord class at that time, and the main aspect he was committed to was to establish a unified new feudal regime, which was in line with the historical development trend of the time, and therefore objectively also in line with the aspirations of the broad masses of the people at that time.
From the moment he entered the customs, Liu Bang paid attention to winning the hearts and minds of the people, and adopted some political measures that were more progressive than Xiang Yu's, such as "eliminating the harsh laws of Qin", "no crimes in the autumn", and amnesty for sinners, which eased some class contradictions, and thus won a certain degree of support from the people. Xiang Yu participated in the struggle to eliminate Qin and destroyed the main force of the Qin army, and the people were sympathetic and supportive, but his erroneous behaviors of pitting down pawns, abducting the old and weak, and burning the city gradually aroused the dissatisfaction of the people. The people's support for Liu Bang and opposition to Xiang Yu were the fundamental reasons for Liu Shengxiang's defeat.
Liu Bang was also good at winning over the princes and isolating Xiang Yu. For example, xiang Yu actively launched a political offensive by killing King Huai of Chu, and it was expected that the princes would work together against Chu, as well as win over Yingbu, lobby the Qi king Tian Guang, and so on. Xiang Yu, on the other hand, was only superstitious about force, lacked political vision, and rarely fought for alliances diplomatically or otherwise. Although after the battle of Pengcheng, although there was a great situation in which the princes turned their backs on Han and turned to Chu, he did not know how to use it, so he was always in a situation of isolated combat.
Liu Bang can pool his wisdom and listen to different opinions, so all kinds of people from different backgrounds, such as Zhang Liang, Xiao He, Fan Duo, etc., can be used for him, and he is more united internally, and the use of strategies and tactics is also more flexible and mobile. Xiang Yu was different, irritable and willful, suspicious of subordinates, and many important generals and strategists, such as Han Xin, Chen Ping, Yingbu, etc., all defected to Liu Bang due to frustration and dissatisfaction, and Fan Zeng also went away angrily, causing internal divisions and eventually failing.
Ii Economically
Liu Bang always attached great importance to the economic factors of supporting the war, and when he was still in Hanzhong, he ordered Xiao He to collect the rent of Ba and Shu, and also ordered the Three Qins to enter the Central Plains, and still paid attention to consolidating the work of the rear. On the one hand, he actively developed production, distributing the gardens and hunting grounds used by the Qin rulers for hunting to the people for farming; on the other hand, he sent Xiao He to guard Guanzhong and constantly "dispatch troops to feed" to support the front line. In the war, the human and material resources of the occupied areas were also used to the greatest extent. For example, collecting Wei, replenishing Rongyang on behalf of the troops, and taking the grain of Ao Cang for military use, etc., can support long-term wars.
Xiang Yu did not pay enough attention to the economy. He did not decide to set the capital of Guanzhong pengcheng, and even handed over the "ten times the wealth of the world" guanzhong to three incompetent Qin generals to control, so that it was later obtained by Liu Bang. At the same time, in the war, without paying attention to the consolidation of the rear, Peng Cheng's easy loss, and Peng Yue's back and forth attacks are two obvious examples. It is precisely because the rear is not consolidated and the enemy is tug-of-war back and forth that it is impossible to obtain the necessary replenishment in time in terms of manpower and material resources. Facts are very clear, and the inability of economic forces to effectively support the war is one of the main reasons why the Hong Kong army was unable to advance westward and the subsequent soldiers ran out of food.
III Militarily
Liu Bang has several successes in the use of strategy. When competing for Guanzhong, he realized that the situation at that time was that Chu was strong and Han was weak, and established the policy of forbearance and standby and active preparation with Xiang Yu to compete with Xiang Yu, and was already higher than Xiang Yu in strategic layout. When the anti-Chu war broke out, Tian Rong and others were able to formulate a strategy for taking advantage of the gap to attack in a timely manner, take active action, and take advantage of the opportunity to advance eastward; when Pengcheng's troops were defeated and forced to retreat to Rongyang and Chenggao, they could learn a lesson, understand the situation in which the strong and weak were invincible, turn to defense, and deal with Xiang Yu's quick decision in a protracted manner; when Xiang Yu was exhausted and the situation changed fundamentally, he immediately concentrated his superior forces, turned to pursuit, and annihilated all the Chu troops. It can be seen that Liu Bang can correctly and flexibly change his strategy according to the actual situation in each period. In terms of operational guidance, it is also possible to take into account the overall situation, force Xiang Yu to fight on multiple sides, use his own strengths, attack the enemy's weaknesses, strive to win the outside line, surprise victories, and break through each one, these are the places where the Han army has performed well in military terms.
Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu, and the use of his strategy and tactics was not due to his own wisdom, but was inseparable from his auxiliary characters Zhang Liang, Han Xin and others. When Liu Bang completed the celebration of the unification of the wine, he said: "In the planning and planning of the tent, the decisive victory is thousands of miles away, I am not as good as the sub-room." The country, the people, the puppets, the grain road, I am not as good as Xiao He. Even with an army of millions, the battle will be won, the attack will be won, and I am not as good as Han Xin. These three are all people, I can be a master, so I take the world. As a ruler, Liu Bang was good at using people and humbly accepting advice, which was beyond Xiang Yu's reach.
Xiang Yu had a mistake in the use of strategy. Tian Rong rebelled against Chu and threatened Peng Cheng, and he was right to be determined to send troops north to attack Qi. However, when Liu Bang took the opportunity to return to the Three Qins and continue to develop to the Kwantung Region, the Chu army was already in a situation of being attacked on both sides, and he did not recognize the main enemy, and still took the step of "first Qi and then Han" upside down, which cannot but be said to be wrong. After defeating Tian Rong, he was not good at using political appeasement to consolidate the victory, so that Tian Heng could again use Chengyang to confront Chu, so that the main force of the Chu army was subject to Qi and fell into passivity. After Peng Cheng's counterattack and victory, although he gained the initiative for a while, he only knew the strength of the fight, but did not know the wisdom of fighting; he only paid attention to the positive side and did not take care of the overall situation, and as a result, he still could not get rid of the two-sided battle and the passive disadvantage. Xiang Yu had a set of battlefield command, and he was quite famous in the giant deer battle such as the Battle of Qin.
There are also many examples of battles that have been won many battles in the Chu-Han War. For example, Tian Rong was defeated in Qidi, Liu Bang was defeated at Pengcheng, Yingbu was defeated, Peng Yue was defeated, chenggao was broken through twice, and finally Guling counterattacked and suffered for the Han army. These all show his excellent conducting art. But these partial victories do not play a decisive role in the overall situation. If the strategy is used in a wrong way, all of them will be lost, and it will be futile to make local efforts. Coupled with political perverse behavior, it also affected the display of his military strategic talents. In domestic affairs, violence is exchanged for violence; in foreign affairs, there is no way out of the way; in terms of employment, there are many defects and rebellions, all of which are the fatal weaknesses that caused his failure. Therefore, although he also fought many victorious battles, in the end, the vitality was gradually depleted, from strong to weak, and finally lost to the hands of Liu Bang.