During the Warring States period, only the seven kingdoms of Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Chu, Qi, and Qin gradually coexisted. Over time, Qin became the strongest, and Chu, Qi, and so on became weaker, but fortunately, zhao guo was not weak, and in the later period, Zhao was basically able to resist Qin. In 262 BC, the famous Battle of Changping broke out between Qin and Zhao. This battle almost determined the direction of the entire Warring States era, so to speak: whichever wins is equivalent to winning the world. Unfortunately, Qin won the war.
At that time, the two sides almost smashed the strength of the whole country in order to win: Qin soldiers sent 400,000 troops, and Zhao Guo sent 450,000 people. Since this war is very famous, the details are not nagging. To sum up, after Zhao Kuo replaced Lian Po, he used the active offensive method to attack Qin, but the result was that the supply line was cut off without paying attention.
In this way, he had to force a breakthrough, and finally more than 400,000 Zhao soldiers were all captured alive. Then these people were buried alive by Bai Qi. There is a question here: why would more than 400,000 people prefer to be buried alive rather than resist, and how did Bai Qi do this?
First of all, there is a misunderstanding here: the Zhao Jun killed by baiqi pit is not 450,000 people, but more than 200,000 people. At that time, after Zhao Kuo's supply line was cut off, his 450,000 soldiers were cut off for 46 days. In this case, Zhao Kuo led the people to break through many times, but they did not return. Later, he personally selected the elite to break out, and the whole army was destroyed. In the process of his many breakthroughs, Zhao Bing had already died 250,000 people. The remaining 200,000 people saw that it was impossible to win the other side, so they all surrendered voluntarily.
What was the state of these 200,000 people at that time? These people have been starving for 46 days, and at the same time they are the pawns of the defeated army, and they have no morale at all. At that time, they had surrendered, and bai qi could not give them weapons, and at the same time, the movement of these people was bound to be restricted, and they would also be under the supervision of Qin bing.
This group of people has lost their combat effectiveness, and with no morale, they are not free to move, and it is impossible to communicate with each other. The most important thing is that the coach Zhao Kuo is dead, and they have no leader to preside over the overall situation, which is the most pitting.
On the other hand, although Qin Bing won this time, he also lost more than 200,000 people. In addition, the war took a full 3 years, and the Qin state also smashed a lot of grain into it, and the grain on the White Side was only enough to eat by itself, which was more than 200,000 pawns out of thin air, and it was also a heavy burden to give grain to Zhao Bing. Most importantly, if these 200,000 people are taken back to the Qin State, they will consume a lot of grain along the way, and the Qin State will not be able to afford to be hurt; if they are released back to the Zhao State, they will become the sworn enemies of the Qin soldiers in the future. After much thought, Bai Qi decided to put them all to death.
But more than 200,000 people are not said to be able to kill and solve it easily, in case they make a fuss together, they will cause unnecessary casualties. In this case, Bai got up a trick "big flicker" to deceive more than 200,000 Zhao soldiers: "Other princes may invade, you go to help us dig trenches, dig well and let you go home." ”
These Zhao Soldiers had already returned to their hearts like arrows, so they really ran and foolishly dug up the fortifications. As a result, when this group of people used up their last strength, more than 200,000 Qin soldiers directly pushed them into the "pits" they had dug with their own hands, and they were all buried alive.
In the village of Gukou, 2.5 kilometers west of today's Gaoping, Shanxi, there is a skeleton temple in the village, which is said to be the place where Zhao Bing died in Baiqi Pit. There are also two places in the local area, Wang He Village and Wang Descending Village, and there is a very strange mound between the two villages, which is said to be "Bai Qitai": Bai Qi once collected and showed off the heads of Zhao Bing there. More than 2,000 years later, the Battle of Changping has still become a very tragic battle in history.