After the Battle of Shuishui, the Former Qin River was sinking, and the forces of various ethnic groups took advantage of the chaos to rebel. In the end, the king was destroyed and the country was destroyed. This is the most "terrier" battle in history, and the well-known allusions of throwing whips, grass and trees are soldiers, wind and cranes, and Go gambling villas are all from the Battle of Shuishui.
Throughout history, the kings of the fallen kingdoms have either fainted or been violent. But as we all know, Jian Jian is a generation of Ming Jun.
During his reign, he broke the barrier between Hu and Han, selected the best and the strongest, straightened out the rule of officials, and enriched the country and strengthened the army. In contrast, the Eastern Jin Dynasty gate valve was in power, and the sound of the warriors and horses and the lack of enterprising spirits were the real faint and corrupt.
The majority loses over the minority, and the wise lose to the faint. Where did Former Qin lose?
First, although former Qin seemed to be unified, it was actually worried about internal and external troubles
In 317 AD, after two major disturbances, the Western Jin Dynasty fell and the Jin Dynasty moved south. Since then, northern China has been mired in centuries of turmoil.
There are endless wars and regimes. The Forces of Zhuhu sang and sang and appeared on the stage, forming sixteen countries with greater influence. The five ethnic groups of Xiongnu, Xianbei, Xianbei, Qiang, and Qiang are the most prominent, so they are called "Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms".
Former Qin was the most powerful of the Sixteen Kingdoms, founded by the Hu people. The fourth monarch of the country, Jian Jian, made great efforts to rule the empire, unified the north and the west, and the four sides came to claim subjection to many countries. But at that time, there was also the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the southeast corner of An'an.
Han thieves are not separated, and Wang Ye is not partial.
In 382 AD, Jian Jian summoned his courtiers to the Taiji Hall and said to them, "I have inherited the throne for more than thirty years, and I have successively destroyed Former Yan, Former Qiuchi, Former Liang, and Daiguo, and the four sides have been stable. Only the southeast corner has not been kingized, and today our Former Qin has been in full bloom. I want to personally lead a large army to cut down the Jin Dynasty, build the Qin Emperor Han Wu to unify the world's great cause, what is the intention of the group of subjects? ”
Most of the people in the court were opposed. His brother Gong Rong believed that there were three difficulties in the crusade against the Eastern Jin Dynasty:
First, the way of heaven was not smooth, and now the situation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was stable and there was no sign of decline.
Second, the Jin state had no beginning and lacked a reason to start a war.
The third is that since Fu Jian took the throne, he has been fighting everywhere and has been tired for a long time. It was hard to rest with the people for a few years, and suddenly they wanted to start a war again, so exhausted that the people were afraid of war.
The late chancellor Wang Meng once instructed Jian Jian not to rush to the Jin Dynasty, believing that although the Jin Dynasty was far away in Jiangnan, they were Orthodox Chinese. It should be reconciled with it for generations. Xianbei and Qiangfu are the scourges that really endanger the society.
However, there were also people in the imperial court who had ghost fetuses in their hearts to support the Jin Dynasty. For example, the Xianbei Murong family and the Qiang Yao family. They were all nobles who had been destroyed by Former Qin, and although Jian Jian treated them preferentially, they still hated former Qin for being strong and unable to restore their country. They hoped that when the former Qin Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty and the Gyeonggi garrison were empty, they should unite inside and outside and restore the country in one fell swoop.
This mentality of fearing that the world will not be chaotic and fearing danger and not fearing morality confirms Wang Meng's prophecy.
Although Former Qin seemed to be unified, in fact, it was worried about internal and external troubles, and the various departments of Hu Yu had not yet returned to their hearts. Jian Jian, who was also a Hu person, was too benevolent in governing the Hu people, and posterity commented that he was "a gentle invitation to fame". He recruited all the nobles of the fallen country under his command and gave preferential treatment to the soldiers of the country. Let more than a thousand Xianbei people live in Chang'an. Laying hidden dangers for the collapse of Former Qin.
2, "Ten-ded draw 1", throwing reflux
Ignoring the opposition of his courtiers, at the instigation of the Former Yan nobleman Murong Chui, Jian Jian was determined to gamble on attacking the Eastern Jin Dynasty with all his wealth. He promoted the conscription system of "ten out of ten" throughout the country, and then requisitioned all public and private horses. Six hundred thousand infantry and twenty-seven thousand cavalry.
He said confidently: Throwing the horse whip of the whole army into the Yangtze River is enough to block the flow of the river!
But the composition of this army is extremely complex. How much combat power can be achieved by taking one out of ten among men and letting them go to the battlefield without much training? Will the people be passive and wait for war if they have complaints?
Moreover, former Qin was after all a court established by the Qi people, but the proportion of the Qi people was less than one-tenth, the Han people and other Hu people accounted for the majority, the national consciousness of great unification had not yet been formed, and the concept of most people was that the non-chinese race must have different hearts, and there was only one family and one family.
In addition, huang en does not go to the countryside, so there are even fewer people who voluntarily sell their lives. The cohesion and combat effectiveness of this team can be imagined.
383 AD. In the nineteenth year of the Former Qin Dynasty, in the ninth year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The Former Qin army marched south in three ways, attacking Hanshui on the west road, Pengcheng on the east road, and Jian Jian on the middle road, directing directly at Shouyang in Huainan.
By the time jian jian and the huaibei local army met, 300,000 troops had arrived at the front. There are still 500,000 people in the rear who have not yet gone south, and if they wait until all 800,000 troops are assembled, the Eastern Jin Dynasty may not have the strength to return to heaven.
The Former Qin army suppressed the border, and the people in Jiankang City were panicked. The imperial court appointed Xie An and Xie Xuan's uncle and nephew to lead the defense. At this time of crisis, Xie An was calm and relaxed, and even played Go and gambled.
That was because Xie An was full of confidence in the "Beifu Army" formed by his uncle and nephew. As early as four years ago, during the siege of Pengcheng, Xie Shi had fought against the Former Qin army. At that time, Xu and Yanzhou gathered a large number of northern displaced people, and if they were not governed, they would become a disaster. It was then incorporated into the Beifu Army.
Unexpectedly, this unit won many battles in Pengcheng and San'a, and was appreciated and focused on cultivation by the imperial court. Become the main force of the anti-north struggle in the Battle of Shuishui.
Third, the strategic deployment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty
With 80,000 vs. 800,000, every battle is only allowed to win and not to lose. And it must be done quickly. The inferiority in strength and national strength was destined to prevent the Eastern Jin Dynasty from fighting a war of attrition.
Xie An, who was in charge of military affairs, decided to transfer troops to the most important places. The strategic point of Luojian was occupied by Former Qin in October, and with this stronghold, the Former Qin army could blockade along the river, leaving the Jin army passive.
Xie Xuan ordered the Yingyang general Liu Gaozhi to lead 5,000 elite Northern Fu soldiers to forcibly cross the Luoshui River. The Eastern Jin Dynasty army won more with less, and the first was that it was good at surprise attacks. Liu Gaozhi's troops raided at night, and the Qin army stationed in Luojian at that time was mostly new recruits. Many people were not ready for battle, and as soon as they heard the enemy attack, they scattered as birds and beasts, and were killed by Liu Gaozhi's army by tens of thousands.
The second is that the intelligence is accurate, and Jian Jian trusts the enemy too much. Directly sent the Eastern Jin general Zhu Xu, who had been captured in the Battle of Xiangyang, to persuade him to surrender. This person violated The Yin of Jianyang and directly revealed the falsehood of Former Qin's garrison to Xie Xuan, which led to Luo Jian's great victory.
Xie Xuan XieShi then reached the east bank of the Shuishui River, opposite the Qin army, and the decisive battle began.
Fourth, the wind and the sound of cranes, grass and trees are soldiers
On the other side of shuishui are the 280,000 forwards led by Jian Jian and Zhi Rong, who occupy Shouyang, which is an important land and water transportation hub, controlling the waterways of Rushui, Yingshui, and Huaishui.
Jian Jian and Gong Rong climbed the head of Shouyang City, looked at the Bagong Mountain in the distance, and saw the grass and trees on the other side of the river, thinking that it was all an array of Jin soldiers, and their faces were afraid. At this point, the Former Qin army had fallen into a passive situation.
Gong Rong deployed these 280,000 troops along the river to consolidate the defensive line, waiting for the army in the rear to assemble, and neither side dared to fight anyone.
In order to break the deadlock, Xie Xuan pretended to be impatient and wanted to make a quick decision, and sent emissaries to ask Jian Jian to take a few steps back and give a small ferry so that they could fight to the death.
Unexpectedly, Jian Jian actually agreed to Jin Jun's request. His original plan was to take a few steps back, wait for the Jin army to cross the river more than halfway, and then send cavalry to cover up the main enemy army.
As everyone knows, at this time, he had already rebelled and left, and the Previously captured Jin generals Zhu Xu, Xu Tianxi and others took advantage of the retreat of the Qin army. Create a mutiny in front of the battle, shouting: The Qin army is defeated!
The lack of organization of the Qin army immediately became chaotic, retreating into a stampede, the Qin army fled for their lives all the way, and when they heard the wind and cranes, they thought that the Jin army had killed them.
The Jin army's Beifu soldiers crossed the river in one fell swoop, reenacted the scene of the Battle of Luojian, and recaptured Shouyang. And take advantage of the victory to pursue, so that the lower reaches of the Yellow River are all Jintu. Gong Jian's younger brother Zhi Rong (苻融), was killed in the chaos.
The reason why Xie An and Xie Xuan were able to win was that they created victories at various key nodes, accumulated continuously, and reached the realm of turning the tide of battle. The Battle of Shuishui further penetrated the actual situation of the 800,000 troops that had not yet been assembled, struck its vanguard, broke its sharpness, and won decades of stability for the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Although Jian Jian had an army of 800,000, he allowed the ghostly aliens to lead the army, while only one-fifth of his own concubine troops were allowed to lead. At a time of internal and external troubles in the country, he made a desperate bet to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
What was even more fatal was that he was caught in the enemy's ruse, and before he could clench five fingers into a fist, he sent the beachhead ferry.
Text/Winds of Peace
Resources:
1. "The First All-out War Between the Hu and Han Dynasties in Chinese History: Focusing on Exploring the Direct Causes of the Victory of Jin and Qin in the Battle of Shuishui", Li Chunhao
2. "The Xie Family in the Battle of Shuishui", Fang Yaguang