There is a description in the "History of Xiang Yu Benji" that embodies the power of Xiang Yu and is particularly evocative. After the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu broke the Qin army, "Xiang Yu summoned the princes and generals, entered the Gate, and all of them walked forward on their knees, and did not dare to look up." Xiang Yu was originally a general of the princes, and all the princes belonged to Yan. ”
The Battle of Julu was the culmination of Xiang Yu's brilliant life. Although the Great Qin Empire at that time was already crumbling and the Six Kingdoms were restored one after another, the Tiger and Wolf Division of the Qin Army still terrified the Six Kingdoms. However, Xiang Yu was able to break the most elite troops of the Qin Army in one fell swoop, so he became famous in the First World War. When the princes saw Xiang Yu from the yuanmen, they knelt on their knees and did not even dare to lift their heads, and from then on, the princes had to bow down to Xiang Yu's might.
Why were the princes so afraid of Xiang Yu? How powerful is Xiang Yu? First, let's take a look at how powerful Xiang Yu was against the Qin army.
Xiang Yu's opponents in the Battle of Julu were the Qin generals Zhang Handan and Wang Li. Zhang Handan can be said to be the pillar of the imperial army at the end of the Qin Dynasty, and the last brave general of the Qin Dynasty during the Qin II period. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's rebel army was approaching Xianyang, and the rebel general Zhou Wen led his army to Shuishui. Splashing water is near the present-day town of Xinfeng in Lintong, Shaanxi. As for how many troops Zhou Wen led, the Book of Han records that "a thousand cars are multiplied, and 100,000 pawns are killed." So will Zhou Wenren be just a bandit leader who resembles a reckless bandit and does not understand the military at all? It should not be, otherwise Chen Sheng would not have entrusted him with this heavy responsibility of approaching the imperial capital.
The Book of Han also writes that Zhou Wen was originally Xiang Yan's old department and had followed Chun Shenjun. Zhou Wen himself said that he "said that he was a soldier", that is, he thought that he understood the military, but the "Book of Han" also explained that Zhou Wen's original job was to "see the sun", which was actually to judge the auspiciousness by looking at the sun, similar to the work of divination. Although Zhou Wen seems to be a member of the zhao kuo and can talk about soldiers on paper, it cannot be ignored that the rebel army is in a great advantage in the general environment, and the Great Qin Empire is already the end of the country.
In this case, Zhang Handan, who was a Shaofu, was not a military general like Zhou Wen, and gave a message to Qin II, and in the absence of an army, he hurriedly dispatched Lishan prisoners to meet the rebel army that followed the trend. So Zhang Handan chased Zhou Wen all the way to Cao Yang to Shichi, and finally committed suicide in defeat. Zhang Handan did not give up, and then broke the Qichu coalition army to kill Dingtao, and even Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Liang died at the hands of Zhang Handan. Wang Li was the grandson of the famous Qin general Wang Qi (王翦), a martial artist from a family of warriors, who succeeded him as a general, and unlike Zhang Handan, the army that Wang Li controlled was the regular army of the Qin Dynasty, and probably the most elite army of the Qin Dynasty. In several places in the "Records of History", it is recorded that after the Great Qin unified the world, he ordered the general Meng Tian to lead an army to "chase the Xiongnu in the north" and "attack Hu in the north", and later recovered the "Henan Land", so that because the river was blocked, the river was built on the side of the forty-four county towns. The general of these border guards was Wang Li, commonly known as the "Great Wall Army".
The zhang handan lishan prisoners who resisted the rebel army, coupled with the Wang Li Great Wall army that had attacked the Xiongnu in the north, the combat effectiveness could be imagined. This is also the reason why the princes did not dare to help Xiang Yu when they were on the wall during the Battle of Julu. Because they were all scared. Why were the princes frightened? Because the real example is in front of him, Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Liang died at the hands of Zhang Handan when he was saving the Zhao Kingdom.
Xiang Yu's strength was not only in the strength value. Of course, if the strength value of the Lishan criminals led by Zhang Handan has already exploded, then the strength value of the Chu army led by Xiang Yu is simply a super explosive meter. The reason why the God of War is called the God of War is not only because of its super combat effectiveness, but also because of its indomitable courage and fearless domineering.
Long before Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Liang confronted Zhang Handan, Song Yi, the champion of the Chu State, thought that Xiang Liang was arrogant and complacent and would be defeated, so he sat and watched the Great Battle of Qin and Zhao, and when Xiang Liang rescued Zhao, he did not send troops to help. At the same time, Song Yi also actively sought to join qi and let his son go to the state of Qi as a minister. Xiang Yu was very ashamed of Song Yi's villainous behavior of watching success or failure and profiting from it, so he killed Song Yi in one fell swoop. The "Records of History" records what Xiang Yu said at that time, "The security of the country is in danger, and I will do it in one fell swoop." Now I do not sympathize with the soldiers and favor their selfishness, not the ministers of the society! At this time, Xiang Yu put the safety of the Chu Kingdom in front, which was completely different from the Song Yi and the like of the fly and the fly. At this time, Xiang Yu is not fierce and suspicious, and it is the most liked Xiang Yu.
Wei Zhen Chu State and famous princes are because Xiang Yu is righteous. It was at this critical moment that Xiang Yu led his troops across the river, "all shipwrecked, broken cauldrons, burned huts, and held three-day grains", with the heart of death, the idea of never surviving, first breaking the king's departure, and then breaking the chapter, destroying the last military strength of the Great Qin Empire.
To be fair, there were too many reasons for the defeat of King Zhang Handan. First of all, Zhang Handan was a general from Shaofu, and it was inevitable that his style would grow in a victorious battle, and there was a contradiction with Wang Li, a general who had been born from a famous general of the generation, so that the two people could not cooperate sincerely. Second, the rear of Great Qin was already in chaos, and not only could not support Zhang Handan, but on the contrary, Zhang Handan was always worried and afraid, and could not concentrate on fighting.
Xiang Yu was the complete opposite, obstinate, courageous, righteous in front, not with selfish thoughts, so he drew an end to the once powerful Great Qin Empire. The defeat of Qin began here, not on who entered Xianyang first and who was the king of Guanzhong.
It's just that time has changed, and the later overlord is no longer the overlord of the past, and the ending is lamentable.
Yuanji is a cultural scholar and historical writer
Major works: "Legend of the Dragon Wind", "The Hegemony of the Three Kingdoms in the Chaotic World of the North and the South", "Gao Chengchuan", "Detective Tailing", "Twenty-seven Years of Yin Chan", "Ancient Lost" series in ancient China, "Interpretation of Chinese Characters in Museum Bronze Names" series, "Chinese Characters" Glyph Interpretation, "History of western Zhou in Bronze Inscriptions", "Jin Dynasty Hegemony", "Dream Back to Spring and Autumn", etc.