In the history of China, there have been many wars in which less is won and more, and the side in the inferior position has relied on the excellent strategy and extraordinary courage of the commander-in-chief, and the three armed forces have created miracles with their lives, defeating several times or even dozens of times the strength of their own troops.
Battle of the Long Spoon
Occurred: 684 BC
War participants: Qi and Lu
Background of the war: Gongzi Gui of the State of Qi and Gongzi Xiaobai competed for the throne, gongzi supported by the State of Lu was defeated, and Xiao Bai led the State of Qi to attack the State of Lu after he took the throne
Comparison of combat strength: 30,000 in the state of Lu and 300,000 in the state of Qi
History of the war: Cao Jiao and Lu Zhuang discussed the reasons for the battle and went out with the army, triggering the famous "Cao Jie Controversy". At first, the State of Qi was in full swing and attacked the Lu army, and Cao Jiao persuaded the Duke of Lu Zhuang to avoid its sharp edge, but could not hold out, only with a bow and crossbow to deal with it, and the State of Qi could not attack. After a short rest, the State of Qi launched a second attack, the Lu army still insisted on resisting, the two attack failures caused the morale of the Qi army to decline, and when the third attack came, their morale was almost exhausted, Cao Jie saw the opportunity, launched a counterattack, repelled the Qi army in one fell swoop, and took advantage of the victory to pursue, a great victory, this war created the idiom of "one drum".
Outcome of the war: The Qi army was driven out of the State of Lu, and three years later, in 681 BC, the State of Qi made peace with the State of Lu, ending the protracted rivalry between the two countries.
The Battle of Baiju
Occurred: 506 BC
War participants: Wu and Chu
Background of the war: The State of Wu was in a period of expansion, hoping to conquer the State of Chu to expand its territory
Comparison of combat strength: 30,000 in the State of Wu and 200,000 in the State of Chu
After the war: The State of Wu carried out guerrilla harassment against the State of Chu for 6 years, making the Chu army tired of running for its life, demoralized, and when the time was ripe, the State of Wu poured 30,000 water and land divisions into the country to attack the State of Chu in 506 BC, and the famous general sun Wu of the State of Wu adopted the strategy of attacking the west from the east, attacking the State of Chu by surprise, and when the Chu army was heavily defended, it attacked elsewhere, and finally defeated the Chu army in Baiju.
The result of the war: The Wu army attacked the capital of the Chu state, Yingdu, the Chu state was destroyed, although it was later restored with the help of the Qin state, but since then it has been in a slump, and the Wu state has established the hegemonic position with this victory.
Battle of Yanyin
Occurred: 279 BC
War participants: Qin and Chu
Background of the war: The Qin state is becoming more and more powerful, and the Chu state wants to join forces and cut it down, but the Qin state is strong first and takes the initiative to attack the chu state
Comparison of combat strength: 70,000 Qin troops, 350,000 Chu troops
The course of the war: The Qin army was commanded by Bai Qi, the god of war, who first broke through the border defenses along the coast of the Chu state, directly pounded the capital of the Chu state of Yancheng, because Yancheng could not be attacked for a long time, Bai Qi took advantage of the characteristics of the terrain to build a dam around Yancheng to store water, and dug a canal to lead directly to Yancheng, and finally opened a canal to release water, and the monstrous flood flooded into Yancheng, and the soldiers and civilians of the Chu state were drowned countless times. After the capture of Yancheng, the Qin army attacked the capital of the Chu state of Yingcheng, and the ruler of the Chu state fled.
The result of the war: the Qin state occupied a large area of land in the northern part of the Chu state, and the Chu state was forced to move the capital, and from then until Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, the Chu state was only a corner of peace, unable to compete with the Qin state for the world.
Battle of the Giant Deer
Occurs from 208 BC to 207 BC
War participants: Chu army and Qin army
Background of the war: A peasant uprising broke out in the last year of the Qin Dynasty, the main force of the Qin army besieged the rebel army yu Julu, and Xiang Yu led troops to rescue it
Comparison of combat strength: 400,000 Qin troops, 50,000 Chu troops
After the war: Xiang Yu first sent some soldiers to cross the river to rescue the giant deer, and after a small victory, he led a large army to cross the river, and destroyed the cooking pot and the boat that crossed the river, and only prepared rations for three days to show the determination to die if he did not win, and the idiom of "breaking the kettle and sinking the boat" was derived from this. The Chu army was greatly encouraged, morale was greatly boosted, and after crossing the river, it quickly attacked, captured the Qin army commander Wang Li, broke the Qin army's encirclement of the giant deer, and another general of the Qin army, Zhang Handan, fled.
The result of the war: Zhang Handan led the main force of the Qin army to surrender, Xiang Yukeng killed 200,000 Qin troops, Liu Bang took advantage of the situation to kill Guanzhong, and the Qin state was destroyed.
Battle of Kunyang
Occurred: 23 AD
War participants: Han And New Dynasty
Background of the war: At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty to establish a new dynasty, and the reform was unpopular and triggered a peasant uprising, and the Han army led by Liu Xiu fought a decisive battle with the New Dynasty army in Kunyang
Comparison of combat strength: The Han army is less than 20,000, and the new Dynasty army is 420,000
After the war: In May, the New Dynasty army gathered 420,000 soldiers and horses, known as a million, surrounded Kunyang, Liu Xiu personally led dozens of horses out of the city to seek reinforcements, the Kunyang defenders could not be closed, stubborn resistance, Liu Xiu also released false news that Wancheng city has been broken, reinforcements are coming, further improving the morale of the defenders, but also making the new Korean army besieged for many days depressed. On the first day of June, Liu Xiu called in reinforcements, and in order to boost morale, he took the lead in attacking the enemy army and achieving a small victory, and at the same time, using the strategy of attacking the heart, he shot arrows with secret letters into Kunyang City, falsely claiming that a large reinforcement force was coming, making the new Dynasty army, which had besieged the city to fatigue, even more uneasy. The time was almost ripe, Liu Xiu led three thousand death squads to attack the main force of the New Dynasty Army head-on, the New Dynasty Army commander was light on the enemy, only sent more than 10,000 people to deal with, and ordered the rest of the troops not to act without authorization, as a result, the main force was defeated by Liu Xiu, the other troops did not dare to rescue because they did not receive orders, the New Dynasty Army was defeated and retreated, and lost the commander, at the same time, the Kunyang defenders saw that the outskirts had won a victory, launched a counterattack inside and outside the city, and attacked the New Dynasty army inside and outside the city, and finally won a complete victory and captured a large number of materials.
Outcome of the war: After the Battle of Kunyang, the foundation of the new dynasty was shaken, and the Han army took advantage of the victory to pursue, killing the capital Luoyang, destroying Wang Mang, and the new dynasty collapsed.
Battle of Guandu
Occurrence: 199 AD to 200 AD
War participants: Cao Cao's army and Yuan Shao's army
Background of the war: At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo's chaotic government caused resistance in various places, and after the destruction of Dong Zhuo, many local separatist forces of large and small sizes were formed, and with continuous mutual attack and annexation, they eventually formed two major groups of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, and they ushered in a duel in Guandu.
Comparison of combat strength: Cao Jun 30,000, Yuan Jun 110,000
The course of the war: Cao Cao first defeated Liu Bei, who participated in the "Edict of the Cloth Belt", temporarily incorporated Guan Yu, Yuan Shao sent the general Yan Liang to besiege baima city, Cao Cao listened to Xun You's plan to attack the east and the west, and attacked the Yuan army in many points, so that the Yuan army dispersed its forces, and then Xiao Yong's Guan Yu killed Yan Liang, and the Cao army lifted the siege of Baima and won the first battle. After the end of the first battle, the two sides reached a stalemate, the Yuan army, which was rich in grain and grass, had no fear, and the Cao army gradually could not support it, just at the critical stage, Yuan Shao's adviser Xu You surrendered to Cao Cao, and informed Cao Cao that the grain and grass of Yuan's army were in Wuchao, and Cao Jun then made a surprise attack on Wuchao and burned the food and grass of Yuan's army, since then, the Yuan army was in chaos, Zhang Gao and Gao Lan surrendered to Cao Cao, and the Cao army took advantage of the situation to counterattack and defeated the Yuan army.
The result of the war: Cao Cao eliminated his greatest rival and became the strongest separatist force, laying the foundation for his future unification of the north.
The Battle of Shuishui
Occurred in 383 AD
War participants: Former Qin and Eastern Jin Dynasty
Background of the war: During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the ancient dynasties were divided again, the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the south was in a corner of the country, and many separatist regimes appeared in the north, and finally former Qin unified the north, and then prepared to destroy the Eastern Jin Dynasty and complete the national unification.
Comparison of combat strength: 80,000 in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and 970,000 in former Qin
Aftermath of the war: In October 383, the Qin army's million-strong division attacked the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Zhu Xu sent Zhu Xu to persuade him to surrender, but Zhu Xu rebelled and suggested that the Eastern Jin Dynasty take advantage of the fact that the Former Qin army had not fully arrived and attack the vanguard of the Qin army with an elite division, and the Eastern Jin Followed his advice, and in November attacked the Qin army at Luojian and blocked the Huai River crossing, making it impossible for the Qin army to cross the river, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty won the first battle. In December, the two sides fought a decisive battle at Shuishui, the Jin army took advantage of the Qin army to move backwards and suddenly crossed the river to attack, coupled with Zhu Xu and Zhang Tianxi shouting in the Qin army's position that "the Qin army on the front line was defeated", the Qin army was in chaos, and the Jin army attacked with all its strength and defeated the Qin army.
The outcome of the war: The Eastern Jin Dynasty resisted Former Qin's invasion of the south, allowing the south to continue to maintain peace, while Former Qin lost the opportunity to unify the country.