Bai Qi, also known as Gongsun Qi, a native of Qin Minchen (Dongbi, Meixian, Shaanxi), was engaged in the annexation wars of the Qin State outside the country all his life, won every battle, and was good at fighting annihilation wars, and once created the largest example of annihilation war in the military history of the mainland pre-Qin - the Battle of Changping. He is one of the four famous generals of the Warring States, which makes the princes of the six countries fearful, and is known as "killing gods" and "slaughtering people".
Bai Qi joined the army at an early age and was good at using soldiers, so he was quite appreciated by King Huanji of Qin Zhao. However, the historical records about him began when he entered the upper echelons of the Qin ruling clique and served as the governor of Zuoshu, and the activities before the thirteenth year of King Qin Zhao (294 BC) are not known in history.
Bai Qi Xing Jiadong
When Bai was appointed governor of Zuo Shu, it was precisely when Huanji switched to Wei Ran as the phase and implemented the strategy of befriending Qi and Chu and attacking Han and Wei, and he was ordered by Huanji to lead an army to attack Han. —Ju captured Xincheng (southwest of Yichuan, Henan) and promoted Zuo Geng for meritorious service. In the fourteenth year of King Zhao of Qin (293 BC), Han and Wei jointly launched a counterattack, and Bai Qi led his army to fight with the Han and Wei coalition forces at Yique (near the South Longmen of Luoyang, Henan), opened 240,000 enemies, captured five cities, killed the Wei general Xiwu, captured the Han general Gongsun Xi, and was promoted to lieutenant again with meritorious service, becoming a senior military commander of the Qin state. Taking advantage of the new defeat of the two countries and their inability to fight back, he launched successive attacks on Han and Wei. In the fifteenth year of King Zhao of Qin (292 BC), he attacked Wei Zhanyuan (southeast of Yuanqu, Shanxi); In the sixteenth year of King Zhao of Qin (291 BC), he attacked Han Zhanwan (Nanyang, Henan). It is like a military town in the Central Plains, and it is an area with a developed iron handicraft industry, which is of great significance to the development of Qin's military industry and its eastward expansion. Bai Qi was once again promoted to Daliang Zuo for meritorious service.
In the eighteenth year of King Zhao of Qin (289 BC), Wei Ran appointed himself as the commander of the army, and Tong Baiqi and the guest secretary Sima mistakenly attacked Wei, and advanced to the dynasty (Jiyuannan, Henan), occupying a total of 61 cities. After several heavy blows, Han and Wei were chased for peace. Han cut Wusui 200 li, Wei cut the east of the river 400 li and Qin. In the 27th year of King Zhao of Qin (280 BC), Bai Qi was ordered to attack Zhao, capture the city of Guangwolf (Gaopingxi, Shanxi), and annihilate 30,000 Zhao troops.
King Zhao of Qin
In the 28th year of King Zhao of Qin (279 BC), King Zhao of Qin and King Huiwen of Zhao met at Yuchi (western Yuchi, Henan), and Qin targeted the state of Chu. Bai Qi was ordered to lead the main force of the Qin army to attack Yan (southwest of Yicheng, Hubei). Yan was the capital of Chu, very close to Ying (Jiangling, Hubei), and was the northern gate of the Chu capital, so Chu also mobilized the main force to defend and prevent the Qin army from moving south, and the two sides fought a strategically important main decisive battle here. Bai Qi was unable to overcome the strong attack, and actually used the method of flooding, flooding the city in the western Changgu Valley, causing "the people to follow the flow of water, hundreds of thousands of people died in the northeast of the city, and the east of the city smelled", annihilated the main force of the Chu army of 100,000, and occupied several cities such as Deng (Xiangfanbei, Hubei). In the following year (278 BC), Bai Qi took advantage of the victory to capture the Chu capital Ying: within his reach, he reached Jingling (northwest of Qianjiang, Hubei) in the west and Dongting in the south, forcing Chu to move the capital east to Chen (Huaiyang, Henan). Huan Ji sealed Bai as Wu'an Jun.
In the thirty-first year of King Zhao of Qin (276 BC), Bai attacked Wei and captured two cities. In the thirty-fourth year of King Zhao of Qin (273 BC), Zhao and Wei jointly attacked Han, and Wei Ran led an army to aid Han, defeating the combined Wei and Zhao forces at Huayang (south of Zhengzhou, Henan), first annihilating 130,000 Wei troops, then 20,000 Zhao troops, and capturing Wei's Changshe (northeast of Changge, Henan). Roll (Henan Yuan Yangxi) and Zhao's Guanjin (Henan Qingfeng Nan). Wei was forced to offer land again for peace, separating the Nanyang region (south of the Taihang Mountains and north of the Yellow River) with Qin.
Schematic diagram of the Battle of Changping
In 266 BC, Huanji switched to Fan Yu as the phase and began to formally implement the strategic policy of "distant diplomatic relations and close attack", deciding to first take Han as the main target. It also stipulates that "the way of the North Chopping Tai Xing" is the main task of the first stage of the strategy. In the forty-second year of King Zhao of Qin (265 BC), the Qin army captured Han Shaoqu and Gaoping (around Jiyuan, Henan). In the following year, Bai Qi captured five cities along the Fenshui River, including Xincheng (Quwobei, Shanxi), and annihilated 50,000 Korean troops. In the forty-fourth year of King Zhao of Qin (263 BC), he again occupied Nanyang, and the following year occupied King Ye (Qinyang, Henan). At this point, the entire Nanyang region south of the Taihang Mountains was occupied by the Qin army, completely cutting off the connection between the Shangdang region in northern Korea and the Han capital. Han Shang's party taishou Feng Ting then surrendered to Zhao. In the 46th year of King Zhao of Qin (261 BC), Huan Ji attacked the Han Ji clan (southeast of Henan Yanshi) with an army to threaten Xingyang and contain the Han army; He also ordered the left commander Wang Gong to lead the main force to attack the Shangdang, and the Shangdang defenders retreated to Changping (north of Gaoping, Shanxi). In the 547th year of Qin Zhao (260 BC), Huan Ji appointed Bai Qi as a general and commanded the Qin army to attack Changping, annihilating 450,000 Zhao troops, and his main general Zhao Kuo was killed in battle.
The victory in the Battle of Changping aroused the jealousy of Qin Xiangfan Yu, who feared that Bai Qi's merits would be higher than his own and affect his position of power, so when Bai Qi continued to organize attacks and prepare to destroy the Zhao state in one fell swoop, he asked Yingji to order the withdrawal of troops on the grounds that the Qin army had been outside for a long time and should rest, and asked Han and Zhao to negotiate peace.
After Bai Qi withdrew from the army, Zhao Guo made a contract and refused to surrender the six cities that had promised to sacrifice Qin. Huan Ji was extremely angry and immediately ordered preparations to attack Zhao: and asked for his opinion. Bai Qi believed that the favorable opportunity to destroy Zhao had been missed, and said: After the Changping War, Zhao was united throughout the country and "worked hard to share worries and fight hard for the field." Although the number of troops sent out now is twice as large as before, the garrison of Zhao State is ten times larger than before. At present, the state of Zhao has not only greatly improved its political and economic aspects, but also in the diplomatic aspect of "marrying Yan and Wei, connecting Qi and Chu, planning and preparing for Qin", in this case, it is not appropriate to launch an attack. Bai Qi's analysis and judgment made some sense, but Huan Ji was determined and refused to change, and in September of the 48th year of King Zhao of Qin (259 BC), he sent Wang Ling, the fifth great doctor, to lead an army to attack Handan, the capital of Zhao.
As expected by Bai Qi, Wang Ling's attack on Zhao was frustrated and there were many casualties, so Huan Ji ordered Bai Qi to replace Wang Ling, but Bai Qi excused himself from illness. Huan Ji had to send Xiangguo Fan Yan to persuade Bai Qi to take office on his behalf. Fan Yan conveyed Yingji's opinion and said: In the battle of attacking Chu, you attacked Han and Wei with less than half of your troops, and you won a major victory. Now that most of Zhao Guo's young adults have died in Changping, I have mobilized an army several times as large as the enemy, let you lead the attack on Zhao, you used to often fight the crowd with widowhood, "winning like a god", but now you are fighting the weak with the strong, and defeating the widow with the crowd, why don't you accept the task? Bai Qi analyzed the unfavorable conditions for attacking Zhao and said: "Today, Qin broke the Zhao army in Changping, and then took advantage of its fear to destroy it, and feared and relieved it, so that the cultivation could be accumulated for profit, the orphans and the young would be raised to benefit the people, the armor would be cured to benefit it, and the city and pond would be increased to benefit it." ...... The subjects are united in one heart, and the top and bottom work together, and with this day, Zhao will hold on; If you pick their army to fight, they will not come out; Surround the capital of the country, and it will be insurmountable; Conquer its city, and it will not be uplifted; If you plunder it, you will not gain anything. The army is fruitless, the princes are angry, and external salvation will come. The ministers saw the harm but did not see the benefits. Sick again, unable to work. After hearing Bai Qi's remarks conveyed by Fan Yan, Huan Ji was very disgusted, saying that Bai Qi would still destroy Zhao without you. He then sent Wang Gong to replace Wang Ling and increase his troops. However, contrary to Huanji's subjective wishes, Wang Gong confronted Zhao defenders on the outskirts of Handan for eight or nine months without making any progress. Not only were they killed and wounded, but they were often counterattacked by the light troops of the Zhao army.
White Tomb
In the situation of continuous defeat ahead, especially when he heard Bai Qi complaining behind his back, "Don't listen to the subordinates' plans, what is the result today", he was extremely angry, and personally went to see Bai Qi and forced him to take office. And he said, "Although the king is sick, he is strong (reluctantly) for the widow." Meritorious and indedicated, will be aggravated by the king. If the king does not work, the widow hates the king. Speaking of this extent, Bai Qi still should not be, and said to Yingji: "Although the minister knows and does not succeed, he is exempt from sin; Even if you are not guilty, you are not exempt from punishment. ...... Chen Ningfu was severely condemned and died, and could not bear to be a general who humiliated the army. As a result, Bai Qi was stripped of the title of Wu'an monarch and demoted to Shiwu. and moved to Yinmi (Gansu Lingtaixi). White cause disease. Failed to speak immediately. In December of the fiftieth year of King Zhao of Qin (257 BC), news of the defeat at the front kept coming, and Huan Jiqian became angry and urged him to leave Xianyang quickly. When Bai Qi arrived at Du You, ten miles west of Xianyang City, Yingji sent people to chase after the order, forcing Bai Qi to commit suicide. A generation of famous generals who fought for Qin's unification cause all their lives and made great achievements ended their lives like this.