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Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

author:Draw about the Three Kingdoms

In the winter and October of the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, in 203 BC, Liu Bang reached an agreement with Han Xin and Peng Yue in Guling County: after defeating the Chu army, Liu Bang made Han Xin the King of Qi and Peng Yue the King of Liang; In December, in 202 BC, Han Xin, Peng Yue and others sent troops to the bow and surrounded Xiang Yu, and Xiang Yu's soldiers were exhausted, and they were embarrassed on all sides, so they began to plan the route of retreat.

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Chu overlord Xiang Yu retreated from the bow to Wujiang

According to the records of the "History", Xiang Yu's retreat route was from the camp of the Battle of Yaxia, passed the Huai River to the south, crossed the river and reached Yinling County, got lost in Yinling County, and fell into a swamp, the local peasants gave him directions, and then retreated east to Dongcheng County, passing through the Four Collapse Mountains, was caught up by the Han army, the two sides fought fiercely, and then continued to retreat east, wanting to cross the Wujiang River, and finally killed himself in Wujiang Pavilion, during the retreat, a total of 7 locations were passed, and 4 battles took place.

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Schematic map of the location of the battle under the fall

Collapse under the siege

The site of the Battle of Yaxia was in the village of Yaxia in Lingbi County, Suzhou City, Anhui Province today. After Han Xin and Peng Yue agreed to send troops, Liu Bang's reinforcements began to gather in a steady stream, Han Xin set out from the State of Qi, Peng Yue set out from the State of Liang, and after Liu Jia led troops into the land of Chu, he first surrounded Shouchun and lured Xiang Yu's Grand Sima Zhou Yin, and then arrived at Xiang Yu with Ying Bu and completed the siege of Xiang Yu.

One night in December of the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, Xiang Yu woke up from his sleep by the song of the State of Chu and realized that Liu Bang had occupied the entire territory of the State of Chu and that the general trend was over. So he got up, took advantage of the night to drink in the camp tent, looked at Yu Ji who accompanied him and the black horse in the distance, Xiang Wang Nai sang a sad song generously, and wrote the famous sentence of the ages: "Vigorously upholding the mountains and the world, the times are not good." Yu Xi is helpless, Yu Xi Yu Xi is helpless! Seeing this, Yu Ji sang harmony for him beside him, and King Xiang touched Jing and sang the lyrics over and over again until tears flowed, and the people around him were infected, and they also lowered their heads and cried, and everyone was so sad that they couldn't look up at him.

Crying to the sad place, King Xiang suddenly felt a cross in his heart, mounted his horse, took more than 800 cavalry, broke through the siege overnight, and ran south. At dawn, the Han army discovered that Xiang Yu had broken through the siege, so they ordered the cavalry general Guan Ying to lead 5,000 cavalry to chase him.

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Location map of the ancient Huai River crossing

Night gallop across Huai

Yaxia Village is less than 50 kilometers away from Huangdu, the most important port of the ancient Huai River. Since the pre-Qin period, in history, Huangdu has always been an important passage for the northern power, from the land through the Huai River south to the Yangtze River, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, due to Zhu Yuanzhang's operation and construction in the Fengyang area, Huangdu's ferry port economy, once reached its peak, a large amount of grain, salt and iron and other materials, have to be transported to Jingshi through here, which is why Xiang Yu chose to retreat south from the bow to Fengyang.

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Comparison of Xiang Yu's forces before and after crossing the river

After Xiang Yu broke through from the siege, he rushed overnight and arrived at the Huai River crossing, just when he was about to cross the river, the 5,000 cavalry of the infant also rushed to the ferry, and after the contact between the two sides, the first pursuit and struggle occurred, and after a fight, Xiang Yu's camp crossed the Huai River at the cost of nearly 700 people.

After crossing the Huai River, Xiang Yu counted the men and horses and found that only more than 100 cavalry remained in his entourage, so he continued to retreat south with more than 100 surviving people.

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Xiang Yu got lost in Yinling County

Lost in the way

After crossing the Huai River, it entered the jurisdiction of Jiujiang County, Yinling County, during the Qin and Han dynasties, was a county under the jurisdiction of Jiujiang County, the ruins of the ancient city, located in the ancient city village of Dingyuan County, Anhui Province, only 29 kilometers from the county seat of Dingyuan.

According to the records of the "Notes on the Classic of Water", Moxie Mountain is in the north of the county, and in the process of the Huai River flowing north, it must pass through the west side of Moxie Mountain, reach the northern foot of Tu Mountain, turn east, and then pass through Zhongli County, all the way east, until it flows into the sea.

Moxie Mountain is only 22 kilometers away from the south bank of the Huai River, and after Xiang Yu crossed the Huai River, he could soon see Moxie Mountain. The "Records of History" records that after Xiang Yu arrived at the Yin Tomb, he lost his way, did not know whether to go left or right, and delayed here for some time, and later, after finding a local farmer, after asking, he was told: "Go to the left." ”

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Swamp encounters

Swamp encounters

Not long after moving to the left, Xiang Yu's group fell into the swamp again, causing the speed of the horses to be affected, and soon, they were chased by the infant-infused cavalry, and here there was a second fierce battle, after the two sides disengaged, Xiang Yu's side, lost another 70-80 people, only 28 cavalry were still desperately following Xiang Yu to escape, and the pursuers behind were as many as thousands.

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Schematic map of the location of Dongcheng County during the Qin and Han dynasties

Defeated East City

Dongcheng County, the predecessor of today's Dingyuan County in Anhui Province. The county seat of Dingyuan County has undergone a total of three relocations in history. Dongcheng County between Qin and Han, that is, the Dongcheng that Xiang Yu passed through when he retreated, is located in Sanguanji Youfang Village, Daqiao Town, Dingyuan County, Anhui Province today, about 24 kilometers away from the county seat of Dingyuan, where the well-preserved ruins of Dongcheng can be seen, the existing city wall root base is about 40 meters wide, the city site is about 370 meters long from north to south, and about 700 meters long from east to west.

From the Qin Dynasty to the end of the Han Dynasty, Dongcheng County coexisted for more than 360 years, the first month of the first year of the Eastern Han Chong Emperor Yongxi, in 145 AD, the Jiujiang thief Xu Feng and others attacked and killed Quyang and Dongcheng Chang, burning the city ("Later Han Shu · Emperor Ji"), Dongcheng County, burned down during the Xu Feng Rebellion, in May of the same year, Xu Feng was beheaded by Xie An of Xia Pi, and later, the imperial court rebuilt a new Dongcheng in Xiama Village, Lotang Town, Dingyuan County, twenty miles northeast of the old city of Dongcheng County, that is, today's Xiama Village, Lotang Town, Dingyuan County; In the fifth year of Emperor Wudi of Liang, in 524 AD, Dongcheng County was renamed Dingyuan County; In the fourth year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's Tianbao, in 745 AD, the county seat of Dingyuan County was moved from Xiama Village to the current county seat.

When Xiang Yu arrived in Dongcheng with 28 cavalry, he saw that he could not escape, so he took the rest of the people and retreated to the Four Mountains to set up a formation, ready to make a final fight.

Location map of the Battle of the Four Defeated Mountains

The Battle of the Four Defeated Mountains

The place name of Situo Mountain is not recorded in the "Shiji", and when the "Book of Han" describes this battle, it adds the location on the basis of the original text of the Shiji.

According to the research of the "Minutes of Reading History Fangyu", the Four Collapse Mountains, 70 li southwest of Jiangpu County in Yingtianfu in the Qing Dynasty, and 70 li north of Hezhou, are also known as Sima Mountain, which is today Sima Mountain in Pukou District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Four Horse Mountain in Pukou District, the main battlefield of the Battle of Four Collapse Mountains

When Xiang Yu led the cavalry to retreat to the Four Collapse Mountain, the Han army kept chasing behind, and after retreating to the Four Collapse Mountain, it was heavily surrounded by the Han army, Xiang Yu saw this, and formed a ring formation that attacked outward on the Four Collapse Mountain, and divided the cavalry into four teams, respectively facing four directions, and agreed with his subordinates: converge at three points east of the Four Collapse Mountain, and then, Xiang Yu shouted: "Charge", ordered the cavalry on all sides to attack downward, killed the Han soldiers on their backs, the Han army was overwhelmed, and a Han general was killed on the spot.

At that time, Yang Xi, the Marquis of Chiquan, was still a Lang rider, and was ordered to pursue Xiang Yu, and when he saw Yang Xi chasing him, Xiang Yu scolded him with wide eyes, so frightened that Yang Xi and the horses did not dare to fight, so he ran and hid out for several miles in one breath.

After a fight, Xiang Yu successfully joined the cavalry, and arrived at the agreed three places, due to the shuttle of battlefield personnel, the soldiers on both sides were mixed together, the Han army did not know where Xiang Yu was, so the troops were divided into three branches, and Xiang Yu and others were divided and surrounded, and the Chu army was surrounded in three different places, Xiang Yu saw this, launched another round of charge, killed a Han army captain, more than 100 Han cavalry were killed, and when they met again, Xiang Yu's side only lost 2 cavalrymen.

Xiang Yu was therefore very proud and said to his subordinates: "My plan, how is it?" The subordinates said with admiration: "The king is wise! ”

Subsequently, Xiang Yu, with the remaining 26 cavalry, continued to retreat eastward to Wujiang Pavilion, preparing to cross the Wujiang River eastward.

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Chu overlord Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing location

Wujiang killed himself

Wujiang Pavilion, located in Wujiang Town, Hexian County, Anhui Province today, there is a Bawang Shrine in the area, which is said to have been built by the Tang Dynasty to commemorate Xiang Yu's self-defeat of Wujiang. In 1970, the water conservancy department of Anhui Province built an artificial diversion canal between Sima Mountain and Bawang Temple - the Sima Mountain Diversion River Irrigation Project, connecting the upstream Sima Mountain and the Bawang Temple downstream into a line through the waterway, and the water of the Chu River in Anhui Province, because of this canal, can flow into the Yangtze River.

When Xiang Yu arrived at Wujiang Pavilion, the Wujiang Pavilion Chief had already parked the boat by the river, waiting for Xiang Yu to get on the boat, at this time, Xiang Yu as long as he wanted to go, he could get on the boat and cross the river, and retreat all over, no one could stop him, the pavilion chief also persuaded him: "Although Jiangdong is small, the population is only hundreds of thousands, but the king is enough", seeing him hesitate, the pavilion chief added: "Now, only I have a boat, even if the Han army chases over, they can't cross the river!" ”

After Xiang Yu listened, he smiled bitterly and said, "If the heavens want to kill me, what river will I cross?" I went out with 8,000 of Jiangdong's children to fight the world, and now none of them have come back alive, even if Jiangdong's fathers and uncles pity me and let me continue to be king, what face will I have to see them? Even if they don't blame me, can I Xiang Yu's heart not blame myself? ”

So he turned to the pavilion chief and said: "I know that you are a loyal elder, I have ridden this horse for 5 years, followed me to kill countless enemies, once rushed more than a thousand miles a day, I can't bear to kill him, so give him to you!" ”

At this time, the chasing soldiers of the Han army also rushed to Wujiang Pavilion, Xiang Yu ordered all his cavalry to dismount and walk, and the Han army continued with short soldiers, this time the battle, Xiang Yu alone, killed hundreds of Han troops, Xiang Yu's body was also injured in more than a dozen places, and when he turned back and saw the cavalry of the Han army, Sima Lu Matong, he said to him: "Aren't you my old friend?" ”

When Lu Matong saw Xiang Yu, he pointed at him, turned his head and said to Wang Yi: "This is King Xiang!" ”

Xiang Yu said again: "I heard that the King of Han offered a reward of 1,000 taels of gold to buy my head, in addition, he will also reward tens of thousands of households of food to meritorious people, you are my friend, I will help you make this meritorious achievement!" After speaking, he pulled out his sword and killed himself, a generation of overlords, and finally died in Dongcheng (here leaves controversy for future generations).

Xiang Yu Wujiang self-killing the whole process, where is Wujiang now? How far is it from the fall?

Five people who received the title for killing Xiang Yu

After Xiang Yu's death, Wang Yi took Xiang Yu's head, and the rest of the cavalry frantically snatched Xiang Yu's body in order to fight for merit, and dozens of people were trampled and killed in the process of scrambling, Lü Matong, Yang Xi, Langzhong Lü Sheng, Yang Wu, each got a piece of Xiang Yu's body, all sealed as marquis, among them, Yang Xi, later became the founder of the Hongnong Yang clan, from the Han Dynasty to the present for more than 2,000 years, in the mainland high-level combat command system, successive dynasties, has always had the figure of the Yang clan.