Tian Dan was a famous general of the State of Qi during the Warring States period. In the First Battle of Jimo, Tian Dan survived and Qi Fu became Qi, and the "Fire Bull Array" pioneered by him also became a classic tactic in military history.
At first, Tian Dan was only a minor official serving as a city official in Linzi, Qi. At that time, Shi Tuan (音同院) was an official who managed the market, and his official position was very small, so Tian Dan was not famous or reused.
After the State of Qi destroyed the State of Song, the King of Qi was very proud and complacent, and continued to invade the State of Chu to the south, attacking Zhao, Wei, and Korea to the west, and even wanted to annex The Eastern and Western Zhou and establish himself as the Son of Heaven. The arrogance and tyranny of the King of Qi naturally became the target of everyone, and all countries competed for alliances to fight against the State of Qi. The combined forces of Yan, Qin, Zhao, Wei, and Han defeated the State of Qi in Jixi, and the commander of the Yan army, Le Yi, led the Yan army to pursue the victory and successively captured more than seventy cities and pools in the State of Qi. The state of Yangyang was left with only two isolated cities of Ju (yin tongju) County and Jimo that had not been breached.
When the Yan army attacked Anping, tian dan, a small official in Linzi, had already shown his resourcefulness and military proficiency.
When Anping City was breached, the people rushed out of the city gate, but the axle was broken due to mutual collision, the vehicle was damaged and difficult to travel, and it was captured by the Yan army, and only the Tian Shan clan survived. It turned out that Tian Dan had let the clan wrap the rutted axle with iron in advance, so that he would not be afraid of the collision of other cars in the chaos and safely escape to Jimo.
Le Yi's army soon surrounded Jimo. Jimo's defender officials were defeated and killed in a battle with the Yan army. At this time of crisis, the people of Jimo thought of this resourceful Tian Dan and thought that he could safely escape from danger in the chaos of the Anping War, which showed that he was very familiar with the war and the use of troops, so he supported Tian Dan as the new general of the defensive city to resist the Yan army.
Pictured: Present-day Jimo Ancient City in Qingdao
Coinciding with the death of King Yan Zhao, King Hui of Yan succeeded to the throne. King Hui of Yan had a conflict with Le Yi from the time he was crown prince. After Tian Shan heard this, he made a counter-plan and sent people to the Yan kingdom to spread rumors: "Le Yi and the new monarch of the Yan kingdom have a gap, and they are afraid of being persecuted by the new king after returning to China." Now Le Yi, in the name of attacking the State of Qi, actually wanted to lead an army to claim the kingship in the State of Qi. Since the Qi people did not submit, Le Yi slowed down the speed of attacking Jimo and waited for the opportunity. Now the qi people are most afraid of the generals sent by the Yan King, if the generals who are now attacking the city are not Le Yi, then the destruction of the City of Jimo will be in the morning and night. ”
King Hui of Yan was already suspicious of Le Yi, and sure enough, he won Tian Dan's counter-plan, ordered Le Yi to return to China, and sent a horse robber to replace Le Yi as a siege general. Le Yi knew King Hui's intentions, so he defected to the Zhao Kingdom. After Le Yi left, the Yan army general felt angry for him in his heart, and the internal unity was no longer as good as before.
At this time, Tian Shan began his counterattack.
Tian Shan ordered the people in the city to sacrifice their ancestors in the courtyard to attract the birds around them when they ate. Birds flew everywhere to eat the sacrificial meal and hovered around the city. Yan Jun was surprised to see this scene.
Tian Dan also sent people to spread the rumor of the "Heavenly Gods": "The Heavenly Gods will send military divisions to help the State of Qi resist foreign invasion." A soldier asked Tian Dan, can he be a divine master? The soldier also knew that he was committing a deception, but Tian Shan still made him sit in front of him and worship him as a divine master, and quietly told him not to say it. Whenever an order is issued, it is said to be on the orders of the priest.
Tian Dan also spread the word that they were afraid that the Yan army would cut off the noses of the captured Qi people, and as the vanguard of the siege, the city of Jimo would definitely be breached; they also said that they were afraid that the Yan army would dig up the graves of the people of the Qi state outside the city, so they would be chilled. The Yan army did indeed succeed in the plan, cutting off the noses of the captured Qi people and digging up the graves of the Qi people. The people of the State of Qi, who were sticking to Jimo, saw the cruel methods of the Yan army, and they all hated it with all their hearts and determined to hold on, lest they be taken prisoner by the Yan army and cut off their noses; and when they saw the Yan army digging graves and burning corpses, they all wept bitterly and rushed to request battle, and their morale was doubled.
Tian Dan knew that the time was ripe, and at this time the soldiers could fight with him to the death, so he took the lead in building the city with the soldiers, and his wives and concubines were also included in the team, and all the food was taken out to treat the soldiers.
He also let the elitely equipped army ambush and let the old and weak women defend the city, giving the Yan army the illusion of a weak military strength in the city.
He secretly sent people to discuss surrender with the Yan army, and then asked the rich merchants in the city to bring a thousand pieces of gold collected to the Yan army, and said that the city of Jimo would be destroyed, hoping that the Yan army would not harm their own families.
The general of the Yan army rode on a robbery and immediately agreed to Jimo's surrender, so he relaxed his guard.
Tian Dan pre-chiseled dozens of holes in the city wall, and then found more than a thousand cattle in the city, draped the cattle with big red silk clothes, painted them with multicolored heavenly dragon patterns, tied a bundle of sharp knives to the horns, tied reeds filled with grease on the oxtails, and then lit them, taking advantage of the night, driving the cattle out of the holes in the wall, and then followed by five thousand strong men.
The oxtails were burned by the fire, and they all ran angrily to the Yan army camp. Yan Jun was stunned and saw that the cattle were all decorated with Tianlong patterns, and they were either dead or injured. Coupled with the chanting of gongs and drums in unison in the city, the old and weak residents also beat bronzes to cheer, and the sound was earth-shattering. The Yan army was terrified and fled in defeat.
Tian Dan led the Qi army to take advantage of the chaos to kill the Yan army generals and kill the fleeing Yan army, and all the cities they passed through defected from the Yan state and returned to the state of Qi again. The more than seventy cities lost by the State of Qi were all restored to Qi under the blows of the Qi army.
In the First World War of Jimo, Tian Dan was saved by the fallen, Qi Fu was Qi, and there was nothing to lose, and this unknown Linzi City Commander also jumped onto the stage of history, and he won a surprising victory, with the fire bull as the forward, the elite army as the main force, the old and weak women and children shouted for encouragement, not only defended Jimo, but also recovered the lost city of the Qi state; similarly, the "fire bull array" has also become a classic tactic in military history.