After the outbreak of the anti-Qin uprising initiated by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, its power spread rapidly.
In less than three months, the revolt not only succeeded in overthrowing most of the Qin Empire's ruling system in the area east of Hangu Pass, but even reached Xi, which was located inside Hangu Pass, only a few hundred kilometers away from Xianyang, the court of the Qin state.
However, to everyone's surprise, less than three months later, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's anti-Qin uprising suffered a complete defeat. So, what were the major events that took place during this period that affected the progress of the revolutionary cause?
Impressive rise speed
In July 209 BC, the anti-Qin uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang was officially launched.
At the beginning of this uprising, the participants were no more than 900 soldiers of the Qin Dynasty who faced the same fate because of the delay in their return.
However, they bravely took the action of "cutting wood into soldiers and uncovering poles into flags", and although their strength was temporarily weak, as if they could be overwhelmed by the powerful military power of the Qin court at any time, their courage had already moved everyone.
However, let's face it, the rise of the rebels was not easy. In the first few stages, their pace of development was actually quite slow.
However, the world has been oppressed by Qin for a long time, and the rebel army took this opportunity to set sail and face the storm and difficulties!
In just over a dozen weeks, the rebels successfully captured several county towns and advanced hundreds of kilometers of travel.
By the time they captured Chen, it had grown to a huge armed force with six or seven hundred chariots, more than 1,000 cavalry, and tens of thousands of infantry. After that, Chen Sheng's army pursued the victory and took the strategically important city in one fell swoop.
Chen, which was once the capital of the Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period, until the end of the Warring States Period, the Chu State also set up its capital here. Chencheng is a key city in terms of both geographical location and strategic importance.
Against this backdrop, Chen Sheng, a wise general, declared himself king, established the state apparatus known as the "Zhang Chu regime", and issued a declaration to crusade against the injustice and resolutely eliminate the brutal Qin dynasty.
As soon as the statement was issued, it immediately aroused widespread repercussions. Righteous people from all over the country responded one after another, vigorously attacking the local governors, and "killing them to deal with them", thus setting off a surging wave of uprisings.
In a very short period of time, the insurrectionary organization grew almost incredibly rapidly, and they ushered in unprecedented success.
Shortly thereafter, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang began to take action.
Wu Guang assumed the position of false king and led the main force of the Chu army to the west, aiming at Xingyang, in an attempt to wipe out the main fighting force of the local Qin army. Zhou Wen led another team, which would bypass Xingyang and force their way into the hinterland of Guanzhong, trying to attack Xianyang directly.
At the same time, Wu Chen, Zhang Er, Chen Yu and other generals led 3,000 soldiers to devote themselves to the land struggle of the former Zhao State. In addition, there is a part of the force that is scattered to deal with various other matters.
From then on, a variety of soldiers began to take an active part in the uprising.
Although the situation was chaotic and complex, due to the decision-making errors of the insurrectionary leadership and the historical circumstances of the time, the seemingly large and fearless rebel army was actually only struggling to make a greater breakthrough beneath the surface of calm and calm.
For the general public, the idea of the restoration of the Six Kingdoms became a powerful driving force, which led to the restoration of independence of the old lands of the Six Kingdoms, including Zhao, Yan, and Wei, and even the Qi State was revived under the leadership of the old nobleman Tian!
I have to say that the development of this world is often full of wonders, who would have thought that in such a short period of time, the seemingly small spark of fire can also form a prairie fire, and finally shake the huge empire that considers itself strong.
The Six Kingdoms, this historical stage that has existed for hundreds of years, Qi Chuyan, these ancient feudal monarchs with profound heritage, have even had a historical inheritance of more than 800 years!
Imagine how long these 800 years are? Counting 800 years forward from our current time axis, it was still in the era of the Southern Song Dynasty...
And in the earth-shattering peasant uprising initiated by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the destruction of the Six Kingdoms in an instant was only more than ten years in the past!
Because of this, my understanding of the identity of the "Chu people", "Qi people" and "Zhao people" and my sense of belonging are still very deep, and similarly, for the people who remain in the Six Kingdoms, that deep homeland complex is still hot.
Many historical records describe the old aristocracy as trying to rebuild its former glory with a desire for restoration, but this is not the case, and the people of the Six Kingdoms also have a strong sense of identity.
Chen Sheng and Wu Guang undoubtedly belonged to the figures at the bottom of the society, they formed the famous "Zhang Chu" feudal regime, and the original intention of giving birth to "Zhang Chu" was to advocate expanding the territory of Chu and promoting the restoration and development of the rights of the Chu people!
Therefore, after the rise of the Kanto region, the most important task of the righteous people of all sides was to realize the restoration of their respective countries.
Long before Chen Sheng became king, Zhang Er and Chen Yu had already made a suggestion: you should adopt other names to show your sense of responsibility and avoid being accused of being too greedy
Instead, they should appoint others to support the descendants of the six countries and reshape the society of the six countries, so that the six countries will naturally voluntarily declare their allegiance out of gratitude, so as to achieve reunification.
However, in fact, the real purpose of the so-called fallacy of "subduing the emperor with virtue, so that the emperor will succeed" is nothing more than the restoration of the Six Kingdoms as the ultimate goal.
Chen Sheng really categorically refused.
When Chen Sheng sent Wuchen, Chen Yu, and Zhang Er to lead troops to capture Zhao, Zhang Er and Chen Yu announced that Wuchen was the new successor to the throne.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Er and Chen Yu, who had spoken to Chen Sheng in the early days, but actually aimed to restore and rebuild the rule of the Six Kingdoms, once again proposed to Wuchen to attack Yandi and bring Yandi into the control of Zhao.
However, what is surprising is that after Han Guang, the general of Zhao, occupied Yandi, he chose to establish a new kingdom of the Yan people on his own, and successfully broke away from the original ruling system of Chu and Zhao.
What is more noteworthy is that after Chen Sheng originally sent Zhou City to recover Wei Land, after expanding its territory to Yan Land, he faced the request of the generals to persuade Zhou City to become the king himself, and after discussing with Chen Sheng, he finally decided to establish Wei as the king of Wei.
On the other hand, the state of Qi itself was restored by the collective efforts of the old nobles, and had no direct relationship with Chen Sheng and his team.
In this way, although the Kwantung region was full of rebellion against the tyranny of the Qin state, and even many of these rebel groups had intricate roots with the peasant rebel army led by Chen Sheng, they were able to give full play to their independent status in the end, thus forming a relatively independent political force.
Although the independent revival of princes and independent political forces in various places are far from the stable situation and strong military strength of the prosperity of the Six Kingdoms, the spiritual temperament of inheriting the ancestral foundation remains unchanged - "ostensibly to overthrow the tyranny of the Qin state, but in essence to seek the maximization of personal interests." ”
As a result, they preferred to concentrate on consolidating their own territory rather than continuing to support the peasant rebel army led by Chen Sheng.
Although the Kanto region seems to be a world of rebellion with the flag of righteousness flying. On the contrary, with the implementation of self-restoration in various countries, the situation of "people seeking their own livelihood" has become increasingly aggravated, weakening the overall strength of the Zhang Chu regime.
As the originator and promoter of this large-scale anti-Qin movement, Chen Sheng showed incomparable military strength and great appeal at that time.
However, it is a pity that before Chen Sheng showed his imperial talent, he first fell into a state of arrogance.
Since sitting on the throne, Chen Sheng no longer personally led the army into battle, but immersed himself in the comfortable and comfortable court life, issuing some orders from time to time.
As a leader, Chen Sheng did not rely on his strong willpower and wisdom to regulate various contradictions and conflicts, which eventually led to the split of the entire rebel team, and Chen's grand dream of dominating the world came to naught.
However, it is a pity that Chen Sheng staged three tragic incidents of self-destruction of the Great Wall
First, Chen Sheng brutally killed his former friends, thus losing his reputation and authority.
In his early years in the fields, Chen Sheng had frank conversations with his companions, and his promise was summed up as: If I become rich in the future, you should not forget each other.
When Chen Sheng finally became ruler, his former friends came to visit, expecting an eternal guarantee of friendship from him. But Chen Sheng refused to meet them at first, and it was not until someone stood on the way calling for him that he reluctantly agreed to accept them.
However, the good times did not last long, just because these friends revealed some personal experiences about Chen Sheng's past, which caused Chen Sheng's anger, and as a result, they were tragically destroyed. This almost ruthless method caused Chen Sheng's former friends to leave him one after another, and no one was willing to approach Chen Sheng again.
On the one hand, the failure of Zhang Chu's regime was due to Chen Sheng's lack of grace and inability to win people's hearts.
Historical records show that there were a large number of rebel armies in various places at that time, and although some of them were not directly under Chen Sheng's control, they all more or less admired Chen Sheng, and even Xiang Liang, an old nobleman of Chu State, chose to respect Chen Sheng as their leader.
Although it may be difficult for these forces to give up their independent status, if Chen Sheng can show a broad mind and foresight, then he can mobilize more forces and integrate the resources of all parties to fight against the Qin state.
Unfortunately, due to Chen Sheng's being too paranoid and narrow-minded, he only calmed down the crowd around him, and was unable to attract powerful forces from other regions to join his camp.
Secondly, Chen Sheng killed Ge Ying, which further exacerbated the contradictions between him and the princes of all walks of life
Ge Ying was also an important general in the rebel army. Before Chen Sheng dominated the world, Ge Ying once led his troops to the east of Jin County, and without knowing it, he elected Xiangqiang, a nobleman of the former Lu State, as the new king of Chu.
However, after learning that Chen Sheng had been proclaimed emperor, Ge Ying immediately killed the new monarch he had once supported without hesitation, clearly expressing his support for Chen Sheng.
However, Chen Sheng still killed Ge Ying, as one of the first people to participate in the anti-Qin struggle, Ge Ying's qualifications and strength naturally cannot be ignored.
When he didn't know that Chen Sheng had already been proclaimed emperor, he chose to support a Lu nobleman to become the king of Chu, which was just an expedient measure in response to the times.
And when he learned that Chen Sheng had officially become emperor, Ge Ying immediately decided to kill the king of Chu that he had supported, as a way to express his loyalty to Zhang Chu's regime.
Such an experienced and loyal partner was ruthlessly wiped out by Chen Sheng.
However, it is interesting to note that when Wuchen proclaimed himself the king of Zhao and sent troops to attack Zhao, Chen Sheng originally tried to behead Wuchen's entire family and launch a large army to besiege Zhao, but under the dissuasion of the prime minister, he actually turned to congratulate Wuchen.
These two events happened at the same time, which brought about the following two major effects: the first situation is as Zhang Er and Chen Yu said, the so-called "King Zhao became the king of Zhao, not the will of the Chu State, but purely to congratulate you with the help of stratagem."
Now that the Qin Dynasty has been wiped out by us, we will definitely increase the intensity of the attack on the Zhao State in the future..."This means that everyone knows that when Chen Sheng did not restore the heart of the Six Kingdoms, even if he recovered, it was just a strategy, and after conquering the Qin Dynasty, he was bound to continue to operate against the Zhao State!
In addition, when it comes to the disputes of the princes, once you act at a loss, you will inevitably suffer the disaster of death, and only by firmly and persistently protecting yourself can you survive!
In other words, the relationship between Chen Sheng and the princes became more and more tense, and it was even more unlikely that the princes would send troops to assist the Chu State in attacking the Qin Dynasty.
Chen Sheng demonstrated his loyalty to the palace with strict censorship, while he appointed ruthless officials such as Zhu Fang and Hu Wu to deal with them arbitrarily, calling himself "loyal to strict inspection." This behavior has two serious consequences.
First of all, Chen Sheng, in the absence of a complete military law system, took advantage of the atmosphere of "strict inspection for loyalty" to increase the room for those with dissident intentions. For example, one of Wu Guang's subordinates, Tian Zang, was able to kill Wu Guang effortlessly with just a forged royal order!
More importantly, Chen Sheng relied on this method to make the generals no longer willing to approach him, and gradually disagreed with him or even broke away from Chen Sheng's control.
The alienation between the monarch in the palace and the generals who led the army outside was undoubtedly a sign of imminent conflict within the country.
Assuming that Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had failed earlier and did not have enough time to sow chaos, then internal conflicts such as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom-style cannibalism were almost inevitable.
In a short period of time, Chen Sheng's lack of talent and heart expected of an emperor made his relationship with potential alliances, various princes, and many generals extremely complicated.
Therefore, although the Zhang Chu regime seems to be thriving, in fact, it has already begun to become corrupt internally, and has lost the motivation to continue to exist. Again, these problems are quickly reflected in the field of war.
The first mistake that arose on the battlefield: the uneven distribution of the main forces
Although the princes were reluctant to help them, considering the situation at that time, the three men and horses marched west at the same time, and the troops were quite sufficient.
According to the plan, Wu Guang's army would be responsible for attacking Xingyang in an effort to eliminate the main force of the Qin army stationed there, Zhou Wen would lead the army directly into Guanzhong, and Song Liu's army would enter Guanzhong through Wuguan after capturing Nanyang.
However, due to the lack of unified command and coordination, the three armies acted separately and failed to form an effective joint force.
Wu Guang besieged Xingyang after successfully defeating the Qin army, but it was still difficult to take the city, but it was more than enough to trap the local Qin army.
Even if Wu Guang no longer invested manpower and material resources in besieging Xingyang, with the land he occupied around Xingyang, he could completely provide rear supplies for the Allied troops.
However, Wu Guang was stationed in Xingyang for several months, without any substantial support for Zhou Wen's army.
The army led by Song Liu took Nanyang early, but did not advance to Xiangfan as originally planned to assist Yan Le in attacking the Qin army.
Zhou Wen's army chose to bypass Xingyang and advance directly through the mountains to Guanzhong. In this way, the people of the three roads expressed their own opinions and acted independently, and they could not form combat effectiveness.
As a result, because the three-way western expeditionary army could not effectively cooperate, it formed an embarrassing situation in which it could not break through the enemy's defense line and could not defend its own position.
Whatever the reason, however, General Zhou Wen made a fatal mistake in the decision to halt the troops. If he doesn't stop advancing, even as a lone party going deep, with his own abundant military resources, he can form a situation of encircling Xianyang.
In this way, the entire strategic pattern will inevitably undergo significant changes! However, when Zhou Wen decided to stall, it gave the Qin state, which was already on the verge of death, a chance to breathe.
For the Qin State, which had rich experience in warfare and the ability to mobilize efficiently, this short period of recuperation was enough to regain its strength! Therefore, Zhang Han recruited prisoners from Lishan, distributed arsenal equipment, and quickly organized a large army to counterattack.
In the end, in the battle under the play, Zhou Wen suffered a crushing defeat! This situation greatly changed the situation of the battle!
The third mistake of the military operation was the adoption of a strategic moratorium.
After Zhou Wenbing was defeated and desolate, he withdrew from Guanzhong and retreated to Caoyang. During this period, it was possible for all parties to reverse the situation! For the Qin State, although it successfully repelled Zhou Wen, it ensured the safety of Guanzhong
However, the new army, which consisted of Lishan prisoners, still needed a certain degree of training and integration to be most effective.
For this reason, Zhang Han had to train and rectify in the Guanzhong area for nearly two months, but he was never able to go out of the customs to fight. In response to this situation, the Zhang Chu regime should have adjusted its layout in a timely manner to strengthen the resistance force, and at the same time should have united those vassal states facing the same threat to fight against the Qin state.
What is clear, however, is that during the crucial two months, the Zhang Chu regime did not implement any effective tactical adjustments. Wu Guang still led the elite of the Chu army to be trapped under Xingyang, and Song Liu still hesitated to stay in the Nanyang area.
In addition, the princes among the other anti-Qin forces sat back and watched the success or failure, waiting for the showdown between Qin and Chu. The rebels wasted two precious and crucial months during this period, while the Qin state, whose armies grew stronger after rigorous training.
Therefore, when Zhang Han launched a counteroffensive, the rebel army could only be defeated again and again until it completely disintegrated.
In November, Zhang Han led the army back out of the customs. He first launched a fierce attack on Zhou Wen's army. Helplessly, Zhou Wen's army lost one after another, and finally Zhou Wen chose to end his life by suicide, and the whole army fell into chaos in an instant!
As a result, one of the largest contingents of the rebel army was completely wiped out! Zhang Han then planned to turn to attack Wu Guang's army.
Although Wu Guangjun was the elite unit of the rebel army, its combat effectiveness was still insufficient compared to the well-trained Qin army. What's even more fatal is that before Zhang Han launched an attack, there was an extremely serious incident of internal strife within Wu Guangjun!
Tian Zang, who was in charge of pretending to be the king of Chen Sheng, killed Wu Guang and took the initiative to apply for the post of general! After Chen Sheng learned of this, he formally approved Tian Zang's appointment as a general and sent him to replace Wu Guang.
Although Wu Guangduo boldly innovated and changed, he was after all the "false king" of the Zhang Chu regime, the spiritual symbol of the regime, and when he was killed, Chen Sheng actually recognized the murderer as a general, which undoubtedly exacerbated the phenomenon of detachment from morality within the rebel army!
Faced with such a grim situation, how could the rebel army defeat the Qin army?
There is no doubt that Tian Zang was unable to resist the fierce attack of the Qin army, and the whole army collapsed in an instant! At this point, the elite troops and main forces of the Zhang Chu regime were almost completely wiped out! Chen Sheng's demise was only a matter of time! With Chen Sheng's death, the insurrectionary movement was headed for inevitable defeat.
At this moment, the Qin army in Guanzhong, led by Sima Xin and Dong Peng, arrived in time, so that the strength of the Qin State was strengthened again! Zhang Han then decided to divide his troops into two routes, directly attacking Chen, the capital of the Zhang Chu regime, and the last important rebel army: Song Liu.
Deng Shuo and Wu Feng led their troops to resist Zhang Han's fierce attack, but they were ultimately defeated due to the disparity in strength, and had to seek refuge in Chencheng. Entering the critical moment of life and death, more than two months is enough to create many miracles!
However, at this critical moment, the Zhang Chu regime did not make any substantial adjustments. Wu Guang still stubbornly led the elite of the Chu army to stick to Xingyang, and Song Liu still stayed in Nanyang and other places without fighting spirit.
The princes of the other anti-Qin forces also took a wait-and-see attitude towards the battle of Qin and Chu, and sat back and watched the beacon fire and wolf smoke burn all over the land of Shenzhou.
In the long history, the world has long complained about the rule of the Qin Dynasty.
With the rapid development of the peasant uprising war led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, its development momentum was as fierce as a storm, and the main reason for this was that the concept of opposing the tyrannical rule of Qin Shi Huang and overthrowing the tyrannical Qin regime advocated by them aroused strong resonance among the broad masses of the people, which undoubtedly conformed to the will of the people and pointed to the inevitable trend of historical progress!
In this ever-changing tide of revolution, Chen Sheng is moving forward bravely, and its trend can be called rapid, and the situation of vigorous development is bright!
However, according to our objective analysis of the situation at the time, although the people were oppressed by the Qin Dynasty and the desire to rebel against the Qin Dynasty was widespread, there was also a desire to return to the period of the Old Six Kingdoms, which created the possibility of division in the process of the anti-Qin uprising.
Although the atrocities of the Qin Dynasty had already aroused the indignation of the people and the loss of territory of the occupied countries, it still retained the rich products of the old Qin land and the great influence that swept the world.
Therefore, as long as they are left with a chance to breathe, it is still possible for the Qin Dynasty to make a comeback and launch a fierce counterattack!
The situation is still full of endless complexity. However, Chen Sheng lacked the talent of an emperor, and his momentum and wisdom were unable to fully control such a complex situation.
In the end, Chen Sheng was not able to grasp this terrifying wave, and the battleship he led sank.
From the king's point of view, Chen Sheng was undoubtedly a failure. However, as a leading figure who dared to challenge tyranny and lead the trend of reform, he was destined to become a great hero for generations to come. Just ask: Who is born a prince and noble?