During the Warring States period, Xiangling (present-day Sui County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province) was an important city. For Xiangling, it is located at the junction of the State of Qi, the State of Zhao, the State of Korea, the State of Chu, the State of Song, the State of Wei and other major powers, which can be called a place where soldiers and families must fight. Around the city of Xiangling, two "Xiangling Wars" broke out during the Warring States period. For both battles, the State of Wei participated in them and achieved a record of one victory and one loss. Below, let's talk about the two "Xiangling Battles" in the Warring States period.
The First "Battle of Xiangling"
First of all, for the first "Battle of Xiangling", the protagonists of the war were the State of Wei and the State of Qi.
In the Battle of Guiling in 353 BC, the commander of the Qi army, Tian Ji, took the advice of the military master Sun Zhen and set up an ambush at Guiling, annihilated the forward troops of the Wei army in one fell swoop, and captured the Wei commander Pang Juan, after this battle, the State of Qi was greatly shaken, which had a strong impact on the hegemony of the State of Wei, and the King of Qi Wei also wanted to replace King Hui of Wei as the overlord of the Central Plains in one fell swoop, in order to further expand the results of the battle, the King of Qi Wei urged the State of Song and the State of Wei to join forces and besieged the important town of Xiangling (present-day Sui County, Henan) in the south of the State of Wei. Therefore, in the author's opinion, for the first "Battle of Xiangling", it can be regarded as a continuation of the Battle of Guiling. If the State of Wei continues to suffer defeats in the Battle of Xiangling, its hegemony will obviously be replaced by the State of Qi. In other words, this was a battle that the Wei state could not lose.
In 352 BC, the State of Qi united the two princely states of Song and Wei, attacked the State of Wei in a murderous manner, and came to the land of Xiangling. Xiangling was located in the area of Sui County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province, in the western border of the Song Dynasty, located in the hinterland of the Huanghuai Plain, which was very suitable for large-scale operations, rather than for ambushes. In this regard, in the author's opinion, such terrain naturally made it impossible for Sun Bin to ambush like the Battle of Guiling, and when it comes to plain combat, this can be said to be Wei Wuzu's strength.
Therefore, this time, the combined forces of Qi, Song, and Wei took the lead in launching an attack on the Wei army, and Wei Wu's morale was greatly boosted, and he quickly repelled the first wave of attacks by the qi, Song, and Wei forces. Frontal battlefield combat was not what Sun Zhi was good at, and it had always been very difficult to dispatch allied forces to victory. Soon, the Battle of Xiangling entered a state of stalemate, at this time King Hui of Wei learned his lesson, no longer simply relying on the strength of the Wei army, put pressure on Korea, prompting Korea to send troops, and South Korea saw that Wei Wushu was so brave, judging that the victory would definitely be Wei Guo, so he launched an attack on the combined forces of Qi, Song, and Wei behind his back.
On this basis, because of the attack between the State of Wei and Korea, the coalition army formed by the State of Qi finally collapsed in the Xiangling area. For the State of Wei, the first victory at the Battle of Xiangling was achieved. King Hui of Wei took advantage of the results of this battle to force the Zhao and Wei states to ally themselves with Zhangshui in the following year of the Battle of Xiangling, that is, in 351 BC.
After achieving the goal of an alliance between Wei, Zhao, and Han, the State of Wei was able to force the Princely States of Song and Lu to submit to the State of Wei through the deterrence brought by the Three Jins, and continue to recognize the supremacy of the State of Wei in the Central Plains. After consolidating the hegemony of the Central Plains, the State of Wei went all out to fight against the State of Qin in the land of Hexi. In 350 BC, the State of Wei raised an army to attack Qin and besieged Dingyang, forcing Duke Xiao of Qin to make an alliance with King Hui of Wei at Tong. In this regard, in the author's opinion, the Battle of Xiangling not only allowed the State of Wei to defeat the State of Qi, but also consolidated the position of the State of Wei, which shows that the State of Wei, as the first princely state to rise in the early warring states, still has deep roots. In other words, if the State of Qi wanted to replace the hegemony of the State of Wei, it was obviously not enough to rely solely on a Battle of Guiling.
The Second "Battle of Xiangling"
For the second "Battle of Xiangling", the two sides of the war were the State of Wei and the State of Chu, which broke out in 323 BC, which was about 30 years after the first "Battle of Xiangling". In these 30 years, the State of Wei not only lost to the State of Qi at the Battle of Maling, but also lost the elite Wei Wu pawns, but also recaptured the land of Hexi by the State of Qin. Therefore, it is very obvious that at this time, the State of Wei was not only no longer the hegemon of the Central Plains, but gradually became a second-rate princely state among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States. Correspondingly, the State of Chu in 323 BC came to its peak stage.
In 328 BC, King Wei of Chu died, and Xiong Huai succeeded to the throne, known as King Huai of Chu. In the same year, the State of Wei took advantage of the change of monarch of the State of Chu and sent troops to attack the State of Chu and seize the Jingshan of the State of Chu, because King Huai of Chu had just ascended the throne, so he did not counterattack the State of Wei. However, King Huai of Chu took the State of Wei deeply in mind.
The State of Chu began with King Su of Chu, after nearly 60 years of recuperation, when King Huai of Chu ascended the throne, its national strength reached its peak, and it was listed as one of the three major powers alongside the rising State of Qi and the State of Qin, and the State of Chu became the largest of the princes at that time, and it was also the princely state with the richest products, the largest population and the strongest military strength at that time.
According to the Records of History and other historical records, in 323 BC, under the banner of sending The Duke of Wei back to wei, the State of Chu sent Sima Zhaoyang to lead an army to attack the State of Wei and defeat the Wei army at Xiangling and win the battle. It is worth noting that after the victory in the Battle of Xiangling, the State of Chu also took advantage of the situation to seize eight cities of the State of Wei, avenging the last time the State of Wei seized the Trail Mountain of the State of Chu.
In 319 BC, after the Second "Battle of Xiangling", King Hui of Wei saw that King Huai of Chu had overwhelmed the State of Qi, so he and King Xuanhui of Han quickly fell to the State of Chu, saying that the State of Wei had always followed the State of Chu, and that the compulsion of the State of Qin could not make the State of Wei break away from the State of Chu, and persuaded the King of Chu Huai to cut down Qin. From this, it is very obvious that the State of Wei, fearing the strength of the State of Chu, could only be forced to fall to the State of Chu. Of course, King Hui of Wei once again played his own careful thinking, that is, he instigated King Huai of Chu to attack the Qin state, hoping to achieve the effect of fighting with the clams and the fishermen to gain profits. Of course, although many battles broke out between the Qin and Chu states afterwards, for the State of Wei, there was no chance to rise again. In other words, after the Second Battle of Xiangling, the decline of the Wei state was difficult to change.