"Soldiers, tricksters also." This is the important principle of war and the understanding of the essence of war summarized in "Sun Tzu's Art of War". The theory of war is a summary of the practice of war. Sun Wu's theory of war is a summary and sublimation of his previous hundred years of war, and the main object of reference for his summary is Xianxun, although there have been bits and pieces of tactical strategy applications in the previous wars, but as the first person in Chinese history to comprehensively and systematically and maturely apply strategy and tactics is Xianxun, xianxun is the first person in Chinese history to "conduct military tricks".
Xianxun (680 BC – 627 BC), a native of Quwo (present-day Wenxi, Shanxi), also known as Yuanyi (原轸) because of his Caiyi in Yuan (present-day Jiyuan, Henan). In that year, he was called one of the "Five Wise Men" by Sima Qian for 19 years after following the Jin Prince Chong'er into exile (655 BC - 636 BC). In the process of assisting the Jin Wengong and The Jin Xianggong to dominate, his extraordinary insight and excellent war command art shined in the Battle of Chengpu, one of China's top ten ancient war cities, and the Battle of Kunshan, China's first ambush battle. Why did he become the first person in the art of war? To understand the pioneering strategy, the innovative and subversive nature of tactics, and the epoch-making significance of military development, let us first look at how the wars before this were conducted.
Ancient war, decent confrontation
The wars of the Shang and Zhou dynasties had their own set of rules, which should meet the requirements of etiquette. First of all, we must abide by the procedures of war, such as the covenant war, that is, to write a book of battle, explain the reasons for the engagement, determine the time and place, etc.; second, follow the rules of battle, do not kill children, do not kill the elderly, do not kill wounded soldiers, do not kill pawns, do not pursue soldiers who have escaped more than a hundred steps, vehicles that exceed three houses (one round is 30 miles), and the third cannot use sneak attacks, ambushes and other means. That is to say, the ancient war is car-to-car, soldier to soldier, long ge to euphorbia, one blow and one round, just like the stage singing a big drama, beating the drum to indicate that it is going to start, otherwise it is rude, the other side does not line up to fight, it is also rude. This is the war under the etiquette system, the rules and regulations, one board and one glance, civilization about the frame, as long as the soldiers are brave and not afraid of death, as long as the chariot is brave and dares to charge, the battle will win or lose. This kind of ritual mode of warfare was recognized and observed by the whole society, and of course there was no strategy to speak of, and there would be no famous generals and military experts like Xianxun.
The Battle of Hongshui, the ruse strategy sprouted
In 638 BC, there was a one-sided war, and it was called the War of Laughter by later generations, which was the Battle of Song Chu Hongshui. The battle unfolded on the north bank of the Hongshui River on the border of the Song Dynasty, and Song Xianggong lined up early to wait for the Chu army to cross the river, and faced with the situation that the Chu army was crossing the river and was lining up after crossing the river, he stubbornly did not listen to the two exhortations of The Great Sima Gongsun To strike halfway and attack without a column, and as a result, Song Xianggong, who was known for his "benevolence and righteousness", was defeated, almost the entire army was destroyed, and he was also shot by an arrow. After the war, Song Xianggong explained: "Ancient is an army, and when it comes to major events, it does not forget the great gifts" "Gentlemen do not seriously injure, do not capture two hairs, do not obstruct the pass, do not drum and do not form a column", thinking that there is nothing wrong with himself. Song Xianggong did not understand until his death that the times had changed, the times had entered the Spring and Autumn Period of The Collapse of Ceremonies, the way of war would also change, and the war of the Li Bing was no longer suitable for the new era in which the victor was the king and the hegemon. In the war, although Gongsun Gu put forward the battle proposal of the weak Song to win, it could not be implemented, and the later pioneers gave full play to the tricks of the soldiers in the Battle of Chengpu, becoming the first person in Chinese history to practice tricks. Since the Battle of Hongshui, China's war has gradually entered the era of tricky and strange plots, which is the great historical significance of the Battle of Hongshui, and the big thing is that it is a watershed between the battle of ceremonial warfare and the battle of tricky road.
In the Battle of Chengpu, the first soldiers to carry out tricks
Since the death of Duke Huan of Qi, the Chu state was the only one, and the princes of the Central Plains were all attached to Chu, and with the birth of the Duke Wen of Jin, the dispute between Jin and Chu became the main theme. Song rebelled against Chu and returned to Jin in 634 BC due to the defeat of Hongshui and the earlier friendship with Jin, for which the State of Chu was greatly dissatisfied and sent troops to attack Song, and Song was anxious to attack Jin. Marshal Xianxun of the Jin Dynasty army has already seen the new trend of the Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony, that is, who wins and who is the hegemon. In this regard, jin Wengong set a strategic policy of "repaying charity, saving the sick, gaining prestige, and fixing hegemony" for Jin Wengong. Because Chu was kind to Jin, Jin could not fight directly with Chu. Therefore, tactically, the pioneers divided the troops into three ways, went straight to the new allies of the Chu state, Cao and Wei, and took the two countries, and also threatened another garrison of the Chu state; diplomatically, they won the support of the qi and Qin and other major powers, and at the same time privately restored the state of Cao and Wei, and separated the relations between cao, Wei and Chu's allies; in terms of war objectives, the jin state was embarrassed and the goal that must be achieved was to fight Cao and Wei to break the Song siege, forcing the Chu state to fire the "first shot" first, so as to win the battle; and the goal of King Cheng of Chu was to encircle the Song state to the death and not fight with the Jin. However, the State of Chu made Yin Ziyu not understand the intention of Chu Chengwang and was anxious to fight a decisive battle with Jin in order to protect the hegemony of the State of Chu. In terms of means, Xianxun adopted the strategy of "being humble and arrogant" and "angry and scratching", detaining the emissaries of the Chu state, and in the face of Ziyu's condition of "letting Cao and Wei restore the country and the Chu state withdraw its troops", Hu Yan, one of the "Five Wise Men", resolutely opposed it, and Xianxun said with foresight: "Zi and he!" The predicate of the person is a courtesy. Chu decided the Three Kingdoms in one word, and I died in one word. I am rude, why fight? That is, he privately promised Cao and Wei Fuguo not to let Chu Know, and did not fall into the trap set by Ziyu. However, Xianxun's strategy made Ziyu take the bait, and Ziyu was completely enraged, leading a large army, abandoning the siege of Song and directly attacking the Jin army.
In order to avoid his sharp edge, Jin, in the name of fulfilling his promise to King Cheng of Chu, retreated and forced the Chu army to pursue Chengpu (城濮, in present-day Fan County, Shandong) to engage Jin. In the battle between the two armies, Xianxun, as the marshal of the three armies, was even more freehand and played with his posture. He adopted the tactics of avoiding the real attack, enticing the enemy to go deeper, concentrating troops, and breaking through each one, first of all, one of the subordinate troops directly defeated the right wing of the Chu army, Chen and Cai, and then let the other part of his subordinate army pretend to be defeated and slowly retreat, and used the cart and horse to drag the branches to cause a large amount of dust to cover up the truth, luring Ziyu to pursue and expose the flanks, and xianxun seized this opportunity, led the Chinese army to intercept the waist, and attacked the main force of the Chu army with the pretended defeated xia army; and then ordered the shang army to directly attack the left wing of the Chu army that was unknowing. The Chu army was defeated left and right, and Ziyu ordered a full retreat, and Jin won a complete victory. In this battle, the Jin state won more with the strength of one country, won more with less, defeated the Chu state, and dominated the country in the first world war. Because of his ingenious strategy and appropriate tactics, Xianxun became the first marshal of the three armed forces in Chinese history to win with strategy, and also the first famous general and military expert to comprehensively change the rules of war and act in a devious way.
Kunshan ambush, perfect encirclement and annihilation battle
In 628 BC, Duke Wen of Jin died, as did Duke Wen of Zheng. The two countries of Jin and Zheng were in the midst of national mourning at the same time. Qin Mugong believed that the opportunity to enter the Central Plains had come, so he took advantage of Zheng Bubei to attack Zheng Guo from afar, and on the way back to China, he destroyed a vassal state of Jin. In this regard, Xianxun told Jin Xianggong that the enemy should not be indulged, "one day to indulge the enemy, several generations of troubles." Xianxun led his army to ambush the Qin army on both sides of the Kunshan Mountain, which was the only way for the Qin army to pass, causing the entire Qin army to be destroyed, and the three marshals were also tied up. The Battle of Kunshan was the first ambush battle ever recorded, and it ended perfectly in the way of "dumplings".
In the Battle of Chengpu and the Battle of Kunshan, Xianxun won with outstanding strategy and tactics, and he had both the strength of planning and strategy and the ability to command the front, and he was a military expert with foresight and strategy, and the first person in China's history to "walk in the strange way of soldiers".
Tragic heroes
The pre-Qin literature records that Xianxun has very little ink and ink, but only three wars of this military genius are left behind by means of people, and it is these three wars that show the unknown military strategy ability of Xianxun, becoming the first general of the Spring and Autumn Period, the first war master in the history of Chinese warfare, and the source of the devious thinking of sun Wu's military methods later. There are not many wars from the Xia Shang Zhou to the Spring and Autumn Period that have been recorded in the annals of history, but three times have been recorded for Xianxun, in addition to the Battle of Chengpu and the Battle of Kunshan, the third was the Battle of Ji (箕, in present-day Pu County, Shanxi). It was this war that the ancestors sadly ended their lives in a unique way.
The pioneers still won easily in ambush warfare. After the war, he drove with one hand and waved with the other, and rushed into the enemy's receiving troops alone, killing five leaders and more than twenty soldiers, and then calmly took off his helmet, removed his armor, and greeted the arrows shooting from all sides with his flesh and blood. A generation of famous generals, militarists who are known for their strategists, died heroically and tragically on the battlefield in the way of soldiers, in the way of near suicide. What is this way to die? Why did he choose such an unreasonable and ruthless way of dying?
A generation of brave and good strategists, but not famous will fall to the stars!
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