The most legendary battle in history: 80,000 people chased 800,000 people to fight, and 3 idioms were played! Why couldn't Jian Jian's million Qin army defeat Xie Xuan's eighty thousand Jin army?
Among the common idioms, "throwing whips and breaking the flow", "grass and trees are soldiers", "wind and cranes" are familiar to people, but what is less known is that these three idioms are caused by the same war, which is the "Battle of Shuishui" between Former Qin and Eastern Jin. The "Battle of Shuishui" was a war of aggression and counter-aggression, with the result that the aggressors fled in defeat and left many laughing stocks for future generations.
After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima Rui of Zhenshou Jiankang (present-day Nanjing) rebuilt the Jin Dynasty in Jiangnan in 317 AD, known as the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The vast lands of the north and southwest were controlled by the "Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms" in turn. The people of the "Five Hus" (Xiongnu, Xianbei, Xiongnu (Xiongnu branch), Qiang and Qiang) successively established more than 20 countries in the north, of which the sixteen countries of Chenghan, Former Zhao, Later Zhao, Former Liang, Northern Liang, Xiliang, Houliang, Southern Liang, Former Yan, Later Yan, Southern Yan, Northern Yan, Xia, Former Qin, Western Qin, and Later Qin were strong and were collectively known as the Sixteen Kingdoms.
Former Qin, one of the Sixteen Kingdoms, was founded by the Qiang people, Qiang Hong. In 350 AD, Gong Hong occupied Guanzhong and called himself the King of Three Qin, the founding father of Former Qin. Former Qin arrived at the time of Gong Jian, the grandson of Gong Hong, and the country's strength was greatly enhanced. In the early period of his reign, Jian Jian exerted great efforts to govern, reused the Han Dynasty Wang Meng, implemented the policy of "recuperating and recuperating, and strengthening production", achieved a strong national strength, and then used military force to eliminate many independent regimes in the north, and in 373 AD captured the two prefectures of Liang (present-day Hanzhong, Shaanxi) and Yi (present-day Chengdu, Sichuan) in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, annexed the xianbei Tuoba clan in the north, annexed Qianliang in the west, expeditioned to the western region, unified the north, and formed a north-south confrontation with the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Living in the north, Jian Jian was not satisfied with only half of the country, he had the ambition of Qin Shi Huang in his heart, and he wanted to march south, step on the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and complete the great cause of unifying the world. However, Wang Meng had been blocking Jian Jian's policy of advancing south, and advised Jian Jian not to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty, because he believed that although Former Qin's national strength was stronger than that of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, because Former Qin had just unified the north, the time was not ripe, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty had a natural danger of the Yangtze River. Seven years after Wang Meng's death, Jian Jian believed that the time was ripe and decided to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
When Zhi Jian resolutely decided to invade the Eastern Jin Dynasty from the south, he was advised by the ministers of the DPRK and The Central Committee, pointing out that the Eastern Jin Dynasty was founded by the Han people and supported by the Chinese people; and there was a natural danger of the Yangtze River, which was not easy to conquer, but Zhi Jian responded dismissively: "I am sitting on a million troops, as long as I give an order, all the soldiers will throw their whips into the Yangtze River, which is enough to cut off the flow of the river, and what is there to be afraid of in the yangtze River?" Later generations described the military lineup as "throwing whips and breaking the flow", or the emergence of powerful institutional talents.
"With my brigade, throw a whip at the foot of the river and cut off its flow." (Book of Jin, Vol. 114, Jian Jian Zai Ii)
In August 383, Zhi Jian began to move, dividing his troops into three ways to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty, of which 80,000 water troops led by Yao Cang entered Yizhou in the west, and the central line was for Zhi Jian's brother Zhi Rong to lead a 250,000 vanguard army to attack Xiangyang, and Zhi Jian personally led the main infantry of 600,000 and 270,000 cavalry to jiankang (Nanjing).
At that time, in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River were controlled by the Huan clan, and the lower reaches belonged to the Xie clan. The key figure in the Eastern Jin Dynasty's victory in the "Battle of Shuishui" was Xie An, the head of the Xie family. At a time when Qin was about to move, the Eastern Jin Dynasty was not idle. Xie An tried his best to reconcile the two families of Huan Xie in preparation for the upcoming war.
Xie An was a native of Yangxia, Chen County (present-day Taikang, Henan), from a scholar clan, and often traveled to the mountains and rivers in Huijidongshan, singing poems and talking about literature. He was very famous among the scholar class at that time, and everyone thought he was a very talented man. But he preferred to live in seclusion in Dongshan rather than be an official. At that time, there was a saying circulating among the scholars: "Xie An did not come out to be an official, what should he do if he called the people?" "When he was in his forties, he came back to work as an official. Because Xie An lived in seclusion in Dongshan for a long time, he later called his re-emergence as an official as a "comeback".
In the second year of Taiyuan (377), the Eastern Jin dynasty court appointed Huan Chong's son Huan Si as the Assassin of Jiangzhou, and also appointed the Five Soldiers Shangshu Wang Yundu to supervise the military forces of Jiangnan and the History of The Assassination of Xuzhou, and appointed Sima Zhengxi and Xiang Xiexuan of Nan Commandery as the Assassin of Yanzhou, and the Minister of Guangling, and the military north of the Yangtze River. Later, Xie An recommended his nephew Xie Xuanshu to defend the northern territories. Xie An himself supervised the military forces of Yangzhou, Yuzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Qingzhou, and was in charge of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Huan Chong was the Assassin of Jingzhou, defending the Jingxiang region; Xie Xuanzhen Guangling, and Xie An defended the Huainan region. In order to strengthen the central military strength, Emperor Xiaowu of Jin ordered Xie Xuan to recruit the people of Huainan jiangbei, select good generals in Guangling, train elite soldiers, select Liu Gaozhi and others, and establish the famous Northern Province Army.
When Jian Jian invaded the south, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, with Xie Xuan, Xie An's nephew, as the vanguard, led 80,000 "Beifu soldiers" with strong combat effectiveness after 7 years of training along the Huai River to meet the main force of 800,000 yuan of Jian Jian.
Jian Jian thought that he could make a quick decision and sent Zhu Xu to persuade Xie Shi to surrender. Zhu Xuben was a famous general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the generals of Yingyang and Jiang Xiaxiang were relocated. In the first year of Taihe (366), he quelled sima xun's rebellion, and was promoted to the rank of general of Zhengyu for his merits, and was knighted as the founding son of Xiangping County. In the second year of Taiyuan (377), he served as the general of Nanzhong Lang and the assassin of Liang Prefecture, and guarded Xiangyang. In the third year of Taiyuan (378), Former Qin attacked Xiangyang, and Zhu Xu led an army to hold it. In the fourth year of Taiyuan (379), Former Qin conquered Xiangyang, Zhu Xu surrendered fraudulently, and Jian Jian thought that du zhi shangshu.
Zhu Xu was sent to the Jin army to persuade him to surrender, but privately prompted Xie Shiyi to preemptively defeat Former Qin's vanguard forces. Xie Shi initially thought that the Qin army was strong and planned to hold out without a fight, waiting for the enemy to be tired and then waiting for the opportunity to counterattack. After listening to Zhu Xu's words, he thought that it was very reasonable, so he changed the operational policy and decided to turn from defending to attacking and taking the initiative to attack.
In November, Xie Xuan sent Liu Gaozhi, the minister of Guangling, to lead 5,000 elite soldiers to Luojian, opening the prelude to the Battle of Shuishui. Qin general Liang Cheng defended the mountain stream and deployed troops to meet the attack. Liu Gaozhi won the great victory of Luojian, beheaded Liang Cheng and Yiyang Taishou Wang Yong, and the Qin army lost ten generals and 50,000 main forces. He also sent troops to block the Huai River crossing, annihilated 15,000 Former Qin troops, and captured Former Qin Yangzhou Assassin Shi Wang Xian and others.
Subsequently, the Jin army marched westward and confronted the Qin army at Shuishui (東淝河, in present-day Shou County, Huainan, Anhui). In December, someone suggested to Jian Jian to retreat to the decisive battle. Zhu Qin generals thought it was safer to block the enemy's waterfront, but Jian Jian believed that he could take the initiative to duel by attacking halfway.
When the Qin army moved back, the Jin army crossed the water and attacked. Zhu Xu shouted behind the Qin army: "The Qin army on the front line has been defeated!" The Qin army was in chaos, and then the Jin army attacked with all its might, defeated the Qin army, and slashed and melted.
Former Qin's vanguard troops were attacked by the Jin army near Luojian and defeated to the point of collapse, which not only demoralized the Qin soldiers, but also made the always proud Zhi convinced. When he learned that the Jin army was advancing towards Shouyang, he and Gong Rong climbed to the head of Shouyang City to observe the movement of the Jin army. He saw the Jin soldiers on the other side, neatly arranged, and the warships were densely packed, and he felt that the Jin soldiers were well trained. Looking at the Bagong Mountain to the north, the mountain is covered with countless grass and trees, the north wind blows, the grass and trees shake, just like countless soldiers in motion, and immediately exclaimed to Xiang Rong: "What a powerful opponent the Jin soldiers are, how do you say that they are a weak brigade?" Later, people described people as "grass and trees are soldiers" to describe people as nervous and suspicious.
"Jian and Zhi Rong ascended the city and looked at the Wang Division, and saw that the troops were in order and the soldiers were elite. Looking north at the grass and trees on the Bagong Mountain, all of which are humanoid, Gu Said Rong said: "This is also the enemy!" What is less? 'There is fear. (Book of Jin, vol. 114, Jian Jian Zai Ii)
Former Qin was defeated in the Battle of Shuishui, and Gong Rong was killed in battle, but Jian Jian was hit by an arrow and led the remnants to flee back to the north. When they heard the sound of the wind blowing and the chirping of the flying cranes, they all thought that the Jin soldiers were still in hot pursuit, so they fled day and night, hungry and cold, and as a result, when they returned to the north, the million army had lost seven out of ten. Later generations will use the "wind and crane" to describe people after being stimulated, the soul becomes fragile, once the wind and grass will not be able to stand, or can also describe the precarious situation.
"When they hear the wind and the cranes, they all think that the king has arrived." (Book of Jin, Vol. 79, Biography of Xie An)
After this battle, more than 700,000 Former Qin troops were annihilated and scattered, and Jian Jian's hopes of unifying the north and south were completely dashed.
Jian Jian led a million people all the way south, and in the initial battle, it can be said that the momentum was overwhelming, but why was it defeated when he reached Shuishui? To sum up, there are no more than the following reasons:
First, at that time, Former Qin was only militaryly unified, its internal rule was unstable, and it had no relatively strong material foundation; coupled with the fact that Former Qin's army was completely defeated by hundreds of thousands of troops in partial contact with the Eastern Jin dynasty troops, the entire front of Former Qin's army was completely destroyed.
Second, Jian Jian launched a war of aggression, and in the face of the Eastern Jin Dynasty's division of the same enemy, it was greatly defeated in morale.
Third, the two sides engaged in the battle at Shuishui were equal in strength, but the combat effectiveness of the Northern Fu soldiers of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was far superior to that of the Former Qin army.
Fourth, Qiang Jian was good at great achievements, lacked cold and simple objective analysis, did not have a thorough strategic plan before the war, and made a series of tactical command mistakes during the war, which was also an important reason for Former Qin's defeat in the Battle of Shuishui. He reported that he had the mentality of seeking victory by chance, and was strategically proud of the enemy. After the 50,000-strong man led by liang Cheng, the forward army, was completely annihilated by the Eastern Jin general Liu Gaozhi at Luojian, morale was greatly damaged, and Jian Jian was shaken by it, and began to have the idea of fearing the Jin. As a result, Jian Jian changed from a light enemy to a fear of the enemy, from adventurous to defeated and fleeing, and finally ended up with a sad ending of "grass and trees are soldiers" and "the wind and the sound of cranes".
After the Battle of Shuishui, the Eastern Jin Dynasty also took advantage of the Northern Expedition to recover the homeland south of the Yellow River, but soon after, due to the death of Xie An and the retirement of the front-line commander Xie Xuan. The separation of China's north and south continues. Affected by this, the north was once again divided into more local ethnic regimes, and other nobles such as Murong Chui of the Xianbei tribe and Yao Cang of the Qiang tribe re-emerged, each establishing a new state, and Jian Jian himself was captured and killed by Yao Cang two years later, and Former Qin perished.
The victor of this war, although the Eastern Jin Dynasty was unable to restore the rule of all of China, it effectively curbed the invasion of the northern ethnic minorities from the south, creating conditions for the social and economic recovery and development of the Jiangnan region.
In the long run, the most important role of the Battle of Shuishui is to enable the continuation and development of the Han Chinese Central Plains culture that has been exiled to the south, and directly affected the spiritual essence of the sui and Tang dynasties and other unified dynasties after that.
(Image from the Internet)