Author: Capcom
In 453 BC, the Zhi clan of the State of Jin, on the grounds that the Zhao clan did not respect the righteousness of the Jin dynasty, united with the Han and Wei families to besiege the Zhao fiefdom of Jinyang, and Zhao Xiangzi was unable to defend it with the strong defense of Jinyang. When the three soldiers attacked the city, they retreated with bows and arrows, and the three armies besieged the city for more than two years and failed to take a step forward. It was unfavorable for the teacher, and Zhi Boyao, who was outside the labor division, decided to dig up Jinshui to break Jinyang. However, Zhao Xiangzi seized on the weakness of the Han and Wei families who were not willing to cede their hukou and successfully plotted against Han Kangzi and Wei Huanzi, but instead flooded Zhi Boyao's camp with Jin water and killed Zhi Boyao. After eliminating the main force of the Zhi army under Jinyang City, the three families of Han Zhao and Wei attacked and occupied the territory of the Zhi clan, and the situation of the three families dividing into Jin was basically formed.
(Battle of Qinwei River West)
When the three families were divided into Jin, the Zhao clan made the most profits, and the Wei clan and the Han clan got less. The Zhao clan acquired a large area of land in the northern part of the Jin Dynasty and crossed the Taihang Mountains to the east, occupying Handan and Zhongmu. The Wei and Han clans are shrouded in the south of the Zhao clan, with the Wei clan to the west and the Han clan to the east. The Zhi clan territory occupied by the Zhao clan was pressing on the door of Wei's brain, and Wei was very depressed. To the west of the Wei clan was the Qin state across a river, to the north was the powerful Zhao clan, to the east was the emerging Han clan, and to the south was the Shaanxi land that the Qin, Chu, and Zheng kingdoms fought over. The Wei clan was tightly wrapped in a corner of the southwestern Jin Dynasty. The Wei clan was concentrated in the southwest of Jin, and although there were still several enclaves in the east, they were not consolidated and it was difficult to build a strategic base. The core area of the Wei clan is the Yuncheng Valley, the lüliang mountains in the north, the Zhongtiao Mountains in the south, and the Wangwu Mountains in the east, and the big corner of the Yellow River envelops the western and southern parts of the Wei clan. Such a terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it is also easy to be oppressed and blocked. If the State of Wei wanted to change this unfavorable situation, it was necessary to find a passage to the outside in the encirclement of this dangerous mountain and water to complete the strategic breakthrough. This passage must have two conditions: one is not to stimulate Zhao, who was still very strong at that time, and the other is that the channel must also have the advantage of being easy to defend and difficult to attack, so as to prevent Wei's limited strength from being consumed in the channel competition, so as to lose sight of one or the other in other directions. However, the period between the three families and the Jin Dynasty was a key point in the spring and autumn of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the change of the Warring States, and the Eastern Zhou princes fought endlessly with each other, and Wei had been suffering from the lack of opportunity to complete the strategic breakthrough.
In 445 BC, the young Weiss inherited his father's title, and he was the famous Marquis of Wei. When Marquis Wenhou of Wei succeeded to the throne, what his father threw at him was a Wei clan that already had a certain foundation—for a long time after the three families were divided into Jin, Wei Guo spent his main energy on cultivating internal strength. After expanding outward for a period of time, Zhao Guo and South Korea also returned to the road of internal repair due to internal instability. At this time, Wei Guo had basically completed its internal adjustment and began to look for an export-oriented exit. The surrounding environment of the State of Wei was very complicated, and If Wei Wenhou was not careful, he might be besieged and in danger of being destroyed. Zhao Xianhou wanted to unite with Marquis Wen of Wei to eliminate the Han clan, and Zhao and Wei divided the Han clan equally. Han Wuzi wanted to unite with Marquis Wenhou of Wei to eliminate the Zhao clan, and Han and Wei divided the Zhao clan equally. For Zhao and Han's proposal, Wei Wenhou explicitly refused.
(Map of Qixiong in the late Warring States period)
Wei Wenhou explained to Zhao and Han his ideas on the development of the three families. The Jin Dynasty was relatively closed, and only Zhao Guo, Wei, and Han in it extended two tentacles of Dai and Handan outward, but due to the threat of Han and Wei behind them, Zhao Guo was unable to continue to expand outward through these two tentacles. The three kingdoms of Zhao, Wei, and Han were close neighbors and must live in peace, and if there was infighting, they would be dragged into the closed environment of Jin, and no one could develop. Zhao, Wei, and Han could only find a way out if they joined forces to expand outward. For Wei Wenhou's joint development strategy, Zhao Xianhou and Han Wuzi both agreed, although the three families did not reach a consensus on how to unite, which direction to develop, and how to divide the profits. However, through this meeting, a rare peaceful situation has emerged between the three families. Zhao, Wei, and Han temporarily abandoned infighting and embarked on their own paths of development.
Since the Zhao clan was in the north and the Han clan was in the east, the direction of Han's development was the Wei clan and the Zheng state in the south of the Han clan, and Wei Wenhou put the direction of development on the qin state in the west. In 419 BC, the State of Wei crossed the Yellow River in the west to build a city in Shaoliang and hoarded grain and grass weapons, preparing to make it a military stronghold for attacking the Qin State.
(The division of the Jin Dynasty by the three families is a famous story in Chinese history.)
The State of Qin was a great power of princes in the west, and although its military strength was weak due to domestic political turmoil, the State of Qin in the west was at war with Rong Di for many years, and the strategic vision of the ruling class of the State of Qin was not bad, and the State of Qin, which was aware of the intentions of the State of Wei, immediately sent troops to attack Shaoliang. The two armies fought on the outskirts of Shaoliang, but the Qin army at this time was not the powerful war machine that would sweep through Liuhe in the future, and the Qin state, which had always been rejected by the princes of the Central Plains and regarded as the "barbarian country", was significantly weaker in military strength than the Wei state that was born out of the Spring and Autumn Dynasty. Shaoliang was defeated in the Battle of Qin and forced to retreat to fortify along the Yellow River. However, the Qin army's attack was not for nothing, and the city of Shaoliang was greatly damaged, and the State of Wei had to spend money to rebuild Shaoliang.
(The Qin army's strict appearance and strict military discipline are the fundamentals for ensuring the invincibility of the Qin army.)
When the Qin army retreated to defend along the Yellow River, it did not hold the river to the death, but built Fan pang City on the east bank of the Yellow River, and later built Jigu City in the northeast of Fan Pang City, and used these two fortress cities as a base to confront the Wei state Shaoliang City. However, the location of Gucheng is a little too abrupt, the road to support the main position of the Qin army from the rear yellow river defense line here is not smooth, and its supply route is too close to the main position of the Wei army in the Hexi region, if the Hexi area is a plain terrain of the Pingchuan River, the Qin army can supply the Gucheng from other places, then this fortress standing on the side of the Wei army will be a sharp knife against the heart of the Wei army, but unfortunately the Hexi area is located in the Taihang Mountains and the Yellow River, and the terrain suitable for passage here is pitiful. Once the main position of the Qin army in the Yellow River area was blocked by the Wei army, the city of Gucheng became an isolated city without any threat.
In 413 BC, Prince Wei led the main force of the Wei army to attack the Qin army to the west and the Qin army in the defensive line, the Wei army did not directly attack the Fan Pang fortress at the beginning but made a posture of bypassing fan pang to raid along the Yellow River, the Qin army saw that the Wei army avoided the Jiancheng attack on the main position, immediately sent troops to meet it, and dispatched the Fan Pang defenders to harass the rear of the Wei army, but the raid along the Yellow River was only a smoke bomb released by the prince, His real purpose was to lure the snake out of the hole to destroy the Qin army's living forces. Around Fan Pang City, the Qin and Wei armies fought fiercely, because the road leading to the two cities of Fan Pang and Jigu became the main battlefield of the Qin and Wei armies, the defenders of the two fortresses could not get support from the rear, and the combat effectiveness was declining day by day, but what Wei wanted was not that the Qin army did not take the initiative to retreat, he wanted to dry the blood of the Qin army in the Hexi area!
(The Terracotta Warriors show us the real military appearance and military formations of the Warring States period)
Because it was the Wei army that attacked and the Qin army defended, the initiative of the battlefield was completely grasped by the prince, whenever he felt that the Qin army was weak and wanted to give up the two cities of Fan pang and Gu, he let the Wei army slow down the offensive to make a look of lack of follow-up strength, in this case, the Qin army naturally would not easily give up the two fortresses, but these two fortresses were only outposts after all, and could not accommodate too many troops, and the commander of the Qin army also knew that it was not a matter of fighting and consuming all the time. In the course of the battle, the commander of the Qin army repeatedly wanted to concentrate the main force to fight the Wei army, but every time the Wu Qi Wei army sensed the Qin army's decisive intention to attack the Yellow River, it posed as a strong attack on the Yellow River defense line, forcing the Qin army to continue to disperse and guard the various crossings on the Yellow River.
The Qin army wanted to fight a decisive battle but could not, can only fight with the Wei army on the vast battlefield in the Hexi region, the two armies did not have a big war, the state of small battles lasted for more than a year, in this small and medium-sized continuous engagement, the Wei state of heavy gold to build the martial pawn troops shine, this elite heavy infantry can often hold the position when the situation is not favorable to the Wei army to give the Wei generals the opportunity to reorganize the troops, and when the Wei army has the advantage, as a decisive force into the battle to lay the foundation for victory. The ongoing small defeats eventually triggered an avalanche, and the Qin army was reduced to a dangerous situation- they did not have enough manpower to control the entire battlefield. The Qin army, which had lost its ability to gain insight into the battlefield situation, was blindfolded and could no longer react in time to the Actions of the Wei Army, and the time for a decisive battle set by The Prince Strike before the battle began. In 412 BC, the Wei army concentrated its main force on the east bank of the Yellow River to launch a fierce attack on the Qin army fortress Fan Pang on the east bank of the Yellow River, and the Fan Pang defenders, who had been exhausted in the previous ongoing small-scale battles, were annihilated before they could hold out until the main force of the Qin army came to their aid, and the city of Fan Pang fell into the hands of the Wei army.
(The mighty Wei Wu pawn, the strongest infantryman in the Warring States period, even the Qin army did not dare to confront it)
After capturing Fan pang City, the Wei army took advantage of the information asymmetry to directly attack the Attacking Qin Army and defeated the main force of the Qin Army. After defeating the main force of the Qin army, the Wei army controlled a large area of the surrounding area from the bases of Shaoliang and Fan pang, but the presence of the Qin army in the Hexi region was not completely expelled, and the Wei state's offensive operation was not completely successful.
In 409 BC, Marquis Wenhou of Wei appointed Wu Qi as the wei general to provoke another war in the Hexi region, and the Wei army developed all the way south to capture the Qin army-controlled Dali Wangcheng and built the Linjin City here. After the construction of Linjin City was completed, the Wei army hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in the city and attacked Pusaka Pass as a base in Linjin, due to the losses in the previous battles, coupled with the great power of Wei Wupao in the offensive operation, the Qin army was unable to defend Pusaka and was forced to retreat. This pass is located in the northeast of Xianyang on the Linjin Road, located in the mountain and river pass, choking Jinpu ferry, for the Qin and Jin inter-traffic arteries, to the west across the Luoshui is eight hundred miles qinchuan land, has a very great strategic significance, the State of Wei occupied here after the reinforcement and sent troops to guard, and then continued to attack and capture Luoyin, Heyang and other places, together with Pusaka to form a strict defense line facing the Qin state. The forces of the State of Qin were completely expelled from the Hexi region, and the State of Wei set up Xihe County here, appointed Wu Qi as the county guard, and went all out to strengthen defense and train troops.
(During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, because stirrups had not yet been invented, most of the marching operations were mainly chariots)
The Xihe County Attack could break through the Qin army's Luoshui defense line to threaten the hinterland of the Qin state, and defend the Qin army that could rely on the vast depth between the Yellow River and the Taihang Mountains to gradually delay and eliminate the attacking Qin army, its setting allowed the State of Wei to control the natural danger of the Yellow River, lifted the flanking threat of the Wei capital Jinyang, and enabled the State of Wei to obtain a favorable strategic position, and the State of Wei gradually embarked on the road of expansion and gradually became the hegemonic state in the early Warring States period.
But the State of Qin never gave up on its efforts to retake the land of Hexi, and seventy years later, another successive battle here finally determined the final ownership of this strategic place. The wei state's placement of Xihe County was only the beginning of more than a hundred years of enmity and hatred between Qin and Wei.