Liu Bang, who had just risen to the army, relied on his excellent military ability to defeat the Qin army of the county sheriff and the commander of the county supervisor in the anti-Qin rebel army, but encountered a crisis outside of ability, that is, after expanding the territory, he faced the impact of "national identity", and Zhang Chu's position as "Pei Gong" was not enough to stabilize the team, and as a result, except for Pei County, all that was eaten in it was vomited out.
After that, he painfully embraced the thighs of Jing Ju and Qin Jiaxin in establishing the Chu State, and under the command of the big man Chen Bao of Dongyang Ningjun, he experienced "high-level politics", and found a position in the civil war between the two major groups of Qin Jia and Xiang Liang for the orthodoxy of the "Chu State", skillfully maneuvered, and at the most appropriate time, he "sold" himself to Xiang Liang without compromising his character and reputation.
The above stories all occurred in the eight months between September of the first year of Qin II and April of Qin II, with one setback and three leaps, but the foundation of the Han Dynasty has gradually taken shape.
After Xue Cheng participated in the establishment of The King of Chuhuai, Liu Bang had become a major general of the Western Chu State who controlled the six cities of Yu, Meng, Yan, Xiayi, Feng, and Pei, and controlled the transportation hubs of the three major transportation trunk lines of Surabaya, Gushui, and Suishui, with 14,000 troops, and had already accounted for 1/10 of the more than 100,000 troops under xiangliang's command.
When the fighting on the western front cooled down, the northern front became a new focus, and Chen Sheng's old general Zhou Shi had supported the King of Wei at Linji in Dong County, which had been besieged for several months, and by April of the second year of Qin II, the State of Wei could no longer sustain itself, see the "Chronicle of the Moon of the Time of Qin and Chu":
Linji is in a hurry, Zhou Shiruqi and Chu please save.
See also The Chronicle of Peng Yuelie:
King Nai of Wei sent Zhou Shi out to rescue Yu Qi and Chu.
At this time, the State of Chu had just established a "new core" and had not yet completed its internal integration, and it was not until June of the second year of Qin II that Xiang Liang supported the King of Chu Huai, and before and after this, he only sent his relative Xiang It on a campaign, see the "History of Wei Leopard Peng Yue Lie":
Qi, Chu sent Xiang It, and Tian Ba to rescue Wei with the city. Zhang Handan then broke through and killed Zhou Shi and other troops and surrounded Linji. Blame it on its people. Agreed, blame yourself for killing.
Although this passage is coherent, it does not happen at the moment.
Because in the "Chronicle of the Moon of The Chronicle of Qin and Chu", it is also recorded under the article "June of the Second Year of Qin II":
Dan rescued Linji, and Zhang Handan killed Tian Dan. Rong went to Dong'a.
Tian Dan was the King of Qi at the time, and spontaneously sent troops to personally rescue Linji, and it is certain that after the failure of the general Tian Ba to relieve the siege of Zhou City, see the "History of Tian Danlie":
The Qin general Zhang Handan besieged the King of Wei and blamed Linji, anxious. The King of Wei asked Yu Qi to save him, and Tian Dan, the King of Qi, sent his troops to save Wei. Zhang Handan attacked at night, broke the Qi and Wei armies, and killed Tian Dan under Linji. Dan brother Tian Rong collected the remaining soldiers and went east to Dong'a.
That is to say, there were a total of two groups of troops to break the siege, one wave was the Qi-Chu coalition army led by Zhou Shi, which was destroyed, and the other wave was the Qi army of General Tian Dan, which was attacked by Zhang Handan at night, and even Tian Dan himself was killed, and what was Xiang Liang doing with more than 100,000 people?
See "History of Xiang Yu Benji":
After a few months, he led troops to attack His father, and together with Qi TianRong, Sima Long, and the army rescued Dong'a, and broke the Qin army in Dong'a.
That is to say, Xiang Liang was sitting and watching the Wei state being destroyed, sending troops to save Qi, of course, certainly not idle, the chu army's organization and training should be improved, so there was a "Great Victory in Dong'a" not long after, but there is a more important "lesson" is probably the drama meat, but in the past historical narrative is often ignored, here first sell a guanzi, according to the time to describe the causes and consequences.
The reason for the battle of Dong'a was the aftermath of Tian Dan's defeat, see "History of Tian Danlie":
Tian Rongzhi went to Dong'a, and Zhang Handan chased after him. Xiang Liang heard tian Rong's urgency and led his troops to break Zhang Handan's army.
Note that these two records have an obvious contradiction, that is, who did Xiang Liang lead the army to attack The Father of Kang with to save Dong'a?
According to the conventional sentence in the above article, it should be "with Qi Tian Rong, Sima Long and the army", the problem is, Tian Rong has been surrounded in Dong'a with thousands of people, how to be with Xiang Liang?
The natural sentence should be, "Qi Tian Rong Sima LongHe", that is, Qi Guo Tian Rong's "Sima Rong" Dragon and Xiang Liang rescued Tian Rong and defeated the Qin army, which actually tells us that the original "Long He" is not a Chu general, but a Qi general, or even a Qi person.
In this process, what is Liu Bang doing?
See the record of this period in the Chronicle of the Patriarch Gaozu is very brief:
In a few months, he attacked his father in the north, saved Dong'a, and broke the Qin army. When the Qi army returned, Chu Du pursued the north, so that Pei Gong and Xiang Yubei attacked Chengyang and Slaughtered it. East of Puyang, the army fought with the Qin army and broke it. The Qin army revived, guarded Puyang, and huanshui. The Chu army went and attacked Dingtao, but Dingtao did not fall. Pei Gong and Xiang Yu went slightly to the yongqiu and fought with the Qin army, breaking it and beheading Li You. Also attacked the outer yellow, the outer yellow did not fall.
It seems that there is almost nothing to do with Liu Bang, and the Book of Han and the Chronicle of Emperor Gao adds a little drama:
In July, it rained heavily. Pei Gong attacked his father. Zhang Handan wei Tian Rong in Dong'a. Pei Gong and Xiang Liang rescued Tian Rong and broke the chapter of Handan Dong'a.
Since there are not many records of the "Battle of Dong'a", we observe it coherently, and until Xiang Liang's death in battle, the movement of the Liu Bang clique at this stage still has to look at the "generals":
(Cao Shan) attacked Qi Qi and Kang Father, and ascended first. Moved to the Fifth Doctor. The north rescued Ah, attacked the Zhang Handan army, trapped Chen, and pursued him to Puyang. Conquer the pottery and take linji. Nan rescued Yongqiu, attacked Li Youjun, broke it, killed Li You, and captured Qin Hou alone. (History of Cao Xiangguo's Family) (Zhou Bo) Ding Wei Di. Attack qi, dong yi, in the past to the chestnut, take it. Attack Sang, climb first. Strike the Qin army and break it. Chase to Puyang and go down to Zhencheng. Attack the capital Pass, Dingtao, attack Wanqu, and get a single father's order. Night raid to take Linji, attack Zhang, before the roll, broken. Strike Li by jun Yongqiu. Attack Kaifeng, first to the city is more. ("History of the Family of The Marquis of Daihou")
Cao and Tuesday's early combat experience is very rich, almost running all over the map, far beyond their peers, and can be used as a geographical reference.
More importantly, Zhou Bo's record is interspersed with strange words, "Ding Wei Di", and Cao Gan's record is also significantly missing a "from" character.
See also Fan Duo and Xiahou Bao:
(Fan Duo) Chang Cong, Pei Gong attacked Zhang Handan Army Puyang, Gongcheng Xiandeng, beheaded twenty-three ranks, and was given the title of Grand Master. Fu Chang Cong, from the siege of Yang (Book of Han as Yang Cheng), Xian Deng. ShimotoMu, breaking Li Yujun, beheaded sixteenth rank, and gave the upper knighthood. ("History of Fan Li Teng's Biography") (Xiahou Bao) attacked the Qin army from the east, attacked Jiyang, xiahumu, broke Li by the army Yongqiu, attacked the war with a military vehicle, and gave the knighthood to hold the throne. Chang Yi's servants served the chariot from the East A and Puyang of the Zhang handan army, attacked the war disease with the military vehicle fun, broke it, and gave the knighthood to hold the throne. ("History of Fan Li Teng's Biography")
It can be seen that Fan Duo and Xiahou Bao, one was a big bodyguard (later also served as "Lang Zhong"), the other was a big driver (that is, "Fengche"), must be a "constant conformist", which should also be emphasized in this biography, and this text emphasizes that it is itself "a kind of merit" in the records at that time, similar official words are "Chang Cong" and "Chang Feng Che", and those that specifically describe the meritorious characteristics of the military are:
Infantry - "first to the city is more";
Vehicle soldiers - "attack the disease of war with the fun of soldiers and vehicles";
Cavalry - "Rapid Fighting", "Rapid Force", "Rapid Force", "Rapid Battle".
Knowing these, and then decomposing the above records can read the hidden information, that is, Liu Bang's own action trajectory is:
Dong'a - Puyang - Chengyang - Humu - Yongqiu.
Among them, Chengyang is a pure siege battle, so Fan Duo is "Xiandeng", which is the exclusive term for siege, while the battles of Dong'a, Jiyang, Humu, and Yongqiu are field battles, so Xiahou Baby commands the assault of military vehicles and makes meritorious service, while the Battle of Puyang is the most special, there are field battles, there are sieges, so Xiahou Baby and Fan Duo are displayed.
Looking at Cao Shan and Zhou Bo on the other hand, it is complicated, Cao Shan attacked the two counties of "Yan Qi" and "Father Kang", all of which had the merit of "first ascending", while Zhou Bo attacked "Ya Qi" and "Dong Qi", that is to say, Cao and Tuesday were definitely not in Liu Bang's headquarters, but the vanguard army sweeping to the road to Dong'a.
Cao Zan belonged to the main force, so when he conquered Father Kang and Qi Qi, and Zhou Bobu participated in the battle to sweep away Qi qi and Dong Qi, he did not "take it" or "Kezhi", but turned to "Li County" in Yan County when the main army of Xiang Liang and Liu Bang came.
In the last article, we said that Zhang Handan's army defeated Zhu Jishi and Yu Fanjun after reaching "Li", that is to say, Li County had already been occupied by the Qin army, and after that, Cao Shan and Zhou Bo under Liu Bang attacked the cavalry troops of Zhang Handan's army, which meant that either they "copied" the back roads of the Qin army concentrated in Li County, or in the process of Zhang Handan's main force turning north to Linji to attack Wei Wangchai, they "copied" the back roads of the Qin army and conquered Mengxian and Yu County.
However, this did not change the result of Li County's attribution to Qin, so the Zhou Bo army, which was originally stationed on the western border of the Chu State, learned that the Qin army in Li County had changed in the process of going north to Shan Father, Dong Miao, and Yan Qi, and it was entirely possible to return to suppress it, and the result of this small battle was to "take it", that is, Li County also entered the control of the Chu State.
There is also an episode in the middle, that is, Before the "Battle of Dong'a", Zhou Bo also conquered the land of "Luosang" and "Luosang", near Feng and Pei, this incident is unknown, it is likely that the people in "Yi" could not bear the exploitation of the "rebels", and launched a rebellion after the main forces of Xiangliang and Liu Bang went north to empty.
After all, it has been nearly a year since Liu Bang started to fight against Qin, Fengyi alone has attacked back and forth three times, Pei County as the key to Surabaya transportation, the Qin army, Jingju Chu army, Xiangliang Chu army, Liu Bang Chu army such as crossing the river carp, before and after more than 200,000, the suffering of the people can be imagined, but Zhou Bo's partial division easily "first boarded" to extinguish this small flame, turned around and participated in the "Decisive Battle of Dong'a" in the headquarters.
In the "Battle of Dong'a", Liu, Cao Shan, Zhou Bo, Xiahou Infant, and Fan Duo were all present, but the performance of Fan Duo and Xiahou Infant was obviously not much, Fan Duo did not record it, and Xiahou Infant was "often appointed as an ether servant to serve the car from the East A and Puyang of the Zhang Handan Army", and the "Tai Servant" was added here, instead of the conventional "Chang Feng Cha", it is possible that Liu Bang himself and his guards did not charge into the battlefield, but their subordinate "military vehicles" participated in the field and made meritorious contributions, in fact, "command merit", so they were promoted to knighthood.
On the other hand, Cao Shan, on the other hand, was "saving Ah in the north, attacking the Zhang Handan army, trapping Chen", "trapping Chen" and "trapping the merits" is also a description of battlefield merit performance, that is, the vanguard assault on the enemy's array, while Zhou Bo only participated in this battle, it can be seen that as a major battle under the unified command of Xiang Liang, Liu Bang's clique was only partially engaged with the enemy, not the whole army, that is, the protagonist was not him.
After this, he pursued the defeated and withdrawn Zhang Handan's troops, "(Chu) army east of Puyang, fought with the Qin army, and broke it." The Qin army revived, guarded Puyang, and huanshui. This also means that the next battle of Puyang is to first fight in the field and then defend the city, and in the field, the Qin army was defeated and organized to guard Puyang.
It is worth noting that the "History of Gao Zu Benji" wrote two words here - "Huan Shui", which may be the Qin army digging a long trench in the city to divert water for defense, or it may be that the Chu army outside the city besieged the Qin army in this way.
Both Cao Shan and Zhou Bo participated in the pursuit of the Qin army, so both had the words "chased to Puyang", but they did not show that they participated in the battle, while Fan Duo "ascended to the city first, beheaded twenty-three levels, and gave the knighthood of the doctor", and then "first climbed" again in the siege of Chengyang, which meant that Fan Duo preemptively ascended the city in front of him and also obtained the decapitation of 23 heads, which was undoubtedly a bit strange.
Equally strange is Xiahou Bao, after he participated in the Battle of Yandong, the record directly jumped to attack Jiyang and Xiahumu, broke Li Yuyongqiu, and thus gave him the title of knight, but strangely because of the battle merits under Dong'a and Puyang, he was promoted to Zhigui, and it is obvious that the battles of Jiyang, Humu, and Yongqiu were all after the battles of Dong'a and Puyang, which is equivalent to posthumously promoting the former gong to the knighthood, what is the reason?
What is even more strange is the knighthood of Xiahou Baby and others, comb through it:
That is to say, when Xiang Liang gave Liu Bang the Five Masters 10 people and 5,000 people in Xue County, the team members of the recorded "Five Doctors" were only Xiahou Infant and Zhou Bo, and Cao Gan was still only the "Seven Doctors", you know, the "Five Doctors" were important thresholds under the "Qing Lord" in the Chu knighthood system and the Qin lord system, that is to say, Cao Gan's "progress" was not as good as Zhou Bo, and it should be because his starting title was not as good as Zhou Bo.
Among these four people, the lowest knighthood was actually Fan Duo, and it was only during the Battle of Yandong that he was given the title of Grand Master, that is to say, according to the rank of knighthood in the team, it was Xiahou Infant first, Zhou Bo second, Cao San third, and Fan Duo fourth, is it a bit anti-"common sense"?
Then, based on the above information, we can know that the so-called "Five Doctor Generals" are actually the "generals" of the 500 pawns of the unified army, not the meaning of "generals", which is also consistent with the previous three solutions, and the "generals" of the same level recorded in Liu Bang's team are only Xiahou Baby and Zhou Bo, which means that the pawns that Xiang Liang "gives" are actually "mixed with sand", and they are fiercely "mixed".
Cao San and Zhou Bo, who were dispatched to "split the road" to fight, of course, could not fight independently as 500 troops, and there must be a "main general" on their heads, and this main general did not explicitly say, but could speculate according to the situation.
The Chronicle of Gao Zu Benji records xiangliang's defeat at the battle:
Xiang Liang broke the Qin army again, and he was proud. Song Yiyi, do not listen. Qin Yizhang Handan Bing, night rank hit Xiang Liang, the Great Broken Dingtao, Xiang Liang died. Pei Gong and Xiang Yu fang attacked Chen Liu, Wen Xiangliang died, and led troops to judong with the Lü general. Lü Chenjun Peng chengdong, Xiang Yujun Peng chengxi, Pei Gongjun Yan.
Many people only pay attention to the "proud army will be defeated", but do not care about the pattern of the Chu army after the defeat of Xiang Liang, the record here shows that after Liu Bang and Xiang Yu attacked Waihuang, they transferred to Chen Liu, heard that Xiang Liang was killed in battle, they led the troops to retreat east with "General Lü", and the final layout was that Liu Bang was stationed in the westernmost area, Lü Chen garrisoned in pengcheng east, and Xiang Yu garrisoned in pengcheng west.
Then the other parts of the "Chu Army" that were formed into an organization, at least three branches of Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, and Lü Chen, also withdrew to the east, which meant that the combat areas of the three sides were within the scope between Dong County and Yan County, that is to say, the "assigned" troops of Cao Shan and Zhou Bo mentioned above should be Lü Chen's troops.
Therefore, what we can understand is that Xiang Liang's "stay for several months" after "doing his best to recruit other generals" is actually the reorganization of these "Chu armies", then, Liu Bang's 14,000 people can not be used as a de facto "independent force", but in the case of only 3 "Five Great Generals", Xiang Liang sent 10 "Five Doctors" to take the opportunity to annex, digest, and deliberately break up Liu Bang's troops, Liu Bang's headquarters and relatives Xiang Yu acted together, and as the main force of the battle, and Cao Shan and Zhou Bo were used independently , affiliated with others.
That is to say, if Xiang Liang does not die, over time, the backbone of The Liu Bang Clique will be gradually dispatched in addition to the relatives and subordinates around him, and eventually, Liu Bang will end his life as a "general" of a town in the Xiang regime, and as for the 400-year Western Han Dynasty, there is naturally no way to talk about it.