The Battle of Hexi was a large-scale war between Wei and Qin Wei during the Warring States Period for the Hexi area in Guanzhong (the area west of the south section of the Yellow River between Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces). After several battles, the national strength of Qin increased greatly after Shang Yang's political reform, which coincided with the loss of Wei's elite and great loss of national strength, and finally Qin recovered the land of Hexi. However, before Shang Yang's political reform, Wei firmly occupied the Hexi land of Qin State, which brought great threat to Qin State. Around the land of Hexi, Qin and Wei fought five large-scale battles.
Among them, as far as the second battle of Hexi is concerned, it is also called the "Battle of Yinjin". In this World War I, Wuqi led 50,000 Wei soldiers and defeated 500,000 Qin Jun, which is undoubtedly incredible. Therefore, it is very obvious that the second battle of Hexi can be called the peak battle of Wu Qi, a military commander, which made him compare with Sun Wu, Sun Bin, Bai Qi, Wang Jian, Li Mu and Lian Po.
one
First of all, as far as the historical background of the Second Hexi War is concerned, in the early Warring States period, Wei took the lead in carrying out political reform, which promoted Wei's rapid rise as a powerful country among the seven heroes in the Warring States period. As far as the Qin State at that time was concerned, not only did it not carry out Shang Yang's political reform, but it was also called the weaker vassal state among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States because of civil strife and other reasons. So, in the early Warring States period, Wei launched the first Hexi War. In this war, after Wei conquered the land west of Qin, it had a springboard to further attack and even destroy Qin, which seriously threatened the security of Qin. However, it should be noted that after the first Hexi War, Wei focused on the land of the Central Plains, that is, did not continue to attack the hinterland of Qin.
After Wei Wenhou's death, Wei's expansion center shifted to the Central Plains, and Wei Jun's main force also moved to the Central Plains. Therefore, for Qin, it is considered to be an important opportunity to recapture the land of Hexi. On this basis, Qin launched the second Hexi War. For Qin, after losing the land of Hexi, it was forced to retreat to the Luoshui area, and the national security was seriously threatened. Later, after several years of preparation, Qin began to attack Wei in the first year of Zhou 'an (40 1 BC). In the ninth year of Wang (393 BC), he fought against Wei in Wang (now Chengcheng, Shaanxi), and in the twelfth year of Wang (390 BC), he fought against Wucheng (now hua county, Shaanxi) in an attempt to recapture the important town in Hexi. Facing the constant attack of Qin Jun, Wei Jun fought against Qin Jun with all her strength.
In the 13th year of Zhou An (389 BC), the State of Qin once again mobilized more than 500,000 troops to attack Yinjin, an important town on the way of Qin's eastward advance.
In this regard, Sima Qian recorded in the "Historical Records Volume 44 Wei Family": In sixteen years, he cut Qin and built Linjin and Yuanli. Seventeen years ... attack Qin in the west, return to Zheng, build and heyang.
two
In the second battle of Hexi, Qin mobilized 500 thousand troops. But many of these 500 thousand troops are patchwork, and even many soldiers are farmers who transport grain and grass. In other words, in the second battle of Hexi, Qin probably exaggerated its own strength in order to deter Wei. Of course, in any case, in this battle, the number of Qin Jun is far greater than that of Wei Jun. After all, the main force of Wei had mobilized the eastern front at that time. In a short time, it was difficult for Wei to mobilize troops from other places to support Xihe County, which Wuqi was guarding.
In the 13th year of Zhou An (389 BC), 500,000 Qin Jun camped outside Yinjin City, and the situation was critical. Wei stationed an elite army in Hexi, and Wu Qi, the county magistrate of Xihe, encouraged the troops to maintain high morale. He invited Wei Wuhou, the second monarch of Wei State, to hold a celebration banquet, and let the accomplished people sit in the front row, using expensive tableware such as gold, silver and copper. All three animals are pigs, cows and sheep. Those who make meritorious deeds sit in the middle row, and expensive tableware is appropriately reduced or exempted; Idle people sit in the back row and are not allowed to use expensive tableware.
In order to boost morale, after the banquet, Wei will also reward the parents, wives and family members of the meritorious service outside the city gate. Every year, messengers are sent to the families of the fallen soldiers to express their condolences and give them to their parents as reminders. This law has been in force for three years. As soon as Qin Jun attacked Hexi, tens of thousands of soldiers in Wei Jun immediately went into battle. In the face of this large-scale attack by Qin Jun, Wuqi asked Wei Wuhou to send 50,000 people without meritorious service as infantry and personally lead the team to fight back against Qin Jun.
three
In the second battle of Hexi, Wei Wuhou agreed to Wuqi's request. Moreover, in order to support Wuqi, Wei Wuhou also sent 500 chariots and 3000 cavalry. On the day before the formal war with Qin Jun, Wu Qi issued an order to the three armed forces, saying: All officials, regardless of chariots, cavalry and infantry, must fight with me against the enemy. "If you can't ride a car, you can't ride a bike, and you can't become a disciple, although it's in vain" (Shi). Then, Wuqi led Wei Jun to launch a counterattack against Qin Jun in Yinjin. On this day, although there were only 50,000 people in Wei Jun, the number was significantly less than that in Qin Jun. But in the second battle of Hexi, Wei Bing fought bravely to kill the enemy. After repeated attacks, Wei Jun defeated 500,000 Qin Jun and achieved brilliant results.
In this regard, Sima Qian recorded in the biographies of Wu Qi, the sixty-five grandson of Historical Records: Hou Wenqi fought with Wu Qishan, was honest, and tried his best to win the hearts of scholars. He thought Xihe would resist Qin and Han Dynasties.
In the Second Battle of Hexi, although Wuqi faced a large number of people, he didn't have the slightest fear and panic. Instead, he greatly improved Wei Jun's morale and significantly enhanced his fighting capacity through incentives, and defeated ten times his own with a few elite soldiers, defending Wei's strategic position in Hexi and effectively curbing the momentum of eastward advancement. So obviously, this battle is also a famous battle in the history of China's ancient war. In ancient history, many battles with little chance of winning often left a deep impression on people, such as the famous battle of Guandu, Battle of Red Cliffs, the battle of Feishui, the battle of Kunyang and the battle of Jingxing.
four
Finally, in my opinion, Wei Jun's victory in the Second Hexi War is actually directly related to Wei Jun's leading equipment. "Wei Wuzu" is an elite infantry trained by Wuqi. Wu Qi trained Wei Wuzu that year. "Wei pawn was taken, disguised as one of the three genera, holding a crossbow with twelve stones and fifty negative arrows, placed on it, crowned with a sword, seized three diets, and gained a hundred miles every day. The pilot project will be resumed, which will benefit its farmland. "Soldiers are armed with long bows, carrying 50 long arrows and a hard bow with iron tires (12 stone), and at the same time carrying three-day rations, with a total weight of about 50 kilograms. They can become soldiers who can immediately engage in fierce battles after marching continuously 100, and enjoy preferential treatment.
On this basis, Wu Qi led Wei Wuzu to fight in the north and made a great achievement of "70 World Wars, 64 victories, and the rest were solved (regardless of the outcome)". In the early Warring States period, Wu Qi led Wei Wuzu to capture Hangu Pass. After 64 battles, he captured more than 500 miles of land on the west bank of the Yellow River in Qin State and compressed Qin State in a narrow strip west of Huashan Mountain.
Generally speaking, Wei, who gradually shifted his focus to the land of the Central Plains in the second Hexi War, managed to keep the land of Hexi. At the same time, this battle also led to the result that "vassals are not as good as Qin", which made Qin Shen feel ashamed. Five years later, the State of Qin launched a mutiny, and the son of the State of Qin was abolished, welcoming Prince Qin Linggong as Qin Xiangong. Qin Xiangong is Qin Xiaogong's father. After he acceded to the throne, he immediately set out to realize the reform of Qin State. In the eyes of many historians, Qin Xiangong's preliminary political reform actually laid a good foundation for the implementation of Shang Yang's political reform. Thanks to the efforts of Harmony, Qin finally got a chance to avenge himself in the battle of Hexi. What do you think of this?