Before the Battle of Gaixia, the situation was extremely unfavorable to Xiang Yu.
In August of the fourth year of Emperor Gaozu (203 BC), Xiang Yu and Liu Bang ended their two-year confrontation, and the two sides held a famous "gap peace talks" in history, dividing the world by the canal built by Wei during the Warring States Period. In fact, the situation at this time is extremely unfavorable to Xiang Yu.
The situation before the Battle of Gaixia
1, the world trend. At the beginning of the confrontation between the two sides in Xingyang, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were evenly matched, and Xiang Yu even had a certain upper hand. However, after two years of operation, it was time for "gap and negotiation". Through military conquest and diplomatic lobbying, Liu Bang successively captured Wei, Dai, Zhao and Qi, and subdued Yan Zangcha, King Hengshan and King Jiujiang, thus controlling most of the land in the world. It can be said that the strategic balance at this time has completely fallen to Liu Bang.
2. The level of military combat effectiveness. During the confrontation in Xingyang, although the Chu army occupied an advantage in the frontal battlefield for a long time, as time went on, their army's combat effectiveness continued to decline. For Liu Bang, behind him is a vast area directly occupied by himself. Under the management of Xiao He, there was a steady stream of grain and grass and soldiers, which made his army's combat effectiveness always relatively balanced. On the other hand, Xiang Yu, because he was far away from his control area, the supply line was not only farther than Liu Bang, but also harassed and intercepted by Peng Yue for a long time, and there were serious problems in logistics supply and army morale, which was one of the reasons why he was forced to take the initiative to make peace. From the confrontation of Xingyang to the battle of Gaixia, the balance of war gradually fell to Liu Bang because of the trade-off between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. In fact, at the moment when Gaixia War broke out, Xiang Yu was almost doomed to failure.
Xiang Yu's retreat was frustrated one after another. After Xiang Yu's retreat was broken, he had to retreat to the "gap discussion." Xiang Yu led his troops to withdraw eastward, while Liu Bangze tore up the agreement at the suggestion of Sean and Chen Ping and led his troops to pursue. At the same time, Han Xin, the king of Qi and Peng Yue, the king of Liang, all marched south, and Rebekah met Ying Bu from Huaibei, and the Fifth Route Army launched a converging attack on Xiang Yu. Briefly introduce the whole pursuit process:
Liu bang's route of pursuing Xiang Yu
After Xiang Yu retreated to Yang Xia, he was pursued by Liu Bang's army. Xiang Yu was defeated and Zhou, the general of Chu State, was captured. Xiang Yu was forced to retreat to Guling, leaving Zhong Lifan stationed in Guling to ensure the safety of the back road. Liu Bang pursued Guling and was defeated by Zhong Lifan, so he had to stop pursuing for a while, and Xiang Yu got a short breath.
Seeing that the pursuit was blocked, Liu Bang ordered Liu Jia to cross the Huaihe River, capture Shouchun, and prevent Xiang Yu from fleeing back to Huiji. At the same time, he sent people to fight against Zhou Yin, the great Sima of Chu, who immediately fought against Chu and helped Liu Jia and Ying Bu capture Jiujiang.
Xiang Yu, whose retreat to the south was broken, had to retreat to the east.
At the same time, Guan Ying, Jin Wei and others had already breached Pengcheng, the capital of Chu State, and led cavalry into Guling, where they joined forces with Liu Bang in the east of Guling. Xiang Yu learned that Guan Ying, Jin Wei and others led the Han army eastward. In order to prevent himself from being surrounded, he had to retreat to Chen County to gather down archers for the final battle.
In October of the fifth year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (203 BC), Liu Bang led his army to defeat the Chu army again, and Chu generals Ling Chang and Chen surrendered to the Han Dynasty several times. Xiang Yu had to continue to retreat, and planned to retreat to Huiji. However, because the retreat to the south had been cut off by Liu Jia, Zhou Yin and Ying Bu, he finally had to retreat to the east, while Liu Bangze was chasing after him.
Xiang Yu was defeated, and Han Xin and Peng Yue sent troops.
At the same time, Han Xin and Peng Yue saw that Xiang Yu was defeated and had to lead the army to meet Liu Bang. At this point, all the five armies were stationed in Gaixia. In the face of the absolute superiority of the Han army, it is difficult for Xiang Yu to pull back a game.
The five armies joined forces with Xiang Yu, and Xiang Yu defeated Wujiang River and committed suicide.
In November of the fifth year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (203 BC), Xiang Yu retreated to Gaixia, led the remaining 100,000 exhausted troops to build bases and camps, reorganized the troops and restored their military strength. In December, Han Xin, Peng Yue and Ying Bu joined Liu Bang, and the ten Wan Chu armies retreating to the south of the Yangtze River were surrounded by layers. The Han army with about 700,000 troops is already in an absolute advantage.
In January of the fifth year of the Han Dynasty (202 BC), the two sides fought a decisive battle. Han Xin personally led 300,000 people to meet Xiang Yu head-on, Hou Kongqi led the army to the left, Hou Fei Michael Chen led the army to the right, Liu Bangze was in the rear, and the reserves such as frequency and Chai Wu were on standby behind Liu Bangjun.
Han Xinxian led the Han army to attack, the first battle was frustrated, and Han Xin retreated. When the Chu army pursued Han Xin, it was attacked by the left and right Han armies, and the two sides fell into a scuffle. At this time, Han Xin turned around to fight again, and Chujun was attacked on three sides. After a great war, the Chu army was defeated and Xiang Yu was forced to return to Gaixia City.
In the evening, the two sides returned to camp for a truce. The Han army took psychological warfare offensive and ordered people to sing Chu songs, which led to the exhaustion of teacher Xiang Yu's morale. Seeing that the tide was gone, Xiang Yu had to take advantage of the night to lead 800 elite riders to break through and flee to the south. Under the pursuit of the Han army, Wujiang finally committed suicide.