Bai Qi was the main general of Qin during the Warring States Period. He was born in Yan (now east of Meixian County, Shaanxi Province) and died in 58 years (257 BC), that is, 50 years of Qin Dynasty. In the 21st year of Zhou Nanwang (294 BC), Tian Lei, as commander-in-chief of Zuo Shu, led an army to attack North Korea and captured the new town, which showed his extraordinary military talent and won the appreciation of the new Prime Minister Wei Ran. This year, Wei Ran recommended Tian Lei to the king of Qin. From then on, Tian Lei rose in the army, both offensive and defensive, and fought in the battlefield for 37 years. "More than 70 cities were defeated" (2), which was promoted to Guo Wei and Daliang for its outstanding military exploits. In the thirty-seventh year of Zhou Nanwang (278 BC), Bai Qi was named Wu Anjun, and became the commander-in-chief of the main battlefield where Qin Zhaoxiang and Wang Bing entered the Central Plains and destroyed the six eastern countries. Historian Sima Qian praised Bai Qi for "the enemy was not surprised, surprising and shocking the world" (3), which is admirable.
The invasion of the Central Plains was invincible.
Tian Lei lived at the end of the Warring States Period, when seven countries fought side by side and fought for years. The State of Qin, where he lived, was originally just a small country on the western border. In Qin Xiaogong, Shang Yang was ordered to carry out political reform and a series of feudal reforms, which laid the foundation for the country's prosperity. Later, the State of Qin continued to expand outward, entering Shang Jun in the north and Bashu in the south, defeating neighboring countries, especially Wei Jun, many times and becoming the most powerful "land of abundance" among the seven countries. When Zhao Xiang became king, he was more talented. Internally, continue to implement the policy of "seeking wealth and strength"; Adopting the correct strategy of "making friends far away and attacking near", he fought in the Central Plains year after year, defeated Chu in the south, defeated Zhao, Wei and Han in the east, and pushed his forces all the way to the Taihang Mountains, further laying the foundation for Qin to unify the Central Plains. In this series of wars, Tian Lei hardly served, nor was he the commander-in-chief. He won great victories without serving.
In the 22nd year of Zhou Nanwang's reign (293 BC), he led his troops to invade Korea and defeated the Wei and Korean allied forces in Yi Que (mountain name, southwest of Luoyang, Henan). In this battle, Leitian took advantage of the mutual concern of Han Weijun, and both sides "didn't want to use others first", and adopted the operational policy of being weak first and then strong, and broke them one by one. First, set up suspicious soldiers to contain the Korean army; Then defeat Wei Jun by "concentrating forces and taking them by surprise". . "Wei Jun has been defeated and the Korean army has collapsed." (1) Tian Lei sent troops to pursue, beheaded the enemy's head of two hundred and forty thousand, captured the Korean general GongSunXi. The Qin army pulled out five cities in succession, forcing Wei and Han to cede territory for peace, and achieved a brilliant record of winning more with less.
In the first 289 years, Tian Lei led an army to attack Wei, and captured 6 1 city. In the second year, "the King of Qin called the Western Emperor and sent the King of Qi as the Eastern Emperor".
In the first 280 years, he led an army to attack Zhao, defeated Zhao, beheaded 20,000 people, and seized the wolf city. The following year, he sent troops south to defeat the Chu army and captured Yanling (now Yanling, Henan Province), Deng (now Dengxian, Henan Province) and Xiling (now northwest of Yichang, Hubei Province).
In the first 278 years, Bai Qi conquered Chu again. He grasped the weakness of "the king of Chu attaches great importance to the country and doesn't care about politics", while the ministers fought for power and profit, the people were indifferent and the defense was lax. (4) led the troops into the hinterland of Chu, captured Ying, the capital of Chu (now northwest of Jiangling, Hubei), and burned Yiling, a military place of Chu (southeast of Yichang, Hubei). This campaign, taking advantage of the situation, attacked its key points and went straight to the heart of Chu, forcing the king of Chu to move to Chen (now Shouxian County, Anhui Province).
In the first two years of 277 and 276, Wu and Guizhou (now eastern Sichuan, western Hubei, western Hunan and parts of northern Guizhou) settled in the central county of Guizhou; Attack Wei in the east and pull out two cities of Wei.
In the first 273 years, Tian Lei led the troops to save Korea, defeated Wei Jun at Huayang (now south of Zhengzhou, Henan Province), drove away the enemy general Mangmao, beheaded the first batch of130,000 enemy soldiers, fought with the general Jia Yan of Zhao, and forced 20,000 Zhao soldiers into the river and drowned.
In the first 264 years, Bai Qi attacked Korea and defeated the Korean army in Gaocheng (now the northeast of Quwo County, Shanxi Province), pulling out Jiucheng and beheading 50,000 enemies. In the second year, he moved to Nanyang (now Jiyuan and Qinyang along the river in Henan) and pushed his troops to the southern end of Taihang Mountain.
In such a vast battlefield, fighting such frequent wars, no matter how many enemies are destroyed, how vast the territory is, and how wonderful the tactics are, vividly shows Tian Lei's courage and superb military command art. These wars are not recorded in detail in historical materials, and we can only get a general understanding of several characteristics of Bai Qi's fighting: First, continuous fighting and rapid use of troops. These wars are almost continuous. From 280 to 278, Zhao captured the city, attacked Chu twice in the south, and even captured the capital of Chu. In 277-276, Wu and Guizhou were settled in the south and Weicheng was taken in the east. The length, scale and speed of the front are rare in the history of ancient wars in China. The second is to concentrate our forces and break them one by one. In the battle of yique, the elite of the Wei-Han Coalition was the Korean army. However, the Korean army stopped because of isolation and helplessness; Although Wei Jun has a large number of people, its fighting capacity is low. Therefore, Tian Lei adopted the strategy of containing the North Korean army and concentrating on attacking Wei Jun first, so as to achieve the goal of divide-and-conquer, winning more with less. He won a great victory of "breaking the armies of the two countries, bleeding into rivers and beheading 240 thousand." The third is to avoid reality and get to the enemy's point. Breaking the battle of Chu into Ying, I saw the powerful side of Chu from Bai Qi, which was a big country after Qin at that time. I have also seen that "the king of Chu relies on the country and does not govern" (2), and the people are indifferent, the garrison is slack, and the external strength is weak, and there is an opportunity. With extraordinary courage and strategy, he led tens of thousands of people, taking advantage of their weakness, went deep into a big country with a million troops, took the capital of Chu directly, seized almost all its land and destroyed its country.
In fifty-three years (the first 262 years), when we marched into Taihang Mountain, years of war broke out with Korea and Zhao. Among them, the battle of Changping was a famous battle commanded by Tian Lei.
Retreat and encircle the Zhao army
In the fifty-third year of Zhou Nanwang (262 BC), Tian Lei led an army to attack Korea and captured Dongye Wang (now Qinyang, Henan). Wang Ye, located at the southern end of Taihang Mountain and near the Yellow River, is a tunnel from Shangdang County, South Korea to Zhengdi, the capital of South Korea (now Xinzheng, Henan). Qin Jun's occupation of the Wild King was to split South Korea into two parts, cut off the north-south ties, and forced South Korea to offer a county (now Changzhi, Shanxi) to make peace with Qin Jun. At that time, Feng Ting, the satrap of South Korea's Shangdang, saw that the road to the capital of Nantang was dead and could not fight any more, but he didn't want to dedicate Shangdang to Qin, so he adopted the strategy of pulling Zhao to resist Qin. He thinks: It is better to go to Zhao instead of Qin. If Zhao is angered by me, Qin will attack Zhao. When Zhao is attacked by soldiers, he will be pro-Korean. If Han and Zhao are one, they can be Qin. "(1) with such a purpose, sent envoys to Zhao, and gave all the seventeen cities in Shangdang County to Zhao. In the second year, the king of Qin sent the commander-in-chief Wang Bi to lead the army in charge of state affairs. At this time, he had moved eastward to Zhao State and was named Hua Yangjun. As a result, Qin and Zhao fought for Shangdang area.
At first, the prince of Zhao sent general Lian Po to stop Qin Jun from entering Changping (now northwest of Gaoping, Shaanxi). According to the defeat of the weak enemy in the first battle, Lian Po adopted the strategy of building a base to stick to it and exhausting Qin Jun. Qin Jun challenged many times, "Lian Po can't get out of the wall" (2), and the two sides were deadlocked. At this time, the two armies of Qin and Zhao were at war abroad, but "Lian Po refused to defend the Shangdang people on the grounds of Shangdang land danger" (1), which not only took advantage of the mountain danger, but also took advantage of the morale of the Korean people who resolutely resisted Qin. The army reserves are sufficient, the Yugoslav capital is solid, and Qin Jun is helpless.
In order to change this unfavorable situation, Qin Jun first adopted a policy of alienating the people. In the fifty-fifth year of Zhou Nanwang (260 BC), the State of Qin sent a spy with his daughter to bribe the minister of Zhao. When they arrived in Zhao, they said to the king of Zhao: Qin Jun is not afraid of Lian Po's use of troops. "Qin is afraid of only Zhao Kuo, the son of Ma Fujun (Zhao She)! Lian Po is easy to get along with and has fallen! " (2) Zhao Haoqi Cheng Xiao was dissatisfied with Lian Po's practice of preventing troops from advancing. He listened to the above statement, egged on by some ignorant people, and despite the opposition of Lin Xiangru and others, he forcibly removed Lian Po and used Zhao Kuo, who was only an armchair strategist and had no practical ability. In July this year, after Zhao Kuo came to power, he rebelled against Lian Po's principle of using troops. Not only did the military system change in the face of the war, but also a large number of generals were replaced, which made the Zhao army complain and demoralized. Great changes have taken place in the battlefield.
When the king of Qin learned of the change of generals of Zhao, he secretly appointed Bai Qi as the commander-in-chief and changed Wang Bi into a general (lieutenant). The reason why the King of Qin secretly sent Bai Qi was because Zhao Kuo once said that he was afraid of General Qin's Bai Qi. In order to encourage Zhao Kuo's arrogance, Qin Jun ostensibly said that Wang Bi was a general. The King of Qin also issued a written military order for this purpose: "Whoever dares to vent his anger on Wu Anjun will be beheaded!" ③
In order to further paralyze and connive at Zhao Kuo, Tian Lei adopted a policy of retreating to advance, luring the enemy in depth and dividing the panic. Its specific deployment is:
1. Take the frontline troops as the task of luring the enemy. When the enemy attacks, they will pretend to be defeated and retreat, luring the enemy out of the barrier area and into the encirclement of Qin Jun.
2. Build a long wall, stick to the camp with the main force, and wait for an opportunity to fight back after being surrounded by two wings.
3. Take 25,000 people as the raiders and arrange them on the two wings of the barrier. After preparing to detour the side of Zhao, break its retreat and cooperate with the main force to panic in Zhao.
4, with five thousand cavalry, inserted into the middle of Zhao Daying, the implementation of segmentation.
In August, Zhao Kuo didn't know Qin Jun's real intention and rushed to take the offensive. Qin Jun's vanguard troops lured the enemy into the urn, making all Zhao troops enter the preset encirclement. Ordered the two-wing surprise attackers to go straight into the rear of the enemy's attacking troops, preemptively occupy the West Barrier (now Hanwang Mountain Highland in the north of Gaoping), and cut off the contact between Zhao's attacking troops and their camps; Then, he ordered five thousand cavalry to quickly insert between Zhao's camps; And ordered the light troops to continue their attack. The arrogant and aggressive Zhao army not only split in two, but also attacked everywhere and cut off the grain transportation. He had to "build a wall and stick to it until he was saved" and suddenly fell into a very passive situation.
This engagement was a great battle between Qin and Zhao. In order to support Tian Lei's military action and strengthen the offensive momentum, the King of Qin personally went to Hanoi (now Qinyang, Henan Province and its nearby areas) to "give each level to the local aristocrats" (2), and organized the local 15-year-old able-bodied men into an army, all of which were put into the Changping battlefield. This new army occupied the highland north of Changping (now Danzhuling and the East District), forming a peripheral barrier, which further blocked Zhao's reinforcements and grain transportation. Tian Lei ordered "to surround the trapped Zhao army and wait for them to hang themselves". Until September, it was besieged for 46 days. Zhao Jun was moved by the wind and secretly killed each other. In the face of a very passive situation, Zhao Kuo divided Zhao into four roads, and pursued them in turn, trying to open a passage and escape, but all failed. Continuous impact, heavy losses. Later, Zhao Kuo personally led the elite to make a final breakthrough in despair. As a result, he was shot dead by Qin Jun's random arrows. Zhao lost his coach, panicked, hungry and exhausted, and could not fight any more, so he had to surrender.
Regarding Zhao's 400,000 soldiers, Bai Qi thought: "Zhao's soldiers kill repeatedly, lest the world be chaotic." So, he took very cruel measures and buried him alive, leaving only 240 underage boys and sending them back to Zhao State to publicize the military power of Qin State.
Evaluate the situation of the battle of Handan
In October of the fifty-fifth year of Zhou Nanwang (the first 260 years), Yu Wei, who took the battle of Changping, was divided into three ways: one was led by Wang Bi, who crossed Taihang Mountain eastward, captured Wu 'an (now southwest of Wu 'an County, Hebei Province) and forced Zhao Handan; First, led by Sima Geng, he went north to pacify Taiyuan County (now central Shanxi); First of all, I was personally led by Tian Lei and stationed in Shangdang, ready to enter Handan. In this way, strategically, Zhao was threatened by the west and the east. At this time, Zhao was in a state of panic and people were boiling. Troops, food and equipment are not enough to support the long-term war. However, at this moment, the king of Qin ordered a truce and agreed to the terms of Zhao Liucheng.
It turned out that in the face of a powerful offensive, Zhao expected that he could not hit the enemy, so he colluded with South Korea and sent it to lobby. Su Dai is a famous strategist in many countries. When he arrived in Qin, Fan Sui was moved by Fan Sui's personal gain and loss and his interest in Tian Lei. He asked the king of Qin to stop the war. Su Dai said to him, "Now that Zhao is dead, the king of Qin will become three kings. What can you do for it? " ..... Today, the death of Zhao, the death of Northern Yan, the death of Eastern Qi, and the death of Southern Han and Wei will make the people (no) geometric people. Therefore, it is better to cut it down (allowing Zhao to cede territory for peace) and don't think that he has done anything. "Fan Sui accepted the persuasion, so he urged the king of Qin to stop fighting on the grounds of" Qin Bing Lao "and" foot soldiers Hugh ". In this way, in January of the fifty-sixth year (the first 259 years), the king of Qin finally agreed to the conditions for the division of land between North Korea and Zhao, forcing the withdrawal of troops, thus giving Zhao the opportunity to call a truce and rectify the army.
After getting this opportunity, Wang Zhao accepted Yu Qing's proposition diplomatically, that is, not to cut the six cities to Qin, but to the king of Qi, so as to make friends with Qi; And made a Covenant with Wei to unite against Qin; At the same time, do everything possible to make friends with countries such as Chu, Korea and Yan. In the internal affairs, Zhao's officials and ministers "shared their worries", actively developed production, paid pensions to non-commissioned officers, reorganized armaments and consolidated national defense.
In September, the king of Qin planned to send troops to attack Handan again because Zhao failed to cede territory as promised. Tian Lei listened, but firmly opposed. The king of Qin was surprised, so he asked Bai Qi, "The year before last, the country was hungry and the people were weak. You didn't measure the strength of the people, but sought benefits (increased troops and food) to destroy Zhao. Today, I'm saving people and raising people, and the salary of the three armed forces is twice as high as before, but I can't. What can I say? " Tian Lei explained his views to the king of Qin in detail. He pointed out that in the past nine months, great changes have taken place in the situation of Qin and Zhao. After the defeat of Zhao Changping, the whole country "sobbed and mourned, worked hard to make money" and "planned and prepared affairs"; And "humble words value money, make friends with all sides, make friends with Yan Wei, and connect with Chu." A few months later, "its domestic reality, its diplomatic success." However, after the battle of Changping, Qin spent a lot of money. "The dead are carefully buried, the injured are carefully raised, and the workers enjoy each other (drinking to comfort each other) and feed each other (sending meals to each other) to make money." If we send troops to attack Zhao at this time, our troops will be twice as large as before, and Zhao's defensive force will be ten times as large as before. ②
Zhao Xiang, king of Qin, refused to adopt Tian Lei's correct analysis and proposition, and still insisted on sending troops. He appointed Tomb as a general and led his troops to attack Zhao. As a result, they were defeated one after another, and more than 4,000 people were lost outside Handan. The news of Handan's defeat reached Xianyang, and the king of Qin was very anxious. He wanted Tian Lei to continue directing the attack on Zhao. Tian Lei still refuses to accept orders. He said: "Handan is not easy to attack. And the ministers saved the day, and they complained about the days of Qin for a long time. Today, although the Qin Dynasty broke the Changping Army, more than half of the Qin people died and the country was empty. Stay away from rivers and mountains and fight for your country. Zhao should be among them, and the ministers will attack it. It is necessary to break Qin Jun "(1)
Seeing that Tian Lei refused to obey, the king of Qin sent Fan Sui to persuade him. Fan Sui cited examples such as Bai Qi's defeat of Chu and Yi Que's great defeat of the Wei-Han allied forces, and pointed out that today, "the army is pressing the border and there are several times more people than Zhao", and the momentum is not what it used to be. "You try to win more with less, and win like God. What is the situation? " (2) Tian Lei don't agree with Fan Sui's point of view, he refuted Fan Sui's point of view. Regarding the battle against Chu, Bai Qi thought that on the one hand, Chu's powerful appearance and internal chaos gave Qin Jun an opportunity; On the other hand, compared with the morale of the two countries at that time, some soldiers "took the army as their home and the general as their parents, and happened to live together, trust each other, work together, and retreat without hesitation", while the soldiers of Chu "fought in their own way, took care of their families, had their own distractions, and had no fighting spirit", and the subjective and objective conditions of both sides were very different. As for the battle of Yi Que, it was because Han Jun had few soldiers and wanted Wei Jun to attack first, so he "didn't want to fight first". And Wei Jun "relies on Han Zhirui to push forward". The two armies were disloyal and uncooperative, so Qin Jun was able to suspect and contain the Korean army, concentrate the elite and attack Wei Jun by surprise. "Wei Jun was defeated and the Korean army collapsed." . All this, Tian Lei boils down to "the situation is favorable and natural" (3), which is the result of sizing up the situation. The fighting around Handan today is very different from the past. After the battle of Changping, he did not attack Zhao, but "gave up in fear" and lost the opportunity to attack, which made Zhao "accumulate the benefits of farming, raise the orphans to benefit his people, repair his armor to benefit his strength, and strengthen Zengcheng Pool to benefit his consolidation". Zhao Guojun and his subjects can grovel and treat each other as equals. "As for Ping Yuanjun's genus, all the wives and concubines are patched up between ranks. With the concerted efforts of the ministers, Gou Jian was still trapped in Huiji (Gou Jian, the king of Yue, was forced by the king of Wu, lived in Huiji, and died as a tyrant). " Therefore, it is concluded that now he is sending troops to attack Zhao. "If you choose his army, you will not come out; Around its capital, it is indispensable; If you attack the city, you can't pull it out; If you plunder the countryside, you will get nothing, not only will you be defeated like a mountain, but you will also be completely passive. (1) Based on the above judgment, Tian Lei refused to accept orders under the pretext of being ill.
The king of Qin had no choice but to send Wang Bi as the general instead of the tomb and continue to send more troops to attack Zhao. However, Qin Jun besieged Handan for eight or nine months, which caused the loss of soldiers and money, and took a long time to attack the city. Hearing this news, Bai Qi said sadly, "If you don't listen to my plan, what will happen now!" (2) The king of Qin was furious and went to see Tian Lei himself, forcing Tian Lei out for the third time. He said, "Jun was ill, but he was forced (reluctantly) to lie down for me. Merit, my wish, will be aggravated by you; If not, I hate you. " Bai Qi solemnly pointed out: "Although I know and do nothing, I am free from sin; Although we can't be innocent, we can't afford not to be punished, but "we should be patriotic and loyal to our country and love our name" and "we would rather die of heavy punishment than be a general who humiliated our army." "May the king examine it." Tian Lei also suggested that the king of Qin recognize the current situation and not be impulsive. At present, there is no need to take Zhao as the first battle place. Instead, we should "let Zhao go and watch the change of princes", and then choose a favorable opportunity to "cut their arrogance and slow down, so that princes can be ruled by the world." Seeing that Tian Lei refused to die, the King of Qin was furious and ordered Tian Lei to be beheaded as a foot soldier. Later, he was forced to drag his sick body out of Xianyang. When he left, the king of Qin and his ministers were dissatisfied when they saw Leitian. In order to prevent future accidents, they gave him a sword and forced him to commit suicide. Faced with the intimidation of the king of Qin and his ministers, Bai Qi sighed, "Why did I violate the laws of heaven?" (4) In the end, he committed suicide in Du You (now northeast of Xianyang, Shaanxi).
After Tian Lei's death, the king of Qin still went his own way, continuing to send more troops to change generals and besieging Handan. However, under the attack of Wei-Han allied forces and guarding city Zhao, it was defeated. In this battle, Qin lost not only the eastern part of the Diwei River, but also the Shandong side of Taiyuan and Korea, and even Dingtao (now northwest of Dingtao in Shandong). The development of the war situation was not what Bai Qi expected before his death, which proved that Bai Qi was a visionary strategist. To annotate ...
South Korea has two cities with the same name: one is located in Sanli, southeast of Mi County, Henan Province; One is located in the southwest of Yichuan County, Henan Province. This should refer to the latter. There is also an error in the annotation "A Que in Luozhou today" in Historical Records of Justice. ② ③ Historical Records and Biographies of Wang Jian in Tian Lei. (1) The Warring States Policy Volume 33, King Zhao. (2) the history as a mirror volume four, Zhou Nanwang twenty-seven years. (3) There are different opinions about where the Light Wolf City is. According to historical records, in today's Shanxi, "Gaoping County is twenty miles west". There is a saying in Zi Tongzhi Bamboo Slips that "the wolf city is replaced by the wolf city", which Hu Sansheng doubts. He believes that the Light Wolf City should be located in Daidi, "starting from, Jiuyuan and Yunzhong, you can attack Zhao and take the Light Wolf". (4) "The Warring States Policy" Volume 33, "Wang Zhao has stopped the people from training soldiers". (1) (2) "The Warring States Policy" (Volume 33) The prince of Zhao was both lenient and disciplined. (1) Historical Records, Biography of Tian Lei and Wang Jian. (2) the history as a mirror, volume five, fifty-five years in Zhou Nanwang. (1) the history as a mirror, volume five, Huang Mao note. (2) the history as a mirror, volume five, fifty-five years in Zhou Nanwang. (3) Historical Records, Biography of Tian Lei and Wang Jian. (1) the history as a mirror, volume five, fifty-five years in Zhou Nanwang. (2) Historical Records, Biography of Tian Lei and Wang Jian. (1) Historical Records, Biography of Tian Lei and Wang Jian. (2) Historical Records, Biography of Tian Lei and Wang Jian. (1) The Warring States Policy (Volume 33), Wang Zhao stopped the people and repaired the soldiers. ② The above quotations are the same as those in this book. (1) Historical Records, Biography of Tian Lei and Wang Jian. (2) "The Warring States Policy" Volume 33, Wang Zhao stopped the people to build soldiers. (3) the above quotation is the same as this book. (1) The Warring States Policy (Volume 33), the prince of Zhao's interest in training soldiers, and (2) Historical Records, Biography of Tian Lei and Wang Jian. (3) "The Warring States Policy" Volume 33, Wang Zhao stopped the people to build soldiers. (4) Historical Records, Biography of Tian Lei and Wang Jian.