Is Zhao Kuo really that miserable in history?

Zhao Kuo's defeat ruined the lives of more than 400,000 soldiers, ruined the future of Zhao, and made him a laughing stock. His deeds became an idiom "an armchair strategist", but it was unfair to him.

1. Machu Battle

In the 19th year of Zhao Huiwen (280 BC), after the defeat of Le Yi, King Huiwen ordered Zhao She to attack Maiqiu (now northwest of Shanghe, Shandong) as a general. Previously, Zhao Ceng repeatedly attacked Maiqiu, an isolated city. However, due to the abundant grain and grass in Maiqiu and the help of Mohist disciples who are good at guarding the city, they failed to capture it. King Huiwen was very angry and ordered Zhao She to win Ma Chu within one month.

As soon as Zhao She arrived at Machu, he ordered an attack. Zhao Kuo believes that it is difficult to capture Ma Chu in a month by hard attack. Judging from various indications, although the grain in Maiqiu has not been completely eaten, it is certainly not much. Zhao Kuo hoped that his father would find out the situation first, suspend the attack and avoid unnecessary losses caused by hard attack. Zhao Kuo's method worked, and Zhao She secretly admired that this son was better than himself.

King Huiwen was curious that Zhao She could capture Ma Chu in less than a month with almost no casualties. Zhao She told him that this was Zhao Kuo's way, and King Huiwen rewarded Zhao She and Zhao Kuo.

Fight against it

In the 29th year of Zhao Huiwen (270 BC), King Huiwen bullied the State of Qin and refused to carry out the previous agreement with the State of Qin to change cities, which made the State of Qin very angry. The leaders of the Qin faction attacked Zhao's territory (now Heshun, Shanxi) through Shangdang area of South Korea, an ally. Tanhe River is located in Taihang Mountain area, Shanxi Province. Handan, the capital of Zhao State, can be reached through Taihang Mountain Tunnel, which is a very important military stronghold. Dewll Hu, a soldier of the famous Tian Lei family in Qin State, has made many exploits. In case of emergency, King Huiwen asked Lian Po that Lian Po thought it was too long and too narrow to save. King Huiwen asked Lin Xiangru again, and Lin Xiangru thought it was better to fortify Wu 'an near Handan, so as to destroy this lone Qin Jun. King Huiwen didn't want to lose Wei Xiao and this strategic place, so he asked Zhao She, and Zhao She thought Wei Xiao and he must be saved. Zhao She led the troops to attack from behind, and Zhao of Wei Xiao also went out of the city to attack. The Korean army also came out to rob and kill the defeated Qin Jun and Zhao Shengli, and the famous Populus euphratica died. Zhao She spent a whole month before and after his rescue.

King Zhao Huiwen named Zhao She Ma Fujun (Ma Fu was in the northwest of Handan, Hebei Province). A descendant of Zhao She took Ma as his surname and Xu Li as the monarch. Zhao She is equally divided with Lian Po and Lin Xiangru. Zhao Kuo was thus made heir.

Zhao Kuo likes to talk about military science and wrote a book, saying that there are many disciples in the army. After Zhao She's death, King Huiwen attacked Ma Fujun in Zhao Kuo, and the generals in the army all called Zhao Kuo Ma Fuzi (it is wrong to explain that Zhao Kuo is Ma Fujun's son of Zhao She and Zhao Kuo is called Ma Fuzi).

After the death of King Huiwen, Zi Xiao became king. Qi Anping Tian Juandan came to vote and worshipped him as a teacher.

3. Shangdang-Changping Campaign

[reason]

In the fourth year of filial piety (262 BC), the commander-in-chief of Shangdang in North Korea (now east of Qinshui in southeastern Shanxi, including Jincheng, Lingchuan and Gaoping) could not resist the attack and was willing to dedicate Shangdang to Zhao. Zhao accepted, named Hua Yangjun, and made him keep the party. King Zhao of Qin was very angry when he saw that North Korea had joined the Party and returned it to Zhao. Due to Zhao's intervention, the attack on Shangdang in North Korea was temporarily stopped.

In the sixth year of Xiaozong (260 BC), Qin ordered Wang Bi, the eldest son, to attack the Shangdang Party in Korea again. Zhao will make Lian Po. By the time Lian Po arrived in Shangdang of Zhao (now Yushe, Heshun and Changzhi in Shanxi, and Shangdang of Korea in the south), Wang Bi, the matriarch of Qin Zuo, had captured Shangdang of Korea. Therefore, Lian Po garrison Changping (now north of Gaoping) became attached to Qin Jun. Previously, when filial piety became king, Lin Xiangru recommended Lian Po. However, Tian Dan believes that Lian Po was originally a general, and he was good at fighting in the plains, but he was not good at the mountainous environment like Shangdang. Moreover, Lian Po rarely won the battle against Qin Jun, so it is better to send someone with experience in Shangdang area. He once fought against Zhao Kuo who defeated Qin Jun. King Xiao Cheng asked Lin Xiangru again, and Lin Xiangru insisted on recommending Lian Po instead of Zhao Kuo. When Lin Xiangru was in Zhao.

[situation]

After Qin Jun won the Korean Party, Wang Bi stayed in the camp and took charge of the army in order to avoid conflict with the Zhao army. Lian Po is lax in running the army. (This also set the stage for Zhao Kuo's change of heart when he got cold feet, which led to the chaos of morale. ) Soldiers strive for merit. In April, Bi Jiang was afraid to keep quiet, thinking that he was afraid of Zhao, so he attacked the sentry post. Qin Jun fought back and killed the eggplant, which led to Lian Po's massive attack on Qin, and the battle of Changping broke out.

In June, he captured Zhao, captured the second village and killed four generals. In July, Zhao Jun built a base to defend it. Qin attacked its base again, took the second commandant, broke its array and seized its Xiguan. Lian Po was determined to stay in the state of Qin, but he was still able to nibble at Zhao's army and break through Zhao's barracks. When Zhao Yi left, the foot soldiers fled, and Lian Po could not stop them. Zhao Shangdang is in a hurry.

[political game]

The news reached Zhao, and many officials were talking about it. Lin Xiangru was ill. (Why is Zhao Kuo just an armchair strategist? It's just that Lin Xiangru didn't give Zhao Kuo a chance. A good court official shoulders the heavy responsibility of selecting talents. Zhao Kuo, whose written test scores and interview results are so excellent, also has the meritorious military service-at that time, the meritorious military service was determined by the number of enemy heads, but Zhao Kuo has always been a "strategist", which is tantamount to no meritorious military service-and later Han Guang was unable to seal Hou because he did not win the enemy's head. Every day is a good time for Zhao to fight, but Lin Xiangru didn't give him the actual opportunity to lead troops to fight-Zhao Kuo was never an independent commander-in-chief, and most of his exploits were gained as a "strategist", that is to say, he didn't have much experience in organizing troops. Of course, he can only talk on paper. It's only at the critical moment that Zhao Kuo is allowed to play, and it's strange to be unbeaten. Of course, this is only one of the reasons. There are deeper reasons. We will talk about it next.

If Qin Jun controls Shangdang, it will completely control Hedong, a strategic place. There is Jinyang (now southwest of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province), the old capital of Zhao in the north, and Taihang Mountain in the west, which can directly threaten Handan, the capital of Zhao. Because Qin occupied the Shangdang area of South Korea, it will break the Shangdang of Zhao again, and the situation is very unfavorable to Zhao. Some ministers insisted on using Lian Po, some suggested replacing Lian Po with Zhao Kuo, some suggested replacing Lian Po with Tian Shan, and some suggested replacing Lian Po with Lin Xiangru. It is believed that Shangdang, which has occupied North Korea, is encroaching on Shangdang, which belongs to Zhao. Persistence is untenable, and Qin Jun must be driven out of Shangdang area. King Xiao Cheng intends to use Zhao Kuo as a general, but he wants to hear Le Yi's opinion.

[Yi Shuai]

Although Le Yi is ill at home, he knows the situation outside very well. Le Yi believes that from the strategic deployment of Qin Zhao Haoqi, there will be a decisive battle between Qin and Zhao, and Shangdang area is the first battlefield of the decisive battle between Qin and Zhao. Lian Po is an excellent general who is famous for his bravery. His strength is that he can decide the outcome in a short time in hard battles and plain field battles, rather than a protracted battle like Shangdang Campaign. Lin Xiangru is an excellent debater, and leading troops to fight is not his strong suit. The minister suggested replacing Lian Po with Lin Xiangru, which was a complaint that he was not optimistic about Lian Po. Although I can't lead troops to fight in person, it doesn't matter to me to be a good strategist. King Cheng Xiao thinks that Le Yi's views are very profound, and his arrangements for Lian Po, Tian Dan and Zhao Kuo can be said to be in their proper places. So he appointed Zhao Kuo as the general and led the army to rescue Shangdang.

[save for a rainy day]

Zhao Kuo returned home, ready to go to war. His mother asked Zhao Kuo to ask the prince of Zhao for a home. In the past, Zhao She and Zhao Kuo were rewarded by the prince of Zhao and often given to soldiers in the army. The father and son don't value money. Zhao Kuo asked his mother incredulously. Seeing that the prince of Zhao had made up his mind with Zhao Kuo, he induced the prince of Zhao to promise that no matter whether Zhao Kuo won or lost, it had nothing to do with his family. Wang Zhao agreed.

[Arrival trend]

After Zhao Kuo arrived in Changping, the military discipline was strict, and the generals who used Lian Po were abolished. Lian Po can use brave soldiers as generals, but he is not good at planning and governance. Zhao Kuo reorganized Zhao Jin. (Zhao Kuo's fault came out. He was a handsome man who got cold feet and his morale was already floating. He also came to chicken out, which is a sign of the army's inexperience) and then fought against the unfavorable Wang Bi. When he heard that Zhao Kuo had arrived in Changping, he called him the prefect.

Zhao Kuo saw that Qin Jun's military orders had changed greatly, and knew that Wu Anjun had arrived.

[decisive battle situation]

In August, Zhao Kuo gradually recovered its lost territory, so it proposed a decisive battle with Zhao Kuo. King Cheng Xiao ordered Zhao Kuo to seize the opportunity, defeat Tian Lei as soon as possible, and then solve the problem of Wei Ran's eastward advance. So, Zhao Kuo agreed to a decisive battle.

Tian Lei is in the west and Zhao Kuo is in the east. Fifty miles west of Tian Lei is deep and wide Qinshui, and ten miles east of Zhao Kuo is fresh water with wide riverbed but shallow water. The two armies are in the south of Taihang Mountain, and several passes in Taihang Mountain in the north are Qin and Zhao respectively. This rectangular battlefield is located in Shangdang Basin.

[decisive battle process]

Zhao Kuo ordered Zhao, who was stationed in Pilao (now northeast of Yicheng) on the west bank of Qinshui, to sweep along Qinshui, control Qinshui, and March eastward with Zhao Kuo's army to attack the army. Zhao Jun, who was stationed in Jinyang, was ordered to go south to Linfen and Anyi to protect Pilao's army and deter Qin, an empty place in Hexi.

The decisive battle has begun. Zhao Kuo led the army to storm Tian Lei's army, which retreated to the west. It turned out that the Danhe River was taken by King Zhao of Qin from the Yellow River. There are many ships from Qin Jun on the Dan River. On the east bank of the Dan River, the troops sent by the King of Qin from the Wild King intercepted Zhao's rescue in Lingchuan. In fact, Zhao Jun of Lingchuan did not dare to come to the rescue.

Zhao Kuo was surrounded by Qin Jun. Zhao from Changping, Jinyang and Pixian tried his best to approach Zhao Kuo, and Qin Jun sent wild Wang Jun, Sima Geng and Wang Bi to stop it. The situation of the whole Hedong battlefield is rushing and blocking. As long as Qin Jun is breached all the way, Qin Jun will lose the game. The state of Qin asked an Hou to step up his attack on Handan, so that Zhao could not send troops to rescue Changping.

The biggest problem facing Zhao Kuo is the lack of food. The small amount of grain carried with you has already been eaten up, and the grain transportation route has been cut off. Kill the horse, too, and eat everything you can. Finally, Zhao Kuo had to order the disabled, the sick and the weak in the army to eat. Zhao Kuo once sent a brave and decisive man to stab Tian Lei from Zhao County, and Tian Lei was injured. After being trapped for 46 days, Zhao Kuo chose one of his own in the army, put on his armor, and led an army to attack Jincheng (now Jincheng, Shanxi) under his banner, while he led the army to break through Changping. In this way, in the next battle of Handan, Qin had to retreat in despair. In other words, under the international situation at that time, Zhao's greed for the land of the party and the country was originally a chess game-it was a good thing to be right! Looking at the battle of Handan alone, Zhao defeated first and then won, and the first defeat was in the battle of Changping. But if there is no consumption of Qin Jun's effective strength by the battle of Changping, there will be no small victory in the battle of Handan. How can we finally let Zhao regain the party leader?

Zhao Quan died, making people look for Zhao Kuo's body, but they couldn't find it. They only found Zhao Kuo's sword and armor. Tian Lei was very sad, so he was buried in a thick coat and kept Zhao Kuo's sword for himself. Zhao Kuo is burly, graceful, powerful and outstanding in character.

After the war, King Zhao of Qin talked about Zhao Kuo for nothing. Tian Lei said, I surrounded the 200,000 troops in Zhao Kuo with 500,000 people, and it took more than half of the casualties to destroy this army. This is something that has never happened since I started boxing. It is Zhao Kuo's skill to have no food in his stomach, satisfy his hunger with others and fight tirelessly. In the battle of Changping, Qin Jun's elite lost more than half, and excellent generals suffered numerous casualties. Actually, he didn't win, and Ye Zhao didn't lose. The only difference is that Zhao Kuo is dead and I am still alive. Qin said that in the Changping War, Qin lost 600,000 yuan and Zhao lost 700,000 yuan. Qin was a small victory. Zhao Kuo died and Wu Anjun survived, which was a great victory. Later, Fan Ju called Zhao Haoqi of Qin. He fought a big battle in Changping, and the king of Qin won. The king of Qin just laughed. Three years later, in the tenth year of Wu Wang, Qin Zhao (257 BC), Zhao Haoqi killed Tian Lei. Zheng Anping, the general of the Qin Dynasty, surrendered to Zhao and returned to Zhao.