An armchair strategist is Zhao Kuo's joke. Is Zhao Kuo really just an armchair strategist?

Zhao Kuo was not just an armchair strategist, but was accused of being an armchair strategist because of his defeat in the battle of Changping. In fact, Zhao Kuo is very capable. It's a bit much to say that he is an armchair strategist.

First of all, let's see how Zhao Kuo was laughed at in the battle of Changping. The battle of Changping was a battle between Qin and Zhao. At that time, due to years of war, Qin's domestic grain depot was scarce and its troops were insufficient, and the war with Zhao had been deadlocked. At this time, the prince of Zhao abandoned Lian Po and used Zhao Kuo. At this time, the king of Qin was also under the command of Tian Lei. He seized the weakness of Zhao Kuo's eagerness for success, divided and surrounded the army led by Zhao Kuo, and finally won. Zhao Kuo, on the other hand, is only an armchair strategist, and if he doesn't judge according to the actual situation, it will lead to almost total annihilation at best.

In fact, Zhao Kuo is capable and talented, which can be seen from his childhood. When Zhao Kuo was young, he liked to read The Art of War and learned a lot. His father is Zhao's general. Zhao Kuo fought with his father all the year round, and he also learned a lot of military-related knowledge. A battle, father can't attack Ma Chu for a long time, but Zhao Kuo advised his father and captured the city within a month, which shows that Zhao Kuo's ability is very high. On another occasion, in order to rescue friendly troops trapped by the enemy, he successfully rescued them by using double agents. As a result, Zhao Kuo's reputation is far-reaching.

Although the armchair strategist was laughed at, Zhao Kuo's command ability is still very high, and his achievements in military theory are also very high. Only the battle of Changping was the decisive battle, which played a decisive role and accelerated the demise of Zhao. So on the whole, we can't deny Zhao Kuo's other abilities just because of a defeat.