In the winter of 203 BCE, Han Xin led his army to defeat the army of Qi Lishu (northwest of present-day Jinan, Shandong), forcing Tian Guang, the king of Qi, to flee. Then, he led his army eastward, intending to attack Tian Guang, the king of Qi, from the flanks in a roundabout way to support the Chenggao battlefield. In October 203 BCE, Han Xin defeated the Qi army at Linzi (northeast of present-day Zibo, Shandong) and captured the capital of Qi, forcing Tian Guang to go to Gaomi (southwest of present-day Gaomi, Shandong) and ask for assistance from Chu. Subsequently, Xiang Yu sent the general Long He to lead the army to aid the Chu State. In November of the same year, the Battle of Weishui broke out, and more than 200,000 Chuqi allied troops confronted each other on both sides of Weishui, fighting with 50,000 Han troops. Tian Guang was defeated. Weishui is one of the main water systems in Shandong during the Qin and Han dynasties, and there is a record of "Haidai Weiqingzhou, Qiyi and Weizi" in "Shangshu Yugong", in which "Wei" refers to Weishui.
In September 203 BC, You Shi Li Shiqi went to Linzi, the capital of Qi, to persuade Tian Guang, the king of Qi, to surrender. Tian Guang considered it again and again, believing that the threat of the Han army to the Qi State was greater than that of the Chu army, so he agreed to be loyal to the Han army, and told Li Shiqi to inform Han Xin in time. Li Shiqi immediately drafted a letter asking Han Xin to stop marching forward. At this time, Han Xin had already led his army to cross the Yellow River from the plain crossing, and when he learned that Li Shiqi had persuaded Qi to surrender, he deliberately stopped his advance. However, the strategist Kuaitong persuaded Han Xin: "The general was ordered to attack the state of Qi, and after hardships, he was able to advance eastward. Now that the Han King has sent Dr. Li to persuade the Qi State to surrender, it is difficult to determine whether its credibility and whether it is worth relying on. Moreover, the King of Han did not issue an order for you to stop attacking the Qi State, is it appropriate for the general to stop the advance with a word from the battle?
Moreover, Li Shiqi was only a Confucian student, and he won more than 70 cities of Qi State by mouth alone, while the general led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and it took more than a year to capture more than 50 cities of Zhao State. As the commander in charge of the battle, is the general's merit not as good as that of a scholar?For the sake of the general's consideration, I suggest that while the Qi country is not ready, go quickly and completely conquer the Qi realm, and then all the military achievements will naturally belong to the general. However, Han Xin was not a general who coveted military exploits, and he replied: "Doctor Li is still in the Qi State, and if I take the opportunity to capture the Qi State, Doctor Li will definitely be brutalized by the Qi State, and I cannot be irresponsible to him." Kuaitong immediately replied: "The general doesn't want to hurt Dr. Li, but Dr. Li has already failed the general."
Think about it, if it weren't for Dr. Li's desire to get credit, why did the King of Han send him to lobby after he sent a general to attack the Qi State?When Han Xin heard this, he was furious and immediately organized his troops to march towards Lixia. After receiving the order of the king of Qi to relieve Yan, the successive Qi generals Tian Xie and Hua Wuxian, fought the Han army unprepared. Han Xin led his army to attack bravely, beheaded Tian Jie, captured Hua Wuxian, and then advanced to Linzi, the capital of Qi. At the same time, Tian Guang learned that the Han army was approaching, and blamed Li Shiqi: "I removed the border defense, you actually persuaded me to join on the surface, but behind the scenes, you let Han Xin sneak attack, do you have anything else to say?"Li Shiqi asked to write a letter to Han Xin to see how he responded. After Han Xin received Li Shiqi's letter, his heart softened his emotions.
Seeing this, Kuaitong persuaded him: "The general has never shown weakness to the enemy, but now why is he hesitant because of his appetite?"In the end, Han Xin decided to continue the attack on Qi, and Li Shiqi was sentenced to cooking in a pot of oil by Qi. Subsequently, the Qi army held the city, but it was soon broken by Han Xin. Immediately afterwards, Tian Guang, the king of Qi, fled from the east gate to the west bank of the Wei River in Gaomi, leaving Tian Hengduan behind. Tian Heng led the Qi army to engage the Han army many times, but was defeated on all fronts. The state of Qi then asked King Xiang for help, and Xiang Yu ordered the dragon to lead an army to support the state of Qi, and joined the army of the king of Qi at Gaomi. Someone advised Long Ji: "The Han army is far away from the homeland, fighting bravely, and it is difficult to be at the edge. And the two armies of Chu, Hanqi and Chu fought at home, and the soldiers were easy to flee. Therefore, we might as well build deep ditches and fortresses to hold on, and let the king of Qi send his henchmen to appease the fallen cities.
Once the cities occupied by the Han army learned that the king was still there, they would definitely betray the Han army. If all the cities of Qi betrayed the Han army, then the Han army would definitely not be able to obtain food supplies and would inevitably be defeated. Long Ji replied, "I know Han Shin's personality very well, and he is not enough to cause concern!"He has been humiliated and has lost the courage to overcome others, and such a person is not to be feared. "One day in November, the two ** teams of Qi and Chu set up positions on both sides of Weishui. Han Xin ordered people to make more than 10,000 bags filled with sand overnight and threw them into the upper reaches of Weishui to block the flow of water. Subsequently, Han Xin led half of his troops across the river to attack Longji, and pretended to retreat. Seeing that the Han army was retreating, Long Ji said happily: "I have long expected that Han Xin is vulnerable. So, he ordered his troops to cross Weishui and pursue the Han army. Han Xin immediately sent someone to dig up the sandbags that blocked Weishui.
The Battle of Weishui was a decisive battle between Chu and Han. The army led by Long Ji suffered a severe blow in the face of the pouring floods, and many soldiers were swept away, and many died in the floods. Subsequently, Han Xin quickly launched a counterattack and successfully defeated Long Ji, causing the troops on the east bank of the Chu army to collapse. Subsequently, Han Xin led his army to Chengyang and captured Tian Guang, the king of Qi, and the Han general Guan Ying also captured Tian Guang, the minister of Qi. Tian Heng, who proclaimed himself king of Qi, was defeated by Guan Ying at Win City, and fled to Liangdi, where he surrendered to Peng Yue. Guan Ying led the army to attack Gancheng and defeated the Qi general Tian Su, while Cao Shen defeated Tian Ji in Jiaodong and killed both Tian Ji and Tian Ji, completely stabilizing the situation in Qi Land. In the end, the Battle of Weishui ended in the victory of the Han army, and the Qi army was completely annihilated.
This battle reversed the situation between Chu and Han, making the dispute between Chu and Han gradually clear, forming a one-sided situation. Xiang Yu lost the ability to destroy the Han and fell into a completely passive defensive state, while Liu Bang entered the moment of all-round **. Ryuji's light defeat ultimately led to a crushing defeat, and Han Shin's strategy of victory further confirmed the importance of military strategy.