The undefeated god of war in the Warring States, why did he kill 200,000 prisoners of war?
During the Warring States period, the kingdoms fought for land and population. But in that era when population was power and wealth, Bai Qi, one of the four famous generals of the Warring States, made a shocking decision after the Battle of Changping - to kill more than 200,000 prisoners of war.
So, why did Bai Qi make such a cruel decision? Let's take a closer look at the story behind this.
The Battle of Changping was a fierce contest during the Warring States Period, where the two great powers, Qin and Zhao, fought to the death. The importance of this battle cannot be summed up in a simple sentence, it was a fatal blow to Zhao after the success of Qin's reform, and it was also a life-and-death battle between the two sides.
In the war, the chief general of the Qin State was first a nobody, and then replaced by the famous Bai Qi, while the generals of the Zhao State were changed from the famous Lian Po to Zhao Kuo, but the final result was not satisfactory.
At the critical moment of the battle between the two sides, King Zhao became dissatisfied with Lian Po, who was defending the city. Bai Qi, on the other hand, cleverly used rumors to claim that the Qin State was afraid of Zhao Kuo's prestige, which convinced the king of Zhao and replaced Lian Po as the main general.
Coupled with the displeasure of Lian Po's strategy of defending the city, and the disgrace of Zhao due to his previous defeat, the king of Zhao decided to use Zhao Kuo to replace Lian Po, hoping to turn the tide of the war.
Although Zhao Kuo came from a famous family, he was a pure theoretician and lacked practical experience. His tactics were completely in line with King Zhao's wishes, as he completely followed King Zhao's instructions and replaced Lian Po's defensive deployment and military regulations.
Subsequently, the Qin State also changed the main general, and temporarily appointed Bai Qi as the main general, and Bai Qi had never been defeated in all his battles, and he could be called an invincible general.
Zhao Guo and Zhao Kuo had no idea about this. Bai Qi saw through Zhao Kuo's tactics of quick success, took advantage of his weakness, and adopted the strategy of pretending to retreat, luring the enemy troops from their positions, and then dividing and encircling them, and annihilating them one by one, and finally won the war.
More importantly, Qin implemented a siege policy in this war, which left Zhao's army in a difficult situation due to lack of food, and finally more than 200,000 people surrendered, but they all fell into the trap of Bai Qi and suffered annihilation.
The Zhao army was eventually defeated by the Qin state at the Battle of Changping, and the Qin state thus marched into Changping. In this battle, about 450,000 people of the Zhao army were beheaded or killed. This battle caused serious damage to the Zhao state, and also took the Qin state's great cause of unifying China further.
The Battle of Changping is regarded as a key turning point in the history of the Warring States, from which the unification of the Qin state was only a matter of time (see Periodization of Warring States History). In addition, this battle was also the earliest, largest, and most thorough large-scale annihilation war in ancient Chinese military history.
The Battle of Changping was not only one of the most tragic battles in Chinese history, but also embodied the profound military science theory and practical experience of ancient China. It witnessed the bravery of the most outstanding generals of the time, such as Bai Qi and Lian Po.
But why were all 200,000 prisoners of war killed in this war?
If the wars of the Spring and Autumn Period were elegant contests among the aristocracy, then the Warring States Period was an era of change and strength. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the wars between countries were full of etiquette and rules, the two sides would not only agree on the time, place, and number of people in advance, but also abide by the agreed rules, once one side was defeated and the other side had left fifty paces, the other side could no longer catch up, the purpose of the war was to enhance the prestige of the country, not to destroy the enemy country.
The wars of the Warring States period were extremely cruel, and the rules of etiquette of the past are gone. The spread of iron tools and tools led to a significant increase in food production in various countries, eliminating the need for large amounts of manpower to participate in farming, which led to a sharp increase in the number of people participating in wars.
The stated purpose of the wars was to destroy the enemy, which further increased the brutality of the war. Moreover, because it is to destroy the enemy country, the attitude towards the enemy army is also more ruthless.
The brutality of war has caused the enemy country to accumulate resentment, and at the same time, the popularization of iron weapons has made the manufacture of weapons no longer rare, and only one victory can make the enemy country not start a war for a long time.
During the Warring States period, due to the spread of iron tools, the destructiveness of war weakened, and the only way to completely prevent the enemy's retaliation was to cut down the grass and eliminate all the participants.
After understanding the reasons above, it is easy to understand the motives of the White Pit to kill the prisoners of war. In the Battle of Changping, if Bai Qi did not kill prisoners of war, then later Zhao regrouped his troops and horses, and the previous war would be equal to fighting in vain, and it would cause a greater counterattack.
In this way, even if the Qin state regains victory, it will pay a much higher price than before. Therefore, in the era of the Warring States period, the final decisive battle was inevitable, and Bai Qi would inevitably choose to kill prisoners of war for the sake of the country, but in the eyes of today's people, this practice is too cruel.