How did Hanxin turn the crisis into an opportunity in the last battle? Why is it difficult for later generations of generals to follow suit?
* Battle"It can be said that it is a masterpiece of Han Shin's art of war, yes"Dying throes"Typical examples of wars,"Late strike"This idiom is also derived from this. So, how did Han Xin win this war, what was the secret of his military arrangement, and why did later generations of military strategists follow Han Xin's series of tactics, but most of them were defeated and died? Let's take a look at this classic battle that took place more than 2,000 years ago.
In"Chu and Han compete for hegemony"Period, in order to solve the strategic setback and reverse the unfavorable situation, Liu Bang adopted Han Xin"In addition to Yan Zhao in the north, Qi in the east, the grain road of Chu in the south, and the king of Xingyang in the west"The strategic policy was to order Han Xin and Zhang Er to lead troops to open up a battlefield in the north. After Han Xin defeated Wei Bao, the king of Wei and pacified Wei, he led his army to destroy Dai in September of the second year of Han Xin (204 BC).
After Dai Ji was besieged, Dai Wang Zhao Xie led the remnants to flee to Zhao State. In October of the same year, on the order of Liu Bang"(Han) Xin and Zhang Er led tens of thousands of troops", preparing to take the opportunity to attack eastward and seize the state of Zhao, and the rest of the land was handed over to Chen Xuan to pacify. Zhao Wang Zhao She and Acting King Chen Yu saw that the situation was critical"Gather troops at the pass and order 200,000", closing the important gateway to Zhao from Daiguo.
Although Dai and Zhao are very close to each other, they are seriously hindered by the Taihang Mountain, and the river valleys in the mountains are vertical and horizontal, which is not conducive to the passage of people and horses at all. Therefore, when the army marched from Daiguo to Zhao, the only thing that could be used was one of the eight passes of Taihang Mountain"Jing Chen"。As long as Zhao Jun firmly occupies this pass and seals this pass, even if Han Xin is a hundred times smarter and more capable, he can be said to be powerless.
At that time, Chen Yu's subordinate Guangwujun Li Zuoche believed that although Han Xin's army had sufficient troops, the Han army's baggage carts were too long, and the Taihang mountain road was not easy to walk, so he suggested that he could personally lead a force of 30,000 people to attack the Han army's paths and grain roads, which would definitely cause the Han army to be defeated. However, Chen Yu rejected Li Zuoche's suggestion, believing that he could not attack in a hurry, but should defend in a deep ditch and high base.
After Han Xin learned of Zhao's position, he came up with a surprising strategy. He led the army to camp thirty miles from the mouth of the river, and sent two lines of soldiers and horses overnight, one of which was composed of 2,000 cavalry, each of whom carried the red battle flag of the Han army, and when the main force hit the rear of the Zhao army's camp, it retreated farther and farther, and reached the foot of Huoqizhai Mountain on the side of the Zhao army's camp, and captured the Zhao army's camp. Taking advantage of the night, they sent another 10,000 soldiers and horses to the east bank of the pond, preparing to set up a position along the river and launch a surprise attack on the Zhao army.
After dawn, Zhao Jun saw that there was water behind the Han army's formation, which was completely violated"The hill on the right is doubled, and the marsh on the left is ahead", this attempt to endanger Han Xin's life was regarded as a manifestation of not knowing how to use soldiers, so he despised the Han army very much.
At the same time, Han Xin led the remnants of the Han army to swagger to Guanxia and feigned to attack the Zhao army. Seeing this, Zhao Jun really left the camp to fight. After the two armies fought for a while in the narrow pass, Han Xin feigned defeat, and the Han army threw down its strength and retreated to Mianchi, where it joined up with the 10,000 Han troops that had been deployed earlier behind Mianchi.
Chen Yu saw that the combat effectiveness of the Han army was very low, so he hurriedly led the army to pursue, and launched a fierce attack after the Han army's water array, and he wanted to destroy the entire Han army in one fell swoop. That's right'The soldiers are not tired of cheating, they do not go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, they are hidden deeply, and they must be beaten', the Han army suffered from a three-way attack, was blocked on the waterway, and there was no chance to retreat under the heavy casualties, although the Zhao army had an advantage in troops, but due to the influence of the terrain, it could not be attacked for a long time, and had to transfer troops to reinforce.
At the same time, the Han soldiers who were ambushed on the Woniuzhai Mountain saw the main force of the Zhao army out of the camp, and took advantage of the emptiness and unpreparedness of the Zhao army camp to suddenly attack the Zhao army camp and capture the Zhao army camp in one fell swoop. Subsequently, they quickly took down the banner of the Zhao army and planted the banner of the Han army everywhere, and for a time, the camp of the Zhao army was full of the banner of the Han army.
Chen Yu saw that he could not attack for a long time, so he had to order the withdrawal of the army, but after the Zhao army returned to the base camp, he saw that the base camp was full of Han army flags, and immediately made a mess and fled one after another. Seeing that the Zhao army was scattered, the Han army immediately launched an attack, cutting off the retreat of the Zhao army from both sides and rear, and Han Xin ordered the main force of the Han army to launch a large-scale counterattack.
The Zhao army was in a hurry and had to retreat to the waters of Hebei. However, due to the close pursuit of the Han army, the Zhao army had no way to retreat, and the general Chen Yu was killed, and the whole army was annihilated. After defeating the main force of the Zhao army, Han Xin led tens of thousands of Han troops"Killed Zhao for more than 50 years in one year", because it took him a year to completely occupy the state of Zhao, and Zhao Wang Xie and Li Zuoche were captured.
As far as this battle is concerned, it can be said that Han Xin is both strange and positive, while he attracted the main force of the Zhao army in the backfield, he also sent another surprise army to win by surprise, and at the same time cut off the retreat of the Zhao army, causing serious psychological pressure on the Zhao army, causing the Zhao army to be disheartened and quickly collapse, and finally won the battle and won a small victory.
It is true that the book of war is the strategic crystallization of the military strategists of the past dynasties, but if the war is fought in strict accordance with the book of war, it is actually so"On paper"。There is no shortage of famous generals in the past dynasties, although they are familiar with military books, but it is better to adapt measures to local conditions than to those who adapt measures to the enemy's conditions, and the use of tactics according to local conditions is their magic weapon for winning all battles.
Especially"Battle of Guanzhong"Although Han Xin's rear formation violated the art of war, it was a complementary consideration of the situation of the enemy and the terrain of Guanzhong, and the subsequent decision was also an unusual art of war.
The first is the enemy's position. Unlike the Han army, which was strong and had stable morale, the Zhao Dynasty coalition army was relatively weak, and it was difficult to defeat the Han army in a short period of time. Therefore, Han Xin dared to play defeat first, lure the enemy deeper, and then fight bravely in the rear to contain the main force of the Zhao army. Otherwise, firstly, Han Shin's plan to lure the enemy may turn into a defeat, and secondly, Han Shin's army will not fight against the water, but will fall into despair and quickly collapse.
Secondly, the terrain of Guanzhong is special. Although the strength of the Zhao army was far superior to that of the Han army, due to the limitations of the terrain, it was difficult to deploy all the forces in a narrow space, so the Han army did not really put too much pressure on the front line. Otherwise, if the Zhao army attacked with all its might in the open field, the pressure on the Han army would increase exponentially, and I am afraid that it would be a question of whether it could withstand the attack of the Zhao army.
The third way is to use abnormal soldiers as reinforcements. Although the main force of the Han army was concentrated on the east bank of Mianchi, these two thousand odd soldiers were crucial to the battle situation. If it weren't for the fact that they could seize the opportunity to capture the Zhao army's camp, then, after the Zhao army could not capture it for a long time, they would have retreated to the camp and held on, and Han Xin still couldn't defeat the Zhao army.
As mentioned above, the reason why Han Xin's rear formation was able to escape from death was because he fully considered the situation of the enemy army and the special terrain of Guanzhong, and made strategic deployment with the help of surprise soldiers. If the generals of later generations do not consider the time, place, and adaptability of people, they are only obsessed"Survive the dead", I'm afraid I'm really going to risk my life.