Battle of Changping If Bai Qi and Zhao Kuo's identities are reversed, who will win in the end?
If Bai Qi and Zhao Kuo switch positions, will the outcome of the Battle of Changping change? First of all, it should be clear that although Zhao Kuo is partly responsible for the fiasco in the Battle of Changping, he is not primarily responsible. Therefore, even if Bai Qi and Zhao Kuo switch positions, it will not completely change the outcome of the battle.
Chao Gai suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Changping, and the main responsibility was not Chao Wrong.
When it comes to Chao Gai's defeat in the Battle of Changping, the first thing that comes to most people's minds is Chao Wrong"On paper"But looking back at this exciting battle, the reasons for Chaogai's defeat were actually different.
1.Zhao was ill-prepared. In the Battle of Changping, the state of Zhao, which was closer to the battlefield, not only affected the autumn harvest, but also took the lead in experiencing a shortage of food and materials due to insufficient preparations. In contrast, although the battlefield was far away, the Qin State chose to dredge rivers and waterways to transport grain, which was more economical in manpower and food, so its ability to resist attacks was also stronger than that of Zhao. Zhao's original goal was to capture Shangdang, push the enemy back to the rear of Changping, and force the Qin army to retreat, but the battle turned into a years-long war of attrition (the length of the battle is debatable).
2.The state of Zhao was defeated because of his strong will. After the defeat in the first battle, the two sides were at a stalemate, and Zhao even thought of suing for peace. King Zhao insisted on sending Duke Zheng Zhuang to Qin to sue for peace, and King Zhao insisted on sending Duke Zheng Zhuang to Qin to sue for peace. As a result, the Qin State prevented the unification of the countries and deliberately created the false impression that Qin and Zhao had already made peace, so that the Zhao State was paralyzed and fell into"The five countries do not save"of the situation. The state of Qin did not hesitate to fight for the state of Changping at the expense of national wealth.
3.Xuanfu made a mistake. It turned out that King Zhao Xiaocheng was not decisive in the first battle after the defeat of Lian Po. Lian Po"A soldier who surrenders without a fight will not fight for a long time", was repeatedly criticized, which made him have the idea of changing the coach, and even wanted to personally lead the troops to attack Qin. This means that if King Zhao Xiaocheng has a problem, he will have to change the commander, and whoever takes over Lian Po's position will take the initiative to lead the army to attack, because the change of commander already means the complete victory of the main combat group. Qin's counterattack was nothing more than an attempt to use King Zhao to choose the inexperienced Zhao Kuo.
4.Intelligence work generally lags behind. This is the most overlooked point of this war. Chao Cuo was very aware of the movements of the imperial court, but Chao Cuo knew nothing about the movements of the Qin State, not only knew that the Qin State had changed its commander, but even knew that the Qin State had increased its troops. The strength of the Qin-Zhao front was comparable at first. After Zhao Kuo led 200,000 reinforcements to the front line, he not only mistakenly thought that the general of Qin was still Wang He, but also did not know that Qin had increased his troops, thinking that his army was twice that of Qin. In the end, he launched an all-out attack, and it was not until he reached the blockade line of the Qin army that he realized that he had been deceived.
5.The failure of Zhao Kuo's command. After launching a large-scale offensive, Zhao Kuo really didn't know what to do next. Zhao wanted to break through, but was blocked by Bai Qi, and it was too dangerous to retreat across the Dan River, so he decided to fight a decisive battle with the Qin army that broke through along the Dan River north, intending to return to the Baishi Great Wall through Changping Pass. Bai Qi then took the opportunity to send two lines of troops and horses, one to completely cut off the connection between the logistics force of the Zhao army and the main force, and the other to take the opportunity to capture Changping Pass and the northern line of the Baishi Great Wall, and finally encircled the main force of the Zhao army in the narrow space between the Baishi Great Wall, the Qin army camp and Hanwang Mountain. "The main force of the Zhao army was finally surrounded in a narrow strip between the Great Wall of Baishi, the Qin army camp and the Hanwang Mountain.
It can be seen that Zhao Kuo's defeat was not the main reason for the defeat of the Battle of Changping. Zhao Guo was already at a disadvantage in other aspects outside the battlefield, and Zhao Kuo came to the battlefield with the great responsibility of taking the initiative to attack, and in the face of Bai Qi, who was extremely good at grasping opportunities on the battlefield, what he could do was already very limited.
Will replacing Zhao Kuo with Bai Qi be enough to change the Battle of Changping?
Now that the reason for Zhao's defeat has been discovered, let's see if Zhao Kuo and Bai Qi can avoid defeat after Zhao Kuo and Bai Qi swap identities.
First of all, although the combat effectiveness of the Zhao army has improved after Hu Du's cavalry shoots arrows, it should be clear that this is more reflected in the combat effectiveness of the cavalry. Due to the limited terrain of the Changping battlefield and the fact that the stirrup had not yet appeared, the role of cavalry in the Changping battlefield was indeed limited. Both sides still fought mainly with infantry, and cavalry only appeared as auxiliary forces. Judging from the battles in the early stage, the combat effectiveness of the Zhao army was obviously inferior to that of the Qin army.
Since the Chao army took the initiative and did not know who the Qin army's reinforcements and their commanders were, there were only two situations on the Changping battlefield, which will be discussed separately below:
1.Qin Zhao took the initiative. In this case, the Battle of Changping would turn into a battle of a million male divisions, and the Zhao army, which was slightly inferior to the Qin army, would most likely be defeated. However, since both sides took the initiative, the Zhao army could still choose to withdraw from the battlefield in the face of heavy losses. However, since the Zhao army wanted to end the Battle of Changping as soon as possible, there was still a high probability that the Zhao army would be defeated, but the losses of the Qin army would not be small, and it was likely to achieve a catastrophic victory.
2.Zhao State is the main attack, and Qin State is the main defense. If the Qin army decided to defend the barrier west of the Dan River, and the Zhao army decided to cross the Dan River to attack the Qin army, the Qin army would rely on the solid terrain to inflict mass damage on the Zhao army. At this time, it was difficult for the Zhao army to consider retreating. If the Zhao army crossed the Dan River again, the Zhao army would be forced to retreat, or follow Zhao Kuo along the Dan River north, but even if Zhao Kuo did not take the opportunity to seize Changping Pass as Bai Qi did, the Zhao army would have to pay a very heavy price.
In short, after Zhao suffered a complete defeat outside the battlefield, he could only take the initiative to attack, and no matter who he chose as his general, he could not reverse the defeat.