The Battle of Feishui

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The corrupt politics in the late Western Jin Dynasty triggered great social unrest, and Chinese history entered the period of division and separatism in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the south, Sima Rui, the evil king of Langye of Jin, proclaimed himself emperor in Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) in 317 AD, established the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and occupied most of the area south of the Han River and the Huaihe River. In the north, there are frequent disputes over the political power of various ethnic minorities. The former Qin State established by the Di people successively destroyed the former Yan, Dai, Qian Liang and other separatist states, and unified the Yellow River Basin. Later, in 373 AD, they captured Liang (now Hanzhong, Shaanxi) and Yi (now Chengdu, Sichuan) states in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and expanded their power to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and Han River. The former Qin Emperor Fu Jian was so ambitious that he wanted to use the power of "a strong wind to sweep away the autumn leaves" to quell the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which was relatively peaceful in the south of the Yangtze River, and unify the north and the south in one fell swoop.

In August 383 AD, Fu Jian personally led an army of 600,000 infantry, 270,000 cavalry, 30,000 Yu Linlang (Jiang Guards), and 900,000 Japanese troops south from Chang'an. At the same time, Fu Jian He also ordered Pei Yuanlue, the governor of Zitong, to lead 70,000 navy troops down the river from Bashu to the east and march toward Jiankang. Nearly a million marching troops "thousands of miles in front and back, facing each other with flags and drums. Thousands of miles from east to west, marching by land and water." Fu Jian arrogantly declared: "With our army of one million, even throwing a horse whip into the Yangtze River is enough to stop the flow of the Yangtze River." . ”

The Eastern Jin Dynasty was under pressure from powerful enemies and faced a critical juncture of life and death. The main war faction headed by Prime Minister Xie An was determined to resist. Recommended by Xie An, the Jin Emperor appointed Xie An's brother Xie Shi as the commander-in-chief of the expedition, and Xie An's nephew Xie Xuan as the vanguard. They led 80,000 "Beifu soldiers" with strong combat effectiveness after seven years of training to go west along the Huaihe River to attack the Qin Dynasty. The main force of the army. Hu Bin was sent to lead 5,000 naval troops to reinforce the strategically important Shouyang (now Shouxian County, Anhui). He also appointed Hengchong as the governor of Jiangzhou, and led 100,000 Jin troops to control the middle reaches of the Yangtze River to prevent the Qin, Bashu and Shu armies from moving eastward along the river.

On October 18, Fu Rong, Fu Jian's younger brother, led the Qin vanguard troops to capture Shouyang and captured Jin army guard Xu Yuanxi. At the same time, the Qin army's Murong Chui tribe captured Yun City (today's Yun County, Hubei Province). Hu Bin, who was ordered to lead the navy to rescue Shouyang, learned on the way that Shouyang had been captured by Fu Rong, so he retreated to Xiashi (southwest of Fengtai, Anhui today), waiting to join Xie Shi and Xie Xuan's army. Fu Rong led his army to attack Xiashi again. Fu Rong's general Liang Cheng led 50,000 troops to attack Luojian (in the east of Huainan, Anhui today), cutting off the traffic on the Huaihe River and blocking Hu Bin's retreat. Hu Bin was trapped in Xiashi and ran out of food and grass. It was difficult to support him. He wrote to Xie Shi for help. However, the Jin soldiers who delivered the letter were captured by Qin soldiers, and the letter fell into the hands of Fu Rong. Fu Rong immediately reported to Fu Jian that the Jin army had few soldiers and lacked food and grass, and suggested that troops should be raised quickly to prevent the Jin army from escaping. Fu Jian was rewarded, so he left his army in Xiangcheng and led 8,000 cavalry to Shouyang.

As soon as Fu Jian arrived in Shouyang, he immediately sent Zhu Xu, the former Eastern Jin Xiangyang guard general, to the Jin army camp to persuade him to surrender. After Zhu Xu arrived at the Jin camp, instead of persuading him to surrender, he instead provided Xie Shi with the situation of the Qin army. He said: "Although the Qin army has millions of people, it is still advancing. If the troops are concentrated, it will be difficult for the Jin army to resist. The situation is different now. We should take advantage of the opportunity when the Qin army has not all arrived to launch an attack quickly. As long as If you can defeat its forward troops and weaken their energy, you can defeat Qin's millions of troops." Xie Shi initially thought that Qin's army was strong and planned to hold on without fighting until the enemy was tired and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack. After listening to Zhu Xu's words, he thought it made sense, so he changed his combat strategy and decided to switch from defense to offense and take the initiative.

In November, Xie Xuan sent Liu Laozhi, the brave general, with 5,000 elite troops to attack Luojian, which kicked off the Feishui War. Qin general Liang Cheng led 50,000 troops to form a formation near Luojian to attack. Liu Laozhi divided his troops and detoured back to the Qin army's formation to cut off their return. He led his troops to cross the Luoshui River and stormed the Qin army's formation. The Qin army panicked, barely resisted for a while, and then collapsed. General Liang Cheng and his younger brother Liang Yun were killed in the battle. The officers and soldiers rushed to cross the Huaihe River to escape, and more than 15,000 people lost their lives. The great victory at Luojian greatly boosted the morale of the Jin army. Xie Shi sent his army forward by land and water, reaching the east bank of Feishui River (today's Fei River, south of Shouxian County, Anhui Province). He set up camp on the edge of Bagong Mountain and confronted the Qin army in Shouyang across the bank. Fu Jian stood on the tower of Shouyang City. Looking around, he saw that the Jin army on the other side was neatly arrayed and had elite soldiers.

Even the vegetation on Bagong Mountain felt like human figures, and he mistakenly thought they were Jin soldiers. He was quite panicked and said to Fu Rong, "These are powerful enemies! How can you say they are weak enemies?"

As the Qin army pressed against the west bank of the Fei River, the Jin army was unable to cross the river and had to confront them across the bank. Xie Xuan sent an envoy to see Fu Rong and said to him in a provocative way: "The general led his troops deep into the Jin region, but pressed against the river bank to form a formation. Is this an attempt to fight decisively? If you move your position back slightly and leave an empty space, How about we let our army cross the Feishui River and let the two sides decide the outcome?" All the generals of the Qin army expressed opposition, but Fu Jian thought that he could use the trick and let the army retreat slightly, and then attack when the Jin army was halfway across the river. The cavalry charges and the victory is achieved. Fu Rong also agreed with Fu Jian's plan, so he agreed to Xie Xuan's request and commanded the Qin army to retreat. However, the morale of the Qin soldiers was low. As a result, they lost control as soon as they retreated, and the battle was in chaos. Xie Xuan led more than 8,000 cavalry to cross the Feishui River and attack the Qin army fiercely. Zhu Xuze shouted from behind the Qin army's formation: "The Qin army is defeated! The Qin army is defeated!" The Qin soldiers believed it to be true, so they turned around and ran away. Seeing that the situation was not good, Fu Rong hurriedly rode forward to stop it in an attempt to stabilize his position. Unexpectedly, his horse was knocked down by the rebels and was killed by the Jin army's pursuers. The Qin soldiers who lost their commander became more and more confused and collapsed completely. The defeat of the forward caused panic in the follow-up troops, who also fled, creating a chain reaction. As a result, the entire army fled and retreated northward. The defeated Qin army did not dare to stop along the way. When they heard the roar of the wind and cranes, they thought it was the Jin army chasing after them. The Jin army took advantage of the victory and pursued it until they reached Qinggang near Shouyang. Qin soldiers and horses trampled each other to death, filling the mountains and fields and filling the rivers. Fu Jian himself was wounded by an arrow and fled back to Laoyang alone.

The Jin army regained Shouyang, and Xie Shi and Xie Xuan sent Pegasus to Jiankang to report their victory. At that time, Xie An was playing chess with guests at home. After reading the good news sent by Xie Shi, he put the good news aside without showing any signs of it and continued to play chess. Knowing that it was a battle report from the front, the guest couldn't help but ask Xie An: "How is the battle going?" Xie An said slowly: "The children finally defeated the Qin people." After hearing this, the guest was so happy that he didn't want to play chess anymore. , wanting to tell others the good news quickly, he said goodbye and left. Xie An saw off the guests and returned to the inner house. He could no longer contain his excitement. When he crossed the threshold, he staggered and broke the teeth of the wooden clogs on his feet.

In the Battle of Feishui, the former Qin army was annihilated and more than 700,000 soldiers fled. Only the 30,000 horses of Murongchui's tribe in Xianbei were still intact. Fu Jian's hope of unifying the north and the south was completely shattered. Not only that, the temporary unity of the north also disintegrated and split again into more local ethnic governments. Nobles from other ethnic groups such as Murong Chui of the Xianbei people and Yao Chang of the Qiang people re-emerged, and their respective A new country was established, but Fu Jian himself was captured and killed by Yao Chang two years later, and the former Qin Dynasty perished. Although the victor of this battle, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was unable to restore its rule over the whole of China, it effectively curbed the southward intrusion of northern minorities and created conditions for the socio-economic recovery and development of the Jiangnan region. The Battle of Feishui has also become a famous example of defeating more with less. It has been recorded in military history and has had a long-lasting influence on the war concepts and decisive battle ideas of later generations of military strategists.

Gaixia’s Station

At that time, the Han soldiers had a lot of food, and King Xiang’s soldiers stopped eating.

Both Han Xin and Peng Yue reported: "Please march in now." "Han Xin went from Qi, and Liu Jiajun went from Shouchun to massacre Chengfu and reached Gaixia. The great Sima Zhou Yin rebelled against Chu, slaughtered Liu with Shu, raised troops from Jiujiang, followed Liu Jia and Peng Yue, and all went down to Gaixia to visit King Xiang.

In the fifth year, Gaozu and the princes' soldiers attacked the Chu army and defeated Xiang Yu in Gaixia. The Marquis of Huaiyin will be in charge of three hundred thousand, General Kong will be on the left, General Fei will be on the right, the Emperor will be behind, and Jianghou and General Chai will be behind the Emperor. Xiang Yu's soldiers numbered one hundred thousand. Huaiyin combines first, which is unfavorable, but

. Generals Kong and Fei were at a disadvantage, but the Chu troops were at a disadvantage. The Marquis of Huaiyin took advantage of them and defeated Gaixia. Xiang Yu's soldiers heard the Han army's Chu song and thought that the Han army had captured Chu territory. Xiang Yu was defeated and fled, so his army was defeated. He sent the cavalry general Guan Ying to pursue Xiang Yu in the east city and beheaded 80,000 people, and then he briefly captured the territory of Chu.

In the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, Bu envoys entered Jiujiang and gained several counties. In the sixth year, Bu and Liu Jia entered Jiujiang and lured the great commander Zhou Yin. Zhou Yin rebelled against Chu, so he raised Jiujiang soldiers and the Han to attack Chu and broke Gaixia.

The King of Han was trapped in the mausoleum, so he used Zhang Liang's plan to summon King Xin of Qi, and then gathered his troops to Gaixia

The above is the description of Gaixia in the Historical Records

Discussion The battle of Gaixia cannot but be mentioned in the battle of Chenggao and Xingyang. Sun Tzu said: "Victory defeats the defeated enemy."

Then the battles of Chenggao and Xingyang

were the process of creating a war situation of "victory over the defeated enemy", and the battle of Gaixia was the result. The Chu army's final move from an advantage

to the Gaixia battlefield was a process of slowly decreasing morale. The specific process is as follows:

1. The hardship of siege warfare. Sun Tzu repeatedly emphasized the disadvantages of siege warfare in his art of war. As the city is high and the city is deep, the defenders are determined

and have sufficient troops and food support, it has always been a nightmare for the attackers. . Gao Huan, the great lord of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, led an army of 100,000 to besiege Wangbi (now Ji County, Shanxi Province), an important stronghold in the lower reaches of the Fen River in the Western Wei Dynasty. Wei Xiaokuan, the general of the Western Wei Dynasty, guarded the city. There were only a few thousand soldiers in the Jade Wall City. Gao Huan's 100,000 troops attacked the city day and night without stopping. As a result, the Eastern Wei Dynasty struggled to attack Yubi for more than fifty days. More than 70,000 people died of illness and disease in the battle, and they were all buried in a big pit. The boss Gao Huan also died of depression. In the struggle between Chu and Han, Chenggao and Xingyang, two strong cities, have always been the focus of the struggle between Chu and Han. Liu Bang relied on the strong cities and sufficient supplies. The constant flow of troops greatly depleted the Chu army's strength.

2. Frequent military mobilization. On the battlefield behind Xiang Yu, although the battle was not as fierce as the other two battlefields, it was still very important. Peng Yue repeatedly attacked the city behind Xiang Yu and cut off the Chu army's supply line, forcing Xiang Yu to Personally leading a large army to conquer

this will cause the Chu army to move east and west frequently, and the troops will be exhausted. This is the way for Jin and Wu to harass Chu!

3. There is a serious lack of logistical supplies. Everyone should be familiar with this. The main reason that caused the Chu army's situation was Peng Yue's offensive actions in the rear. As mentioned in the above theory, high morale can suppress and regulate people's basic needs within a certain period of time. It can allow people to temporarily get rid of personal basic needs and fight. . The situation mentioned is completely different from the current situation. Guan Zhong said: The warehouse is practical and the etiquette is known. Qi Jiguang said: It is feasible for the soldiers to have enough food and then restrain them. In the case of long-term lack of logistical supplies, a decrease in morale is inevitable.

4. Several military defeats. Although Xiang Yu claimed that he had "more than 70 battles and only one defeat", the Chu army, under the command of someone other than Xiang Yu, suffered two disastrous military defeats in the late stages of the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony. One was Long Qie's rescue. Xiang Yu's reaction in this battle was "When he heard the dragon and his army was defeated, he was frightened and sent Wu She from Xutai to talk to the Marquis of Huaiyin." One is that Cao Jiu lost Cheng Gao and suffered heavy losses.

The situation changed to "the Han soldiers had a lot of food, but King Xiang's soldiers stopped and had no food."

5. The war-weariness caused by long-term military operations. It is said in historical records that "Chu and Han have been in a stalemate for a long time. The young and strong are struggling in the army, and the old and weak

will return to the canal." Xiang Yu himself also said: "The Huns and Huns in the world are several years old, but I have two ears." , I am willing to challenge the king of Han to a duel, rather than suffering the consequences of the people of the world. "

6, the loss of confidence in the victory of the war. In the Battle of Gaixia, the Han army had an absolute advantage in strength. General Han Xin alone had 300,000 troops, while Xiang Yu's troops were less than 100,000. After the battle, Xiang Yu's troops were even more powerful. The losses were heavy.

So, by the time of the Battle of Gaixia, the morale of the Chu army had dropped to the extreme. Under the powerful catalyst of the final "Song of Besieged on All Sides

", the Chu army's morale had dropped to the extreme. A vicious sense of self-preservation broke out, and most of them collapsed, finally disintegrating

the overlord’s army! Therefore, the key is that the morale of the Chu army has been lost in previous wars, and "embarrassment on all sides" was the catalyst for the disintegration of its fighting spirit

rather than "embarrassment on all sides" that lowered the morale of the Chu army.

In addition to being "embattled on all sides" in history, there is also a typical war example.

In 1232 AD, the Mongolian army besieged Hujing, the capital of the Jin Dynasty. They "built a trench outside the city and surrounded it for a hundred and fifty miles."

Hundreds of Jin soldiers planned to defend the city. In order to break the fighting spirit of the Mongolian army besieging the city, Shilu, the right prime minister, once composed "River Water Song" and asked the people on the city to sing it quietly at night

It's a pity Unfortunately, Shilu didn't understand the real reason for being "embattled on all sides". In the face of a situation where morale was high and the Mongols were determined to capture Daliang, how useful could a mere homesick song be? I also hope that familiar brothers can provide the specific number of people on both sides for this battle. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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In a country, if the status of those warriors who shed blood and sacrifice for the country is not as good as that of the fat-bellied merchants, then it is not surprising at all that the country will perish! ----------Jomini

Soldiers are false and true, strange and correct, and build momentum.