The Battle of Chengpu was a decisive battle between Jin and Chu for the Central Plains in the Spring and Autumn Period. Jin State, which was at a disadvantage, correctly analyzed the objective situation at that time, properly chose the battlefield, adopted the political and diplomatic alliance, gained the advantage and initiative over Chu, and was in a rational and favorable strategic position. Then avoid the edge of Chu, retreat on three sides, lure the enemy deep, and make a joint assault to win the decisive battle. The policy of "avoiding three houses" in this war is an important development of China's ancient military thought.
The Battle of Chengpu was a decisive large-scale battle between Jin Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period. Through aggression and expansion, Chu basically conquered all the weak countries in the Central Plains, and the Central Plains has actually become the sphere of influence of Chu except Jin, Qi and Qin. When the State of Chu sent heavy troops to keep secret to prevent Qin from going south to Chu and sent heavy troops to Gu Yi to look after Qi, the State of Song betrayed Chu and turned to the State of Jin, which not only dealt a blow to Chu who wanted to dominate the world, but also encouraged Jin Wengong to drive Chu away and dominate the Central Plains. In this way, the battle of Chengpu became a multinational war with Jin in the north, Qi in the east, Qin in the west and Chu in the south, and all countries in the Central Plains were affected.
Due to the betrayal of the Song State, the King of Chu sent troops to attack the Song State, captured the city, and hit Suiyang all the way, and built a long wall of earth all around, hoping that Song Jun would be exhausted and hungry and forced to surrender. Suddenly I heard that Guo Wei sent a special envoy to ask for help in an emergency. Originally, Jin did not send troops to aid Song Dynasty, but adopted the strategy of attacking Cao from Wei, which was rejected by Wei, so Jin Jun diverted across the Yellow River and moved eastward. Captured and visited Wulong, an important town in Wei Dynasty (now south of Puyang, Henan Province), and stayed in the army to continue eastward, focusing on capturing strategic locations at the junction of Wei, Qi, Cao and Lu. Jin Jun soon occupied this place, which seriously threatened the safety of Chu Qiu, the capital of Wei State (now hua county, Henan Province).
Jin sent envoys to Qi State to repair friendly relations with Qi State. At this time, Wei successfully gave in and was willing to make peace with Jin, but Jin refused. Wei sent someone to Chu for help, but he was opposed by his own people and drove Wei Chenggong away. At this time, Jin Wengong made a friendly alliance with King Zhao Ji, which further strengthened the prestige of 8 Jin Army. Lu Xigong saw that the Jin army was powerful, and Qi made an alliance on its own border. The situation is very unfavorable. He wanted to ease the contradiction with Qi Jin, but he didn't dare to offend Chu. So Lu sent troops to kill Jia, the son of Dr. Chu, as a garrison country to please Jin. At the same time, he informed the king of Chu that his son Jia could not complete the task of defending the country and retreated without authorization, killing him for Chu to please Chu. Lou seems to be no threat to Kim. Then, 8 Jin Army attacked Tao Qiu, the capital of Cao (southwest of Dingtao County, Shandong Province). After more than a month of fighting, 8 jin j died a lot, but cao was forced by the situation, fighting alone, the capital fell, and cao * * * was captured.
The king of Chu heard that Wei was trapped and wanted to go to the rescue, so he sent troops from Shen and two towns, leaving Marshal as a minister, and a group of generals such as Dou Yuejiao, Dou Bo and Wan Chun to continue to encircle the Song Dynasty with various princes. Personally led by Chen and Dou Yishen to save Wei. Fearing that their country would be attacked by the state of Jin, all the princes of Route Four went home, and only their general remained in their army. Chen's generals are Yuan Xuan, Yin Gongzi, General and General Baiyu, all under Chu's command.
Jin attacked Wei and Cao. The original plan was to lure the Chu army to solve the encirclement of the Song Dynasty and fight against Jin in the north. However, Chu continued to besiege Song. Song was in a hurry again. If he can't be saved, he will not be able to repay his kindness in the past, and if he loses Song, it will not be conducive to the overall situation. However, sending troops directly to save Song Zhanchu violated the strategy of leading the Chu army to a decisive battle in the wilderness of Cao Wei. Moreover, United Chyi Chin has not succeeded, and it is not sure to defeat Chu. At this time, the second lieutenant died in the army, which made Jin Wengong more determined to save Song Zhanchu. At this time, Xian Zhen, the new marshal, put forward a good plan for Chu State: First, let Song State pay tribute to Chyi Chin, let them intervene in the battle between Song and Chu, and mediate from it; The second is to give the land of Cao Guo and Guo Wei to Guo Song, make up for the loss of Guo Song, inspire the fighting spirit of the Guo Song army and people, and continue to stand by and ask for help. Cao and Wei are Chu's sphere of influence, and Chu will never allow Chyi Chin to intervene. In this way, Chyi Chin will be annoyed, and Song will be friendly to Song, thus prompting Chyi Chin and Jin to form an anti-Chu military alliance, which will further isolate Chu. The development of the situation is as analyzed by Xian Zhen.
King Chu himself led the troops halfway. He heard that the Jin army had sent troops to attack Cao and was discussing how to save Cao. Soon, another news came: "Gold has broken Cao, take it." This shamed the king of Chu. Jin Jun invaded Cao Wei and made rapid progress, but Cao Wei was defeated. The situation in the Central Plains changed suddenly, and Chu lost reinforcements. If it continues, it will inevitably have a direct conflict with 8 jin j.. Chu originally didn't want to go to war directly with the Jin army. When he was not ready, he heard the news of sending troops to help the Jin State. The king of Chu was worried that it would be unimaginable for Qin to attack Chu from behind, so he decided to stop the attack immediately and retreat strategically, waiting for the favorable opportunity to fight with Jin. So the whole army retreated, returned the land occupied by Qi to Qi, made peace with Qi, and ordered the Chu army and various governors to cancel the siege and return to their hometowns. In particular, I sent someone to warn Cheng not to be willful and not to advance toward the Jin army. The enemy and I are equal in strength, and they should retreat if they know they can't win. However, Cheng refused to carry out the withdrawal order. Although the soldiers of various vassals returned to their own countries, he still wanted to capture the Song State and asked him to send troops to fight for gold when necessary. He expressed dissatisfaction with Cheng's failure to carry out orders, and at the same time he was lucky. Therefore, he did not insist on withdrawing troops from Cheng, nor did he send reinforcements according to the number required by Cheng, but only sent nearly a thousand noble soldiers to him.
Cheng sent Wan Chun to Jinying and said, "Please restore Cao Cao, and our Chu army will also relieve the siege of Song Dynasty." Hu Yan scolded him for being rude. Xian Zhen saw Yu Zi's plot and said to Jin Wengong, "If we don't agree with this request of the Chu army, it will certainly offend the Three Kingdoms and the Chu army will gain a good reputation. Why not let Cao and Weiguo restore the country privately to alienate their relationship with Chu, and at the same time withhold Wan Chunlai from Chu to anger Chu, and adopt the strategy of "fighting first and seeking success later". " Xian Zhen's opinion was adopted. Cao and Wei restored the country and immediately broke off relations with Chu; Cheng is really angered. After he withdrew from the army that besieged the capital of song dynasty, he assembled the army and turned to Cao's territory, ready to attack the Jin army directly.
The withdrawal of the Chu army from the troops surrounding the Song Dynasty was in line with the strategic goal of the Jin side to save the Song Dynasty. Under the full attack of the Chu army, the Jin army made a promise to Chu in those days: if there was a war between the two countries, the Jin army would first give up three houses and retreat from them. In this way, the Jin army achieved the purpose of winning the trust of the princes. Practice Wen Gong's promise to take refuge in Chu, and inspire the morale of 8 Jin Army and allied forces. If Chu moves forward again, it will only be forced to fight; But also avoid the sharp front of the Chu army and choose the favorable opportunity and favorable terrain for decisive battle; You can also get close to the mainland and shorten the supply route. It can be said that it is a favorable factor to retreat from difficulties and make use of the favorable conditions of time, place and people.
On the verge of exploding, the State of Jin consists of Jin, Qi and Qin and Song Bing, while the State of Chu consists of Chu, Chen, Cai, Zheng and Xu, and the two sides are arrayed in Chengpu.
After the Chu army arrived in Chengpu, it occupied a favorable terrain and sent Dou Bo to challenge the gauntlet, greatly despising the Jin army, saying, "Please invite the Jin soldiers to battle and invite the Jin army to watch by car. I will be accompanied by a minister. " It shows the arrogant attitude of the Chu army. Jin replied: the Jin army has retreated. Since Chu does not stop fighting, they will meet on the battlefield tomorrow.
On the morning of April 4, 632 BC, Marshal Cheng of the Chu army issued the order "No Jin today", ordering the left and right armies to attack the Jin army respectively. Luan Zhi, the general of Xia Jin, used the dust on the battlefield as a sand curtain to blind the enemy and cover up his own truth. Xu Chen clothed his horse with tiger skin to enhance his prestige. Chu's right army attacked, and Qin Jun engaged. After a little resistance, Qin Jun immediately retreated. Luan branch dragged branches behind the chariot, and the dust was flying, which made the Chu army unable to see the reality behind 8 Jin J. In addition, Chen and Cai Erjun were brave and aggressive, and the commander-in-chief of Xu Chen, the deputy governor of the Jin army, suddenly fought in the drums, and the horses were covered with tiger skins, which scared the horses on the chariots of Chen and Cai Erjun to panic and flee, and the lineup was in chaos. Jin Qin Jun took the opportunity to storm and killed Yin, the son of Cai, and Dou Bo escaped with an arrow. The right wing of the Chu army suffered heavy casualties and the attack was a complete failure, exposing China to 8 Jin Army. Luan Zhi dragged the branches north by car, raising dust. Chu Shuai became a minister. General Dou Yishen thought that the Jin army was really defeated and ordered Zuo Jun to attack. The Jin army took part in the battle. Then they retreated. ChuJun chasing 8 jin j command car under the banner. When it was discovered that there was a crisis in the retreat of the upper-level troops, it immediately changed its deployment: let Qi conceal the truth, raise the handsome flag, hold the position of the Chinese army, and turn right to attack the left-wing troops of Chu and Hebei. Jin's main force suddenly attacked from the flank and broke Chu in two. Kim immediately stopped retreating and went to war. Zhong Jun monk army echoed each other and fought side by side. After a fierce battle, the two armies of Zheng and Xu were defeated first, and the Chu army could not support it and fell into a tight encirclement. Dou Yishen led the troops to break through and was blocked again. Chu has fallen into the territory of the whole army. After the Chu army attacked the left and right armies, the China army immediately attacked Jin. Qi Biao, the general of the Jin Dynasty, panicked and his palm was unstable, which almost spread to the whole army. When Si Mazhao failed, he immediately killed Qi Biao and ordered the doctor to raise the flag on the Mao Raft to keep his feet steady. Jin defeated the right-wing army of Chu and went back to Li for help. At this time, the left and right armies of Chu failed, and the two wings of China's army were exposed. After the victory of Jin Fang's upper and lower armies, they also participated in the main battle respectively, forming an encirclement of the Chu army. Seeing that the tide was gone, Cheng sent troops to retreat and get rid of the encirclement before the Jin army formed an encirclement, and the Jin army won a great victory.
Cheng didn't go back to Chu, but he was reprimanded by the king of Chu on the way and committed suicide in shame. As a result of this war, the Chu-Han Alliance disintegrated, and Jin Wengong became a tyrant in the Spring and Autumn Period.