Why should Zhao Kuo and Han Xin be compared together? Because they have two very similar places. First, both of them are familiar with Sun Tzu's Art of War, which goes without saying that everyone knows. Second, both men had no combat experience before they were appointed generals to command the army.
Of course, compared with Han Xin, Zhao Kuo has many advantages. Zhao Kuo's father, Zhao She, is a famous Zhao. Zhao Kuo grew up well-fed. When studying, you can ask Dad Zhao She if you don't understand. Han Xin was miserable, born in poverty, and often had the cheek to go to other people's homes for dinner, but he often missed it.
Speaking of living and learning conditions, Han Xin, the second generation of the poor, is far less than Zhao Kuo, the second generation of the official. However, when they fight on the battlefield, their performance is completely inversely proportional to their living and learning conditions.
Zhao Kuo's life is well documented. He commanded the battle of Changping.
The battle of Changping originated from the conspiracy of South Korea. Shangdang County in South Korea was attacked by the State of Qin and was on the verge of being breached. The county magistrate dedicated Shangdang County to Zhao, and Qin was furious and began to attack Zhao.
Although Qin made small victories in succession, under the command of veteran Lian Po, Zhao set up a defense line in Changping, and the two sides formed a confrontation, which lasted for three years.
It is estimated that there are about one million troops of Qin and Zhao who participated in the war. The long-term military confrontation has brought great logistical and economic pressure to Qin and Zhao. If it continues for a long time, the economies of both countries will collapse.
Lian Po's long-term adherence to the tactics of defeating the enemy without fighting is obviously not what the prince of Zhao wants to see. In this way, even if Zhao is not defeated on the battlefield, he will be dragged down by bottomless logistics supplies and economic collapse.
It is in this situation that the prince of Zhao turned his attention to Zhao Kuo. Although Zhao Kuo is young, he has the courage to do or die with Qin Jun. As for the plot against Qin, it doesn't have much effect. If Qin was not treacherous, the prince of Zhao would have replaced Lian Po. The only difference is who will be sent to replace Lian Po. However, what is neglected is that Qin State is faced with huge logistics supply and the imminent pressure of economic collapse. Otherwise, Qin will not come up with this trick.
Now there is a saying circulating on the Internet that Zhao will be defeated in the battle of Changping, not to mention Zhao Kuo, that is, anyone who goes, including Lian Po, is actually groundless.
Zhao Kuo went to the front, changed Lian Po's long-term strategy, and began to actively prepare for war. The battle of Changping Zhao Kuo's fighting thought is to win by war, which is purely a military adventure.
Of course, Zhao's soldiers are well-trained and brave, no less than the so-called "teacher of tigers and wolves." Therefore, Zhao Kuo is confident of confronting Qin Jun.
Zhao Jun went to war and won small victories in succession. Qin Jun began to retreat and flee. Of course, this is a trap set by Qin Tian, but Zhao Kuo is not afraid at all. Zhao continued to chase, but when he caught up with the ambush, he stopped running and began to insist. Zhao attacked fiercely, but he couldn't break the position. At this time, the situation of the war has undergone a fundamental change.
Twenty-five thousand people were circuitous to Zhao's two wings, surrounded Zhao, quickly cut off Zhao's retreat, and sent five thousand cavalry to split Zhao in two, and Zhao's route for providing foodstuff was cut off from now on.
Many people ask why the siege of Zhao can be completed with only a few soldiers. According to our famous historical geographers Jin and Xie Hongxi's on-the-spot investigation on the ancient battlefield of Changping War, hundreds of thousands of Zhao troops were besieged by clever use of the unique local terrain, and the number of participants greatly exceeded.
Zhao's army was besieged for 46 days, cut off food and grass, and even began to kill each other to satisfy their hunger with human flesh. Zhao Kuo commanded the troops to break through on all sides, and several bloody battles failed. Finally, Zhao Kuo personally went into battle, trying to fight, was killed by an arrow, Zhao Kuo became a hedgehog, and 400,000 Zhao surrendered. Then, except for 240 young people who were put back to Zhao, all other Zhao troops were killed, and Zhao Kuo's military adventure was a complete failure.
In the words of Sun Tzu's Art of War, Zhao Kuo's failure is to fight first and then win, while Han Xin's command is to ensure an invincible position first and then kill the enemy. This is the fundamental difference between Zhao Kuo and Han Xin. Han Xin's fighting thought was very obvious in the battle of Jingxing.
The battle of Jingxing was also considered by many as a great adventure in Han Xin's military career. But the old cat thinks that this war has an element of adventure in Han Xin, but it is by no means a simple military adventure like Zhao Kuo.
In 204 BC, Han Xin led 30,000 troops to attack Zhao, to which Xiang Yu belonged.
If you want to go to Zhao and Han Xin, you have to go through Jingxing Pass. To the west of Jingxingguan, there is a narrow post road about a hundred miles long, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack, which is not conducive to the action of large troops. Zhao Dajun, commander-in-chief, concentrated 200,000 troops in Jingxing, occupying favorable terrain and preparing for a decisive battle with Han Xin.
If Zhao holds his ground, sends troops around Han Xin, cuts off Han Xin's route for providing foodstuff, and then attacks back and forth, Han Xin will undoubtedly lose, and such a battle plan seems to be very similar to the battle of Changping in Zhao Kuo. In fact, Zhao's strategist also made such a suggestion to him.
Han Xin is most afraid of Zhao's deployment. He knew that his army was poor in fighting capacity. Therefore, Han Xin did not use the slogan "Brave meets brave" to encourage soldiers to rush out of Jingxing and defeat Zhao, but waited far away in Jingxing. This is the genius of Han Xin. Don't fight if you can't beat the enemy, instead of taking risks.
Han Xin learned that Li Zuoche's plan was not adopted by Chen Yu, and immediately ordered his troops to camp 30 miles away from Jingxingkou. The reason why he didn't dare to cross Jingxing easily shows that Han Xin is still very careful, afraid of being attacked by Zhao, and he is in a dilemma.
Han Xin sent two thousand Qingqi, each holding a red flag of the Han army, to ambush Zhao Daying from the mountain road in the dark. Then, after repeatedly proving that there was no ambush near Jingxingguan, Han Xin quickly commanded troops to pass through the pass and transport water along the river.
Han Xin deliberately went to the front to show Zhao himself, luring Zhao to attack. Zhao saw that Korea was short of soldiers and returned to Shuizhen, laughing at Han Xin's ignorance of the art of war. Sure enough, they lost their nest and decided to capture Han Xin alive in World War I. ..
Han Xin sent an ambush to see that Zhao's main forces were all deployed. While Zhao Daying was empty, he successfully broke into Zhao Daying, unplugged Zhao Daqi and inserted Han Daqi.
No way back, the last stop of the Han army, fought with Zhao to the death. After a long battle with the Han army commander, Zhao still didn't win. He was preparing to return to the camp, only to find that his camp was full of China flags, and his morale was in chaos. Han Xin tried to command the Han army to counterattack, killing 200,000 Zhao troops, and Chen Yu, commander-in-chief of Zhao army, also died in the chaos.
It is risky to believe in water array, but Han Xin also sent Indiana Jones to attack Zhao's camp, changed its flag, and shook Zhao's morale. This is Han Xin's most important move, and it is also in line with Sun Tzu's thought of "winning by opposing".