King Qin Zhaoxiang was well versed in employing people. Throughout the history of the Warring States Period, it seems that only King Qin Zhaoxiang did the best in meritocracy and the combination of civil and military affairs. Since Wei Ran and others faded out of Qin's political stage, Bai Qi is no longer a member of the Queen Mother Xuan's political group. Of course, he is not a member of King Qin Zhaoxiang, but a member of the Qin State. The only one who can keep him loyal is the Qin State. country itself.
But King Qin needed people who were not only loyal to the country, but also loyal to him personally. Because only in this way can the Qin State continue to grow stronger and he can hold power in his own hands, so the appearance of Fan Ju allowed him to realize this wish.
The battle between Bai Qi and Fan Ju is not so much a political battle, but a battle between personal loyalty and loyalty to the country. In that era, royal power was higher than state power. Based on this, it can almost be concluded that Fan Ju and Bai Qi had different endings.
While paying attention to national interests, Fan Ju paid more attention to safeguarding the interests of King Qin and himself. But Bai Qi was different. All his thoughts were focused on conquering the six kingdoms and realizing the unification of the world.
The biggest stumbling block that prevents Bai Qi from realizing this grand ambition is the State of Zhao. He knows that he and the State of Zhao will have a strategic decisive battle that will determine the future fate of the Warring States Period. If Qin wins, it will be Qin who ends the Warring States Period; conversely, if Zhao wins, Zhao will definitely preside over the future Warring States situation. At least, it will take a long time for Qin to regain its vitality after this battle...
At that time, the State of Wei had lost many troops and generals, South Korea was in vain, and the State of Chu no longer had any threat. The State of Qi was on good terms with the State of Qin, and it was the best time for Qin to attack Zhao.
The reason why Bai Qi is invincible is that he can make full preparations before the battle. In the past, the reason why Bai Qi was able to lead a mere 100,000 soldiers to sweep across the world, beheading hundreds of thousands at every turn, was that those countries could not catch up with Qin in many aspects. But Zhao's strength should not be underestimated. At that time, Zhao's military strength was almost the same as Qin's. Zhao was able to compete with Qin in terms of total number of troops, deployment of troops, strategies of generals, etc.
Bai Qi's wish to have a battle with Zhao has never been realized. One of the reasons is that he has not met a strong opponent. Although Bai Qi has fought several battles with Zhao's army, he has never fought against his biggest opponent, Lian Po. By the time Bai Qi became a famous general in the world, Lian Po had already begun to fade out of the military stage of Zhao State; secondly, he did not encounter a suitable place. Bai Qi paid attention to surprise and cover up his unpreparedness in using his troops, and often in the process, he and Wei The military forces of China and South Korea are locked together.
Therefore, Bai Qi has been waiting for "the right time, right place, and right harmony". "The right time" means attacking at the right time, and now we have it; the so-called "geographical advantage" means that we need to seize a favorable position. Now Qin and Zhao each rely on their strong cities to confront each other, and the "geographical advantage" of Qin There is no advantage yet; the so-called "harmony" means that Qin is naturally united to attack Zhao. At this time, Zhao among the six countries has been successfully isolated. However, the people in Zhao are still stable, and "harmony" means that the Qin State is united to attack Zhao. The advantages are not very obvious and effective yet. Only when "the right time, the right location, and the right people" are in place, Bai Qi will choose to give Zhao a fatal blow. Bai Qi knew that the battle he was waiting for was related to his own reputation and the status of Qin, so he had to be cautious.
Bai Qi's strategies and tactics have been clearly demonstrated through the battles such as the Battle of Que and Huayang, and the attack on Chu.
First, Bai Qi adheres to the idea of fighting a war of annihilation, so his goal is not only to capture cities and land, but also to annihilate the enemy's effective forces. The outstanding feature of Bai Qi's operations is that he is good at field attack and must seek annihilation in battle. This is similar to the combat methods of later famous historical generals such as Li Guang, Wei Qing of the Western Han Dynasty, and Li Jing of the Tang Dynasty. Bai Qi, who is very good at fighting annihilation battles, uses encirclement and annihilation tactics very well.
Second, in order to eliminate the enemy's effective strength, Bai Qi placed more emphasis on pursuit battles, and did not pay attention to the "no pursuit of poor enemies" mentioned in the military book. Because he had been fully prepared, even if the enemy ambushed him, he would be able to take advantage of it. Therefore, after every battle, Bai Qi would pursue the enemy fiercely, which was very different from Shang Yang's strategic thinking of "a great victory cannot be more than ten miles from the north" ("The Book of Shang Jun: The Tenth Strategy of War").
Third, Bai Qi focused on field battles and fortifications. In war, it is often necessary to lure enemy troops out of their camps, then build forts to block the enemy in the area where they are expected to be wiped out, and deploy heavy troops to prevent the defeated army from breaking through. This kind of combat method using fortifications as an auxiliary means of attack is unprecedented.
Fourth, make accurate calculations before the war. This is the most fascinating state for military strategists - to predict the enemy first. Regardless of the political, economic, military, international and domestic situation between the enemy and ourselves, Bai Qi will make accurate calculations before the war. He can often point out the key point to the point, and can "know victory or defeat before the battle" ("Warring States Policy·Zhongshan"). Therefore, Ma Qian of the Taishi Company praised Bai Qi unstintingly in "Historical Records" as "the combination of unexpected changes with the enemy, endless surprises, and shocking the world."
With these four points, coupled with his past achievements, Bai Qi truly deserves to be called the "God of War". And this name is far more than a simple title, it brings a huge chain reaction. As soon as many generals heard that Bai Qi was personally leading the troops in battle, they would become frightened and eventually flee without fighting. At this time, Bai Qi will give full play to his advantage - pursue and fight fiercely. As a result, such a scene appeared on many battlefields: one side abandoned their armor, fled in panic, and eventually fell down one by one. Although there were not many left, they were still slaughtered; while the people on the other side were desperately harvesting their harvest. He lost his shirt and armor, and with only a big knife, he chased like crazy on the battlefield like a pig or a sheep.
In the end, all troops from all countries became Bai Qi's chosen prey. But his first prey of choice was South Korea. Attacking South Korea first will not only seize advantageous terrain and fertile land, but also poke a sharp sword in front of Zhao Guo's nose. In this way, the initiative of the war was in the hands of Qin.
In 264 BC, Bai Qi attacked Xingdi (now Quwo, Shanxi) in South Korea, but the Korean army was defeated. Bai Qi captured 5 cities along the way, and 50,000 Korean troops were killed. The following year, Bai Qi led 50,000 troops to attack Nanyang in South Korea. The Taihang Road in South Korea was cut off in a fire. From then on, the road between South Korea and Wei was completely blocked and fell into a precarious situation.
There has been intense discussion today about the exact location of the Nanyang area in South Korea where Bai Qi fought.
At that time, there were two states of existence in the Nanyang area. The first was Chu State and Nanyang in South Korea. Nanyang here should refer to the vast area south of Wangwu Mountain and north of the Han River. Before this, in the 25th year of King Nan of Zhou (290 BC), the Qin army divided this area into Yi The area west of Que. Bai Qi wanted to acquire this place simply by digging around, so it seemed unreasonable for Bai Qi to remain unmoved for 26 years and then only lead his army to seize it at this time.
The second type is the Nanyang area where Wei and South Korea coexist. That is, the vast area from Jiyuan in Henan to Huojia today. This place belonged to the Jin State during the Spring and Autumn Period. Later, when Han, Zhao, and Wei were divided into Jin, Nanyang was divided into two. Nanyang of the Wei State is today's Xiuwu County. In the forty-seventh year of King Nan of Zhou Dynasty (268 BC), the Qin army conquered the Huaiyi area of Wei (now Wushe, Henan Province). Bai Qi did not need to conquer it again because this area had long been occupied by Qin. .
Some people think that Nanyang in South Korea should be in the area of Qinyang County in Henan Province today. Hu Sansheng analyzed this area: Nanyang in South Korea is the Hanoi and Yewang area. Unfortunately, the exact location of the Wild King is unclear. The common view in history is that Yewang is today's Qinyang County, and Nanyang in South Korea, Yewang in ancient times, and Qinyang today refer to one area. But the subsequent history is that two years later, Bai Qi occupied Yewang. Such repeated attacks should not happen.
The "History of Chinese War in the Past Dynasties" points out that Nanyang in South Korea is today's Qinyang County in Henan Province, but Ye Wang is not Qinyang, but Boai County in Henan Province. With this explanation, all doubts will be solved.
Bai Qi's strategic intention for this move was obvious: to consolidate the defense lines in Xingqiu, Huaiyi, and Taihang Mountains, so as to cut off the connection between South Korea and Wei, and then control the changes in the situation in the entire Three Jin Land.
Another year later, Bai Qi led his troops to conquer Yewang in South Korea (today's Qinyang, Henan Province), cutting off the connection between Han Shangdang County and South Korea. In this way, Shangdang (now Changzhi, Shanxi) became an enclave of South Korea hanging outside the country, and would be destroyed by the Qin army in an instant.
The Shangdang area is a key area that Qin and Zhao compete for. "Xunzi" calls Shangdang "Shangdi", which means a high place, above, that is, "living on the top of the Taihang Mountains, the highest terrain is the same as the sky." The explanation of Shangdang in "Shiming" is: "The party is the highest place on the mountain, so it is called Shangdang." The Shangdang area has a dangerous terrain and has been a battleground for military strategists in ancient times. "If you win the Party, you can win the Central Plains" was the most popular saying at the time. In addition, Shangdang is also the birthplace of Chinese civilization in the legendary era. During Yao, Shun, Yu, Xia, Shang and Zhou, most of the capitals in each era were built around Shangdang, and each capital was no more than a hundred miles apart. To the west is the Linfen Basin, where Pingyang, the capital of Yao, is located; to the east, a hundred miles further, is Anyang, the capital of the Yin and Shang Dynasties; to the south is Yangcheng, the capital of the Xia Dynasty, and Luoyang, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty; to the southwest is the capital of Shun Puban and Anyi, the capital of Dayu, are also known as the Yuncheng Basin. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the Zhou royal family declined, and all the heroes came together. The three Jin kingdoms of Han, Zhao, and Wei all set up their own counties here at the same time, and named them Shangdang. That is, Korea Shangdang, Zhao Guoshangdang, and Wei Guoshangdang.
The Shangdang area is located in the southeast of today's Shanxi Province, mainly composed of the two cities of Changzhi and Jincheng. It is located on high ground but surrounded by mountains. To the southwest are the two mountains Wangwu and Zhongtiao, which divide it from today's Henan Province; to the east and southeast are the Taihang Mountains, which divide it from today's Hebei and Henan provinces; to the north are Wuyun Mountain, Bafuling and other mountainous areas; To the west is the Taiyue Mountains. It can be seen that its terrain is very dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The explanation of Shangdang in Di Ziqi's "Research on National Policy and Place Names" of the Qing Dynasty is that "the earth is extremely high, and it is in harmony with the sky, so it is called Shangdang". Su Dongpo also praised in his poem: "The Shangdang has always been the spine of the world."
At that time, Zhongzhou could be overlooked from Shangdang, which was connected to Hedong and Bingzhou and was the throat of the Jin Dynasty. It can be seen that if the Qin State can obtain Shangdang, it can rely on Taiyue Mountain when retreating. One man can guard the pass and ten thousand people cannot open it; if the Qin State can advance, it can attack Xinzheng, the capital of South Korea, deter Wei's capital Daliang, and threaten Zhao State's strategically important Changping. The Qin army is bound to win this territory, and Bai Qi will be able to achieve a real decisive battle with the Zhao army by then.
