Lian Po's best tactic was not how to attack, but how to defend. When Feng Ting was defeated and retreated to Changping Pass, he happened to meet Lian Po's army coming to rescue him. Therefore, Lian Po took advantage of the situation and built a defense line near Kinmen Mountain. This line of defense is based on fortresses, which are dispersedly stationed in a star shape. Lian Po allocated 10,000 elite Zhao troops to Feng Ting and asked him to garrison Guanglang City (Kangying). Xizhang City was garrisoned by General Gai Tong with an army of 10,000, while Dongzhang City was garrisoned by Gai Feng with an army of 10,000. These three people are all good generals, and guarding one side will definitely not be a problem.
It's a pity that the new general in Zhao Jun's camp, Zhao Qie, is a greedy and rash person. There is very little historical information about this person, but what is known is that he did not have a comprehensive grasp of the current situation of the Qin and Zhao armies at that time.
Since 265 BC, the Qin army has launched a series of attacks on South Korea under the guidance of the foreign policy of "diplomacy far away and attack near." Shaoqu (now northeast of Jiyuan, Henan), Gaoping (south of today's Jiyuan), Jingcheng (now northeast of Quwo, Shanxi), Nanyang (now Nanyang, Henan), and Yewang (now Boai County, Henan) in South Korea were all occupied by the Qin State. Since then, Qin has completed the strategic division of South Korea and cut off the connection between its homeland centered on the capital Xinzheng and the strategically important land party. Since then, the Qin army has been able to kill three birds with one stone. It can not only divide South Korea into two and completely isolate the Shangdang area; it can also weaken the Korean army and clear the obstacles for the Qin army to advance eastward; it can also seize strategically important areas in the Taihang Mountains. Military key points, taking advantage of geographical advantages, and then seizing the initiative in the war on a larger scale.
Unlike Feng Ting, King Huanhui of Han did not want to have a head-on impact with the Qin army, because he knew that the Han army would never be able to withstand the Qin army's fierce offensive. Therefore, King Huanhui of Han chose to send envoys to Qin to ask for peace. In fact, the outcome of the peace war is no longer important to Qin, as long as it can stabilize South Korea and let Qin use its full strength to deal with Zhao Jun. For this reason, Qin did not hesitate to promise South Korea huge profits until it conquered the Shangdang area. Since then, the Qin Army has completed the military siege of Zhao Army, and at the same time, the Qin State has also completed the diplomatic siege of Zhao State.
However, Zhao Qie not only did not understand the international situation faced by Zhao State at that time, but also did not understand the situation faced by Zhao Jun during the war. Zhao Qie seemed to be aware of this, so he decided to first find out what the situation of the Qin army was. On this day, Zhao Qie led 5,000 Zhao troops to inquire about the situation of the Qin army. He happened to meet the general Sima Geng who did not bring many troops.
Who is Sima Geng? Although history books don't mention Sima Geng much, as long as they mention the other two people who were related to him, it can be said that everyone knows about it. One is Sima Cuo, the general of the Qin State who occupied Shu; the other is Sima Qian who later "studied the relationship between heaven and man, understood the changes in ancient and modern times, and became a family" and wrote the historian's Bible "Historical Records". The former is Sima Geng's father, and the latter is Sima Geng's descendant. Sima Qian was a figure in the Western Han Dynasty and naturally had no influence on Sima Geng, but Sima Cuo had a profound influence on Sima Geng. "A tiger father has no dog son", Sima Geng has his father's style in tactics, and he is also one of the fierce generals of the Qin army.
After Zhao Qie saw Sima Geng, he immediately led 5,000 soldiers to kill him directly. Unexpectedly, although Sima Geng did not have many troops, his fighting will was extremely tenacious. "There are no weak soldiers under a strong general." Sima Jian, with only a thousand soldiers and horses, restrained Zhao Qie's 5,000 soldiers and horses until they could not move. Soon, reinforcements from the Qin army arrived, led by another fierce general Zhang Tang. Caught off guard, Zhao Qie suddenly panicked. Sima Geng saw the opportunity and chopped him off his horse with a single blow. When the Zhao army saw that their general had been killed, they immediately fled in all directions. Sima Geng did not pursue, because he knew that Zhao Qie's death had declared the strength of the Qin army and the Zhao army, and it was even possible for the Zhao army to come out to fight back.
But Lian Po was unusual. When he saw Zhao Qie defeated and killed, although he was shocked in his heart, he didn't show it at all on his face, and he didn't lead his troops to fight back in a spirited way. Instead, he built barriers and still couldn't hold on.
However, the Qin army was too powerful. Just when Lian Po thought his defense was impregnable, Gai of Dongzhang City was defeated and fled. Gai Tong of Xizhang City did not resist for long and quickly lost Xizhang City. Only Feng Ting resisted for a little longer, but in the end he still inevitably lost his troops and lost ground. Lian Po once again demonstrated his calm and wise fighting style. When all these troops were defeated, Lian Po still refused to go out and gave a fatal order: Whoever dares to fight without permission, even if the Qin army is defeated, will be defeated. Kill without mercy.
At this time, Wang Lu's army was ten kilometers away from Zhao Jun. Hearing that Zhao Jun could not hold on, he quickly led his troops to Kinmen Mountain. When he was four or five miles away from Zhao Jun, he sent troops to Kinmen Mountain. A formation was called at the city, hoping to lure Zhao Jun out and engage in a decisive battle with him. Unexpectedly, Lian Po remained unmoved. Three times in a row, the Qin army returned without success. In desperation, the Qin army could only think of another strategy.
Just at this time, General Wang Ling entered the Chinese army's tent. When Wang Hao saw it, he quickly expressed his thoughts and asked him for strategies to defeat the enemy. Although Wang Ling did not appear to be very brave during the battle, his brain was very flexible and he could be regarded as a wise man in Wang Lu's army. Seeing Wang Lu asking him about his countermeasures, Wang Ling immediately offered up the strategy he had prepared long ago. It turned out that Wang Ling had inspected the terrain in the Kinmen Mountain area before this. He found that all the water sources Zhao Jun needed came from the Yanggu Stream at the foot of Kinmen Mountain. As long as the Qin army cut off Zhao Jun's water source, Zhao Jun would If the Qin army does not come to challenge, the Zhao army will be in chaos. At that time, the Zhao army will either retreat or engage in a decisive battle with the Qin army.
In the Battle of Jinyang that year, Zhibo intercepted the water and captured Jinyang. How similar to the scene today! What will be the outcome of the war? Wang Lu was thinking about this problem. He adopted Wang Ling's suggestion and sent more than a thousand of his men to intercept the water. Lian Po had been thinking about this issue a few months ago. Therefore, when the camp was built at the foot of Kinmen Mountain, he ordered people to dig the ground to get water. In this way, Wang Hao and Wang Ling's strategy can only be declared invalid.
In this way, three years passed in a flash.
The Zhao army and the Qin army formed a long-term confrontation in Changping. At this time, mastering the terrain of the Changping area was crucial to the success or failure of the war. This is what is said: "Know the enemy and yourself, and victory is not in danger; know the sky and the earth, and victory is possible." Both Qin and Zhao knew this truth, so they sent many people to understand and explore the enemy's situation. We also had an in-depth understanding of the terrain conditions.
Today, the place where the famous battle in history took place, the Battle of Changping, has gradually faded out of people’s sight, and its specific location can only be determined based on historical records and archaeological data. Many materials show that Changping during the Warring States Period was Changping Village in the northwest of Gaoping City today. Of course, this is only a narrow scope. Changping in a broad sense should include the entire urban and rural areas of Gaoping today. Because both Qin and Zhao later gathered millions of troops here. The strategic front line, strategic buffer and strategic depth are at least hundreds of miles away. According to research, the main battlefield of the Battle of Changping was a narrow strip of 10 kilometers from east to west and 30 kilometers from north to south on both sides of the Dan River including Changping Village.
Lian Po chose to fortify Changping. Firstly, it was because Shangdang fell and Zhao Jun was forced to make a helpless choice. Secondly, it was also the result of Lian Po's careful consideration and discussions with other generals.
Prior to this, the Qin army had occupied the Hedong area of Wei and built a defense line centered on Anyi (now northwest of Xia County, Shanxi Province). Not only that, the Qin army also built another line of defense centered on Ye Wang. line of defense, thereby forming a strategic situation in which you can advance and attack, and retreat and defend. Of course, it goes without saying that retreat is necessary. If the Qin army attacks, its troops will mainly point in two directions. One is to capture the Shangdang area (already achieved), and the second is to approach the city and attack Handan, the capital of Zhao State. If the Qin army wants to capture Handan, it can only save manpower, material resources, and financial resources by starting from Changping, and it can also shorten the march time. Soldiers are expensive and quick, so the Qin army will naturally not ignore this strategic shortcut. However, there are many generals in the Zhao army who are strategic and knowledgeable, and they will not ignore the strategic position of this place. They will definitely defend this place to the death. So a fierce battle is inevitable.
Lian Po was one of the knowledgeable generals in the Zhao army, and he was naturally well aware of Changping's strategic position. Therefore, even if Lian Po's elite division did not experience the Shangdang's defeat, they would divide their troops and stay here to wait for changes. Of course, Changping's strategic location and geographical advantages also determine its importance, which also determines that Qin and Zhao will inevitably compete fiercely for it.
The total area of Changping Land is equivalent to an ordinary town today. If the Qin army occupied this place and set up camp here, it would strengthen its strategic buffer to a great extent. When the camp is consolidated, no army from the six countries can break it. This is not only because Changping is a long and narrow rectangular basin, but also because Changping is surrounded on three sides by the east, west and north, and has an obvious slope from northwest to southeast, making it an easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack place.
There is a Dan River in Changping that runs parallel to the terrain. It can solve the vital water source problem for the army. The Dan River has five major tributaries, namely Xu River, Xiaodongcang River, Dongcang River, Dongda River and Yonglu River. They form a water network throughout Changping. Changping is mainly mountainous. If any army occupies this area, it can use the mountains to ambush and hide, use the hills to attack and quickly return to defense, and use the plains and rivers to dispatch grain, grass and baggage. In this way, as long as Changping is captured and its defense is consolidated, it will be able to be in a long-term confrontation when the enemy attacks. As long as nothing happens, the enemy will be defeated and the enemy will be defeated without fighting. .
It was precisely because Lian Po recognized Changping's geographical advantages that he led the 200,000 troops from Handan to assist the Shangdang to set up defenses here. Experience on the battlefield is precious. Although Lian Po is already a veteran general, after countless baptisms of blood and fire, his strategic wisdom is far higher than that of ordinary generals. This is exactly why Lian Po was eventually ranked as one of the famous generals of the Warring States Period.
After Lian Po was defeated by Gai Hui, Gai Tong and Feng Ting, he immediately strengthened the defense line relying on Danhe. In this way, the Zhao army had the Dan River with wide water and deep valley as a barrier, as well as the two military commanding heights of Daliang Mountain and Hanwang Mountain. Although the initiative of the entire war was already in the hands of the Qin Army, relying on the geographical advantages of Changping, the Zhao Army also had an advantage that the Qin Army did not have. As long as the Qin army dared to invade, the Zhao army would be able to discover it immediately and rely on the danger to defend. No matter how powerful the Qin army is and how clever its strategy is, it will not defeat the Zhao army.
The Qin army also realized this, so they have been seeking opportunities for a decisive battle with Zhao Jun, but they are really powerless against Zhao Jun's "defense as war" combat strategy.
If the war continued like this, Zhao Jun should have won this confrontation between the two sides. But the objective fact is that Zhao's national power is obviously weaker than Qin's. Especially since Shang Yang's reform, Qin's national power has been increasing day by day, and its army's combat effectiveness has also been booming. Looking back at the Zhao State at that time, apart from the fact that its military strength was comparable to that of the Qin State, it was far inferior in other aspects. In addition to Bai Qi, Wang Lu and others, there are also good generals in Qin who are worthy of important posts, as well as Sima Geng after Sima Cuo and the famous general Wang Jian. Zhao State, on the other hand, could only send the old Lian Po. After Zhao She died, his son Zhao Kuo was just an armchair talker. It is difficult for other generals to take charge of a single task, let alone control the outcome of a war. In fact, if the Zhao State could always trust and reuse Lian Po, the Zhao Army might be able to resist the Qin Army for a longer period of time, but the balance of war always seems to favor the general trend.
There were already signs of Qin's general trend. For example, the genius Fan Ju came to Qin and formulated the most desirable diplomatic and political strategy for Qin at that time; another example is that Bai Qi gradually rose from a small soldier, and after the collapse of the Wei Ran Group, he took care of himself and took control of Qin. The military power of the army was invincible in battle after battle; another example is King Qin Zhaoxiang's unique strategic vision in military affairs, selection of talents, and political sophistication.
This time, Zhao Jun's defeat was the result of the combined efforts of these three people.
