Qin Dynasty was the first dynasty in Chinese history to achieve great unification. It took ten years to regain the six kingdoms and unify the world, but it took eight years to attack and Zhao Guo. What is the reason that makes Zhao Guo so difficult to attack?
Qin State The historical background of the unification of the six countries
Before the Qin unified the six countries, wars between countries were very frequent, which was not only detrimental to economic development, but also made people’s lives very painful. After years of fighting, all the young men in the family were arrested as soldiers, and the probability of death was very high. Therefore, the people yearn for national reunification and hope to live a peaceful and happy life. The so-called people who win the hearts of the people win the world, and with the support of the people, Qin's reunification plan proceeded more smoothly. From the perspective of the Qin State, after the Shangyang Reform , the Qin State's strength has greatly increased, the country is rich, and the people's living standards have improved, laying the economic foundation for the unification of the six countries.
▲Scenarios of ancient wars
From the perspective of the emperor, Yingzheng has an extraordinary talent in governing the country, and his personality is majestic, both strong and powerful From admonition like a stream. When Ying Zheng dealt with state affairs, he had the courage of a king, and he handled problems with a degree of relaxation. Under his leadership, Qin State was even more powerful. It is precisely because of Yingzheng's characteristics that he made correct choices in foreign policy and military affairs, which made Qin's national power continue to increase. For example, his long-distance diplomatic and near-offensive policy has achieved good results. Distant and near-offensive refers to destroying enemy alliances one by one. Since long-distance attacks are time-consuming and laborious, he chooses to attack neighboring countries and establish diplomatic relations with distant international countries to avoid them. help each other.
▲The soldiers on the expedition
It is inevitable that Qin can unify the six countries at that time.People yearn for reunification; other countries also choose to look far and not intervene in the face of war, hoping to benefit from the fisherman; Yingzheng's decisiveness has increased Qin's comprehensive strength and laid the foundation for the dominance of the world.
Why is Zhao so difficult to attack
Zhao is the country with the strongest military strength among the six countries at that time, because Zhao always fights with the Xiongnu, both the way of fighting and the fighting power of the soldiers are very high. Strong. During Qin's attack on Zhao State, it also went through three years of repairs. In the end, it was only under the use of divorce schemes that he completely defeated Zhao State. If he only relied on his combat ability, Zhao State might not necessarily lose. Throughout history, the main reasons why Qin took so long to attack Zhao are as follows.
▲The smoke of war is everywhere
The first point is that during Qin’s attack on Zhao, white buried Zhao’s four hundred thousand prisoners alive. This number is really shocking. At that time, for Zhao State, almost every household had died, and every family had funerals. For the people of Zhao State, it was even more hateful for Qin State. According to historical records, during the war, soldiers in Qin State often killed innocent people and even massacred the entire city. This atrocities aggravated the resistance of the people of Zhao State. They wanted to avenge their loved ones, new and old hatred. Together, it has increased the difficulty of Qin's conquest. The four hundred thousand prisoners of Zhao State were buried, and the entire State of Zhao had no strong men. Even so, Qin State still spent a long time attacking State of Zhao.
▲The cruel scene of the war
The second point is that there were many brave and proficient players in Zhao State at that time, Li Mu, Lianpo , Zhao, they were in the war The contribution made by China is very big, it blocked the crazy attack of Qin State, and even caused heavy damage to Qin State.Had to trim three. Li Mu was the last fierce general of the Zhao Kingdom before its demise. Later generations called Li Mu, Bai Qi, , Wang Jian and Lian Po as the "Four Great Generals of the Warring States Period." Li Mu’s greatest feature is his tactics, which are always unpredictable. In the war with the Huns, his unexpected style of play made every time the Huns attacked the State of Zhao, he did not get any benefits, and neither did the State of Zhao. What kind of loss, in the end, in a war, he suddenly launched a counterattack against the Xiongnu, causing heavy damage to the Xiongnu, causing the Xiongnu to dare not invade the state of Zhao for ten years.
, such a brave and good fighter, also paid a lot when Qin attacked Zhao. In the " fat battle ", General Li Mu defeated Qin Jun and got a lot of care. Under the circumstances at the time, there were very few generals who could defeat Qin, and Li Mu also made a big statement because of this battle. Later, the Qin Army attacked the State of Zhao, and the State Army of the State of Zhao sent Li Mu and Sima Shang . Li Mu defeated the Qin Army. From then on, Li Mu became the most feared general of the Qin Army and the last line to attack the State of Zhao. The existence of Li Mu made Qin Jun even more jealous of the State of Zhao, and finally used the countermeasure . The mediocre and incompetent King Zhao believed the villain's slander and killed Li Mu, and a generation of famous generals fell.
▲The State of Zhao counterattacked the offensive of the State of Qin
The third point was that the State of Qin itself needed to recuperate. Year-round battles consumed a lot of manpower, material and financial resources of the State of Qin, and it was even more wasted during the attack on State of Zhao. A lot of manpower, adjusted for three years before regaining vitality, continue to attack Zhao Guo. According to records, Qin has been attacked five times by a joint attack, and each time its vitality is severely injured. The war will also affect the use of land, reduce grain output, and is not conducive to the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Therefore, Qin needs a lot of time. To recover.
The timeline of Qin’s attack on Zhao
Qin’s first attack on Zhao was in 236 BC.Attacking Zhao from the north and south, crossing the Taihang Mountains, prepared to directly threaten Handan, the capital of Zhao, and was even less than 50 kilometers away from the capital. At this time, the State of Zhao and State of Yan were fighting, and the Qin army fought from behind and obtained nine cities in one fell swoop. But at this time, something happened inside Qin State and Zhao State, which caused Qin Shihuang to stop the offensive. The first was the Lu Buwei incident in the Qin State, which allowed Qin Shihuang to eliminate all the forces of Lubuwei , and Wei began to attack the Chu State. Qin Shihuang sent troops to support Wei, so he stopped attacking Zhao.
The second time was in 234 BC. The Qin army was mainly to take the Wucheng of Zhao State and directly threaten Handan, the capital of Zhao State. This battle ended with the victory of the Qin Army. At this time, the State of Zhao sent Li Mu, and then fought two more battles in Shijiazhuang, both of which were defeated by Li Mu, and Li Mu was named Wuanjun.
The third time was in 233 AD. Qin took the same route as the first. This war ended with Qin's victory, but I don't know why Qin withdrew its troops suddenly. This incident has been a mystery until now. Everyone does not know why Qin Shihuang suddenly gave up. According to the events that occurred at the same time in history, some people speculated that it was the Han Feizi incident that caused Qin Shihuang no intention to attack the State of Zhao again. This time, Li Mu, the general of the State of Zhao, was not sent to fight, which led to the defeat of the State of Zhao in two consecutive battles.
▲The cruel scene of the war
The fourth time was in 232 AD. This time the Qin army summed up the past experience and captured the three cities of Zhao State all the way, when it reached Hebei Plain When I met Li Mu, I was forced to stop and had no choice but to stop. The Qin State gained a lot from this war, which weakened the Zhao State to a certain extent. On the way back to the Qin State, the Qin Army eliminated South Korea according to Yingzheng's will.
The fifth time was in 229 AD,After three years of repairs, the Qin army restarted the attack on the State of Zhao. This time Qin Shihuang not only used the method of war, but also used divorce to make Guo Kai slander and slander Li Mu and Sima Shang in front of King Zhao, and King Zhao believed in Xiao Wang. People's words, let people catch Li Mu and kill him. At this time, the State of Qin attacked the State of Zhao from both the north and the south. After Li Mu was killed, the Qin army marched all the way, and it took only three months to capture the State of Zhao.
The Qin army attacked Zhao country five times. From these five wars, the determination of the Qin army to attack Zhao country can be seen. It is not difficult to see that if King Zhao did not listen to the slander and did not kill Li Mu, Qin might be fifth. The second attack on Zhao Guo may not be successful.
The advantages of Zhao's geographic location in wars
In historical wars, the country's geographic location affected the difficulty of war to a certain extent. In the seven countries of during the Warring States Period, the best geographical position belongs to the Qin State, followed by the Zhao State. The surrounding terrain of Qin Kingdom is very dangerous, with plains in the middle, which can be offensive and defensive, which is the best area. Although Zhao Guo is surrounded by Qi State , Yan State, Wei State and South Korea, it also has to guard against the attack of the Huns, but it has one of the best positions, which is Jinzhong Basin . Later, when people analyzed the situation of the country during the Warring States Period, some people suggested that if Zhao Guo developed the Jinzhong Basin well, it would be possible to unify the six countries.
The geographical advantage of Zhao State is also one of the reasons why Qin State was unable to attack Zhao State for a long time. In history, in 270 AD, when Qin sent troops to attack South Korea, South Korea asked for help from Zhao. Zhao once sent Zhao She and 50,000 elite soldiers to assist. When fighting for Beishan, Zhao She took advantage of the geographical location and used flying rocks. Attacking the Qin Army, when the Qin Army was in the Weigu, Zhao She raided from the rear and defeated the Qin Army. Moreover, Zhao's plain location is very suitable for the development of animal husbandry and agriculture, so Zhao's economic development is still good.
▲The geographical position of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period
During the war,Although geographic location is not the main reason for victory or defeat, if the generals can make full use of their geographic advantages and adopt the method of flexible use of troops, they can also win the war.
Zhao's general who is best at using geographical advantages to fight is Li Mu. In many battles with the Huns, Li Mu did not send troops, but held his position. Although the Huns attacked bravely, they did not benefit.
Due to its geographical location, Zhao has fought almost year after year. It has to resist the invasion of the Huns and always guard against the wars of neighboring countries. Therefore, the people of Zhao have a very strong sense of fighting and their methods of warfare are also very sturdy. With the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, Zhao's comprehensive national strength can be said to have reached its peak.
Zhao people’s tenacious resistance
Qin was the only country capable of confronting Qin in the process of unifying the six countries. After Zhao had many famous goalkeepers, even if it was In the final stage, during the First Battle of Yi'an, Li Mu still annihilated nearly 100,000 Qin troops. Zhao’s comprehensive national strength and geographic location are not as good as those of Qin’s, and there is no obvious advantage. Therefore, it is inevitable to be destroyed, especially when Bai Qi has buried 400,000 generals alive, he has no resistance. But despite this, Zhao The country has never given up and is still resisting stubbornly.
Zhao people are very united. At that time, Qin Zhaoxiang king sent half a million soldiers to attack Zhao. Zhao’s army and people fought hard, not only repelled the Qin army, but also regained the occupied ones. city. In this war, Zhao Guo exploded with great abilities. Although the losses were also serious, he finally won the victory. At this time, the country of Yan wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of the state of Zhao’s vitality to attack the country of Zhao, hoping to get a share of the pie, but unexpectedly, the country of Zhao still slammed the country of Yan when the number of people was much lower than that of the country of Yan. , Not only repulsed the army of the Kingdom of Yan, but also chased it all the way to the territory of the Kingdom of Yan, encircling the Kingdom of Yan, and finally at the cost of the kingdom of Yan ceding five cities, one can imagine how strong the army of the Kingdom of Zhao is!
The demise of the Kingdom of Zhao is a regrettable thing.If the emperor can be more decisive and clear, the Qin State may not be able to unify the six countries. Judging from the situation of the war, the Qin army was not only jealous of Li Mu, but also a certain amount of awe. There are historical records that when Wang Jian learned that Li Mu was dead, he was actually very sorry. If they were not serving different countries, they might have another ending.
The wise minister is doomed to fail
Zhao’s failure is actually a pity. There are many wise ministers in the country of Zhao in history, leaving behind many popular stories, such as Lian Po, , Lin Xiangru , Li Mu and others. All made great contributions to Zhao Guo. However, the successive kings of the Zhao Kingdom were fainted, and they were easy to believe in the slander of the villain. King Zhao Miaoxiang favored Guo Kai even more, which led to Lianpo not being reused in the war. After the death of King Zhao Miaoxiang, Zhao Wangqian succeeded to the throne. He obeyed Guo Kai's words and prepared to capture Li Mu, which eventually led to Li Mu's tragic death in the inn. Qin Jun was very happy when he heard the news of Li Mu's death. Without Li Mu, Qin's army was as powerful as a bamboo, and captured the kingdom of Zhao all the way.
▲Qin finally won the war
The process of Qin's attack on Zhao was difficult. The strength of the two countries was equal, and even Zhao had more virtuous officials, but the monarch had improperly employed people, yes. The wise ministers didn't believe it, even though they had made countless battles, they were still suspected. The Emperor of the Zhao Kingdom is not wise enough, and no matter how many wise ministers there are, it is useless after all. Failure is already the expected result.
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