Xiang Yan (?—223 B.C.), a native of the lower minister (now Suqian, Jiangsu), the Xiang Yan family has been a general of the Chu State for generations, and was enfeoffed by Xiang, and was later used as a surname. He was a general of the Chu State in the late Warring States Period in China, the father of Xiang Liang, a general of the Anti-Qin Dynasty, and the grandfather of Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu. In 225 BC, Li Xin's army of 2.2 million was smashed and seven commanders of Qin were killed. In 224 BC, he was defeated by a 2.6 million army of Wang Jian. In 223 BC, he was defeated and killed himself.
was born in the state of Chu and has been a general for generations. This superpower that has dominated for hundreds of years since the Western Zhou Dynasty has become a fat pig trembling under the minions of the Qin Dynasty in the Warring States Period. It wasn't until the appearance of Xiang Yan that all this was broken. In 225 BC, the tyrannical king of Qin had wiped out the four kingdoms of Han, Zhao, Yan, and Wei. On the Chinese map, only Qi in the east and Chu in the south were left, trembling. Qin Wangzheng's sharp eyes turned to Chu. The chief general he sent to attack Chu was Li Xin, a famous young Zhuang faction in the Qin state. In the battle of destroying Yan, Li Xin led thousands of elite soldiers to chase down the poor thieves bravely, defeated the main force of Yan Prince Dan, forcing King Yan to kill Prince Dan to seek peace, and became famous all over the world.
And Li Xin's assistant, called Mengwu, has long served as the captain of the Qin Dynasty. Li Xin and Meng Wu led 200,000 Qin troops and entered the Chu territory in two ways. Soon, they defeated the Chu army one after another and captured important towns such as , Pingyu, and . For a time, people in Chu were panicked, thinking that the end was coming. Xiang Yan was ordered to lead the army against Qin. He keenly discovered the Achilles' heel of the Qin army: Li Xin was a young general in the Qin army, while Meng Wujiu was a national captain. Both of them believed that the state of Chu was vulnerable, and the army led by only 200,000 people could not be at all. Occupy the vast territory of Chu State.As long as they run out of energy, and then cover the attack, they will be victorious. Therefore, Xiang Yan mobilized the army to prepare for battle, and ordered the front-line cities to stand by themselves. Li Xin went deep into the state of Chu and fought for a long time. Although there were many victories and few defeats, he gradually became exhausted. So, he turned around and retreated, preparing to reunite with Meng Wu, then take a short rest before making plans.
Xiang Yan waited for this moment. He immediately led the army, followed the retreating Qin army, and pursued bravely! After running for three days and three nights, he finally caught up with the Qin army at the border. Li Xin put down barriers and resisted stubbornly. Xiang Yan attacked with his army, smashed Li Xin's two camps, and killed seven commanders. The more than 100,000 Qin soldiers led by Li Xin lost more than half of them. Li Xin took out the strength to suckle, and then retreated back to the country with the help of Meng Wu. This is and during the Warring States Period, the last defeat of the Qin army. It can also be regarded as the second time the Chu army defeated the Qin army in the whole Warring States period. For Xiang Yan, the battle for the life and death of the country has just begun. The defeat of 200,000 troops was not enough to shake the foundation of the Qin state. A tougher battle is yet to come. Sure enough, Qin State replaced the experienced veteran Wang Jian. Before, he told Qin Wang that at least 600,000 troops were needed to destroy Chu, and Li Xin's 200,000 troops were simply not enough. In 224 BC, the King of Qin allocated 600,000 soldiers and horses from the Qing Dynasty to Wang Jian, and they pressed down on the state of Chu in a mighty manner, setting up a large camp in the area of Pingyu. Xiang Yan knew very well what it meant to fight the 600,000 brave Qin army decisively. Perhaps, with the strong morale of defeating Li Xin before, it is enough to defeat the powerful enemy in the bloody battle and preserve the country. He also mobilized the entire country's forces, set up a tit-for-tat battle with the Qin army, and challenged before the camp. Who knows, Wang Jian's ingenuity is far from Li Xin's. In the face of the high morale of the Chu army, he even ordered to stick to the barriers and not be allowed to fight! Xiang Yan punched hard, but now it was empty. Xiang Yan was in deep pain.
He did not dare to easily divide his troops to attack other parts of Qin, because it would weaken the main force and be defeated by Wang Jian; But if it goes on like this, when will it be a head? If, at this time, the state of Qi can send troops, whether it is attacking Wang Jian from behind or attacking the mainland of Qin, it will definitely change the situation! Unfortunately, Qi has since dozens of After being defeated by Leyi a few years ago, he has always been close to Qin, and it is impossible to count on them now. In this conflicted and painful mood, Xiang Yan endured nearly a year. The hundreds of thousands of Chu troops under his command began to whisper. They were different from the Qin Jun on the opposite side. They stayed here for a long time and did not start fighting, which made them suspicious and puzzled. If this continues, the army may collapse on its own. So Xiang Yan ordered to retreat to the east, preparing to rest behind him. Wang Jian was waiting for this moment. He immediately ordered that the whole army was dispatched to attack the Chu army! The long-term stalemate exhausted the energy of the Chu army, but made the Qin army accumulate full of murderous aura. In addition to eating well and practicing well, the bravery is even more three points. The main force of Chu State was defeated, and Xiang Yan also died in the chaotic army. Soon, the state of Chu fell.
Compared with the mediocre generals of the Chu State for hundreds of years, Xiang Yan is undoubtedly outstanding. He led the Chu army and gave the last blow to the Qin Shihuang who swept away Liuhe. Although only two teeth were knocked out, it was better than nothing. In short, under the general trend of Qin's unification, Xiang Yan staged a tragedy of ordinary people resisting fate. However, the passage of history, after all, is not a drama, and there can be no final conclusion. The Chu State was invaded by the Qin State for hundreds of years, and in the hearts of the equally sturdy Chu people, they wrote a bloody oath: Although Chu has three households, Qin must be killed! A flag, an idol.Even more than ten years later, when Wu Guangguang revolted in Zexiang, he even used Xiang Yan's name to revive the state of Chu. The anti-Qin war started under the banner of Xiang Yan was more violent than the storm of Qin's unification. Xiang Yan's son Xiang Liang, who supported the descendants of the Chu royal family, erected the banner of rejuvenation in the south of the Yangtze River. And Xiang Yan's grandson Xiang Yu, the brave and invincible king of the Western Chu Dynasty, has become the biggest hero who ruined the Qin Dynasty.
