Xiang Yu in film and television dramas. Source/Screenshot from the movie "The Legend of Hongmen Banquet" However, was Xiang Yu really overturned by Liu Bang while taking advantage of all the strategic advantages? In fact, Xiang Yu was already passive from the early stages of the

Xiang Yu in the film and television drama. Source/Screenshot of the movie "The Legend of Hongmen Banquet"

However, was Xiang Yu really overturned by Liu Bang under the premise of occupying all the strategic advantages? In fact, Xiang Yu has been passive since the early stages of the Chu-Han War.

Xiang Yu, Liu Bang, Tian Rong: the three major seed players competing for the world

After the demise of the Qin Dynasty , Xiang Yu presided over the enfeoffment of the world. In essence, it was a collective "subjugation of the superior" by the military groups who entered the Pass to destroy Qin. Xiang Yu was originally just one of the main generals of the Kingdom of Chu, including King Huai of Chu. Within the Kingdom of Chu, there were generals such as Liu Bang and Yingbu who were able to compete with him. The vassal states outside the Kingdom of Chu were even more powerful than him. It has nothing to do with it. At that time, the general trend of the world had regressed back to the and Warring States Period. Xiang Yu had few direct troops and no solid base. By presiding over the enfeoffment, he successfully united the military elites from other vassal states and launched a challenge to the vassal kings who stayed in the six eastern kingdoms. In this way, Xiang Yu maximized the benefits for himself - according to his enfeoffment plan, he will become the most powerful force in the world. (For details, see: Is Xiang Yu who enfeoffed the world the biggest winner in the "Hongmen Banquet"?)

The situation of enfeoffing the world presided over by Xiang Yu. Source/Screenshot of the documentary "The Overlord of Western Chu"

Xiang Yu is not ignorant of the Guanzhong form victory, which can be called the capital of an emperor. However, Liu Bang has the " King Huai's Covenant " to provide legitimacy, Zhang Han and other three Qin generals In Qin, became king and was jointly guaranteed by the military leaders of various countries entering the customs. If Xiang Yu wants to dominate Guanzhong, he will inevitably encounter joint opposition from Liu Bang, King of San Qin and other military leaders. What's more, Xiang Yu, who took the lead in killing the Qin army's surrendered soldiers, also lacked the support of the people in Guanzhong. Xiang Yu chose to let King San Qin and Liu Bang restrain each other, and at the same time unite the military leaders from all walks of life to massacre Guanzhong and weaken Guanzhong's potential. This may be his best choice at the moment. After the enfeoffment and burning and killing, he led his troops back east and began to realize his Western Chu Kingdom: At this time, the Western Chu Kingdom was still in the stage of opening up the map, and the actual ruler was King Huai of Chu, whom he revered as the Righteous Emperor. .

Xiang Yu’s blueprint was destined to be overshadowed from the beginning. Song Yi, the supreme commander of the Chu army who was defeated by Xiang Yu before the Battle of Julu, made a very clear strategic plan for King Huai of Chu during his lifetime: befriend Tian Rong of Qi State, as long as Qi and Chu allied themselves, the two countries would It is difficult for the restless military leaders headed by Xiang Yu and Tian Du to make big waves. Xiang Yu murdered Song Yi, robbed the army, and then defeated the Qin army. He controlled most of the Chu army before the Qi-Chu alliance was realized, temporarily breaking Song Yi's situation. (For details, see: The situation set up by Song Yi, Xiang Yu couldn’t get out even after killing him) Xiang Yu, who has returned from Guanzhong with his troops, wants to return to the Chu land to become king, and his first task is to drive away the people he has honored as king. King Huai of Chu of Emperor Yi. Regarding Tian Rong, the ally of King Huai of Chu and the actual ruler of Qi, Xiang Yu granted the main territory of Qi to Tian Du and Tian An, two Qi generals who followed him into the pass, and vigorously provoked Tian Rong and his nephew, the nominal The conflict in Tianshi, King Qi's kingdom.

King Huai of Chu in the film and television drama. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Legend of Chu and Han"

Xiang Yu returned from Guandong in April of the first year of Han Dynasty. Relying on his own troops, he threatened and divided the veterans of King Huai of Chu. By July, King Huai of Chu was captured. He was forced to leave Pengcheng , and was killed by Wang Yingbu of Jiujiang who worked with Xiang Yu to carve up Chu State in August. After all, the Chu royal family has existed for eight hundred years. It is not easy for Xiang Yu, who killed the king and became self-reliant, to completely gain a foothold. During the six months from July of the first year of the Han Dynasty to December of the second year of the Han Dynasty (the Qin and Chu Dynasties adopted the Zhuanxu calendar, with October as the beginning of the year), there were considerable wars on many borders of the Western Chu State. , Xiang Yu himself has never led troops out, most likely because he needs to suppress those who disobey internally.In other words, it took Xiang Yu a full eight months to basically control the territory of King Huai of Chu and become a veritable Overlord of Western Chu . It is worth noting that both the expulsion of the king, King Huai of Chu, and the seizure and killing of the king of Han Dynasty, embezzlement of South Korea, all occurred in July of the first year of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Bang was ready to send troops to Guanzhong in August a month later, that is, It is said that Xiang Yu tore up the enfeoffment agreement earlier than Liu Bang.

Xiang Yu defeated King Huai of Chu, but the three kings of Qi, Tiandu, Tianan and Tianshi, were expelled or killed by Tian Rong in May, June and July of the first year of Han Dynasty. In other words, before Xiang Yu expelled King Huai of Chu and unified Chu, Tian Rong unified Qi and proclaimed himself King of Qi. King Tian Rong of Qi, who had eliminated his internal rivals, began to actively challenge Xiang Yu, who was not yet firmly established. He supported the Peng Yue armed forces in the Western Chu country and defeated the general Xiao Gongjiao sent by Xiang Yu, causing great trouble to Xiang Yu. . Since the border of Qi State is not far from Pengcheng, the capital of Western Chu State, and Peng Yue's active area is within the territory of Western Chu State, and it is even close to Pengcheng, the alliance between Tian Rong and Peng Yue has become Xiang Yu's confidant.

In August of the first year of Han Dynasty, Liu Bang officially marched from Hanzhong to Sanqin, and within a month he basically controlled most of the Guanzhong area. Except for Zhang Han's family who still resisted stubbornly, the other two princes and kings who were entrusted to by Xiang Yu surrendered. At that time, Xiang Yu had just killed Emperor Yi and was digesting his newly acquired territory in the Western Chu State. After Tian Rong defeated the other three competitors, on the one hand, he supported Peng Yue to harass the northern border of Chu State, and on the other hand, he began to Intervene in the situation of Zhao Kingdom .

At the end of August of the first year of the Han Dynasty, due to the constant internal strife in Zhao, there was a lack of a strong figure to integrate resources at the front. Liu Bang's Han State, Xiang Yu's Western Chu State, and Tian Rong's Qi State basically inherited the Qin and Chu states of the Warring States Period. The best parts of the Three Kingdoms of Qi and Qi can be said to be the three major seed players competing in the late Qin Dynasty.

Battle of Pengcheng : Tactical victory cannot conceal strategic passivity

Liu Bang's ability to stabilize his internal affairs is obviously higher than that of his competitors. As the last famous general in the late Qin Dynasty, Zhang Han still resisted tenaciously after the main force was defeated. But Liu Bang asked Jin She , Li Shang and other troops to continue to deal with Zhang Han's remaining forces, while he left the border for a trip to Henan. Wang Shenyang of Henan was once a subordinate of Zhang Er. At this time, Zhang Er failed in the battle for Zhao and defected to Liu Bang. Shenyang chose to defect to the Han due to the military power of the Han army and the lobbying of his old master. Xiang Yu named Zheng Chang the new King of Korea and was responsible for preventing Liu Bang from going east. Liu Bang supported the Korean clan Han Wangxin to fight against Zheng Chang and win. Han Wangxin, who came to power relying on the Han Dynasty, naturally became Liu Bang's die-hard ally. In this way, while Xiang Yu and Tian Rong were still busy digesting the internal affairs and could only make small fuss externally, Liu Bang quietly obtained the eastward base in Guandong and was quite ahead of the curve.

In December of the second year of Han Dynasty, Xiang Yu finally decided to send troops to attack Qi. This decision is easy to understand: Tian Ronghuo merged with Xiang Yu's newly crowned King of Sanqi and interfered with the situation of Zhao State. If Xiang Yu can tolerate these two points, it is unacceptable for Tian Rong to support Peng Yue to fight guerrilla warfare in the Western Chu Kingdom. At this time, Liu Bang, after surrendering Shenyang and supporting King Xin of Han in South Korea, had returned to the temporary capital of Guanzhong Yueyang , and the threat was not that direct.

In the film and television drama, Xiang Yu is dissatisfied with Tian Rong. Source/screenshot of the TV series "Legend of Chu and Han"

Tian Rong is not very popular in Qi State: Since the late Warring States Period, Qi State has had a long-term tradition of seclusion. Tian Rong killed Tian Shi, the monarch he had personally supported, for his own selfish gain. He frequently interfered in the situation of neighboring countries such as Chu and Zhao, seriously violating the isolationist tradition of Qi. Finally, he provoked Xiang Yu and suffered a retaliatory attack. Therefore, just one month later, in January of the second year of Han Dynasty, Tian Rong was defeated by Xiang Yu and died at the hands of Qi people on the way to escape.

The problem is that Xiang Yu does not have the ability to quickly stabilize and absorb newly occupied territories like Liu Bang. Xiang Yu's base is the Xiang family and does not have the tolerance of the Liu Bang Group.Xiang Yu is personally aristocratic and lacks affinity. His core ability is the ability to attack difficult problems, but he is not good at employing people, let alone delegating power. Therefore, it lacks the ability to quickly stabilize and absorb newly occupied territory. The new king Tianjia he supported in Qi State was the younger brother of Tian Jian, the last king of Qi in the Warring States Period, and he was also unable to gain a foothold in Qi State.

In March of the second year of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang finally went eastward on a large scale. Along the way, Wang Bao of the Western Wei Dynasty, King Sima Mao of Yin, and Chen Yu, who controlled the Zhao State, basically half-heartedly led their troops to join Liu Bang. Liu Bang marched in three directions, approaching the hinterland of the Western Chu Kingdom, but Xiang Yu's main force was still trapped in Qi, and the remaining troops failed one after another in front of the coalition forces of the princes. By April of the second year of the Han Dynasty, the allied forces joined forces and captured Pengcheng, the capital of the Western Chu Kingdom. By this time, Xiang Yu's Western Chu Kingdom was on the verge of destruction.

Liu Bangming built the plank road, but secretly used Chen Cang. Source/Screenshot of documentary "Chu and Han"

What followed was the miraculous Battle of Pengcheng. Through excellent tactical maneuvers, Xiang Yu's 30,000 elite troops unexpectedly detoured from the west and launched a fierce attack on the coalition of princes from the direction of Xiao County, southwest of Pengcheng. They defeated the main force of the coalition of princes, which was known as 560,000, and annihilated a large number of effective forces of the coalition. Although the main force of the Han army and its allies suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Pengcheng, Liu Bang did not gain nothing. The strategic rear area of ​​the Western Chu State, including the capital, was severely damaged by the coalition forces of the princes, and Xiang Yu's war potential was greatly weakened. What's more, many nails inserted by the coalition forces in this march need to be removed one by one by Xiang Yu, such as Lu Ze in Xiayi and Jin She in Yongqiu , which effectively blocked the Chu army's counterattack. By May, Liu Bang received reinforcements sent by Xiao He from Guanzhong. The Han army defeated the Chu army's pursuing vanguard in the Jingsuo Battle near Xingyang , and the front lines of both sides initially stabilized.

The Battle of Pengcheng is a miracle in Xiang Yu's military career, alongside the Battle of Julu . With a weak force of 30,000 men, Xiang Yu not only defeated the coalition forces of princes, which were said to be 560,000 but actually numbered more than 100,000, he also used rivers and other terrain to annihilate a large number of effective coalition forces. However, although the actual losses of the Han State were large, they were not fatal. The main generals of the Han State who were active in the previous war to destroy Qin had no record of being killed or captured. Compared with the later Battle of Xingyang Zhou Yan, Han Wangxin and other high-level officials Being captured, the losses in the Battle of Pengcheng should not be as great as imagined. Liu Bang defeated the Chu army's pursuers in the Battle of Jingsuo, and was able to turn around and eliminate the remnants of Zhang Han who were still resisting, which also proved that the losses of his direct line were not that shocking. On the contrary, the feudal princes of the Han Dynasty, represented by Sima Mao, were either killed or injured, and suffered heavy losses. This caused the loss of a large number of local powerful factions with strong roots, but it was conducive to Liu Bang's better integration and devouring of resources in the middle zone.

In general, the Battle of Pengcheng brought Xiang Yu's Western Chu Kingdom back from the edge of defeat. But in any case, this was a war in which the core territory of the Western Chu State, including the capital Pengcheng, was once captured by the coalition of princes. Although the Western Chu State successfully expelled the coalition forces, its war potential was undoubtedly greatly weakened, and it had to abandon its alignment. strategy. On the other hand, although the Han State suffered the loss of defeat, it weakened the Chu State, its biggest enemy. It also seized the opportunity of the general weakening of the vassal states allied with itself to strengthen its penetration into various parts of Henan. After the Battle of Pengcheng, Xiang Yu gradually fell into strategic passivity. In the coming time, the Han State has the ability to confront the main force of the Chu State while opening up multiple fronts to launch a series of active attacks on the princes such as Wei, Zhao, Dai, and Qi, completing the strategic encirclement of Xiang Yu.

The unchangeable trend of failure

Perhaps influenced by the phrase "all the princes turned their backs on the Han and returned to the Chu" in history books. Many people read the history of the Chu-Han war after the Battle of Pengcheng and always feel that Xiang Yu was defeated after the Battle of Pengcheng. Became the leader of the alliance of princes and led the alliance of princes to suppress Liu Bang. This is far from history. We might as well take a look at the political attitudes of the major influential princes after the Battle of Pengcheng one by one.

Wang Bao of the Western Wei Dynasty was eager to return home after the Battle of Pengcheng because Chen Yu, the actual controller of Zhao State, Prime Minister and Acting King of Zhao, invaded the Western Wei State after the Battle of Pengcheng. Sima Mao, the former king of Yin, among the princes in the Henan region, died in battle in Pengcheng, and Shenyang, the former king of Henan, ended up unknown. The Zhao Dynasty camp of Zhao Wangxie and Chen Yu only sent a partial division to follow Liu Bang into Pengcheng. After Liu Bang was defeated in the Battle of Pengcheng, he believed that he had an opportunity to expand and sent troops to expand to the Western Wei Kingdom and Henan. Other forces, including Jiujiang Wang Yingbu who was once Xiang Yu's die-hard partner, basically chose neutrality to protect themselves. In other words, all these princes, except for the Zhao and Dai camps under Chen Yu's control, which had certain conflicts with the Han when they robbed the Western Wei Kingdom and Henan, the other princes basically chose neutrality to protect themselves, and none of them were hostile to the Han. The so-called record of "all the princes turned their backs on the Han and returned to the Chu" was probably a whitewash made by the later Han Empire in order to cover up Liu Bang's series of active invasions of the princely states when he founded the country.

Chen Yu in the film and television series. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Legend of Chu and Han"

But the Han Kingdom now has the upper hand, and it has a grand plan. Liu Bang decided to lead the main force of the Han army to deal with Xiang Yu, and then sent another army to conquer all the major northern princes in sequence. The first unlucky person was Wei Wangbao . He was equivalent to being attacked by the two major forces of Han and Zhao , and the Western Wei Kingdom soon perished. Subsequently, the Han army launched a counterattack in three directions against Zhao who took the initiative to invade Western Wei and Henan. The central front led by Han Xin and Zhang Er is the most famous. On the northern front, the Han army led by Chen Xi captured Daidi. On the southern front, Liu Bang personally led the main force of the Han army such as Jin She and Guan Ying to defeat the Zhao army on the southern front in Chaoge and captured Hanoi and other places. It is precisely because of the progress of the Han army on the southern and northern fronts, and because Liu Bang still has Zhang Er who once ruled Zhao as an ally, that the main force of the Zhao army led by Chen Yu and Zhao Xie had to be different from that of Han Xin and Zhang Er. In a decisive battle, Han Xin, who was superior in the game, defeated the many with less. The defeated Chen Yu fled to Daidi in the north, and was finally captured by Chen Kui's troops and executed by Liu Bang. Due to Chen Xi's later rebellion, "Historical Records" gave this credit to Zhang Cang who was under Chen Xi at the time. King Zhao Xie fled south to Xiangguo City, where he was surrounded by the troops of Han Xin and Jin She directly under Liu Bang, and was eventually captured and killed.

Looking at the timeline, the Han army defeated the Chu army’s pursuers in the Battle of Jingsuo the second month after their defeat in Pengcheng. In the third month after the Battle of Pengcheng, Liu Bang completely eliminated Zhang Han's resistance. In the fifth month after the Battle of Pengcheng, Han Xin, Cao Shen and other troops had already begun to attack Wei Wangbao, and conquered the Western Wei Kingdom, Dai Kingdom, and Zhao Kingdom in less than three months, forcing the Yan Kingdom to turn. Own. Xiang Yu's Western Chu Kingdom has not taken any major actions for more than half a year. It is most likely that he temporarily lost his ability to move due to his serious injury in the Battle of Pengcheng. In the second month after Liu Bang conquered Zhao, supported his friend Zhang Er's restoration, and allowed Han Xin to control Zhao's military, Han's envoys persuaded Wang Ying of Jiujiang to rebel against Chu. By this time, Xiang Yu was finally ready and began to attack the Xingyang front line. Therefore, by the time Xiang Yu and Liu Bang's main forces began to establish control on the Xingyang-Chenggao line, Xiang Yu's Western Chu Kingdom had already fallen into an obvious strategic disadvantage and was struggling in the quagmire.

The simplest way to look at the map is that Liu Bang basically controlled the main territory of the Qin State in the late Warring States Period. The Zhao State, which fought the hardest against Qin in the late Warring States Period, was Liu Bang's ally at this time, and the Zhao State's army was commanded by Han Xin. Han Wangxin of South Korea was not only an ally of Liu Bang at this time, but also served directly in the Han army. Yan State has turned to Han State and sent troops to help in the war. The western territory of Wei had been occupied by Liu Bang and turned into counties. The eastern territory, the core of the late Warring States period, was Peng Yue's guerrilla zone, and Xiang Yu was also unable to control it. The Qi State had just escaped from Xiang Yu's ravages half a year ago and was trying to regain its strength. It was nominally neutral, but in fact it was undoubtedly full of resentment towards Xiang Yu's Western Chu State.

During the confrontation between Chu and Han, the two countries controlled the area.Source/Screenshot of the documentary "Chu and Han"

How much territory does Xiang Yu's Western Chu State control? It was roughly the territory of the Chu State in the late Warring States Period. The eastern part of the Wei State, which was the Liang District, that he had been trying to annex, was unable to be digested by Peng Yue's guerrilla warfare . To make matters worse, the core territory of the Western Chu Kingdom centered on Pengcheng was captured and ravaged by the coalition forces of the princes not long ago. Under such circumstances, Xiang Yu was able to take an offensive on the Xingyang-Chenggao line and once put Liu Bang into a dilemma. It can be said to be a quite remarkable military achievement.

However, Xiang Yu's frontline balance maintained by his excellent tactical performance was finally crushed by the overwhelming strength of the Han army. After a year of rest, the Han army on the northern front, led by Han Xin, abandoned the alliance and invaded Qi, destroying the Qi-Chu coalition forces under the command of Long Qie, and then once again captured the core area including Pengcheng, the capital of Western Chu. Another Han army, led by Lu Wan and Liu Jia, jointly conducted operations behind enemy lines with Peng Yue, once completely cutting off the Western Chu army's logistics line. Xiang Yu himself was as exhausted as a fire brigade, but while Xiang Yu was away, Liu Bang led the main force to defeat the Chu army that was left behind near Chenggao. Several of the Chu army's commanders, such as Cao Jiu, Sima Xin and others, were defeated and died. This greatly changed the balance of the Chu-Han frontal battlefield. Later, Lu Wan and Liu Jia opened up the southern front. With the help of Yingbu, the Han army captured Shouchun, the old capital of the Chu state in the late Warring States period, and lured Zhou Yin, the commander of the Chu army in the Huainan area, to surrender. Then he returned to participate in the attack on Xiang Yu's main force. Encirclement and decisive battle. It was precisely because of the breakthroughs of various Han armies that the main force of the Western Chu army, which confronted Liu Bang in Guangwu, had completely lost its rear base. Long before the Chaogou Peace Conference, the rear of the Western Chu Kingdom, including the capital Pengcheng, had been completely occupied by the Han army. By the time of the Battle of Chenxia and the Siege of Gaixia , where Xiang Yu was finally defeated, the entire Huainan area was almost controlled by the Han army.

By this time, it was meaningless whether Xiang Yu struggled or not, and Liu Bang finally destroyed his Western Chu Kingdom.

Summary

When later historians talk about the reasons for Xiang Yu's failure, they often attribute it to factors such as his surrender in Xin'an, his failure to become king in Guanzhong, and his massive burning and massacre in Guanzhong. However, things are not that simple. The massacre of Xin'an and the massacre of Guanzhong were the collective will of the leaders of the coalition of princes. As their leader, Xiang Yu naturally had to implement everyone's common will. As for the issue of not claiming the throne in Guanzhong, as mentioned before, Guanzhong has been clearly promised to Liu Bang and three surrendered generals of the Qin Dynasty, and the various princes will never allow any one force to dominate Guanzhong and lead Xin'an to kill and surrender and lose Guanzhong. Xiang Yu, who is popular among people, naturally cannot monopolize Guanzhong. As for the more criticized idea of ​​enfeoffing the world, it can be called Xiang Yu’s genius: by enfeoffing the world, Xiang Yu effectively united the military leaders of the vassal states and launched a collective attack on the monarchs of the six eastern kingdoms, thus gaining a large area of ​​stability. base area.

What is the real advantage of Liu Bang over Xiang Yu and Han State over Western Chu State? First of all, the level of Han's team and system in digesting the occupied areas was much higher than that of Xiang Yu's Western Chu. Liu Bang defeated the main force of the Three Qin Kingdom in one month. From then on, Guanzhong was basically under the stable control of the Han State, even though Zhang Han stubbornly resisted for more than half a year. Xiang Yu also defeated the main force of the Qi State within a month, but the Qi King Tianjia whom he supported was still unable to gain a foothold. In the end, he became angry and started burning and killing, but was still unable to quell the Qi State's resistance. When the main force of the Han army captured Pengcheng, they had to withdraw in a hurry. Second, although the Han State was initially located in Sichuan and Shu, after quickly restoring the Three Qin Dynasties and achieving integration, it not only occupied the geographical advantages of the Qin State in the late Warring States Period, but also had a very efficient internal structure. In contrast, Xiang Yu was deeply involved in the overall situation of the Chu-Qi alliance set up by Song Yi. It took him a full eight months to kill Emperor Yi to usurp Chu and calm down the internal situation in Chu. Even after completing all this, he still had to face Chu Huai all the time. Wang's ally Qi Guo Tian Rong challenged. During this period, Liu Bang not only basically completely controlled the Sanqin, but also obtained a stable bridgehead in Guandong as a base for future eastward expansion.In the end, Xiang Yu not only reaped the greatest benefit from the enfeoffment, but also continued to plunder and plunder the king. He kidnapped King Cheng of Han and finally murdered him and annexed his land. He also seized the land of Wei and threw King Bao of Wei to the west to break away from Wei. The country's centuries-old territory and its refusal to recognize Peng Yue's status were all for the purpose of demarcating more territory for the Western Chu Kingdom. It can be said that he looked too ugly and became a public enemy of all the princes in the world. In contrast, Liu Bang was much more cunning and cunning. After destroying the vassal states that were hostile to him, he rarely directly annexed them. Instead, he chose to support allies or subordinates like Zhang Er, Han Xin, and Peng Yue as kings, and waited until Xiang Yu failed and proclaimed himself emperor. Break down and slowly retract.

Relying on efficient integration, the geographical advantages of the old Qin State, and more sophisticated vertical and horizontal opening and closing methods than Xiang Yu, Liu Bang finally defeated Xiang Yu and became the winner of the late Qin Dynasty