Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years?

2020/03/2817:12:04 history 1866

Hangu Pass was an extremely important pass in the eastern part of the Qin State during the Warring States Period. It was an important pass for the Qin State to resist the attacks of the Six Kingdoms in Shandong. Throughout the entire Warring States period, Hangu Pass was breached only once. It was the famous general of Qi Kuangzhang who led the Qi, Wei, and Han coalition forces to attack Qin this time (the later Zhao and Song joined), and Kuangzhang became the only one in the entire Warring States period. A general who broke into Hangu Pass, then how did Kuangzhang break through Hangu Pass?

Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years? - DayDayNews

Hangu Pass, as a strategic location, why is it difficult to break through? Guan and Cao Wei Hangu Pass, and the most important strategic position among the three Hangu Passes, and the most difficult to overcome is Qin Hangu Pass.

Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years? - DayDayNews

Hangu Pass is located on the "Changan Ancient Road". Because there is a section of the Changan Ancient Road that passes through the thick sang plain, the road is as deep as a letter, so it is named "Hangu Pass". The so-called ancient road is actually just a crack in the thick mulberry plain. The thick mulberry plain is a typical loess plateau, the top is flat as the original, but the height is very high, and the surrounding cliffs are steep, the Yellow River flows from the north of the thick mulberry plain to the original wall, so there is no other way to go between Guanzhong and Guandong. You can only go through the "Chang'an Ancient Road", and you must pass this crack.

Although it is a road, it is no more than a few meters wide. It is really "cars cannot square rails, horses cannot be saddled". It can be said that "the mud pill can be stuffed", and Hangu Pass is located in this crack The opening is today's Wangduo Village, Lingbao City, Henan Province.

Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years? - DayDayNews

To the east of Hangu Pass, in front of Hangu Pass, is the Hongnong River that flows slowly. Although this river has less water now, it was A big river with plenty of water, and this river undoubtedly forms the natural moat of Hangu Pass. If the enemy wants to attack Hangu Pass, he must first cross the Hongnong River. Since the Hongnong River flows close to the east of the Chosang Plain, there is only a narrow narrow road between the river bank and Guancheng, and the army cannot be arranged at all. open.

Since Hangu Pass is so difficult to attack, is it possible to bypass Hangu Pass? Actually it’s impossible, because the ancient thick mulberry plains are densely forested (it’s not difficult to tell how dense the forests are from the name of the thick mulberry plains). There are dense forests everywhere on the more than one hundred miles from Liaoshan to Tongjin. In ancient times, it was also called "the stop of peach forest" and "the stop of pine and cypress". Because the forest is too dense, it is difficult for pedestrians to pass, let alone the army.

Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years? - DayDayNews

It is precisely because of this natural geographical advantage that when Qin faces the attack of the six countries in Shandong, as long as it keeps this crack, it is equivalent to completely severing east-west traffic. Coupled with the terrain surrounding Hangu Pass, when the enemy faces Hangu Pass, there is no other way, only a frontal attack.

How did Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass? Qin’s own problem may be due to

As mentioned above, there is no other way to break through Hangu Pass except for a frontal attack. However, in the face of such a fortress, it is a terrain that is difficult for the army to arrange. It may be difficult to attack, and methods such as sneak attacks are also difficult to use. Therefore, I think that in addition to Kuang Zhang's correct strategy, perhaps Qin has its own problems. This is the main reason.

Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years? - DayDayNews

1. Qin is too underestimating the enemy. The prevailing situation at that time was that after Qin and Qi, Han, and Wei defeated the Chu army in 301 BC, Zhao “joined Qin and Song” and formed the Qin, Zhao, and Song groups and the Qi, Wei, and Han groups. In the situation of confrontation, the combat effectiveness of the two groups is not much different, no one can overwhelm the other, the situation is relatively anxious. Under this situation, coupled with the robustness of Hangu Pass, the State of Qin may have relaxed its vigilance to a certain extent, and did not really care about the offensives of the Qi, Han, and Wei coalition forces. This may also be the "Warring States Policy". It is said that after King Qin Zhaoxiang let Tian Wen go, he still looked down on Meng Changjun even if Tian Wen joined together.

Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years? - DayDayNews

2, Qin's forces are scattered. Although Hangu Pass was an important pass of the Qin State, due to the existence of the first point, Qin’s forces at that time were not concentrated to deal with the incoming coalition forces.On the contrary, there was a situation of scattered forces. First, because the Shudi Junshu and Shuhou Gongzihui rebelled in Shu, Sima went to Shudi to quell the rebellion in the sixth year of King Qin Zhaoxiang (301 years ago), and has not yet returned. The second is that even when Hangu Pass was tight, the Qin State was still in conflict with Chu State. In the same year that the coalition forces attacked Hangu Pass, that is, in the 9th year of King Qin Zhaoxiang (298 years ago), the Qin army also sent troops and armed forces. Off, attack Chudi.

Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years? - DayDayNews

3. The political situation of Qin State is unstable. When the Qi State conquered Qin, King Zhaoxiang Qin had less than ten years of succession. At this time, the political situation of the State of Qin was not stable. First there was the rebellion of Jijun, then the rebellion of Shu, plus Xiangguo’s disease in the first 300 years. Just after passing away, the state of Qin and the state of Qin have changed successively, which shows that the court of Qin is actually not peaceful. In this case, whether Qin can fully respond to Qiguo's combined attack is actually a big question mark.

Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years? - DayDayNews

4. Qi State is not weak. Around 300 BC, Qi was another big country besides Qin. At this time, there are still more than ten years before the "Five Kingdoms Conquering Qi" event that caused Qi's weakness. Therefore, whether in terms of national strength or military strength, the gap between Qin and Qi is actually not large. It is actually quite difficult for Qin to cope with the attack by the power of the three countries. In addition, coupled with the joining of Zhao and Song in the later period of the war (in addition, the joining of the two countries after Pohangguguan), the Qin State had already faced an extremely difficult response.

As mentioned above, since Qi’s national power is not weaker than Qin’s, coupled with Qin’s own problems, the outcome of this war is not unexpected. As for the method used by Kuangzhang to break through the Hangu Pass, it is difficult to know the details due to the limited historical records.

Why is Hangu Pass easy to defend and difficult to attack? Why did the famous general of Qi Kuang Zhang break the Hangu Pass in only three years? - DayDayNews

Regarding this battle, historical records are really limited. For example, the "Warring States Policy" only has "Three Kingdoms attacked Qin, enters the valley of letters", and "Qin Benji" also only has "ten In one year, the five kingdoms of Qi, Han, Wei, Zhao, Song and Zhongshan attacked Qin and returned to the Yan clan.” According to the record, the "Historical Records · Tian Jingzhong Complete Family" also only had "twenty-six years, Qi and Han Wei Attacking Qin, to Hangu Junyan. Twenty-eight years, Qin and Han He went to peace, and the soldiers stopped." Few words, we don't even know who the leader of Qin's battle is.

Therefore, we can only be sure that Qi, Han, and Wei united troops attacked the State of Qin and eventually broke through Hangu Pass, while King Qin Zhaoxiang was forced to cede the territory and seek peace, and the Three Kingdoms stopped.

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