Campaign analysis of the Battle of the Clan

In 270 BC, the state of Qin attacked Zhao and besieged the important town of Zhao (present-day Heshun, Shanxi). Zhao's general Zhao Hao led his army to rescue Zhao, and finally won a war that was originally unwinnable.

The course of the battle does not seem complicated, but the concise language contains a surprisingly winning war strategy. General Zhao Hao originally wanted to relieve the siege of the Qin army, but he garrisoned the army for 28 days only 30 miles away from Handan, and built fortifications, making a negative posture of fearing the Qin army, having no intention of relieving him, and only seeking to keep the capital; While using enemy spies to confuse the enemy army, he led the army to leap forward to a distance of 50 miles and stationed down with lightning speed. Previously, in order to prevent his subordinates from raising objections to the seemingly unreasonable marching arrangements and interfering with military politics, Zhao Hao strictly ordered that military affairs should not be discussed, so as to ensure that the combat intention was not leaked; At this time, he listened to the advice of his subordinates at the right time and quickly occupied the favorable terrain.

Originally, the Qin army could wait for work, but when the Zhao army marched fifty miles away, the Qin army hoped to attack the Zhao army when the Zhao army was not firmly established; However, unexpectedly, the Zhao army arrived one step ahead and occupied favorable terrain, and began to change from passive to active, and finally was able to defeat the Qin army, and the siege of Yan and it was lifted. It's like a tense, unexpected, and rhythmic skit. The subtlety of this lies in the fact that the other side is mobilized through actions that go beyond the norm, so as to break the original pattern and create a new face, so that the enemy comes to me, and I do not have to be the enemy.

The wisdom of the ancient military strategists is really vividly displayed here.

<> "The Battle of the Princess." In the forty-sixth year of the reign of King Zhou (269 B.C.), Zhao Hao, a famous general of Zhao State, led his army to Yu Yanhe (now Shanxi and Shunxi) to defeat a rush battle of the Qin army.

Wei Ran, the Marquis of Qin, in order to expand the fiefdom of Dingtao, sent the two countries to capture the Gang and Shou regions of Qi State, and Fan Sui, a strategist of Wei who entered Qin, proposed to King Qin Zhaoxiang that it was a strategic mistake to attack Qi Gang and Shou, and it was difficult to hold on because of the separation between Han and Wei. It is suggested that the strategy of "distant friendship and close attack" should be adopted, so that all the land captured by Qin will be owned by Qin. He also believed that Han and Wei, located in the Central Plains, were the hubs of the world, and if they wanted to annex the world, they should first use troops to "break the spine of Shandong" ("Warring States Policy: Wei Ce IV").

King Qin Zhaoxiang appreciated Fan Ju's views and let him be a guest secretary and participate in military planning. However, the existence of strong Zhao in the north made Qin have scruples about annexing Han and Wei, so he looked for an opportunity to attack Zhao. In the thirty-fourth year (281 BC), after Qin captured the three cities of Zhaodi, Zhao took the Gongzi Department as a hostage to Qin, and signed an agreement with Qin to exchange Jiao, Wei, and Niuhu for three cities.

Later, he repented. In the forty-sixth year, King Zhaoxiang of Qin used Zhao as the reason for not fulfilling the agreement.

Sent Hu Yang to lead a large army to attack Zhao Yan and Zhao Huiwen, and King Zhao Huiwen urgently summoned the famous generals Lian Po and Le Cheng to ask if they could be saved. Both men believed that it was far away from Handan (present-day Hebei), and the road was rugged and dangerous, making it difficult to rescue Fu Naiyi. Only Zhao Hao believes that when the two armies meet, the brave wins.

So, King Zhao Huiwen ordered Zhao Hao to lead the army to rescue Yan He. Zhao Hao's army built a fort and camped 30 miles out of Handan, and did not move. In order to conceal the battle attempt, the herald in the army:

Anyone who dares to talk about military affairs will be beheaded."

The first part of the Qin army entered the west of Tunwu'an (now southwest of Wu'an, Hubei), beating drums and shouting, trying to lure the Zhao army to rescue Wu'an and clamp down on the Zhao army. Zhao Haoli beheaded a soldier who asked for the rescue of Wu'an, but was unmoved by the Qin army. The 28-day acre of garrison continued to strengthen the defense of the camp, causing the Zhao army to be cowardly, and only to protect the illusion of Handan.

Qin sent spies to infiltrate the Zhao camp to find out the truth, but Zhao Hao pretended not to know, and ordered his subordinates to let him move at will and release him to the Qin camp to paralyze the Qin army.

The Qin spy informed Hu Yang of the situation of the Zhao army, and Hu Yang was overjoyed, thinking that he could capture it with Yan, and relaxed his vigilance against Zhao's reinforcements. Zhao Hao then led the whole army to stop the drums, galloped for two days and one night, and rushed to build a fortress and set up camp 50 miles away from the city. The Qin army attacked and did not fight, and suddenly heard that Zhao's reinforcements were coming, and hastily divided troops to meet them.

Zhao Hao's sergeant Xu Li suggested that 10,000 troops be sent to seize the heights of Yan and Beishan. When the Qin army arrived, they could not attack the mountain.

Zhao Hao took advantage of the situation, condescendingly, and slammed the Qin army. Yan and the defenders also went out of the city to cooperate, the Qin army was not supported, more than half of the dead and wounded escaped, and returned defeated, and the Yan and the siege were solved, and Zhao Hao was named Ma Fujun for his merits.

Comments: In this battle, Zhao Hao's concealed combat attempt, paralyzing the enemy, urging him to be proud and underestimate the enemy, and then surprise, suddenly attacking, and preemptively occupying important places to put his own side in a favorable position of operational guidance, is the main reason for the victory of this battle, and the Qin State's eastward annexation of the front also suffered a setback.