Chapter 40 Chapter 4 Outsmarting Qi

Han Xin sent a group of contingents to take advantage of the night cover and quickly rushed to the mountainous area upstream of the Weishui River, and used tens of thousands of sandbags to block the upstream water into a small reservoir.During the battle, as long as a large number of red flags are raised, the task force on the mountain will immediately cut off the sandbags and let the water rush down. Attacking Xiang Yu, Li Sheng suggested that the Eastern Union Qi State The struggle between Chu and Han has entered its third year. Although Xiang Yu performed well in individual battles, Liu Bang had an absolute advantage in strategy.The eastern and western battlefields fought alternately, which made Xiang Yu, who had superb combat skills, almost exhausted. As soon as he left, that battlefield would immediately fall again. "

Therefore, Li Shiqi suggested that Liu Bang maintain a more positive attitude on the western front, and strive to restore Xingyang, Chenggao, and Aocang to rebuild a new line of defense. In order to put more pressure on Xiang Yu, Li Shiqi also suggested that Liu Bang and Qi Guo should negotiate peace quickly to obtain an alliance. Because most of the troops were deployed to defend Xingyang and Chenggao Zhanchao, Han Xin's Eastern Expeditionary Corps in Zhaodi, which was preparing to attack Qi, did not have enough soldiers, and the departure date had to be delayed again and again. Li Shiqi said to Liu Bang:

"Now Yan and Zhao have become our allies, only Qi in the east remains neutral. Capable of treachery and good at intelligence and strategy, even if His Majesty dispatches tens of thousands of troops, it will be difficult to conquer them in a short period of time, so Han Xin's Eastern Expedition naturally did not go smoothly. "Therefore, it is better to seek wisely than forcefully. The old minister is willing to go to lobby and let Qi become our most important friend in the East." Liu Bang also felt that Qi was not easy to conquer, and even Xiang Yu tried to conquest without success, let alone himself?Therefore, I agree with Li Sheng's lobbying strategy.

Li Shiqi took Liu Bang's gift and went to Linzi to meet Qi Yu Tianguang and Tian Heng, a military strongman of Qi State. Tian Heng is the younger brother of Tian Rong, a strongman of the Qi State. When Tian Rong died in battle, he was ordered to take over the command of the collapsed Qi army. But Tian Heng is an out-and-out scholar, so he has always fought wits but not strength.Due to his literati background, Tian Heng is not as powerful and extravagant as Tian Rong.On the contrary, he is courteous to corporals, diligent in administration and caring for the people, and good at taking care of guests. He is quite like Meng Changjun, so he has a high reputation in Qi State.

Although Xiang Yu was able to defeat Tian Rong's main force, when Tian Heng called for guerrilla warfare to resist, Xiang Yu was helpless and fell into the mud, which also gave Liu Bang a chance to attack Pengcheng. When Xiang Yu quickly approached the south, Tian Heng quickly reunified Qi.Since then, Chu State has been adopting the strategy of peaceful coexistence with Qi State. Tian Heng's personality is more cautious and conservative, and he has never had much interest in international competitions. Although Qi and Chen Yu had an alliance relationship, Si Heng did not send troops to assist Han Xin when he attacked Zhao.

Li Shiqi thought that he knew Tian Heng quite well, and he could use "righteousness" to persuade him. On righteousness, Li Sheng lobbied Qi Qiangren When Han Xin defeated Chen Yu, Tian Heng was on high alert. When learning that Liu Bang ordered Han Xin to prepare for the Eastern Expedition, Qi State immediately dispatched Hua Wushang and Tian Jie to station heavy troops in Lixia on the southeast bank of the Yellow River to prevent the Han army from crossing the river. Hearing that Li Shiqi was visiting, Tian Heng suggested Tian Guang to receive him generously in view of his high reputation.

Li Shiqi said to the two of them: "Does Your Majesty know where the world will go?" Tian Guang: "I can't judge this, what do you think, Mr. Li?" Li Shiqi: "It will belong to the Han!" Tian Guang: "Sir, why did you say that?" Li Shiqi showed off his eloquence and said: "The king of Han entered Xianyang first, but Xiang Yu reneged on his agreement and sent the king of Han to Hanzhong. "Xiang Yu sent people to assassinate Emperor Yi, and the king of Han heard that he mobilized all the troops of Shu and Han to destroy the three Qin states in Guanzhong, and then led his troops out of Guanzhong to punish Xiang Yuli for killing Emperor Yi.

"After the king of Han established the princes again, if he captured the city, he would immediately ask him to be the prince, and the spoils would be shared equally with the soldiers of the princes, and the people of the world would share the benefits of success. Therefore, the heroes, heroes, and talents of all countries are Le was dispatched by the King of Han. "On the contrary, Xiang Yu has a notorious reputation for breach of contract, and even the crime of killing Emperor Yi. When others have meritorious service, they will not register it, and when they are outdated, they will never forget it. When they win, their followers will not be rewarded, and when they capture the city, they will not be rewarded. If the generals and subordinates are not from Xiang Yu's clan, they will never be reused, so the world's sages complain about them and are unwilling to send them.

"So even if you sit and calculate, you can judge that the world will belong to the King of Han. "From another point of view, the King of Han quickly defeated the larger Sanqin with a small force of Shu and Han, crossed the Xihe River and defeated the Wei army, and sent troops to defeat the mighty Cheng'an Lord Chen Yu by mouth. It is not within the reach of manpower, but a blessing bestowed by God! "Now the King of Han owns the grain of Ao Cang, guards the natural danger of Chenggao, occupies the Baimajin Ferry, and has the power to reach Taihangban in the north, and the essence of Shu and Han in the south. Exterminated by the Han army.

"Therefore, I have made a special plan for His Majesty. We should establish an alliance with the King of Han as soon as possible, so that the Qi State will surely obtain long-term protection, otherwise it may not be long before it will be threatened with peril." Li Shiqi acted both hard and soft. Although it was a bit exaggerated, what he said was indeed true. Although Tian Heng and Tian Guang didn't know Liu Bang very well, they both thought that what Li Shiqi said was very reasonable. It has been Tian Heng's wish for many years to unite with a righteous party. He is very disgusted with Xiang Yu's cruelty and has heard a lot about Liu Bang's tolerance, so he quite supports the establishment of an alliance with Liu Bang.

Naturally, Tian Guang was quite willing, so on the one hand, he immediately sent envoys to Liu Bang to discuss alliance matters, and on the other hand, he ordered the dismantling of the previous defenses to show his sincerity.In addition, Tian Guang hosted a banquet in honor of Li Shiqi day and night to thank him for being the middleman. Li Shiqi didn't expect that Tian Heng, who even had a headache for Xiang Yu, would give in so easily, and he couldn't help but feel very proud, and he was extremely happy about his ability to make great achievements with his words alone. Han Xin attacked Qi State, and Li Shiqi died in obedience The Eastern Expedition Army assembled by Han Xin has reached Pingyuan County in the northwest of Qi State. At this moment, Han Xin received information that Li Shiqi had persuaded King Qi to form an alliance with the Han army, and learned that Qi State had completely withdrawn its previous military defenses. Han Xin had to order to stop military operations. But Kuai, a guest under Han Xin's command.However, different opinions were expressed.Kuai Che is a well-known lobbyist. Because he admired Han Xin's military talent, he became an important staff member in Han Xin's base camp with "an investment mentality. He said to Han Xin:" "General received the official edict of the King of Han to send troops to conquer Qi. Although the King of Han also sent envoys to lobby for peace talks, he did not inform you to stop the military attack. General, there is really no reason to give up this opportunity. "Besides, Li Sheng is only a lobbyist, and with his three-inch tongue, he actually won more than 70 cities in Qi State in an instant. "Think about it, the previous general led tens of thousands of people, and it took more than 50 years to capture more than 50 cities in Zhao State. "In comparison, the general has been a general for several years and has used tens of thousands of troops, but his credit is not as good as that of an old Confucian scholar. This is quite detrimental to the general's status!" Han Xin made sense after thinking about it, so he pretended not to know about the peace talks, and ordered his troops to cross the Yellow River and attack Lixia. The Qi army was completely unprepared and defeated, and Han Xin's vanguard soon attacked Linzi, the capital of Qi. Now Tian Heng and Tian Guang were frightened and furious. The most unlucky one was of course Li Shiqi. He had made great achievements in the first place, but now he became a duplicity. Li Shiqi didn't know whether it was Liu Bang's intention or Han Xin's fault, but the old Confucian scholar was full of backbone, so he decided not to beg for his life. Tian Guang said to Li Shiqi: "If you can stop the Han army from attacking and let them retreat, I will let you live, otherwise I will cook you to death!" Li Shiqi smiled and said: "Those who do great things don't care about their own lives. If you have the opportunity to sacrifice generously, you should not be afraid of death. I have done everything I can, and I don't want to justify anything!" Indeed, even the best eloquence is no match for the facts. Tian Guangnai ordered Li Shiqi to be cooked and killed, and the old lobbyist was still baffled until his death. In a panic, Tian Heng ordered the armies to withdraw from Linzi separately, so as not to be defeated and lose their future vitality; and he thought that Han Xin could be dealt with in the same way as Xiang Yu, so that guerrilla tactics could function again. Tian Guang also led the army to retreat to Gaomi in Jiaodong, and sent envoys to ask for help from Chu State. Tian Hengze went north to Boyang, looking for an opportunity to cut off the food supplies of Han Xin's eastward expedition. The guard Tian Guang retreated to Chengyang to resist the further eastward advance of the Han army. General Tian was deployed in Jiaodong to completely consolidate the eastern half of the territory. The dragon will go out to save everyone, and the two heroes will fight for life and death Received Qi Wang Tian Guangzhi's call for help, Xiang Yu sent his chief fierce general Long Qie to lead an army of tens of thousands to help. Facing the pincer attacks of Liu Bang and Peng Yue at the same time, Xiang Yu ran between Xingyang and Liangdi, and had no time to separate himself.But he really wanted to take the opportunity to form an alliance with Qi to make up for the strategic disadvantage.Therefore, despite all difficulties, he still allocated a large number of troops, and immediately went north to prevent Han Xin from occupying Qi. Judging from the situation at that time, it is true that whoever controls Qi State may become the final winner. In Xiang Yu's camp, Long Qie and Zhong Limei have always been known as dragon and tiger friends, but Zhong Limei is better at strategy, and Long Qie is good at bursting out amazing combat power. Because his style is similar to Xiang Yu's, Long Qi is more respected and competent by Xiang Yu than Zhong Limei. Especially because he has rich combat experience, he is one of the few generals under Xiang Yu's command who can be alone. Han Xin's confrontation with Longqi can be said to be the epitome of Liu Bang's confrontation with Xiang Yu. The victory or loss of this match can even determine the strengths and weaknesses of the struggle between Chu and Han. However, Long Qie's rescue force claimed to be 200,000, while Han Xin's Eastern Expeditionary Army was less than 50,000; among them, the army directly under Han Xin was only about 20,000, and the Guan Ying and Cao Can's army who came to assist were about 15,000. In terms of numbers, Han Xin is quite unfavorable. In addition, Tian Heng used the strategy of extending the front to put up a guerrilla warfare posture, which was very difficult for the expeditionary Han army. Qi Wang Tianguang's main force retreated to Gaomi on the east bank of the Weishui River on the Shandong Peninsula. Because of the Weishui River in front of it as a barrier, it was difficult for Han Xin's troops to drive straight in.In the southeast of Chengyang, Tian Guang's troops formed horns with each other. The purpose was obviously to lure the Han army into the deep, and then Tian Heng cut off the supply system of Han Xin's army from behind, making the enemy fall into a dilemma. Han Xin once again launched the weak's bullying tactics Qi's military staff suggested to Long Qi: "The Han army came from afar and was eager to fight, so their morale was high and they were unstoppable. The armies of Qi and Chu were deployed within the territory of their own country. The soldiers were less stressed, and their combat effectiveness was not easy to display. Therefore, it is better to adopt defensive tactics with strong walls and clear fields. , and the king of Qi sent envoys to appease the fallen city. If the soldiers and civilians in the fallen city heard that the king of Qi was still holding on to the city, and that the reinforcements from the state of Chu had arrived, they would all fight back against the Han army. Otherwise, it will be impossible to replenish food, morale will collapse, and we will be able to defeat them without fighting." Indeed, this is what Han Xin is most afraid of, and it is also the spirit of Tian Heng's original layout.If the Chu army does not come to rescue, Tian Guang will definitely adopt this strategy. As long as the Qi army can hold on, it will be disadvantageous to Han Xin. However, Long Qi could not accept this strategy, because even though Han Xin had been performing quite well since he left the army, Long Qi still did not think that Han Xin was a "warrior". Just like Xiang Yu always thought Liu Bang was not his opponent, Long Qi also looked down on Han Xin This kind of Confucian general who became a monk halfway." Especially when Han Xin was in the Chu camp, he was just a small bodyguard and staff officer next to Xiang Yu. How could he compare with the noble general Long Qi? What's more, Longqi's army strength is more than five times that of Han Xin's. Isn't it shameful to adopt a defensive strategy with such an advantage? Therefore, Long Qi flatly rejected the proposal of the staff. At the military meeting, Long and resolutely stated: "I've known Han Xin for a long time, and this kind of commander can only sit and talk, and has no actual combat ability. "When he was young, he lived with his floating mother, and he didn't even have the ability to support himself; bearing the humiliation of his crotch showed that he had absolutely no courage. What is so terrible about this kind of general? "Besides, we are now ordered to rescue Qi. If we defeat the Han army without fighting, how can we show our martial arts? But if we can completely defeat Han Xin's army in the battle, wouldn't we immediately recover half of Qi?" A magical river battle Han Xin naturally understood his weakness very well, but he judged that the dragon must be eager to fight. The only way to attack many with less is to rely on deception tactics. Originally, Weishui was quite unfavorable to Han Xin, but facing Longqie's strength, Weishui became Han Xin's trump card. "Just use this river to arrange traps!" At that time, November, which had already entered the severe winter, was originally a dry season, but this year the weather was particularly warm. The frozen snow in the upper reaches melted quickly, and the river was always quite turbulent. The keen Han Xin has already discovered this special phenomenon. On the night of arriving at the west bank of Weishui River, Han Xin sent a group of contingents to take advantage of the darkness to quickly rush to the upper mountainous area of ​​Weishui River, and used tens of thousands of sandbags to block the upstream water into a small reservoir formation near the water level of Weishui River. Immediately descended, reaching the state of the general winter dry season. Han Xin judged that Long and Tianguang must have never discovered this phenomenon. Early the next morning, Han Xin was in the middle, Cao Shen was on the right, and Guan Ying was on the left, posing for a battle. Long Qie also led the Chu army to form a formation on the east bank of the Weihe River. Its military appearance was extremely grand, and its momentum was several times that of the Han army. At this time, everyone was focusing on the bloody battle that was about to start. Even Cao Shen and Guan Ying did not notice the change in the current of Weishui today. Beforehand, Han Xin also arranged a large number of red flags in the formation. Since the place where the formation is located is a riverside plain, the command of the red flags in front of the formation can be seen on the mountain.At that time, as long as a large number of red flags are raised, the task force on the mountain will immediately cut off the sandbags and let the water rush down. Han Xin also arranged a large number of crossbowmen behind the formation, preparing to give the Chu army a full "bow and arrow meal." Long Qi seems to be completely ignoring the changes in the surrounding environment. He wholeheartedly wants to defeat Han Xin completely. Tian Guang's combat experience was insufficient, he was only eager to take revenge on Han Xin, and turned a blind eye to the most important geographical factor in the war. If Tian Heng came to the battlefield in person today, the result might be completely different. But accidental factors often determine the fate of people. Han Xin came to the front line in person and yelled loudly to direct the Chinese army to cross the river, preparing to attack the Chu army on the east bank. A small number of sides launched an attack first, and there must be fraud in it, but the self-satisfied dragon completely ignored this "combat norm." Long Qie ordered the crossbowmen in front of the formation to attack Han Xin's army at halfway. Han Xin's army immediately fell into chaos, and Han Xinnai personally stepped down to command the army to charge forward. But the Chu army's arrows were raining down, and Han Xin's army could not move an inch, so he had to retreat gradually. Long Qie smiled to the left and right staff officers: "I expected that Han Xin would not be able to fight hard!" When Han Xin retreated, Long Qi personally led the Chu army into Weishui in high spirits, preparing to counterattack the Han army on the west bank. Cao Shen and Guan Ying immediately ordered the crossbowmen to fight back, and the Chu army's speed of crossing the river was slowed down. But Long Qi, relying on his bravery, ordered the whole army to advance and never retreat, so the Chu army marched forward step by step despite the arrow rain. At this time, Han Xin had retreated to his headquarters, and returned to the front of the battle to observe the situation of the Chu army crossing the river. Under the leadership of Long Qie himself, except for a few personnel of the Chu army who had approached the shore, most of the troops were halfway across. Han Xin ordered the red flags in the formation to be raised high, and the horn was blown. Even Cao Shen and Guan Ying couldn't figure out what trick Han Xin was playing At that time, most of the Chu army had been washed away by the flood, wailing and moving the dragon, and although I had reached the bank, but seeing the tragedy in the river, I couldn't help being confused; the Chu army who had crossed the bank were also frightened and had no intention of fighting. Han Xin's soldiers and horses in front of the formation immediately separated to the left and right, and the bow and crossbow team behind the formation rushed forward and launched a fierce arrow rain attack on the Chu army who was about to go ashore. Long Qi was the first to bear the brunt without warning, and a generation of fierce generals died under thousands of arrows. Han Xin's central army cooperated with Cao Shen and Guan Ying's left and right armies, and immediately counterattacked the Chu army who had crossed the river. Most of the Chu army drowned in Weishui. Even those who crossed Weishui, many died under the rain of arrows. Yong also became completely powerless, so he had to abandon his weapons and surrender. The reversal of the situation frightened Tian Guang, so he didn't dare to defend Gaomi, and immediately led his army back to Chengyang to join Tian Guang and discuss countermeasures. The Qi State was defeated like a mountain In the Battle of Weishui, it was the Chu army who rescued Qi that was annihilated by Han Xin's Qibing. Although the Qi army itself was not damaged in any way, its fighting spirit was completely lost. After the water retreated, Han Xin led his army across the Wei River, occupied Gaomi, and led the main force to attack Chengyang. Tian Guang was unable to defend, so he ordered Tian Guang to lead his army north to Tian Heng in order to make a comeback, while he himself led a small number of troops to surrender to Han Xin. In fact, Han Xin had expected this earlier, so before accepting Tian Guang's surrender, he ordered the Guanying Army to pursue northward, and finally defeated the retreating Qi army dozens of kilometers south of Boyang City, and Tian Guang died on the spot. Tian Heng in Boyang thought that Tian Guang also died in the retreat, so he declared himself king of Qi, and went out of the city to fight against Guanying's army. Many of Guan Ying's mixed infantry and cavalry troops were composed of the Guanzhong Army of the Qin State, and their combat effectiveness was the best in the Han camp.Although Tian Heng was good at guerrilla warfare, his mobility and combat intensity were obviously not as good as those of the Guanying Army, and he suffered a big defeat after winning the battle. The morale of the Qi army collapsed, and Tian Heng judged that nothing could be done in the short term, so he led the remnant troops to retreat into Liang State, and attached himself to Peng Yue, the guerrilla king in Liang. Guan Ying continued to go north to attack Tian Su's army stationed in Qiancheng, the northernmost military town of Qi State. The last force of the Qi State is the Tian Ji Legion stationed in Jiaodong and shielding the eastern peninsula of the Qi State. Han Xinnai sent the Cao Can Army Corps to conquer it. He had no choice but to lead his army to break through, but was soon defeated by Cao Shen's main force. Tian was killed in battle, and the war in Qi State ended here. Han Xin completely captured the Qi State with his resourcefulness, and defeated the powerful and powerful Longqie Legion, and completely defeated Xiang Yu. 【Chen Wende Commentary】 Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching (Chapter 45): "If a great success is lacking, its use will not be harmful; if a great surplus is too much, its use will not be endless Hot, quiet is right for the world.” The real big success is made of things, let nature take its course, without deliberate packaging, so there are always deficiencies from the outside.But it follows nature, so its effect is never exhausted. The so-called great surplus is prospered because of things, so it will not be self-sufficient and complacent. It looks empty, but its functions are endless. People with great straightness are also straight because they want things, and they don't point to a certain standard, so many places seem to be bent instead. The big and clever ones are also made of nature, without deliberate carving, so they look very clumsy. The great debater follows the natural truth, without embellishment or pretentious words, so he looks honest and dull on the outside. Those who can truly understand the way of nature appear clumsy and unplanned on the surface, follow nature, do not act hastily, are not enthusiastic, go from shallow to deep, wait for the time to mature, and naturally blossom and bear fruit. This is Lao Tzu's so-called quietness and inaction. Those who can really do nothing can naturally do nothing and do everything. Therefore, quietness can overcome restlessness, cold can overcome heat, and quietness and inaction are the most invincible power in the world. Qidi is the birthplace of China's art of war and resourcefulness. It has always been good at leveraging strength. For example, Tian Heng's guerrilla tactics made Xiang Yu, who was at his peak, helpless and had to give up the conquest of Qidi. It is indeed very difficult to defeat Qi. But Han Xin deserves to be a military genius. Cross Chencang secretly and defeat Zhang Han, the last military strongman of the Qin Dynasty.Back against the odds, defeat the most powerful Zhao army in the Central Plains. It can be seen that Han Xin deeply understood the natural way of weather, location, and harmony of people. Facing the Qi military strategists who are also good at resourcefulness is a brand new challenge for Han Xin. When starting the Eastern Expedition, I believe that Han Xin did not have full confidence and certainty. He was not in a hurry, regardless of Liu Bang's pressure, he gathered enough troops before setting off. He took advantage of Li Shiqi's successful peace talks to launch a surprise attack. Although it is a bit unreasonable, the two countries did not have formal peace talks at that time. Moreover, Han Xin did not receive Liu Bang's order to stop fighting. Perhaps Liu Bang also deliberately did not give Han Xin any instructions. indefinite. In short, Han Xin seized this once-in-a-lifetime "time and harmony" and launched a real surprise attack without hesitation." In the battle of Weishui, Han Xin used the power of "nature" more thoroughly. He was indeed "quiet and inaction" in combat planning. Facing any unfavorable battle, Han Xin seemed to be able to completely forget the battle. He focused on "naturally" "Place it on the environment and the actions of the enemy, so he can clearly see the "objective facts" that ordinary people cannot notice. On any battlefield, Han Xin seems a little weak or clumsy, but what he is best at using is the invincible power of nature. Great wisdom is like stupidity, great ingenuity is like clumsiness, doing nothing but doing everything, the mystery of which can only be understood and used by oneself.