Chapter 50 Fourteen, absurd war

In the winter of 383 AD, a war broke out on the land of China with the most disparity in military power in Chinese history. The military power ratio of the two sides was 87:18.Judging from the ratio of power balance alone, even if this war did not have a surprising ending, it would be enough to be recorded in the annals of history.There are many works discussing and researching this war in historical records, and even the idiom dictionary has left a large number of related idioms.Its impact is far-reaching and self-evident.But looking at it from another angle, the absurdity of the course of this war is really beyond people's imagination. The winner is neither sure of winning nor can explain where he won, and the loser is even more confused about losing.Since the predecessors were incompetent, it triggered discussions and debates about this war in later generations, and studied the causes of victory and defeat from all aspects. At this point, I admire the late historian Mr. Huang Renyu very much. The pros and cons of this war are analyzed from the perspectives of society, economy, and population, and the nuances of the explanation are really convincing.It's a pity that we are not historians, and we don't have the means to re-interpret the gains and losses of the war. We might as well change our style and start by comparing the two sides of the war to tell the truth.

Let's first look at the order of battle on both sides of the war. (I’m afraid there was no such term at that time, so let’s call it this.) In the former Qin Dynasty, the vanguard troops took Fu Rong as their supervisor, with generals Zhang Hao, Murongchui, Liang Cheng and others, and a total of 300,000 infantry and cavalry, including about 30,000 from Murongchui's department. The target was Yuncheng on the West Road (now Anlu area of ​​Hubei); 50,000 men from the Liangcheng tribe, 200,000 strong from the Fu Rong and Zhang Hao tribes, aiming at Shouyang, the vanguard of the Eastern Jin Dynasty; more than 600,000 main forces in the north under Fu Jian's self-rule, with extremely scattered sources of troops, including Qin and Yong's Guanzhong The soldiers of North China from You and Hebei, and the Northwest soldiers from Liangzhou, marched across more than half of China, and the main force gathered in Xiangcheng (now Shenqiu, Henan); At that time, Pei Yuanlue, the prefect of Zitong, led a navy of 70,000 sailors from central Sichuan to the east, and went straight to Jiankang, the capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the line of defense had actually been established a few years ago. It was divided into two routes. And resist the Qin cavalry from land that may attack from the west (actually fighting in this area, the powerful land army in the north cannot play a role, so the strength of the cavalry is obviously not too strong).The Eastern Route Army was controlled by Xie An, Xie Shi was the governor, Xie Xuan led the vanguard, and there were generals Xie Yan, Huan Yi and others, who commanded 80,000 troops to resist the Qin army on both sides of the Huaihe River. Another general, Hu Bin, commanded 5,000 troops. Water army, reinforcements facing Shouyang in the north.

Judging from the comparison of the military forces of the two sides, the strength of the Eastern Jin Dynasty on the west road is roughly equivalent to that of the former Qin Dynasty (Pei Yuanlue's 70,000 navy and Murongchui's 30,000 army), and there are natural dangers and fortifications along the Yangtze River. Not at a disadvantage, and the difference in strength between the East Route Army and the Qin Army (even if it is only 250,000 forwards) is too great. Even if you can use the savagery of the Beifu soldiers as a consolation, you can't help but feel Xie An's "chic" before the war. " and "Frank" were amazed.

The war started, and the forwards of the former Qin army were progressing smoothly. In October of that year, Fu Rong arrived in Shouyang before the reinforcements from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He captured Shouyang City without strong resistance, and captured the defenders Xu Yuanxi and Wang Xian.Murongchui, who turned to the western front battlefield halfway, also captured Yuncheng without bloodshed. General Wang Taiqiu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty died in battle. Fu Jian ordered Murong Wei to lead his army to garrison Yuncheng. Then wait for the order.Hu Bin learned of the fall of Shouyang before he could arrive in time, so he had to retreat to Xiashi (now southwest of Fengtai, Anhui) to stop the Qin army.

On the one hand, Fu Rong sent troops to besiege Xiashi, and on the other hand, he sent 50,000 troops from Liang Cheng's tribe to Luojian (now east of Huainan, Anhui Province) to set up obstacles on the Huaihe River to prevent the arrival of the Jindong Route Army.Xie Shi and Xie Xuan were really afraid of the Qin army, and they dared not advance lightly when they reached a point twenty-five miles away from Luojian.Now Hu Bin, who was supposed to be a reinforcement, was fighting alone, surrounded by Fu Rong's army, and his food and grass were quickly exhausted. In desperation, he sent someone to Xie Shi for help.

Unexpectedly, the envoy was captured by the Qin army. As the saying goes, "man's calculation is not as good as heaven's calculation", this accident unexpectedly became a turning point in the war.Fu Rong got the news that Hu Bin was short of food. The prince who tried his best to dissuade Fu Jian before the war and always acted cautiously misjudged the situation. If you run away, you should go there quickly." Fu Jian was obviously infected, and was overjoyed. Fearing that the main force of the Jin army would flee after a long time, he left the army in Xiangcheng, and personally led 8,000 light cavalry to Shouyang to supervise the battle.

(At this time, the two commanders of the Qin army made mistakes in succession, which led to the reversal of the battle situation. It stands to reason that if Fu Jian's army had gathered on both sides of the Huaihe River and was well prepared, there would be no reason to fail in the face of the 80,000 Jin army. Strictly order your subordinates to cut off the tongue of anyone who dares to reveal the news of his arrival in Shouyang. They think that relying on the 200,000 Fu Rong's vanguard troops is enough to make a quick victory. I am afraid that the Eastern Jin Dynasty will perish one day later. This is even more absurd. May I ask thank you If Shi and the others escape, where can they flee to? Jiankang? However, with Fu Jian's momentum of "throwing the whip to stop the flow", it is impossible to solve the "odd troops" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. And Fu Jian abandoned the large army in the The behavior of the rear has invisibly narrowed the gap in military power between the two sides, and the first step is wrong.)

Then Fu Jian made another miscalculation and sent Xiangyang general Zhu Xu to the Jin camp to persuade him to surrender, hoping to "subdue the enemy without fighting".Zhu Xu was a man who was loyal to the Eastern Jin Dynasty when he defended Xiangyang. He came to the Jin army camp and informed Xie Shi of the military situation of the Qin army one by one. It is difficult to compete with them; now that they have not concentrated, attack quickly, if they can defeat their forwards, the morale of the Qin army will no longer be demoralized, and the victory or defeat will be determined."

Zhu Xu's news is indeed like a timely message. Xie Shi and others were at a disadvantage in the initial contact battle with Zhang Hao of the Qin Army, and were planning to fight a protracted war. After learning the information of the Qin Army, the generals finally made up their minds and prepared to go all out to defeat the Qin Army. Vanguard. In November, Xie Xuan sent Liu Laozhi's five thousand Beifu soldiers to raid Luojian. This victorious army crossed Luojian at an extremely fast speed and caught the Qin army off guard. The Jin army intercepted the return route and suffered heavy casualties.Xie Shi and Xie Xuan marched by land and water, and the Jin army marched to the east bank of Feishui, facing off the Qin army in Shouyang across the water.At this time, Fu Jian made the third mistake - ineffective intelligence collection, because the vanguard was defeated and he didn't know the real situation of the Jindong Route Army, so he hesitated about the next step.

However, the Qin army still had a favorable position, and the two armies faced each other across the Fei River. The Qin army was stationed in Shouyang, and the Jin army could not cross the water. The gathering of most of the Qin army who kept coming from Xiangcheng was very unfavorable to the Jin army over time. Xie Xuan sent an envoy to Fu Jian's camp and issued a letter of war, saying: "You go deep alone, but deploying an army near the water is a long-lasting strategy, not a quick one. You might as well move your position back a little and let the Jin Bing can cross the river to fight you, isn't it good?" The generals of the former Qin Dynasty did not advocate moving the position back, thinking that we are outnumbered, it is better to stick to it and be invincible, but Fu Jian did not think that a long battle would be beneficial to him, and finally made the final and fatal mistake.He fully thought that when the Jin army was crossing the river, he would definitely wipe out his army with an iron cavalry attack, and Fu Rong also agreed with this plan (the two coaches made mistakes together again, it really destroyed the former Qin Dynasty!), so he agreed with the envoy of Jin Request, command the entire army to retreat. How did the soldiers of the former Qin Dynasty know the careful arrangements of the commanders? With the order to retreat, the front army changed into the rear army, and they retreated northward in an all-round way.Zhu Xu and others lost no time in shouting from behind the formation: "The Qin army has been defeated! The Qin army has been defeated!" (If Fu Jian killed Zhu Xu, there would be no catastrophe today, and it would be too late for regret!) The Qin army suddenly retreated. Potential, what formation formation, all forgotten. Xie Xuan, Xie Yan, and Huan Yi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty led their troops across the Fei River and launched a general attack on the messy Qin army.The coach Fu Rong returned to his horse and wanted to straighten out the formation. When he didn't pay attention, he rushed down with his men and horses, and was beheaded by the Jin army in the chaos.The Qin soldiers fled in all directions, trampling on each other, and their corpses were scattered all over the mountains and fields.As a result, "the wind is rumbling, and the grass and trees are all soldiers", hundreds of thousands of troops were wiped out.A massive war ended in such an absurd way like a child playing a war game. Why did Fu Jian's hundreds of thousands of troops retreat for thousands of years?The reason, I think there are roughly three reasons.The arrangement of the former Qin army's battle formation is conducive to advancing but not conducive to retreating. There are more than 200,000 infantry cavalry. The front is infantry with poor equipment and combat effectiveness, but the number is relatively large. .When attacking, dragging the opponent with infantry, and then charging with cavalry, you can win in one fell swoop. However, in this retreat, the front and rear troops lost all, and the infantry was behind, causing chaos. It is not surprising that Fu Rong died in the chaos of the infantry. This is one of them. Unable to cope with the unexpected situation in the war, Fu Rong had already commented on these people: "the army is not idle", and when the battle is chaotic, these people just play a role in fueling the flames, this is the second; and the most terrible thing is that the former Qin Dynasty The soldiers in the army can be said to be Di, Qiang, Xianbei, Xiongnu, Han, and there are all kinds of races. Even if the contradictions between the various ethnic groups are ignored, it is difficult to achieve the unity of military orders and general orders. The main general Fu Rong ordered the withdrawal of troops. However, the soldiers who received the order did not know the real situation. Combined with Zhu Xu interspersed in the middle, it is inevitable that they will collapse as soon as they retreat. This is the third reason. A great battle in Chibi led to a three-point split that lasted for nearly 400 years, while a great battle in Feishui directly led to the confrontation between the Northern and Southern Dynasties that has puzzled China for 200 years. In any case, its influence is not insignificant. .I don't think so about the bunch of reasons why the Qin people must be defeated and the Jin people must win. If there are no four major mistakes and three reasons mentioned above, or as long as a few of them do not happen, this battle will be impossible. The outcome of the battle would be reversed.The ethnic policy adopted by Fu Jian seems to have destroyed him and his empire, but from a certain point of view, it can not but be said that it is the historical progress of Chinese civilization towards a new glory.However, Mr. Huang Renyu pointed out the inevitability of China's split at that time with digital arguments, which is still credible.Even if Fu Jian could succeed, it could only be Sima Yan's success.China's long-term stability and development will take time.However, as a result of the war that day, China, North and South, and the world spent the last two decades of this century in the most painful state.These are probably the greatest revelations of ancient wars to people today.