Chapter 4 The fourth quarter Chengpu decisive battle

After the Jin army withdrew to Chengpu, the Qi army, Qin army, and Song army also came to join forces.Jin Wengong inspected the army and thought that the army was neat and morale high, and he could fight against the Chu army.So when Ziyu sent Dou Bo to ask for a battle, Duke Wen of Jin sent Luan Zhi to reply, to the effect that: Our monarch only made our army retreat here because he dared not forget the kindness of the King of Chu.Now that you are so belligerent, see you on the battlefield tomorrow! On April 4th, the Jin and Chu armies set up a decisive battle in Xinbei, south of Chengpu.Ziyu divided the Chu army into the middle, left and right armies: the middle army was the most elite, commanded by Ziyu himself; the right army was composed of the troops of Chen, Cai and other countries, with the weakest combat effectiveness.At the beginning of the decisive battle, Xu Chen, the deputy general of the Jin army, covered the horse he was driving with a tiger skin, and unexpectedly attacked the right army of the Chu army first.The miscellaneous armies of Chen, Cai and other countries were suddenly attacked, and they couldn't help panicking. They all scrambled to abandon the formation and flee. The Chu army and the right army collapsed like this.At this time, Humao, the leader of the Jin army, purposely set up two large flags on the chariot, and led the chariot back, pretending to retreat; Also pretend to retreat.Ziyu didn't know it was a trick, so he ordered the left army to pursue.The Jin army's central army's chief general Xian Zhen and deputy general Que Qin (xizhen Xizhen) commanded the central army and intercepted and killed the Chu army; the upper army commanded by Humao also returned to fight back.The left army of the Chu army was attacked from the front and back, and their retreat was cut off. Most of the officers and soldiers were wiped out by the Jin army, and a small part fled.Seeing that both the left and right armies had failed, Ziyu hurriedly summoned gold to withdraw the army and withdrew from the battlefield, only by luck that the entire army was not wiped out.

The Battle of Chengpu between Jin and Chu was a major battle for hegemony in the mid-Spring and Autumn Period.The Chu army is strong, but the Jin army is relatively weak. As a result, the Jin army defeated the Chu army. What is the reason?First, the Jin State adopted a series of measures to strengthen the country, such as rectifying internal affairs, developing production, and training the army, which laid a reliable foundation for the victory of the war.Second, the Jin State launched a series of flexible and ingenious struggles in diplomacy, expanded its allied forces, and isolated Chu;Third, during the battle, the Jin army chose the weakest part of the Chu army to break through, used tactics to lure the enemy to chase, and then divided and defeated the Chu army to win a complete victory.