Chapter 8 Chapter 3 The Battle of the Julu in Qin and Chu

In the first year of Qin II (209 BC), under the leadership of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the first peasant uprising broke out in the history of our country, and a revolutionary war to overthrow the brutal rule of the Qin Dynasty broke out.After their sacrifice, the two rebel armies of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang continued to carry out the anti-Qin war. When the peasant uprising happened, the nobles of the original six countries also took the opportunity to raise their troops.Xiang Yu is the grandson of Xiang Yan, a general of the Chu State, who is brave, brave and courageous.After the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising, Xiang Yu followed his uncle Xiang Liang to kill the sheriff in Kuaiji County (now Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province), and the uprising responded.Xiang Liang led 8,000 soldiers from Jiangdong across the river to the north, defeating the Qin army many times, and his power developed rapidly.After Chen Sheng's death, Xiang Liang supported Xiong Xin, the grandson of King Huai of Chu during the Warring States period, as King of Chu for the convenience of calling, and he was still called King Huai of Chu.Since then, the peasant war in the late Qin Dynasty has entered a new stage.

Xiang Liang had a smooth sailing in the war and always won the battle, so he became proud and relaxed his vigilance against the enemy.In September of the second year of Qin II (208 BC), Zhang Han commanded the Qin army to attack Dingtao (now Dingtao County, Shandong Province) at night, defeating the Chu army, and Xiang Liang died in the war.Zhang Han mistakenly believed that since Xiang Liang had died in battle, the Chu army was nothing to worry about, so he left the Chu army alone and led the Qin army to attack Zhao Guo in the north.This State of Zhao is not the State of Zhao in the Warring States Period, but a newly established state in the anti-Qin war with Lord Wu Xin as its king, and its strength is still very weak.The Qin army led by Zhang Han defeated the Zhao army and soon captured Handan, the capital of Zhao.Zhao general Chen Yu regrouped tens of thousands of troops and stationed in the north of Julu (now Pingxiang County, Hebei Province).Zhang Han sent Qin general Wang Li to surround Julu, and he led his troops to garrison in the Jiyuan south of Julu as a backing.He also built a tunnel between Jiyuan and Julu, and built earth walls on both sides to deliver supplies to Wang Lijun.Wang Lijun received sufficient supplies, and the attack on the city became more vigorous.Zhao Wangxie sent people to Chu Huai Wang several times to ask for help.King Huai of Chu appointed Song Yi as the general and Xiang Yu as the second general to lead the main force of the rebel army north to rescue Zhao; in addition, he sent Liu Bang to lead some troops to attack Guanzhong (now the central part of Shaanxi Province).

Song Yi led the army to the north, and stopped when it reached Anyang (southeast of Anyang, Henan Province), staying for 46 days in a row, refusing to advance.Xiang Yu advised him: "At present, the Qin army is besieging Julu. We should lead our troops across the river as soon as possible. We attack from the outside, and the Zhao army responds from the inside. If we attack from inside and outside, we will definitely defeat the Qin army." Song Yi disagreed with Xiang Yu.He advocated letting Qin Jun and Zhao Jun fight first, and wait until they were both defeated, and then Chu Jun would fight again.Song Yi not only rejected Xiang Yu's suggestion, but also threw a big banquet and sent his son to Qi to be an official.At this time, the weather was cold and raining heavily, the army lacked food, and the soldiers suffered from hunger and cold; if the Qin soldiers captured the huge deer, the anti-Qin forces were in danger of being defeated one by one.Seeing this situation, Xiang Yu was anxious and angry, so he took advantage of the opportunity of the morning court meeting to kill Song Yi, and then ordered the whole army to say: "Song Yi secretly colluded with Qi State and plotted to rebel against Chu State. King Huai secretly ordered him to be executed!" At this time, the generals of the Chu army expressed their willingness to obey Xiang Yu's command, and no one dared to disagree.Xiang Yu reported the killing of Song Yi to King Huai of Chu.King Huai of Chu appointed Xiang Yu as the general to succeed Song Yi, and sent him to lead the army to rescue Zhao.