Chapter 11 Chapter 4 Han Xin's Battle against Zhao

In the summer of the second year of King Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty (205 BC), Liu Bang was defeated by the Chu army at the north bank of the Sui [sui] River. Wei Wangbao, who originally belonged to the Han army, saw the strength of the Chu army and betrayed Liu Bang and surrendered to Xiang Yu.Wei Wangbao occupied Hedong (now the southwest of Shanxi Province) at that time. If he marched westward, he could threaten the security of Guanzhong, and if he sent troops southward, he could cut off the connection between Guanzhong and Xingyang, creating a situation where he would cooperate with the Chu army to attack Xingyang.For the Han army, it was like a thorn in the back.In order to pull out this thorn, Liu Bang sent someone to get Wei Wangbao to stand on his side again, but Wei Wangbao refused to agree.In August of this year, Liu Bang sent Han Xin, Cao Can and others to lead troops to attack Wei Wangbao.

When Wei Wangbao heard that the Han army was coming to attack, he appointed Baizhi as a general to command the whole army, guard Puban (now west of Yongji County, Shanxi Province) on the east bank of the Yellow River, block the Yellow River ferry near Jinjin, and prevent the Han army from crossing the river.Baizhi also organized a mobile force to patrol along the Yellow River; at the same time, he also drove away all civilian ships and was not allowed to stop and go in Hanoi.Baizhi was very proud of his deployment, thinking that if the Han army wanted to cross the river, there was no other way but to pass through the dangerous and difficult fortress of Puban.

Han Xin led the troops to the front line and saw that the situation in Puban was dangerous, and Wei Wangbao sent heavy troops to guard him, knowing that it would be difficult to win if he attacked from the front.After some research, he decided to adopt the tactics of smacking the east and attacking the west, avoiding the real and making the false.He set up the Han army camp on the other side of Puban across the river, planted banners near the barracks, and gathered all the ships of the Han army here; during the day, he asked the soldiers to beat drums and shout, and at night, the lights were brightly lit, and the troops were dispatched. The general is busy.On the surface, it seemed that the Han army was going to cross the river from here, but in fact, Han Xin secretly mobilized the main force of the Han army to the north, and chose Xiayang (now south of Hancheng County, Shaanxi Province) as the crossing point.

Wei Jun saw the frequent mobilization of the Han army on the other side of the river, and really thought that Han Xin was going to cross the river from Puban.Bai Zhi believed that the fortress of Puban was so strong, heavily guarded, and the Yellow River was so fast that no matter how powerful Han Xin was, it would be of no avail.Therefore, he didn't take precautions against the upper reaches of the Yellow River in his heart at all. After the Han army arrived at Xiayang, Han Xin ordered the soldiers to make a large number of small wooden barrels. Several wooden barrels were connected into one body, with wooden rafts tied to them, and buckled upside down on the water as a raft.This kind of raft is both stable and buoyant.The Han army smuggled across from Xiayang on these rafts.The Wei army had no fortifications here at all, and the Han army crossed the Yellow River smoothly and captured Anyi (now northeast of Anyi County, Shanxi Province), an important town in the rear of Wei.At this time, Wei Wangbao hurriedly led the troops to fight, but how could he be Han Xin's opponent?Within a few days, Han Xin commanded the Han army to defeat the Wei army, and finally captured Wei Wangbao alive and sent him to Liu Bang who was stationed in Xingyang.