Chapter 12 In the second quarter, Han Xin attacked Zhao's backwaters as an array

After Han Xin destroyed Wei, he immediately wrote to Liu Bang, requesting an increase of 30,000 troops to eliminate the two separatist forces, Zhao and Dai, so as to change the disadvantageous position of the Han army in the battle of Chenggao.Liu Bang approved Han Xin's battle plan, allocated 30,000 infantry to him, and sent Zhang Er, who was familiar with the situation in Hebei, to assist him. In the ninth month of the second year of the King of Han, Han Xin defeated Dai's army and captured Dai's prime minister Xia Shuo (yueyue) alive.After the two major victories of destroying Wei and Ping Dai, Han Xin recruited a large number of captive soldiers and strengthened the strength of the Han army.

In October of the third year of the King of Han (204 BC), Han Xin led tens of thousands of horses across the Taihang Mountains to the east and launched an attack on the State of Zhao.The Han army and the Zhao army met at Jingxing (xingxing) pass, a dangerous pass on the western border of Zhao State, and a decisive battle was about to begin.Jingxingkou is one of the eight passes in the Taihang Mountains. It is now Tumen Pass in the east of Jingxing County, Hebei Province. To the west of Jingxingkou, there is a narrow post road about 100 miles long. The terrain is dangerous and difficult to attack.Zhao Wangxie and Zhao Jun Commander Chen Yu gathered more than 100,000 Zhao troops to guard Jingxingkou.Han Xin's army is only tens of thousands, and half of them are newly recruited, lacking training and no combat experience.In terms of military strength, Zhao Jun has a great advantage.

Before the war started, Li Zuoche, the counselor of Zhao State, proposed a battle plan to the commander-in-chief Chen Yu.First of all, he pointed out to Chen Yu: "After Han Xin captured Wei Wangbao alive, he sent troops to attack the country of Dai. Now Liu Bang sent Zhang Er to assist Han Xin and take advantage of the victory to attack the country of Zhao. The morale of the Han army is strong. We must avoid its sharp edge. Do not underestimate the enemy." Then, he proposed a plan to destroy the enemy to Chen Yu, saying: "The Han army came from afar to attack our country, and the food and grass had to be transported from thousands of miles away. This is like waiting for the woodcutter to gather firewood before cooking. You can’t get enough to eat. The road at Jingxingkou is narrow, and horses and chariots cannot pass in parallel. Although the combat troops of the Han army have passed through the 100-mile post road, it is estimated that their grain transportation troops must not have followed, and they must still be behind the army. Please You allocated 30,000 troops to plunder the Han army's food and grass from the trails, cut off the Han army's food transportation, and block the Han army's retreat road. You lead the Zhao army to deep trenches and high fortifications, and stand firm according to the danger. Don't engage in a decisive battle with Han Xin. , so that he can’t fight and has no way to retreat. By doing this, I can dedicate the heads of Han Xin and Zhang Er to your tent in less than 10 days. Otherwise, we will definitely be defeated by the Han army.”

Li Zuoche's battle plan was proposed based on the actual situation of both sides, and it was relatively safe and reliable.However, Chen Yu, who is full of bookishness and proudly underestimates the enemy, said that "righteous soldiers don't need to use tricks and tricks", and quoted the art of war that "ten times encircle them, and double them fight" (with 10 times more troops than the enemy, encirclement should be adopted) Li Zuoche refuted Li Zuoche's words based on the words of the law; twice as many troops as the enemy can attack the enemy.He said: "The Han army claims to be tens of thousands, but in fact it is only a few thousand. They came to attack Zhao from thousands of miles away, and the soldiers were exhausted. If we avoid such a weak enemy and do not fight, we will encounter a strong enemy in the future. , what should we do? In this way, the princes from all walks of life will laugh at our cowardice and attack us easily." In this way, Chen Yu flatly rejected Li Zuoche's suggestion.

Han Xin is a far-sighted military strategist. He knows that the strength of the enemy and us is very different, and he cannot go straight to fight, so he stationed the army far away from Jingxingkou, observed the situation, studied the deployment of the Zhao army, and looked for favorable opportunities.He found out that Chen Yu, the commander-in-chief of the Zhao army, rejected Li Zuoche's battle plan, and he was very happy.At the same time, he learned that Chen Yu had a big appetite and wanted to swallow the Han army at the mouth of Jingxing.Aiming at Chen Yu's mentality of blindly underestimating the enemy, Han Xinxin formed a surprisingly successful combat plan.He immediately commanded the troops to station at a place 30 miles away from Jingxingkou.Han Xin selected 2,000 young and strong cavalry from the Han army, and told them each to hold a red flag. At midnight, they took advantage of the darkness to sneak around from the mountain trail to the rear of the Zhao army's base camp, and lay in ambush there. down.Han Xin told them, "Tomorrow our army will have a decisive battle with the Zhao army. If the Zhao army sees our army retreating, they will definitely pursue them. Take advantage of the emptiness of Zhao's camp, attack quickly, and pull out all the Zhao army's flags. Put the red flag of our Han army instead." After Han Xin finished the task, he sent an order to serve dinner.This time the expedition was different from the usual ones. Usually, before going to battle, they would always have a full meal, but this time they only prepared a small amount of food for the soldiers.The soldiers did not understand why.Han Xin explained: "Everyone eat less food first, and then hold a sumptuous banquet after the Zhao army is defeated at dawn!" Reluctantly agreed, "Yes!" Everyone bravely set off.

Soon after the 2,000 light cavalry set off, Han Xin sent another 10,000 horses as the vanguard to advance near Jingxingkou and form a formation along the sprawling water.Mianmanshui flows into Jingxingkou from the north near Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. It was a deep and fast river back then.Han Xin knew that Chen Yu wanted to wipe out the Han army and would not attack the 10,000 vanguard troops of the Han army.He said to the generals of the vanguard: "The Zhao army has already occupied the favorable terrain and built a barrier. Our 10,000 vanguard troops are neither the main force nor the generals. Chen Yu will definitely not attack you first. Because he I'm afraid that if we attack you, the main force behind us will retreat." As expected, the vanguard of the army was not blocked by any obstacles, and it successfully drove to the east bank of the sprawling water, and established a position.When Zhao Jun saw that the Han army was standing behind the water and had no way to retreat, they all laughed at Han Xin for not knowing the art of war.