The Political Evolution of Zhao State

Zhao, a vassal in the Warring States Period, was one of the Seven Heroes in the Warring States Period. The ancestor of Zhao people is a branch of Huaxia nationality, and the monarch is Zhao, whose surname is won. In 403 BC, Han, Zhao and Wei were divided into Jin, and King Weilie of Zhou made Zhao Liehou a vassal and founded the country. Zhao successively won Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi), Zhongmou (now Hebi, Henan) and Handan. In 222 BC, it was destroyed in the state of Qin.

boom period

Learn the bunt of all ethnic groups in the history of China, and also learn their martial arts such as horse riding and archery.

King Wuling of Zhao is a monarch with outstanding talent, courage and ambition. He rides a horse and hunts in Khufu.

Up to now, there are many buildings in Handan to commemorate King Wuling of Zhao. During his reign, he carried out the far-reaching "Khufu riding and shooting". Soldiers all over the country have changed their traditional wide combat uniforms into tight-fitting small combat uniforms, and changed the traditional army structure with infantry as the main body into cavalry and crossbowmen as the main body. Imagine how much resistance there would be if the national army changed into costumes and services that are regarded as border races in today's reality. But King Wuling of Zhao did it, believing that this reform is very important for Zhao's future vertical and horizontal seven countries. The policy of "Khufu riding and shooting" abandoned the Central Plains people's tactics of undressing and chariot, and replaced it with the tactics of Khufu and single cavalry with short clothes and tight sleeves and leather belts and boots, which made the country stronger. Zhao conquered Zhongshan in the northeast (see the battle of Zhao destroying Zhongshan). ), Northwest defeated Hu Lin and Lou Fan. Set up Yunzhong (now Tuoketuo County, Hohhot City), Yanmen (now Daixian County, Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province) and Dai (now Yuxian County, Hebei Province) in the newly developed area in the north, and build the "Zhao Great Wall" from Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province to Wuyuan County, Bayannur League, Inner Mongolia.

Zhu Bei Great Wall

Repair the Great Wall, Wuling, Zhao Haoqi

It is believed that the best defensive measures against the frontier clan, on the one hand, offset the advantage of the rapid mobility of the frontier clan cavalry, on the other hand, give the infantry a reliable front. If Zhao wants to cross the seven kingdoms, he must relieve his worries-the intrusion of Xiongnu, so as to free up his hands to dominate the south. But the problem is that repairing the Great Wall is recognized as a measure that consumes manpower and financial resources. Qin built the Great Wall with nearly a million guilty people, which caused great public outrage. The repair of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty also cost a lot of money. However, with a population of more than one million, Zhao built a project that surprised future generations. There was no riot in history ... The construction after Qin's reunification only connected the Great Wall of the Three Kingdoms.

The death of king Wu

King Wuling of Zhao hesitated on the issue of choosing his successor. First, he made his youngest son, Zhao, king, but later he appointed his eldest son as acting city king, and later the city king plotted to seize this position. In the first 295 years, he killed Zhao He, the prime minister, and fled to the palace of King Wuling on behalf of Cheng Jun. Uncle Zhao Cheng and Li Dui surrounded the palace and killed Cheng Jun for him. King Wuling starved to death after being besieged in the palace for more than three months. Although Zhao Huiwen, the son of King Wuling, appointed Lian Po, Lin Xiangru and other capable ministers, the reform and innovation of Qin gradually surpassed Zhao.

Edit this paragraph to weaken death.

Battle of Changping

Schematic diagram of the battle of Huiwen Changping in the first 260 years

When his son became king, Zhao's power became weak because of the king's fatuity. Qin sent Bai Qi as the general, Wang Bi as the lieutenant, and tricked Zhao into replacing Lian Po, using Zhao Kuo as the commander-in-chief. In the battle of Changping, 400,000 troops of Zhao surrendered, but Leitian dared not surrender to rebel and killed all the foot soldiers, so that Zhao recovered from then on, but the powerful Qin Jun also suffered more than half of the casualties, which made it suggested that Leitian take Handan. Although Zhao Haoqi of Qin attacked Handan in the first 258 years, Wei Chujun finally defeated Qin Jun in the first 256 years, which made the declining State of Zhao breathe and prevented Qin Jun from advancing eastward.

Battle of Handan

After winning the battle, Qin Changping accepted Zhao's request for peace. Reason: Although the State of Qin won the battle of Changping, more than half of the soldiers died and the domestic food consumption was almost the same. Qin was unable to further occupy Handan and destroy Zhao. Two foot soldiers have been fighting outside for a long time and their morale is low. The front line is too long and it is difficult to supply. In addition, the newly occupied land is prone to chaos and rebellion may occur at any time (the consequences will be chaotic). All three Wei Chu were ready to move, and their flanks were quite unsafe (which was also the reason for the later Qin Dynasty). Therefore, Qin accepted the request. Zhao later had differences on land division, so I won't say the details. In the end, Wang Zhao decided not to fulfill the peace treaty and actively prepared for war. All this eventually led to the outbreak of the Qin-Zhao-Handan War. Qin was furious and attacked Zhao with all his strength. Among them, I think there are three reasons why Leitian didn't go to war: First, Qin won the battle of Changping, and I appreciate the tenacious fighting will of the people of Zhao. This is different from the tenacity of the pool. Qin Bing's tenacity is that he can win titles and land by inducements, while Zhao Bing's tenacity stems from his innate national temperament and martial tradition. Second, the soldiers of Qin suffered heavy casualties, especially the elite troops (light soldiers, cavalry, chariots and crossbowmen) who mastered the skilled combat technology. At this time, most of the main forces of Qin were just the lower class people with limited combat effectiveness. It is even more dangerous for the safety of the flank. If Qin attacks Zhao, it may be surrounded by Wei-Chu allied forces at any time. Third, I am quite dissatisfied with the obedience of the king of Qin to Fan Xiang. However, the confident King of Qin believed that Qin Jun was invincible, even though he ordered 600,000 troops to attack Zhaohandan. Zhao's preparation for Qin Jun's attack can be said to be the acme. Because of the loss of Zhao's elite troops, Zhao was unable to carry out field operations and turned to guarding the city, and hoarded a lot of food and equipment for this purpose. At the same time, diplomacy is also actively carried out. Out of guilt for Changping's defeat, Zhao Zhi and Ping Yuanjun also actively lobbied Wei Chu to organize the defense of Handan. The war has begun. Schematic diagram of Handan campaign

..... In the forty-eighth year of Zhao Xiang, king of Qin (259 BC), in January, there were about 500,000 Qin Jubing, who were divided into three ways. Sima Geng led an army to attack Zhao Taiyuan on the left wing and took it, so that the main force of North Zhao could not go south; On the right, about 100,000 troops were sent to Nanyang to reject the Wei-Chu Coalition; The middle route army, about 300 thousand people, went straight to Handan and Zhao. In July and August, the only strategic barrier that Zhao An and Pillau could rely on was breached by Qin. In October, soldiers surrounded Handan, which was the seventh year of Zhao's reign. Regarding the attack on Zhao from January to August in the forty-eighth year of Qin Dynasty, Zhao adopted the following strategies: strengthening the wall and clearing the wild, giving up fields and satellite cities, and concentrating the defenders and grain from all over the country to fully defend the capital Handan. At this time, Zhao's elite soldiers had been killed in the battle of Changping, and there were about 300 thousand to 400 thousand foot soldiers in Handan. Among them, most of the soldiers are old people around 40 years old (40 years old in ancient times) or weak children between 13 and 18 years old. The young and strong foot soldiers do not exceed 1 00000, including Wang Zhao's guard infantry and a small number of cavalry, about10000 to 20000. These constitute the main force of Zhao's surprise attack on Qin Jun day and night. Garrison commanders Lian Po, Gong Wei and Ping Yuanjun Zhao Sheng were the actual supreme commanders of the Battle of Handan. At the same time, due to the battle of Changping, the people of Handan, Zhao, lost their children, husbands and fathers, so they United as enemies and swore to defend Zhao. Qin Jun takes the tomb of five generals as the general, with an army of about 300,000. Based in Wu 'an, it surrounds Handan and Qin Jun and has a large number of siege equipment. At the gate of Handan, the tomb of the Fifth Doctor of Qin looked at the fertile land around Handan, which was completely destroyed by Zhao people. The tomb thought: in the 29th year, the King of Qin took the capital of Chu Ying, and in the 32nd year, he took the girder. The main force of Zhao was killed last year. At this time, Zhao Handan's defenders were just old, weak and sick, and they could capture them in just a few months. But when he saw the magnificent and generous wall of Handan and the soldiers of Zhao standing on the wall, he found that Zhao's face clearly showed an expression of never giving in and never taking revenge. I feel uneasy in my heart This year is forty-nine years for King Qin Zhao and seven years for Zhao Haoqi Cheng Xiao. In the autumn and October of the forty-ninth year of Qin Dynasty (258 BC), Wu Dufu's tomb led an army to attack Handan City, and Qin crossbowmen shot hundreds of thousands of arrows at Handan City to cover the infantry's siege. The infantry was divided into two teams. One team carried a ladder on its shoulder, forcing them to climb the wall of Handan. The other team pushed two thumbs up and attacked the capital gate of Zhao District. The three armies attacked the capital of Zhao day and night. But a month later, Qin Jun killed five field officers alone, with nearly 20,000 casualties. Instead of stopping to rest, he turned to launch a small-scale attack to capture Zhao Zhi. On the contrary, Zhao repeatedly attacked elite infantry and even a small number of cavalry constantly raided Qin's barracks around Handan, causing heavy casualties to Qin. On the contrary, Qin Jun guards day and night, and the soldiers are slack. The situation on the front line in Handan soon reached Qin, who was very angry. This Wu Anjun is too ill to go. On the one hand, he ordered the tomb to gather troops to capture Handan as soon as possible, and on the other hand, he organized reinforcements. In the 48th year of Qin Dynasty, in the cold wind in December, those who received the letter launched the second large-scale siege war against Handan, the capital of Zhao, but they suffered heavy casualties under Zhao's bows and crossbows, and the foot soldiers were in an unfavorable situation. Zhao sent troops to attack it, and Qin was dozens of miles away. There are about 5000 casualties in this battle. In Handan, Zhao Zhi, the wounded are all over the city, but the morale of the soldiers is still high. In the cold winter, Zhao Sheng, a plain army, accumulated food and clothes in the house and scattered Zhao Min, saving his family. General Lian Po and Jia Shangcheng personally directed the bidding, and Ping Yuanjun Zhao Sheng also went. Zhao Wei, Lian Po ordered the weak to build the city, while the strong took turns to stop the city every battle, and ordered the good shooters to gather and shoot Qin. During this period, some elites often went out of the city, and many of them didn't come back (died in battle), but Qin also suffered heavy casualties. In the first month of the forty-ninth year of Qin Dynasty, 100,000 reinforcements came to Handan with a large number of soldiers to prepare food and grass and the final order of the king of Qin. The five doctors' tombs adjusted their forces to launch the third attack on Handan, which was also the largest since the attack on Zhao. In the first month of the forty-ninth year of Qin Dynasty, General Wang Bi came to Handan with a hundred thousand soldiers and a large number of soldiers to prepare food and grass. Wudu Fuling adjusted its forces and prepared to attack Handan for the third time, which was also the largest attack since the attack on Zhao. It is believed that the tomb has already known the discontent of the king of Qin and the omen of replacing it with Wang Bi, so it is certain that Wang Lingjun's third attack is quite fierce. The war broke out in the first month, which was still the winter in the north. At this time, Handan has been besieged for nearly four months, and the loss of troops and food supply in the city has become a crisis, and people's hearts are more fragile in winter. But under the guidance of Lian Po and Yue Cheng, Zhao's morale is still high. At the same time, Qin Jun's morale began to rise after being reinforced. After more than a month of fighting, Zhao resisted the attack to the death and won. Qin Jun suffered heavy casualties, and his foot soldiers complained bitterly. The king of Qin was not good at bullying, so he was spared, and Wang Bi took the place of general. Later, Wang Bi led the army to attack Handan for nearly five months, but it was still not captured. In October, after the king of Qin killed Bai Qi, he ordered Zheng Anping to lead 50,000 troops to support Wang Bi. At this time, when the situation in Handan City was the most critical, the food and grass had already been cut off, and everyone "cooked with bones" and "ate with light food". According to Records of the Historian Biography of Yu Qing in Ping Yuanjun, "Chu made Chun send troops to save Zhao, and Wei Xinling also seized the army to save Zhao, but none of them arrived. Qin Jun besieged Handan, which fell, and Ping Yuanjun suffered greatly. Eunuch Li Tong said to him, "Aren't you worried about Zhao's death?" He said, "If Zhao doesn't die, he will win. Why not worry? Thomas lee said, "People in Handan are eager to cook their bones, so they are delicious. However, there are hundreds of concubines in your harem, and there is surplus food in your meat, but the people have no shortage of brown clothes and waste food. People are tired, or use wood as a spear, while the monarch artifact is self-sufficient. How can you get this if you make Qin break Zhao? Zhao Dequan, why don't you suffer anything? Now, being a soldier can make your wife make up among the soldiers and share the work. In this way, all the families can be dispersed to the scholars, and it will be easier for them when the scholars are in danger. "So Ping Yuanjun from it, dare to die three thousand people. Li Tongsui took 3,000 people to Qin Jun, but Qin Jun walked three miles. It will also be saved by Chu and Wei, and it will be stopped and recovered in Handan. Li Tong died in the battlefield and named his father Hou Li. " Ping Yuanjun accepted the advice of thomas lee, the son of an official, in the hotel. He used all his money to recruit warriors and recruited 3 thousand warriors who dared to die. Under the guidance of Li Tong, these 3,000 people fought their way out of Handan and went straight to Qin Jun, because these 3,000 people suddenly retreated three miles, which bought time for Zhao in do or die, and even more time for the arrival of the new army. Zhao is still indomitable. At the same time, the diplomatic war between Ping Yuanjun and Zhao Sheng began to work. At the beginning of December, at last, 100,000 troops of Wei Jun Eighth Wan Chu Army had reached the periphery of Handan, and the State of Qin also increased its troops to Fencheng (the land of Hedong) for support, and the war between the two sides was imminent. In December of the same year, Xin commanded the Wei-Chu allied forces and launched a powerful offensive against Qin Jun. Wei Jun attacked the west, Chu Jun attacked the east, and Zhao Jun was attacked on three sides, and the whole line collapsed. Wang Bi led Qin Jun's main force to retreat to the west for hundreds of miles, only taking a short break when entering Fencheng. About 20 thousand people in Zheng Anping's department in the south of Handan were besieged by Zhao. Zheng Anping's department was far away from the main force, and there was no hope of breaking through, so he had to surrender to Zhao. When the allied forces of the Three Kingdoms attacked Fencheng, Qin Jun was defeated and forced to retreat to Hexi for confrontation. The allied forces seized the opportunity to recover the land 600 miles east of the river, which was very shocking. After losing the battle of Changping, Zhao lost nearly 400 thousand troops. Since then, the combat troops can be divided into these parts: the county garrison is the representative to defend against Xiongnu and Yan, the standing army of about 50,000 people in wartime can be expanded to100,000 people, and Jinyang garrison (the old capital of Zhao) is the right wing of Zhao, the springboard to attack Qin flank and the gateway to North Zhao, and the standing army of about 70,000 people. Zhongmou (including Tunliu) garrison left-wing resistance outpost and Wei fortress, standing army of 30 thousand people. Zhao's defense center in Handan was divided into Wu 'an garrison and Wucheng garrison because of repeated wars in Handan. Generally speaking, the standing army in Handan is about100000. Because of its strategic position, Handan has become one of the cities with the most frequent wars and the most complete military defense. The battle of Handan, Zhao was in danger, but under the command of excellent generals of Zhao, with the tenacious resistance of Zhao soldiers and the support of Zhao people, it was all resolved one by one. It can be seen that Zhao's unique temperament, different from the six countries, is more solemn and stirring, strong and unyielding, and United. As for the battle of Handan, I think it is as tragic as the battle of Stalingrad and the battle of Berlin. Qin directly and indirectly used about 650,000 troops against Zhao, including 450,000 troops against Handan. More is the strength comparison between the two sides. As mentioned earlier, after the battle of Changping, Zhao's strength and national strength were greatly reduced, and there were only 100,000 combat troops in Handan. Surprisingly, Qin Jun can keep its capital intact under constant siege and attacks. The battle of Handan was not so much a victory for Zhao as a victory for Zhao Min. Under Zhao's democratic rule, the people of Handan paid a heavy price for defending Handan. "Hundreds of thousands of Zhao died, but Handan was only spared by the city" is so tragic. Imagine that before the war, troops and grain from all over Zhao gathered in Handan, and the people of Zhao joined forces to build the city day and night and sharpen their knives. What a spectacular sight. This shows how important it is for a country, a nation and an army to have a generous and sad temperament, a martial tradition and an atmosphere of unity and forge ahead.

Li Mu's Resistance to Hungary