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Revision as of 11:00, 27 November 2005 by 81.105.181.61 (talk) (More fatcs, and hope it is not a stub now)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Battle of Changping (长平之战) in 260 BC was a decisive victory of the state of Qin of China over Zhao during the Warring States Period.
The Qin invaded the Han in 265 BC, with the intention of taking the Han province of Shangdang (somewhere in modern-day Shansi province) by cutting off all of its communications to the Han mainland. The Qin army ripped through Han territory - the main roads and fortresses across the Taiheng mountains were all captured by the Qin in four years. Shangdang was totally cut off from the rest of the Han, and was poised to fall.
The Han, in desperation, decided to give Shangdang to the neighbouring Zhao kingdom. Against the advice of his advisers, who believed that this would bring disaster upon the Zhao, King Xiaoxing accepted the lands. He then sent Nian Po to deal with the threat posed by the Qin. The two armies, each numbering more than a million, met at Changping in 262 BC. On one side was the Qin army, led by Wang Qiao, on the other was the Zhao army led by Nian Po.
Nian Po, after looking over the Qin formations, and after several minor defeats, decided that the only way to stop their attack was to wait it out. He built several fortresses in the summer of 260 BC and camped, waiting for the opposing army to go away. Despite this, the Qin army did manage to breach the Zhao walls once. Even so, they did not have the strength or equipment to defeat the Zhao army, and the battle soon turned into a stalemate, lasting for more than three years.
The Qin had no intention of leaving. They sent spies to the state of Zhao and Han, ordering them to spread the word that Nian Po was cowardly and was too old to fight battles. The king, upon hearing this, immediately decided to remove Nian Po and replace him with Zhao Kuo, the son of another famous Zhao general, Zhao She. At the same time, the Qin replaced Wang Qiao with the renowned general, Bai Qi.
Legend has it that on his deathbed, Zhao She told his wife never to let Zhao Kuo command an army. So Zhao She's wife, after hearing of Zhao Kuo's appointment as general, went up to the King of Zhao along with the minister, Lin Xiangru, and tried to persuade him not to appoint Zhao Kuo as general. The King refused.
When Zhao Kuo assumed command in July 260 BC, he ordered the army to launch an invasion of the Qin camp. The Qin staged a feigned retreat, at the same time preparing twenty-five thousand men to block the Zhao army's retreat. When Zhao Kuo ordered an attack on the opposing Qin fortress, 5,000 extra Qin troops captured the Zhao fortress. With no hope of attacking or retreating, the Zhao forces built another encampment on a hill, preparing to wait it out.
When King Zhao of the Qin heard the news, he hurried to Henei (near Shaanxi province) and ordered all men over the age of 15 to provide whatever assistance they could to blockade the Zhao food supply and reinforcements. With the states of Qi and Yan cming to assist the Zhao, no time was wasted. After all this had been done, the Zhao encampment on the hill was besieged for 46 days. On September, driven mad by hunger and thirst, the Zhao forces made two desperate change down the hill, with Zhao Kuo leading. He was shot down by Qin archers.
The troops of Zhao were routed. Legend says that Bai Qi only let two hundred and forty younger soldiers go free. The rest, more than four hundred thousand Zhao prisoners of war,were buried alive but such a number has been disputed. In total, the Zhao lost more than four hundred and fifteen thousand soldiers, and the Qin lost five hundred thousand, almost half their army strength. The four years of battle left both countries exhausted financially and domestically, but unlike the Zhao, the Qin recovered quickly.
With this victory, Qin had established military superiority over other states. More campaigns and battles ensued, especially in the conquest of the state of Chu. Nevertheless no matter how bloody these military operations would be, Qin's final victory was guaranteed.
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