Conquest of Chu
The conquest of Chu was a military campaign in 225-223 BC. BC, which resulted in the conquest of the Chu state by the Qin Empire .
| date | 225-223 BC Chr. |
|---|---|
| place | Chu , today's China |
| output | Decisive victory of Qin |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 200,000 (225 BC) 600,000 (224/223 BC) | unknown (225 BC) less than 600,000 (224/223 BC) |
| losses | |
|
7+ senior officers, |
unknown |
prehistory
The decline of the Zhou royal family from 770 BC. BC brought about a collapse of central power in ancient China . This encouraged the rise of new principalities, of which there were at least 16 at times. Due to wars, only 7 strong states remained in the 3rd century: Qin , Chu , Han , Wei , Zhao , Qi and Yan . From then on they fought for supremacy in China. 247 BC 13-year-old Zheng came to the throne of the Qin King. At 22 he gained full government power and began a long war through which he wanted to unite the country. 230 BC As the weakest state, Han first fell victim to the Qin army. 228 BC The capital was captured by Zhao and the king captured. A prince could flee and continue to resist, but he too was defeated in 222 BC. Caught in BC. An assassination attempt on the Qin King, initiated by the Crown Prince of Yan, was taken by the Qin King as a welcome occasion for the attack on Yan. Yan's capital fell in 227 BC. BC 225 BC BC attacked Qin Wei. After a three month siege of the capital, the king of Wei gave up. From 225 BC It was the turn of the Chu in the south. In advance of the campaign, there appeared to be disagreements within the Qin General Staff regarding planning. After the king endorsed Li Xin's strategy , the aging general Wang Jian resigned. Li Xin now started to prepare the campaign.
First campaign (225 BC)
225 BC Li Xin and Meng Tian invaded Chu at the head of an army of 200,000 men. After the first military successes, they divided the army. Li Xin captured the cities of Pingyu, Yan, and Ying, while Meng Tian captured a city called Qin and routed Chu forces. After these victories they believed the enemy had been defeated and Li Xin and his troops advanced deep into the enemy territory, as far as Chengfu, to unite with Meng Tian's army. On the way there, however, he was attacked by the general of the Chu, Xiang Yan , who had led his men on in a surprising three-day forced march, and suffered a severe defeat. Seven senior Qin commanders were killed, and Li Xin struggled to escape. His army disintegrated and disintegrated. The first campaign had failed and the Qin around their ruler Qin Shihuangdi had suffered their greatest defeat so far during the war of unification.
Second campaign (224/223 BC)
After Li Xin's strategy failed, old General Wang Jian was brought back and placed in command of a force of 600,000 men. Wang Jian advanced with this army in 224 BC. In Chu. As soon as he got into enemy territory, he had a large fortification built in which the Qin Army holed up. In the days that followed, the Chu repeatedly challenged Wang Jian to fight, but he refused and ordered his men not to leave the camp. It was only when the enemy moved eastward that the Qin pursued, attacked the unprepared enemy south of the Qi River and inflicted a crushing defeat on him. Xiang Yan was killed and his army fled haphazardly. This was the decisive victory. Now Wang Jian was able to consolidate the power of the Qin in the region in the following months and shortly afterwards capture the king of the Chu. The campaign ended in 223 BC. Completed.
consequences
Chu was completely annexed and later merged with the First Chinese Empire . After defeating this rival, the Qin army moved north again to face the last enemies, the states of Yan and Qi.
literature
- Burton Watson (translator): Qian, Sima: Records of the Grand Historian, New York 1961.
- Liao, Yan: Famous People of China , Wisconsin / Shanghai / Guangzhou, 2014.
- Qian, Sima: The First Emperor: Selections from the Historical Records , New York 2007.