(PS: This chapter tells about the battle of the water, and the uncles who don't like or understand it can skip it directly.) ）

In the battle of Weishui, why was Fu Jian so anxious, not waiting for the requisitioned army to gather in one place, and then set off in unison, launched a thunderous blow against the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and won the battle?

It's not that Fu Jian doesn't want to do this, but he can't do it at all.

Under the technical conditions of ancient times, what is the concept of concentrating a million armies in one place?!

If you walk on a large road, even if the road is very wide enough to accommodate 20 people walking side by side, and the queue is densely packed, the whole team will have to drag out more than 50 kilometers.

It's a terrible state that can't be controlled.

Moreover, a million armies marched together, and it was impossible to supply supplies.

The only way is to divide the troops, and the tactic envisioned by Fu Jian is to divide the million-strong army into several echelons, the first echelon falls, and the second echelon follows, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty army can be piled to death with the tactics of a sea of people.

Fu Jian once said: "With my brigade, throw the whip to cut off its flow in the river." "It turned out that before the second echelon had a chance to get on, the war was completely over.

…………

Compared with the hidden dangers of the former Qin, the Eastern Jin Dynasty before the Battle of Weishui was a different situation.

When the news that Fu Jian was about to go south in a big way reached Jiankang, the Eastern Jin Dynasty court was shocked.

At that time, the main military forces of the Eastern Jin Dynasty were divided into two parts, one was the Huan Chong army stationed in Jingzhou, and the other was the Beifu army stationed in Huainan, which was led by Xie Shi and Xie Xuan.

Judging by the direction of Fu Jian's offensive, the Beifu Army will shoulder the main combat mission.

Xie Xuan was very anxious, and asked Xie An, the number one person in the Eastern Jin Dynasty at that time, for orders, Xie An was just a Sven prime minister, where did he have any good ideas, he could only say vaguely: "The imperial court has made other arrangements." ”

In fact, there was no arrangement at all, and Xie Xuan could only rely on himself.

Huan Chong of Jingzhou was also very anxious, and sent 3,000 elite soldiers to protect Jiankang, but Xie An said to the soldiers sent: "This has been arranged, you better go back and strengthen the defense in the west!" ”

After hearing this, Huan Chong sighed privately and said, "We're finished!" ”

Seeing that they were going to be prisoners collectively, the court officials were impatient, and they all went to Xie An to get ideas. Xie An couldn't face these people, so he simply walked away, ran out to play in the mountains and rivers, and did not show up in Jiankang during the day.

Some people boasted about Xie An, saying that he "has been lying in Dongshan for 40 years, and he defeated Fu Jian in one class", and he defeated Fu Jian by playing the piano. In fact, this is completely the rhetoric of the literati, and it is very far from the truth.

Xie An may have resigned himself to fate in his heart, but fortunately, even if he became a prisoner, he would not risk his life, Fu Jian's preferential treatment of prisoners is a tradition, and he has already released the wind before the expedition, saying that after the destruction of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he will give Xie An a servant to do it.

In Chang'an City, Fu Jian also built a house for Xie An in advance.

Xie An could only pretend to be deep and couldn't provide much help, so Xie Shi and Xie Xuan could only gather all the available forces at their disposal and go to a decisive battle with Fu Jian's army.

In October, 250,000 of Fu Rong's vanguard troops crossed the Huai River, captured the city of Shouyang, and besieged a Jin army at Kipshi. Fu Rong planned to completely annihilate the besieged Jin army, so he sent a 50,000-strong army to be stationed in Luojian in the east to stop the Eastern Jin reinforcements.

At that time, Fu Jian's main army was still being drawn one after another, and Fu Jian himself took part of the army to Xiangcheng.

The besieged Jin army wrote a letter to Xie Xuan asking for help, not wanting the letter to be intercepted by Fu Rong, who happily thought that the end of the Jin army had come, and immediately sent the news to Fu Jian to announce the victory.

Fu Jian heard Longyan Dayue, and immediately led 8,000 cavalry to Shouyang to join Fu Rong, and the remaining main force was still marching slowly on the road.

Xie Xuan and other 70,000 people of the main force of the Beifu Army entered Luojian with the intention of rescuing the trapped Jin army.

However, the 50,000 Qin army was separated between them, and the Beifu army had no choice but to attack. Liu Gaozhi, a general under Xie Xuan, led 5,000 elite soldiers to attack the Qin army at night, but the Qin army was unprepared and collapsed.

Just like all battlefields collapse, the soldiers could not judge the number of enemy troops, let alone organize effective resistance, but simply fled, and the panicked soldiers rushed to Huaishui.

The former Qin generals were unable to prevent this collapse and were either killed or captured, with the result that 15,000 Qin troops were killed and their ordnance, grain and grass fell into the hands of the Jin army. The complete disintegration of an army of 50,000 men in a sudden attack by 5,000 enemy troops seemed like a rehearsal for an even greater collapse in the future.

This defeat surprised Fu Jian, and for the first time since he set out on the expedition, he felt a sense of fear.

After the victory of Luojian, the main force of the Jin army continued to advance and joined the besieged Jin army. So far, the Jin army's 80,000 land and water troops have completed the assembly and settled in the east of the river.

At this moment, a figure who decided the key turning point in the Battle of Weishui appeared, he was Zhu Xu, the assassin of Yongzhou in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, who had been captured by Fu Jian. After Zhu Xu was captured, Fu Jian gave preferential treatment according to tradition.

Zhu Xu was appointed as an envoy by Fu Jian this time to persuade him to surrender, but unfortunately Zhu Xu not only did not persuade him to surrender, but said to Xie Shi: "Although the Qin army has millions of people, it is still marching, and if the troops are concentrated, the Jin army will be difficult to resist." Now the situation is different, we should take advantage of the fact that the Qin army has not all arrived, and quickly launch an attack, as long as we can defeat its forward troops and frustrate its spirit, we can break through Qin's million-strong army. ”

Xie Shi originally planned to stick to it and consume Fu Jian, but under Zhu Xu's persuasion, he decided to take the initiative.

The city was chosen as the place for the decisive battle between the two armies.

Fu Jian's army gathered on the west bank of the river and fought against the Jin army across the river. At that time, Fu Jian's army had a total of 250,000 soldiers, and Fu Jian brought another 8,000 cavalry from Xiangcheng.

However, Fu Rong sent another 30,000 troops to Jingzhou, in addition to losing some soldiers and horses in Luojian, and leaving some troops to garrison Shouchun, so the former Qin army on the bank of the river was really only 150,000.

The elite of the Qin army was the pawn of the Di people, concentrated in the Chinese army commanded by Fu Rong. In addition, there were many Han Chinese, Xianbei people, Qiang people and Wuhuan people in the army, who had little loyalty to the former Qin established by the Di people, and came in fear of power.

Ethnic diversity adds to the complexity of the organization and makes it more difficult to command. Language alone is a problem, and the languages of each ethnic group are different, and Fu Rong's orders must be translated into different languages before they can be issued.

The 150,000 people came from a variety of races, and they had no formal training, and now they were crowded together on the west bank of the river, and even if the gods were their commanders, it would be difficult for them to be able to dispatch them freely.

The two sides waited for a moment along the river, but did not make any moves.

At that time, Fu Jian and Fu Rong climbed the Shouyang City Tower, and saw that the Jin army on the opposite side was neatly arrayed, with elite soldiers, and looked north at the grass and trees on Bagong Mountain, all of which were humanoid.

Fu Jian said to Fu Rong: "This is also a strong enemy, what is less!" "Worry and fear.

This is the origin of the idiom "all plants and trees are soldiers", indicating that after the defeat of Luojian, Fu Jian has changed from underestimating the enemy to fearing the enemy, and has become less confident.

At this time, Fu Jian received a letter written by Xie Xuan, in which he said: "Jun hangs the army deeply, puts the formation and forces the water, this long-term plan, how can you want to fight?" If the small retreat from the division, let the soldiers maneuver, and the servants and the monarch slow down and look at it, isn't it also beautiful? ”

Xie Xuan's plan was to fight a decisive battle as soon as possible, and according to the plan, he would lead eight thousand elites to cross the river to fight. If the situation is smooth, the follow-up main forces will cross the river and launch a large-scale attack. If you lose, you can also have the main force to respond.

There was a great disagreement among the former Qin army about Xie Xuan's request, and most of them thought that there was a problem here, and they should sternly refuse to retreat, but Fu Jian and Fu Rong thought: "When the Jin army crosses the river halfway, let the cavalry charge them, how can there be no reason for not winning a complete victory?" ”

Therefore, Fu Jian ordered the army to retreat.

Fu Jian's idea did not seem to be wrong, the Qin army waited for work at ease, and used cavalry to deal with the Jin army crossing the river, which had a great advantage in tactics.

But Fu Jian overlooked one point, did he have the ability to let his army order and then retreat? Fu Jian only considered the enemy on the other side, but did not realize that the 150,000 people around him could be a more dangerous enemy.

The order to retreat was given, and a great chaos broke out.

We might as well imagine how an ordinary Qin soldier would feel during this retreat.

He was between 150,000 people, and as far as the eye could see, there was a dense sea of people on all sides. He has always lived in the north, and he never dreamed that he would come to this place called Huangshui.

He knew that a bloody battle was about to break out, and he would probably die in this strange place. He wasn't sure how powerful the Jin army on the other side was.

But in the battle of Luojian that happened not long ago, I heard that many people died on my side.

Thinking about this certainly made him highly nervous, and the fact that the surrounding population density was so high not only did not relieve his pressure, but only made him more nervous.

Fear can be transmitted and reinforced.

Some officers may not understand what they say, and even if the captain speaks the same language as him, he can understand it, but it is difficult for him to understand. The officer said, "You should retreat five hundred meters so that the Jin army can cross the river, and then turn back to fight the Jin army and drive them into the river." ”

This statement was too complicated for him, and besides, the officer may not really tell him that much detail, all he knew was that the commander told him to retreat, and he didn't know why he retreated.

Okay, let's turn around and walk.

They knew that the Jin army was behind them and could charge at them at any time, and this thought naturally made them feel dangerous. As you can imagine, some of them can easily pick up the pace.

The more you think that there are many Jin troops behind you, the faster you may go.

He still has a wife and children, but he doesn't dare to die casually. As soon as they walked fast, the people around them involuntarily followed suit. And seeing the people around them walking faster and faster, everyone naturally became more and more frightened in their hearts.

It's a bad positive feedback, and if it's allowed to develop, it's going to end up running as a group. It stands to reason that there should be an external force to interrupt this positive feedback, and this external force is the commander of the army.

However, in the face of such a complicated establishment and such a large number of personnel, it was difficult for the generals in the army to deal with it, and there were no decent communication measures at that time, except for the military flag and trumpet, which were shouted by people's voices.

It is difficult for junior officers and senior generals to get in touch, and with the language barrier, it is even more difficult.

It is very likely that the grassroots officers also do not understand the development of the situation, did the Jin army come over? Has your side been defeated? Is it a retreat or a retreat now?

He himself may well have been caught up in this torrent and is running hard.

By the time the chaos had spread, even the officers could not do anything. The power of fear is endless, watching 150,000 people go from marching to walking, and from walking to racing.

At this juncture, Xie Xuan's troops had already begun to cross the river.

Fu Rong saw that the situation was out of control, and he wanted to restore order. It's a pity that Fu Rong ran too eagerly and was hit by the chaotic army, as a result, the war horse fell headlong, and Fu Rong, who lost his mount, was killed by the Jin army.

The Jin army crossed the river without any resistance, and what appeared in front of them was a gratifying sight of the Qin army running around and trampling on each other.

Where would Xie Xuan hesitate, and immediately ordered the pursuit.

The Qin army ran all the way to Qinggang in one breath, their attitude of running away was very resolute, there was no force to stop them, all those who wrestled were trampled to death, and those who were trampled to death covered the wild Saichuan.

These routs were reluctant to rest until night, and worked hard to move forward day and night. When they heard the rumors, they all thought that they were the pursuers of the Jin Dynasty, and the fear had penetrated deep into their bones.

At this point, the 150,000 army of the former Qin collapsed.

Fu Jian was also shot by a stray arrow, and the chaos was extremely chaotic, no one cared about the life or death of the emperor, and Fu Jian rode to Huaibei alone.

The Jin army obtained 10,000 brocade horses, 100,000 cattle, sheep, donkeys and mules.

Fu Jian's army collapsed without fighting, and the direct cause was that the army retreated for a short time, an ending that modern commanders would find inconceivable.

But in the conditions of the time, this was the case.

When the sun rises in the east, there are still 150,000 former Qin soldiers on display on the west bank of the river. When the sun set, there were no former Qin warriors on the shore of the river. Illuminated by the setting sun, there are only trampled corpses beyond recognition.

The national fortunes of the former Qin Empire sank with the setting sun.

The soldiers who had not yet reached the river dispersed in a hurry when they heard the news of the rout. The 800,000-strong army that Fu Jian had painstakingly recruited was disintegrated without any use.

Fu Jian's conquest stirred up the entire empire, but it did not gain anything, and many of the routs joined the rebellion against him.

The beast that had been swallowed by the snake had not been digested, and now it tore through the snake's belly and stood up in a pool of blood. The Xianbei rebels established the Later Yan Empire, and the Qiang rebels established the Later Qin Empire.

Fu Jian, who had never been suspicious of others, was betrayed by someone he had trusted, so he had to abandon Guanzhong and flee to Gansu.

Soon, Fu Jian was strangled to death by Yao Chang, the leader of the Later Qin, and just twenty years ago, Yao Chang was about to be beheaded, and Fu Jian, who was still the king of the East China Sea at the time, saved Yao Chang from the execution ground.

It's like a trick of fate.

At that time, it was only two years before Fu Jian's ambitious expedition to the Eastern Jin Dynasty and his dream of unifying the world.

When Fu Jian was dying, I wonder if the farce on the shore of the river flashed in his mind? In his most glorious moments, he suddenly lost the favor of fate.

It's all like a dream.