Chu and Han War

Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were allies in the rebellion against the Qin Empire , rallied around the kingdom of Chu . At the end of 207 BC e. Liu Bang occupied the capital of the Qin Empire and captured the last Emperor Ziing . Xiang Yu had a significantly superior army, and Liu Bang considered it prudent to leave the capital to his troops. Xiang Yu burned and plundered the capital and established a new empire, granting eighteen generals the titles of specific princes (wans), and himself - the title of hegemon of the Western Chu, formally the empire remained under the rule of the Chuiski Huai-wan II , who received the title of Just Emperor (Yi Di ), but was soon eliminated and then killed. Liu Bang received the title of Han Wang and the Ba and Shu areas (South Shaanxi and Sichuan ).

Dissatisfied with the distribution of destinies, the generals unleashed a multilateral internecine war. The war was especially acute in the kingdom of Qi , which was divided into three parts, and where Xiang Yu went. While Xiang Yu moved east, Liu Bang occupied the original territory of Qin , which was divided into three allotments to the former Qin generals, and began to move east to Luoyang , occupying the territory. Upon learning of the assassination of Emperor Yi , Liu Bang called on the sovereign princes to punish the regicide, declared Xiang Yu’s authority illegitimate, and with coalition forces occupied the fragile capital of Pengcheng , which was left unprotected.

Xiang Yu reacted by gathering a small but powerful detachment, and took by surprise the enemy troops feasting in the capital. Liu Bang and the coalition were defeated. Liu Ban managed to escape with difficulty, and he began to gather a new army. Later, several times, Liu Bang , reassembling the army, suffered heavy defeats, but each time he was saved, and reassembled the army, taking advantage of the fact that Xiang Yu was forced to fight on two fronts.

At this time, Han General Han Xin waged a successful war on the northern front, gradually moving east and gaining major victories, occupying the kingdoms of Han (2), Wei, Zhao , and ultimately the kingdom of Qi . Once, Liu Bang, fleeing the defeat of his army, came to the headquarters of Han Xin, and took command of his troops, but fought again unsuccessfully.

After the victories of Han, Xin Xiang Yu was greatly weakened, and made peace, dividing China into two parts with Liu Bang , however, Liu Bang immediately violated the agreement, but was defeated again. Nevertheless, he managed to summon the generals Han Xin and Peng Yue to help and hit the Chu army from three sides. Xiang Yu was in a hopeless situation, tried to escape and committed suicide. Liu Bang united China, declared himself emperor and created a new Han empire.

Almost immediately after the death of Emperor Qin Shihuang in 209 BC. e. a rebellion broke out in the territory of the former kingdom of Chu , led by Chen She , who declared himself a van . The kingdom of Chu united the efforts of the sovereign princes in the fight against Qin . When Chen She was defeated and killed, General Xiang Liang elevated the impoverished heir to the house of Chu to the throne of Chu wae, giving him the title of Huai-wan , but soon died. Huai-wang took over the military leadership, and appointed Song Yi and Liu Bang as the commanders of the two armies, and Xiang Liang's nephew Xiang Yu (項羽) became a junior commander under Song Yi . Xiang Yu was able to kill Song Yi and take command of the army. Huai-wang set the armies to overthrow the Qin Dynasty and occupy Guanzhong , a rich fertile region around the Qin capital of Xianyang , while the armies moved in different ways. The first to occupy Guanzhong was to receive the title of Guanzhong- van.

It so happened that Liu Bang , who was on a shorter road, came to the capital first and accepted the surrender of the last Qing emperor Ziying , the Qin dynasty was thus eliminated. At the same time, Xiang Yu went to the capital with a half-million army, which was about five times the army of Liu Bang . Fearing reprisal, Liu Bang appeared in the Xiang Yu camp (see in detail the Hongmen festival ) and ceded the capital to him in January 206 BC. e. Xiang Yu destroyed and plundered the whole city, executing the last Qin emperor and cutting out his entire family. ^[one]

Having established himself in power, in June 206 BC. e. Xiang Yu appropriated the title of Wang-Hegemon of Western Chu, and Huai-Wang appropriated the title of "Fair Emperor" ( Yi-di ), but he soon killed him and began to rule himself. He appointed the van several tens of military leaders and aristocrats for his merits in the war against Qin, forming 18 specific kingdoms (十八 国). The specific princes ceased hostilities, and each went to his domain. ^[2]

Liu Bang was to receive the Guanzhong region, and on the advice of Fan Zeng, Xiang Yu divided this region into four parts. The three kingdoms ( Yong ( Chinese 雍 , the central part of Shaanxi province), Sai ( Chinese 塞 , the northeastern part of Shaanxi province) and Di ( Chinese. 翟 , the northern part of Shaanxi province) received former Qin generals closer to the capital (“three Qin ”), and the distant part of Han (4) (Ba and Shu) ( Chinese 漢 modern Chongqing / Sichuan and the southern part of Shaanxi province) received Liu Bang . Liu Ban was granted the title Han-Wang, and his kingdom became known as Han. The reckoning of the Han dynasty is customary to start from 205 BC - the first full year when Liu Bang ruled the kingdom of the Han. ^[2]

Newfound Van, dissatisfied with the appointments, started a civil war, which later grew into a confrontation between Gao-tzu and Xiang Yu.

The division of territories happened so that many Van got land remote from their lands, some did not get territory at all, some kingdoms were divided into several parts. ^[2]

Particular dissatisfaction was expressed by the ruler Qi Tian Rong , whose territory was divided between three van, he did not get any inheritance. He raised a rebellion and overthrew all three, taking all the "three Qi" and taking control of the kingdom in his hands. Subsequently, a furious struggle broke out around Qi against the intervention of Xiang Yu, and over the course of several years, the tsik throne was passed from hand to hand several times. ^[3]

The war against the three Qin 206-204 BC. e.

The future Han emperor Gao Zu ( Liu Bang ) went to his possessions in Sichuan , but in October 206 he adopted the plan that Han Xin proposed to him. He unexpectedly went back with the army and attacked Zhang Han , a former Qin general who received the title of Yun-wang. Zhang Han fled to Feiqiu (now Xingping , Prov. Shaanxi ), and Liu Bang took his domain and entered Xianyang . He then continued the offensive and surrounded Zhang Han . Later, by the end of 205, after an annual siege, Liu Bang was able to supply water and flood the city. The city surrendered, and Zhang Han committed suicide. ^[four]

Xiang Yu could not actively confront Liu Ban because he was at war in Qi. Upon learning of his campaigns in Guanzhong, he directed Zheng Chan (鄭昌) against Liu Bang to block his path, giving him the title of Han (2) -wang (韓 王 - here the “han” is written in another character and read in a different tone, different from the title of Lu-bang 漢王 (Han (4) -wang)). During this time, Liu Bang expanded his possessions, he surrendered to Sima Sin (the second of the former Qin military commanders), who wore the title of Sai-wan), Dong Yi (the third of the former Qin military commanders), who wore the title of Sai-wan), and then Shen Yang , bore the title of Henan- wan (his possession corresponded to the northern part of Henan province). His adviser Han Xin defeated the Han (2) Wang Zheng Chan (鄭昌) and received his possessions and the title of Han (2) Wang (韓 王). In the occupied lands, Liu Bang established the provinces and established a management system, taking care of the peasants, Qin generals were executed. At the beginning of 204 BC e. As a result, Liu Bang gained a foothold in the territory covering the modern Shaanxi province (originally Qin lands) and the adjacent parts of the Gansu and Henan provinces, as well as in its own estate, where modern Chongqing and Sichuan are . ^[5]

Further, Liu Bang began to advance to the northeast, and crossed the Yellow River in Linjing , connected with Wei- wan (魏王) Bao and captured Yin- wang (殷 王) in the Heni area (north of the modern Henan province) ( Sima Qiong司馬 邛), which owns the north of Henan and the south of Hebei

The appeal of Liu Bang to the sovereign princes 205 BC e.

Liu Bang moved south again in April 205, crossed the Yellow River and arrived in Luoyang . Here he learned from the elders about the death of the Chu emperor I-di . During the rebellion against Qin, sovereign princes united around Idi. Xiang Yu , declaring him emperor, sent him to the "upper reaches of the rivers" and gave the order to secretly kill him. Liu Bang considered this incident a sufficient excuse to call on the princes to carry out large-scale military operations against Xiang Yu, who went on a regicide against the will of Heaven. Liu Bang declared mourning and called on all the sovereign princes to mourn as well and speak out together against Xiang Yu, whose power ceased to be legitimate. ^[6]

At this time, Xiang Yu waged a victorious war in the kingdom of Qi , but could not distract himself and speak out against the Han forces. Five more princes supported Liu Ban , and the joint forces began to prepare for a march on Pengcheng (the capital of Chu, now Xuzhou ). ^[7]

Battle of Pengcheng 205 BC e.

Liu Ban managed to gather about 560 thousand coalition soldiers with sovereign princes, and as a result, the capital of Chu, the city of Pengcheng (now Xuzhou ) was occupied almost without a fight. The troops began to rob the city, took away women and embarked on feasts and festivities. ^[8]

Upon learning of the fall of his capital Pengcheng (Xuzhou) , Xiang Yu immediately assembled a detachment of 30 thousand selected warriors and launched an unexpected attack. He went around the city from the west early in the morning, attacked the army, then moved to the city, where he defeated the demoralized Han troops. The Han people, trying to escape, began to cross the Gushui and Syshui rivers , Xiang Yu persecuted them, and more than one hundred thousand Han soldiers died at the crossing alone. Another part of the army retreated south to the mountains, but the Chusians pressed them to the Suishui River, where also more than a hundred thousand died, trying to cross. ^[9]

Then, Sima Qian gives the story of the miraculous salvation of Liu Bang, who came out of the environment due to the rising hurricane, which swept the Chuyts ^[9] . However, this episode is present in chapter 7 (on the acts of Xiang Yu), but not in chapter 8 (in the biography of Liu Bang himself), on the basis of which the translator R.V. Vyatkin concludes that this episode is artificial, “proving” the will of Heaven in relation to to the founder of a new dynasty. ^[10] .

Having escaped, Liu Bang went to Pei to his family and tried to take out the family (father, wife and children), but, escaping from the chase, he broke away from the family and they were captured by Xiang Yu.

Liu Bang went to Xingyang (荥阳市), trying to gather the remnants of his army and form new garrisons. ^[11] Through great efforts, Liu Ban managed to reassemble the army, but he was no longer able to regain Chu territory. In addition, the union of the princes scattered after the defeat.

The battle in Jingso and the confrontation in Xingyang 205-204 BC. e.

Zhou Lui, brother of Lui-hou , wife of Liu Bang, stood in Xiai with a detachment of Han troops. Liu Bang fled to him from the persecution, and here he gathered troops. Reinforcements were sent to him from Guanzhong , after which Liu Bang was stationed south of Xingyang (in the translation of Sima Qian made by R.V. Vyatkin, the name of the city is transcribed as Yingyang), where the battle between the Ching and So points (京 索) took place. ^[11] Liu Ban was able to win and strengthen his position.

The confrontation in Xingyang lasted about a year, Liu Bang organized the supply of the garrison from warehouses in Mount Ao near Yellow River , and in parallel continued the war against the three Qin (see chapter above).

With the help of cunning, Liu Ban managed to remove Xiang Yu Fan Zeng from his advisers, who insisted on a quick assault on Xingyang. Xiang Yu managed to cut the roads to supply the Han. Then, when the defeat was inevitable, Liu Bang released two thousand women dressed in armor from the eastern gates of the city, and Ji Xin dressed as commander in chief, went out to meet the enemy, explaining the "surrender of the army." At this time, Liu Bang with a small detachment was able to escape through the western gate. ^[12]

Liu Bang headed south and began to gather army again.

Subsequently, for strategic reasons, it was decided to wage war on two fronts. The northern front was led by the talented General Han Xin , who alternately occupied one land after another, and ultimately occupied the kingdom of Qi . The southern front was led by Liu Bang .

Battle of Anyi (Northern Front)

In 204 BC e. (according to other estimates 205 BC) Wei Bao (van of the Wei kingdom) left Liu Bang's army on the pretext of visiting sick parents, however, having crossed the Yellow River , he destroyed the crossings of Wei Bao, but to no avail. Then he sent Han Xin's army to attack Wei .

Han Xin, instead of following the main road through Linjin, made fraudulent preparations for an attack on this road, but he himself moved through Anyi . In November, Wei Bao was about to attack Anyi, but was defeated and surrendered to Liu Ban. ^[13]

Then Zhang Er and Han Xin headed on and occupied the Dai kingdom .

The Battle of Jingxing (Northern Front)

Moving on, Han Xin and Zhang Er began to transfer the army through the Jingsinsky pass in the Taihanshan mountains to Zhao's kingdom , an ally of Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu rejected the plan that Li Zujun proposed, according to which 30,000 people cut off access to food for the Han people, believing that Zhao’s 200,000-strong army could easily defeat a small enemy unit.

Han Xin sent 2 thousand horsemen with Han flags near the camp of the Zhao kingdom . In the early morning, Zhao’s troops suddenly found themselves surrounded by “superior” Han forces and panicked. Han Xin took advantage of the chaos and defeated by executing Zhao Wang Xie and Prince Chen Yu. Li Zujun was captured. ^[13]

Battle of the Wei River (Northern Front)

In 204 BC e. the kingdom of Yan capitulated to the Han Xin army, and Zhang Er was appointed to the Zhan's kingdom . Xiang Yu regularly organized campaigns against Zhao, but Han Xin and Zhang Er held their positions. Then Xiang Yu concentrated on the southern front, sending troops to Xingyang , where Liu Bang was located, and forced him to flee to Chenggao (see chapter later). Liu Bang was defeated in Chenggao , and had no other choice but to head north through the Yellow River in order to join the forces of Han Xin . Arriving at the camp of his generals, he took command of the army of the Zhao kingdom , and Han Xin was ordered to move on to attack the Qi kingdom .

When attacking Qi, a misunderstanding occurred. Han Xin was preparing for the attack, not knowing that Liu Bang had sent envoy Li Yi to the ruler of Qi Tian Guan's kingdom , persuading him to surrender. Tien Guang had already agreed to surrender and ordered the troops to withdraw from Fox . Han Xin did not know this, and following the advice of Kuai Tong, he ordered the attack. The army of Han Xin occupied Lisia and the capital of Qi, the city of Linzi . Tian Guang thought that Liu Bang lured him into a trap and killed the envoy Li Yiji , after which he went to Gaomi and asked for help from Western Chu (from Xiang Yu). Han Xin continued the persecution up to Gaomi .

Xiang Yu put Lung Tszyu at the head of a powerful 200,000th army to help Tian Guang . However, the joint forces of Qi and Chu were defeated in the first battle against the army of Han Xin. Lun Tszyu was advised not to attack the enemy directly, but to cut off his supply routes from the cities of the Qi kingdom. Then the Han army would be weakened and forced to surrender. However, Lun Tszyu rejected this plan and decided to fight until victory.

In 203 BC e. Han Xin the night before the battle ordered to block the Wei River with sandbags. In the morning after the first shootout, Han Xin began to retreat, dragging Lun Chiu into the persecution. The moment the Chu army approached the Wei River, Han Xin gave a signal, the dam was open and water flooded the area. Many of Chu's soldiers drowned; Lung Tszyu ended up with only a small part of his troops. At that moment, Han Xin launched a counterattack, Lun Chiu was killed, and the rest of his army fled, pursued by the Han forces. Tian Guang escaped, and Han Xin continued to pursue the enemy until Chengyang .

Having won a major victory, Han Xin sent a messenger to Liu Ban, asking him for the title of Wang of the Qi kingdom. Just at that time, Liu Bang was defeated in Xingyang and was waiting for reinforcements. Instead of reinforcements, he asked for a title. This greatly angered Liu Bang. Nevertheless, after listening to advisers Zhang Liang and Chen Ping , Liu Bang decided to satisfy Han Xin's demands. At the same time, Xiang Yu , learning about the defeat of Lun Tszyu , sent a messenger to Han Xin, persuading him to rebel against Liu Bang and proclaim himself Wan Qi. Counselor Quai Tong urged him to accept the offer, but Han Xin flatly refused, and organized an army with which he moved south to attack the Western Chu.

Battle of Chenggao (Southern Front)

Even during the confrontation in Xingyang, Liu Bang held peace talks with Xiang Yu. Although Xiang Yu was inclined to accept the proposed peace, Fan Zeng explained to him that one should not miss the moment to finally deal with Liu Bang. Then Xiang Yu launched an attack on Xingyang .

Chen Ping proposed a plan to eliminate Fan Zeng . To do this, a man from the environment of Xiang Yu was bribed for a large amount of gold, which began to spread rumors about the betrayal of Fan Zeng. As a result, Fan Zeng lost confidence in Xiang Yu and was removed from his post as first adviser.

At the end of 204, Li Yiji proposed an attack plan to Liu Ban. Chu's army was defeated, and the Han people occupied Chenggao . The Chu Army was commanded by Cao Chiu . Liu Bang continued to move forward and reached Guanyu. The Chu troops under the command of Zhongli Mo were trapped east of Xingyang.

Later, after the defeat on the northern front from Han Xin during the battle of the Wei River, the morale of the Chu army fell, and it was also cut off from the main sources of food supply. Xiang Yu had no choice but to ask for peace, and agreed to release the Liu Bang family from captivity.

An agreement was entered into at the Hon Canal, which divided China into eastern and western, dividing the territory between Chu and Han.

In 203 BC e., when Xiang Yu retreated east, advisers to Liu Bang, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, recommended breaking the agreement at the Honsky Canal and attacking Chu, calling for help from the troops of Han Xin and Peng Yue . However, Han Xin and Peng Yue did not have time to approach their troops at the time of the battle, and Liu Bang was defeated by Gulin . Liu Bang retreated and began to gather reinforcements, calling for Han Xin and Peng Yue to help, and promising them the titles of vassal van.

Battle of Guyasia

Three months later, in 202, the Han forces led by Liu Ban, Han Xin and Peng Yue were able to coordinate and attack Chu from three sides. The Chu army suffered from an insufficient supply of food, and Xiang Yu fell into a difficult trap in Gaixia (southeast of the modern county of Linby, Henan ). Then Han Xin ordered the Chu songs to be performed everywhere in order to create a sense of nostalgia among the Chu soldiers and create the false impression that Chu had been occupied by the Han forces for a long time. The morale of the Chuska army fell, many soldiers deserted.

Xiang Yu tried to escape from the trap with a detachment of 26 people. Then, when he climbed out onto the north bank of the U River, he bravely almost single-handedly set up many Han soldiers, but in the end committed suicide.

After the death of Xiang Yu, the Western Chu army capitulated to the Han forces, and China united under the rule of Liu Bang , the new Han dynasty lasted almost four hundred years. The generals Han Xin , Peng Yue and Ying Boo, who made the biggest contribution to the victory, received the titles of Wans Chu, Liang and Huainan. A few months later, Liu Bang declared himself emperor and officially announced the beginning of a new imperial dynasty. The capital was moved to the city of Luoyang (somewhat later to Chang'an ), the emperor’s wife Lu-hou became empress, and her son Liu Ying became the heir to the throne.

Although Liu Bang generously gifted his assistants, after a while he became suspicious and doubted the loyalty of his commanders, who ensured him victory in the war. Han Xin was deprived of vanity and was demoted to Huaiyin-hou at the end of 202 BC. e. Later, in 196, on the orders of Empress Lu-hou, he was arrested and executed on charges of conspiracy along with Chen Xu . In the same year, Peng Yue was demoted to commoners on charges of another conspiracy, and then, on the orders of Empress Liu-hou, he was also executed, and his entire family was exterminated.

• Sima Qian . Historical notes. Translation by R.V. Vyatkin. t.2, part 7
• Sima Qian . Historical notes. Translation by R.V. Vyatkin. t.2, part 8