Don't learn Art of War until you know how Han Xin destroyed his enemies!

In China's millennia of chaotic warfare, amid battles that shook heaven and earth, one weapon was never absent, the art of war. To command armies, nail the art of war. To move heaven and earth, master it. Above all, victory requires knowing how to wield it. Since ancient times, the art of war has shaped every conflict. Sun Tzu's and Sun Bin's treatises defined the supreme art of war. Understanding the art of war is difficult, applying it is harder still. Yet amid history's turbulent currents, an extraordinary man emerged. To him, memorizing and applying the art of war was child's play. With extraordinary talent, he transformed supreme military principles into brilliant stratagems that moved heaven and earth and seized the realm from dire straits. In 4,000 years of Chinese history, his name was known to all. Han Exian, the immortal of war, who distilled and applied the art of war with uncanny mastery. Every battle he commanded was an immortal epic of generalship and the art of war. Welcome to Battle Cry, a history of China. Khrushchev's song in secret, strike where unguarded, appear where unexpected. War is deception, when capable, seem incapable, when using force, seem not to. Strike where unguarded, appear where unexpected, the first chapter of Sun Tzu's art of war says so. Warfare is ever-changing, strike when the enemy is least prepared for a decisive victory. The defining stratagem is, feint east, strike west. But under Han Exian's brilliant command, it reached new heights, making his moves impossible to predict. Outmaneuvered by the Han army, they ultimately suffered a bitter defeat. The campaign to repair the plank road openly and Khrushchev's song to destroy the Three Qins was Han Exian's first command and his first heroic chapter. In essence, it was a form of feint east, strike west, after Xiang Yu had driven the Han into Han Zhong. On Zhang Liang's advice, Lu Bang burned the plank roads across the Qinling to make Xiang Yu lower his guard. Then he waited for the moment to rise, march into Guanzhong, and contend for all under heaven. When Han Exian took command, only two roads could barely be used, Baoxia and Qinsong. The Baoxia road, over 600 li long, was unusable. Qinsong could still just be crossed. But at the far end of Qinsong stood Zhang Han, commander of the Three Qins. Zhang Han was a leading general of Qin, hardened by years of war and countless victories. Framed by traitors in Qin's final days, he had been forced to serve Xiang Yu. Deceiving him was no easy task. When he heard Han Exian had sent Fan Kui and Zhou Bo to repair Baoxia, Zhang Han immediately sent troops to guard it. Baoxia was a vital pass, one man could hold it against ten thousand. Zhang Han was wise enough to see this, yet Han Exian was still one step ahead. Han Exian's plan was not just a stratagem. It was a stratagem within a stratagem. Make the enemy take form while I remain formless, then I am concentrated, and the enemy is divided. This is void and actuality in Sun Tzu's Bingfa. It means drawing the enemy into the open while own troops stay hidden. Then our strength can concentrate, while the enemy's strength is dispersed. The perfect fusion of feint east, strike west and void and actuality. Created Han Exian's brilliant victory. Seeing the Han repair Baoxia, Zhang Han had to move troops there to guard it. While Qinsong still had enough forces for defense. To cross from Qinsong into the Three Qins, the Han had to deceive Zhang Han. So Han Exian ordered Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo to make a great show at Baoxia. Outwardly, he ignored Qinsong and pretended not to care. Zhang Han's forces were limited, yet he had to guard both vital gateways. Facing each other across the Qinling cliffs, Zhang Han could not gauge the Han army's strength. Void and actuality created a perfect smokescreen. The more the Han displayed at Baoxia, the more Zhang Han grew anxious. If he sent troops to defend Baoxia, Qinsong would be left short. But if he failed to mass his forces at Baoxia, and the Han crossed there, he could see it but not stop it. Han Exian had handed Zhang Han a 50-50 dilemma. And to his misfortune, Zhang Han chose wrong. He moved his troops to defend Baoxia, leaving Qinsong exposed. As all later knew, the Han broke out of Hanzhong and defeated the Three Qins. Zhang Han himself later took his own life in bitterness at Feichou. By blending feigned east, strike west with void and actuality, Han won its first vital victory. This campaign first revealed Han Exian's extraordinary military genius. Han Exian used this stratagem again in the campaign against Wei. To destroy Wei, the Han army had to cross the Yellow River. But its waters ran fierce, crossing was never easy. There were two ways across. One was at Puban Ford, the other at Heong Ford. But Han had only a few worn-out warships against Wei's fully equipped forces. If the Han crossed there, defeat was certain. By the usual rules of war, Puban was the easiest crossing. Han Exian knew this, and of course Wei knew it too. In that deadlock, Han Exian again used feigned east, strike west and void and actuality to cross. Han Exian split his army in two, one visible, one hidden. The visible force moved to Puban, with 10,000 troops and over a hundred boats, feigning a crossing. A second force moved in secret, a hundred li north towards Xi'an. Now honching in Shaanxi, to assemble and prepare to cross. Seeing the Han army gather at Puban, the king of Wei thought they would cross there. So he rushed his forces in, fortifying this key position. Ready for a decisive battle with Han Exian. Seeing the king of Wei had taken the bait, Han Exian quietly crossed at Xi'an. Circled around, and struck the Wei army from the rear. Ambushed, the Wei army was routed, its troops at Puban rushed back to reinforce. This opened the way for Han warships to cross from Puban. The two wings crossed successfully, joined forces, and crushed the Wei army. From then on, Wei was wiped from the map. It was void and actuality joined with feigned east, strike west. Han Exian's feints and reversals reached unmatched perfection. With two seemingly simple stratagems, Han Exian opened a golden chapter for Han. With backs to water and roads cut off, terrain was vital to victory or defeat. In Chapter 11, The Nine Grounds, Sun Tzu wrote. On dispersive ground, do not fight. On contentious ground, do not attack. On communicating ground, do not be cut off. On crossroads ground, make alliances. On deep ground, plunder. On ruinous ground, move on. On encircled ground, devise plans. On death ground, fight. That is, on dispersive ground, one should not fight. On contested ground, one should not force an attack. On communicating ground, one must never be cut off. On crossroads ground, one should ally with the other lords. On ruinous ground, one must pass through quickly. When encircled, plan an escape. On death ground, fight with all you have to survive. The theory of battlefield terrain is a classic in the history of war. Any commander must understand it. To contend for the realm, the Han army had to destroy Zhao. In this campaign, terrain helped Han Exian win decisively. At the time, Dai and Zhao were united as one. But Dai was smaller, and Han Exian subdued it in an instant. Flushed with victory, the Han army surged like mountains and seas. They massed their forces, ready to attack Zhao. But Lu Bang's hesitation let the chance slip away. Zhao fortified its lines, turning an easy mission into one full of obstacles. The land Zhao held was easy to defend and hard to attack. The tall, rugged Taihang Mountains formed a natural wall. The only route into Zhao was Jingxing Pass, one of Taihan's eight narrow passes. It was a great gorge, wedged between towering cliffs. The road was so narrow carts could not run side by side, nor horses abreast. One man could hold the pass, 10,000 could not break through. To cross this gorge, an army had to stretch into one long column. Its front and rear could not support each other. Zhao needed only a small force to hold the far exit. Then any enemy outside could hardly enter Zhao. Moreover, a swift river ran beyond Jingxing Pass. Once inside Zhao, retreating through Jingxing would be no easy task. By Sun Tzu's art of war, Zhao held every advantage of terrain. If the Han army forced its way through Jingxing, every disadvantage would follow. Jingxing was contested ground, do not attack. Its narrow terrain was difficult ground, keep moving. With a torrent behind them, it was death ground. The Zhao general Chen Yu also knew Bingfa, and the situation held all eight traits of death ground. The Han force was barely a tenth of Zhao's, so his confidence was understandable. Yet Han Exian used death ground to defeat death ground, winning eternal fame. The final words on desperate ground say, on death ground, fight. Han Exian placed 10,000 men with their backs to the river, forcing them onto death ground. Meanwhile, he hid 2,000 troops, waiting to seize the Zhao camp. Chen Yu saw Han Exian arrayed by the river, with no escape if attacked. Thinking Han Exian knew nothing of strategy, he left camp and attacked at once. But Chen Yu knew one thing, not the whole. Han Exian did not need to win at Jingxing Pass. What Han Exian needed was chaos and the Zhao army. 10,000 men backed by the river were the actuality. The hidden 2,000 seizing the camp were the void. Void and actuality, actuality and void, he wielded them like a spirit. To be fair, Han Exian's 10,000 men were facing Chen Yu's army of 200,000. Even if Han troops hacked until their arms broke, they could not win head-on. If Han Exian tried to win by the river, it was impossible. So he chose to feint east and strike west. 10,000 men fought to the death, only to draw all of Zhao's attention. This freed 2,000 men to seize the camp and replace Zhao flags with Han banners. As he expected, Zhao saw the camp taken, fell into chaos, and collapsed without a fight. Chen Yu also died amid the rout. Those who study or use strategy may know only death ground. But Han Exian distilled it into a new doctrine. Survive on death ground, live from death ground. Fighting with the river behind was death ground. One force fought, one hid, void and actuality, the real force battled on the bank. Letting the hidden force seize the camp, feint east, strike west. In this victory, we must also note Chen Yu's overconfidence and rigid use of strategy, which gave the Han army more openings and advantage. In truth, Zhao only had to hold Jingxing, raise walls and ramparts, stay in camp, and not fight, the Han would starve. But Chen Yu was too confident, Sun Tzu's Bingfa says that with 10 times the enemy's strength, one can surround them. Han Exian had under 30,000 men, what was there to fear? So Chen Yu made the very moves that doomed him. First, as noted, perilous Jingxing Pass was the battleground, contested ground, where attack brings no gain. The pass was so narrow it favored Zhao, even if Zhao chose battle over defense, it would still have won there. But Chen Yu did the opposite. He opened the way, letting Han Exian lead the Han army easily through Jingxing Pass. Though the Han army was later forced to form with the river at its back, a grave taboo in strategy. Chen Yu's move was indeed a mistake. He thought that if the Han crossed Jingxing and fought, then once defeated, they could not retreat in time. The entire Han army would be wiped out inside Zhao. But before Zhao could win, the Han seized the Zhao camp, throwing them into chaos and bringing defeat upon them. The Battle of Jingxing was not just a clash of blades, but a contest of minds between Chen Yu's and Han Exian's theories of war. And in the end, the man who used strategy with endless adaptability won. The victory at Jingxing was a brilliant chapter of strategy, written by Han Exian's own hand. A frighteningly seamless combination gave the Han army immense advantage in the struggle for the realm. Han Exian's two great masterpieces, the secret crossing at Qinsong and the battle with his back to the river, were true masterpieces for later commanders to study. Stay tuned for the next episodes of Battlecry, Chinese Chronicles, where we discuss the strategy behind the campaign to win Yan's surrender, the great battle at the Wei River, and the final clash at Geisha with He Jiamen King Xiang Yu. The art of war is a masterpiece China has prized for millennia. Knowing strategy is hard, applying it is harder. Yet in Han Exian's hands, strategy reached an almost supernatural level, creating classic victories for the Han army. Welcome back to Battlecry, and our second video decoding his ever-changing use of strategy. Welcome to Battlecry's Chinese Chronicles, Attack Plans First, Take Yan by Wisdom. Military strategy prizes intellect, forces used only as a last resort. Chapter 3 of Sun Tzu's Art of War, Attack by Stratagem, says Supreme warfare attacks plans, next, alliances, next, armies, the lowest, cities. In other words, the best use of arms wins by strategy, the worst is to besiege cities. In war, two main approaches decide the outcome. One uses strategy for politics, the other uses it in battle. Han Exian was a supreme talent of the latter school. In every battle, his strategy reached a level that stunned gods and ghosts. Once Han Exian took command, the Han army already held half the victory. But in the first school, using strategy for politics, he simply could not succeed. This, in large part, led to the tragedy he later had to bear. But that final reckoning came after Han destroyed Chu, we will not cover it here. Here, we will only discuss the political stratagem used to win over the lords. As we noted last time, in the Jingxing campaign, had Zhao held the passes and refused battle behind high walls, Han Exian would have been caught within 10 days. The man who offered this plan to Qin Yu was Li Zuiqi, grandson of the famed general Li Mu. But Qin Yu ignored him and paid with his life. Li Zuiqi himself, hearing the Zhao army had been crushed, fled to save his life. Han Exian deeply admired Li Zuiqi's talent, so he offered a large bounty for his capture. A few days later, Li Zuiqi was captured. At the Han camp, Han Exian personally untied him, apologized, and gave him the seat of honor. Han Exian sat below like a pupil, asking how to attack Yan and Qi. Li Zuiqi answered humbly, a defeated general cannot speak of courage. A minister of a fallen state has no right to plan survival. I am your prisoner. What right have I to discuss military strategy with you? When Li Zuiqi finished, Han Exian was alarmed and quickly explained. Long ago, Baili Xi served the state of you. Qin valued him, and only then did it grow strong. Today, you are like Baili Xi. I sincerely seek your counsel. Please do not refuse. Hearing this, Li Zuiqi knew Han Exian meant him no harm. And seeing Han Exian value his talent, he chose to help strike Yan. As noted, Han Exian excelled at using military strategy to move armies. If he decided to march, Yan surely could not withstand him. But taking it by force would inevitably bring losses. If he used negotiation, the gains would be greater. That was the art of using military strategy as politics. One well-written letter, even a single spoken word, could equal the strength of countless troops. No need to look far, Han Exian himself fell victim to political strategy as Zhang Liang repeatedly flattered him into full obedience to Lu Bang. Yan's army was weak, but the Han army had just fought Zhao and suffered heavy losses. So Han Exian wanted to strike Yan, yet did not want to deploy troops. But Han Exian lacked the skill to take Yan without deploying troops. Fortunately, Li Zuiqi could do what Han Exian could not. His careful analysis of gains and losses impressed Han Exian. He also helped Han Exian draft a letter. It described the Han army's overwhelming strength and Zhao's dire situation. Then he sent a persuasive envoy to Yan. Following Li Zuiqi's advice, Han Exian marched to Yan's border and deployed troops ready to attack. Yan had heard that Zhao had fallen. Seeing Han's imposing might, it chose to surrender. With Li Zuiqi's help, Han Exian subdued Yan without a fight. Not one soldier was lost, the art of war at its finest. Thus, Han Exian drew the enemy into a decisive battle at the Wei River. With Yan subdued, she became Han's next target. Qi was no match for Han, but Qi forces under General Long Ju. Xiang Yu's foremost confidant arrived as reinforcements, making the battle unpredictable. Long Ju was a fierce, gifted general, a peerless warrior who could take on a hundred men. He had followed Xiang Yu through life and death, he was no ordinary man. But hot-tempered by nature, Long Ju looked down on Han Exian. Han Exian had once crawled between a man's legs in disgrace, in shoe, he had been only a halberd bearer. In the end, Han Exian's stratagem drove Long Ju to his death. He sank to the bottom of the Wei River, taking his resentment with him. Chapter 5 Of Sun Tzu's Art of War, Strategic Advantage, states. Thus, one skill that moving the enemy shows him a formation, the enemy will follow. Offer him a bait, and he will take it, lure him with profit, then await him with troops. In other words, move the enemy by showing him a military situation, real or feigned. The enemy cannot tell which is real, offer a small, tangible gain as bait. Drawn by profit, the enemy will come, and follow our movements. Unlike earlier campaigns, Han forces laid traps and waited for the enemy to charge into them. But in this battle, Han Exian struck first, using himself as bait to lure the enemy into a kill zone. The Wei River was a vital battle. On the surface, she was aiding Qi against Han. In essence, it was the first decisive Han-Chu clash since Han Exian's rise. If Han lost, all was gone. If Han won, the tide would turn and a new contest would begin. As with Zhao, if Chu and Qi held firm, the weary Han army would collapse without a fight. But Long Ju underestimated Han Exian and chose a frontal attack at any cost. In November 203 BC, the Chi-Chu coalition deployed on the east bank of the Wei River. Han Exian arrayed his troops on the west bank, ready for an earth-shaking battle. Do you think Han Exian wanted to deploy on the west bank? I do not think so. It was too dangerous, but he had no choice. To lure the Chu-Chi army to its death, Han Exian ordered his soldiers to fill 50,000 sandbags day and night, damming the upper Wei River into a reservoir. But storing water upstream meant the river level below would fall. And though furious, Long Ju was alert enough to sense something was wrong. The Chu army was ordered to stay still and wait for its chance. But the Han army did not have that much time. To win, they had to force Chu from stillness into motion. They had to lure Long Ju across, then break the upstream dam and unleash a flood. And to do that, they needed irresistible bait. No one was better suited to that burden than Han Exian himself. He did not just deploy by the river, Han Exian boldly led the first attack on Chu. Han Exian set the trap, glory and his own head, bait that left Long Ju restless. The Chu army was ordered to attack, rushing into the Wei, unaware it would feed the river god. Seeing the enemy advance, Han Exian immediately turned and withdrew. Upstream, his men broke the sand dam, and floodwaters surged down at once, drowning the entire Chu army. Long Ju also fell amid the rout. This crucial victory officially turned the tide between Han and Chu. Once the weaker side, Han now overmatched Chu in every way. Han Exian applied strategy in this battle with uncanny skill. From damming the river to using himself as bait, he drew the enemy into motion, laid ambushes, and shifted actual with void to win. The Battle of the Wei River put the art of war's finest principles of strategic momentum into action. Seizing Xiang Yu's resolve at Geisha. If in all previous campaigns, Han Exian had wielded battlefield strategy with uncanny mastery, then in the decisive battle at Geisha, psychological warfare was raised to its peak. In fact, even today, the plan of Chu Song's on all sides is still debated, with some calling it Zhang Liang's brilliant stratagem. Others call it Han Exian's masterpiece. Whoever conceived it, it was truly the pinnacle of psychological warfare. In Chapter 7, Military Struggle, Sun Tzu wrote, A whole army can be robbed of spirit, a commander of resolve, the skilled use order to master chaos, stillness to master movement. And Chu Song's on all sides entered history as the height of psychological warfare. In 202 BC, Han broke the Han Canal Treaty and joined the vassal lords to attack Chu. Han had roughly 700,000 to 800,000 men, Xiang Yu had about 100,000. Han Exian led 300,000 men into battle, meeting the Chu army head-on. After several clashes, Han finally defeated Chu, but suffered terrible losses as well. The Chu army had lost over half its men, with no supplies, no reinforcements, and winter cold cutting to the bone. The Chu troops, hungry and cold, had begun to complain. At midnight, a bitter wind wailed like grief. A mournful Chu Song drifted on the wind. At first faint and distant, it grew closer and clearer. Han Exian had ordered the Han troops to sing, awakening the Chu soldiers longing for home. Hearing songs from home, Xiang Yu's soldiers could not hold back their tears. Some could not help singing along. One, then two, then more joined in, the song echoed through the Chu camp. This gave rise to the idiom, besieged on all sides. Outside Xiang Yu's tent, soldiers wiped their tears, dropped their weapons, and slipped out of camp. His longtime generals left without a farewell. Even his uncle slipped away in secret. In one night, Chu lost 10,000 men. Xiang Yu fought back tears in his tent. His beloved consort, Yu Ji, died in his arms. The scene grew ever more tragic. In desperation, Xiang Yu led a force to break through the encirclement. But when he reached the Wu River, he refused to cross. Rather than await a comeback, he took his own life in bitterness, ending his heroic life. From a military standpoint, Xiang Yu simply lost and killed himself. End of story. But through the lens of the art of war, Xiang Yu was tormented and defeated by a cunning psychological strike. At 24, Xiang Yu raised an army. Three years later, he became He Jiemin, holding the feudal lord's fates in his hands. Feared by all, he had slaughtered thousands at Xi'an and burned a pain palace, buried 200,000 surrendered soldiers alive, and fought a hundred battles. His mind had long been forged into steel. Breaching Xiang Yu's psychological defenses was extremely difficult. But those around him were another story. The Chu soldiers had campaigned with Xiang Yu for years, far from their wives and children. Now the Han army had driven them into deadly peril. How could they dream of seeing their families again? As the songs of Chu rose, longing for home and homeland broke the soldiers' last line of resolve. They were only humble men with no care for struggles over the realm. They only hoped for peace and a day to return home. The soldiers leaving by night was the first blow Xiang Yu had to bear. The second blow was Yu Ji taking her own life. Yu Ji had followed Xiang Yu through years of war. As a woman, she missed home, her resolve was even more fragile than the soldiers. Seeing his beloved die in his arms struck Xiang Yu's mind again. And deep within, Xiang Yu may have fallen into the same turmoil as his men. By this moment, Xiang Yu's iron will had collapsed. That is why he dared lead his men in a night breakout, his valor still let him escape. But at the Wu River, he had truly broken under too many shocks in too short a time. Only recently, he was the lofty He Jiamen king, with mighty troops, fierce generals, and Yu Ji beside him. Now, he had nothing left. People say Xiang Yu dared not cross to Jiangdong because he could not face its elders. But perhaps the one he dared not face was himself. Through tyranny and arrogance, he had driven his grand cousin to the abyss. His final line of resolve collapsed, replaced by regret and remorse. Xiang Yu chose suicide as his release. Thus ended the Chu Han contention. Under Han Excian's command, the Han army unified the realm and forged an epic for the ages. Military strategy is a vast and mysterious treasury of knowledge. Memorizing strategy is hard, mastering its use is harder still. But Han Excian's brilliance surpassed it all. As a military commander, in every campaign Han Excian led, whether few defeated many, many struck few, or weak overcame strong. He won through wisdom. Openly repair the plank road, secretly cross Jiansong, feint at Linjin, strike Xiaoyang. Cross on wooden jars, deploy with the river behind, replace enemy flags, dam the river with sandbags. Strike mid-crossing, Chusongs on all sides, ambush from ten directions. Every battle by Han Excian was a masterpiece of strategy, admired through the ages. As a strategist, his words when Lu Bang appointed him general became the core plan for Han victory. As supreme commander, second only to Lu Bang, he marched from Chunsong, pacified the Three Qins, seized Wei, broke Dai, destroyed Zhao, subdued Yan, and attacked Qi. At Geisha, he annihilated Chu, without a single defeat. No one under heaven dared rival him. He rendered great service, laying the foundation for over four centuries of Han rule. Han Excian's Character, Wisdom, and Battlefield Achievements