I was shocked to know the truth about the 400,000 Zhao troops massacre

Welcome back to battle cry In the late Tang Dynasty, in China's Shaanxi region, a strange event occurred During an unprecedented great storm, lightning struck a large buffalo dead When they came to inspect, they saw two characters Bai Qi was seared into the scorched buffalo's body After more than a thousand years, the name that once spread terror across the central plains Once again haunted people Legend has it that Because in life, Bai Qi killed too many people Even more than 1,000 years after his death, he still had to suffer karmic retribution, be reborn as an animal, and still be struck dead by lightning For renowned General Bai Qi, one of the most brutal massacres and an eternal stain that can never be washed away was the great battle against the Zhao army at Chongqing After a decisive victory, Bai Qi ruthlessly massacred more than 400,000 Zhao troops, creating one of the largest massacres in human military history The Battle of Chongqing was not only one of the largest-scale battles of its time But also a contest of military strategy between Bai Qi of Qin and Zhao Kuo of Zhao So, in the end, how did the great battle between Qin and Zhao unfold? Why did Bai Qi massacre 400,000 Zhao troops? Join BattleCry to find out now Han's Brilliant Scheme In 265 BC, the state of Qin, under the leadership of King Zhaoxiong of Qin, had risen to assert its position amid the fires of the Warring States period With renowned generals such as Bai Qi and Wang He, Qin had almost no rivals left in the central plains Its ambition to one day unify all under heaven was no longer far off Making full use of alliance-building schemes, Qin successively reduced the influence of Chu, Han, Wei, Qi, and Zhao So that if they did not vanish forever, they were but flickering candles before a storm With no hope of blazing again However, Qin still had one thorn it could not remove Zhao, rising strongly after a decline that seemed ready to destroy it at any moment Nearly 100 years after Sun Bin saved the day by besieging Wei to rescue Zhao, Zhao had gradually grown strong precisely because of the weakening of Wei and Qi In late 265 BC, Qin decided to launch a war to completely subjugate Han The Qin army's morale soared as it swept into Han territory Wherever the Qin army went, it slaughtered all before it Senior commander Wang He, commanding the Qin army, quickly drove his troops forward Seized Jiuang and besieged Shandong, directly threatening Han's capital Facing the Qin army storm, the Han army could only hold out to the death in Shandong The Qin army surrounded Shandong, cutting its lifeline to the Taihang mountains Completely isolating Shandong from the rest of Han Shandong was hanging by a thread, ready to fall at any moment Simultaneously, alongside Wang He's army A large army under the command of the undefeated general Bai Qi Also entered Han Under Bai Qi's command, the Qin army advanced through Han territory as if into no man's land The earth-shaking battle at Xingqing left countless Han soldiers dead and wounded In just a short time, the Qin army captured nine cities, beheaded 50,000, and this defeat nearly cut off all of Han's resistance Gaining overwhelming advantage, Bai Qi decided to attack Nanyang Then joined forces with Wang He's army besieging Shandong Forming a single spearhead that would force Han to kneel and surrender Meanwhile, Shandong was besieged, the situation critical, morale at rock bottom One Qin attack, and this weak city would surely fall Understanding that desperate situation, Feng Ting, the commander defending Shandong, decided on a bold move to relieve both Shandong and Han Feng Ting offered Shandong to the king of Zhao with both hands, to spark conflict between Qin and Zhao If the two states went to war, Han would surely be saved and reap the fisherman's profit Han even considered joining Zhao to attack Qin and avenge its national humiliation Seeing this windfall, the king of Zhao rushed to accept, despite his minister's warnings, suddenly gaining Shandong The king of Zhao was overjoyed, immediately sent troops to take the city, and granted Feng Ting 30,000 households, naming him lord of Huayang Keeping him as governor, and appointed all 17 county magistrates as Zhao officials And so, Qin and Han's offensive spearhead was redirected toward Zhao The king of Zhao accepted Shandong, but sent no troops to rescue the besieged Feng Ting The Qin general Wang He attacked Shandong fiercely Feng Ting begged for help, but for two full months, Zhao sent no troops By the time the king of Zhao sent renowned general Lian Po to rescue it, Wang He had already smashed Shandong Feng Ting prepared to lead his defeated troops and fleet to Zhao Lian Po led 450,000 troops to relieve Shandong, but on the way clashed with the Qin army at Changping The decisive battle of the century was ready to erupt at any moment The Battle of Changping Lian Po's 450,000 troops marched day and night across vast distances When they reached Shandong, they learned the city had fallen Lian Po's eyes burned with rage, but under Qin's threat, he gritted his teeth and joined forces with Feng Ting to defend the passes Lian Po saw the Qin troops were fierce as tigers and wolves and hard to confront, so he ordered deep trenches, high ramparts, and a firm defense without going out to fight The Qin army advanced eagerly, but against Zhao's defense, every Qin attempt to take Changping proved futile Yet the king of Zhao did not understand the war beyond his borders Weak-willed, he sent envoys to Qin to sue for peace Knowing Zhao's popular support had grown bitterly cold, the king of Qin outwardly received the Zhao envoys but firmly refused peace He understood that with the king of Zhao so cowardly, the day Zhao would be crushed under Qin's heel was only a matter of time The Zhao envoys returned empty-handed, while the fighting at Changping remained extremely tense The Qin army repeatedly challenged them to battle, but the Zhao army still refused to come out and fight Lian Po ordered the Zhao army to stay inside and wait until the enemy, worn down by a long siege, grew exhausted before engaging Qin attacked with all its strength for two years but still could not capture Changping Just as the war reached a deadlock through Lian Po's stubbornness, King Zhaoxiong of Qin used a sinister scheme, he sent spies with gold and silver to Zhao, bribed officials, and spread the rumor that Lian Po was cowardly, dared not fight, and Qin feared only Zhao Kua, son of Lord Mafu Zhao Xi King of Zhao heard the rumor, did not investigate, blamed Lian Po for being old, senile, and sick, and ordered Zhao Kua to replace him as general At the time, Po was famous for reading many military books and being well-versed in letters But against Qin's schemes, Zhao Kua's newly emerged talent was only a puppet with no real combat experience, free for them to manipulate Indeed, exactly as Qin predicted, as soon as he reached Changping, Zhao Kua ordered all defensive works dismantled and advocated battle with the Qin army When the king of Qin heard Zhao Kua had replaced Lian Po, he was overjoyed, immediately determined the battle at Changping would be the decisive blow against Zhao, and opened the road to unify the central plains Bai Qi was immediately appointed commander-in-chief, and it was ordered that anyone who revealed Bai Qi as commander to the Zhao army would be executed without mercy With a fairly simple ruse, the king of Qin completely reversed the situation on the Changping battlefield. Without experienced veteran Lian Po in command, the Zhao army was at a great disadvantage against Bai Qi's battle-hardened Qin troops Facing a god of war renowned in all directions like Bai Qi, Zhao Kua seemed destined to suffer a bitter defeat When first engaged, the Zhao army still thought the Qin commander was Wang He, so it attacked hard, Zhao Kua ordered his troops to thrust into the Qin center Bai Qi judged Zhao Kua only good at discussing war on paper, subjective and underestimating the enemy, so he deliberately lost several battles to make Kua more elated Sure enough, Kua became smug, thinking the Qin troops were weak and nothing to fear, and led his main army in an even fiercer attack Having waited for exactly this, the Zhao army fell deep into the position prepared by Qin Bai Qi split his troops into two wings, forming a pincer to clamp the Zhao army, he personally led the center and spearheaded the counter-attack When he saw that Qin's commander was not Wang He but Bai Qi, Zhao Kua's face drained of blood Knowing this would be the first and last great battle of his life The two Qin wings encircled them front and rear, the Zhao army was cut apart, and its supply line was completely severed The 450,000 troops were in utter panic, their supply lines cut, unable to advance or retreat Zhao Kua had them camp in the mountains and forests to await reinforcements But the Qin army grew stronger by the hour, encircling them inside and out and severing every supply route from Handan, Zhao's capital, to Chongping Over 450,000 Zhao troops were trapped, out of food, their morale collapsing, when they heard Qin's commander was Bai Qi, panic spread further At his wit's end, Zhao Kua resolved to break out, leading elite troops in a desperate charge The Qin army had waited for exactly that and greeted the Zhao attempt with a hail of arrows Countless Zhao soldiers fell, blood flowed in rivers, and corpses piled like mountains Commander Zhao Kua was killed, hearing this, the Zhao troops laid down their arms and surrendered More than 400,000 troops, an unprecedentedly huge number At that time, the surrendered Zhao troops still doubled the Qin force, which numbered only 200,000 Bai Qi grew worried, unsure what would happen, and the massacre of the century was about to begin The Chongping Massacre, a stain impossible to wash away Bai Qi had won but still feared the Zhao troops would rebel, he secretly plotted a deadly scheme with Deputy General Wang He Bai Qi had the Zhao troops and 200,000 Qin troops divided into 10 camps, each led by a commander, and gave them wine and meat as reward Bai Qi ordered a selection, strong Zhao troops would stay in the army, the old and weak would return to Zhao The Zhao troops were overjoyed, as if granted life But that night, Bai Qi secretly ordered the 10 camp commanders, all Qin troops were to wear white cloth on their heads, anyone without it was Zhao and must be killed The Qin troops obeyed and acted at once In moments, over 400,000 disarmed Zhao troops were massacred en masse Bai Qi ordered the Zhao skulls collected and piled in the Qin camp, called the Mountain of Skulls Counting the entire battle of Chongping, from beginning to end, Bai Qi killed and captured a life Of the 450,000 Zhao troops in total, only 240 were spared to return to Handan, to show Qin's might The killing of 400,000 unarmed troops, though they had submitted, shows the brutality of the war and the utterly inhumane conduct of Bai Qi Later generations regard Chongping as the great stain on Bai Qi's life After wiping out the Zhao army at Chongping, Bai Qi pressed straight on Split into three attacking columns, driving straight toward Zhao's capital, Handan Zhao's strength was shattered, hearing that Qin troops were advancing on its capital At the news, everyone was terrified, the whole state was shaken Just then, Bai Qi received King of Qin's order to withdraw Though deeply regretful, he dared not disobey and withdrew his army quietly It turned out that after its defeat, Zhao sent envoys to beg for peace and agreed to submit to Qin And offered six cities and countless treasures as a show of loyalty The Qin chancellor at the time, Fan Zhu, deeply envied Bai Qi's achievements He slandered him, prompting King of Qin to recall the army When Bai Qi returned to Qin and heard of this, he was furious After meeting King of Qin, Bai Qi spoke his mind The king knew he had missed a rare chance, deeply regretted it, and repeatedly ordered Bai Qi to attack Zhao But Bai Qi believed the momentum was gone, Zhao had recovered, and with veteran general Lian Po defending it, victory was unlikely He repeatedly claimed illness to avoid battle Fan Zhu again slandered him to King of Qin, saying Bai Qi defied orders and refused to go King of Qin was furious, stripped him of all rank by decree, reduced him to a common soldier, and sent him to the frontier Bai Qi departed in bitter resentment Indeed, when the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is butchered, when the birds are gone, the bow is put away A lifelong renowned general loyal to his state now died at the hands of petty slanderers Perhaps the horrors Bai Qi suffered in his final years were repayment for the sins he committed against 400,000 Zhao troops Without the stain of massacring hundreds of thousands of surrendered troops, Chongping would deserve to be the greatest battle With his highly flexible tactics, full of surprises and unbound by military texts, Bai Qi karmic retribution is always fair and spares no one Evil deeds meet evil returns, that is heaven's eternal law Though Bai Qi was hailed as the world's foremost general, his deeds unmatched under heaven But because he was too bloodthirsty, he bore karmic retribution for a thousand years So what do you think of this great battle? Is this a brutal massacre or merely the inevitable law of war?