Chapter 6: The Battle for the Crown of Qi and Chu, the Great War at Xu and Huai, the Defeat of the Qi Army by the Chu Forces

  The King of Qi was enraged, and he turned his army around, taking up a long sword and mounting a white horse. He galloped forward, and the King of Chu saw this and leapt onto a black stallion, holding a long spear and urging it on. The two armies clashed in a vast open space.

  The King of Chu grew more courageous as the battle raged on, and the King of Qi could only defend himself without being able to counterattack. Just then, the King of Chu struck with his spear, and the King of Qi raised his sword to block it. With a loud clang! The King of Qi stumbled backward, and again there was a whooshing sound! The King of Chu's long spear reached the King of Qi's throat, frightening him so much that he broke out in a cold sweat.

  The Qi army hastily sent out three generals, led by the famous General Guan Yue (father of Guan Zhang). "Do not harm our king!" they cried. The Chu general Qu Wu charged forward on horseback, swinging his sword and engaging the three Qi generals. Two Qi generals blocked Qu Wu, while General Guan Biao swung his sword at the King of Chu.

  The King of Chu saw this and changed his spear's thrust to a sweep. With another loud clang! He deflected Guan Yue's long sword. General Qu Wu raised his sword and struck down two Qi generals in succession, then charged straight for Guan Yue. The King of Qi retreated from the battlefield, but the King of Chu did not pursue him.

  General Guan Yue fought a fierce battle with General Qu Wu for thirty rounds, but he was no match for him and also retreated from the battlefield. At this moment, all the feudal lords were shocked. The King of Qi was even more enraged and humiliated, so he led his army of 100,000 men to form up in array.

  The King of Chu waved his long spear, and his army of 100,000 men marched out in formation. All the feudal lords saw this and retreated one after another. Suddenly, the war drums of the Chu army boomed! The King of Chu pointed with his long spear, urging on his horse and charging forward to attack the Qi army.

  The 100,000-strong Chu army surged forward like a raging torrent, and General Qu Wu's sword danced in the air as Qi soldiers fell one after another. Not a single soldier among the 100,000-strong Qi army could withstand them. After about half an hour of fighting, the Qi army was unable to resist the Chu army's attack, and the King of Qi led his troops in a chaotic retreat.

  Historically, "Xu State's King" ended abruptly like this. Before Qi Wei Wang could even take over the crown of hegemony, he was defeated by Chu Wei Wang and his army was left in disarray. The various vassals dispersed, and Qi Wei Wang, unwilling to accept defeat, returned to the capital of Qi, Zibo, and mobilized 300,000 troops to march south and attack the Chu army. He also made an alliance with the states of Wei, Song, and Yue to launch a joint attack on the Chu army in Suiyang and Huainan.

  Wei Hui Wang agreed verbally but did not take action, adopting a wait-and-see attitude. The ruler of Song saw that 300,000 Chu troops had gathered in Xuzhou and dared not send his troops to attack the Chu army. The king of Yue, however, led 200,000 Yue troops out of Guangling to help Qi Wei Wang attack the Chu army in Huainan, advancing as far as Yancheng.

  Chu Wei Wang saw this and immediately ordered 100,000 Chu troops from Shouchun to attack Guangling. He also led 200,000 Chu troops eastward and southward, defeating the Yue king's army at Yancheng and Huai'an. Then, he joined forces with the 100,000 Chu troops from Shouchun to attack the Yue army in Guangling, killing tens of thousands of them. The king of Yue led his remaining troops back to Gusu.

  At this time, Qi Wei Wang took advantage of the fact that the main force of the Chu army had marched south to Guangling and divided his 300,000 troops into three routes to attack the Chu army's Linzi and Zaozhuang. They advanced as far as Xuzhou. The 100,000 Chu troops defending Xuzhou held out for a month, but after Chu Wei Wang defeated the Yue king's army, he led his troops northward to engage Qi Wei Wang's 300,000 troops in a decisive battle at Xuzhou.

  The Chu army won three battles and defeated the Qi army from Xuzhou to Lianyungang, killing 150,000 of them. They recovered Linzi and Zaozhuang and advanced as far as Shan County in Shandong Province, capturing Pei County, Jining, and the entire Weishan Lake. Just as Chu Wei Wang was preparing to lead his troops northward to Tai'an and Laiwu, the army of Wei gathered at Xuchang.

  Chu Wei Wang heard this news and immediately stopped his attack on Qi. He ordered 200,000 Chu troops to garrison Xuzhou and Suiyang and led 200,000 troops day and night to hurry back to Xuchang. When Wei Hui Wang heard that Qi Wei Wang's army had been defeated at Xuzhou and the Chu army was approaching rapidly, he hastily ordered his troops to retreat back to Daliang.

  In the eighth and ninth years of King Wu of Chu, the Chu army repeatedly launched attacks on Wei, capturing several counties west of Xuchang to Taikang. When Qin Duke Huiwen saw that the Chu army had defeated the Qi army and then marched north to attack Wei, he took advantage of the situation to launch a series of attacks on the Wei army in the western river valley. In order to block the advance of the Chu army and protect his capital city of Daliang, King Hui of Wei was unable to defend against Qin and ceded the land west of the Yellow River to Qin. From then on, all the land west of the Yellow River belonged to Qin, and Tongguan was also occupied by the Qin army.

  In the tenth year of King Wu of Chu, he launched an attack from Fangxi and defeated the Shu army, expanding his territory to Ankang. In the same year, he again launched an attack from Qianzhong and defeated the Shu army at Bayu, expanding his territory to Yuzhou (Chongqing).

  In the eleventh year of King Wu of Chu, he suddenly fell ill and died. His son Xiong Xuan succeeded him as King Hui of Chu.

  King Wu of Chu reigned for eleven years and expanded his territory by nearly a thousand miles. At that time, the state of Chu had a vast territory of five thousand miles, with Dongting (Hunan) in the south, Cangwu (western Hunan and eastern Guangxi) in the southwest, Jiangnan (northern Jiangxi) in the southeast, Yongjun (from Fangxian to Ankang City) in the west, Fang, Ye, and Xuchang in the north, Huainan and Pixi in the east. The state had a population of over three million and an army of one million soldiers, making it the largest and strongest state among all the vassal states.

  The state of Qin, on the other hand, extended from Hancheng to Tongguan and Shaoxing, with a territory of two thousand five hundred miles and a population of seven million people. Its army had six hundred thousand soldiers.

  At that time, the southern part of Jiangsu and Anhui were still under the control of the state of Yue, which had an army of over four hundred thousand soldiers, comparable to that of the state of Han. The state of Shu extended southward to Bayu and northward to Hanzhong, with an army of over three hundred thousand soldiers stationed in Chengdu and Hanzhong.

  The state of Qi, which had just risen to power and intended to replace Wei as the dominant state, was defeated by Chu and retreated. For a time, the state of Chu became the strongest among all the vassal states and dominated the entire country.

  Due to the rapid rise of Qin, it posed a threat to both Qi and Chu states. Although Wei state was no longer as powerful as before, it still had considerable strength. At that time, Chu state had not yet reached the truly intimidating power, so the responsibility of competing for hegemony naturally fell on King Hui of Chu's shoulders.

  Scan and join this site's QQ group

  16K Non-Movable User Address

  16K universal access address