During the war between the States of Chu and Han (206 BC-202 BC), Han Xin was ordered by Han king Liu Bang to attack the States of Wei and Zhao ruled by Xiang Yu.
Han Xin annihilated the State of Wei after winning a series of battles. When his army had recovered from these battles, Han Xin led tens of thousands of soldiers in an attack on the upstart State of Zhao.
As Han Xin’s troops had to cross the Taihangshan Mountain, the State of Zhao had time to gather intelligence and make preparations. The king of the State of Zhao ordered his commanding general Chen Yu to gather a force of 200,000 soldiers and station themselves at Jingxingkou, a narrow pass on the Taihangshan Mountain. This was the only access route to the Zhao lands that Han Xin could take. The Zhao troops hoped to use the advantage of local knowledge to counter the enemies’ attack there.
The military strength of the Zhao troops was stronger than that of Han Xin and also enjoyed the advantage of fighting on familiar ground. The battle was going against Han Xin. After analyzing the situation, Han Xin found that he had no choice but to lure the Zhao troops out of their positions. It was the only way he could possibly win the battle. Han Xin ordered his men to station themselves 15 km away from the Jingxingkou. At midnight, 2,000 cavalrymen, each holding a red banner, were sent to prepare an ambush near the Zhao encampments. Han Xin told them, “When the Zhao troops pursue us, you rush into their camps and fly our banners. Anyone who successfully makes it will be well rewarded.” Then, Han Xin stationed over 10,000 soldiers at a place with a river right behind them. This made his subordinates even more confused, as this was never done when deploying troops. There would be no way to retreat if the battle went badly.
As dawn was breaking, Han Xin personally led his troops in an attack on the Zhao troops. After some fierce fighting, Han Xin pretended that he was defeated and sounded the retreat. The Zhao troops pursued them. Han Xin led his men back to their encampment against the river. The Zhao troops felt that Han Xin’s forces were like rats in a hole ready to be slaughtered. That is why all the Zhao troops abandoned their camps and closed in for what they thought was the kill.
The soldiers led by Han Xin joined up with the rest of the soldiers in the camp. There was nowhere to retreat to so they had no choice but to fight desperately.
At this time, the Zhao camps were very weakly defended. The ambushers took the camp easily and replaced the enemy’s banners with their own.
The fierce fighting lasted a long time. The Zhao troops saw no hope of victory and retreated to their original camp. But they found that their camps had been taken by Han Xin’s ambushers. The Zhao troops had been caught in a classic pincer movement. Their commander was slain, and the king of Zhao captured.
