Saying that the Battle of Gaixia is an important moment in Chinese history is an understatement. This decisive battle, fought in the year 202 BCE, was one of those rare moments in time where we can clearly see which turn a civilization took in the crossroad of history. This battle was fought between Liu Bang, the charming peasant-born scoundrel, and Xiang Yu, the noble but brutal warrior. These two rebel leaders once fought together to overthrow the tyrannical and corrupt Qin dynasty.
But once the empire was defeated, they turned against each other to fight for supremacy. Before we get right into it, let's start by examining the context and recap on the events that brought these two sworn brothers to the battleground of Gaisha. In the year 208 BCE, King Huai of Chu promised that the first rebel general who entered Xianyang, the capital of Qin, would be made the king of the Guanzhong region, the richest area of the empire.
While Xiang Yu took on the main force of the Qin army, Liu Bang moseyed in and took the undefended capital. By right, He should be made the king of Huan Zhong. But ah, that didn't sound fair to Xiang Yu who did most of the fighting. So he brought his victorious army to Liu Bang demanding justice. Liu Bang successfully graveled his way out of the deadly confrontation.
But he was made the King of Han instead, an awful remote regional backwater at the time. After appointing Han Xing as the commander-in-chief of his army, the man who would be known as the greatest general of the era, he was able to make his comeback and challenge the powerful Xiang Yu. The successive series of battles that ensued was tremendously bloody, and the conflict had become deeply personal for the two. While they were deadlocked, Han Xing had been conquering the northern kingdoms, encircling Xiang Yu. So in desperation, Xiang Yu resorted to a cowardly ploy to try to end the war quickly.
Niu Peng, surrender now, or you will see your father get chopped up and cooked into soup! Liu Bang couldn't believe what he was seeing. How could Xiang Yu stoop so low?
If he surrendered here, they would surely kill him. But is he really going to sacrifice his own father for his ambition? Even if he did, it would devastate his troops' morale.
How could Xiang Yu force him to make this choice? And to think that they were even sworn brothers? Wait a minute. Sworn brothers? Ha!
Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! What? That's not the reaction Xiang Yu was expecting.
Xiang Yu, since we were sworn brothers, then my father is also your father. If you are so cruel that you would cook your own father, then could you please give me a bowl of the soup? I'll help carry some of the sin for you. So. Not only that Liu Bang was cold enough to sacrifice his own father, he is pushing the blame onto him.
The scandal was true then, Xiang Yu thought. Not too long ago, when he defeated Liu Bang at Pengcheng, his soldiers saw him throw his own two children to lighten the load. Repeatedly even, because his driver tried to pick the children up. He knew that Liu Bang was shameless. But he wasn't expecting the double whammy.
He was also immoral. The sin of petricide would be pinned on him if he killed the old man. So in the end, Xiang Yu took Liu Bang's father back into custody. But Xiang Yu hasn't given up yet.
The next day, he challenged Liu Bang to bring out his three strongest warriors to settle the war through armed combat. Liu Bang sent out an archer who shot dead all three from a distance. Furious, Xiang Yu personally rode up to Liu Bang and challenged him to a duel.
Now, Liu Bang could have just done the usual cowardly thing and refused the duel in the safety of his own keep. But he just couldn't resist rubbing salt into Xiang Yu's wounded pride. So he came up to him and listed all his alleged crimes over the years.
He then proceeded by further insulting Xiang Yu that he was not even worthy to be killed by his own hands. He should be killed by a lowly convict soldier. Hey!
Just kidding, Sui Ge. I love you guys. And then instant karma. Xiang Yu's hidden archer shot Liu Bang.
Liu Bang immediately fled. As he rode back to his keep, he shouted, Oh no! I am shot in the toe! Unless Liu Bang's feet grew out of his chest, that was a lie. But he had to say it to preserve his army's morale.
And to allay further panic among the troops, his strategist, Zhang Liang, advised him to inspect his soldiers to keep up the facade before he was moved to somewhere where he could find better treatment. But why was Liu Bang playing this stupid game with Xiang Yu anyway? Actually, he was trying to buy time. waiting for Han Xing's reinforcement to come. But he never did.
While Liu Bang had been losing his battles and holding down Xiang Yu at best, Han Xing had been kicking ass up north and taking kingdoms. But now he is getting a little greedy and he wanted to be made the king of Qi. Liu Bang was furious when he heard the request.
But if he wanted any chance to win the war at all, he had no other choice but to grant him the title. And this was the start of the build-up of bad blood between the two. But Han Xing also received an offer from Xiang Yu to help his force. And if he had accepted it, he would be made the king of the whole northern region in a China that's divided into three.
He didn't know it at the time, but Han Xing was sitting in a very privileged position in history because he got to decide the course of Chinese civilization for millennia to come. As for him, The pertinent question was, is it better to be a significant regional player in a tripartite China destined for conflict, or a minor king in a unified China under Liu Bang? By 203 BCE, both Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were exhausted by the constant war.
But Xiang Yu's side were also having the problem of food shortage. So when Liu Bang initiated a peace negotiation, Xiang Yu was willing to come to the table. After a few rounds of discussion, they agreed to divide China into two.
And as part of the agreement, Liu Bang's family members would return to him. Finally, everyone gets to go home now. Sike, it's actually time to attack!
So Liu Bang attacked Xiang Yu the moment his army turned their backs. Liu Bang was already known to have no shame and no morals. So why would he even care for his honor? For now, all he needed to do was to win.
But he lost. It wasn't completely his fault though. Because Xiang Yu was the greatest warrior of the era, and his elite battle-hardened soldiers had defeated armies almost 20 times larger than itself. Additionally, Liu Bang's reinforcement, including Han Xing, refused to come to his aid.
Liu Bang had to offer more prestigious titles to his subordinates and expand Han Xing's domain to finally solidify their support. He will just have to save the grudge for later. After this hiccup, he finally managed to gather an army of 500,000 against Xiang Yu's 100,000.
That about evens it up, Xiang Yu thought, since he had won against greater odds anyway in the past. But the greatest warrior of the era miscalculated one thing. His opponent was the greatest general of the era. The difference between the two is that while Han Xing could not perform battlefield miracles like Xiang Yu, the great general never chooses to fight up. battle he could not win.
So the course of history was set the moment Han Xing picked his side on the battlefield of Gaixia. Despite some initial successes, Xiang Yu suffered his devastating first defeat. But not all was lost because he was able to return to camp with half of his army. Han Xing's men had the camp surrounded but he was not stupid enough to provoke a cornered beast. So Zhang Liang came up with a plan.
In the middle of the night, he climbed onto a hill and played his flute. What followed was a chorus of two songs, sang from all four corners by soldiers who were also two natives. The lyrics of the song claimed that their homeland, Tu, was already conquered, which was a lie, and they will not be harmed if they surrendered. This psychological warfare proved to be extremely effective.
and it led to mass desertion by Xiang Yu's army. Soon, only 800 men were left in the camp. This turn of event devastated Xiang Yu.
Luck had deserted him. He lost not because he wasn't a great warrior, but it was heaven's will, he said to himself. Thinking that the war was lost and not wanting to become a burden for his escape, Xiang Yu's consort, Yu, took her own life.
Xiang Yu cried bitterly over her death. death. Not wanting to let her sacrifice go to waste, after burying her in a makeshift grave, Xiang Yu and his 800 warriors rode out of their camp and broke through the encirclement. Under the direct orders of Liu Bang, 5,000 cavalrymen pursued him and the reward for his head was 10,000 caddies of gold and the title of Marquis. Since we are talking about history here, we know that this is a doomed flight.
That will lead to his legendary last stand. Within the year, Liu Bang would complete his conquest, become the emperor and establish the Han dynasty, one of China's golden ages. But had the Battle of Gaixia gone differently, we could see a very different China today.
The empire's policies in this time period would often be directly influenced by the personalities of the respective rulers. Usually, someone's true nature is revealed in times of crisis. Even when pursued by 5,000 cavalrymen, Xiang Yu did not abandon his warriors.
More than once, he personally rode into the enemy's battle formation, killed the general and cut down the flag to break them out of encirclement. He valued his comrade in arms more than anything, and he was willing to lead by example. So a China under Xiang Yu would probably be a very hands-on militaristic empire.
And in a divided China, It is unlikely that violence-averse philosophies like Confucianism would gain prominence. At the same time, it is unlikely that common peasants would thrive under him, as the farmer who misdirected him when he was lost would probably know. Under Liu Bang's reign, he reduced taxes, government spending, and gradually warmed up to Confucianism. Xiang Yu was a brutal leader who killed hundreds and thousands of Qin prisoners of war. But it didn't mean that he was a terrible ruler for the two people.
He was jealous of competition, but he was kind to his subordinates and people under him. When he had the chance to get away by crossing the river on a boat, the shame of facing the family of the 8,000 warriors who joined his first campaign prevented him to board, because none of his original comrades-in-arms survived. So instead, he let his loyal warhorse board the boat, and turned to face his hundreds of pursuers with his last few remaining men.
And when he saw his end was coming, he recognized one of his former friend and subordinate among the crowd of enemy soldiers. Knowing about the hefty reward that comes with his head, he singled him out and gifted him the reward. But the ensuing scramble turned savage, as every soldier tried to claim a peace for themselves. Consequently, Xiang Yu's remain was torn to five parts, and the holder of each piece was made marquee. Liu Bang, on the other hand, was willing to cooperate with others, regardless of their background.
To prove it, he even granted his old nemesis, Yong Zi, a title. Begrudgingly, of course, none of Xiang Yu's family members were harmed either. I guess you could say that this is the difference between a king and an emperor. A king rules for a nation. But an emperor rules for everyone.
But of course, Liu Bang wasn't a saint either. He plotted against anyone who threatened his rule, including the three heroes of the early Han dynasty. Han Xing was killed, Xiao He was jailed briefly, and Zhang Liang, who was smart enough to read the situation, retired to become an ascetic.
Before I end the video, let me pose a question for you. If you were Han Xing, disregarding the way he died under Liu Bang, Would you have chosen differently and put us on a different historical trajectory? On the next episode, we will look at Han Xin, his life origin, and how he became the greatest general of the era.
And as usual, comment and share the video if you've been entertained by it. And until next time, stay cool my bros.