Battle of Changping

Lore & Background

Bai Qi, who had secretly taken command from Wang He, anticipated this move. He feigned a retreat, luring the Zhao army deep into a trap where they were cut off from their supply lines by a mobile cavalry force under Wei Ran. As the Zhao soldiers starved and morale crumbled over forty-six days, Bai Qi launched a final assault that resulted in the surrender of hundreds of thousands of troops. In a move that shocked the world and cemented Qin's reputation for terror, Bai Qi ordered the execution of almost all captured soldiers, sparing only a handful to return home with tales of horror.

In Their Own Story

The dust of Changping did not smell like earth; it smelled of blood and rotting grain. Zhao Kuo stood atop the ridge, his armor slick with sweat, watching the horizon where the Qin lines had vanished hours ago. 'They are retreating,' he whispered to his officers, a grin breaking through his exhaustion. But as the sun began to set, casting long shadows over the valley, the ground trembled not from marching feet, but from the rumble of hidden earthworks rising up around them. The trap was sprung. Below, the cry of thousands of starving men turned into a desperate silence as the Qin spears closed in like an iron wall.

Reader's Guide

The Battle of Changping began with Lian Po's defensive strategy against Qin's aggressive expansion. Recognizing that Zhao could not win a direct fight, he fortified his camp to exhaust the enemy through years of stalemate. Qin countered by spreading misinformation about their fear of Lian Po but not Zhao Kuo. The Zhao court fell for this deception, replacing the cautious veteran with the eager Zhao Kuo. Upon taking command, Kuo immediately abandoned the defensive posture and launched a full-scale attack. Bai Qi, secretly leading the Qin forces, feigned defeat to lure the Zhao army into an isolated valley. Once encircled by Wei Ran's cavalry and cut off from supplies, the Zhao army was trapped for over forty days. After their food ran out and they attempted to break out, Bai Qi ordered a final assault. In a horrific act of war, Bai Qi executed nearly all of them, burying them alive or slaughtering them on the spot. This massacre decimated Zhao's military power forever and paved the way for Qin's eventual unification of China.

Did You Know?

• The battle lasted for years before the final encirclement phase began.
• Bai Qi was kept secret as the commander until the trap was fully sprung to prevent Zhao from changing tactics.
• Only twenty-four young soldiers were spared from the massacre to carry news of the defeat back to Zhao.
• The sheer number of casualties at Changping is often cited as a single event that changed the demographic balance of ancient China.