Battle of Wei River

Battle of Wei River
Part of the Chu-Han contention
Date 204 BC Location Weifang, Shandong Result Han victory
Belligerents
Principality of Han	State of Qi, Western Chu
Commanders and leaders
Han Xin	Tian Guang, Long Ju
Strength
50,000	200,000

The Battle of Wei River (濰水之戰) was fought in 204 BC between the Han and a combined force of Qi and Western Chu. The famous General Han Xin led the Han force, while the Qi were led by Prince Tian Guang (田廣), and the Chu by Long Ju (龍且). It was one of the most important battles of the Chu-Han Contention.

In 205 BC, Han Xin had captured most of the modern Hebei and Shanxi provinces, the principalities of Zhao, and Dai, and was starting to march on the principality of Qi. Prince Tian Guang, persuaded by noted diplomat Li Yiji (酈食其), had decided to acknowledge the leadership of Han and its king, Liu Bang. However, Liu Bang did not officially notify Han Xin. Ignorant of Prince Tian Guang's intentions, Han Xin decided to launch a surprise attack against Qi, under the counsel of Kuai Tong. Tian Guang's forces were completely surprised. Tian Guang fled and sought assistance from King Xiang Yu of Western Chu, pledging fealty. Xiang Yu sent a strong expeditionary force, including some elite cavalry, under Long Ju to relieve Qi.

Han Xin knew that Long, noted for his personal bravery and fighting prowess, was too arrogant. The night before the battle, he set a trap for Long by building a makeshift dam with sandbags to lower the water level in the Wei river. Long was counseled to fight a slow battle of attrition since he had forces to spare (the force ratio is about 1:3 in favour of Chu). Long declined, believing he had overwhelming forces and that Han Xin was a coward, as a result of an incident when Han Xin served in the Chu forces. (Han Xin had crawled between the legs of some hooligan to avoid conflict when he was outnumbered.)

The next morning, Han Xin marched across the lowered river and attacked Long's forces. Then, he made a strategic retreat by tricking Long into charging his army across the river. When about one quarter of the Chu army had crossed, Han signalled for his men to open the dam. That succeeded in drowning many of the Chu soldiers and isolating Long Ju, with only a fraction of his force. Cut off by the river, Long Ju had nowhere to go and was cut down in battle. The rest of the Chu army disintegrated, when Han Xin continued to press his attack. Prince Tian Guang fled and was eventually caught and killed.

This battle was strategically significant since it cost Xiang Yu between half and a third of his forces, including many veterans, depleted Chu of important reserves and prevented any future possibility of Xiang Yu fighting successfully on two fronts. Eventually, Xiang Yu was deprived of elbow room and lost the war.

Note that Xiang Yu, for some reason, did not lead the Chu army into battle himself when he fought against the now-famous Han Xin.