The Battle of the Flood was a battle for hegemony between Song State and Chu State during the Eastern Zhou and Spring and Autumn Period in China in 638 BC, and the battle ended in the failure of Song State. The battle of the flood occurred in the flood (now three miles north of Zhecheng County, Henan Province). With superior troops, strong morale and favorable geographical conditions, Chu defeated Song State and won a great victory. After the flood, there was no resistance to the expansion of Chu in the Central Plains. In the following years, the influence of Chu once reached the north of the Yellow River, and the expansion of Chu was curbed only after the Battle of Chengpu, Chu Jin. After the defeat in the Flood War, Song became a second-rate country and failed to play an important role in history.

War process

After the death of Qi Huangong, the first overlord of the Central Plains in the Spring and Autumn Period, the governors of various countries were leaderless and became fragmented. Qi declined due to civil strife, and Jin and Qin also had their own difficulties, so they could not ask about the Central Plains for the time being. In this way, Chu, a big southern country that has been pinned down by Qi Huangong for a long time, wants to seize the opportunity to enter the Central Plains and seize hegemony. Chu, known as the "barbarian state" of the Central Plains countries, moved northward, which aroused the uneasiness of the small countries in the Central Plains. Therefore, he always prided himself on benevolence and righteousness, and wanted to rely on the status of the Song Principality, the highest title and the afterglow of leading the vassal countries to pacify the chaos, lead the vassal countries to compete with Chu, inherit the hegemony, and then wait for an opportunity to restore the business of the Yin merchants. However, at that time, the national strength of Song State was far behind that of Chu State, and Song Xianggong's overreaching led to the intensification of the contradiction between Song and Chu. Chu was helpless at that time, but it was handy at this time, so he tried to teach a lesson, which eventually led to the outbreak of the flood war.

Let's talk about Song Xianggong's obsession with becoming an ally. Although he is ambitious, his national strength is limited after all. Therefore, he can only simply imitate Qi Huangong's practice, take "benevolence and righteousness" as a political call, and call governors to hold an alliance meeting to improve his reputation. However, his tricks were not only ignored by many small countries, but also calculated by the monarchs and ministers of Chu. At the alliance meeting in Yu Di (now northwest of Sui County, Henan Province), Song Xianggong refused to bring more troops ahead of time, so as to avoid the unexpected construction of the Han Dynasty. As a result, he was captured alive by the troops under the faithless King Chu Cheng.

Chu army led Song Xianggong to attack Shangqiu (now Shangqiu City, Henan Province), the capital of the Song Dynasty. Fortunately, Tai Zai-yu led the people of Song Guojun to carry out tenacious resistance, which contained the offensive of the Chu army and made it besieged the Song capital for several months without success. Later, under the mediation of Lu Xigong, King Chu released Song Xianggong to return home. Song Xianggong was so humiliated that he was really angry. He hated the treachery of the King of Chu, and was even more indignant that have it both ways, another vassal state, betrayed Song and Chu. He knew that the relieving was not the horse of Chu, so he dared not take the initiative to provoke it for the time being; Instead, he pointed his finger at Zheng, who had surrendered to Chu, and decided to crusade to show his prestige and save his face as a prisoner of Chu. Fu Gongsun-gu and his son (brother) both thought that attacking Zheng would cause Chu to send troops to interfere, and they both discouraged cutting Zheng. However, Song Xianggong plausibly defended this action: "If God does not dislike me, the old business of Yin Shang can be revived." Insist on cutting Zheng. Hearing the news of Song Jun's massive attack, Zheng Wengong immediately asked Chu for help. King Chu Cheng quickly set out to cut the Song Dynasty and save Zheng. Only when he got the news did he know that the situation was very serious and he was forced to withdraw his troops from Zheng. In the 14th year of King Xiang Zhou (638 BC), Song Jun returned to the Song Dynasty.

On the first day of November in the fourteenth year of King Xiang of Zhou (638 BC), when the Chu army advanced to the south bank of the flood, Song Jun had already occupied a favorable position, and set up an array to meet them on the north bank of the flood.

At this time, the Chu army was still on its way to the Song State within the territory of Chen. In order to stop the Chu army in the border area, Song Xianggong moved the army to the north of Hongshui (a tributary of the Guo River, which flows southeast between Shangqiu and Zhecheng County in Henan Province) and waited for the arrival of the Chu army. On the first day of November, the Chu army entered the south bank of Hongshui and began to cross the river. At this time, Song Jun has arranged his battle. In the Song Dynasty, Fu Gongsun-gu suggested that when the Chu army crossed the river, it should seize the fighter plane and attack the Chu army, because Chu Song Jun was outnumbered and had the advantage.

When the Chu army began to cross the river, Uji Ma Gongsungu suggested to Song Xianggong: "If the other side is outnumbered, you can fight halfway." Song Xianggong refused to agree, saying that the teacher of righteousness "does not push people to danger or force them to die."

However, it was flatly rejected by Song Xianggong, so that all Chu troops could survive the flood smoothly. After the Chu army crossed the river, it began to line up. At this time, GongSunGu suggested that Song Xianggong attack while ChuJun battle was unfinished and the ranks were undecided, but Song Xianggong still refused to accept it. When Chu Jun was disposed of and everything was ready, Song Xianggong attacked Chu Jun with drums and gongs. However, by this time, it was too late. The weak Song Jun is no match for the powerful Chu State. After a fight, Song Jun was badly hurt, and Song Xianggong's own thigh was badly hurt. His elite guard was annihilated by the Chu army. Only under the desperate cover of Gongsungu and others could they break through and escape back to the Song Dynasty. In this way, the flood battle ended in the defeat of Chu Sheng and Song Dynasty.

After the war, all China people complained about Xiang Gong's improper command, but Song Xianggong didn't realize his mistake. He explained to his subjects: "The past is the army, and when it comes to major events, he will not forget the big gifts", "A gentleman will not be seriously injured (he will not hurt the injured enemy again), will not catch twenty cents (he will not catch white-haired enemy veterans), will not block the pass (he will not stop the enemy from winning in the pass), and will not beat drums (he will not take the initiative to attack the enemy who has not yet formed a line). In May 637 BC (the 15th year of King Xiang of Zhou), Song Xianggong died of his injuries.

War assessment

Although the scale of the flood war is not very large, it has certain significance in the history of the development of ancient wars in China. It indicates that the "soldiers of courtesy and righteousness" characterized by "arranging drums" since Shang and Zhou Dynasties will come to an end, and a new combat mode dominated by "cunning" is emerging. The so-called "soldiers of courtesy and righteousness" means "fighting hard and not cheating" and "helping each other in the same boat and beating drums without cheating" It is the inevitable requirement of the old dense phalanx operation, but at this time, due to the increasingly sophisticated weapons and equipment and the continuous development of vehicle array tactics, it has begun to adapt to the needs of war practice and gradually declined. Song Xianggong ignored the change of this situation, stuck to the old theories of the art of war, such as "no drums, no columns" and "no obstacles", and suffered a tragic failure, which was really inevitable. This is just as Huai Nan Zi said: "In ancient times, if you conquered the country and didn't kill Huang Kouhui, you couldn't divide it into two parts. What is ancient is righteousness, and what is today is laughter. Those who are proud of the past are also humiliated today. "

To sum up, in the flood war, although Song Jun is at a relative disadvantage in strength comparison, if Song Jun can take advantage of the danger of the flood and take a flexible and ingenious tactical preemptive strike, it is possible to defeat the Chu army with less blows. Of course, among the courtiers in the Song Dynasty, not everyone was as pedantic as Song Xianggong. The minds of GongSunGu and others are more sober. Their general plan of using the Chu army to cross the flood halfway and their suggestion of using the Chu army to "help but not strike repeatedly" reflect the progressive operational thought of "the soldier is cunning" and "attacking him unprepared", which can be used for reference by future military strategists. For example, Sun Tzu regards "guests come from water, don't welcome water, let them fight with half help" as one of the important principles of "water is the army". As for the examples of winning by "semi-cross attack" in practice, it is everywhere. In the battle of Bai Juyi, Fu Cha almost tried his best, and defeating the Chu army by half crossing is a typical example. As a result of the flood war, the Song State was devastated, the forces of Chu State further expanded to the Central Plains, and the hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period entered a new stage.

In the flood war, Song Xianggong pursued "pig-like benevolence (in Mao Zedong)", paid no attention to the construction of troops, and lacked the necessary command ability. Eventually, the whole army was wiped out, which made the world laugh. As "Huai Nan Zi" said, "In ancient times, if you cut the country and didn't kill Huang Kou, you couldn't score two points. What is ancient is righteousness, and what is today is laughter. Those who are proud of the past are also humiliated today. " The flood war marked the withdrawal of "soldiers of propriety and righteousness" led by "arranging drums" and the rise of a new combat mode led by "cunning" since Shang and Zhou Dynasties.