When it comes to assessing the causes of military disasters over the ages, one that appears time and again is the capacity of military leaders to underestimate their enemies. This was the case in October 205 BCE, when the combined forces of the Zhao army took on the much smaller force of the Han army in the rugged Taihang Mountains of northwest China.
The battle was catastrophic for the Zhao army, which was outwitted, outmanoeuvred and annihilated by a Han force less than one-sixth its size. The general commanding the Han army was Han Xin, a mercurial character who would go on to become the greatest military strategist in Chinese history. Han Xin’s strategy that day would become the stuff of legend. It’s a credit to him that over two millennia later, the Battle of Jingxing is remembered for the audacious brilliance of his battle plan.
