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What if Alexander the Great invades China?
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Reno
The Studio Ghibli Fanatic
He barely made it into India, so he would have never being able to conguer it. Period.
Oh and welcome to CFC.
Oh and welcome to CFC.
Yoda Power
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I really really doubt that he will invade China, afterall he's been dead for more than 2000 years
Zarn
Le Républicain Catholique
Also, the Chinese Military can take on his army now, seeing as the Chinese military 'upgraded' a little bit. The campaign would be a huge failure.
Of course, I know you meant back then. I doubt he could have. China wasn't close enough to invade, IIRC. I mean, wouldn't his army be stretched a little too thin?
I'm not an expert on Alexander (most history I study is after gunpowder), so my opinion is not worth alot.
Of course, I know you meant back then. I doubt he could have. China wasn't close enough to invade, IIRC. I mean, wouldn't his army be stretched a little too thin?
I'm not an expert on Alexander (most history I study is after gunpowder), so my opinion is not worth alot.
Yoda Power
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Also the army would have to travel in a very harsh terrain to get there, and many would die, so he had no chance of winning in China.
Mongoloid Cow
Great Khan
Not only that, but China didn't exist as far as the west was concerned until the Silk Road was opened up in the first century BC. To get there, he would have had to cross through steppe tribe land, something he was not keen on doing. He never would have gone to China.
das
Regeneration In Process
He DID know that there was something further east of India. Let us suppose that his troops do somewhat better against India and he presses on to defeat Maurya and establish control there as well. From there, into the jungles of Indochina we go, to catch more malaria for doubtful profits. But even if his army makes it as far and is in fighting shape, it will face an unified China with a pretty good (if inexperienced in fighting equals) army. Recipe for disaster.
I really don't know how active the Chinese military was at that point but one of the big factors for Alexander's success against Persia was the fact that Persia had tons of men and great equipment but badly trained troops and commanders. It had a been an inactive army, not doing much fighting and thus easy prey for a more veteran, battle-hardened Macedonian army.
Neonanocyborgasm
Deity
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At the time Alexander was in India, China was divided into numerous small kingdoms, so, if by some miracle he went through India and then through Central Asia, he'd probably be able to walk all over China. But, that's a long way to go.
North King
blech
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No, not likely at all. China was unified under the Han, wasn't it? *looks at resident Chinese History experts*...
Anyway I doubt he could have made it through India. But then, I'm biased towards India.
Anyway I doubt he could have made it through India. But then, I'm biased towards India.
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
No, not likely at all. It was during the rise of the Qin Dynasty, and that dynasty was VERY militaristic. It would have been harder then one dynasty as each state had their own large trained army, and it would have been impossible to secure all of that land against guerilles, and those armies.
North King
blech
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Yeah, just checked, it was warring states, but just when Qin was starting its metoric rise. Alexander wouldn't have stood a chance in an era of well trained armies operating off of Sun Tzu, the rather stupid tactician would have gotten himself killed in the initial clash.
Hardly. It was one of the most militaristic phases in Chinese history. The Warring States were very competitive with each other - it was a matter of life and death to them.Nanocyborgasm said:
Qin alone could squashed his army.
I await Khaghan's post.
Alexander was in India approx 32x BCE
That was when Qin Shihuangdi united the Warring States (322 BCE). So first points, dangerous and free army.
Second point, how the heck was Alexander supposed to march in? Through the Himalayas? In the jungles of Viet? In the steppes?
His army would probably be destroyed by the Xiongnu, Nan Yue or the Yeti..
But assuming he managed to get through, he'd have the great wall in the north. Elsewhere, the Qin army would probably eat him up..
That was when Qin Shihuangdi united the Warring States (322 BCE). So first points, dangerous and free army.
Second point, how the heck was Alexander supposed to march in? Through the Himalayas? In the jungles of Viet? In the steppes?
His army would probably be destroyed by the Xiongnu, Nan Yue or the Yeti..
But assuming he managed to get through, he'd have the great wall in the north. Elsewhere, the Qin army would probably eat him up..
The terrain of Kashgaria is harsh and passing it is difficult if not impossible without the support of enourmous logistics that Alexander couldn't possibly muster. Kashgaria has been discribed by the 19th century European as impossible to get out once you got in. And these are not taking account the marauding enemy that would harass Alexander's troops. Even if by some miracle Alexander manage to reach China, the kingdom of Qin's power is more than enough to stop Alexander's advance for the simple reason that Alexander's troops that invade couldn't possibily have numbered more than his typical 30,000-50,000 in his campaigns, and these are his elite troops. to travel such a distance, only small size could be mantained, large armies of hundred thousand would require enourmous logistic support which Alexander is not able to maintain thus it would only be a hinderance to his campaign. And add to the fact that he has to worry about rebellion within his own empire, large troops are need to guard his empire. Besides the reserves he could get will only be Persian ones which is of low quality in comparison. Qin on the other hand is on their own ground, has their own numerous cities to defend, inexhuastable resource considering its their own territory, and superior ramped earth walls which inferior Greek siege craft not to mention it could only be light ones since its a distant campaign would not be able to take down. All Qin has to do is wait till Alexander's troops starve and retreat, then attack and rout. A 50,000 Macedonian troop traveling across the Taklamakan desert would not pose any danger to Qin in the slightest way. It would merely be treated as another one of those petty raids made by the Hu and Qiang tribes that are in Qin's border. And the fact that Qin has over half a million standing army is moer than enough to stop a little army of 50,000. And contrast to popular bias, Macedonian troops are not superior in battle than the armies of central plain, in equipment, tactic, organization or discipline. And considering Qin's(as well as the other central plain states) vast resource due to superior agriculture and blast furnace metal production, its resource would not end. Conquering Qin is like conquering Rome during hannibal, even if Qin could be defeated in battles, in would not loose the war. Only Qin's resource is greater than Rome's, and Alexander has to travel through far tougher terrain than Hannibal making Alexander's chance of vicotry virtually zero.
All this is of course assuming Alexander would get to China at all which is extremely doubtful since the tarim basin is a desert with little oasis to support his army.
For some comparison between the armies, the typical tactic of Chinese warfare is very different from that of west, with its more powerful missile, Chinese warfare depend far more on firepower than shock as the ancient classical west had. Most of the time except when one army has the higher ground, the two army would be a great deal distance away in looser formations sometimes digging trenches or hide at slopes until enemy fire lessens then they would charge with their speed infantry, thats how Qin won its battles. This is of course ignoring the other elements to a battle such as skirmish and surprise. But note that the Qin army of this time is somewhat different from that of the terracota army. During this time, chariot is still the dominant weapon, 3rd century is when cavalry actually started to dominate the field. But in contrast to many writers, cavalry already exist before Zhao Wu lin, it was clearly mentioned in the battle of Ma ling in 341 when Pan Juan used his cavalry to pursue Qi.
Qin's armour unlike many other states was not very heavily armoured, their armoured troops did not have full protection and rarely carried shields. Qin sacrified protection for mobility, and from the examination of its armament, it would indicate Qin always took the offensive. From examination of the Qin formation, it has a vanguard force, which was a deadlier version of the Greek archer and peltasts of the front and rear. The vanguard is made up of three rows of crossbow and bowmen, using rotational fire, and could have a pavise for protection. The bolts of their weapon are unmatched in fire power by the Macedonian troops. And they could punch right threw a hoplite shield(The first emperor of China, Cotterell p.48) They are lightly armed for speed, so they could retreat with speed and fire from far away. Their agility and speed along with the light spearmen behind them and those guarding the flanks when utilized correctly would be impossible for an enemy to catch it off balance. They are similar to the role of the Peltasts, but more efficient, for their archer has far stronger fire power. Those behind the vanguard is the chariot and light infantry that accompany it, the chariot are light and used to breakthrough enemy formation with speed while the light infantry and the heavy ones behind it charge to exploit the opening, these troops are heavier armoured than the rest for they have to do hand to hand combat, but the strong part of Qin was its Halberdiers which inflict great damage on nemy. Behind are rear guards which guard Qin's rear.
Qin has a left Wing divison, which was designed to be far more mobile, they wore little armour and carried no shields, they have archers in the front, light chariots and cavalry along with light infantry behind. These are used to attack with great speed on the opponent flanks which is a common tactic.
This organization is as follows:
A vanguard of archers together with unarmoured infantrymen.
A cavalry unit occupying the left flank.
A chariot unit occupying the right flank.
A main unit of cavalry and chariots subdivided into 8 columns occupied the center in a rectangular formation.
A cavalry unit covered the rear.
In general, warring state army were not as strong in shock power, but are far more flexible and mobile, this formation was known in Chinese military lore as `Concentric Deployment', a tactic in which each unit could fight either independently or as part of the whole. The divisions of a typical warring state army is as follows:
The Wu - five-man squad in line astern.
The Dui - 10 Wu in line abreast (5 men deep and 10 across) 50 men
The Bo - Two Dui in line abreast (5 men deep and 20 across) or line astern (a square 10 men deep and 10 across) 100 men
The Qu - Two Bo in line abreast (5 men deep and 40 across) or line astern (20 men deep and 10 across) 200 men
There is never a standard organization in Chinese armies because like the later Byzantine, they do not want the enemy to know how much troops they actually have. These divison could be aranged differently, for example, the standard is a Qu, higher would be the Jun(army) which could range anywhere between 2000-6000).
In another word, each Wu, Dui, Bo Qu, Jun could fight by as separate units and move independently or together. Their different arms in proportion enable greater military movement and orderexecution while the difference enabled fighting as a whole like a phalanx or when the formation is broken fight as individual unit with halberds, Ji, spears and swords. Whereupon the typical phalanx could only move forward and backward, with support light infantry it could fare well, but was still outmaneuvred by the legions due to its rigidness, since the Roman was also flexible it could surround and outflank the Phalanx. This is of course only taking account of the infantry melee, not about the firepower and cavalry role.
The Square - made up of several rows of Qu, with the HeadQuarter in the middle of the rear row. Not necessarily a true square, can be rectangular. A favourite tactic was to place stronger Qu on the flanks, and then lure the enemy to attack the centre and be outflanked.
The Circle - a Qu reformed into a ring, with the Head protected within it. A highly defensive formation.
Dispersed Formation - increasing the distance between individual Qu in a square, so as to mislead the enemy or divide his forces.
Close Formation- decreasing the distance between individual Qu in a square, for strength in close-quarter fighting.
The Awl - A wedge (triangle with one point facing forward), a highly offensive formation. Also known in later history as the Male Formation êò(pin)Õó (you'll see why later).
The Wild-Goose-Flight Formation - A V-formation with two wings for enveloping the enemy and the head in the middle. Or an inverted-V for a defensive formation that can quickly be converted to offensive wedge. The V-formation can also be modified into a flattened U known as the Basket Formation or Female Formation for luring enemy wedges into the centre and then enveloping them.
The Hook Formation - A line abreast with the two ends sloping inwards to avoid being flanked. Probably most suitable for archers or crossbowmen.
To add to these are some unorthodox formations such as the W which has the Wedge in the center with V formation on each sides, and the famous Bagua
Qin emphasized on speed and valour for armour which is one of the reason it was so successful, also Greek military seem to stick to the concept that heavy infantry is always superior to light, thus they never allow the light to engage the combat with the heavy, this is exactly different from China since Chinese manual emphasize the role of light infantry is to outflank the heavy infantry. without through knowledge of Chinese warfare, the Phalanx general could very well be surprised when a light infantry hit its flanks as it was against the general rule.
Crossbow would take heavy tole on the Macedonian phalanx because of the poor defense equippment of the time. According to expert studying the crossbow from the terra cota pit, the bolt could rip straight throw the Greek or Macedonian shield with ease at 200 meters. Greek shields would have been easily shattered by Chinese cross-bows in the bookto "5000 years of Genius - Ancient Chinese Inventions", there explicitly mention that the shield wall would have been easily shattered when it approaches.
The only way that the Phalanx would be successful is if had the ground advantage. But considering they are invading the Qin has the mountainous terrains. Without letting the phalanx getting too close Alexander's tactic of using the Phalanx as a shield and attack with the cavalry would be very difficult to excersice. Manuevres he pulled on the Greek states such as luring the heavy infantry away frwith light ones would have little use since the warring astate military know very well of these tactics. His archers would be outfired, while if he attempt for a surprised campanion charge, it would have been repelled by the Qin vanguard and rear light infantry protection, these units are espcially there to guard against unexpectded attacks preventing the Qin army from ever getting caught off guard. There crossbow bolts would have been deadly against cavalry charges that are not fully armoured, as demonstrated against the Xiongnu cavalry, while those that manage to cross the barrage would have to face the light Qin halberdiers and Ji users especially designed to cut off cavalrymen. So most likely that an initial encouter would have completely caught alexander off guard since he never faced such weaponry and tactics unless he have a through understanding of the ways that Qin faught.
All this is of course assuming Alexander would get to China at all which is extremely doubtful since the tarim basin is a desert with little oasis to support his army.
For some comparison between the armies, the typical tactic of Chinese warfare is very different from that of west, with its more powerful missile, Chinese warfare depend far more on firepower than shock as the ancient classical west had. Most of the time except when one army has the higher ground, the two army would be a great deal distance away in looser formations sometimes digging trenches or hide at slopes until enemy fire lessens then they would charge with their speed infantry, thats how Qin won its battles. This is of course ignoring the other elements to a battle such as skirmish and surprise. But note that the Qin army of this time is somewhat different from that of the terracota army. During this time, chariot is still the dominant weapon, 3rd century is when cavalry actually started to dominate the field. But in contrast to many writers, cavalry already exist before Zhao Wu lin, it was clearly mentioned in the battle of Ma ling in 341 when Pan Juan used his cavalry to pursue Qi.
Qin's armour unlike many other states was not very heavily armoured, their armoured troops did not have full protection and rarely carried shields. Qin sacrified protection for mobility, and from the examination of its armament, it would indicate Qin always took the offensive. From examination of the Qin formation, it has a vanguard force, which was a deadlier version of the Greek archer and peltasts of the front and rear. The vanguard is made up of three rows of crossbow and bowmen, using rotational fire, and could have a pavise for protection. The bolts of their weapon are unmatched in fire power by the Macedonian troops. And they could punch right threw a hoplite shield(The first emperor of China, Cotterell p.48) They are lightly armed for speed, so they could retreat with speed and fire from far away. Their agility and speed along with the light spearmen behind them and those guarding the flanks when utilized correctly would be impossible for an enemy to catch it off balance. They are similar to the role of the Peltasts, but more efficient, for their archer has far stronger fire power. Those behind the vanguard is the chariot and light infantry that accompany it, the chariot are light and used to breakthrough enemy formation with speed while the light infantry and the heavy ones behind it charge to exploit the opening, these troops are heavier armoured than the rest for they have to do hand to hand combat, but the strong part of Qin was its Halberdiers which inflict great damage on nemy. Behind are rear guards which guard Qin's rear.
Qin has a left Wing divison, which was designed to be far more mobile, they wore little armour and carried no shields, they have archers in the front, light chariots and cavalry along with light infantry behind. These are used to attack with great speed on the opponent flanks which is a common tactic.
This organization is as follows:
A vanguard of archers together with unarmoured infantrymen.
A cavalry unit occupying the left flank.
A chariot unit occupying the right flank.
A main unit of cavalry and chariots subdivided into 8 columns occupied the center in a rectangular formation.
A cavalry unit covered the rear.
In general, warring state army were not as strong in shock power, but are far more flexible and mobile, this formation was known in Chinese military lore as `Concentric Deployment', a tactic in which each unit could fight either independently or as part of the whole. The divisions of a typical warring state army is as follows:
The Wu - five-man squad in line astern.
The Dui - 10 Wu in line abreast (5 men deep and 10 across) 50 men
The Bo - Two Dui in line abreast (5 men deep and 20 across) or line astern (a square 10 men deep and 10 across) 100 men
The Qu - Two Bo in line abreast (5 men deep and 40 across) or line astern (20 men deep and 10 across) 200 men
There is never a standard organization in Chinese armies because like the later Byzantine, they do not want the enemy to know how much troops they actually have. These divison could be aranged differently, for example, the standard is a Qu, higher would be the Jun(army) which could range anywhere between 2000-6000).
In another word, each Wu, Dui, Bo Qu, Jun could fight by as separate units and move independently or together. Their different arms in proportion enable greater military movement and orderexecution while the difference enabled fighting as a whole like a phalanx or when the formation is broken fight as individual unit with halberds, Ji, spears and swords. Whereupon the typical phalanx could only move forward and backward, with support light infantry it could fare well, but was still outmaneuvred by the legions due to its rigidness, since the Roman was also flexible it could surround and outflank the Phalanx. This is of course only taking account of the infantry melee, not about the firepower and cavalry role.
The Square - made up of several rows of Qu, with the HeadQuarter in the middle of the rear row. Not necessarily a true square, can be rectangular. A favourite tactic was to place stronger Qu on the flanks, and then lure the enemy to attack the centre and be outflanked.
The Circle - a Qu reformed into a ring, with the Head protected within it. A highly defensive formation.
Dispersed Formation - increasing the distance between individual Qu in a square, so as to mislead the enemy or divide his forces.
Close Formation- decreasing the distance between individual Qu in a square, for strength in close-quarter fighting.
The Awl - A wedge (triangle with one point facing forward), a highly offensive formation. Also known in later history as the Male Formation êò(pin)Õó (you'll see why later).
The Wild-Goose-Flight Formation - A V-formation with two wings for enveloping the enemy and the head in the middle. Or an inverted-V for a defensive formation that can quickly be converted to offensive wedge. The V-formation can also be modified into a flattened U known as the Basket Formation or Female Formation for luring enemy wedges into the centre and then enveloping them.
The Hook Formation - A line abreast with the two ends sloping inwards to avoid being flanked. Probably most suitable for archers or crossbowmen.
To add to these are some unorthodox formations such as the W which has the Wedge in the center with V formation on each sides, and the famous Bagua
Qin emphasized on speed and valour for armour which is one of the reason it was so successful, also Greek military seem to stick to the concept that heavy infantry is always superior to light, thus they never allow the light to engage the combat with the heavy, this is exactly different from China since Chinese manual emphasize the role of light infantry is to outflank the heavy infantry. without through knowledge of Chinese warfare, the Phalanx general could very well be surprised when a light infantry hit its flanks as it was against the general rule.
Crossbow would take heavy tole on the Macedonian phalanx because of the poor defense equippment of the time. According to expert studying the crossbow from the terra cota pit, the bolt could rip straight throw the Greek or Macedonian shield with ease at 200 meters. Greek shields would have been easily shattered by Chinese cross-bows in the bookto "5000 years of Genius - Ancient Chinese Inventions", there explicitly mention that the shield wall would have been easily shattered when it approaches.
The only way that the Phalanx would be successful is if had the ground advantage. But considering they are invading the Qin has the mountainous terrains. Without letting the phalanx getting too close Alexander's tactic of using the Phalanx as a shield and attack with the cavalry would be very difficult to excersice. Manuevres he pulled on the Greek states such as luring the heavy infantry away frwith light ones would have little use since the warring astate military know very well of these tactics. His archers would be outfired, while if he attempt for a surprised campanion charge, it would have been repelled by the Qin vanguard and rear light infantry protection, these units are espcially there to guard against unexpectded attacks preventing the Qin army from ever getting caught off guard. There crossbow bolts would have been deadly against cavalry charges that are not fully armoured, as demonstrated against the Xiongnu cavalry, while those that manage to cross the barrage would have to face the light Qin halberdiers and Ji users especially designed to cut off cavalrymen. So most likely that an initial encouter would have completely caught alexander off guard since he never faced such weaponry and tactics unless he have a through understanding of the ways that Qin faught.
Give me the link, pronto!
I'm doing a Warring States NES..
*grin*
p/S: Qin armies had differing types of crossbows as well ranging from the standard one you and I know, to two-man crossbows. One man powers the crossbow with his body (legs hold out the bow, hands pull the sinew, body on ground) while the other loads the bolts. Watch the movie Hero..
I'm doing a Warring States NES..
*grin*
p/S: Qin armies had differing types of crossbows as well ranging from the standard one you and I know, to two-man crossbows. One man powers the crossbow with his body (legs hold out the bow, hands pull the sinew, body on ground) while the other loads the bolts. Watch the movie Hero..
"This is some information I found in another site, how is it?"
lol, what a coincidence, it looked familiar to me. Thats because if you wonder who wrote it, it was me. I have posted that in other forums around and it seems you picked it up.
A note on the Bagua formation, What the formation is designed to be is that it is to be unassailable from all sides and react to any form of enemy attack. It requires superior training of the men and discipline. Its really a defensive formation and has no offensive capabilities.
About the chariot formation:
In western zhou, the warchariot carrying an archer of noble birth was the basic military unit. Each chariot was supported by a platoon of 25 infantry divided into 5 squads. Companies of 4 chariot were then organized by multiples of five into brigades(yu) of 500 men. Then into divisions(shi) of 2500 men, and then into armies(jun) of 12,500 men(all multiples of fives). This specific pattern of organization has been repeatly revived.
The term Wu is the standard of any Chinese army and has kept that name through all the dynasties and even till the present day PLA army. But the number change greatly, during the Tang the Wu was 50 men since 5 is too small for any effective independent movement.
According to "Liu Tao" or "Six Treatises on Strategy", if the troops were to fight individually, "a lone mounted soldier would be no match for one footman"; well-arrayed in battle, however, "one mounted soldier would be a match for eight footmen." The same idea has been fully shared by Friedrich Engels when he stressed the grew importance of combat formation for cavalry.
An armed force is not a martial arts troupe, it must rank battle formation above individual skills in importance. Ancient troops, therefore, were maintained in certain patterns of formation whether they were engaged in field operations, in the siege of a city or in pursuit of an enemy. "Individually," says Sun Zi in his Art of War, "the courageous should not advance, nor the timid retreat." Anyone who dared to break ranks would be punished by military law.
Some statistic on numbers; Chu's population increased after it conquered Yue in 333b.c., Qin's population also increased especially after it conquered Ba and Shu of Si Chuan, while that of Wei decreased dramatically after it was repeatedly defeated or bullied by Qin in giving up territories(Wei is greatly weakend by Qi in the battle of Ma Ling in 341b.c. and was on the decline ever since, enabling Qin to push westward with ease). Qin's population grew dramatically while that of Wei became smaller and smaller, by the time of Qing Wang Zheng(first emperor) Wei's territory is only the size of one Qin prefecture. Chu's population grew to over 6 million, Qin's grew to 5 million by 300 b.c. Zhao and Qi both also greatly increased their power, Zhao conquered the Hu people's territory of Wu Yuan whild Qi annilated the kingdom of Sung and bullied Yen and Wei into giving territory. Yet Yen with the alliance of the 6 other states crushed Qi in 284 b.c. focing Qi to give up 72 cities and almost annilating it, Qi was no longer a great power. In 279 b.c. qi defeated Yen and recaptured all the cities this weakened Yen, but Qi was never strong again, this eliminated the 2 power from the game of competition. Han was never strong and its territory is constantly given up to Qin along with that of Wei, both declared vassalage to Qin. Qin heavily defeatd Han and Wei troops in 293 b.c. annilating total of 240,000 troops fcombined forever weakening Han and Wei. While in 280 b.c. Qin attacked Chu and captured alot of Chu's west provinces, by 278 b.c. Chu's capital itself fell to Qin and Chu moved its capital further east but its power is permanently crippled, the territory conquered by Qin is rich in mineral and resource and greatly boosted Qin's power. At this time Qin is recorded to have over 10,000 chariots and some 1 million men, which of course is in doubt during this period.
lol, what a coincidence, it looked familiar to me. Thats because if you wonder who wrote it, it was me. I have posted that in other forums around and it seems you picked it up.
A note on the Bagua formation, What the formation is designed to be is that it is to be unassailable from all sides and react to any form of enemy attack. It requires superior training of the men and discipline. Its really a defensive formation and has no offensive capabilities.
About the chariot formation:
In western zhou, the warchariot carrying an archer of noble birth was the basic military unit. Each chariot was supported by a platoon of 25 infantry divided into 5 squads. Companies of 4 chariot were then organized by multiples of five into brigades(yu) of 500 men. Then into divisions(shi) of 2500 men, and then into armies(jun) of 12,500 men(all multiples of fives). This specific pattern of organization has been repeatly revived.
The term Wu is the standard of any Chinese army and has kept that name through all the dynasties and even till the present day PLA army. But the number change greatly, during the Tang the Wu was 50 men since 5 is too small for any effective independent movement.
According to "Liu Tao" or "Six Treatises on Strategy", if the troops were to fight individually, "a lone mounted soldier would be no match for one footman"; well-arrayed in battle, however, "one mounted soldier would be a match for eight footmen." The same idea has been fully shared by Friedrich Engels when he stressed the grew importance of combat formation for cavalry.
An armed force is not a martial arts troupe, it must rank battle formation above individual skills in importance. Ancient troops, therefore, were maintained in certain patterns of formation whether they were engaged in field operations, in the siege of a city or in pursuit of an enemy. "Individually," says Sun Zi in his Art of War, "the courageous should not advance, nor the timid retreat." Anyone who dared to break ranks would be punished by military law.
Some statistic on numbers; Chu's population increased after it conquered Yue in 333b.c., Qin's population also increased especially after it conquered Ba and Shu of Si Chuan, while that of Wei decreased dramatically after it was repeatedly defeated or bullied by Qin in giving up territories(Wei is greatly weakend by Qi in the battle of Ma Ling in 341b.c. and was on the decline ever since, enabling Qin to push westward with ease). Qin's population grew dramatically while that of Wei became smaller and smaller, by the time of Qing Wang Zheng(first emperor) Wei's territory is only the size of one Qin prefecture. Chu's population grew to over 6 million, Qin's grew to 5 million by 300 b.c. Zhao and Qi both also greatly increased their power, Zhao conquered the Hu people's territory of Wu Yuan whild Qi annilated the kingdom of Sung and bullied Yen and Wei into giving territory. Yet Yen with the alliance of the 6 other states crushed Qi in 284 b.c. focing Qi to give up 72 cities and almost annilating it, Qi was no longer a great power. In 279 b.c. qi defeated Yen and recaptured all the cities this weakened Yen, but Qi was never strong again, this eliminated the 2 power from the game of competition. Han was never strong and its territory is constantly given up to Qin along with that of Wei, both declared vassalage to Qin. Qin heavily defeatd Han and Wei troops in 293 b.c. annilating total of 240,000 troops fcombined forever weakening Han and Wei. While in 280 b.c. Qin attacked Chu and captured alot of Chu's west provinces, by 278 b.c. Chu's capital itself fell to Qin and Chu moved its capital further east but its power is permanently crippled, the territory conquered by Qin is rich in mineral and resource and greatly boosted Qin's power. At this time Qin is recorded to have over 10,000 chariots and some 1 million men, which of course is in doubt during this period.
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