Battle of Handan
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Allied Zhao, Wei and Chu victory
- Qin expansion temporarily halted
| Battle of Handan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Warring States Period | |||||||
 Battle of Handan | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Qin |
Zhao Wei Chu | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Wang Ling Wang He Zheng Anping  |
Zhao: Wei: Chu: | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Qin: 650,000 |
Zhao: All forces Wei: 80,000 Chu: 100,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Qin suffered a major defeat, which was rare in the late Warring States period. | Zhao slightly recovered from the Battle of Changping and managed to survive for several more decades. | ||||||
The Battle of Handan began in 259 BC and concluded in 257 BC, during which the garrison of Handan, the capital city of Zhao, joined by the allied force of Wei and Chu, defeated the invading army of Qin. It was one of the most remarkable failures of the Qin army after the Reform of Shang Yang.
Just months prior to the siege, Zhao suffered a major loss in Battle of Changping, during which more than 400,000 soldiers were killed by the Qin army led by Bai Qi. When the state of Zhao was still in pain, Qin launched another attack towards the Shangdang region of Zhao. Qin quickly captured Pilao and Taiyuan which caused panic in the Zhao and Han states. To stop Qin's invasion, Han and Zhao ceded several towns to Qin. Fan Ju, the chancellor of Qin, argued that the Qin should accept those towns and stop the military campaign, while the general Bai Qi wanted to keep on invading those two states aiming to wipe them out completely. King Zhaoxiang of Qin accepted Fan Ju's strategy and stopped the campaign, which caused some conflict between Fan Ju and Bai Qi.[1]
When King Xiaocheng of Zhao planned to cede six towns according to the treaty, some governors stopped him. A governor called Yu Qing told the king that ceding towns to Qin would only make Qin a bigger threat. He suggested that instead of ceding six towns to Qin, Zhao should cede six towns to Qi in order to gain the support from the powerful state in the east. Meanwhile, Zhao should form an allied force with Han, Wei, Yan and Chu to stop the eastward expansion of Qin together. The king took Yu Qing's suggestion and began to prepare for a potential total conflict against Qin.[2]
Qin was annoyed by Zhao's refusal to cede six towns as promised. The king of Qin decided to launch another war. He wanted to make Bai Qi the general, but Bai Qi refused because he knew that this was not a good time to defeat Zhao since Zhao was well prepared and was allied with other states.[3]