前言
Preface
公元前
202
年一月，刘邦在定陶登基称帝。五月，刘邦在洛阳的南宫摆酒设宴。席间，刘邦向众人提出一个问题
:“
诸位将军都别瞒我，说真心话。
我之所以能拥有天下，项羽之所以失去天下，这究竟是为什么呢
?”
It was January 202 BC, when Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor in Ding Tao. In May, Liu Bang held a banquet in the south palace of Luo Yang. During the dinner, Liu Bang put forward an inquiry to his guests: " Generals, don't lie to me and say the truth. Why could I conquer the whole country
whereas Xiang Yu lost
it
?"
高起、王陵答道
:“
陛下傲慢而喜欢侮辱人，项羽仁厚而经常爱护人。
可是，陛下每次派人攻城略地，所降服和攻下的地方都会分给他们，这就是
与天下共享利益。项羽嫉贤妒能，有功劳的就陷害，有贤能的就猜疑，打了
胜仗也不计别人的功劳，占了地方也不给别人好处，所以他才会失去天下。
”
Gao Qi and Wang Ling replied, "Your majesty, you are arrogant and like to insult people. Xiang Yu is kind and always nice to people. However, every time you sent army to invade the place, you would give them some of the conquered lands, and that is to share the benefits with the people . Xiang Yu was jealous of the virtuous and the competent. He ensnared people who own credits and distrusted people who are competent. When he won a battle and took new lands, he never ga
v
e credits or share with others. This is why he
fail to conquer the whole country.
刘邦道
:“
你们只知其一，不知其二。运筹于帷幄之间，决胜于千里之外，这点我不如张良。镇守国家，抚慰百姓，供给粮饷，不绝粮道，这点我不如萧何。统帅百万大军，战必胜，攻必取，这点我不如韩信。这三位，都是人中的俊杰，我能够任用他们，这就是我之所以能取天下的原因。项羽只有一个范增却不能任用，这就是他之所以被我擒获的原因。
”
Liu Bang said, "You only know one of the reasons. I am not as good as Zhang Liang in making plans and getting triumph. I am
not
as good as
Xiao He
in guarding the country, comforting the people, and providing the food. In commanding an army with millions of solders and winning the war, I am not as good as Han Xin. These three are the most preeminent men of people. The fact that I conquered the country was all because I was able to appoint them. Xiang Yu only had one eminent official named Fan Zeng, but he could not appoint him. That is why he was defeated by me."
刘邦的这番高论，千百年来获得后人无数的赞誉，可是在姚尧看来，
刘邦也不过是只知其二，不知其三。张良、萧何、韩信三杰确实是为刘邦
夺取天下立下了不朽功勋，可是范增无论是在才能还是作用上都
远
不能与
三杰相比。项羽并非全然不用范增，只是即便用了范增也未见得比不用好
太多。项羽输给刘邦，关键出在战略环节，而范增的战略能力亦未见得比项羽高出多少。
Liu Bang's statement won him countless praise of later generations. But from Yao Yao's perspective, Liu Bang only knew part of the reasons and didn’t know the rest. The three
preeminent
, Zhang Liang, Xiao He and Han Xin, indeed took
the country
and established immortal achievements for Liu Bang’s empire. Even though Xiang Yu appointed Fan Zeng, it didn’t change as much as he could. The key point was the battling strategy, and Fan Zeng’s ability in handling plans of wars was not much greater than Xiang Yu.
在姚尧看来，大事业就像是一张桌子，大势、战略、战术、后勤就是支撑这张桌子的四只脚，缺一不可。在秦楚汉之际先后主要有嬴政、陈胜、芈心、项羽、刘邦五位领袖，他们的成败得失皆与此有关。先说芈心，也就是项梁所立的楚怀王。当时的天下大势是由周制向秦制过渡，可是芈心在怀王之约中却试图重新复辟周制。违逆大势的结果，是他派出的两支军队，刘邦和项羽虽然都相继攻入咸阳，灭亡了秦朝，但怀王自己却是最大的输家，先是被迁徙出都城，接着又被刺杀于异乡。
In Yao Yao's view,
the general trend, strategy, tactics, and logistics are indispensable four
factors
to win wars and to rule an empire. From Qin to Han dynasty, there were five leaders, Ying Zheng, Chen Sheng, Mi Xin, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. Let's talk about Mi Xin first, who was the king of Chu appointed by Xiang Liang. At that time, the general trend transited
from the Zhou system to the Qin system, but Mi Xin tried to restore the Zhou
system and this lead to his death. The result of being against the trend is that the two armies’ leaders who were his subordinates, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, gained more power and resources from battles and overturned Mi Xin. Mi Xin was moved out from the capital and got assassinated on his way to the new place.
陈胜在陈县建号
“
张楚
”
，目的是要继承秦制，可见他在大势上是对的。
在战略上，以主力西征秦国，以偏师四处略地，这也是对的。以吴广为假王
围攻荥阳，目的就是为了解决后勤问题。陈胜之所以最终败亡，问题是出在战术上，他没有足够多的军事人才去替他执行战略。派出去围攻荥阳的吴广
迟迟
未能得手，派往各处略地的将领皆各怀私心，只有周文这一路成功
杀
进
函谷关，可惜这支孤军深入的部队原本就是乌合之众，一战而被章邯击溃。
之后，各地将领纷纷自立为王，孤立无援的陈胜只能是兵败被
杀
。
Chen Sheng established the title "Zhang Chu" in Chen county in order to inherit the Qin system. Therefore, we can see that he was right on the general trend. Strategically, he was also right to attack the Qin dynasty with the main force and to send out partial division to conquer the other place. The reason why he authorized Wu Guang as a fake king to besiege Xing Yang was because he had to solve the logistical problems. The problem with Chen Sheng's eventual defeat was that strategically, he didn't have enough military talent to execute the strategic plans for him. Wu Guang, who was dispatched by Chen Sheng to siege Xing Yang, never succeeded. Only Zhou Wen’s army attacked and invaded Han Gu Guan successively but was defeated by General of Qin dynasty Zhang Han in the end. Other generals, who were distributed to different places, all betrayed Chen Sheng and proclaimed themselves kings. The isolated Chen Sheng was doomed to be defeated and killed.
嬴政以秦制统一天下，在大势上自然是毫无问题的，其战略、战术能力亦毋庸置疑。可惜的是，秦始皇在将秦制推行于天下时操之过切，以致人力、
物力、财力皆已超过帝国所能承担之负荷。胡亥继位后，不能在后勤上匡正
乃父之过失，反而在战略和战术上不停地自残，最终导致了秦朝二世而亡。
Ying Zheng unified the world with the rule of Qin, so there was no doubt about the general
trend
and his strategic and tactical abilities. Unfortunately, Ying Zheng was so far ahead of his time in introducing the Qin system to the whole country that the human, material, and financial resources exceeded the capacity of his empire. When Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, he could not correct his father's mistakes in logistics. What’s worse, he continuously consumed the strategic and tactical parts and resulted in peri
sh
of Qin dynasty.
刘邦自分封汉中以来，以萧何次律令，这是在内政改革上全面推行秦制。
以韩信申军法，这是在军事改革上全面推行秦制。后来张良谏分封，这是在外交改革上全面推行秦制。就大势而言，刘邦因三杰在三个方面的襄助而始终走在正确的道路上。在战略上，韩信的汉中对策和九月来信，张良的下邑画策，皆保证刘邦在战略上也始终正确。在战术上，从还定三秦，到京索阻击，到横扫北方，再到垓下决战，全部都是由战必胜、攻必取的韩信为他解决。在后勤上，则由萧何力保刘邦前线的足兵足食。不过，刘邦称帝后开始着手剪除功臣，进而大肆分封同姓王，遂使天下又由秦制退回到周制。大势上的错误，最终酿成了景帝时期的
“
七国之乱
”
。
Since Liu Bang granted the king title of Han Zhong, first of all, he ordered Xiao He to carry out the Qin system in the reform of internal affairs. Then he ordered Han Xin to executed military law, and this is the comprehensive implementation of the Qin system in military reform. Later, Zhang Liang suggested to abolish decentralized system of government, which was a comprehensive implementation of the Qin system in diplomatic reform. As far as the general trend is concerned, Liu Bang was always on the right path because of the help from th
e
three prominent. In terms of strategy, Han Xin's Han Zhong strategy and September's letter and Zhang Liang's painting XianYi strategic plan ensured that Liu Bang was always correct from strategical aspect. Tactically, from appeasing San Qin, to the JingSuo blocking, to sweep the north, and then to the decisive battle at GaiXia, all of victories accredited to Han Xin. In the logistics, Xiao He ensured the front troops sufficient food. However, after Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor, he began to eradicate the meritorious officials, and then granted the Liu’s family king titles. What he did
retrograded the new empire from Qin
system
to Zhou
system.
The mistakes in the general trend eventually led to the "seven states of chaos" during the reign of emperor Jing.
最后，我们来说项羽。项羽战术能力之强，是毋庸置疑的，可是在其它
三方面都有缺陷。天下分封时，项羽在怀王之约的周制中加入了秦制的成分，
这在大势上虽说是较怀王有所进步，可毕竟还有瑕疵。在战略上，项羽更是
屡屡犯下大错，这些在书中都有详细解析，此处则暂不列举。至于后勤方面，
则多次因彭越军的南下奔袭截断粮道而苦不堪言。
Finally, let's talk about Xiang Yu. It’s undoubtedly that Xiang Yu has outstanding tactical ability. However, the other three factors were his disadvantages. When Xiang Yu built up a decentralized system of government, he interweaved the Qin and the Zhou system. If he had strategic talent, he should have realized that the mixed system of Zhou and Qin was merely a transition. He should have prepared for wars in the future and make various strategic plans. Nevertheless, Xiang Yu has repeatedly made mistakes. For instance, he suffered many times because of Peng Yue attacked and cut off the food supply chain. More details will be explained in the following chapters.
就个人素质而言，刘邦在战略上强于项羽，项羽在战术上强于刘邦。我
们并不因最终的结果是刘邦胜、项羽败就认为战略一定比战术重要。事实上，
项羽经常在战略上陷入困境时通过超强战术来扭转局面，刘邦也多次在战略
上
稳
操胜券时被项羽的超强战术打得狼狈不堪。当初，刘邦在洛阳誓师时，
曾率领六十万诸侯联军攻入楚国的都城彭城，劳师
远
征的项羽几乎已经陷入绝境，可他却仅用三万骑兵一夜之间扭转乾坤，
杀
得诸侯联军尸横遍野，刘邦本人也差点做了俘虏。后来广武对峙时，刘邦虽然在战略上处于优势，可却在一次对骂中不可思议地被项羽一箭射中胸口，几乎令刘邦丧命。鸿沟议和后，刘邦率二十万大军毁约追击，结果又被项羽的十万大军打得大败，凡此种种，不一而足。只是从长期来看，刘邦在战略上的优势因韩信、张良的帮助而越发强大，在战术上的劣势则因韩信的出现而得以弥补
;
项羽在战术上的优势因韩信的出现而被极大抵消，战略上的劣势却无人能为其弥补，即便是刘邦口中称赞的范增也不能够。所以说，项羽之所以失败，问题的关键还在于战略。
In terms of personal competence, Liu Bang is better than Xiang Yu strategically and Xiang Yu is greater than Liu Bang tactically. We do not judge that strategy must be more important than tactics just because the final winner is Liu Bang. In fact, Xiang Yu often turned things around with his superior tactics when he was in strategic trouble, and Liu Bang was repeatedly overwhelmed by Xiang Yu's superior tactics when he was in a better strategic position to win. At the beginning, Liu Bang led the six hundred thousand vassal allied forces attacked and took Peng Cheng, Xiang Yu’s capital city. Xiang Yu was almost in despair. However, Xiang Yu led only thirty thousand cavalry and fought it back and killed many vassal allied soldiers in one night and even Liu Bang himself almost became a captive. Later, when having confrontation in Guang Wu, although Liu Bang held the strategic advantage, his chest got shot and was almost killed by Xiang Yu. After the protocol, Liu Bang broke the treaty and led a troop with two hundred thou
sa
n
d soldiers to attack Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu defeated him only with soldiers of half number of Liu Bang. However, in the long run, Liu Bang's strategic advantage was strengthened by the help of Han Xin and Zhang Liang, while his tactical disadvantage was made up by the appearance of Han Xin. At the same time, Han Xin offset Xiang yu's tactical advantage and exposed his strategic weakness. Not even Fan Zeng could fix Xiang yu's strategic weakness. Thus, the key to Xiang Yu's failure would be his strategy.
