There are three rebel armies developing westward: taking Guangwu as the puppet king, commanding some generals and attacking Yang Rong (now Xingyang, Henan) in the west; The insurgents led by Zhou Wen attacked Xianyang through Hangu Pass. The insurgents led by Liu Song attacked Nanyang from the southwest and entered Guanzhong from Wuguan.
There are two insurgents developing northward: one led by, and crossed the Yellow River to attack the former Zhao area; An insurgent army led by Zhou attacked the former state of Wei.
There are two rebel armies developing southward: the rebel army led by Deng Zong attacked Jiujiang County (now Anhui and Jiangxi) southward; Zhaoping rebels attacked Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu) to the southeast.
The above-mentioned insurgents split their troops and made rapid progress, which promoted the national anti-Qin struggle. Among them, the three rebel armies of the Western Expedition were all directed against Guanzhong, the hinterland ruled by Qin, but their military progress was different. Rebels led by Guangwu, including Tiancang and Li Gui, attacked Xingyang in the northwest. The insurgents began to March smoothly, and soon attacked Xingyang City, tightly surrounding Xingyang City. Xingyang is the hub of Guanzhong's direct access to the East and has a special position in the military. The Qin Dynasty sent Li You, the chief of Sanchuan County, to lead the troops to defend heavily. Li You relied on solid fortifications to avoid confrontation with the insurgents, which made the insurgents unable to attack for a long time, and the two sides were deadlocked and made little military progress.
Another Western Expedition Army, led by Zhou Wen, is the main force of the Rebel Army. When Guangwu besieged Xingyang, Chen Sheng awarded Zhou Wen general print and ordered him to take Guanzhong directly. Zhou Wen surrounded Xingyang by Guangwu Rebels, contained the opportunity of Qin Jun in Sanchuan County, went deep behind enemy lines, and quickly attacked Hanguguan (now Lingbao North, Henan Province), the gateway of Shimonoseki. This main force of the Western Expedition made rapid progress, and many peasants joined the Rebel Army one after another along the way, which made the team grow and develop continuously. When we suddenly arrived in Hangu, Pakistan had a car canal and tens of thousands of soldiers. After Zhou Wen broke through Hangu Pass, he immediately moved forward, pointing to Chengyang, the lair ruled by Qin Dynasty. In September of the first year of Qin Ershi (209 BC), the Rebel Army entered Xi (now northeast of Lintong, Shaanxi Province), which was only a hundred miles away from Chengyang in the west, directly threatening the security of Qin Dou.
The news that the rebels were coming to Xianyang caused great panic among the ruling clique of Qin State. Qin Ershi was helpless and had to seek countermeasures from ministers. Zhang Han, a junior official, believes that it is too late to recruit troops from nearby counties now that the enemy is in sight. He advocated the release of hundreds of thousands of prisoners and slaves who built the tomb of Lishan Mountain and rushed them to the front to fight against the insurgents. Qin Ershi had no choice but to declare an amnesty and send Zhang Han to command an army composed of torturers and slaves to resist. The liberation of "sinners" in the Qin Dynasty, as a source of soldiers, has reached the end of its tether.
Zhang Han formed an army of hundreds of thousands of people, charged in the crowd and launched a desperate counterattack against the insurgents. The rebels failed to capture Xianyang in time, leaving the enemy a breathing space, making a long-distance expedition, going deep alone and cutting off support. Finally, after all-out fighting, the insurgents were defeated and frustrated, and were forced to withdraw from Hangu Pass. Zhou Wenzhai persisted in Cao Yang (now southwest of Shanxian County, Henan Province) for nearly three months and continued to bravely fight against Qin Jun's attack. In November of the second year of Qin Ershi (208 years ago), the main force of the Western Expedition was forced to retreat from Cao Yang to Mianchi (now Mianchi West, Henan Province) again, and fought a bloody battle with Qin Jun here for more than ten days. As a result, Zhou Wen was defeated and committed suicide, and the main force of the Western Expedition was completely defeated.
There is also a Western Expedition rebel led by Liu Zhu, who pushed southwest and occupied Nanyang County. However, the long-term detention in Nanyang did not make much progress militarily and failed to break into Wuguan.
Zhou Wen's main force turned from victory to defeat, which became a turning point in the development of the Western Expedition rebels. Its failure exposed the internal problems of the rebels. On the one hand, these three Western Expeditionary Insurgents are basically in an isolated state, and their cooperation with each other is weak, which objectively provides convenient conditions for Qin Jun to adopt the policy of divide and rule; On the other hand, when Zhou Wen's main force entered the Guanzhong area, Chen Shengceng ordered Chen Wu to enter the customs for reinforcements, but Chen Wu was self-respecting and refused to carry out Chen Sheng's orders. This made the main force of the Western Expedition in a helpless situation, and its failure affected the whole war situation of the Western Expedition, which eventually led to the collapse of the whole line.
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