260 BC
Battle of Changping
The setting
Near Changping (modern Gaoping, Shanxi Province), China
Hilly frontier terrain between the Qin and Zhao states
Reveal the outcome
Recorded sideState of Qin
Recorded resultDecisive victory
Decisive Qin victory; the encircled Zhao army surrendered and, according to tradition, the great majority of prisoners were massacred.
How the atlas explains it
Bai Qi lured the aggressive Zhao Kuo into overextending with a feigned retreat, then cut the Zhao army's supply and reinforcement lines and encircled it; after roughly six weeks without food the trapped force surrendered.
What followed
The most devastating battle of the Warring States period; it broke Zhao's ability to resist and accelerated Qin's eventual unification of China.