李信 / Li Xin (Qin)
李信 / Li Xin enters the wiki through 《资治通鉴·秦纪》116｜史上最惨太子：被父王亲手斩杀？！ as the Qin general who pursues 燕太子丹 after 王翦 breaks the Yan-Dai force and 燕王喜 retreats toward Liaodong. The source treats this pursuit as a light, fast, deep operation with only several thousand troops, not as proof that Li Xin has already managed a full conquest-scale campaign.
The same episode makes Li Xin the young commander whose troop estimate anchors Ying Zheng’s Chu decision. When 嬴政 / 秦始皇 asks how many troops are needed to conquer 楚国, Li Xin says 200,000 will be enough. That answer becomes the first salient number in the host’s anchoring-effect reading, making 王翦’s later 600,000 estimate sound timid to Ying Zheng.
Li Xin is therefore source-scoped as both capable and risky: he has visible recent success against Yan’s fleeing crown prince, but the source explicitly warns that chasing a defeated target and leading a state-destruction campaign are different problems. Ying Zheng nevertheless selects Li Xin and 蒙恬 to command the 200,000-person Chu expedition.
《资治通鉴·秦纪》117-2｜学着点！秦朝武将竟然如此高情商？ gives the result of that selection. Li Xin and Meng Tian initially take more than twenty 楚国 cities, but 项燕 lulls Li Xin with peace signals and then uses an attack on 南郡 to pull him into a trap. The source reports that Li Xin is surrounded after leaving Nan Commandery, seven Qin generals are killed, Li Xin flees for three days and nights, and Meng Tian’s rescue also fails.
The episode therefore turns the earlier estimate into a concrete command-risk case. Li Xin’s 200,000-person answer was not simply youthful confidence in the abstract; it became an insufficient campaign design against a large state and a commander able to control tempo through deception.
Connections
- 秦国 - state he serves.
- 燕太子丹, 燕国, and 燕王喜 - pursuit setting after the failed assassination.
- 嬴政 / 秦始皇, 王翦, 蒙恬, and 楚国 - Chu-campaign command decision and aftermath.
- 项燕, 南郡, 诈降麻痹, and 战场信息控制 - Qinji 117-2 trap and battlefield defeat.
- 锚定效应 - concept used by the source to explain why Li Xin’s lower troop estimate shapes Ying Zheng’s later judgment.