Text/Fu Huaxuan
Xia was a regime established by the Xiongnu Tiefubu Helian Bo during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The Helian clan was originally a descendant of the Xiongnu Nandan Yu, and after the internal migration, Gao Pan and the Han Dynasty had many relations with relatives, and gradually changed their surname to Liu. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, it first relied on Han Zhao and then attached to Former Qin. After former Qin's fall of the daiguo, he ordered its leader Liu Weichen to oversee the west of the Yellow River (in present-day Ningxia, northern Shaanxi). However, after the Battle of Shuishui, Former Qin of Jianjian soon collapsed, and this Liu Weichen took the opportunity to develop his power and firmly occupy the land of Shuofang. The Northern Wei dynasty, which rose in the sixteenth year of the Jin Dynasty (391), killed Liu Weichen, and his son Liu Bobo (Helian Bobo) defected to Later Qin and became the general of Anyuan, Liu Bobo was a fierce and black-hearted guy. In the third year of Jin Yixi (407), Liu Bobo attacked and killed his own old father-in-law, the Duke of Gaoping of Later Qin, and then annexed his troops, calling himself the King of Great Xia, Da Dan Yu, and calling himself queen, and decided not to take the disgraceful surname of Liu, but to change back to his original surname, Helian Bobo, called Helian Bobo, because the Xiongnu claimed to be descendants of the Xia Hou clan, so the established dynasty was called the Xia Dynasty.
After the founding of the people's republic in 407 (the third year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty), Helian Bobo built a new City of Wancheng (southwest of present-day Yulin, Shaanxi, and the ruins still exist) as the capital of the state, dominating the Hetao Plain, occupying Chang'an to the south, annexing part of the territory that originally belonged to Later Qin, and living in the northwest. In 425, Helian Bo died of illness, and the crown prince Helian Chang took the throne, and just before and after the crown prince took the throne, their brothers competed for power and seized the throne, and there was a lot of trouble.
Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Tao, at this time he was only 18 years old (that is, a middle school student), only three years after ascending the throne, young talents, heroic and rough, he heard that Bactria was unstable internally, he wanted to take the opportunity to annex it, if successful, even if it basically unified the north. The lieutenant Sun Song said: "The City of Tongwan is indestructible, and the Xia army will be able to defend the city with all their might." At the same time, our fierce enemy in the north, Rouran (clan name), has always been eyeing us, and if we take advantage of the void to attack our capital Pingcheng (Datong, Shanxi), we can't eat it! TaiChangqing Cui Hao tried his best to approve of the march into Bactria, and the eldest sun Song insisted that he was not convinced, and the two men quarreled loudly. Tuoba Tao was furious, took the opportunity to catch the bad deeds of Changsun Song's corruption and perverting the law, angrily scolded, and ordered the warriors in the palace to smash the ground according to Changsun Song's head, crashing into the ground. The eldest grandson Song was an old courtier of the Four Dynasties, and could not bear such insults, and finally reluctantly admitted his mistake and agreed to attack Xia.
Subsequently, the Wei army attacked Bactria in several ways, and Tuoba Tao personally led 20,000 light horses to prepare to directly attack the capital Ofwancheng. This main force from Pingcheng (Datong) to Junzijin (northwest of the Qingshui River in present-day Inner Mongolia), just in the middle of winter, the temperature suddenly dropped, the north wind roared, the rough Yellow River, suddenly frozen thick ice, it was a godsend, The Wei army flew over the ice, and approached The City of Tongwan in five days. Helian Chang, the King of Xia, was spending the winter solstice festival in the palace, and was feasting and having fun with his courtiers, when he suddenly heard the news of the arrival of the Wei army, he was full of excitement and could not believe his ears! For a moment, it was like a wooden chicken.
Fortunately, the Wei army was stationed more than thirty miles away from the city. After Helian Chang calmed down, he figured out that this was only a small team, and led his army to meet the battle. After the confrontation, I knew that the good guy, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, personally led the army to come. Wei Jun was like a fierce tiger swooping down on a sheep, unstoppable! The Xia army panicked and returned in defeat, fleeing back to the city in panic. Before the city gate could be closed, one of Tuoba Tao's guards, named Doudaitian, took the lead and rushed into the city with a group of warriors and set fire to the palace gate. At this time, the Xia army guarding the city gate quickly closed the city gate, the Wei army's follow-up troops could not enter, Andi Daitian and others were outnumbered, but they also killed a bloody road, jumped from the head of the city, and returned to the camp. Tuoba Tao greatly praised DouDaitian's bravery in rushing into the summer palace, and immediately worshipped him as a brave general. Tuoba Tao immediately decided to reward and punish clearly, young and promising.
TongwanCheng was very strong, especially in the harsh winter, it was more difficult to attack. The next day, the Wei army divided its troops to plunder the people outside the city, killed and captured tens of thousands of people, and obtained more than 100,000 cattle and horses. Tuoba Tao said to the generals, "This city cannot be captured for the time being, so be prepared to attack the city later, and then come with you to take it!" Therefore, with more than 10,000 residents, he withdrew to Pingcheng with the army.
Another Wei army successfully captured Chang'an in Bactria , and Helian Chang sent his brother Helian Ding with 20,000 elite troops to retake Chang'an , and the two armies confronted each other outside Chang'an. Tuoba Tao felt that the opportunity had come again, and Tong Wancheng went to take Chang'an and took 20,000 elite soldiers, and the strength of the troops weakened, and decided to take the opportunity to attack again. He first sent men and horses to cut down trees and make tools for siege, and then sent a team to Junzijin to build a pontoon bridge and prepare for another expedition to the west.
Half a year later, in May 427, the Wei army set out from Pingcheng again, with 30,000 cavalry as the vanguard, 30,000 infantry as the successor, and another 30,000 soldiers and soldiers to transport siege tools. They crossed the Yellow River from the pontoon bridge and built a city on the Balin Mountains (southeast of present-day Zungar Banner, Inner Mongolia) more than 600 miles northeast of Tongwancheng. Tuoba Tao ordered to leave Behind Heavy and lightly rode 30,000 to Tongwan City. Before leaving, the courtiers advised:
"TongwanCheng is very strong, and it cannot be conquered overnight. Without the camp curtain and food, then the siege could not be broken, and the retreat was not a little hungry, how did it get? Why not wait for the infantry and siege tools and advance together! "
It is said that the ministers are right, but the young lord Tuoba Tao said: "When a war starts, attacking the city is the next strategy, and it is not until it is forced to besiege and attack it." If the cavalry and infantry and siege tools go hand in hand, the enemy must be afraid to retreat, and the wall is clear and determined to hold out. If the city could not be destroyed quickly, the grain was eaten, the soldiers were tired, and there was nothing outside the city that could be fished, then the real dilemma would be! It is better to ride lightly to the city, the enemy sees that the infantry and the weight are not coming, it is bound to lighten the enemy, and I will design to lure them out of the city and fight, and then I can annihilate the enemy. "
According to Tuoba Tao's plan, the Wei army cavalry advanced rapidly.
The Wei army approached The city of Tongwan and ambushed most of the cavalry in a deep valley, with only a few men and horses approaching the city. Tuoba Tao received information at this time: "Helian Chang heard that the Wei army was coming again, and sent someone to recall Helian Ding, who counterattacked Chang'an. However, Helian Ding believed that the Tongwancheng Was indestructible and could never be broken at once, and besides, it had been half a year since the attack on Chang'an, and now he was withdrawing and abandoning his previous achievements, and he would wait until he defeated the Chang'an Wei army and then return to the division to unify the Wancheng. At that time, the internal and external attacks, the Wei army must be tied to death! Helian Chang listened to his brother's plan and insisted on unifying the city. "
Tuoba Tao learned that Helian Chang was holding the city and not fighting out of the city, so he could not help but become anxious, so he withdrew the few Wei troops under the city to show weakness. At the same time, five thousand cavalry were sent outside the city to seize cattle, sheep and grain to supply military supplies.
Helian Chang and the Wei army in the City of Tongwan were just like this. On this day, a few Wei soldiers who had "fled for their sins" and surrendered to the summer, when they arrived in the city, they looked at these people again, each with a dish on their faces, and they were weak, and these people said: "The Wei army has long had no food to eat, the soldiers are living by digging wild vegetables everywhere, and the weight is still far behind, like snails, and the infantry has not yet come up." "According to these circumstances, Helian Chang is very happy! Feeling a godsend, he decided to take the opportunity to attack the Wei army and capture Tuoba Tao alive. So at his command, 30,000 Xia troops rushed out of the city, ready to destroy the Wei army with a single blow.
Sun Han, the vanguard of the Wei army, advised Tuoba Tao: "The Xia army is very fierce, let's avoid it for the time being!" Tuoba Tao secretly rejoiced and said, "Our army has trekked more than two thousand miles to completely annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop." The worry is that they won't go out of the city, and now they're out of the nest, which is really what I want, are we still polite? Tuoba Tao still insisted on the original tactics, not to fight hard, he disguised himself to the northwest to escape, leading the Nose of the Xia Army, waiting for them to be tired and then taking the opportunity to counterattack.
Xia Bing split into two wings, shouting while chasing after Bao bao. After running for five or six miles, the weather changed suddenly, and the southeast wind blew up, and the yellow sand was sandwiched with raindrops, covering the sky and the sky was dark. One of Tuoba Tao's entourage officials said: "The wind and rain are pressing down on us with the enemy, and this is heaven not helping me!" The soldiers are hungry and thirsty now, so how can they fight? Or retreat, and fight again in Japan! Minister Cui Hao shouted at the side, "What is this?" Our army has set a strategy of victory, and it is not far away from thousands of miles, so how can it not withstand a little wind and rain? The enemy is now frantically pursuing, leaving no reserves, and we should divide our troops and detour to the enemy's back to launch an attack.
At that time, the wind and rain cheered us on and caught him off guard! Tuoba Tao was very much in agreement, and immediately ordered that the light horses be divided into two teams on the left and right, and detour to attack the Xia army. At this moment, Tuoba Tao was hit by a stream of arrows, he took the flow of arrows as a pioneer, struggling to kill the enemy, the Wei generals were all touched by Tuoba Tao's bravery, and they were even more desperate to kill, that was really a battle of one to ten, forgetting to die! The Xia soldiers finally retreated with their entire army.
The Wei army was furious and pursued the Xia army to the north of Tongwancheng. Helian Chang was so dizzy that he did not have time to retreat into Tongwancheng, but fled to the southwest and headed straight for Shangyi (present-day Tianshui, Gansu), more than a thousand miles away.
The city of Tongwan was in chaos, and Tuoba Tao and the Wei army entered the city of Tongwan without encountering resistance, capturing tens of thousands of princes, generals, concubines, palace people, and their families in Xia, more than 300,000 warhorses, tens of millions of cattle and sheep, and countless other treasures, banners, and treasures. Tuoba Tao's childish face showed a smile.
At the beginning, Helian Bobo built a unified city, the pavilions in the palace were very tall, the beams and pavilions were carved with pictures and portraits, and the palace room was covered with beautiful embroidered satin, which was extremely luxurious. After tuoba tao saw it, he said to his ministers on the left and right: "How can such a small country waste the people's fat and the people's anointing like this, and not destroy the country?" "
Subsequently, the Wei army, led by Sikong Xijin, attacked Helianchang, who had fled to Shangyi, and the two armies held each other for more than half a year, and Helianchang was finally defeated and captured and sent to Pingcheng. His brother Helian Ding was at Pingliang (平梁; present-day West Huating, Shaanxi), the King of Xia.
Later, Helian Ding was defeated by the Wei army several times, and finally destroyed by the Tugu Hunbu who occupied the Upper Reaches of the Yellow River and the TaoShui River (between present-day Gansu and Qinghai), and died after a total of twenty-six years of the founding of the Great Xia.