When the Donghu people, one of the three indigenous peoples in the northeast, were at their strongest, the Xiongnu were just a little brother in the west, paying tribute every New Year's Festival. So, how did Donghu become stronger?
Donghu
As an indigenous people in northeast China, the Donghu people mainly rely on hunting, fishing and hunting for a living. In this process of fighting against nature at any time, the Donghu have accumulated a lot of combat experience. In addition, the Donghu people wear narrow-sleeved short jackets, which are more convenient for living and hunting; when fighting, they use cavalry and bows and arrows, which have greater flexibility and mobility compared with the military vehicles and spears in the Central Plains.
Therefore, the northeast of that era, although it was a bitter cold place, but the life of the Donghu people was very good, and the reproduction was also very rapid, known as "200,000 people who control strings". However, the life of the Donghu people is still far behind that of the Central Plains countries where the temperature and humidity are more suitable. Therefore, the Donghu decided to move south.
At that time, the State of Yan and the State of Zhao bordered the Eastern Hu people. Dong Hu had defeated the State of Yan many times, and there were frequent wars with the State of Zhao. In this case, Donghu's territory is getting bigger and bigger, and its appetite is getting bigger and bigger.
When the moon is full, it is lacking, and when the water is full, it is a promise that will never change.
Soon, the Donghu tribe was recruited.
Qin Kai
People who are familiar with the northeast know that the northeast people have a bold personality and are real. As an indigenous ethnic group in northeast China, the Donghu also has this characteristic, but it is also a weakness, so that Donghu has lost successive battles!
When Donghu was strong, he took in Qin Kai of the Yan state. The Donghu people trusted Qin Kai very much, so Qin Kai took the opportunity to grasp the customs and customs of Donghu, military geography, and so on. On a horse selling trip, Qin Kai, who had been planning for a long time, broke away from the team, and it happened that yan guo's team was passing by. After Qin Kai returned to China, King Yan Zhao appointed him as a general, and Qin Kai began to train soldiers.
At that time, King Yan Zhao's efforts to govern, the national strength had gradually become stronger, and seeing the suffering of the people on the northeast border, he made up his mind to completely quell the border troubles. He thought for a long time about the candidates who led the troops to fight, and finally decided to give the heavy responsibility of leading the army to drive Hu to Qin Kai, who had been a hostage in Donghu. Qin Kai was very experienced in combat, had a long history of battle, won hundreds of battles, and was very familiar with the situation in Donghu.
After Qin Kai returned to China, he led his army to meet Donghu, and the Yan army advanced from west to east from the Yushui River Basin (in present-day Yanqing, Beijing) to the Yushui (present-day Baihe) and Baoqiushui (present-day Chaohe) river basins in the Miyun area, all the way to seize the pass, and the horse stepped on the Pingchuan River, and although the Eastern Hu army struggled to resist, it could not stop the Yan army's fierce offensive, so it had to retreat all the way, and the Yan army took advantage of the victory to pursue and regain the lost land one after another.
In the case of successive victories, the morale of the Yan army was even stronger, and it chased donghu to the northeast with a single blow, and donghu retreated to the upper reaches of the present-day Xiliao River, more than a thousand miles away.
We all know the idiom of riding and shooting in a hufu.
At that time, when King Wuling of Zhao ascended the throne, the State of Zhao was in a period of decline, and even small neighboring countries such as Zhongshan often came to harass. In wars with some great powers, the State of Zhao often suffered defeats, the general was captured, and the city was occupied. The State of Zhao was annexed by other countries, especially the State of Zhao, which was geographically bordered by Eastern Hu in the northeast, xiongnu in the north, and Linhu and Loufu in the northwest. These tribes were nomadic and good at riding horses and archery, and they often attacked the border of the Zhao state with cavalry.
King Wuling of Zhao saw that the Hu people had some special advantages in military clothing: wearing narrow sleeves and short jackets, it was more convenient to live and hunt; when fighting, cavalry and bows and arrows had greater flexibility and mobility compared with the military vehicles and spears in the Central Plains. He said to his subordinates: "The cavalry of the nomadic peoples of the north comes like birds and goes like a string, and they are the rapid reaction troops of today, and there is no reason why they cannot be victorious when they gallop on the battlefield with such troops." ”
The King of Wuling, who had great ambitions to make the Zhao kingdom strong, really understood the superiority of the Hu people's cavalry. He believed that using mounted archery to modify the army was the way to strengthen the army, so he said to General Lou Huan: Our country is surrounded by a strong enemy, what should we do? "I want to be foolish".
It was The southward advance of Donghu boosted the development of the Central Plains Dynasty. After that, Li Mu, the general of the Zhao State, also defeated Donghu. So, how to defend against the invasion of ethnic groups such as the Donghu people? At this time, people thought of building the Great Wall.
Great Wall
The history of the construction of the Great Wall can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, when the Zhou Dynasty built a continuous row of castles "Leh" as a defense in order to defend against the attacks of the northern nomads. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, in order to compete for hegemony, the nations defended each other and built the Great Wall on the border according to their respective defensive needs.
In the face of Donghu and other nomadic peoples, the Zhao state built the "Great Wall of Rejecting Hu" in the north. After Qin Kai won the battle against Eastern Hu, he also followed the example of the State of Zhao and mobilized the military and the people to repair the barrier, so he built the Northern Great Wall of the Yan Kingdom, which stretched for more than 2,000 kilometers from Zaoyang (present-day Zhangjiakou, Hebei) in the west to Xiangping (present-day Liaoyang, Liaoning) in the east. Later, the State of Yan successively established five counties in the vast new territory of Shanggu, Yuyang, Youbeiping, Liaoxi, and Liaodong to defend against the invasion of the Hu people. The State of Yan surpassed the three kingdoms of Zhao, Qi, and Han in terms of size, second only to Qin and Chu, ranking third among the nations.
In the face of the war between the Yan and Zhao states, although the Eastern Hu clan was defeated, it was not enough to be fatal. The next war brought about the destruction of the Donghu people. So, what kind of battle is this? Stay tuned for the content of the new media platform "Daily Chinese Characters" tomorrow. 【Author:Daily Kanji】