History is the memory of things that have been said and done. —Carl Baker
In April of the fifth year of Yongjia (311 AD), more than 100,000 Jin troops and 30,000 Xiongnu light cavalry fought at the city of Ninh Binh (ninhyeong-jin, northeast of present-day Yancheng, Henan), while Luoyang, the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty, more than 700 miles away, was an empty city. Why did the Xiongnu sacrifice the easy and difficult, and fight with the Jin army that had been multiplied several times? It's still a living man's crusade against a dead man. The war took place so strangely that the truth was lost.
The master of the Jin army was named Sima Yue, the grandson of Sima Yi's fourth brother Sima Kui, and an ambitionist in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty. This man controls the government, is jealous of his ability, kills dissidents, and causes dissatisfaction in the world. He fought several battles with local power factions, and internal strife continued.
In 309 AD, a famine broke out in the capital city of Luoyang, and the imperial palace was starving. Sima Yue turned a blind eye to this and instead demanded to add "nine tins" to himself.
In 304, the Xiongnu nobleman Liu Yuan proclaimed himself emperor at Pingyang (present-day Linfen), established the "Han" state, and openly opposed the Jin. In a few years, it occupied Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and other places. In 310, Liu Yuan's general Shi Lenan left Xiangyang and captured a large area north of Jiangsu, forming a siege of Luoyang.
Shi Le, a member of the Qi people, was a native of Shangdang WuXiang (present-day Yushe, Shanxi). This man was strong and strong, quite strategic, and good at riding and shooting. After Liu Yuan declared himself emperor, Shi Le led the crowd to respond and proclaimed him co-lord.
The internal and external situation continued to deteriorate, and Sima Yue's prestige declined day by day, becoming an "outcast" of the Western Jin Dynasty. On November 15, the fourth year of Yongjia (310 CE), Sima Yue led 40,000 soldiers into Xiangcheng (湘城, in present-day Huaidian Town, Shenqiu County, Henan), and a large number of princes and princes set out with the army. Nearby Jin troops focused on Xiangcheng.
Sima Yue attempted to use the army to force the emperor to compromise. Unexpectedly, Emperor Huai of Jin issued a letter of crusade, and Sima Yue was angry and attacked his heart, and his life was whimpering.
After Sima Yue's death, he left behind a mess. Who controls this army? Surrounded by strong enemies, Neither Taiwei Wang Yan nor Sima Fan, the king of Xiangyang, dared to accept it. The army was leaderless, laying the foundation for its demise.
The next question is whether to arch west to defend Luoyang or east to the East China Sea. The generals deliberated for more than ten days and decided to escort Sima Yue's coffin back to the East China Sea (東海国, in present-day Tancheng, Shandong). Sima Yue's headquarters army, which remained in Luoyang, heard the news and hurriedly abandoned the city and fled east, heading straight for the East China Sea. He was accompanied by most of the remaining princes and nobles in the city. Facts have proved that the Western Jin Dynasty had to pay an extremely heavy price for this delay of more than ten days.
In April of the fifth year of Yongjia (311 AD), a procession of troops, nobles, and commoners marched slowly. Shi Le, who had already occupied Xuchang and Xincai, smelled death. Seizing the opportunity, he planned to take advantage of the fire and robbery to reduce the pressure to capture Luoyang, and the Jin army was so numerous that it did not take Shi Le in his eyes. The two sides inadvertently ignited the fire of hell.
Shi Le decisively led 30,000 light cavalry composed of Xiongnu and Xiongnu tribesmen to attack more than 300 miles and surrounded the Jin army at Ninh Binh City. At this time, the Jin army had only traveled more than eighty miles. The incoming Han army caused panic in the Jin army, because the ranks were mixed with princes and commoners, the armor soldiers could not form a formation to meet the Han army, the army did not have a unified command, and the cavalry had always been the nemesis of the Jin army, and at the beginning of the war, the balance of victory was inclined to Shi Le.
The Han army surrounded the Jin army, and after a rain of arrows, the Jin soldiers were killed by arrows, and the princes and commoners trampled on each other. The Jin general QianDuan attacked Shi Le, and the entire army was destroyed, and Qianduan was killed. Shi Le ordered his men to burn Sima Yue's coffin, and also declared: "This man is in chaos in the world, and I repay him for the world, so I burn his bones to tell the heavens and the earth." ”
War became a hunting ground. As hunters, the Han army frantically chased and slaughtered the soldiers and civilians of the Jin Dynasty. As a prey, the Jin army had no power to fight back. The princes and commoners who originally thought that they could seek security by following the Jin army were now implicated by this army, with corpses piled up and their belongings divided.
The surrendered Jin army was burned alive. After the women were raped, they became the "unenviable sheep" in the mouths of the Han army. As many as 200,000 Han soldiers and civilians who gave up resistance were slaughtered and eaten, and the courtiers led by Taiwei Wang Yan were captured and killed, and Ten kings of the clan family, including Sima Fan and Sima Zun, did not fight here. According to the "Zizhi Tongjian", "more than 100,000 soldiers trampled on each other like mountains, and none of them were spared", which is called "the difficulty of Ninh Binh City".
Shi Le was not satisfied with the victory at Ninh Binh City, and he set his sights on another Jin army. Sima Yue's general He Lun led an army and escorted Princess Pei and Shizi Sima Bi and others from Luoyang, burning and looting along the way, and fleeing east in a hurry. He traveled to Huancang (洧仓, northwest of present-day Yanling, Henan) and encountered the Shile Han army.
The Jin army was again defeated, He Lun, Li Yun and several others escaped, and Sima Bi and the thirty-six kings of the clan were captured and killed. Princess Pei was gang-raped by the Han army, and after being humiliated, she sold her inhuman form to a family surnamed Wu as a slave, and eventually returned to Jiangnan. The "Shame of The Curse of The Humble Warehouse" sprinkled a handful of salt on the wounds of the Western Jin Dynasty.
At the Battle of Ninh Binh City, the last core military strength of the Western Jin Dynasty was wiped out, accelerating the collapse of the empire, and the northern land entered the turbulent and cruel "Wuhu Chaohua" from then on, which had an important impact on China's society, politics, economy, military, and culture.
The sun was like blood, and behind the Shi Lehan army, there was a long back of the empire.