Dawan is located in the Fergana Basin in present-day Uzbekistan (marked by the blue dot in the upper left corner of the figure below).
Fergana belongs to the same continental plate as Kashgar in China
The distance from Chang'an Airlines, the capital of the Western Han Empire, is more than 10,000 miles. It is nearly twice as much as Loulan to Chang'an.
There are only two roads from Chang'an to Dawan, the northern line is Yanqi, and the southern line is through Loulan to Shache
From Chang'an to Dawan, you must pass through the Taklamakan Desert, and the north and south routes are lined with small countries.
Map of the Western States
The Western Han Empire's line of actual control over the western region states was as far as the western region capital protectorate. That is, the current Xinjiang luntai, the blue dot in the upper right corner of the picture below is the roulette.
The Protectorate of the Western Regions administers the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions
In 103 BC, envoys sent to the countries of the Western Regions brought a very tempting news to Emperor Wu of han: there were sweat and blood horses in the second division of the Dawan Kingdom, which could travel thousands of miles a day. Emperor Wu was thrilled: "Take the money and buy it for me." ”
Bid: 200,000 taels of gold + a statue of a golden horse of equal proportions.
During the Han Dynasty, one or two was about 15 grams today, which is about 900 million yuan per gram of gold (not including the Golden Horse statue).
A golden horse unearthed in Qingping, Shaanxi
Dawanguo rejected the deal. There are two reasons: 1. The Han Empire is far away in the sky, even if it is strong, it is also moi and I; 2 The sweat and blood horse is a national treasure, a strategic resource, and must be included in the list of restricted exports.
The legendary Sweat Blood BMW does not actually exist
The envoys of the Western Han Dynasty felt insulted, smashed a golden horse into pieces, pointed at the king of Dawan and scolded: "Don't give me the face of the Han Empire, be careful to show you." The people of the Great Wanguo were stunned to hear it. This led to the idea of killing.
The ruins of Guishan Castle, the capital of the Great Wan, are in present-day Kasansai City, Uzbekistan
It's too naked to do it directly in the capital. Therefore, the Han envoy Yu Chengcheng was killed.
When the news reached Chang'an, Emperor Wu of Han was furious.
In the past, the countries of the Western Regions were greedy for money and killed Han envoys from time to time, but it was the first time that none of them were left. Once this example is opened, why serve the public? So he decided to send an army to fight.
Emperor Wu of Han was a military maniac
As mentioned earlier, unlike Loulan, the Great Wanguo is far away, with yellow sand stretching in the middle of the way and the Gobi running through. There are also many small countries, and the enemy and the enemy are inseparable. How much is appropriate?
At this time, Liu Che remembered an unknown man named Zhao Baonu, who used only seven hundred light cavalry to capture the king of Loulan, one of the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions.
If the seven hundred Han army can destroy LouLan, even if Dawan is four times larger than Loulan, three thousand soldiers will be enough! To be on the safe side, double you again, six thousand knights. As for supplies, it is better to collect tens of thousands of hooligans at will.
You choose a day to go, and that's it!
Ruins of Loulan Ancient City
Months flew by.
The military intelligence came to report, and the Western Expeditionary Corps that attacked Dawan was defeated. The commander-in-chief of the army burst into tears in the last document: The countries in the western region saw that we had few soldiers in the DPRK, and they closed their doors one after another. Our army had to go all the way around the city, the army could not get supplies, and before it reached the border of Dawan, it was already more than half of the casualties. By the time they reached Yucheng Castle, there were only a few thousand of tens of thousands of troops left. Yucheng Wang Kaicheng was killed, and our army fought and retreated. After all kinds of difficulties, Fang returned to his homeland. The general is not afraid of the battle front, but the road is too far away. And the small number of soldiers is not enough to shock the great Han Dynasty. I implore Your Majesty to allow our army to enter the customs for repairs in order to fight again.
Dunhuang Ancient City - the garrison of the First Western Expedition
Liu Che was extremely disappointed, and then jumped like a thunderbolt, intending: Those who dare to enter the Jade Gate Pass, behead.
The entire Western Expeditionary Corps thus fell into a state of uneasiness: great shame and humiliation, full of bitterness, and unable to speak.
Jade Gate Closed
In fact, the Kingdom of Dawan was by no means a small kingdom like Loulan. The Fergana Basin is sandwiched between three mountains and one valley, with abundant rainfall, fertile water and grass, and strong land carrying capacity. Today, tens of millions of people live happily there. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, the State of Dawan was also a regional power with more than 70 cities and pools, including Guishan, Yishi, Yucheng, etc., with up to 60,000 standing soldiers.
In addition, according to scholarly research, the Dawan people were descendants of Alexander the Great's crusade legions. Alexander conquered ancient India, which referred to Alexander's legions collectively as Greeks, and in Old Hindi, the pronunciation of "Greek" is similar to the pronunciation of "Wan" in Chinese.
Alexander's Expeditionary Corps
Emperor Wu of Han did not know anything about the above. Of course, with his character, I am afraid I don't care to know, who is Alexander? Punch!
So the army was regrouped, the national war machine was fully activated, and the entire empire was black clouded. How terrible is the Wrath of the Dragon? The list of some materials for the Second Western Expedition is as follows:
Cattle: 100,000 head;
Horses: 30,000 horses;
Tens of thousands of donkeys and camels each;
The most elite regular army: 180,000 people (the number of civilians who are supplied with the army is even more numerous).
It was the largest Western Expeditionary Corps ever built.
Two thousand years later, Zuo Zongtang's campaign to retake Xinjiang only dispatched a mere 60,000 men.
One Han army could fight five Xiongnu
Seven hundred light cavalry can break a country, 180,000 han elite, what concept?
Sure enough, everywhere they passed, the countries of the western region, which were wavering, opened their gates one after another and prostrated themselves to plead their sins.
The Han army crossed Yucheng City and directly attacked the Guishan City of Dawan. Cut off the city's water source, and after more than forty days of siege, Dawan surrendered.
From an economic point of view, the Western Expedition to Dawan is completely more than worth the loss: 1. Dawan is far away from the center of the Han Dynasty, and the land cannot be effectively controlled; 2. The so-called sweat and blood BMW is not as godly as the legend; 3. The 180,000-strong army marched to the west, with heavy losses, and the history books record that only more than 10,000 people returned to China, most of whom were non-combat attrition.
However, this battle brought out the military might of the Han Army, and after this battle, the countries of the Western Regions no longer dared to think otherwise.
In addition, the unparalleled courage and determination of Emperor Wu of Han still inspires every Chinese to this day.