In 200 BC, in the early years of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, who had just conquered the world, had a face-to-face meeting with the Xiongnu, and as a result, Liu Bang and his vanguard troops were besieged in Pingcheng Baishan For seven days and seven nights, and finally had to pay bribes to Mu Dun Shan Yu's wife and concubine Que Shi to get out of danger.
In 200 BC (the seventh year of Han Gaozu), Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, was besieged by the Xiongnu at Baishan Mountain
Ironically, the Xiongnu cavalry army besieging the Han army on all sides was flourishing. To the west is a white horse, to the east is a green horse, to the north is a black horse, and to the south is a red horse, but the Great Han Tianzi can't find four horses of the same color when he goes out.
Hun warhorses
The western Han Dynasty was thriving, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fought in all directions to fight back against the Xiongnu
For more than sixty years after that, the Han Dynasty gave the Xiongnu a large amount of money every year, as well as many daughters of the clan and pro-Xiongnu, but the Xiongnu still repeatedly raided the border and plundered the population. On the one hand, the emperors of the Han Dynasty vigorously restored production and developed the economy; on the other hand, they filled the arsenal, paid attention to horse politics, actively expanded their troops, and made a lot of preparations for solving the problem of the Xiongnu. Through the Wenjing and Jing dynasties, the Han Dynasty gradually had the courage to counterattack the Xiongnu, and by the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it began to counterattack the Xiongnu in an all-round way.
The reign of Wenjing
Zhang Qian's intelligence gathering and diplomatic alliance work contributed a lot to the Han Dynasty's counterattack. From the first year of Yuan Shuo to the sixth year of Yuan Shuo, the great general Wei Qing attacked from Yunzhong, Shuofang, Gao que, Dingxiang and other places many times, which greatly dealt a blow to the Xiongnu forces.
Topographic map of Yunzhong, Shuofang, Gaoque and Dingxiang
Since the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Hussar general Huo Fuyi has taken the stage. Good at long-distance raids, he went out of Longxi to Gaolan in the spring of that year, and beheaded more than 8,000 horses; in the summer of that year, Huo Went ill and Gongsun Ao went out of the north for more than 2,000 miles, passed Juyan, and beheaded more than 30,000 prisoners.
Hodge disease
Wei Qing and Huo Went ill, the "Imperial Double Bi", in the next Battle of Mobei, completely defeated the Xiongnu Shan Yu Yi Xie.
The Han Dynasty's battle with the Xiongnu
Before the Battle of Mobei, the Han Dynasty had seized the land of Hexi and set up the four counties of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang, and more than 720,000 poor people in the Kanto region settled here. The Hexi region changed from the source of the Xiongnu's western attack on the Central Plains to the base of the Han Dynasty's control of the western region, and in the face of the Continuous Attacks of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu side had no way to do anything for a while.
Western Han Dynasty "Four Counties of Hexi"
At this time, Zhao Xin, a Han general who surrendered to the Xiongnu in the Battle of Southern Mo, proposed that the Xiongnu army be retreated to the north of the desert in order to lure the Han army to attack, and then attack when the Han army was tired. Zhao Xin was once a small king of the Xiongnu, and after surrendering to the Han Dynasty after defeat, he also became a general of the Han army, and he was very familiar with the situation on both sides, and his suggestions were valued and adopted by the Xiongnu Shan Yu.
The Battles of Henan and Southern Mo
Attack Dragon City, retake the Heshuo and Hetao areas, and defeat Shan Yu
The Han Dynasty also hoped to solve the threat of the Xiongnu as soon as possible. Although the all-round counterattack against the Xiongnu achieved great victories, the Han Dynasty itself was also saddled with huge economic pressure after years of military use. In order to maintain war expenditure, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued an edict to implement currency reform, a salt and iron monopoly system, and even began to sell officials.
The Western Han Dynasty salt and iron monopoly system
As a result, a great armageddon became something that both sides were planning. The strategic basis of the Xiongnu side is based on the judgment that the Han army cannot fight for a long time in the desert, while the Han Dynasty side believes that the Han army has accumulated a large amount of combat experience after many previous actual combat training.
Diagram
Emperor Wu of Han consulted with the generals and decided to take advantage of Zhao Xin's erroneous judgment to formulate a combat policy of concentrating forces, going deep into the desert north, and seeking to annihilate the main force of the Xiongnu. In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (119 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty mobilized Wei Qing and the hussar general Huo Quyi to lead 50,000 cavalry each, and marched north of the desert in two directions, looking for an opportunity to annihilate the Xiongnu. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of infantry and tens of thousands of horses were organized to ensure the success of the operation.
Han Dynasty cavalry and Xiongnu cavalry
After learning the news of the Han army's attack, the Xiongnu Shan Yu shifted his weight and placed the large army on the edge of the desert north, waiting for the arrival of the Han army, trying to defeat the Han army with ease and waiting. After Wei Qing led the former general Li Guang, the lieutenant Gongsun Ao, the right general Zhao Shiqi, and the rear general Cao Xiang out of the blockade, he learned that the Xiongnu Shan Yu had gone away, so he decided to divide his troops and encircle them.
The Han Dynasty marched westward to counter the Xiongnu
He himself led his elite troops to find the main xiongnu force for a decisive battle, and Li Guang and Zhao Zhiqi detoured from the east road. The Wei Qingbu crossed the desert and traveled more than a thousand miles, and finally found the Xiongnu headquarters that had been deployed long ago. Wei Qing first surrounded the battalion with Wugang vehicles (military vehicles) to stabilize his position, and then sent 5,000 cavalry to battle. The Xiongnu Shan Yu also sent a large number of cavalry to fight with the Han army, and the two sides fought until sunset, when suddenly a strong wind suddenly rose and flew sand and stones.
Han Dynasty chariots
Wei Qing, who saw the fighter plane, took advantage of the situation to command the cavalry and surrounded the Xiongnu army from both flanks. Shan Yu saw that the Han Dynasty army was menacing and strong, and instead of commanding the army to counterattack in time, he led hundreds of people to break through and escape. The commander escaped, and the Xiongnu army was distracted, and soon broke up and fled. Wei Qing sent light horses in pursuit, and he also led the main force to follow, until he pursued Zhao Xincheng in Khotan, annihilating a total of 19,000 enemy troops.
The Battle of Mobei: Wei Qing and Huo went to the sick army route
A huge victory was achieved, but unfortunately, Li Guang and Zhao Shiqi failed to meet wei qing in time due to their lost road, resulting in the failure of the encirclement plan, and the "flying general" Li Guang also committed suicide in anger and was never ennobled.
Lee Guang He Wai Route
The Battle of Mobei, the Wolf Juxu
Huo Fuyi, who was different from Wei Qing's steady and steady fight, continued his previous long-distance attack tactics. Huo Fuyi carried a small amount of heavy grain and led his army north for more than two thousand miles, crossing the Lihou Mountains and crossing the Bow Lu River. He drove the captured Huns to open the way for the Han soldiers to advance, captured Shan Yu alive by the chancellor Zhangqu, and killed the King of Beicheqi.
Han Dynasty cavalry
He also attacked general Zuo, captured the enemy's military banner and war drums, and also captured three people, including The King of Tuntou and the King of Han, and eighty-two people, including the general, Xiang guo, Danghu, and Du Wei. With the loss of about 10,000 people, a total of more than 70,000 Hu Yu were captured.
Riding on the victory of Yu Wei, Huo went to the sick department to hunt down the defeated Xiongnu soldiers, went to the Wolf Juxu Mountain (present-day Kent Mountain in Mongolia), and held a ceremony to sacrifice the heavens, and held a sacrifice ceremony at The Guyan Mountain (north of present-day Kent Mountain in Mongolia).
Mongolia Kent Mountains
"Sealing the wolf" has also become the highest military merit in the eyes of future generations of military generals, and since then it has also become the highest life pursuit of chinese military generals of all dynasties. The Han Dynasty cavalry advanced all the way to the North Sea, which is today Lake Baikal in Russia.
Ho went straight to Lake Baikal
After this decisive battle, the Xiongnu were annihilated by more than 90,000 people on both sides, and their vitality was seriously injured. Subsequently, the Xiongnu were far away, and there was no royal court in the south of the desert, and the border troubles of the Xiongnu that had endangered the Han Dynasty for more than a hundred years were basically solved. However, the Han Dynasty also lost tens of thousands of troops and more than 100,000 horses, and after the Battle of Mobei, Liu Che was unable to launch a large-scale attack in a short period of time.
Topographic map of the Battle of Mobei
Subsequently, Huo went ill and died, and the Han Dynasty did not attack the Xiongnu from the north for a long time.
Ho go sick like
The Battle of Mobei was a major battle with cavalry as the main role, and the Xiongnu strategy was based on the judgment of the Han army's insufficient combat ability, luring the Han army across the desert to wait for work and attack the Han army.
On the Han Dynasty side, Wei Qing concentrated his forces, went deep into the desert north, sought to annihilate the main force of the Xiongnu, and defeated the opponent through a decisive battle; Huo Went sick adopted the tactic of long-distance attack, went deep into the enemy's rear positions, and used the battle to feed the war and annihilate a large number of the enemy's living forces.
Map of the situation in the Battle of Mobei
Since then, the Xiongnu have been defeated and far away, there is no Xiongnu royal court in the south of the desert, and the problem of Xiongnu border troubles has basically been solved. The Han Dynasty also suffered heavy losses, and was unable to launch another large-scale attack in a short period of time, which could be described as a lose-lose situation.
The Western Han Dynasty gradually stabilized and prospered
Resources:
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LIU Guanghua. Zhang Qian and the strategy of "breaking the right arm of the Xiongnu" in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty. 《 CNKI 》 ， 1988
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