The Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei wrote in the "Veteran General Xing": "Wei Qing was undefeated by Tianxing, and Li Guang had no merit and was strange." In Wang Wei's view, the reason why Wei Qing established the Meritorious Achievements was because of "Heavenly Luck", and the reason why Li Guang was ineffective was because of "Numerical Odd". In the eyes of some people, the reason why Wei Qing was able to win the battle was not because of his military talent, but because of the super national strength of the Han Wudi era, relying on national strength to crush the Xiongnu.
It is not unusual for Wang Wei to have such a view, many Tang Dynasty poets like Huo Andi and Li Guang very much, but they do not like Wei Qing so much. Compared with Wei Qing, Huo Fuyi is more youthful, everyone likes young heroes, and hopes that he can establish meritorious achievements at a young age like Huo Fuyi. Compared with Wei Qing, Li Guang is a little more heroic and lonely, and Tang Dynasty poets are more likely to resonate. The reason why Wei Qing was invincible and invincible, really did not have much military talent, but only relied on the strong national strength of the Han Dynasty? The answer is no!
Whether in ancient times or in modern times, wars depend on strong comprehensive national strength. Comprehensive national strength is the foundation for winning wars, and it is also the foundation for launching a war of annihilation. Without strong comprehensive national strength, even if it can achieve a temporary victory, it is difficult to achieve a long-term victory. In the early years of the Han Dynasty, there were many famous generals, but they were unable to solve the Xiongnu problem, and could only adopt a policy of peace and pro-xiongnu. The reason why the Han Dynasty did not fight back against the Xiongnu until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was also because the comprehensive national strength of the Han Dynasty had greatly exceeded that of the Xiongnu.
The reason why Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi were able to achieve such outstanding merits must be related to the comprehensive national strength of the Han Dynasty. Wei Qing and Huo Went ill in their best years, encountering the Han Dynasty, which had the most powerful national strength. Emperor Wu of Han gave Wei Qing and Huo Quyi the opportunity to show their talents, and Wei Qing and Huo Wentyi repaid Emperor Wu of Han with great merits.
Comprehensive national strength is the most important factor in winning the war, but it is not the only factor. In ancient China, there was no shortage of cases in which comprehensive strength was superior, but in the end they lost battles, and there were also classic examples of winning more with less and defeating the strong with the weak. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the period when the comprehensive national strength of the Han Dynasty was the most powerful, and many foreign wars were won, but many battles were also lost.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, most of the victories of the Han Dynasty were related to Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi. At the same time as Wei Qing and Huo Went ill, there was no shortage of famous generals in the Han Dynasty, and Li Guang was one of them. In Li Guang's military career, he was mainly known for defense, and rarely won battles when he took the initiative to attack. If you only lose once or twice, it can be said that the times are unlucky, and if failure becomes a habit, it is difficult to say that it is "luck". After Huo Went ill and Wei Qing died, Emperor Wu of Han also wanted to cultivate Li Guangli. In the later period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu had been crippled, and the comprehensive national strength was incomparable with that of the Han Dynasty. However, Li Guangli was unable to help Emperor Wu of Han to further attack the Xiongnu. Li Guangli lost more than he won, and eventually even surrendered to the Xiongnu.
Wei Qing was able to stand out from many generals, definitely not only because of the comprehensive national strength of the Han Dynasty, but also because he was the brother-in-law of Emperor Wu of Han, but because of his military talent. Emperor Wu of Han created conditions for all the military generals at that time, and as for who could stand out, it still depended on talent. Although Wei Qing was the brother-in-law of Emperor Wu of Han, his starting point was no higher than that of Li Guang. Wei Qing was able to stand out among all the generals, naturally because of his outstanding military talent.
Wei Qing's soldiers and horses were at most 50,000 cavalry on his expeditions. Before Li Guangli surrendered to the Xiongnu, he led 60,000 cavalry and 70,000 infantry. Emperor Wu of Han built a similar platform for the two of them, but Wei Qing's exploits far exceeded Li Guangli's. From this point of view, how could Wei Qing not be talented. Judging from Wei Qing's past achievements, his military ability is also extraordinary.
In 129 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent a four-way army to conquer the Xiongnu, following the plot of Mayi, once again unveiling the battle against the Xiongnu. Wei Qing led the army out of Shanggu, Gongsun Ao out of Dai County, Gongsun He out of the clouds, and Li Guang out of Yanmen. Each of the four armies led 10,000 cavalry to attack the Xiongnu.
Among the four major armies, only Wei Qing won the victory, and the other three roads all ended in failure, of which Li Guang lost the most. Wei Qing led a large army and defeated the Xiongnu in the area of Longcheng. The starting point of the generals of the four-way army was the same, and the support given to them by Emperor Wu of Han was the same. Only Wei Qing can win, which shows Wei Qing's talent. The Battle of Longcheng was the first victory against the Huns during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, breaking the myth of the invincibility of the Xiongnu.
In 128 BC, Wei Qing once again led an army of 30,000 out of Yanmen and once again defeated the Xiongnu. In 127 BC, Emperor Wu of han launched the Battle of Henan. Wei Qing led the army and adopted the tactic of "roundabout flank attack", bypassing the rear of the Xiongnu army and cutting off the connection between Henan and Shan Yu Wangting. After cutting off the Xiongnu tribes, Wei Qing led an army to complete the siege of the White Sheep King and the Lou Fu King, and recaptured the Hetao area. At that time, under that circumstance, Wei Qing already knew how to make a big detour in strategy, and then surrounded and annihilated, which showed Wei Qing's outstanding military talent.
In 124 BC, Wei Qing led 30,000 cavalry to attack the Xiongnu again. This time, Wei Qing adopted a strategy of great depth and surprise attacked the Xiongnu Right Sage King, defeating the Right Sage King in one fell swoop and dealing a heavy blow to the Xiongnu. In 119 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty launched the Battle of Mobei. Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi each led 50,000 cavalry to attack the Xiongnu. Wei Qing and the Xiongnu Shan Yu met. Wei Qing, on the premise that Li Guang failed to join the main army, led his army to defeat the Xiongnu Shan Yu. Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi defeated the main Xiongnu force, and the Xiongnu completely lost the ability to compete with the Han Dynasty.
In his military career, Wei Qing achieved the Great Victory of Longcheng, the reconquest of Hetao, the surprise attack on Gao que, the second out of Dingxiang, and the Battle of Mobei. With the death of Huo Fuyi and Wei Qing, Emperor Wu of Han gradually changed his battle against the Xiongnu from more victories and fewer defeats to more defeats than less victories. Emperor Wu of Han was still the Emperor of Han, the Han Dynasty was still that Of Han Dynasty, but the general was not that general. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to lose gradually in the war against the Huns in the later period, which had something to do with the incompetence of the generals.
After Huo and Wei Qing, Emperor Wu of Han could no longer find such excellent generals, and the battle against Hungary was naturally more defeated than less. Wei Qing's military talent is naturally beyond doubt, and his military talent can be ranked high throughout ancient times. Although Wang Wei wrote that "Wei Qing was undefeated by Heavenly Luck, Li Guang had no merit and was strange", it did not mean that he denied Wei Qing's military talent. The official mainstream view of later generations also believes that Wei Qing is a rare good general.
During the Tang Dynasty, there were sixty-four famous ancient generals, and Wei Qing was one of them. During the Song Dynasty, temples were set up for famous ancient generals to enshrine seventy-two famous generals, and Wei Qing was among them. The three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties after the Song Dynasty also greatly respected Wei Qing. It can be seen from this that posterity affirmed Wei Qing's military ability and merits.