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introduction
During the feudal dynasty, the distant northern nomads had always been a major problem in the hearts of the Central Plains court. They rode quickly, and they were different from the Central Plains culture, and since the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, the border areas of the mainland have been repeatedly violated.
By the time of Emperor Wudi of Han, Emperor Wu was even more determined to confront the Xiongnu to the end.
(Hun cavalry)
In 99 BC, the Han Dynasty general Li Ling led troops to attack the Xiongnu, but finally suffered a crushing defeat, and finally ended up in the territory of the Xiongnu.
And why did he kill all the women accompanying the army in this battle. After the fiasco, looking back, it was these women who were the most innocent.
First, the Xiongnu came for generations, and Li Ling showed his prominence
The Xiongnu, a nomadic people who grew up in the vast north, were good at riding and shooting, and unlike the agricultural civilization in the Central Plains, the Xiongnu had no fixed place to live.
He hovered over the Central Plains, dating back to the Zhou Dynasty, when they repeatedly invaded the frontier lands. In the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, the Xiongnu were even more menacing.
They often rode and plundered, and how could this be able to resist powerful horses for the ordinary soldiers defending at that time? In the last years of the Warring States period, Li Mu led troops to fight the Xiongnu, defeated the other side, and did not dare to commit another crime for the next ten years. And after the unification of Daqin, the Xiongnu did not die.
And the famous general of the Qin Dynasty, Meng Tian, led a 300,000-strong army to the northern expedition against the Xiongnu, recovered the Hetao area, and after several years of garrisoning in the local area, a defensive line from east to west was pulled up, and the Xiongnu did not dare to commit another offense.
Despite the many defeats of the Xiongnu, for this people they seemed to be inherently plundering.
(Hun cavalry)
By the time of Emperor Wudi of Han, after the rule of several emperors of the Han Dynasty, the politics and economy of the Han Dynasty had gradually stabilized. And for the young Emperor Wudi of Han, there was another thing that made him unable to sleep peacefully.
That is the Xiongnu in the north, the Xiongnu at that time were strong, and even split the Yue tribe in two.
Emperor Wudi of Han knew that it would be very difficult to fight the Xiongnu with the army of the Han Dynasty. So he decided to send someone to find the leader of the Yue tribe, hoping to cooperate with both sides. And the person sent this time is also Zhang Qian, who is famous in history, although Zhang Qian has brought back the news that the Yue Clan is not willing to enter the battlefield again after several years.
But this journey of more than ten years made him familiar with the Xiongnu tribes and the map along the route, and this map strengthened the determination of Emperor Wudi of Han to send troops to the Xiongnu.
In the decades that followed, Emperor Wudi of Han reused Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Li Guang and other generals, and thus retreated and defeated the Xiongnu one after another.
(Portrait of Huo Qubing)
Even the establishment of the Hexi Corridor has truly opened up the road from the Central Plains to the Western Regions. But all this soon followed the deaths of Huo Qubing and Wei Qing, and gradually the Xiongnu began to gain the upper hand again.
In 99 BC, Li Ling, as Li Guang's grandson, learned the art of war since childhood and was good at riding and shooting, and he, as Li Guang's grandson, was also reused by Emperor Wudi of Han.
Li Ling led 800 cavalry to secretly penetrate two thousand miles into the Xiongnu realm, taking the opportunity to explore the route, and then returned with his troops intact.
(Image of Li Ling)
After that, he stationed in Jiuquan, Zhangye and other places to teach soldiers how to resist the Xiongnu, and then stationed local troops. From here, we can see that Li Ling is indeed a good seedling of good martial arts, but no one thought that a series of things happened later.
Second, Li Ling killed all the women accompanying the army, and the 5,000 Han army was defeated by the 80,000 Xiongnu
In the second year of the Tianhan Dynasty, the Xiongnu attacked again, and Li Guangli, the general of the Second Division at that time, led 30,000 cavalry and prepared to set out from Jiuquan and reach the Tianshan area to attack the Xiongnu.
And this road is difficult and dangerous, the war is about logistics, if there are no sufficient materials in the rear, the soldiers on the front line will not suffer even more.
So in order to deliver grain, grass and supplies, Emperor Wudi of Han decided to let Li Ling take his tun soldiers and go to transport grain. And this order, Li Ling must not be happy in his heart, he led the tun soldiers to fight, not to transport grain and grass. Moreover, after he was a famous general, in the face of Emperor Wudi of Han's proposal, Li Ling immediately wrote to say that my army can stand alone.
(Han Dynasty army, picture and text have nothing to do)
In fact, we can also understand Li Ling's thoughts, why he was not chosen to go to the battlefield, or even as long as he transported grain and grass. The pride of being a general made him unwilling to succumb to others, if he really sent grain and grass to Li Guangli, wouldn't he become Li Guangli's subordinate?
As soon as Emperor Wudi of Han saw his performance, he knew that Li Ling was ashamed to be a subordinate, and in the face of Li Ling's request to lead troops and share the strength alone, Emperor Wudi of Han also refused. He could see that Li Ling was a little angry, plus Li Guangli had already allocated 30,000 cavalry, so he said that there were not so many horses to provide.
At this time, Li Ling directly said that he did not need horses, and he was willing to fight the yellow dragon with fewer enemies, as long as five thousand infantry. Emperor Wudi of Han was moved by Li Ling's courage in these words and gladly agreed to his request. He also ordered Lu Bode on the way to lead the troops and receive Li Ling.
(Han Wudi film and television image)
However, this Lu Bode was not willing to be subordinate, and in his letter to Emperor Wudi of Han, he said that he hoped that after some time, he and Li Ling would lead 5,000 cavalry to attack Junji Mountain, and they would definitely succeed. However, his letter made Emperor Wudi of Han suspect, and Li Ling was afraid to send troops, so he immediately summoned him and asked September to send troops immediately.
Subsequently, during the thirty days of traveling north, Li Ling sent the map back to Emperor Wudi of Han, and Emperor Wudi of Han was also very happy to see Li Ling's good leadership.
But he never thought that as soon as Li Ling entered Junji Mountain, he was attacked by Shan Yu's main force, and was suddenly surrounded by more than 30,000 cavalry. Li Ling had to do a good job of defending in the valley. He ordered chariots to be used as strongholds, with halberds and shields in the front and long-range weapons such as bows and crossbows in the back.
Seeing this, the Xiongnu thought that the Han army was few and immediately sent troops to attack, but then they were defeated by the Han army's crossbow and had to flee to the mountain, while the Han army took advantage of the victory to pursue and killed thousands of Xiongnu soldiers. However, this incident caused Shan Yu's shock, and the Han army, which originally thought that there were only a few people, had such strength.
(Hun cavalry)
Immediately decided to gather the other two kings and send 80,000 cavalry together to prepare to besiege Li Ling's army. Originally, the 5,000 infantry led by Li Ling planned to attack the royal court directly, but now it was "catching turtles in an urn". He led his army and fled south, only to be trapped in a valley.
In the Book of Han, Li Ling's biography wrote: "The tomb fought and led, traveled south for several days, and reached the valley."
And in the days of hard fighting, the soldiers were wounded and disabled. And this force had already been greatly damaged, and at this time, Li Ling discovered that something was wrong in the army.
The morale of the soldiers seemed too weak to be inspiring at all, and he had led the troops for many years and naturally understood all kinds of tricks. In such a situation, is it not that there are women in the army?
Subsequently, Li Ling searched in the army and found many women hiding in the car, and he was very angry and killed these women on the spot!
Some people will ask why there are women in this army. In ancient times, marching and fighting were generally three years and five years, and in order to solve the desires of soldiers, some people would secretly bring women.
(Woman accompanying the army)
In addition, the places where the war was usually fought were in the border areas, and many women who were exiled here became a tool for military pastime. If you want to fight during the day, you should recharge your strength at night, but I didn't expect that these people still had the mind to do these things at night. It is no wonder that Li Ling was very angry, and in the end all these women were killed.
After these women were killed, they were excited by the army, and in the battle with the Xiongnu the next day, they killed more than 3,000 enemies. Li Ling then led his troops to break through to the southeast, but in the face of the powerful Xiongnu cavalry, all this seemed to be in vain.
And among Li Ling's subordinates, there was even a rebel general.
(Woman killed)
Guan Dan was originally a military marquis under Li Ling, but because he was humiliated by his superiors, he then surrendered to the Xiongnu. He told the Xiongnu about the arrangement and arrangement of Li Ling's army. Li Ling's army went all the way south, but it was still attacked by the Xiongnu army, fighting and fleeing all the way, and before reaching Mount Yanhan, 500,000 arrows had already been fired.
At this time, Li Ling was already at the end of the strong crossbow, and even five thousand elite soldiers could not resist as many as 80,000 Xiongnu cavalry. And his grand ambition at the time of departure is indeed too reckless today. At the most critical moment, Li Ling had already understood this battle, and he had lost completely.
So he decided to raid with the rest of the team, followed by the pursuit of the Xiongnu, and the people around him died one after another, Li Ling looked up to the sky and sighed, "I have no face to see Your Majesty!" ”
The defeat of Li Ling's army was transmitted back to the ears of Emperor Wudi of Han, but he thought that Li Ling had surrendered to the Xiongnu, and immediately became angry and held Li Ling's clan accountable.
(Lead the raid)
And Li Ling's reckless behavior this time also made him never return to Dahan in his life. Five thousand to eighty thousand is undoubtedly a pebble, he was too confident in himself, and did not seriously investigate the enemy, and finally buried so many people's lives.
And in this way, the most pitiful and innocent are those women who were killed by Li Ling. They are either being taken into captivity or looking for a place to rely on for themselves. However, Li Ling blamed them the most noble halfway, and even without these women, Li Ling's army could not defeat the Xiongnu.
Third, the impact of the "Scourge of Li Ling"
After Li Ling's defeat, because of his faceless sainthood, he was captured by the Xiongnu, which also led to a lot of discussion in the Han court, they believed that Li Ling must have surrendered to the Xiongnu and betrayed the Han Dynasty.
Emperor Wudi of Han personally ordered the killing of Li Ling's entire family, and many officials in the imperial court were implicated.
The most famous of these is Sima Qian. It was precisely because he helped Li Ling speak, he was eventually imprisoned by the monarch and sentenced to palace torture, originally he had the ability to sit in a higher position, but he became a prisoner overnight, under the double torture of mind and body, and he was still able to have a ravine, and finally completed the compilation of the "Shiji".
(Sima Qian)
And Li Ling was also under the mouth and belly of the Xiongnu, gradually changed from a fraudulent surrender to a real surrender, he was very reused by Shan Yu, and married Shan Yu's daughter, and later faced with his friends who persuaded him to return to Han, Li Ling hesitated for a long time, and finally refused.
And Li Ling, after staying with the Xiongnu for more than twenty years, eventually died of illness.