Preface
In the history of warfare in ancient China, Huo Qubing was a highly praised general, and his military achievements and military prowess were amazing. However, the most curious thing is that in that era of lack of modern navigation technology, why every time he faced the Huns, he was always able to strike accurately, while other generals failed many times?
The reason why Huo Qubing was able to win again and again must have profound reasons and superb tactics. So, with what unique secret book did Huo Qubing rely on to find the traces of the Xiongnu and deal a heavy blow to them? Let's find out.
First, the innovative way of employing troops
During the Western Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu, a powerful nomadic people, had always been a major problem for the Han Dynasty. They were good at horseback riding, good at guerrilla tactics, and it was difficult for them to be defeated head-on by the Han army. At that time, many veterans, such as Li Guang and others, adopted the tactics of sticking to the Huns, relying on logistical advantages to fight defensive battles with the Xiongnu.
Although a lot of results have been achieved, it cannot make the Xiongnu really have any fear of the Han Dynasty, but only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. But the young Huo Quzhi had a different idea.
He has the unique innovative spirit and hard work of young people, and knows that according to the traditional art of war, it is absolutely impossible to control the Huns. Therefore, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to personally teach his grandson Wu Qi the art of war, Huo Qubing excused himself on the grounds that "Gu Fanglu is like an ear, and he will not learn the ancient art of war".
He himself did create a completely different style of play from other veterans based on the characteristics of the Xiongnu and Han Dynasty armies. This style of play is "fast".
Before Huo Quai, the generals of the Western Han Dynasty still used the same set of ideas in the Central Plains to fight against the Xiongnu, and organized tens of thousands of troops to confront others head-on. But they didn't think that the purpose of the Xiongnu's attack on the Han Dynasty was not to replace it, but simply to plunder some resources.
There is no need to crush these regular armies of yours. To mobilize such a huge army of tens of thousands of people, it is not a matter of one or two days, and when you are ready, the Huns will either run away early, or they have already set up an ambush waiting for you to be caught.
And Huo Qubing was keenly aware of this, and only prepared 800 elite soldiers for the first expedition after discovering the location of the Xiongnu, and the Xiongnu had no time to react, it was impossible to escape, and their troops were still scattered everywhere, so they naturally couldn't resist.
This is the biggest characteristic of Huo Quai's use of soldiers - "fast". He did not organize a large army like other veterans, but chose elite troops and quickly attacked to deliver a fatal blow to the Huns. This innovative way of using troops allowed him to accurately hit the Huns many times and beat the Huns into fear.
2. Strict law on the management of the army
If a force is not strong enough, then no matter how good the tactics are, they will not be able to play it. And the most important thing to improve strength is naturally the way the generals govern the army.
According to the "Book of Han", "Historical Records" and other classics, every time Huo Qubing went out to fight, he had to bring special cooks and delicacies, so that the soldiers were so hungry that he couldn't finish his own delicacies, and he would rather throw them out than give them to the soldiers.
This is far from Li Guang's practice of placing himself behind the soldiers in both eating and drinking. But why couldn't Li Guang's troops find the Xiongnu, but Huo Quai's can?
Or is it because a veteran like Li Guang has not adapted to the way of fighting with the Xiongnu and still uses the old method to govern the army. As mentioned earlier, Huo Quai's use of soldiers pays attention to the word "fast". The troops must get up quickly, and naturally they can't bring too many supplies, if they can't find the Huns, everyone will starve once the food is exhausted.
Then the soldiers are starving in peacetime, that is, preparing for the most unfavorable situation in real battle. What should we do if we don't starve? There is only one way, to find the Xiongnu quickly and defeat them, and then naturally there will be food to eat.
Therefore, Huo Qubing was harsh on the soldiers, because he knew that against the Huns, once he attacked, he was likely to return empty-handed, and the soldiers who were used to starvation would not be disheartened because they were suddenly starving.
And on the other hand, this also stimulated the enthusiasm of the soldiers to fight the Huns. The national righteousness that I usually talk about may not be so easy to do on the battlefield, but it is a real benefit that you can eat enough when you win a war.
There is such an advantage, if you can't find the Huns, the soldiers will be more anxious than Huo Quai, and everyone will desperately look for clues about the Huns. Huo Quai's approach has a bit of the feeling that Xiang Yu was ruined back then.
If you compare it, you can find that this is also the reason why Li Guang can't find a way out many times. His soldiers knew that no matter whether they could find the Xiongnu or not, everyone had something to eat, and they really had to go back to their homes if they didn't have anything to eat, otherwise Li Guang would starve to death before them.
Therefore, the enthusiasm of Li Guang's soldiers to find the Xiongnu is definitely not as good as that of Huo Quai's men, and the number of soldiers is so large, everyone can quickly find the traces of the Xiongnu when they look for clues together, so the probability of getting lost is greatly reduced.
It can be said that Huo Quzhi's strict method of managing the army not only improved the combat effectiveness of the troops, but also stimulated the enthusiasm of the soldiers for defeating the Xiongnu, which is undoubtedly one of the important reasons why he was able to achieve brilliant results.
3. Make good use of captives
In addition to his speed and accurate grasp of the psychology of the soldiers, there is another very important reason why Huo Qubing can easily find the Huns, that is, he is good at using prisoners of war.
In ancient times, there was no satellite navigation for wayfinding, and maps were not necessarily accurate, so the safest way was to use people to lead the way. And Huo Quzhi just discovered this.
Since the victory of the first sortie, Huo Qubing has captured many Huns. The Xiongnu, a nomadic people, were born with the worship of the strong, and many Huns were impressed by Huo Quai's bravery and joined his command.
Later, the Hun evil king also brought 10,000 people to follow Huo Quai. There are also two Xiongnu kings named Gao Buzhi and servant friends, who followed Huo Quai's illness to fight the battle of Hexi, with outstanding military achievements, and after coming back, he was named Hou by the Han Dynasty.
It can be seen that Huo Qubing not only has Han people under his command, but also many Huns. Relying on these Huns as guides and staff officers, Huo Qubing was able to make the migration direction and living habits of the Huns clear.
The attack was fast, the soldiers were enthusiastic, and there were Huns as guides. Adding up to these conditions, Huo Qubing was of course much easier to find the location of the Xiongnu than other Western Han generals.
Fourth, the tragedy of heroes
In just six years of military career, Huo Qubing achieved brilliant results, which made the Xiongnu have a deep fear of the Han Dynasty. But jealous of the talent, this genius general finally died of illness at the age of twenty-four, and his life came to an abrupt end.
What was the reason for the untimely death of this genius general? According to historical records, Huo Qubing was seriously injured once during the Battle of Hexi. Although he was victorious in the end, the serious injury took a serious toll on his body.
Since then, Huo Quzhi's physical condition has not been very good, and he often needs to recuperate. However, he never let go of his military power, and still insisted on going out to fight, making unremitting efforts to defend the territory of the Han Dynasty. Eventually, the young general died of illness at the age of twenty-four. This is undoubtedly a tragedy, a heroic tragedy.
epilogue
Although Huo Quzhi's life was short, he created brilliant achievements in his short six-year military career, which made the Xiongnu deeply jealous of the Han Dynasty.
His innovative way of employing troops, strict methods of administering the army, and his ability to make good use of prisoners have all become examples for later generations of generals to follow. His heroic deeds will forever be engraved in the long river of history and become the pride of the Chinese nation.
Although his life ended early, his spirit will forever inspire future generations and make us proud and respectful of this genius general.