The winning point of Emperor Wudi's defeat of Xiongnu War.

The winning point of Emperor Wudi's defeat of Xiongnu War.

Cavalry revolution in the western han dynasty.

The quick decision strategy of the Western Han army in Mayi was a complete failure, but it brought a direct consequence, that is, the diplomatic peace between the Central Plains countries and the grassland empire no longer existed. Under the guidance of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the peace policy of the ruling and opposition parties in the Western Han Dynasty has become a thing of the past. From now on, all the future will be decided by the bloody god of war.

Looking back at the national defense situation of the Central Plains against the grassland empire in the Western Han Dynasty, it should be noted that even in the 70-year peaceful period, the Xiongnu and its tribal forces under their rule continued to attack the border areas of the Han Dynasty in order to plunder wealth and population, which was also the basic way for grassland riders to survive.

In order to cope with this attack, the Central Plains adopted a highly militarized administrative management in the border areas, and the satrap of each border county served as the military commander in this area. The troops in these border counties are basically cavalry, and generally each county can reach the scale of riding, which is an independent combat force.

At the same time, in order to fundamentally change the military contrast between the Central Plains and grasslands, Western Han countries have vigorously advocated horse administration for decades. According to the law at that time, providing a good horse to the country can exempt three people from taxes and labor for one year, and the court itself has opened more than 20 large-scale military horse breeding places by using the areas suitable for breeding horses in the northwest.

By the time Emperor Wu decided to go out, there were already more than 400,000 horses in the stables of the National Horse Factory. In the social environment dominated by horse administration for decades, the people of the Central Plains combined the superior with the subordinate and developed a fanatical horse worship. When the thoroughbred horse from Wusun was introduced as a tribute, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty personally named it "Tianma", and the whole country thought that it was a great happy event for Tianma to come to the south.

The variety of horses not only changed the strength contrast between the Central Plains and the grasslands, but also caused the real cavalry revolution for the first time in the Central Plains. The Southern Army, the imperial army directly under the Central Committee of the Western Han Dynasty, formed a special elite cavalry unit. Its soldiers came from counties and counties familiar with riding and shooting in the west and north, including northern Hu Bing, which volunteered to serve the Central Plains.

With the establishment of a large-scale cavalry following the example of the grassland empire, the cavalry in the Central Plains actually has far more military strength than the Xiongnu, because the cavalry in the Central Plains is not only equipped with excellent crossbows and iron sabres, but also has strong combat and logistics support for infantry and chariots. Compared with tarquin, Central Plains cavalry has the characteristics of professional troops, strong organization and abundant human resources support.

Compared with the growth of the strength of the Han army, the Xiongnu under the rule of the military minister Khan encountered some internal problems during this period. The operational records of mutual attack and defense before and after the Henan War show that the invasion force of Xiongnu has been much smaller than before, basically on the scale of 30 thousand to 50 thousand riding. In the meantime, many important forces of Xiongnu broke away from the control of Da Khan and chose to surrender to the Central Plains court. The balance of power comparison between the two sides has generally tilted towards the Central Plains.

Henan land: the land that must be taken than the attack.

Morton Khan established a vast grassland empire, starting from Daxinganling in the east, Altai Mountain in the west and Lake Baikal in the north. However, the core part of Xiongnu tribe was in the Mongolian Plateau in the northern part of the Central Plains at that time, which had the same southern barrier as the empire, namely, today's Langshan and Daqingshan areas.

This mountain system is connected with Helan Mountain in the north-south direction from east to west, covering the northern and western parts of the Yellow River Hetao, and then hangs down to Longxi area. The key point of this strategic geography is that the southern slope of Yinshan Mountain and the Ordos area of Hetao provided the Huns with a base for strategic attack, which made it very convenient and quick to harass the Central Plains and even directly threatened Chang 'an along the road built by the Qin people. In defense, this area can provide strong depth.

More importantly, above this strategic depth area, it is the direct jurisdiction of Xiongnu Khan and the heart of the grassland empire. This determines that the first and most important strategic goal of the Han army in the Sino-Hungarian war must be to capture this area, which is related to the initiative of the war and the strategy of the next war.

This area is very important for the struggle between the Chinese nation in the Central Plains and the people riding horses on the grasslands, which can also be proved from the historical development. Before the rise of Xiongnu, the ancestors of Xiongnu, who were based in the north and south of Yinshan Mountain, had a long struggle with Zhao Jin during the Warring States Period. Finally, Zhao won the victory of riding and shooting through the military reform.

At the beginning of Qin's reunification, Qin Shihuang once named Meng Tian and led the army to seize him, and established the administrative system of four counties and forty-four counties, with a huge colonial and development plan. It was once called the new Qin by immigrants mainly from Guanzhong.

The defensive measure taken by Qin people in this area is to block the river, that is, to use the geographical advantages of the Yellow River to build a continuous fortress system to ensure the colonial development activities of Hetao. The war at the end of the Qin Dynasty reduced the strength of the Central Plains, and the Huns used the power of annexing the eastern and western grasslands to return to this area, which became the pasture of the Aries King and Loufan King under the rule of Da Khan.

In the first year of yuanshuo (BC128th), Wei Qing's sister Wei Zifu gave birth to a son and was made queen. That year, it was more than two years since the Han army successfully attacked the Xiongnu army for the first time. Wei Qing once again led 30,000 cavalry as a general, crossed the traditional dividing line between China and Hungary from Yanmen, and attacked the Huns with fruitful results.

This opened the prelude to the Henan campaign. In the second year, BC 127, the Xiongnu army in the east, that is, the left-led army, launched a counterattack in the direction of western Liaoning. The Xiongnu army defeated the border guards led by veteran Han Anguo, killed the western Liaoning satrap, and plundered a large number of people and wealth. The Han army made a complicated campaign plan.

The general led the army straight into the northeast to meet the Xiongnu left-wing troops, while the main force Wei took a high shovel from the eastern end of the top of the Hetao to the apex of the western end from east to west, cutting off the connection between the Xiongnu right-wing main force and the southern region.

Wei gave full play to the power of cavalry's long-distance, deep and highly mobile tactics. He defeated the Aries King and Loufan King who occupied Ordos for 70 years, but he didn't expect the main force of the Han army to leave things and the troops were completely raided. Then, the Han army suddenly turned about 90 degrees to the left, and rushed thousands of miles south like a hurricane, sweeping the western stronghold of Longxi, west of Chang' an and upper reaches of Weihe River, which threatened the heart of the Han empire.

It broke the Huns' power in the west, which is the closest to the core area of the Central Plains. This battle killed thousands of Xiongnu soldiers, captured thousands of people and hundreds of thousands of livestock, which made the Han army taste the sweetness of supporting the war with war and supplying it on the spot. After this battle, the Han army has become an expert in using the main cavalry to fight on the grassland.

Strategic upgrade: the tide of war has been shifted.

If the war between the Central Plains countries and the northern grassland countries needed a turning point in the Western Han Dynasty, then the Henan campaign in BC 127 was well deserved, and its strategic overall significance was obvious.

As far as military operations are concerned, the Central Plains Army has been fully able to master and apply the group cavalry strategy and tactics, and the cavalry tactics with long distance, great depth and high mobility are no longer the patent of grassland people.

Moreover, in the actual war, a new generation of cavalry generals, represented by Wei Qing, have matured and gained the highest command at the front. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has already seen rich benefits from his huge investment in cavalry revolution and training military generals. Although the repeated tug-of-war between attack and defense will continue for quite some time, the countries in the Central Plains have established an unbreakable military self-confidence and strength foundation. This is a psychological watershed between the opposing sides.

The recovery of Henan land has fundamentally improved the situation of offensive and defensive strategies in Central Plains countries. The Huns' occupation of this place can directly threaten the hinterland of the Central Plains, which has become history. With this place as the strategic offensive and defensive support, the Han army can flexibly counter the Xiongnu attacks in three directions, threatening Xiongnu Wang Ting in the north and south of the desert from the central position.

The restoration of the barrier defense system along the river in this area during the Qin and Warring States periods enabled the Han army to preserve a large number of permanent defense forces in peacetime, and enabled the main cavalry to be highly concentrated in order to invest in new battle directions in a group manner.

The strategic consequences of this campaign are various, the most important of which is that the Han court began to restore the administrative system, set up Shuofang County, and upgraded the Sino-Hungarian confrontation from a general military counterattack to a new national strategy, that is, opening up the territory. Immigration and development activities have made the national defense in the north have a foothold. Immigrants not only brought the production and life style of the Central Plains to this place where primitive people were repeatedly defeated, but also the local population provided closer logistical and military support.

The Great Wall, barriers and other defense systems are no longer simple defense facilities, but shields against the material growth of the original nation and country, forming a far-reaching national strategic model: the victory of the army is the pioneer of opening up new territories, while a solid defense system ensures that the land won by victory becomes a new national living space.

The farther the banner of victory goes, the farther these solid specific pathogen free will go, and the farther the footprints of the people in the Central Plains will go. Along with this process, in the expanding areas of Central Plains countries, nationalities and people with different lives and cultures gradually merged into a big family.

With the end of the Henan campaign, the countries in the Central Plains firmly occupied the active and favorable strategic situation. Next, the Han army faces Yinshan Mountain in the north and Hexi Corridor in the west. The 200-year war on the Central Plains grassland is about to usher in a decisive battle!