What method did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty use to repel the Xiongnu?

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty’s counterattack against the Huns began in the sixth year of Emperor Wu’s Yuanguang Year (129 BC) and lasted for three to forty years, marked by the victory in the decisive battle of Mobei. , divided into two stages before and after, with the first stage as the main body. During this period, the Han army launched three major counterattacks against the Xiongnu (also called the five major battles) and achieved decisive victories, which fundamentally solved the problem of the Xiongnu's southward harassment. These three strategic counterattacks were the battles of Henan, Monan, Hexi and Mobei. Now they are introduced as follows: Battle of Henan and Monan. In the second year of Emperor Wu's Yuanshuo (127 BC), the Xiongnu cavalry invaded Shanggu (now southeast of Huailai, Hebei), Yuyang (now southwest of Miyun, Beijing) and other places. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty avoided the truth and launched a counterattack, sending the young general Wei Qing to lead an army to attack Henan, which was occupied by the Xiongnu. Wei Qing led his troops northward, out of Yunzhong, and marched westward along the Yellow River. He launched a surprise attack on the Xiongnu troops of King Loufan and King Aries who occupied Hetao and the area south of it, and recovered all of Henan. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted Zhu Fuyan's suggestion and established Shuofang and Wuyuan counties in Henan, built Shuofang City, and moved more than 100,000 people from the interior to camp in Shuofang to garrison the border. The Han army's recapture of Henan had important strategic significance: it removed the springboard for the Huns to invade the Central Plains, relieved their threat to Chang'an, and established a strategic offensive base for the Han army. The Xiongnu nobles were unwilling to lose the strategic location of Henan and sent troops to harass Shuofang several times in an attempt to recapture the Henan area. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to fight back and launched the Battle of Monan in the spring of the fifth year of Yuanshuo (124 BC). At that time, Wei Qing was appointed as the general of chariots and cavalry, and led his troops out of Shuofang and into Monan to counterattack King Youxian of the Xiongnu. Li Xi and others sent troops to Youbeiping (southwest of today's Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia) to contain Shanyu and King Zuoxian, and to coordinate Wei Qing's main army. action. Wei Qing went 200 to 300 kilometers from the fortress, ran a long distance, and raided the court of King Youxian. He was caught off guard and fled north in confusion. The Han army captured more than 10,000 enemies and returned home in triumph. The victory of this battle further consolidated the important territory of Shuofang, completely eliminated the direct threat of the Xiongnu to the capital Chang'an, and cut off the left and right sides of the Xiongnu so that they could be divided and controlled. In February and April of the following year, the newly appointed general Wei Qing led his cavalry out of Dingxiang (now northwest of Lingeer in Inner Mongolia) twice, annihilating more than 10,000 Xiongnu troops, expanding the results of the war against the Xiongnu, and forcing the main force of the Xiongnu to retreat. Retreat to the Mobei area and stay away from the Han territory. This provided the necessary conditions for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to carry out the next battle of Hexi and win. Battle of Hexi. Hexi is now Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and other places in Gansu Province. Because it is located to the west of the Yellow River, it has been called Hexi since ancient times, also known as the Hexi Corridor. It was the passage from the interior to the Western Regions and had an important strategic position. At this time, it was still under the control of the Huns and posed a threat to the Han Dynasty's flanks. In order to open up the road to the Western Regions and consolidate the western region, the Han Dynasty decided to launch the Battle of Hexi. To this end, it organized a strong cavalry force and assigned the young general Huo Qubing to attack the Xiongnu army in Hexi. In March of the second year of Yuanshou (121 BC), Huo Qubing led ten thousand men out of Longxi, crossed Wushaoling, and attacked the Xiongnu in the Hexi Corridor. He adopted the strategy of surprise attack, marched straight in, and defeated the five Xiongnu kingdoms in just 6 days. Then he crossed the Yanzhi Mountain (now Shandan Dahuang Mountain in Gansu Province) for more than a thousand miles, and fought fiercely with the Xiongnu army at the foot of the Gaolan Mountain. He won every battle, annihilating nearly 9,000 enemies, beheading several famous Xiongnu kings, and capturing Prince Hunxie and the Prime Minister. , many captains returned in triumph. In the summer of the same year, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered Huo Qubing to attack again in order to completely annihilate the Xiongnu army in Hexi. In order to prevent the Xiongnu Zuoxian King's troops in the northeast from taking the opportunity to attack, he asked Zhang Qian, Li Guang and others to lead a partial army out of Youbeiping to attack Zuoxian King to coordinate the actions of Huo Qubing's main force. This time, Huo Qubing led tens of thousands of elite cavalry out of Beidi County, detouring to the north of the Hexi Corridor, with a circuitous depth of more than 1,000 kilometers, far out behind the enemy lines, attacking from northwest to southeast, advancing furiously all the way, pursuing the north and defeating various Xiongnu tribes. In the Heihe River (today's upper reaches of Ruoshui) valley between the Qilian Mountains and the Heli Mountains, they launched a decisive battle with the main force of the Xiongnu in Hexi, killing more than 30,000 enemies and achieving a decisive victory. In this battle, Huo Qubing captured 5 famous Xiongnu kings and more than 100 people including the Queen Mother, Princes, Prime Ministers, and Generals. He surrendered 40,000 Xiongnu King Hunxie's tribe, and all occupied the Hexi Corridor area. The Han court established the four counties of Wuwei, Jiuquan, Zhangye, and Dunhuang there to immigrate to the border to guard production. The Battle of Hexi dealt a devastating blow to the Xiongnu army in the Hexi area, extended the rule of the Han Dynasty to this area, opened the way for the Han Dynasty to the Western Regions, achieved the strategic goal of "cutting off the right arm of the Xiongnu", and laid the foundation for further large-scale counterattacks The Huns provided the possibility. The Battle of Mobei. After the two major battles of Monan and Hexi, the Xiongnu forces suffered heavy losses, and the Han army had completely taken the initiative in this protracted counterattack. However, the Huns were unwilling to fail and continued their activities of raiding and harassing southward. He also adopted the advice of Zhao Xin, the Han surrender general, and prepared to lure the main force of the Han army to the north of the desert and look for opportunities to annihilate it. In order to completely annihilate the main force of the Xiongnu and fundamentally solve the problem of this border conflict, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took advantage of the Xiongnu's mentality that the Han army could not cross the border (desert) lightly to stay (lightly enter and stay for a long time). After full preparation, he decided to take measures against the Xiongnu. Larger military operations. And taking advantage of the situation and taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, we determined the specific operational policy of concentrating our forces, going deep into Mobei, and seeking to annihilate the main force of the Xiongnu.

Emperor Wu gathered 100,000 elite cavalrymen to form two large strategic groups, led by General Wei Qing and Hussars General Huo Qubing respectively. In addition, hundreds of thousands of infantry and more than 100,000 horses were used to coordinate the actions of the main cavalry force. After Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were ordered to do so, they each led 50,000 elite cavalry out of Dingxiang and Daijun respectively and marched north along the east and west routes, determined to fight the Xiongnu in Mobei. When the Xiongnu Chanyu heard that Han troops were coming, he adopted Zhao Xin's suggestion and moved his troops, livestock, and baggage farther north, "waiting with elite troops in the north of the curtain." After Wei Qing left the fortress, he learned of the Xiongnu Chanyu's strategic intentions. He led the main force to attack the Chanyu's location, crossed the desert, and marched hundreds of kilometers north to find and annihilate the Chanyu's headquarters. At the same time, Li Guang and Zhao Shiqi were ordered to lead their troops to detour from the east to respond. Soon, the main force of Wei Qing's tribe encountered the Xiongnu Chanyu. Wei Qing ordered the camp to be surrounded by Wugang chariots to prevent the Huns from attacking. Then he commanded 5,000 fine cavalry to launch a fierce attack on the Shanyu army, and the Shanyu immediately sent 10,000 cavalry to fight. The two sides fought fiercely until dusk. A strong wind blew up and flying sand blew into their faces, making it difficult for the two armies to distinguish each other. Wei Qing took advantage of the situation and sent Qingqi to outflank him from the left and right. Chanyu saw that the Han army was outnumbered and he could not win, so he led hundreds of fine cavalry to break through and fled northwest. When Wei Qing discovered that Shan Yu had absconded, he sent Qingqi to pursue him all night, and then led his main force to follow up. Although they failed to capture the Chanyu, they managed to annihilate 19,000 Xiongnu troops in one fell swoop. They advanced to Zhao Xin City in Zhiyan Mountain (today's southern end of Hangai Mountain in Mongolia), burned the city and the Xiongnu's accumulated grain, and returned it. In the other direction, Huo Qubing led his army out of Daijun and Youbeiping, marched more than 1,000 kilometers north, crossed the desert, and engaged the Xiongnu Zuoxian King's tribe, wiping out all their elites and capturing more than 70,400 people below the Tuntou King and Han King. King Zuo Xian and his generals abandoned their army and fled. Huo Qubing took advantage of the victory and pursued them until they reached Langjuxu Mountain (east of present-day Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), and then returned in triumph. The Battle of Mobei was the largest battle between the Han and Huns, the battlefield was farthest from the Central Plains, and it was also the most difficult battle. In this battle, although the Han army paid a heavy price, it was able to annihilate more than 90,000 Xiongnu people, seriously weakening the power of the Xiongnu, making it unable to move southward in a large scale, resulting in the "later Xiongnu fled far away, and Mu Nan" "No royal court" situation. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty achieved a decisive victory in the war against the Xiongnu. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty counterattacked the Xiongnu war, which fundamentally destroyed the military strength that the Xiongnu relied on to launch harassing wars, making the Xiongnu no longer able to pose a huge military threat to the Han Dynasty. During the war, the Huns were wiped out as many as 150,000 people, and they were no longer able to compete with the Han Dynasty. The Xiongnu lost their two major bases of Henan, Yinshan and Hexi, which were rich in water and grass and had a mild climate, and moved far away to the bitter cold land of Mobei. Their people and livestock decreased sharply, and they began to decline. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's victory in the battle against the Xiongnu also opened the way for the Han Dynasty to strengthen and consolidate border defense construction and promote friendly exchanges between China and the people of Central and West Asia. While fighting back against the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty immigrated to reclaim the border and strengthened the northern border defense. During the war against the Xiongnu, in order to win over the country, the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian and others to the Western Regions, expanding Sino-foreign exchanges. The victory in the war against the Xiongnu helped eliminate the threat of the Xiongnu to the ethnic minorities in the northeast and northwest, sent the Han people advanced agricultural and handicraft technologies and cultural achievements, promoted trade and friendly exchanges between people of all ethnic groups, and promoted border development. The development of ethnic minorities and the integration of ethnic groups have also enabled China's economic and cultural exchanges with countries in Central and West Asia to develop relatively smoothly. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's victory in the battle against the Xiongnu also had positive significance in the military field. It promoted the construction of the cavalry team, accumulated experience in large-scale cavalry operations, and promoted tactical innovation. It has a profound impact on the construction of ancient military theory and the development of war practice. Of course, the war also brought certain sequelae, such as a serious loss of the strength of the army; heavy losses in financial and material resources: "wasted at home, and the household registration was halved" ("Book of Han: Chronicles of Emperor Zhao"); sharp class contradictions, the so-called " Thieves arise” and so on. But all these are undoubtedly secondary issues compared with the positive significance of this war. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's successful military experience in counterattacking the Huns is highlighted by the following points. First, make adequate war preparations and achieve the goal of "the victorious soldier wins first and then goes to war." The work in this area mainly includes: building a large number of cavalry and selecting young generals according to the characteristics of the war against the Huns; closely cooperating with the military and diplomacy to isolate the Huns; implementing a wartime economic system to ensure the logistics supply for the war against the Huns. Second, use cavalry tactics wisely and adopt an active offensive policy. In several major battles, the Han army gave full play to the characteristics of the rapid maneuverability of the cavalry, carrying out long-distance detours, outflanks, surprise attacks, and continuous attacks, without giving the enemy a chance to breathe. The Xiongnu army gathered and annihilated them with great force, and achieved great results. Third, adopt a strategy of defeating each one. The Han army was weak at first and then strong, advancing step by step, cutting off the connections between the Xiongnu tribes, dividing and controlling them, and always taking the initiative in the war. At the same time, we can also pay attention to the strategic coordination between the main force and the partial divisions, use the partial divisions to contain the enemy, and use the main force to severely damage the enemy, which has achieved good results.