Who is Li Mu?

Li Mu (? - 229 BC), a native of the Zhao State during the Warring States Period, was an outstanding strategist and commander of the Zhao State during the Warring States Period, and was one of the four famous generals of the Warring States Period. He reached the rank of Prime Minister of the State of Zhao, with the rank of general, and was granted the title of Lord Wu'an of the State of Zhao.

Li Mu's life activities can be roughly divided into two stages. The first stage was fighting against the Huns on the northern border of Zhao; the latter stage was participating in political and military activities in the DPRK, mainly resisting Qin.

During the period of King Zhao Wuling in 309 BC, the State of Zhao ordered the "Hufu riding and shooting" in the country, carried out a series of reforms, and gradually strengthened its military strength. However, during the periods of King Huiwen and King Xiaocheng, the military strength of the Xiongnu tribes gradually became stronger and they continued to harass the northern border of Zhao. King Zhao then sent Li Mu to lead the troops to guard the northern border.

Li Mu was stationed in the northern border areas of Dai County and Yanmen County (now northwest of Dai County, Shanxi Province) all year round to defend against the Huns. He took effective measures based on the actual situation to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the army, effectively guarded against the Huns' intrusion, and won the love of the soldiers. His measures were: first, appoint people he thought were capable as officials, and at the same time keep the collected goods and taxes in his garrison office to serve as the daily expenses of the soldiers. Secondly, several cows were slaughtered every day to reward the soldiers, and the soldiers were given preferential treatment. Third, step up the practice of horseback archery, pay attention to the alarm system, and increase the number of reconnaissance personnel. In terms of military affairs, there are strict regulations: "The Xiongnu invaded and robbed, and rushed in to protect them. Anyone who dared to capture them would be killed" ("Historical Records: Biography of Li Mu"). Therefore, every time the Huns invaded, the strict alarm system exerted its power, and the soldiers quickly retreated to the camp and stayed there, not daring to go out to fight without permission. The Xiongnu gained nothing from their plundering, but the Zhao army retained its strength and suffered little loss in personnel and materials over the years, laying a material foundation for future counterattacks.

But the Huns thought Li Mu was cowardly, and even the soldiers on the Zhao border thought their general was timid and afraid. King Zhao blamed Li Mu for this. But Li Mu still goes his own way. Finally, King Zhao was angered, recalled him, and sent another general to replace him. The new general had been in office for more than a year. Whenever the Huns invaded, he ordered his troops to go into battle. He often suffered setbacks and suffered heavy losses and casualties. This makes it impossible for farming and grazing in border areas to be done on time. So King Zhao asked Li Mu to come back again, but Li Mu stayed behind closed doors and insisted that he was sick. King Zhao repeatedly begged Li Mu, but Li Mu said: "The king must use his ministers, and I dare to obey orders as before" ("Historical Records: Biography of Li Mu"). King Zhao agreed to him.

After Li Mu arrived at the border again, he still acted according to the original protocol. In the past few years, the Huns invaded and gained nothing, but they always believed that Li Mu was too timid to fight. The soldiers guarding the border were rewarded every day but were not used, so they all asked for a decisive battle with the Huns. Li Mu saw the opportunity and prepared 1,300 selected chariots and 13,000 selected war horses. Fifty thousand warriors who were rewarded with a hundred gold, and one hundred thousand outstanding shooters were all organized and trained. And they let the livestock roam freely, allowing the people to graze all over the mountains and fields.

Seeing this, the Xiongnu first sent a small force to invade. After the battle, Li Mu pretended to be defeated and left thousands of people to the Huns. Chanyu heard about it and led his army to invade Zhao. Li Mu sent out surprise troops and used a two-wing outflank strategy to surprise and outflank the Xiongnu army, annihilating more than 100,000 Xiongnu cavalry in one fell swoop. Then he took advantage of the victory to destroy the ragged eaves, broke the Donghu, descended on the Linhu, and the Shanyu fled far away. After more than ten years, the northern border of Zhao State was stable, and the Xiongnu did not dare to approach the cities on the border of Zhao State. Li Mu therefore became the most important general of Zhao after Lian Po and Zhao She.

Because Li Mu ensured the security of Zhao's border, Zhao's monarchs and ministers were able to deal with Qin's annexation war without any worries. In fact, Lin Xiangru, Lian Po, Zhao She and others were very successful in political and military struggles. Every victory is supported by Li Mu’s cooperation.

Li Mu came to serve in the court about 246 BC. He was once transferred back to the DPRK due to state affairs, and went as an envoy to the Qin State as prime minister, establishing an alliance and causing the Qin State to return the hostages of the Zhao State. Two years later, King Mouxiang succeeded to the throne. At that time, Zhao She and Lin Xiangru were dead, Lian Po and Le Cheng both fled to other countries, and Li Mu became an important minister in the court.

In the first year of King Zhao Daoxiang (244 BC), the State of Zhao sent Li Mu to attack the State of Yan and conquered Wu Sui (now west of Xushui County, Hebei) and Fangcheng (now south of Gu'an County, Hebei). At this time, Qin quickly annexed a large area of ??Wei's land, forced Wei to surrender, and then turned its main forces against Zhao.

In the third year of King Zhao Qian's reign (233 BC), Zhao general Hujue was defeated by Qin general Huanjue (also known as Fan Yuqi), and he lost one hundred thousand troops. Qin attacked Zhao's rear from the north. The situation was critical. He quickly appointed Li Mu as general and led his troops south to counterattack the Qin army. They defeated the Qin army in Yi'an (20 miles southwest of today's Haocheng County, Hebei Province). More than 100,000 Qin soldiers were killed. Annihilated. Huanjue only led a small number of soldiers to break out of the siege, and fled to Yan State in fear of being punished. This battle dealt a heavy blow to the Qin State, and Li Mu was named Lord Wu'an for his meritorious service.

In 232 BC, Qin attacked Zhao Panwu (south of present-day Pingshan County, Hebei Province) again. Li Mu sent troops to fight and again severely damaged the Qin army, but Zhao also suffered heavy losses in military strength. At that time, Han and Wei had already obeyed Qin's orders and followed the Qin army to attack Zhao. For this reason, Li Mu marched south to resist the attacks of Han and Wei.

In 229 BC, Qin sent Wang Jian to attack Zhao, but Zhao resisted with Li Mu and Sima Shang. The Qin army could not advance, so they bribed King Zhao's favored minister Guo Kai with a large sum of money. He spread the rumors in front of King Zhao that Li Mu and Sima Shang wanted to rebel. King Zhao fell into the trap and sent Zhao Cong and Qi general Yan Ju to replace Li Mu.

When Li Mu refused to obey, Zhao secretly arranged a trap to capture Li Mu, killed him, and replaced Sima Shang. In the face of war, the State of Zhao kissed the traitors and killed the good generals. Three months later, Qin general Wang Jian took advantage of the situation to attack with great force, defeated the Zhao army, killed Zhao Cong, captured Zhao Wangqian and Yan Ju, and the Zhao state was destroyed.

Comments: Li Mu was the most outstanding general of the Six Eastern Kingdoms at the end of the Warring States Period. He is deeply loved by soldiers and people and has high prestige. In a series of battles, he repeatedly severely damaged the enemy without losing, showing his superb military command art. Especially the Battle to Defeat the Huns and the Battle of Fei. The former is a typical example in the history of Chinese wars in which a large infantry corps wiped out a large cavalry corps, while the latter is an example of encirclement and annihilation warfare. His innocent murder caused the State of Zhao to destroy the Great Wall, and made future generations sigh with regret. His experience was very similar to that of Bai Qi, Lord Wu'an of Qin State. When Hu Sansheng annotated "Tongjian", he linked Li Mu's murder to the demise of Zhao: "Zhao served Li Mu and killed him to hasten his death." Sima Qian wrote in "Historical Records: Zhao Shijia Trade" It is said that Zhao Wangqian was "initiated by his mother" and "had no action and believed in slander, so he killed his good general Li Mu and used Guo Kai". Sima Qian was angry with his mother because of King Zhao, which shows how indignant he was.