Northern Expedition to the Huns

Northern Expedition against the Huns

Battle of Henan

In the second year of Emperor Wu Yuanshuo (127 BC), the Huns cavalry invaded Shanggu (southeast of present-day Huailai, Hebei) and Yuyang (Today's 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 the Hetao and the areas 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.

Battle of Monan

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 Xian of the Xiongnu. Li Xi and others sent troops to Youbeiping (southwest of today's Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia) to contain Shanyu and King Xian of Zuo, and to coordinate Wei Qing's main army. action. Wei Qing went 200 to 300 kilometers out of the fortress, ran a long distance, and raided the court of King Youxian. He was caught off guard and fled north in embarrassment. The Han army captured more than 10,000 enemies and returned home in triumph.

The victory of this battle further consolidated Shuofang's important territory, completely eliminated the Xiongnu's direct threat 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, Wei Qing, the newly appointed general, led his cavalry out of Dingxiang (today's northwest of Inner Mongolia and Linger) 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 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.

The Battle of Hexi

The 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 once again ordered Huo Qubing to lead the army to attack 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 depth of more than 1,000 kilometers, far out behind enemy lines, attacking from northwest to southeast, using the autumn wind to sweep away fallen leaves. , defeated the Xiongnu tribes, and launched a decisive battle with the main force of the Xiongnu in Hexi in the Heihe River (today's upper reaches of Ruishui) valley between the Qilian Mountains and the Heli Mountains, killing more than 30,000 enemies and achieving a decisive victory. 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 occupied the Hexi Corridor area. The Han Dynasty established the four counties of Wuwei, Jiuquan, Zhangye, and Dunhuang there to immigrate to the border to guard production.

The great significance of the Battle of Hexi

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, and opened up the Han Dynasty to the Western Regions The path achieved the strategic goal of "cutting off the right arm of the Huns" and provided the possibility for further large-scale counterattacks against the Huns.

The prototype of the Battle of Mobei

After the two major battles of Monan and Hexi, the Xiongnu forces suffered heavy losses, and the Han army had fully taken the initiative in this protracted counterattack. right. However, the Huns were unwilling to fail and continued their activities of raiding and harassing southward. The Xiongnu Chanyu adopted the suggestion 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.

The combat policy of the Battle of Mobei

In order to completely annihilate the main force of the Xiongnu and fundamentally solve the problem of this side attack, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty responded to the Xiongnu's belief that the Han army could not conquer the desert (desert) lightly. With the mentality of staying (lightly entering and staying for a long time), he took advantage of the tactics. After full preparation, he decided to take larger-scale military operations against the Xiongnu. And taking advantage of the situation and taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, we determined the specific combat 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 cavalry 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.

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.

Battle of Mobei

When the Xiongnu Chanyu heard that the Han troops were coming, he adopted Zhao Xin’s suggestion and moved his tribe, livestock, and baggage farther north, “with elite troops. Stay in Makubei". 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, and then commanded 5,000 fine cavalry to launch a fierce attack on the Chanyu army. The Chanyu immediately dispatched 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 was surrounded by Qingqi from the left and right.

The Chanyu saw that the Han soldiers were outnumbered and could not win, so he led hundreds of fine cavalry to break through and fled to the 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 Zhaoxin City in Zhiyan Mountain (the southern end of present-day Hangai Mountain in Mongolia), burned the city and the Xiongnu's grain stores, and returned.

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 fought with the Xiongnu Zuoxian King's tribe, annihilating all their elites and capturing the Tuntou King. , more than 70,400 people below the King of Han. 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 his counterattack against the Xiongnu.