The reason why Wei Qing and Huo Qubing broke the Huns

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Xiongnu in the north always posed a great threat to the Central Plains dynasty.

During the Qin Dynasty, Xiongnu was defeated by Meng Tian and fled to Mobei. They have been afraid to go to the south for more than ten years. After the demise of the Qin Dynasty, the Huns rose again, while Chu and Han contended and had no time to look north. Under the command of its samurai leader, Modu Hayden, he attacked from all directions and regained control of the vast areas in northwest, north and northeast China. After the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, the Huns were still a great threat to the peaceful life of the Han nationality: "Since the Han Dynasty, Land Rover entered the border, with little gains and great gains", "attacking cities and killing livestock", "killing officials and soldiers and robbers", which brought heavy disasters to the people in the northern part of the Western Han Dynasty and seriously endangered the peace in the northern border of China. As for the Han Dynasty, since the siege of the city of Pingcheng by the high-impedance Liu Bangping, due to lack of strength, many internal affairs need to be dealt with urgently, so we can only adopt a pro-Xiongnu policy, marry a husband, give silk, food and other items, and make friends with him, so as to alleviate the harassment of Xiongnu who have been subjected to great humiliation.

Militarily, it mainly adopts the policy of passive defense and tries to avoid a decisive battle with Xiongnu. However, the policy of "pro-marriage" could not curb the harassment activities of the Huns, and the border troubles in the Han Dynasty were quite serious. On the other hand, the policy of "affinity" also provided the necessary conditions for the Han Dynasty to rectify internal affairs, restore the economy, develop production and enhance its strength. During the Wenjing period, Huang Lao carried out the ruling policy of "ruling by doing nothing", which made the depressed social economy recover rapidly, and the whole country showed a scene of wealth: "During the 70-odd years of Han Xing, the country had nothing to do except floods and droughts, while the people gave their possessions and were full of food, while the state treasury was full of goods. There is too much money in the capital to teach. The millet in Taicang, agarwood overflowing, is too heavy to return, so that it is corrupt and inedible. There are horses in the streets and there are groups between buildings. " Such a solid material foundation created favorable conditions for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to launch and carry out war struggles in the future. In addition, when Emperor Wendi and Emperor Jingdi were in power, they attached importance to the army, especially the construction of cavalry, and the military strength of the Western Han Dynasty was also enhanced.

In this favorable situation, Liu Che became the emperor. Relying on the material foundation created by his predecessors, he actively engaged in the preparations for the Xiongnu War. Militarily, improve the military system, strengthen the construction of cavalry units, select young generals suitable for commanding cavalry operations, and build military arteries. To strengthen centralization in politics, the specific measures include: reducing relative power, "promoting the virtuous" to expand the ruling foundation of the landlord class, holding meditation ceremonies to enhance the prestige of the emperor, implementing "pushing the law" to weaken local power, and appointing cruel officials to ensure the smooth implementation of autocratic measures throughout the country. Economically, we should levy business travel tax, implement the policy of salt and iron management, and increase the reserve of war materials. Through hard work, the military, economic and political conditions for the strategic counterattack against Xiongnu were created in an all-round way. So Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened the curtain of a large-scale war with his giant arm. On the one hand, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted a combination of soft and hard measures. On the one hand, he ended the pro-Xiongnu policy of the previous dynasty from the Mayi War of 133, and began to fight against Hungary, sending Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to conquer, thus relieving the Xiongnu threat and ensuring the economic and cultural development of the north.

Emperor Wudi's counterattack against Xiongnu began in the sixth year of Yuanguang (129 BC) and lasted for thirty or forty years. Among them, winning the decisive battle in Mobei is marked by two stages, with the first stage as the main body. During this period, the Han army launched three major counterattacks (some people call them five major battles) and won decisive victories, which fundamentally solved the problem of Xiongnu's harassment in the south. These three strategic counterattacks are the battles of Henan, Monan, Hexi and Mobei. Now they are introduced as follows: The Battle of Henan and Monan. In the second year of Yuan Shuo (BC 127), tarquin invaded Shanggu (now southeast of Huailai, Hebei) and Yuyang (now southwest of Miyun, Beijing). Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty evaded reality and made an empty statement, and sent general Wei Qing to attack Huns-occupied Henan.

Wei Qing led his troops to the north, went out of the clouds, marched westward along the Yellow River, and raided the headquarters of King Loufan and King Aries of Xiongnu, who occupied Hetao and its south area, and recovered all the land in Henan. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted his father Yan's suggestion, set up Shuofang and Wuyuan counties in Henan, built Shuofang City, and moved more than 100,000 people from the mainland to settle fields in Shuofang. It is of great strategic significance for the Han army to recover Henan land: it removed the springboard for the Huns to invade the Central Plains, lifted the threat to Chang 'an, and established a strategic offensive base for the Han army. Unwilling to lose Henan's strategic position, Xiongnu nobles repeatedly sent troops to harass Shuofang in an attempt to recapture Henan.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to fight back and launched the Battle of Monan in the spring of the fifth year of Yuan Shuo (BC 124). At that time, Wei Qing served as a cycling general, led the army out of the north, into the desert south, and countered the Xiongnu right Wang Xian; Li Xi and others sent troops to Beiping (now southwest of Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia) to contain Khan and the Left and coordinate the actions of Wei Qing's main force. Wei Qing climbed the Great Wall for 200-300 kilometers and made a long-distance attack on Wang Ting, the right king. He was caught off guard and fled to the north in confusion. The Han army captured more than 65438+100000 people and returned to the division in triumph.

The victory of this battle further consolidated the important position of Shuofang, completely eliminated the direct threat of Xiongnu to the capital Chang 'an, and cut off the left and right parts of Xiongnu in order to divide and rule. In February and April of the following year, the new general Wei Qing led the cavalry out of Dingxiang twice (now northwest of Inner Mongolia and Linger), and annihilated more than 10,000 Xiongnu troops before and after, which expanded the results of the Xiongnu War and forced the Xiongnu main force to retreat to Mobei area and stay away from Han territory. This provided the necessary conditions for Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty to carry out Hexi Campaign and win.

Battle of Hexi. Hexi is now Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and other places in Gansu Province. Because it is located in the west of the Yellow River, it has been called Hexi since ancient times, also known as Hexi Corridor. It is the gateway from the mainland to the western regions and has an important strategic position. At this time, it was still under the control of Xiongnu, posing a threat to the flank of the Han Dynasty. In order to open the road to the western regions and consolidate the western regions, Han Ting decided to launch the Hexi Campaign. So he organized a powerful cavalry unit and sent a young general, Huo Qubing, to the Xiongnu army in Hexi.

In March of the second year of Yuanshou (12 1 years ago), Huo Qubing led ten thousand people out of Longxi, crossed Wushaoling and attacked the Xiongnu in Hexi Corridor. He took surprise attack tactics, drove straight into the country, and broke the five kingdoms of Xiongnu in only six days. Then he crossed Yanqi Mountain (now Huangshan Mountain in Shandan, Gansu Province) for more than 1000 miles and fought the Xiongnu army at the foot of Gaolan Mountain. Lien Chan won a great victory, killed nearly 9,000 enemies, beheaded many Xiongnu famous soldiers, captured Xiongnu Prince, Guo Xiang and a surname alive, and returned home in triumph.

In the summer of the same year, in order to completely annihilate the Xiongnu army in Hexi, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once again ordered the whole army of Huo Qubing to attack. In order to prevent Xiongnu Zuo Wangxian from taking the opportunity to attack, he asked Zhang Qian, Li Guang and others to lead the troops out of right Beiping and attack Zuo Wangxian to cooperate with Huo Qubing's main force.

This time, Huo Qubing led tens of thousands of elite riders out of Beidi County, detoured to the north of Hexi Corridor, and went deep into 1000 kilometers. He went deep behind enemy lines and attacked from northwest to southeast. With the autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves and breaking all the ministries of Xiongnu, in the Heihe River Basin between Qilian Mountain and Helishan Mountain, we fought a decisive battle with the main force of Xiongnu in Hexi, killing more than 30,000 people and winning a decisive victory. In this campaign, Huo Qubing * * * captured five Xiongnu famous soldiers and hundreds of people, including the Empress Dowager, Prince, Prime Minister and General, and incorporated 40,000 Xiongnu slaves and evil kings, all of whom occupied the Hexi Corridor. The Han court set up four counties in Wuwei, Jiuquan, Zhangye and Dunhuang, and the immigrants actually guarded the production.

The battle of Hexi dealt a devastating blow to the Xiongnu army in Hexi area, extended the rule of Han Dynasty to this area, opened the road of communication between Han and the western regions, realized the strategic goal of "breaking the Xiongnu's right arm" and provided the possibility for further large-scale counterattack against Xiongnu.

Battle of mobei. After the two major battles of Monan and Hexi, the Xiongnu troops suffered heavy losses, and the Han army completely took the initiative in this protracted counterattack. However, the Huns were not willing to fail and continued to engage in activities that harassed the south. And take the advice of Zhao Xin, the Han general, and prepare to lure the main force of the Han army to the north of the desert and wait for an opportunity to annihilate it. In order to completely annihilate the main force of the Huns and fundamentally solve this problem, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to take a larger-scale military action against the Huns after full preparation, in view of the Huns' psychology that the Han army could not stay in the desert. And take advantage of the situation, take advantage of the enemy unprepared, and determine the specific operational policy of concentrating troops and going deep into Mobei to find the main force of Xiongnu. Liang Wudi concentrated 6,543,800 elite cavalry to form two strategic groups under the command of General Wei Qing and General Huo Qubing. In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of infantry and more than 100 thousand war horses to cooperate with the main cavalry. After receiving the order, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing rode 50,000 horses from Dingxiang and Dai Jun respectively, heading north along the east and west roads, determined to fight against Xiongnu in Mobei.

Huns Khan heard that Han soldiers were coming, and adopted Zhao Xin's suggestion, and moved troops, livestock and trench farther north, "leaving elite soldiers in the north". When Wei Qing arrived at the fortress, he learned the strategic intention of the Xiongnu Khan, that is, to lead the main force straight to Khan's location, cross the desert and enter hundreds of kilometers north to find Khan's headquarters. At the same time, Li Guang and Zhao were ordered to provide food for his troops from the east. Soon, Wei Qing's main force met the Xiongnu Khan. Wei Qing ordered the camp to be surrounded by Wugang vehicles to prevent the Xiongnu army from attacking. Then he commanded 5000 elite cavalry to storm Khan's army, and Khan immediately sent 10000 cavalry to participate in the war. The two sides fought fiercely until dusk, and suddenly the wind was blowing hard and the sand was flying in the face. The two armies were neck and neck. Wei Qing return points Qingqi outflanked from all sides. Khan saw that the Han army was outnumbered and could not win alone, so he broke through with hundreds of elite cavalry and fled to the northwest. Wei Qing found Khan absconding, that is, he sent green riders to pursue him overnight, and then followed up with the main force. Although Khan was not captured alive in this campaign, 65,438+09,000 Xiongnu troops were captured alive and advanced to Zhao Xincheng in Yanshan Mountain (now the southern end of Hang 'ai Mountain in Mongolia), burning the city and Xiongnu.

On the other hand, Huo Qubing led his troops out of Dai Jun, right out of Peiping, and marched northward 1000 kilometers, crossing the desert, fighting with the left part of Xiongnu, annihilating its elite, and capturing more than 70,400 people, including Tuntou Wang and Hanwang. Zuo and his generals abandoned the army and fled, with Huo Qubing chasing after them. They arrived at the residence of the jackal in Xushan (now east of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) and then returned home in triumph. The Battle of Mobei is the largest battle between Han and Hungary, the farthest from the battlefield in the Central Plains and the hardest battle. In the battle, although the Han army paid a huge price, * * * annihilated more than 90,000 Huns, which seriously weakened the strength of the Huns and prevented them from going south on a large scale, resulting in the situation that "the Huns were far away after the war and there was no Wang Ting in the south".

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty won a decisive victory in the battle with Xiongnu.