Wei Qing and Huo Qubing - The Double Wall of the Empire
The Western Han Dynasty was the first golden age in the history of Chinese feudal dynasties. It was a relatively powerful era in the history of China. It lasted for 210 years and was famous for its illustrious martial arts. Han Wu is the most powerful. The Han Dynasty was the most powerful empire in the world at that time, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty dominated it for 55 years. His reign was the golden age of the Western Han Dynasty.
In this heroic age, the most dazzling heroes, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, emerged - two outstanding generals with humble origins. They were hailed by later generations as the "double walls of the empire" and the two most beautiful men in history. No one has ever been as perfect a combination as the two of them. They became a symbol of the "Spirit of the Han Dynasty" and pioneered the victory of the farming people over the nomadic people. It was the victory of the culturally advanced Han Dynasty over the backward nomadic Xiongnu. It was also a victory for human civilization, allowing civilization to develop and spread better. .
1. In 129 BC, in Shanggu (southeast of Huailai, Hebei Province, where Mingzhi was located), the border was in a hurry. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent the cavalry general Wei Qing to lead 10,000 cavalry out of Shanggu; they arrived directly at Longcheng (now in the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic of China), and the Huns A holy place for worshiping gods, a religious center and a political center. And Wei Qing's choice of the location of the battle really showed his excellence. It was this excellence that enabled him to sweep away the Huns in the days to come, fight thousands of miles across the desert without a single defeat, and become a shining figure in the annals of history. A generation of war god!
Dragon City is the place where the Huns worship their ancestors and is the political and religious center. It is certain that there will be at least Huns here, which guarantees that his attack will not fail. But let him choose There is another important reason for Dragon City - its political significance. The political significance of attacking Dragon City is no less than that of the Huns breaking Chang'an City. At least the officials of the Han Dynasty thought so, so he did not do it like his brother-in-law Gongsun He. During a trip to the Mongolian grassland for several days, he was not as unlucky as Gongsun Ao and Li Guang. He suffered heavy losses and returned home in despair.
2. Battle of Yanmen: In the autumn of 128 BC (the first year of Yuanshuo), 20,000 Xiongnu cavalry invaded Liaoxi County (today’s western Liaoning and northeastern Hebei areas), killed the Liaoxi prefect and captured 2,000 people; then they invaded Yuyang County (today's northern Hebei), killed and wounded more than a thousand Yuyang defenders, and surrounded the headquarters of General Han Anguo. The cavalry led by Han Anguo was almost wiped out. When the Huns withdrew, they took the opportunity to attack Yanmen County, killing and plundering more than a thousand people. At this time, there was a beacon of smoke along the Great Wall, and urgent military documents were delivered to Chang'an one after another. Emperor Wu ordered Wei Qing to lead 30,000 cavalry to attack from Yanmen County, and Li Xi to lead an army to attack the Huns from Dai County. Wei Qing led 30,000 cavalry and advanced forward. Wei Qing himself took the lead, and the soldiers fought bravely to take the lead. At this time, Han Anguo had died of illness, Gongsun Ao and Li Guang were demoted to common people, and Gongsun He was idle. General Li Xi was a Caiguan general during Emperor Jing's time. He had always commanded infantry and had no experience in cavalry combat. When the empire was selecting its generals, it was very stretched. Fortunately, Wei Qing was there. In this battle, Wei Qing's tribe "beheaded and captured thousands of people", and the Huns were defeated and fled. Wei Qing won a great victory and returned with all his armor. Flying general Li Guang guarded Youbeiping (now southwest of Lingyuan, Liaoning Province).
3. The Great Victory of Heshuo/Battle of Monan (one of the three major battles of the Western Han Dynasty against the Huns): In 127 BC, the Huns invaded Shanggu and Yuyang counties again, killing more than a thousand officials and civilians. Emperor Wu was furious when he heard the news, and decided to change the situation. A large-scale attack on the Huns. Wei Qing led 40,000 cavalry out of the fortress in Yunzhong and detoured to the west. They fought fiercely with the Xiongnu Youxian King at Gaoque (now the entrance to the Great Wall southwest of Yinshan, Kangjin Banner, Inner Mongolia), and then went straight to Longxi, where he defeated the Xiongnu King Aries and Loufan, and captured several Xiongnu kings. Thousands of people captured more than one million cattle and sheep, and recovered the vast Hetao area east of Helan Mountain, south of Langshan Mountain and Daqing Mountain. The Battle of Monan was divided into two stages. In the first stage, he crossed the Yellow River to reach the highest level and achieved the first level of 2,300. In the second stage, the army passed the ancient fortress Yuxi, climbed over the Ziling Mountains, and crossed the Yellow River again to defeat King Puni and King Fuli of the Xiongnu, and captured more than 3,000 heads. In the Battle of Monan, more than 5,000 people were beheaded, more than a million livestock were harvested, and countless carriages and supplies were captured. After this war, the Xiongnu King Aries and King Loufan basically ceased to exist in the south of the Yellow River. The Han Empire once again regained the Shuofang County built by the Qin Dynasty, and all areas south of the Yellow River were controlled by the Han Empire. When the good news reached Chang'an, Emperor Wu was overjoyed and sent an envoy to express his condolences. He also granted Wei Qing the title of Marquis of Changping, with a settlement of 3,800 households. Although the scale of the Battle of Monan was not very large and the results were not very fruitful, and the Han army probably did not encounter the real main force of the Huns, the geographical significance of the Battle of Monan was very important. After recovering Henan, the Han Empire's eastern defense area and western defense area were completely connected, forming a smooth strategic corridor. The previous situation where the eastern and western border counties fought independently no longer exists. From then on, the various attacks of the Han army could serve as each other's horns and cooperate with each other. More importantly, the recovery of Henan made the defense line a big step northward, removing the springboard for the Huns to invade the Central Plains, thus completely eliminating the threat of the Huns to Guanzhong and Chang'an. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty subsequently immigrated to the Heshuo area and established Shuofang County, which laid a base for future wars against the Huns. To commemorate this battle, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty changed the name of the year to Yuanshuo.
4． In 124 BC (the fifth year of Yuanshuo), King Youxian of the Xiongnu was very angry because the Henan area under his jurisdiction was occupied by the Han Empire. He led his troops to invade Shuofang City many times. Emperor Wu then decided to launch a massive counterattack. Wei Qing led 100,000 troops and sent out in three groups to attack the Xiongnu.
: The main force on the left is Wei Qing, with about 30,000 cavalry attacking from Gaoque; there are also Su Jian, Li Ju, Gongsun He, and Li Cai who are attacking from Shuofang. These routes are all controlled by Wei Qing. The right wing, led by Li Xi and Zhang Cigong, attacked from You Beiping County (now northwest Liaoning and northeast Hebei) with the purpose of containing King Zuoxian's tribe. Wei Qing led 30,000 cavalry, marched day and night, entered the fortress for six to seven hundred miles, and attacked the camp of King Youxian of the Xiongnu with lightning speed. King Youxian of the Huns fled with hundreds of cavalry, and his army was severely defeated. In this battle, more than ten people were captured, including King Pi (Xiao Wang) of the Huns, more than 15,000 men and women, and more than a million cattle and sheep. It was a huge victory. Existing historical materials do not provide detailed information about this battle, but we can infer from the attack route and results that this was a very beautiful battle of annihilation. We can infer that after the various armies of the Han army marched six to seven hundred miles out of the fortress, they encircled King Youxian's troops in the area north of Yinshan Mountain. This is why the number of prisoners was large and King Youxian escaped with only a hundred cavalry. We can't find any information on the number of heads captured from existing historical materials, but the number captured far exceeded that of the Battle of Monan. So, the most likely scenario is that after King Youxian's main force was surrounded by the Han army, he lost the confidence to resist and most of them surrendered.
Although this battle is listed outside the three major battles, the scale of this battle exceeds the Battle of Monan. According to historical records, in this battle, more than ten people including King Pi and below King Youxian were captured, more than 15,000 men and women were captured, and hundreds of thousands or even millions of livestock were captured. Before, Wei Qing was just a brave and capable general. The battle in 124 BC showed that Wei Qing was fully equipped with the qualities of a handsome man. He was already capable of commanding multiple armies to conduct large-scale joint operations, instead of the past that was only good at lightning raids with a single army in depth.
Emperor Wu was overjoyed when the good news came. After the army returned to the fortress, Emperor Wu sent an envoy with the seal of general to worship Wei Qing as the general in the army, and all the generals were under his control.
5. In the spring of 123 BC (the sixth year of Yuanshuo), the Xiongnu invaded Yanmen, Daijun, Dingxiang and other places. General Wei Qing was ordered to attack from Dingxiang County. He led six generals including Gongsun Ao, Gongsun He, Zhao Xin, Su Jian, Li Guang, and Li Ju to attack the Xiongnu. Level up and return it." Wei Qing withdrew his troops and returned to Dingxiang to recuperate his troops and prepare for another battle.
6. In the summer of the same year, Wei Qing led six generals to attack again from Dingxiang, marching northward and entering more than a hundred miles into the Xiongnu territory, "beheading and capturing more than 10,000 people." However, due to underestimating the enemy, Su Jian and Zhao Xin led more than 3,000 cavalrymen to encounter the main force led by the Xiongnu Chanyu. After a day of fierce fighting, the Han army was outnumbered and suffered all casualties. Zhao Xin led more than 800 cavalry to surrender to the Huns, but Su Jian returned alone. Later, Shanyu listened to Zhao Xin's suggestion and left Mobei. Although 10,000 heads were captured in this battle, two cavalry were lost, and Zhao Xin surrendered to the Huns. The merits and demerits were balanced, and Wei Qing did not receive a reward. Su Jian was demoted to a commoner.
This year, Zhang Qian participated in the war. Emperor Wu thought that Zhang Qian had stayed in the Huns for more than ten years and was familiar with the local conditions, so he ordered him to serve as a lieutenant and follow the general Wei Qing to conquer the Huns. Because Zhang Qian was familiar with the terrain and the water and grasslands in the desert area, there was "no shortage" of drinking water for the Han army. After the army returned in triumph, Zhang Qian was rewarded based on his merits and made Zhang Qian the Marquis of Bowang.
Another highlight of this campaign was Huo Qubing. Twenty-year-old Huo Qubing was appointed as the captain of Piao Yao, with only 800 light cavalry under his command. Huo Qubing led his troops to march hundreds of miles, attack the enemy camp, and inflict heavy losses on the enemy. "Beheading and capturing captives were excessive", that is, the number of gains exceeded the losses. Emperor Wu took Huo Qubing as the first meritorious deed, and named Huo Qubing the champion. It was God's blessing that cured his illness and prevented him from encountering the main force of the Huns, making him the youngest general in the era of Emperor Wu.
7. Battle of Hexi. In the spring of 121 BC (the second year of Yuanshou), Emperor Wu's hussar general Huo Qubing led 10,000 elite cavalry to attack from Longxi County (now western Gansu), crossed Yanzhi Mountain and marched northward for more than a thousand miles, which lasted six months. , captured the Xiongnu Prince Hunxie, the Prime Minister, and the Captain, and killed the "eight thousand nine hundred and sixty first captives". Among the trophies were a golden man worshiped by King Xiutu.
8． In the summer of the same year, Huo Qubing and Heqi Hou Gongsun Ao led tens of thousands of elite cavalry to attack from Beidi County (now the northern part of Gansu and the southern capital of Ningxia). Huo Qubing led his troops to penetrate more than 2,000 miles into the Xiongnu territory, crossing Juyan and Xiaoyuezhi. , went straight to the Qilian Mountains (in the Gansu-Qinghai border south of today's Jiuquan and Yumen), and launched a decisive battle with the main force of the Xiongnu in the west of Hexi in the Heihe River (now the upper reaches of Weishui) valley between the Qilian Mountains and Heli Mountains, and defeated the Xiongnu army. In this battle, 32,000 people were beheaded and a large number of nobles below the princes of the Huns were captured. This is the famous Battle of Hexi in history.
9. In the autumn of the same year, Huo Qubing accepted more than 40,000 troops from King Hunxie and King Xiutu. The Xiongnu forces in Hexi were completely annihilated. Soon, the Han Empire established four counties in the Hexi Corridor: Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang. Traffic between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions has been unimpeded since then.
Since the Battle of Monan by Wei Qing and the Battle of Hexi by Huo Qubing, the Xiongnu's power in Monan has basically ceased to exist. At this time, Emperor Wu was planning the Battle of Mobei, which would be the largest of all the Han campaigns against the Huns.
10． In 119 BC, in order to eliminate the Xiongnu's effective strength, another 100,000 cavalry were selected, and the general Wei Qing and the hussar general Huo Qubing were sent with 50,000 each (Huo Shao selected the remaining elite soldiers to return to Wei Qing), and selected 40,000 accompanying troops and horses. , hundreds of thousands of infantry and baggage troops separated into the desert.
Wei Qing set out from Dingxiang and was responsible for attacking the Xiongnu royal court of the Zuoxian King of the Xiongnu. Huo Qubing set out on behalf of the county and was responsible for attacking Shanyu's main force.
Man is not as good as God. Wei Qing went more than a thousand miles deep into Mobei and crossed the vast desert. He met the main force of Yi Zhixie Shanyu. The Huns were ready and the two sides started a fierce battle. Wei Qing asked the army to use Wugang chariots (a kind of chariot with a carport) to form a strong camp, hide the most elite cavalry in the camp, and set up ambushes on both sides, thus forming an encirclement of the enemy soldiers, and then sent out Five thousand cavalry went out to attack the enemy. Shan Yu was very proud of this, thinking that there were only old and weak people and heavy baggage in the camp, so he used 10,000 cavalry to rush towards him. The two sides fought fiercely until dusk, and the soldiers were exhausted. Seeing that the time had come, Wei Qing gave an order, Wu Gang's chariot pushed away, and the cavalry from the camp rushed out, divided into two groups and went straight towards Shan Yu's army to outflank him. Being tricked, he quickly led his troops to retreat and fled to the northwest. Wei Qing led his troops to pursue him until he set up Zhao Xincheng in Yanshan (today's east of the Wengjin River in the Gobi Province of the Mongolian People's Republic of China) and burned a large number of the Xiongnu's reserves in Zhao Xincheng. Army rations, 19,000 people were captured and killed, and the main force of the Huns was seriously injured. Huo Qubing led his troops out of Dai County for more than two thousand miles and defeated the main force of King Youxian. This victory against the Xiongnu greatly weakened the Xiongnu's vitality. This was also the greatest victory achieved by the Han Dynasty since its war against the Xiongnu.
In 119 BC (the fourth year of Yuanshou), General Wei Qing and Cavalry General Huo Qubing each led 50,000 cavalry deep into Mobei, with hundreds of thousands of infantry serving as rear troops and responsible for transportation. The army has tens of thousands of horses. The military was at its peak and the world was shaken. Li Guang, Gongsun He, Zhao Shi, Cao Xiang and other troops accompanied Wei Qing on the expedition. After Wei Qing led his troops out of the fortress, he detected the location of Shan Yu. So Wei Qing personally led the elite cavalry out of the fortress for more than a thousand miles and arrived at the headquarters of Shanyu in Mobei. At this time, Shanyu led his army to prepare for the battle.
When he arrived at the battlefield, Wei Qing made decisive arrangements. First, he quickly organized troops and deployed defensive fortifications. The Han army used the Wugang chariot as a self-circulated camp. There were shields and spears on both sides of the Wugang chariot. Once the circle was connected, it could form a very strong defense. In this way, the crossbowmen can use this as a barrier to launch long-distance attacks against the Huns. Wei Qing then organized five thousand elite cavalry to launch an active attack on the Xiongnu. At this time, the Shan Yu sent more than 10,000 Xiongnu cavalry to also charge the Han army, and the two armies began to fight in a melee. At this time, the sun was about to set, and suddenly a strong wind blew up. "The sand and gravel hit the face, and the two armies did not meet each other." This is probably what we call a sandstorm now. At this time, Wei Qing ordered the Han army to outflank the Xiongnu army, and the Xiongnu army was gradually losing ground. Unfortunately, Li Guang lost his way and failed to meet with Wei Qing in time to form an outflank. Shanyu saw that the battle situation was not good and led hundreds of cavalry to break through. The two armies suffered similar casualties in the melee. After learning that Shan Yu had escaped, Wei Qing ordered Qingqi to pursue him all night, and he followed closely with his main force. Later, they pursued them all the way to Zhao Xincheng in Zhiyan Mountain, where the Xiongnu's largest military grain depot was located. When the army withdrew, the Han general's grain depot was burned to the ground.
In this battle, Wei Qing showed outstanding ability to capture fighter planes. At the beginning of the battle, he changed his plan in time and launched an in-depth pursuit of Shanyu's main force. In the decisive battle with the Huns, he was calm and composed, and his deployment was effective and defensive, and he was quite lawful. He took advantage of the Han army's chariots and crossbows and effectively deployed fortifications. Then he took the initiative to attack and sent out elite cavalry with strong attack power to attack the enemy first. When the fierce battle was in full swing, he surrounded the enemy with both wings, eventually causing chaos in the Huns camp. It is now impossible to verify the strength of Shanyu's troops. But roughly we can make some assumptions. Because this battle took place at Shanyu's station, the main force led by Shanyu must have exceeded the Han army in number. Since the Huns were prepared in advance, and it was already dark when the two sides fought, Wei Qing's army gained more than 19,000 levels in this battle, which was less than Yu Huo Qubing's. But this is an unprecedented tough battle. In this battle, Wei Qing fully demonstrated the commanding style and outstanding military talents of a famous general.
However, the rule of calculating military merit in the Han Empire is that the number of enemies killed and captured minus the number of our losses can be used as the basis for calculating merit. However, in some hard battles and tough battles, if the battle-loss ratio is similar, higher rewards cannot be obtained. In fact, some bitter battles and tough battles have greater military significance. From this perspective, Wei Qing's achievements in the Battle of Mobei are no less than Huo Qubing. According to this merit recording rule, we can also find an important reason why Li Guang was difficult to be granted the title of marquis. That is, Li Guang had too many tough battles in his life. Although he dealt a heavy blow to the enemy, the price paid by his own side was also very high, so it has been difficult for him to be granted the title of marquis.
Wei Qing had earlier ordered former general Li Guang and right general Zhao Shiqi to lead their troops into Mobei from the east road. Later, Li Guang's troops got lost and did not arrive at Mobei at the designated time. After the decisive battle in Mobei, Wei Qing led his army back north and met Li Guang and Zhao Shiqi halfway. If Li Guang and Zhao Shiqi could arrive on the battlefield in time, the results of this battle would undoubtedly be greater. Then Wei Qing's Department would most likely be able to encircle and completely annihilate the enemy like Huo Qubing's Department.
General Huo Qubing attacked from Dai County and Youbeiping County, galloped for more than 2,000 miles, crossed the desert, defeated the Xiongnu Zuoxian King's tribe, and captured more than 70,000 people. In this battle, Huo Qubing succeeded in "making dumplings" and surrounded all the Zuoxian King's tribe. After a fierce battle, most of the Huns surrendered. Huo Qubing sealed the wolf to live in Xushan Mountain, and the power of the Han Dynasty spread in Mobei. In this battle of Mobei, the two armies gained a total of about 90,000 soldiers, while the Han army lost tens of thousands of soldiers and 110,000 horses.
After the battles of Monan, Hexi and Mobei, the main forces of the Xiongnu Right Xianwang Tribe, Hexi Kings Tribe, Shanyu Headquarters, and Left Xianwang Tribe all suffered heavy blows. From then on, the Xiongnu fell into despair and never had the strength to compete with the Han Empire. In the following twenty years, there was no more Huns plundering Han border areas. After the war, the swords were put into storage and the horses were released to Nanshan. From this battle until his death, Wei Qing did not lead an army to attack the Xiongnu again for fourteen years.
General Wei Qing attacked the Xiongnu seven times in his life, without ever losing. Compared with Li Mu and Meng Tian, ??the famous generals of the previous generation who fought against the Huns, they are even worse. The Han's method of attacking the Xiongnu was formally established by him. From this point of view, Wei Qing was a military pioneer. Later Huo Qubing, Li Guangli, and Zhao Chongguo all followed his example. In the history of the world, countries based on agricultural civilization have rarely been able to rival the nomads militarily. The outstanding battles achieved by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing are textbooks for farming people to defeat nomadic peoples.
Wei Huosheng was the most trusted person by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He was the only two people who were ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to be buried with him and Maoling during his lifetime. Huo Qubing's tomb was built in the shape of the Qilian Mountains to symbolize the two men's illustrious military exploits in their lifetime expedition to the Xiongnu across Mobei.