Chapter 10 Chapter Ten How Weihuo defeated the Huns

If you want to ask which war in the history of the Western Han Dynasty is the most well-known today, it is probably the war that the Western Han Dynasty fought against the Huns that began in 133 BC.From the failure of Mayi Mountain to lure the enemy, to the collection of Hetao, Pinghexi, Mobei, and the Western Regions, the Xiongnu became weaker as they fought, and the Han army became stronger as they fought. For the first time, Chinese civilization crossed the boundary of the Great Wall, and since then it has spread far and wide.The "Han Cultural Circle" that influenced the world, and the status of the Chinese nation as "the Kingdom of Heaven" all started from this point on.The hardships of suffering, the twists and turns of the bloody battle, and the soul-stirring ending make countless posterity still talk about it today.The names of many generals are still brilliant today.

The "famousness" is high, and of course there are many topics, such as the issue of the famous generals in the Western Han Dynasty who resisted the Huns. Since ancient times, there have been different opinions about who has the most brilliant military exploits and abilities.Speaking of the "popularity" of the famous generals, I am afraid that the highest ones are not Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, who have made many military exploits, but Li Guang, a veteran who has never been named a marquis in his life.When Li Guang was alive, his nickname was Parachutist, and he was the god of war revered by the Huns.After his death, when Sima Qian wrote "Historical Records", he described his fate in an extremely moving style, which has attracted sympathy for thousands of years. Even Wang Wei, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, also wrote "Wei Qing is undefeated by nature, Li The vastness is difficult to seal the odds", sighed.To this day, whether Li Guang is the number one general of the Western Han Dynasty against Hungary has been a topic of discussion on the Internet.Quite a number of opinions believe that among the generals of the Western Han Dynasty at that time, Wei Qing was only honored as the brother-in-law of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Huo Qubing was only honored as Wei Qing's nephew. As for military talents, the two were just above average. , The so-called military exploits are more about luck, and the real strongest general belongs to Li Guang.

But when we really examine the whole process of the Western Han Dynasty's counterattack against the Huns, we have to draw a conclusion: the sympathy of the world is certainly worthy of respect, but the real war has a cold ending.Under the military conditions of the Han and Hungarian sides at that time, there were many generals capable of winning battles, but those who were truly capable of leading the Han army to turn the tide of the war and complete the great cause of counterattacking the Huns were only Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. Among the generals of that generation, Their identities are unparalleled, and their roles are even more irreplaceable.On this point, although Sima Qian's personal emotions and Wang Wei's sad sighs can resonate, they are unreliable in military affairs.

Let's take a look at what it was like to fight the Xiongnu in the Western Han Dynasty. To understand the importance of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's uncles and nephews, we first need to face up to a problem. Before Emperor Wu of the Han launched a counterattack against the Huns, why couldn't the Han Dynasty defeat the Huns? The reason why the Western Han Dynasty failed to defeat the Xiongnu has been mentioned a lot in the previous chapters, but the key point is that this is a war between two economic forms, that is, a war between farming peoples and nomadic peoples.From the perspective of "productivity theory", farming peoples are advanced and nomadic peoples are backward. However, in terms of military quality in the cold weapon era, nomadic peoples are far more advanced than farming peoples.Because for farming peoples, war is a sideline and a means of self-defense, while for nomadic peoples, war is their main job and a means of survival.For the Huns, the war against the Han Empire is itself a kind of survival.

The choice between the Han and the Huns in the early days of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty was not only because the Huns were greedy for the property of the Han Dynasty, nor did they rely on the fooling of Maodun Shanyu's wife.The biggest inspiration from the Battle of Baideng Mountain to the Xiongnu is that the Xiongnu had the advantage of maneuverability against the Han Dynasty in field battles, but they were absolutely at a disadvantage in tough battles. During this period, it was easy for the Xiongnu to severely damage the army of the Han Dynasty, but it was difficult to occupy the Han Dynasty. impossible.Therefore, adopting a continuous harassment policy to maximize the benefits is the best strategy for the Xiongnu's policy towards Han.As for the Han Empire, the infantry and chariots of the Han Dynasty were powerless against the Huns' motorized cavalry in field battles, and they couldn't fight or catch up.The only thing that can be done is to defend the city, but at the border of thousands of miles, the Xiongnu cavalry came and went like the wind, and the defense of the Han Dynasty was exhausted.So take a breath and exchange for a temporary peaceful environment, which is the only choice. The proposal and continuation of the "peace and marriage" policy is the result of the offsetting of the strengths and weaknesses of the Han and Hungarians.Therefore, in the early days of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, although there were frequent frictions between the Han and the Hungarian, they were still able to maintain the superficial peace. Under the superficial peace, there was a balance of power.

Therefore, for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who ascended the throne, it was inevitable to choose to fight back against the Huns.At this time, the Han Dynasty had grown stronger after decades of recuperation, and it was natural that it could no longer accept this humiliating position emotionally.The more important reason is that the existence of the Huns has become a major bottleneck in the development of the Han Empire.The foundation of peace won by sending women and money and food is doomed to be fragile.If things go on like this, they can only fatten up the enemy, in exchange for their own disaster.And the border troubles on the border of the Han Empire also became more and more serious with the continuation of the "peace and marriage".The appetite of the Huns is getting bigger and bigger. If the passive defense of the border continues, they will only be more passive and beaten. The military will become more and more passive, and the whole nation will follow the continuation of the peace policy, and the fighting spirit will gradually disappear. The ending of forgetting the battle and dying.Fighting back against the Xiongnu would drag the empire into a long-term war and cause huge losses in personnel and economy, but I believe that future generations have already seen the fate of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties from the fate of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties.

So when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che ascended the throne, no matter who ascended the throne, counterattacking the Huns has become a decision that any emperor must make during this period.Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. With the sufficient material strength and powerful army accumulated during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it is a matter of course to launch a war against the Huns. But to fight back, it is necessary to break the balance of strength between the two sides. The key point is that if the army wants to win, it must break the inherent gap in the strength of the two sides-cavalry.Without a cavalry unit with high mobility and excellent long-distance raiding capabilities, it could not severely injure the Huns in large-scale field battles. This all-out war can only end with the continuous defeat of the Han Dynasty.

At first, Emperor Wu of the Han wanted to complete his meritorious service in one battle and use Mayi to set up an ambush to deal with the Huns. It was precisely because of this consideration that most politicians and even soldiers at that time did not have confidence in the true field capabilities of the cavalry of the Han Dynasty.However, the Mayi ambush was doomed to fail, and the information leak was an accident, but the military operations of hundreds of thousands of people were difficult to keep secret.The occurrence of the Mayi ambush caused the Han and Hungarian sides to really tear their faces apart.After this battle, Shan Yu, a military official of the Huns who escaped unharmed, immediately launched a large-scale retaliatory action against the border of the Han Dynasty, from Shanggu, Yuyang, Youbeiping in the east of the Han Dynasty to Yuyang, Yanmen, Hexi is full of wars.The difference from the Wenjing era is that the Huns in this period adopted a policy of massacres and looting, and no grass grew in the places they passed. The Han Dynasty resumed the peace policy.But what the Huns didn't know was that at this time Emperor Wu of the Han had made up his mind to fight back against the Huns, and the ensuing revenge of the Huns finally erupted like a volcano after the anger accumulated by the soldiers and civilians of the Han Dynasty over decades of humiliation and humiliation.

In the early days of Emperor Wu of the Han's counterattack against the Huns, the performance of the Han army had only one word-miserable. There is a reason for the misery. For many years, the Han Dynasty adopted a combat strategy of relying on the Great Wall for defense, the enemy came to resist, and the enemy did not dare to pursue in depth after retreating.After all, the terrain of the grassland is complex, and the Han army does not have the ability to attack on a large scale, so the Huns recognized this, and used the characteristics of the Huns' cavalry to fight guerrilla warfare.Although the strong border cities of the Han Dynasty could cause damage to the Huns, in local wars, the Huns were often able to concentrate their superior forces through mobility and break through the weaknesses of the Han Dynasty's defenses.The one with the best record against the Huns during this period was the "parachutist" Li Guang. He grew up in the small-scale war against the Huns in the Wenjing era. The method of maneuvering repelled the invasion of the Huns.The others were more miserable. For example, Han Anguo, who made great achievements in quelling the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, was ordered to garrison the Hebei area, but Yuyang was captured by the Huns, and he only relied on You Beiping for support.From 134 BC to Mayi's failure to lure the enemy to 129 BC, these 6 years were the worst 6 years of the Han Dynasty in the Han-Hungarian War.The Xiongnu's hundreds of thousands of cavalry troops marched eastward and westward on the border of the Han Dynasty, galloping across the border, burning and looting countless cities, and taking tens of thousands of people captive. The production on the northern border of the Han Dynasty was greatly damaged, and the Han army suffered heavy casualties.In terms of military chiefs only, two prefects in western Liaoning were killed in battle one after another, and two prefects in Yanmen were martyred for their country.The fixed script for these five years was that the Huns harassed and broke the city, the Han army came to fight, the Huns ran away, the Han army withdrew, and the Huns came to kill again.The huge Han Empire, on the thousands of miles long northern border, was led by the nose by the Huns, beaten out of breath, and defeated again and again.

Until this battle in 129 BC, the turning point of the Han-Hungarian War was not a victory, but an unprecedented fiasco. In the autumn of this year, the Xiongnu concentrated nearly 100,000 cavalry and changed their focus on the border of the Han Dynasty. The target of the attack was Shanggu County, an important town in the north.As always, the Xiongnu continued their battles and victories, killing and plundering countless times. The Han Dynasty, as always, took care of one thing and lost another, losing cities and lands.At this time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che made an unexpected decision: instead of passively sending troops to rescue, he sent heavy troops to attack and attack, and entered the territory of the Huns to fight back.This is the first time in the history of the founding of the Han Dynasty, and even in the history of the Central Plains Dynasty, that the Central Plains army went deep into the grasslands and carried out long-distance raids.Even the Qin army that swept the six countries back then never had such courage.

Just having courage is not enough. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used four armies this time, namely Li Guang, Gongsun He, Gongsun Ao, and Wei Qing.The first three are all famous generals who have made outstanding achievements against the Huns over the years, but Wei Qing is a rookie, and he has made up for Han Anguo's illness because of Han Anguo's illness.And he is also recognized as "despised" among the 4 generals: he became successful because of his sister Wei Zifu's favor.After the battle started, the performance of the Han army was still miserable, especially the three famous generals. Li Guang encountered the main force of the Xiongnu Shanyu and was surrounded by the Huns with three times the strength. The entire army of 10,000 cavalry was wiped out. On the way, the prisoner seized the horse and fled back.Gongsun Ao encountered a Hun army roughly equal in strength to his own in Daijun. After a head-to-head fight, the Huns wiped out more than 7,000 people in one go. Fortunately, they ran fast and finally avoided the annihilation of the entire army.Gongsun Hebu was even more cowardly. He led the army to yell a few times on the border, and returned to the original place without firing a shot, without even seeing the enemy.It was the "rookie" Wei Qing who saved face for the disastrously defeated Han army.Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Xiongnu army encircling Li Guang with heavy troops, Wei Qing led his troops boldly interspersed, and ran a long distance of 800 miles, directly smashing into Longcheng, the holy place where the Huns worshiped heaven, and wiped out 700 enemies in one go.This seemingly ordinary victory had extraordinary significance in the Han Dynasty at that time: it was the first field victory of the Han army against the Huns since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Liu Che's angrily launched an active counterattack this time was not a whim.On the contrary, it was an adjustment by the Han Dynasty to the Huns' fighting methods.As a far-sighted military strategist, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che realized long ago that relying on the passive defense of the Great Wall would not be able to defeat the Huns. On the contrary, the entire war machine of the Han Empire would be restrained by the Huns. The policy of taking the initiative to attack destroyed the stronghold of the Huns in the field battle on the grassland and severely damaged the main force of the Huns.But who can take up such a mission?The Shanggu counterattack in 129 BC was actually an "examination" given by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to the generals of the Han army. On the report card, Li Guang failed, Gongsun Ao failed, and Gongsun He failed. Wei Qing, who had excellent grades, was the The only choice. Wei Qing's victory in 129 BC, on the surface, did have an element of luck. After all, he escaped the main force of the Huns and successfully found Longcheng, where the Huns had the weakest defense. Under the situation of the Huns' soldiers pressing down on the border, being able to pass through the Huns' defensive gaps, avoiding the real and attacking the weak, and hitting the enemy's weak parts is in itself the ability of a handsome talent.For the others, Li Guang was tough enough, and Gongsun He was cautious enough to charge forward or retreat under cover, but it was far from enough to coordinate the overall situation. In fact, the Battle of Shanggu was a battle in which the gap between the Han army was hit in all directions.Taking Gongsun Ao's tribe as an example, when the number of troops was roughly equal, the Han army lost a mess in the cavalry battle, and the casualty rate was much higher than that of the Xiongnu.Even with the victory of Wei Qing's counterattack against Longcheng, 10,000 Han cavalry surrounded 1,000 Hun cavalry, but still could not achieve complete annihilation, allowing more than 300 Hun cavalry to break out.In the early days of the Han-Hungarian War, the difference in combat effectiveness of the soldiers of the Han Dynasty, especially the combat effectiveness of cavalry and shooting, was still obvious compared with that of the Huns. After this battle, the border situation of the Han Dynasty not only did not change, but continued to deteriorate: In 128 BC, the Huns invaded again, and this time the focus of attack was changed to western Liaoning.The prefect of Liaoxi died for his country, and the Han army in Liaoxi was almost wiped out.Afterwards, the Huns turned south and launched a large-scale raid on the Yanmen area.A Hun cavalry force of 8,000 people went deep into the hinterland of Yanmen.Under the crisis, it was Wei Qing who seized the opportunity and proposed to take the initiative to attack and annihilate this group of Hun cavalry.According to Wei Qing's report, the Han Dynasty ordered Li Xi, who was the closest to Yanmen, to attack quickly, using his inferior force to entangle the Huns, and at the same time ordered Wei Qing to lead 30,000 cavalry to rush to the rescue of Yanmen.Li Xi's troops fought bloody battles, and at the cost of the death of most of the more than 3,000 people in their troops, they finally succeeded in holding back the Huns, and waited for Wei Qing, who came to help.As a result, with an absolutely superior force, the Han army finally wiped out this arrogant Hun army and beheaded more than 6,000 people.This is the battle with the largest number of beheadings against the Huns since the founding of the Han Dynasty.Although the Han army in this period was still unable to compare with the Xiongnu in terms of individual combat effectiveness, the idea of ​​concentrating superior forces and attacking annihilation battles finally began to achieve results, and the best person to implement this idea was Wei Qing.He doesn't have Li Guang's bravery to penetrate Yang with a hundred steps, but he has an excellent strategic vision that is superior to all the titans.This is what the Han army needs most at this time. Because of this, only a few months after the end of the Battle of Yanmen, Wei Qing performed the first brilliant act of his military career - regaining Hetao. After the Han Dynasty’s counterattack against the Xiongnu began, the entire northern front was actually divided into east and west. The early Huns’ invasions were mainly concentrated in the eastern front, namely Hebei, Youbeiping, and Western Liaoning.But the biggest threat to the Han Empire was the Hetao grassland area occupied by the Xiongnu on the western front.This is a fang that the Huns planted in the northern border of the Han Empire: With the Hetao area, the Huns have a foothold closest to the Great Wall, and they can continuously receive soldiers and horses to supplement them. , The Han-Hungarian War has led the Han army by the nose for six years, and this is the root cause.If you want to win, you have to pull out your teeth, and the only one who can pull out teeth is Wei Qing. After the Battle of Yanmen, the Xiongnu, who thought they had suffered humiliation, launched another revenge on the border of the Han Empire.The focus of their attack was still the Eastern Front, which had long been infested and dilapidated. However, the Han Dynasty's unexpected counterattack began.In 127 BC, Wei Qing set out from the clouds, made a rapid detour along the north bank of the Yellow River, and entered the Hetao Grassland in one fell swoop.This attack was beyond the expectations of the Huns: According to the understanding of the Huns, the Han army had never launched such a long-distance cavalry raid. Even if they did, they should attack from the south.However, Wei Qing boldly interspersed, piercing the Hetao from the back of the Huns, and the Huns defenders who were caught off guard immediately collapsed.Wei Qing first occupied Gaoque and other places on the north bank of the Yellow River, cut off the retreat of the Xiongnu army, and then surrounded them with heavy troops and launched a general offensive. The Huns could hardly make a decent resistance, and the whole line collapsed.This was an important turning point in the Han-Hungarian War: the Han Dynasty captured the Hetao Grassland, built a fort there, established Dingxiang County, and garrisoned more than 100,000 troops. position.The rich aquatic plants and abundant horse reserves in Hetao became the main source of cavalry in the Han Dynasty. The loss of Hetao aroused the wrath of the Huns. From the time when the Han army captured Hetao in 127 BC to 124 BC, in just three years, the Huns launched at least 10 battles against Hetao.These three years were also a critical period for the Han Dynasty to manage Hetao. The Han Dynasty mobilized more than 100,000 civilians to build the Great Wall in Hetao and station soldiers and horses, bringing it under the rule of the Han Dynasty.Wei Qing led his troops to repel the invasion of the Huns several times. At the cost of the blood of thousands of soldiers, the Han Dynasty finally took root and stood firm on the Hetao Grassland.The balance of war has since tilted towards the Han Dynasty. It was the Battle of Monan in 124 BC that completely ruined the Xiongnu's hope of regaining Hetao. The biggest threat to the Hetao Grassland during this period was the Xiongnu Youxianwang tribe, which was directly exposed to Hetao. As the "right arm" of the Huns Khanate, Youxianwang possessed a strong military force.In the three-year tug-of-war in Hetao, King Youxian was the vanguard.With the construction of the Hetao city completed, the Han Dynasty could finally launch the war of annihilation against King Youxian with confidence.In 124 BC, the Han army was divided into two groups. Li Xi and Zhang Cigong took the initiative to attack Youbeiping and restrain the Xiongnu Zuoxian King's tribe. Wei Qing led the main cavalry with 30,000 cavalry to attack long-distance again. .The unsuspecting King Youxian suddenly collapsed, and most of his more than 100,000 men fled. The Han army beheaded tens of thousands and captured more than 15,000 people. The "right arm" of the Huns was almost disabled.After this battle, the Huns Khanate, which was originally a "unified Khanate", was cut into several sections by the Han Dynasty: the Hexi Corridor, which was originally under the direct control of the Huns Khanate, has since severed its connection with the royal court of the Huns headquarters. As a result, the tribes moved northward, and it became much more difficult for the Xiongnu to launch large-scale invasions of the frontiers of the Han Empire. It is not an exaggeration to say that this battle was the beginning of the Han Empire's control of the war initiative.Another thing worth mentioning is that in the past, when the Han army fought against the Xiongnu, especially in field battles, their victories were achieved by concentrating superior forces to fight annihilation battles.But in the Battle of Monan, Wei Qing launched an attack on the 100,000-strong Youxian King's tribe with 30,000 cavalry, and finally defeated them.The quality of individual combat effectiveness of the soldiers of the Han Empire is no longer inferior to that of the Huns. This is Wei Qing's contribution, as Yue Fei, a military strategist in the Southern Song Dynasty, said: Wei Qing began with the innovation of tactics to defeat the Xiongnu. Speaking of this, we also need to talk about the comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the Han and Hungarian sides.Compared with the Xiongnu, the innate gap in cavalry quality of the Han people is huge. After all, the Han people were born in farming, and riding horses needs to be learned the day after tomorrow, while the Huns grew up on horseback. This gap is natural.Since the siege of Baideng, the officials and workers of the Han Dynasty in all dynasties have been using their brains to consider how to make up for this gap.For example, Zhou Yafu, who quelled the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, tried the use of crossbow arrows and the modification of chariots, while Chao Cuo, a famous official in the era of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, advocated recruiting the Huns to join the army and teaching the Han people how to ride and shoot to improve combat effectiveness. .Before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Li Guang was the most accomplished in the exploration of cavalry warfare.Li Guang is a completely "Hun-like" general. His personal riding and shooting skills are not inferior to those of the famous Huns. His army is an army with the characteristics of the Huns. It is to learn the characteristics of the Huns who "lived by water and grass", without the red tape of the Han Dynasty army.But in contrast, Wei Qing went a step further. While striving to build an elite cavalry force, he did not abandon the military advantages of the Han people themselves, that is, the high-tech advantages of Han soldiers and their high degree of discipline. The key to Wei Qing's success. Contrary to modern people's imagination, Wei Qing's army was not purely cavalry. An important feature of his army was that it was equipped with a large number of chariots.The role of the chariot is to serve as a camp during the march, and to set up fortifications during the battle.Wei Qing's chariots are mainly ballista, that is, chariots equipped with excellent bows and crossbows. The range and lethality of the crossbow arrows are far stronger than the horse bows used by the Huns.Compared with Li Guang's simple combat method of head-to-head and cavalry hedging, Wei Qing's tactics are often more complicated.When encountering the enemy in a field battle, the first thing to do is to use chariots to solidify the formation, and use dense crossbow arrows to block the attack of the Huns cavalry. In addition, in battle, the chariots are used as mobile fortresses, which can sometimes be used to encircle the Huns and cut off the Huns’ retreat. effect.For example, in the Battle of Monan, Wei Qing used chariots to cut off the escape route of Youxian King, shot and killed a large number of Huns cavalry, forced the remnants of the Huns to surrender, and captured more than 15,000 Huns in one fell swoop.Another contribution of Wei Qing is the coordinated operations of light and heavy cavalry.In Wei Qing's cavalry deployment, there are heavy cavalry specially used for charging, and light cavalry for cover and outflanking. During the battle, light and heavy cavalry cooperate with each other. , and outflanked with light cavalry, cutting off the Huns cavalry formation.This tactic of combining light and heavy cavalry with chariots has become a nightmare for the arrogant Huns cavalry.It was also from this period that the Han army not only stopped avoiding the Hun cavalry with equal or even doubled numbers, but could bravely show their swords and even win the battle. However, as a powerful army sweeping across the grasslands, the Huns, who made their lives out of war, were not fools.The ending of the Battle of Monan not only became a turning point in the combat situation of the Han and Hungarians, but also a turning point in the way the Huns fought against the Han Dynasty.After the disastrous defeat in Monan, the Huns changed their combat methods. They no longer harassed the border of the Han Dynasty with large troops.When the Han army was negligent, they launched a large-scale invasion.This tactic initially paid off. In 123 BC, the Xiongnu entered Daijun with 10,000 cavalry, burning, killing and looting wantonly. The Han Dynasty, as before, adopted the strategy of attacking and attacking. The Huns were single in the royal court.But this time, the Han army encountered a "soft nail": the Huns no longer blocked the Han army with large corps, but fought and retreated.As a result, although Wei Qing beheaded more than 10,000 Huns in total, he was still unable to capture the main force of the Huns. On the contrary, the more than 3,000 people of the forward Zhao Xin were besieged by the Huns after the lone army went deep. After being captured, he surrendered to the Huns.This setback with little loss has become a new problem for the Han army: when the Xiongnu turned from defense to offense, the mobility of its cavalry can completely lure the Han army into the territory of the Huns, and encircle and annihilate them when the Han army is scattered. .They are no longer tough war wolves, but instead turned into cunning poisonous snakes, shrinking their heads on the surface, and suddenly bite you when you are not paying attention. The change of the Xiongnu's tactics was a "new problem under the new situation" of the Han army. When it was difficult to take advantage of the "frontal battle", the Huns also began to learn to "lure the enemy to go deep" and "gather and encircle and wipe out".Wei Qing originally advocated the tactics of defensive counterattack, avoiding the real and attacking the weak, and limited long-distance raids. It is true that he can remain invincible, but it is difficult to deal a devastating blow to the enemy.What the Han Dynasty needs now is a hero who can be more maneuverable and capable of striking the Huns in depth. There was only one candidate for this at the time-Huo Qubing. As Wei Qing's nephew, Huo Qubing has been a controversial person for a long time.For example, he was given an important job at a young age, and was criticized as "nepotism"; another example was his arrogant personality, greedy for pleasure, and even killed Li Guang's son Li Gan to avenge his personal revenge.These "private morality" issues have been criticized by historians for a long time, but it is indisputable that his identity, status, and military exploits in the Han army at that time absolutely matched his ability.In the strategic situation where the Xiongnu turned from offense to defense, Wei Qing was the one who consolidated the established results, while Huo Qubing was the only one who could deal continuous and devastating blows to the retreating Huns. In the ranking of the famous generals who fought against the Huns in the Han Dynasty, Wei Qing was often regarded as the leader by the world, but in terms of cavalry combat ability alone, the proud Huo Qubing seemed to be a sword that roared proudly in the sky. If Wei Qing is a classical general who grew up under the influence of traditional Chinese art of war, then Huo Qubing seems to be a madman born for cavalry.As a son of aristocrats, he does not have Zhao Kuo's pedantic talk about war on paper. As a young talent, he lacks the innocence and ignorance of a young man, and more of the arrogance and arrogance that will make people who come later feel ashamed. He once told Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that his own mind was a book of war, and he could not be bound by any rules and regulations. Whether he was in the world or in war, he was like a free goshawk on the grassland, free-spirited and unrestrained.He can talk to the emperor carelessly, contradict the leader unscrupulously, he can kill Li Gan who is against his uncle in an extreme way, he can laugh at the ministers and generals who are old-fashioned and old-fashioned, even in the life-and-death war. Yu did not forget to enjoy life, and brought his full-time chef and caddy to the front line.All kinds of deviant behaviors made him suffer a lot of criticism even after a thousand years, but he also has the most primitive qualities of Chinese soldiers: loyalty and filial piety, righteousness and courage.His filial piety to his uncle Wei Qing, who loves like a biological father, his loyalty to the Han Empire, who has the kindness to know him, his bravery that crowns the enemy by three points, his chivalrous feelings of sharing fine wine with the soldiers in Jiuquan, sharing joys and sorrows, Even after thousands of years, it still makes people yearn for it.The real Huo Qubing in history, with his unconstrained personality and his mythical achievements on the battlefield, constitutes a three-dimensional image of a young hero. In my heart, there are magnificent waves surging. The Xiongnu when Wei Qing was in the army were rampantly attacking Huns, like wild wolves on the grassland.Wei Qing is a wolf-fighter. To fight a wolf, one needs to be calm, steady, and fierce and decisive.Huo Qubing faced the Xiongnu when he was in the army. He was a Huns who retreated on the surface and waited for an opportunity. He was more like a cunning prairie poisonous snake. Inch. These are the three major styles of Huo Qubing's use of troops: bold, accurate, and clever. Compared with his uncle Wei Qing, in terms of "accurate hands", that is, the ability to judge wars, both uncles and nephews have similar abilities, but compared with Wei Qing's military prudence, Huo Qubing is far different. Article: Be bold and smart. Let me talk about boldness first. Huo Qubing's first military exploits were in the attack in 123 BC.In that battle, the Han army was constantly resisted by the Xiongnu, and they were still unable to capture the main force of the Huns. What happened was that Zhao Xin's troops were completely wiped out. Just like Wei Qing who went straight to Longcheng back then, it was Huo Qubing who saved the face of the Han army this time. .He led 800 elite soldiers into the grasslands, attacked the Bosten camp set up by the Xiongnu Shanyu Yizhixie in the rear, beheaded more than 2,000 people, and captured a bunch of Xiongnu Shanyu's uncles and relatives.Such courage is far better than his uncle Wei Qing.Huo Qubing is such a person. No matter how difficult or impossible a battle is to fight, there is only one word for him: fight!The incredible results come from his incredible courage. However, courage alone is not enough. Another advantage of Huo Qubing is his brain.Although many people criticized him for not reading military books, as he himself said, his head is a military book, and the biggest feature of his use of soldiers is that he "does not play cards according to routines."Often, he will fight where the Huns think it is impossible to be beaten; he will use the fighting methods that the Huns think he cannot use; he will appear where the Huns think it is impossible to appear.The Xiongnu who changed their tactics and curled up like a poisonous snake were considered unlucky to encounter an evil star like Huo Qubing, and it can be said that they could not hide. Huo Qubing is famous for his surprise attack on Bosten in 123 BC. He really frightened the Huns, but it was the Hexi Corridor of World War II in 121 BC.After the main force of the Huns retreated, Emperor Wu of the Han's attitude was very clear. First, he attacked those who were under his nose, that is, the tribes of King Xiutu and King Hunxie who were entrenched in the Hexi Corridor.But the battle under the nose is not easy to fight. The terrain of Qilian Mountains is dangerous and complicated, and there are many tribes. It is far from comparable to the flat grassland. The two kings Xiutu and Hunxie have been operating in the local area for many years, and their power is deeply entrenched.The Han army went deep alone, and it was easier to be surrounded and wiped out by the enemy.In the selection of candidates for the expedition, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che unexpectedly chose Huo Qubing. Of course, this was not only because of nepotism. "Policy, Huo Qubing is the first to injure the enemy at the least cost. In the spring of that year, Huo Qubing led the army in the name of "General Hussars". Like his uncle Wei Qing, he still adopted a big roundabout strategy this time.Bypassing the grassland from Longxi and entering the Hexi area through Wuwei, Gansu, this is tantamount to stabbing the Hexi Huns from behind.Huo Qubing used the fastest speed to defeat the small local Xiongnu tribe first, and quickly replenished the troops' supplies.Immediately after that, fierce battles were launched with the main force of Hunxie King and Xiutu King of the Huns, severely injuring the enemy at the foot of Qilian Mountains, chasing and killing them all the way from the west to the east of Gansu, beheading more than 8,900 people in total.Before the Huns could catch their breath, Huo Qubing joined forces with Gongsun Ao's troops in the summer, attacked from Qingyang, Gansu, and attacked the Hexi Corridor again.This time he was unlucky, Gongsun Ao lost his way not long after his expedition, and Huo Qubing was left alone.Under the dangerous situation, Huo Qubing responded calmly and resolutely decided to avoid the frontal main force of the Huns, detoured Helan Mountain and crossed Juyanze, rushed two thousand miles into the Qilian Mountains, and launched a fierce attack from the rear of the Huns.The Huns, who were defending heavily on the front of Helan Mountain, were hit by Huo Qubing's sudden and violent attack. The two kings Xiutu and Hunxie were wiped out, killing more than 32,000 Huns in total.It is worth mentioning that Huo Qubing's headquarters only suffered more than 3,000 casualties in such a long-distance battle. The casualty ratio between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu was 1:10. Such a disparity in casualty ratio was unprecedented in previous Han army battles. some. The reason why the fight was so smooth is that Huo Qubing's subordinates were mostly elite, that is, the most powerful "Hu Ben" army in the Han Dynasty.The composition of this army is mainly composed of the sons of martyrs who died in the Han Dynasty's war against the Huns over the years. These Han men who bear the blood and blood of their families regard the Huns as their deadly enemies. They do not need to be mobilized in battle. They are hardworking and sturdy Second, Huo Qubing's "brain is active". During the entire Hexi battle, he appeared in the most unexpected place of the Huns almost every time, and it was often the Huns who concentrated their superior forces to prepare for the attack. However, his troops suddenly "disappeared". When the Huns Zhanger Monk couldn't figure it out, he suddenly cut a fatal knife from the Huns' back. Compared with Huo Qubing's two battles in Hexi, the performance of other generals in the Western Han Dynasty during the same period can be said to be greatly reduced.During Huo Qubing's western expedition, the Han Dynasty mobilized heavy troops to launch an attack on the Zuoxian King of the Huns. The well-known parachutist Li Guang made a mistake again. Surrounded by King Zuoxian's troops, the entire army was almost wiped out.Gongsun Ao, who went out with Huo Qubing, lost his way without even touching the enemy's face. As a result, Huo Qubing went deep alone and was almost surrounded by the Huns.The performance of different fates for the same people proves once again: General talent may be available at any time, but handsome talent is hard to come by. After World War II in Hexi, the two tribes of King Hunxie and King Xiutu, who were hit hard, had no choice but to beg for surrender from the Han Dynasty.Huo Qubing was ordered to accept the surrender, and successfully recruited the second king of Hexi, the Xiongnu, with a combination of grace and power.Since then, the vast Hexi Corridor has officially been brought under Chinese rule.The Han Dynasty established Jiuquan, Wuwei, Zhangye, and Dunhuang counties in the local area, and the Silk Road running through Eurasia began from then on. This was the beginning of the spread of Chinese civilization and the death knell of the Huns' demise.The Huns sang sadly: Losing my Yanzhi Mountain makes me colorless; losing my Qilian Mountain makes my six animals restless.The loss of the Hexi Corridor completely cut off the "right arm" of the Huns, and the original Right Wise King no longer lived up to his name.The Xiongnu lost an important economic zone and also lost the ability to launch flank attacks against the Han Dynasty.On the contrary, the Han Dynasty could concentrate the manpower and material resources of the whole country to launch the deadliest blow to the Xiongnu: the Battle of Mobei. 119 BC is a year destined to be recorded in the annals of history in the history of the Han-Hungarian War.卫青、霍去病兵分两路，深入漠北草原追击匈奴。大汉帝国以几十万士卒护送物资，倾举国之力发动了这场中国历史上规模空前的大远征。在这场远征的部署上，汉帝国却“阴差阳错”，以“持重”著称的卫青，原本受命扫荡匈奴王庭，以擅打歼灭战著称的霍去病，原本受命歼灭匈奴单于主力，但打到漠北后才发现“弄岔了”。霍去病碰到的，是匈奴相对较弱的左贤王部，而卫青碰到的，却是匈奴实力最强悍的单于主力军团。这两场重要战役，是对卫霍舅甥俩两种作战思路的检验。 霍去病依然延续了其高速突击的作战风格，以5万骑兵快速突破，对匈奴左贤王部发动夜袭，一战斩首匈奴军高达7万多人，匈奴左贤王部全军覆灭。从此之后，汉朝河北、辽西地区的侵扰不复存在。卫青同样延续了“持重”的特点，面对养精蓄锐的伊稚斜单于主力，卫青没有贸然发动进攻，相反以战车环绕为营，吸引匈奴主力前来攻打。长达一天的拉锯战，消耗掉了匈奴军锐气，而后迅速发动反击，将匈奴骑兵分割包围，最终迫使伊稚斜仅带数百骑兵逃窜。这场空前的大远征，给匈奴造成了沉重的打击。匈奴王庭不得不西迁至西蒙古地区。原本作为汉朝边地的上谷、雁门、渔阳等地，从此不再受匈奴的侵扰。之后汉匈战争虽然还在继续，但那都是围绕着汉朝新开辟的河西诸郡展开。匈奴与汉朝之前的强弱身份，早已本末倒置。