Chapter 68 67 Wei Qing and Huo Qubing

Wei Qing came from a humble background. His father was a servant in the family of Cao Shou, Marquis of Pingyang.When Wei Qing grew up, he became a riding slave in the Pingyang Hou family.Later, because Wei Qing's sister Wei Zifu entered the palace and was favored by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Wei Qing's status gradually became prominent. In the year when Li Guang was captured by the Huns in battle and fled back, the Han army had four troops, three of which failed. Only Wei Qing won the battle and was named Marquis of Guannei; The Xiongnu soldiers made military exploits. In 124 BC, Wei Qing led 30,000 cavalry and chased outside the Great Wall.King Youxian of the Xiongnu thought that the Han army was still far away, so he was not prepared at all, so he drank and had fun in the barracks, and got drunk.

Under the cover of night, Wei Qing marched six or seven hundred li in a hurry and surrounded King Youxian.Han soldiers rushed into the Huns camp from all directions, beating the Xiongnu troops to flee in all directions and into a mess.King Youxian had just woken up from the wine, and it was too late to resist, so he had to escape with hundreds of his cronies. In this battle, Wei Qing's troops captured more than 15,000 prisoners, including more than ten Xiaowang of the Huns. The right and left wise kings of the Xiongnu were only one level lower than Shanyu.In this war, King Youxian's entire army was wiped out, which dealt a great blow to the Huns alone.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty received the good news, and immediately sent an envoy to the barracks with the general's seal, announcing Wei Qing as a general, and even his three sons who were not yet adults were also named marquises. Wei Qing declined and said: "The several times I have won battles, it is all thanks to the soldiers under my command. My three children are still dolls and have never done anything. If the emperor enshrines them as marquis, how can he encourage the soldiers to make meritorious deeds!" As soon as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was reminded by him, he named seven generals under Wei Qing as marquises.

In the second year, the Huns came to attack again.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Wei Qing to lead six generals and a brigade to deal with the Xiongnu. Wei Qing had a nephew named Huo Qubing, who was only 18 years old at the time, very brave, and could ride a horse and shoot arrows, and this time he followed Wei Qing to fight the Xiongnu. When the Xiongnu heard that the Han army was attacking in large numbers, they immediately fled back.Wei Qing sent four groups of troops to chase the Xiongnu army separately, and must defeat the main force of the Huns.Wei Qing sat in the camp by himself, waiting for news.

In the evening, all four groups of soldiers and horses returned, but the main force of the Xiongnu was not found. Some killed hundreds of soldiers, and some returned empty-handed without even finding a single enemy. Huo Qubing was a young man who came out to fight for the first time, so he became a captain.He led 800 strong men, formed a small team, and went to find the Huns.They ran northward for a while, but they didn't see the Huns soldiers along the way. After driving for several hundred miles, they saw the Huns' camp in the distance. They sneaked around and copied over, aimed at the largest tent, and rushed in.Huo Qubing had sharp eyesight and quick hands, and killed a Hun nobleman with one blow.His strong men captured another one alive.

The Xiongnu soldiers lost their leader and fled in all directions. Eight hundred strong men chased after them and killed more than 2,000 Xiongnu soldiers before rushing back to the camp. Wei Qing was waiting impatiently in the camp when Huo Qubing came back with one head, and the soldiers behind him took two captives back. After interrogation, it was found out that the two captives were Shan Yu's uncle and Shan Yu's Xiangguo, and the king who was killed by Huo Qubing was Shan Yu's grandfather. Eighteen-year-old Huo Qubing took part in the battle for the first time, and captured two generals of the Huns. This is a great achievement.At the end of the battle, he was named the champion.

In 121 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty appointed Huo Qubing as Hussar General and led 10,000 cavalry to attack the Xiongnu from Longxi.Huo Qubing's soldiers and horses fought against the Huns for six days, but the Huns couldn't resist and retreated.Huo Qubing and his cavalry crossed Yanzhi Mountain (in the west of Yongchang County, Gansu Province today) and pursued for more than a thousand miles.There are still many vassal states of the Huns, such as Hunxie (in today's Gansu Province) and Xiutu (in the north of Wuwei County, Gansu today, Tuyintu).When the Han soldiers arrived there, they captured the prince of King Hunxie and Xiangguo, and also brought the golden man (a kind of bronze statue) that King Xiutu worshiped to heaven.

In order to comfort Huo Qubing, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to build a house for him.Huo Qubing declined.He said: "The Huns haven't been wiped out yet, so how can we make a home?" Once again Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were sent with 50,000 elite soldiers each to attack the Xiongnu in two ways. Wei Qing left the fortress from Dingxiang County, crossed the desert, and marched for more than a thousand miles. The Xiongnu's Yi Raoxie (穉zhi) Shanyu personally led the elite troops to fight against it.The two sides launched a big battle.When night fell from the fierce battle, a gust of wind suddenly blew up on the desert, with gravel in it, making the sky dark.Braving the strong wind and the gravel blowing against his face, Wei Qing ordered the cavalry to divide the left and right wings to attack.Yi Rongxie Shanyu was unable to resist, so he led hundreds of cavalry to break through and escape to the north.Wei Qing went all the way to Zhaoxin City under Zhiyan Mountain (the name of the ancient mountain, a branch south of Hangai Mountain in the Mongolian Plateau, Zhiyintian). The Xiongnu soldiers had already fled, and a lot of grain and grass were stored in the city.Wei Qing let the soldiers have a full meal and burned the excess grain before returning to the division triumphantly.

On the other hand, Huo Qubing also crossed the great desert, marched more than two thousand miles, defeated the troops of King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu, and chased him to Langjuxu Mountain (on the North Bank of the Yellow River in the northwest of Wuyuan, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; in other words, in the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic ), and a stele was erected there as a memorial. This was the largest and furthest pursuit of the Han Dynasty.After that, the Huns retreated to the north of the desert, and there was no royal court of the Huns in the south of the desert.