1. Chao Cuo

It may be a bit excessive to classify him as a famous anti-Hungarian general, because he is a civil servant after all. Moreover, the era when Chao Cuo lived was the era when the Han Dynasty endured humiliation and oppression by the Huns. But when it comes to the Han-Hungarian War, this person must be the first to bring it up, because it was the series of military reforms he carried out with all his strength that finally enabled the Han army to establish its absolute superiority over the Huns in terms of combat effectiveness and equipment. Finally completed the feat of counterattacking the Huns.

Chao Cuo’s contribution to the construction of the Han Dynasty’s army has two points. The first is the military system, and the second is the construction of the cavalry. In terms of the military system, Chao Cuo can be said to be the first person in the Chinese military to "learn from the barbarians and learn skills to strengthen themselves". Unlike many conservative ministers who adhere to the Huang-Lao doctrine and seek peace, Chao Cuo embodies a superior strategic vision. During the era of Emperor Wen, when the world was at peace, he wrote to the emperor, frankly admitting that there would be a war between Han and Hungary. Rectification of military armaments was a top priority, and the famous general Zhou Yafu was strongly recommended. In addition, he put forward many constructive ideas on military reform, the most important of which was to change the Central Army of the Han Dynasty from compulsory soldiers to professional soldiers. He knew very well that if the Han army, which was mainly composed of farmers from the Central Plains, wanted to compete with the Hun cavalry, which relied on horses as their home, non-professional soldiers could not improve their combat effectiveness. Under his strong support, the Han Dynasty established a complete professional military system. Children from farmers in the border areas were selected as soldiers, with a 20-year service period and hereditary service. And bestow favorable treatment. In this way, many aristocratic military service families, mainly peasant families, were established in the country. These families who were selected as aristocratic soldiers have lived in border areas for many years and are very familiar with the tactical style of the Huns' cavalry. Moreover, most of the families have a blood feud with the Huns and have a strong sense of war! According to the regulations of the aristocratic family soldiers, the children in the family received strict military training from an early age and made it their lifelong creed to fight against the Huns. It is honor to kill the enemy and make meritorious service. Moreover, every year, soldiers from various families hold a competition. Those with poor performance are eliminated, while those with good performance are rewarded. This enabled the Han Dynasty to establish a brand new standing army with super combat effectiveness. We can see that the Han Dynasty army is the most national army in Chinese history. No matter who leads the army, it can maintain super combat effectiveness. This is essentially different from the later armed forces with the nature of private armies such as the Yue Jiajun of the Song Dynasty and the Qi Jiajun of the Ming Dynasty. Even though the government was corrupt in the late Western Han Dynasty, the army still maintained strong combat effectiveness. All of this was the guarantee of the Han Dynasty's military system.

Another contribution of Chao Cuo was in the construction of cavalry. In decisive battles on the grassland, cavalry was the main means of victory. The cavalry of the Han Dynasty was weaker than the Huns for three main reasons, namely, there were few horses, low combat effectiveness, and backward tactical concepts. The professional soldier system can solve the problem of combat effectiveness, but the problems of horses and tactical concepts require new policies to solve. At Chao Cuo's suggestion, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty issued an edict to implement horse administration and encouraged civilians to raise horses, so that the Han army had sufficient horse resources. However, the difference between the Han Dynasty horse breeds and the Huns severely restricted the development of the Han Dynasty cavalry. For this reason, Chao Cuo proposed that the Han government spend a large amount of money every year to recruit Xiongnu herdsmen to move south to the Great Wall for cultivation. The Han government granted a large number of Land and money, on condition that they train cavalry for the Han Dynasty. At the same time, various channels were used to purchase war horses from the Huns. Don't underestimate this strategy. It takes a lot of courage for the Han government, which has always called itself the Celestial Dynasty, to accept it. However, the implementation of this strategy can be said to have brought earth-shaking changes to the Han army. Since then, the Han army has had a brainwashing update in its strategic concepts and combat methods, and its combat effectiveness has made a qualitative leap. Later, although Chao Cuo was wronged and killed, his set of ideas was inherited, thus laying the foundation for the growth of the Han army.

It was also with the efforts of a group of Han Dynasty strategists headed by Chao Cuo that the Han Dynasty established a powerful cavalry force that could compete with the Huns, thus laying the foundation for the Han Dynasty's victory in counterattacking the Huns. .

2. Li Guang

If you want to ask who the Han general the Xiongnu feared the most, it was not Wei Qing, who won the first victory against the Xiongnu for the Han Dynasty, nor Wei Qing, who killed ten enemies. Huo Qubing, the young hero with tens of thousands of soldiers, is actually the flying general Li Guang. Li Guang can be said to be the most legendary and tragic general in the history of the Han Dynasty. His talents and experiences are still lamentable to this day.

It can be said that Li Guang was born at the wrong time. In the era of Emperor Wen, he trusted old ministers, and Li Guang was a young man. Already gray-haired. Due to his humble official position, Li Guang has always been at the forefront of the fight against the Huns.

During the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, he repeatedly had small-scale military conflicts with the Xiongnu, and his combat experience also provided valuable wealth to the Han Dynasty. And his reputation was also feared by the Xiongnu. Later, when the Han and Huns went to war, the Huns almost all put their elite troops into Li Guang's army. This was also an objective reason for Li Guang's poor record against the Huns. However, in the early Western Han Dynasty, it was the brave fighting of a generation of soldiers represented by Li Guang that curbed the Xiongnu's aggressive ambitions and prevented them from going too far south to intrude, which bought precious time for the Han Dynasty to prepare for a counterattack against the Xiongnu. R|{Lwx

Unlike other generals of the Han Dynasty, Li Guang can be said to be a Han Dynasty general who has been transformed into a Huns. His troop leadership characteristics and combat strategies have strong Xiongnu characteristics, such as military orders. Wide and wide, living in pursuit of water and grass. He fought bravely and was good at riding and shooting, but he lacked the discipline and integrity unique to the Han Dynasty army. The Han army's advantage over the Xiongnu lay in its strict discipline and cooperative combat capabilities. This is the important reason why Li Guang was unable to make achievements in the battle against the Huns. It is obviously undesirable to learn from the strengths of others while abandoning one's own strengths. r%

There are two most exciting battles in Li Guang's war history. One was the attack in 127 BC, and the other was the Hexi battle two years later. In the first time, he led an army of 10,000 to be defeated by the Xiongnu. Shan Yu's main force of 30,000 surrounded him and almost wiped out his entire army, but he also caused the Xiongnu to suffer the same casualties and allowed Wei Qing to pass through the gap between the two main forces of the Xiongnu and lead directly to the rear of the Xiongnu. The second time, his 4,000 vanguard was surrounded by King Youxian's 40,000 main force. After a fierce battle for six days, only 400 people were left in the army. However, they effectively cooperated with Huo Qubing and went west from Jiuquan to defeat King Hunxie. From the two battles, we can see the characteristics of Li Guang. He is brave in combat, has rapid impact, and has strong combat effectiveness. However, he mostly uses a head-on style of fighting, lacks tactical flexibility, and is greedy for merit and love for war. It is easy for his team to break away, causing the enemy to be defeated. Unfavorable situation of siege. In contrast, Huo Qubing was much smarter. When the Huns changed their deployment, he resolutely changed the marching route, directly guided their weak links, and finally won a complete victory. To be fair, Li Guang is an excellent general, but he is a general, not a handsome man. His individual combat capabilities are brave, but he lacks the ability to see the overall situation. He can be said to be a good vanguard and a good general, but he cannot be a good marshal. Later, in the decisive battle at Mobei, Wei Qing ordered him to attack from the flank. From a military perspective, this was not to underestimate Li Guang's talent, but to better utilize Li Guang's strong combat impact and rapid movement. Unfortunately, God did not help Li Guang. , a sandstorm destroyed Li Guang's last chance, and also caused him to suffer the tragic ending of committing suicide. But, as a general, he will always have our respect.

3. Wei Qing

Wei Qing was not the general who annihilated the most Xiongnu, but he was indeed the general who made the greatest contribution in the Han-Hungarian War. The first victory of the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu was fought by Wei Qing. Although the Battle of Longcheng only killed 700 enemies, it shattered the myth that "the Huns were invincible" promoted by many Han Dynasty leaders and ministers, and made the Han Dynasty soldiers He established a firm belief that he would defeat the Huns.

Promoting someone with Wei Qing's background into a general requires great courage. Even though he is a relative, he will inevitably encounter huge resistance. But Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty embodied the courage and courage of a wise monarch. Wei Qing also lived up to his expectations and repaid the court with victory after victory. In fact, the reason why the Han army is strong has a lot to do with the Han army's eclectic way of employing talents. In addition to Wei Qing, the Han army also has a group of generals with low backgrounds, and even Huns like Zhao Ponu. , they all made outstanding contributions to the Han Dynasty. In addition, the generals were given great trust and autonomy in commanding troops, which was unmatched by subsequent dynasties, especially the Song Dynasty.

The biggest feature of Wei Qing's troops was that he maximized the coordinated combat capabilities of the Han Dynasty army. The Battle of Mobei is an example of the cooperation between chariots and cavalry. This feature effectively took advantage of the Han army's equipment advantages, exploited its strengths and avoided weaknesses, and effectively attacked the Xiongnu who fought with a single arm. In addition, Wei Qing fought extremely cautiously and made careful arrangements in every battle to minimize the casualties of his own troops and effectively attack the enemy. During the battle to attack Aries and recover the Hetao, he postponed the attack time several times and waited patiently for the Xiongnu to be encircled and the Han army to form an absolute advantage before gathering and annihilating the enemy. win. However, it was precisely because of his caution that the number of enemies he wiped out was never as good as Huo Qubing's.

It can be said that Wei Qing is a general with excellent character and talent. He has a humble personality, is courteous to his subordinates, never takes credit for himself, and is considerate of his soldiers, so he is very popular among his subordinates. Such generals are rare in Chinese history. Perhaps this has a lot to do with his poor background since childhood. After his death, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty built a lush mausoleum for him, perhaps symbolizing his modest and gentlemanly character.

Wei Qing’s most familiar battle example is the decisive battle of Mobei. It can be said that this was a battle that brought his wisdom and courage to the extreme. He reflected his cautious style in the battle. and extraordinary courage at critical moments. All combat conditions at that time were unfavorable to him. The Han army went on an expedition, and their horses and saddles were tired. The Huns were waiting for work, and fought with their backs against the enemy. Their morale was high. And concentrated all the elite troops. In order to win by surprise, Wei Qing ordered Li Guang to attack from the flank. Unexpectedly, Li Guang's troops lost their direction and lost contact. This is equivalent to the Han army losing three thousand cavalry before the battle began. Faced with various unfavorable conditions, Wei Qing formulated a defensive strategy and used solid chariot defense to resist the impact of the Huns' cavalry. After struggling for a day and night, the anxious Chanyu finally brought out all his elite troops. But when the yellow sand rose up, Wei Qing showed his rare decisive side. He seized the fleeting opportunity, ordered the main force to attack quickly, and launched a surprise attack when the Xiongnu's position was in chaos, which finally resulted in the complete defeat of the Xiongnu. Chanyu escaped with only 300 guards. The decisive battle in Mobei annihilated more than 30,000 Xiongnu troops and captured tens of thousands of Xiongnu. It can be called a decisive victory in the Han-Hungarian War. From then on, the Han Dynasty took the initiative in the war against the Huns, while the Huns retreated to the north of the desert and were no longer able to launch a southward invasion. Although this achievement is not as brilliant as Huo Qubing's battle of Langjushan. But it was decisive in the war between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu.

4. Huo Qubing

General Huo Qubing can be said to be the idol worshiped by many contemporary young people. He achieved great success at a young age and rose to prominence. At the age of 22, he commanded the Langju Mountain that determined the fate of the Han-Hungarian War. In the battle, the troops of King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu were almost wiped out. He joined the army at the age of 18 and fought six wars with the Huns, annihilating a total of 150,000 captured enemies, almost twice as many as his uncle Wei Qing. His untimely death made many people sigh with regret. In the TV series "Emperor of the Han Dynasty", Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty roared "Give me back the title of champion". Many people who heard it looked up to the sky and sighed, and shed tears like rain.

Huo Qubing can be said to be lucky. His status as a maternal relative allowed him to be entrusted with important tasks at the age of eighteen, and his fighting style was the nemesis of the nomadic Huns. In fact, given Huo Qubing's combat characteristics, if he were to fight in the Central Plains, facing criss-crossing fortresses, it would generally not be of much use. But facing the Huns who were born chasing water and grass, it was just a steel knife placed on the necks of the Huns! The most striking feature of Huo Qubing's battle was the attack, overwhelming the enemy with the vigor of a tiger descending from the mountain, and annihilating the enemy as quickly as possible. Unlike Li Guang, Huo Qubing's combat mind is extremely clear. He can quickly make correct judgments in the ever-changing battlefield situation, seize the enemy's weakest link and strike hard. The Huns suffered the heaviest losses in the shortest time. What is even more commendable is that Huo Qubing's battle was not aimed at seizing the enemy's territory, but more at destroying the enemy's self-confidence and maximizing the enemy's damage, and completely destroying the enemy's production capacity and economic capacity. This combat method, which aims to attack the enemy's spiritual power, is still used today after entering modern warfare.

The biggest weakness of the Han army compared with the Xiongnu army is its mobility. The Han army has poor long-distance attack capabilities and relies too much on supplies from the rear. It also carries a large amount of baggage, which is a great limitation. The Han army's mobile combat capabilities were reduced, making it difficult for the Han army to pursue deep into the desert for many years. Huo Qubing's combat strategy can be said to be an innovation in the Han army's tactical concepts. His operations can be described as roundabout and deep, interspersed with encirclement, completing the roundabout and interweaving at the fastest speed, encircling the Huns, and carrying out devastating attacks on them starting from the weakest link. In the two battles in Hexi, his soldiers and horses gave up their baggage and supplies, traveled lightly and quickly, ate on the spot, and took advantage of the Xiongnu's unstable foothold to quickly launch a decisive battle with the main force. He completely annihilated him in one fell swoop and cut off the right arm of the Huns. The so-called eating on the spot is to plunder the Huns' rear areas to replenish military supplies. This strategy not only solved its own supply problem, but also hit the Huns' production capacity to the greatest extent. The Xiongnu's economy was greatly destroyed, allowing the Han Dynasty to establish absolute superiority over the Xiongnu economically and militarily.

Historical records of Huo Qubing’s battle process are very brief, but from just a few words, we can imagine the hardship of the battle and Huo Qubing’s skill in using troops. In the first battle of Hexi, Zhang Qian of the South Route Army The movement was slow and Li Guang was surrounded alone. Huo Qubing resolutely changed his original battle plan and took the risk of passing through King Hunxie's area. At that time, Huo Qubing only had 10,000 troops, while King Hunxie and King Xiutu had no less than 60,000 troops in total. Huo Qubing concentrated his superior forces to fight a battle of annihilation, rushing in quickly before the enemy's main force could assemble, and defeated them one by one. Although the Huns kept dispatching troops and generals, their soldiers and horses could only be eaten one by one by the Han army like lambs entering a tiger's mouth. More importantly, this battle completely destroyed the resistance of the Huns soldiers mentally, making them fear the Han army like a tiger. Later, in the Second Battle of Hexi, the Huns soldiers almost lost their resistance and were chased and slaughtered by Huo Qubing, with losses as high as three thousand. Twelve thousand people, exactly four times the number in the First Hexi Battle. Later, when King Hunxie returned to the Han Dynasty, pro-Hungarian forces among his 40,000 troops launched a rebellion. Huo Qubing subdued them with only 10,000 troops and beheaded 8,000 rebels, making King Hunxie completely surrender. This event was of great significance in the history of the Han-Hungarian war. After that, more and more Xiongnu surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and a large number of Xiongnu herdsmen also moved south to the Great Wall to request annexation. The Xiongnu power gradually collapsed. Later in the Battle of Mobei, Huo Qubing marched all the way and got under the nose of King Zuoxian in the middle of the night. He launched an attack at dawn, wiping out 70,000 Xiongnu people in one day and almost annihilating the Xiongnu King Zuoxian's troops. At this point, the arms of the Xiongnu's left and right virtuous kings were completely cut off, leaving only the Xiongnu Shanyu in Xuangu Mobei. The power is declining day by day.

Today, people still have many criticisms against Huo Qubing, such as accusing him of turning a deaf ear to the suffering of the soldiers, accusing him of being arrogant, extravagant, corrupt, and cold-blooded. In fact, many of the evaluations are excessive. Speaking of caring for the soldiers and being a good person, if Huo Qubing is really unreasonable, then how can his subordinates swear to serve him to the death? In the scene of celebrating the victory in Jiuquan, he distributed the royal wine to the whole army to drink. The feelings of joy and sorrow are admirable. The so-called luxury and corruption are the details and habits of life, so why force it? The important thing is that he was the general who annihilated the largest number of enemies in the Han-Hungarian War. For this alone, he is worthy of the title of national hero.

5. Zhao Chongguo

After the death of Huo Qubing and Wei Qing, the Xiongnu were at the end of their strength. However, as for the Han Dynasty, due to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's great achievements and extravagance, the Han Dynasty's financial resources were greatly reduced. Wasted time, coupled with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty being fatuous in his later years, and the government becoming increasingly corrupt, the Han Dynasty's several wars against the Xiongnu were in vain, and they also took advantage of the general Li Ling. In fact, the Han Dynasty's poor performance against the Xiongnu during this period was not because the Xiongnu had recovered their strength, but because of the Han Dynasty's own problems, such as Emperor Wu's improper employment of personnel, long-term construction projects that consumed financial resources, and the increasing corruption of the political system. There are many factions and other reasons. These problems were not caused by the policy of attacking the Huns, but more by their misguided internal policies. Today, some people use Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's several failures in the war against the Huns as an excuse to say that launching a war against the Huns was the cause of the decline of the Han Dynasty. This is an extremely wrong view.

In fact, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty failed several wars against the Huns in his later years. Except for the last time when Li Guangli was captured and the entire army was annihilated, the losses of the Han army in the other two times were not significant. It can be said that the victory against the Huns was a success. Tie. The last time was when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ransacked Li Guangli's home when the Han army was victorious, which caused the morale of the army to fluctuate and the army was defeated. During this period, due to corruption in the government, the Ma government was abolished and tax revenue decreased. This made the Han army unable to compare with the Wei Qing era in terms of the number of cavalry and equipment. But even so, the Huns still could not restore their power in Monan, and they were just tired of running away and lingering.

During this period, the Han army had a general who was no less talented than Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. He was Zhao Chongguo. In fact, Zhao Chongguo was unfortunate. He was four years younger than Huo Qubing, but he fought in the same era as Huo Qubing, which made his talent buried for a long time. Later, in Li Guangli's second campaign against the Huns, he led 3,000 cavalry to attack from the flank, ensuring that the large army successfully broke through, but there were only a hundred soldiers and horses under his command. This battle made him famous in one fell swoop, and he rose to prominence from then on.

In the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, due to the existence of Li Guangli, Zhao Chongguo never had the opportunity to show his handsome talent. It was not until the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that he was entrusted with important tasks. At this time, he was already gray-haired. It would not be an exaggeration to describe him as a late bloomer. However, Zhao Chongguo defended the territory of the Han Dynasty with his cautious military attitude and superb strategy.

During the Zhao Emperor's era, the power of the Huns was weakened, and the main enemy of the Han Dynasty gradually shifted from the Huns in Mobei to the Qiang in Hexi. The Qiang people were ambitious and tried to replace the Xiongnu. Unfortunately, they met Zhao Chongguo. In three battles against the Qiang people, the Han army won a complete victory, successfully destroying the Qiang forces, ensuring the security of the Hexi Corridor, and connecting the Western Regions with China.

Compared with Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, Zhao Chongguo embodies his unique combat characteristics, that is, as quiet as a virgin and as active as a rabbit. He was extremely cautious in formulating combat strategies and considered them over and over again. "Seeing is worth hearing a hundred times" was his famous saying. This cautious attitude also resulted in his troops rarely suffering serious casualties. In addition, unlike Huo Qubing's strategy of destroying people, Zhao Chongguo mainly focused on "attacking the heart." His troops were highly disciplined and rarely disturbed the people wherever they went. He bought people's hearts and made the enemies sincerely join him. During the battle, he was good at dividing and disintegrating the enemy, so that he could defeat the enemy without fighting, divide the Huns, and divide them into the northern and southern factions. This strategy was proposed by him and was finally realized. In the second battle against the Qiang people, facing the unfavorable situation of the alliance between the Qiang people and the Xiongnu, he used means to sow discord between the two, forcing the Xiongnu to sit back and watch the Qiang people besieged without saving them, and then defeated them one by one. After the army formed an encirclement, he concentrated his efforts to eliminate the Qiang people and attack the Qiang people. The Xiongnu reinforcements only surrounded but did not fight. They first eliminated the Qiang people, then recovered the Xiongnu, and finally made the 8,000 Xiongnu cavalry surrender. The Huns were frightened when Huo Qubing was mentioned, but respected and feared when Zhao Chongguo was mentioned. It was precisely because of his gentle measures that the Han Dynasty consolidated its rule in the Hexi region and won the hearts and minds of the local ethnic minorities. If Wei Qing and Huo Qubing are generals who opened up borders and split up territories, Zhao Chongguo is a soldier who truly knows how to build territories. In terms of strategic vision, he is superior to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing in some aspects.

After Zhao Chongguo, there was Chen Tang. His sentence "Anyone who offends a strong man will be punished no matter how far away" is widely praised. He also became the final terminator of the war between the Western Han Dynasty and the Huns. However, the Huns he faced were already at the end of their strength, and the battle was not as valuable as the above-mentioned generals, so I won't go into details.

This true history is not about the characters of Flowers Before and Under the Moon, and there is no entanglement between men and women. However, anyone who has read it will be moved by it as long as they have a Chinese conscience.