The great man will live forever

Chapter 72 The Battle of Mobei (Liu Han’s prediction)

In the second year of Yuan Shou, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, 120 BC, on the third day of February, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing officially set out for the battle, kicking off the Battle of Mobei.

This will be the largest and most arduous battle fought by the Han army on the battlefield farthest from the Central Plains. It will be famous throughout the ages and will forever be engraved on the monument of China.

They divided their troops into two groups. In the first group, Lord Zhao Shiqi was the right general, Pingyang Marquis Cao Xiang was the rear general, and Gongsun Ao served as the general as a lieutenant. They were unified under the command of the general Wei Qing. A total of [-] troops, from Dai The county set out to attack the Xiongnu royal court. In fact, the main target was King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu.

Daijun is located in Daiwang City, Yu County, Hebei Province today. It was the first establishment of the Zhao State during the Warring States Period and one of the 48 counties in the Qin Dynasty.In the Western Han Dynasty, it was under the jurisdiction of the Bingzhou Prefectural History Department; in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was under the jurisdiction of the Youzhou Prefectural History Department.

There are 770 households and 27 residents.

It leads eighteen counties: Sangqian County, Daoren County, Dangcheng County, Gaoliu County, Macheng County, Banshi County, Yanling County, Yishi County, Qeru County, Pingyi County, Yangyuan County, Donganyang County County, Shenhe County, Pingshu County, Dai County, Lingqiu County, Guangchang County, and Lucheng County.

On the other side, Huo Qubing is the commander and Liu Han is the deputy general.

In addition, Fubo General Lu Bode, Xionghe General Zhao Ponu, Yiguanhou Gao Bushi, Huiquhou Puduo, Xiongnu Xiaowang Xingshan, Fu Luzhi, Yi Jiqian, and Li Guang's third son Li Gan followed Huo Qubing and Liu Han on the expedition.

They set out from Dingxiang, which is located in Tuchengzi Township in the northwest of Horinger County in Inner Mongolia today. Its jurisdiction is equivalent to today's Horinger, Qingshuihe, Zhuozi, Chahar Right Wing Middle Banner and other places.

There are many changes in its jurisdiction. According to "Geography of the Former Han Dynasty", Dingxiang counties include Chengle, Tongguo, Duwu, Wujin, Xiangyin, Wugao, Luo, Dingtao, Wucheng, Wuyao and Dingxiang , Fulu and other 12 counties; "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Chronicles of Countries" merged with the state: Dingxiang County led five counties: Shanwu, Tongguo, Wucheng, Luo and Zhongling.

This place has been a battleground for military strategists in history, and it has also become a witness to the integration and development of ancient ethnic groups in those turbulent years, because it is the transition point between the Inner Mongolia Plateau and the Loess Plateau.

"Historical Records of Justice" records: According to the ancient posthumous law, "the land is opened for Xiang", and "the land is virtuous, Xiang"; bringing a piece of land into one's own sphere of influence and stabilizing it is called Dingxiang.

In order to ensure victory in this battle, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty recruited 4 private horses and 50 infantry to be responsible for transporting grain, grass and baggage and ensuring the logistical supplies of the army.

The army has been deployed, but the veteran Li Guang has repeatedly requested to go to war. Li Guang joined the army at the age of 14 and is now 60 years old. He has fought with the Huns all his life and is very famous, but he has never established a meritorious title. , so he would not give up the opportunity of a decisive battle with the Huns no matter what.

So he cried and complained in front of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The reason why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not allow him to participate in the war was, on the one hand, because Li Guang was indeed too old, and on the other hand, because Li Guang was too aggressive and unlucky. It has never been good, and I am worried that it will disrupt the battle.

But seeing the gray-haired old general crying in front of him, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty still softened his heart and agreed to him, letting him go on an expedition with Wei Qing and serve as a vanguard general.

Because of Zhang Tang's words, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was shaken again. Before setting off, he gave Li Guang a secret order and asked him to hand it over to Wei Qing.

Near the border, in Wei Qing's camp, Li Guang hurriedly arrived and saluted with clasped fists.

"General, here I come!"

"Well, I have received the message."

Wei Qing nodded and looked at the generals around him, including the right general Lord Zhao Shiqijun, the rear general Pingyang Marquis Cao Xiang, the school captain Gongsun Ao, and Li Guang.

"Generals, since the emperor launched the Battle of Mayi in the second year of Yuanguang, we have been fighting the Huns for almost 15 years. For 15 years, in these years, our army first took the land of Shuofang, Henan, expelled King Baima, and lifted the The Huns posed a serious threat to our Chang'an from the Heshuo Grassland. Our army severely damaged King Youxian and forced King Hunxie to surrender. They captured all the land west of Heshuo, cut off the arms of the Xiongnu, and forced the Great Chanyu to surrender the Xiongnu royal court. Moved to Mobei."

Wei Qing stood up while talking, his eyes full of fighting spirit and memories, 15 years is not easy.

Recalling the Battle of Mayi, it was the fourth day of the sixth lunar month in the second year of Yuanguang in 133 BC.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty dispatched 30 elite troops and ordered the main force to ambush in the valley near Mayi, led by General Han Anguo, General Li Guang and General Gongsun He.

General Wang Hui and general Li Xi led more than 3 people out of Daijun, preparing to attack the Xiongnu's baggage from the flanks and cut off their retreat, annihilating the main force of the Xiongnu in one fell swoop. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also sent merchant Nie Yi to lure the Xiongnu to the enemy... …

They were very well prepared, but unfortunately, they fell short.

At that time, the Xiongnu Chan was Yi Zhixie's brother, the military minister Chanyu. After receiving the report from the envoy, he led the army to march towards Mayi.

When the army arrived more than a hundred miles away from Mayi, they found livestock along the way, but no one was grazing them, which aroused his suspicion.

At this time, the Xiongnu captured the small pavilion on one side and captured Yanmen Weishi.

Under his threat, the weak-minded Wei Shi revealed all the strategies of the Han army.

After hearing this, Shan Yu, a military minister, was shocked and said: "How could he be sold by the Han!"

So, he ordered the troops to withdraw immediately. After leaving the fortress, he said to Wei Shi of Yanmen: "It is God's will that I get Wei Shi. God asked you to tell me!" So he named Wei Shi the "King of Heaven".

Thirty thousand troops led by Wang Hui and Li Xi had left Dai County and were preparing to attack the Huns' baggage. When they learned that the Huns had withdrawn, they were very surprised.Wang Hui thought for a while and felt that his army was no match for the Xiongnu army, so he had to retreat.

Han Anguo and others led a large army to ambush in Mayi, but there was no movement for several days, so they changed their original battle plan and led their troops to attack. As a result, there was no trace of the Huns...

In this way, they lost an opportunity to encircle and annihilate the Huns army.

This kind of opportunity often only comes once. If you miss it, you will never have it again. Looking back now, Wei Qing feels that it is a pity that they have to cross the vast Gobi to fight the Xiongnu decisively, which will consume too much manpower, material resources, and financial resources. .

"And now, our opportunity has come again. All the emperor's supplies are ready. It can be said that it takes the strength of the whole country and the accumulation of decades to look at this time. We and General Huo are divided into two groups, each Leading an army of [-] people to fight a decisive battle against the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu Chanyu is estimated to have obtained information about our army's expedition. The Battle of Mobei is the largest decisive battle in the history of our army. It can only succeed, not fail."

Wei Qing spoke loudly and his eyes were full of determination.

"promise!"

"I'm going to die!"

The morale of the generals was high. At this time, Li Guang sighed inappropriately, "It's a pity that your Majesty has given the important task of attacking the Xiongnu Chanyu to the Hussars General."

When he said this, everyone had different expressions. Even Wei Qing changed his face slightly and looked at him a few times. "The mission of our army is to sweep away the royal court. The tasks of both sides are equally important. Therefore, Wei Qing, on our side, has no reason to slack off. I want to remind you that this battle is a decisive battle of unprecedented scale. Our army's mission is We are looking for the main force of the Xiongnu to sweep away the royal court, do you understand?"

"No!" Everyone clasped their fists and saluted.

"General, this is the secret edict your Majesty asked me to give you."

Li Guang handed the secret edict to Wei Qing, which was well sealed. He had never opened it and did not dare to open it.

Wei Qing took the secret edict and opened it to look at it. Li Guang squinted his eyes and wanted to peek, but he didn't dare. It was very cute.

Several other generals also looked at the secret edict in Wei Qing's hand, but they were far away and could only see the back of the edict.

Curiosity is human nature, but only Wei Qing can read the secret edict, and they all understand it.

Wei Qing glanced at the secret edict for a few times, then at Li Guang, rolled his eyes a few times, and sighed slightly in his heart.

"The emperor expressed that he is extremely concerned about the dynamics of our army and looks forward to news of our victory."

After he finished speaking, he put the secret edict together, which was simply telling lies.

At this moment, the voice of a messenger came in from outside, "Report, General Fuguo sent someone to say there is a message."

Wei Qing was confused, "Shuichehou, he asked someone to send a message. What does it mean?"

"Come in!"

The person who came in was Xiong Er, one of Liu Han's three gatekeepers and the current captain of the personal soldiers.

"Meet the General!"

"Marquis Shuiche asked you to deliver a message. What's the matter? I remember that you are his personal soldier, right?"

"Yes, the general has a very good memory. Our Lord Marquis suddenly thought of two important things and sent me to report to the general."

"whats the matter?"

"Two things. First, the Marquis suddenly thought that our expedition to the desert this time is a long journey. The most important thing is the water source. We must prevent the Huns from poisoning the water source, throwing dead sick cattle and sheep, and spreading the plague. ."

After saying this, the silence in the big tent became quiet. They took a deep breath and felt their scalps numb.

They could not imagine that if the Huns really did this, it would be troublesome. The plague would have a great impact on the army.

"The Huns can't be so vicious, can they?"

"This means killing a thousand enemies and damaging yourself eight hundred. They also need water."

Several generals started discussing.

Xiong Er continued: "The Marquis said you can't take chances, and you can't underestimate the viciousness and ferocity of the enemy. They guard a few water sources, but others are poisoned, and we don't know."

Wei Qing said quickly: "Well, our Lord Marquis is right. Water is indeed very important in the desert. So if the Huns really do this, what will we do?"

"The Marquis said, bring more experienced doctors with you. Be sure to carefully check whether the water source is clean before drinking. It is best to catch the local Huns and ask if they have been poisoned. Drink flowing water and pay attention to the surroundings, upstream and downstream. If there are any dead animals, it is best to boil the water and drink it..."

Wei Qing smiled broadly and said hello three times in a row, "Okay, okay, okay. As expected of Shuiche Hou, these suggestions are very good. I will inform the entire army immediately, and then send a letter to His Majesty. I will bring a few more doctors with me. I know everything in front of you." , What does it mean that the water is best boiled for drinking? If you boil the water for drinking, it will cost a lot of money? There is no wood in the desert."

"The Marquis said that boiling water generally does not spread the plague. Boiling water has a disinfecting effect, just like when we eat cooked food. When boiling water, we can follow the Huns' example and use dried horse dung, cow dung, and sheep dung. It cannot be used for If you save a little, you will catch the plague, and the gain outweighs the loss."

"There is also this saying, okay, I understand, what about the second thing?"

"This second matter, the Marquis asked me to talk to the general alone."

Wei Qing glanced at everyone and said, "You guys go down first."

"promise!"

Watching several generals go down, Wei Qing asked, "Can we talk now?"

"The Marquis' suggestion is just a suggestion. He said that the general had better not divide his troops, so as not to be defeated by the Xiongnu one by one. General Li Guang is still very capable and can be a forward, but don't give him too much and let him not be impulsive."

Wei Qing glanced at him, "Hey, he's still giving me orders?"

Xiong Erlian broke into a cold sweat and said hurriedly: "I don't dare, I don't dare, the general is just a suggestion."

"Okay, I understand, I will consider it."

　After many searches, including CNKI and other information, I judged that the Huns probably did not poison the water sources during the Battle of Mobei. They did not know the specific marching route of the Han army, and they did not poison the water sources at each water source. Poisoning is very troublesome, and if it is live water, the dead cows and sheep you put in cannot last too long. It will be washed away by the water. After a period of time, the water source will automatically repair. Also, many people say that Huo Qubing is The Huns poisoned the water and died of the plague. Most likely they were not. Wei Qing also followed that path, but there was nothing wrong with him. Moreover, there was no record that the Han army had any signs of dying from the plague in large numbers, and the plague was lurking in the body. It only broke out years later. Isn’t this incubation period a bit too long?Sima Qian wrote only one pawn when he wrote about Huo Qubing's death in the Historical Records. This is the way of writing a normal death. Later history books also said that someone asked Huo Guang how Huo Qubing died. Huo Guang said that he died of illness, so Huo Qubing probably died from long-term fatigue. From the age of 17 to 23, he fought almost every year. He traveled thousands of miles across the desert, suffered from cruel environment, fatigue and all kinds of injuries. Why didn't Sima Qian write in detail?Because in ancient times, it was normal to die in your twenties. For example, Liu Fuling, the son of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, died in his twenties even though he was a wise emperor, and he was still the emperor.

　　But when I write a novel, I have to have more fun and re-create it, and I should poison the water source for him.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)