Speaking of the generals during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the first thing that everyone must think of is Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, the uncles and nephews. Indeed, these two famous generals created too many war miracles during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and also protected the people on the border from harassment by the surrounding nomads.
But these two famous generals were not the only ones in that period. There was also a general with the same combat power as them, named Li Ling. This General Li is second to none in terms of marching and fighting, as well as military strategy. It is a pity that this rare and brave warrior was destroyed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty himself. Even if he regretted it, it would be difficult to recover it.
Self-recommended for the expedition
Li Ling was born in a famous family, and was the grandson of flying general Li Guang. He showed amazing military talent in his youth and was very good at riding and shooting. No creature within a hundred steps could escape his arrows. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty valued a man from such a famous family. In his early years, he allowed him to serve as a minister, a chapter supervisor, and other positions. Later, he gave him 800 cavalry to serve in the military camp.
Li Ling was young, but his courage was astonishing. When he was young, he dared to go deep into the hinterland of the Xiongnu for more than two thousand miles to observe the terrain. During this process, the Huns army was always nearby, but he was not panicked or afraid, and even retreated after completing the exploration. This courage and courage allowed him to be quickly promoted to the title of cavalry captain. He led five thousand soldiers stationed in Jiuquan, China, and other places. He was responsible for patrolling the borders and guarding against the invasion of the surrounding Huns. In his spare time, Li Ling would also teach the soldiers archery and lead them to practice military formations in preparation for emergencies in battle.
Li Ling has a good reputation in the army. Although he is a captain , he does not have the airs of a superior. He treats the soldiers sincerely and never hides his secrets. Anyone who asks him for advice on archery will do it. He taught them with all his heart, which also made Li Ling very popular in the army. In the second year of Tianhan, Li Ling's army, which had been preparing for a long time, finally received a combat mission. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered him to lead his troops to deliver food and grass to Li Guangli's 30,000-strong army. Although Li Ling was excited to be exposed to the battlefield, he did not want to be just a transport force, so he asked Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for orders and participated in the battle, saying that he could issue a military order.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not trust him and said that there were currently insufficient troops and there were really no extra troops for him to dispatch. Li Ling had long expected that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would react like this, so he did not panic and said that he could "win with less and win more" and only needed 5,000 soldiers to win. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was persuaded by his confidence and promised to give him this opportunity to fight. He made the strong slave captain Lu Bode his subordinate and led the troops at his disposal.
Lu Bode had been a general before and was unwilling to serve a newcomer like Li Ling, so he petitioned to postpone the war and let Li Ling lead the army he trained to attack in spring. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty read it, he took it out of context and thought that Lu Bode said such words at the instruction of Li Ling. He regretted his arrogance and now did not dare to send troops. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who was angry, immediately issued an order and asked Li Ling to send troops immediately. He also asked him what he had said to Lu Bode.
A bloody battle with the Huns
Poor Li Ling, he had no idea what Lu Bode said to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and he didn't know that he had been misunderstood, so he just led the army according to the original route. After arriving at Junji Mountain , he drew the terrain map immediately and was fully prepared for this battle. However, what he didn't expect was that the enemy's strength was much greater than he imagined. Not long after he set up camp here, he was besieged by the main force of the Huns. Thirty thousand cavalry surrounded their camp on three floors. Surrounded by three layers of ground, it is as if it is difficult to fly without wings.
But Li Ling did not give up, but relied on tactics to deal with the Huns army. Although his own soldiers suffered heavy injuries, they were not cannibalized by the Huns troops immediately. The Huns attached great importance to this battle, and even Shanyu came here to personally participate in the command.Li Ling led his troops to move while fighting, trying to find a weak opening in the Huns' encirclement. However, his fierce resistance during this period and his continuous movement of troops southward were regarded by the Huns generals as a precursor to deception. Seeing that they could not attack for a long time, the Xiongnu panicked first and began to prepare to retreat.
Seeing that the turning point that Li Ling was expecting was about to come, the betrayal of a traitor completely extinguished the flame of hope. There was a general named Guan Gan in Li Ling's army. He was dissatisfied with the insults from his superior generals and chose to defect to the Huns. He also told the Xiongnu Chanyu and the generals that Li Ling's army was at the end of its war effort. This news made Shan Yu overjoyed. Not only did he not prepare to retreat, but he also increased the intensity of the attack, which greatly increased the pressure on the Han Dynasty army. In just one day, almost all the remaining arrows were used up, and personnel were also killed or injured. Most of it.
Seeing that there was no hope of breaking through, Li Ling even came up with the idea of assassinating Shan Yu alone, but he himself found it unrealistic and could only give up. However, Li Ling did not give up completely. He summoned the remaining soldiers, distributed the remaining weapons, and told them to break out separately and must go back to report the situation here to His Majesty.
Misunderstood
Early the next morning, before the Huns were aware of it, Li Ling and the remaining soldiers quickly rode in different directions, hoping to break through the defense line. When the Huns heard the news, they immediately sent troops to pursue them, focusing on hunting down the general Li Ling. In order to give other soldiers a chance to escape, Li Ling had no choice but to dismount and surrender. The reason why he did not commit suicide on the spot was that he still had hope in his heart that he might be able to surrender and wait for rescue.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard the news of Li Ling's surrender among the soldiers who luckily escaped, and was furious. He was angry that he was a person who was greedy for life and afraid of death, and angry at why he chose to trust him. At that time, Sima Qian wanted to be fair, but was imprisoned by the furious Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. About a year later, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty might have figured it out and felt that Li Ling was not entirely at fault, so he sent people to the Huns to pick him back up. However, the person who went to respond brought back the news that General Li was training troops for the Huns.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was completely angry. Because he could not punish Li Ling, he could only arrest Li Ling's family and execute them to vent his anger. Li Ling did not know about this. It was not until Han Dynasty envoys came to the Xiongnu many years later that he learned about these misunderstandings and the death of his parents and wife.
Li Ling was distraught and said that he was just pretending to surrender. The general Li who trained troops for the Huns was Li Xu, not him at all. After the messenger brought the news back, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty regretted his mistake and hurriedly sent someone to invite Li Ling to come back. However, this time Li Ling said that he was unwilling to return to his homeland. The Chanyu of the Xiongnu valued Li Ling's talents so much that he not only married his daughter to him, but also made him the king of Youxiao, making him a noble of the Xiongnu. In the following decades, Li Ling never returned to the land of the Han Dynasty, and eventually died in a foreign country.
Conclusion:
It is said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had no generals available after Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, but in fact, most of the time it was his suspicion that harmed good ministers. Because he admired Li Guang, he kept Li Ling by his side, but did not give him the same trust. This allowed the villain to take advantage of the loophole and give a powerful general to the enemy in vain. Even if he regrets it later, it will not help.
