The hot strong Han (32)
main writer: Xianle student Zhu Hui
Days in the second year of Han (99 BC), the Han-Hungary War broke out again. Cavalry Commander Li Ling volunteered to attack Xiongnu , but Emperor Wu of Han suggested that Ma Shao refused Li Ling to join the war. Li Ling boasted that Haikou would use 5,000 infantrymen to join the Shanyu court. Seeing that Li Ling was so stubborn, Emperor Wu of Han decided to let him die.
After Li Ling entered the desert, he was indeed besieged by 80,000 cavalry led by the Xiongnu Shanyu. The Han army killed thousands of enemies, but in the end, they were outnumbered and had to retreat to the mountainous areas in the south of . Because the Huns light-mounted cavalry and shooting stances were very different from the Han army's heavy infantry crossbow soldiers in both armor defense and shooting stance, they could only win by maneuver, but in the mountains, the mobility gap between the two sides was not big, so now, as long as the Han army can persist in walking out of the desert and entering the mountainous areas, they can reverse the decline. Li Ling had already mastered the terrain all the way, so he was not desperate. As long as he persisted and persisted, he would still have a chance.
A few days later, the Han army finally retreated to the mountainous area and entered a valley. After a series of fierce battles, although there were not many dead in the Han army, the number of wounded soldiers was astonishing. This is because the Han army in the middle and late Western Han Dynasty was generally equipped with advanced iron armor. The soldiers generally wore iron armor, while the officers generally wore fish scale armor. The fish scale armor was made of 2,000 to 3,000 iron sheets, and was densely arranged in fish scales, weighing more than 16 kilograms (the heavy cavalry armor in the Middle Ages in the West was only about 20 kilograms), which was very strong. Therefore, although many officers and soldiers of the Han army were shot by the Huns, they were only injured. As the saying goes, they will not leave the front line of fire when they are slightly injured, and they will not go to the hospital when they are seriously injured. At this moment, just bandage them casually, and it is not enough not to participate in the battle.
Li Ling ordered: The worst-injured is lying in the car , and the vehicles that can barely be controlled, and the minor injured continue to fight with weapons. Don’t abandon, don’t give up, and survive this mountainous area. The south side is the border. My hometown is waiting for us, and glory is waiting for us. Brothers, don’t be slackened, perseverance is victory!
The soldiers were already full of wounds and exhausted. When they heard Li Ling's cheering, they could only respond listlessly and just perfunctorily. Li Ling was so anxious. At this critical moment of survival, the army was so motivated. What should we do?
So, Li Ling did something very cruel in anger. This matter has been controversial and doubtful since ancient times. The author will explain it in detail.
It turns out that since the expedition of Western Regions, the people in the Kanto region have been living in poverty, and some people have taken risks, so they have become "Kanto thieves". After these peasant uprisings were suppressed, their women were often exiled to the border and assigned to soldiers as their wives and wives. Before Li Ling's army set out on the expedition, these young soldiers with strong blood and spirit could not bear the loneliness and secretly hid the women in a big cart. They fought bloody wars during the day, and were gentle and charming at night (really physically) and were even more romantic.
So when Li Ling found that the soldier became listless and turned into a mother, he suspected that there were women hidden in the cart. After searching, it was true, and it was not one or two, but a lot of them! What a guy, Li Ling is so angry. No wonder he is so low. It turns out that he is doing these Mingtangs at night, and his body is hollowed out. How can he fight during the day? So he found one and killed one. I don’t know how many poor women died.
For a moment, the valley was filled with sharp screams of women, which shocked the four fields. The soldiers looked at all this expressionlessly. Listening to all this, the night was quiet, the world was speechless
What a cruel Li Ling. The soldiers fought hard on the battlefield, and life and death were only day and night, so they wanted to spend a moment of joy with their wife before they died. Could it be that Li Ling would not be able to do this? Even if the compensation is not added, can't I give them some money and let them run away quickly? You, Li Ling, refused to even pull down a wounded soldier, but you said you would never give up, but why did you have to kill these poor weak women? Is a woman's life so worthless?
In ancient times, Wu Qi killed his wife and asked for generals, but now Li Ling killed a woman in the army to boost the morale of the army. Therefore, it is said that generals often do not know how to be merciful and cherish the beauty and heart of the wolf and tiger. Even if they get fame and fortune, they will be despised by others.
But it's too late. There are several doubts in this record in " Hanshu ", which needs to be analyzed before conclusions are made.
First: According to Taiwan Mr. Li Ao , based on the ancient document "The Original of Everything", these women in the army are probably not as simple as soldiers and wives. They are actually recruited as prostitutes for official slaves because of their husbands' guilt, that is, prostitutes who provide sexual services to the army. The so-called "wife and wife" in the Book of Han is just a hidden statement, and such dirty things are hard to explain clearly.
I think Mr. Li Ao's opinion is reasonable. First of all, even if the soldiers go on the war, they have to take their wives. Isn’t this a little too loving? OK, even if they are so loving, wouldn’t Li Ling be afraid of inciting a mutiny if he killed these women in public? Historically, it was very common for ancient Chinese troops to be equipped with camp prostitutes, but it was unreasonable to go on a war with their families.
Second: Li Ling's army is only 5,000, and everyone is eating and living together. It is hard to believe that Li Ling would have no idea about it in advance. That's a living person, and it's not one or two. How could this be hidden perfectly without any signs? So in my opinion, Li Ling originally agreed to this behavior. He turned a blind eye to everyone. He would not attack these women until the moment of life and death. After all, they gave the soldiers a rare tenderness in the battlefield.
Third: Judging from the development of the subsequent events, the soldiers did not resent Li Ling because of this, but their morale increased greatly and their combat effectiveness was stronger. This further shows that these women were just camp prostitutes for enjoyment. Li Ling killed them to show their determination to fight to the death. Anyway, these weak women either died of starvation and coldness or were captured by the Huns to be female slaves. It would be better to die early and be reborn early, and they would also stop the soldiers' thoughts and worries, and then fight without any room, focus on their hearts and ruthlessly (Note 1).
Of course, these poor women drifted on the frontiers during their lifetime, without food and clothing, and had no choice but to follow the army to devote their bodies, but in the end they were executed as a burden to drag down morale. Such things are inhumane no matter which era they were placed, but sometimes this is a choice that a commander must make. Later we will find that if the women were not hidden in the car, but were filled with arrows, Li Ling's army would be likely to retreat to the Inner successfully. It shows that temporary kindness is enough to lead to a catastrophe.
In short, Li Ling can only tell the soldiers: War is not a joke, war is a life-and-death battle, it is a knife that is cut with a knife after the arrow is shot, and it is a knife that is cut with a knife, and it is a hand that is cut with a broken hand, and it is a tooth that is broken with a head, and it is a bloody head that is cut with two people. It is a cushion that needs to be pulled back if it dies! Now, five thousand of us are fighting against the entire Huns' army. Do you understand?
So, this inhumane killing eventually transformed Li Ling's army into a real iron-blooded corps. They had no feelings, no reason, or even no thinking. They only had Li Ling's crazy brain, guiding them to the south with one sword, killing a bloody road, life and death are destined, victory and defeat are the heaven!
The art of war says: "Inspire people's hearts and inspire people's spirits.Give orders to make people happy; mobilize troops to make people happy to fight; fight with soldiers and get rid of them, and make people happy to die; they are using war to persuade war, encourage rewards and rewards to encourage soldiers, and use wood and stone to motivate them, and they can still move in danger and be peaceful and quiet, let alone encourage soldiers! "Li Ling is really a good player to inspire morale. Unfortunately, the methods are too cruel, which makes people feel chill from the bottom of their hearts. This is probably the true face of war. It is difficult for us to understand, but we must understand it, otherwise the history books will not be able to be read.
The next morning, the Huns came, and Li Ling raised his arms and shouted, and the soldiers fought again, taking one as one hundred. Although they helped the disease and were in pain, they were unable to take action, and they still stood up tenaciously, pointing at the enemy's blade, shouting at the top, and fighting for the first time. Many soldiers were covered with arrows in their armor, like hedgehogs, but they still kept it Holding the formation and shooting wildly with crossbows. The Huns never expected that the Han army would have such combat power at this time, and they ran in a mess. They were beheaded more than 3,000 in one battle.
The Marquis of Han was stunned by the crazy counterattack of Li Ling's Iron Blood Corps. What's going on? My tactics should be fine. Why did the Han army drag and strengthen? This makes no sense! I can't figure it out, but I really can't figure it out.
After this battle, the Huns were slightly relieved, and the Han army revived. Li Ling led his troops to retreat southeast along the old road of Longcheng. The reason why they did not retreat to the south was because Li Ling knew that there was a big lake to the southeast along Longle River, and he could hide in the reeds and get rid of the tracking of the Hun cavalry.
Five days later, the Han army successfully came to the zodiac, but saw white wild reeds blooming by the lake, the wind blew towards them, blowing their slightly white flowers flying in the sky, flying freely like a dream. Li Ling breathed a long sigh and led the tired soldiers into the vast reeds.
Li Ling thought he was safe for the time being, and the endless reeds and weeds on the lake were also The best cover for the Han army infantry to hide their whereabouts.
But Li Ling was wrong. The Huns were even more cunning and wise than he thought. They did not enter the zodiac, but set fire to the upper wind. It was noon, the sky was dry, the north wind was flying, and the steaming flames were rolling, and the thick smoke was rolling, and they rushed towards the Han army. Moreover, the Marquis of Duo laughed wildly by the zodiac side, as if he had already smelled the aroma of barbecue.
- Can you, I can't kill you for hundreds of miles, can I still call you the Great Shanyu?
But at this moment, something strange happened. The Huns used fire to attack, which was not unusual. What was strange was that Li Ling actually helped to set fire. Does he think the fire was not big enough and could not burn himself?
of course not like this. Li Ling was definitely a practical general. He was not only familiar with military books, but also very familiar with the terrain and climate outside the border. He set fire to face the Huns' fire, burning all the grass around him, and burning a broken belt, so that the Huns' fire naturally could not burn. So the Han army photographed Clap, whistle, sing, and calmly disappears among the vast reeds.
However, the battle between Li Ling and Shanyu did not end there. Great Shanyu is the Great Shanyu after all, and he will not know less about the terrain here than Li Ling. He failed to succeed and made another plan, that is, he personally led a light cavalry unit, whipped it up, and went around a mountain south of the Daze, ambushed, and waited for Li Ling to come and die. At the same time, in order to prevent Li Ling from retreating eastward and being surrendered The Shanyu also arranged a unit on the east side of the Great Lakes. If Li Ling did not go south but went east, the unit would be responsible for dragging Li Ling until various cavalry gathered to encircle and annihilate him.
There is no way, the horse just runs faster than the people. The Shanyu had the advantage from the beginning. Li Ling had to fight wits and courage, and do everything possible to reverse the tactical disadvantage. It was just a little bit short of it, only a little bit short of it, and he would succeed. Unfortunately, he was still a little bit short of luck in the end, so he failed in the end.
So I said, this is really a family cursed by fate. From Li Xin to Li Guang , from Li Cai to Li Gan, and then to Li Ling, one is more unlucky than the other, and the younger one is worse than the younger one. What else can I say?
Note 1: Coincidentally, in the Middle Ages in Europe, there were similar records: In 1342, the German mercenary captain Worthlinger's army had 3,500 people, of which there were no less than 1,000 women in the camp.There is also "In 1570, French commander Strazi was preparing to lead his army to Italy, but many women came to the army, which made the army difficult to march. The commander's means to get rid of this predicament were particularly cruel. According to Browndon's record, he drowned at least eight hundred of these poor prostitutes." ((German) Edward Fox, "History of European Weathering, Renaissance Volume")
