In 103 BC, Li Guangli conquered Dawan in the west and fled back to Yumen Pass. Emperor Wu worshiped Zhao Ponu as General Junji. He led 20,000 people to ride out of Shuofang and headed north to join the Huns Zuo Daduwei. As a result, Zhao Ponu was accidentally captured, and less than 10,000 Han troops escaped back to the frontier.
Although both fronts suffered defeats, Emperor Wu still ordered the vassal cavalry, the Northern Army Changshuiying, and the border cavalry to assemble in Dunhuang. Li Guangli's second expedition to Dawan was inevitable.
On the eve of Li Guangli's expedition, a major case occurred.
Li Guangli, Xielu Duwei Li Yannian, and Li Ji are three brothers. Their sister Mrs. Li gave birth to a son King Changyi of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Among the three brothers, Li Guangli had considerable military ability and became the general of the Second Division. Li Yannian was a eunuch who lived in Xielu Duwei and was responsible for opera performances in the palace. As for Li Ji, he is not as brave as his eldest brother, and his musical temperament is not as good as his second brother, but he does not know the heights of the world in his eyes. Little does he know that every move he makes is in the eyes of the Weihuo Group.
When Mrs. Li was alive, she often met with several of her brothers. After Mrs. Li passed away, Li Ji also went to the palace many times to drink with Li Yannian. Soon there was a rumor in Chang'an City that Li Ji was promiscuous in the palace and had an affair with the beauties in the harem. Soon someone came to play it in a grand manner. Emperor Wu Longyan was furious and handed it over to Tingwei Du Zhou for disposal.
Du Zhou once served as the history of Zhang Tang . Zhang Tang made decisions according to Emperor Wu's joy and anger, while Du Zhou acted based on Zhang Tang's winks. During Du Zhou's tenure as Tingwei, the era he lived in was different from that of Zhang Tang. At this time, the Han Dynasty was short of soldiers and horses. More than 100 officials with an official rank of two thousand shi (fourth grade) and above were imprisoned for their crimes. These people usually used money to atone for their crimes, or directly paid for their crimes with war horses and domestic slaves. Every year, Guanzhong Prison arrests 60,000 to 70,000 people, and more than 100,000 people are implicated. Such people have no money to atone for their crimes and can only perform military service or labor.
Emperor Wu also burned this fire to counties and counties. He sent censors in embroidered clothes and led troops with tiger talismans to handle cases in local areas. The purpose was to capture the troops and labor required for combat, and to collect war horses and various war preparation materials.
Du Zhou was also from the Weihuo Group. He took over Li Ji's case and without any explanation, he tortured Li Jiqu first. In the end, Li Ji was convicted of having an affair with a palace maid, while Li Yannian was accused of covering up and deceiving the emperor. Du Zhou killed the two men, ransacked their homes and exterminated their clans. He also killed the heirs of Li Yannian and Li Ji.
Weihuo Group exposed Li Ji's scandal at this time. Because Li Guangli's second expedition to Dawan had a large number of troops, which seriously threatened Weihuo's military power, only one of the two relatives could survive. Du Zhou was not optimistic about Li Guangli's battle, so he killed him without leaving any way out for himself.
In 102 BC, Li Guangli, the general of the Second Division, led fifty school captains, captains, 60,000 cavalry, 60,000 war horses, 10,000 camels and donkeys each, and fully loaded with grain and grass to conquer Dayuan. At the same time, he brought some water conservancy craftsmen to prepare to divert the river outside Guishan City and build large siege equipment.
In order to ensure logistics, Emperor Wu sent 180,000 soldiers to station in the four counties of Hexi , and used 100,000 cattle to transport grain and grass to the seven branches in the world. The seven categories of banishment refer to: criminals, desperadoes, son-in-laws, petty traders, those who have been petty traders, those whose parents have been petty traders, and those whose grandparents have been petty traders.
Two new sources of soldiers appeared this time. One was the "private servants", that is, those who rode their own horses, used their own weapons, and even brought their own servants to the expedition, providing strength and equipment. The second is the "walkers", which refers to volunteers who volunteer to join the army. These people are not as rich as those who are private servants, and they only contribute their efforts but not the equipment.
In addition to Li Guangli, the main officers on this trip were: Lieutenant Sosu Shangguan Jie, Lieutenant Wang Shensheng, former Dahonglu Hu Chongguo, Military Chief Zhao Shicheng, and Lieutenant Li Duo. He also worshiped two people who were good at looking at horses, one was the captain of the horse, and the other was the captain of the horse, in preparation for the attack on Dawan, he chose to take the sweat-blooded horse.
In the second expedition to Dayuan, not only were there many powerful soldiers and sufficient food and grass, Emperor Wu also sent envoys to Wusun, hoping to attack Dayuan together.Just a year ago (103 BC), when Li Guangli defeated Dayuan Yucheng, Wusun Kunmo (Kunmi) Liejiaomi died, and his grandson Junxumi succeeded to the throne. According to Wusun custom, the new king will inherit all the wives and concubines of the old king.
Princess Xijun felt so humiliated that she sent someone to ask Emperor Wu to return home, but Emperor Wu ordered her to accept Wusun customs in order to achieve the overall goal of uniting Wusun to attack Dayuan and the Xiongnu. Xijun had no choice but to remarry the new Kunmi Junxumi. During Li Guangli's second campaign in Dawan, Xijun gave birth to a daughter named Shaofu while serving in the army.
Drawing lessons from the expedition to Dawan, this time the troops were divided into two groups, the north and the south. They were divided into dozens of troops and set off one after another. The small countries they passed along the way saw the strength of the Han army and did not dare to resist the enemy. They all went out of the city to welcome them and provided them with food and grass. Only Luntai closed the city and refused to accept them.
Luntai country has 110 households, 1,200 people, and 300 people. The Luntai people are the Tocharians, a branch of Cheshi, and are considered a vassal state of Kucha. Of course, the three hundred cavalrymen of the Luntai Kingdom did not dare to act like a chariot, but the desert overlord Qiuci would not give in easily, so the Luntai people tested the Han army's bottom line.
During the period when Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, King of Qin Ying Zheng said to Wei envoy Tang Ju: "The emperor's wrath will lay down millions of corpses and bleed thousands of miles." Li Guangli's second expedition to Dayuan represented the will of Emperor Wu, and those who act as chariots with mantis arms will inevitably have bad consequences.
I saw that there were not many people in the city. They were running away and crying, pushing and rolling. Han riders were galloping back and forth, wielding long knives and slashing at the crowd. Someone tried to resist and was killed on the spot with long knives and spears!
As soon as Li Guangli drank a bowl of hot goat milk, the massacre ended. The Luntai people became cannon fodder, and Qiuci did not dare to make any mistakes again.
Heading westward from Luntai, no city dared to shut out the Han army. After arriving at Shule , Li Guangli's army began to gather. This was the last large water and grass supply point for the Han army. At least the people and horses had to be full, and then they took dry food and horse grass on the road.
When the Han army gathered 30,000 people, they continued westward, climbed to Congling, passed Qiandu, returned to Xixun, turned north and crossed the Alai Mountain, and finally reached Dawan.
Dawan is located in the Fergana Basin . It has more than 70 large and small cities. Its capital is Guishan City, with 60,000 households, 300,000 people, and 60,000 riders.
Yu Chengren did not dare to resist this time and huddled in the city. Li Guangli wanted to vent his hatred with one attack, but was worried about getting into a protracted war, so he passed by without attacking, and drove straight into Guishan City.
King Wuwu of Dayuan sent his generals to fight. The Han army fired a volley of powerful crossbows. The Guishan people lost more than 500 horses without firing an arrow. They were so angry that they retreated to the city and refused to defend.
Guishan City (today's Kasansai, Uzbekistan) was built on a mountain with stone bases. The front undulates and winds along the terrain, and the situation is dangerous. Behind the city is close to the towering cliffs, with exposed layers of rock and towering caves that are difficult for birds to cross.
The altitude near the Naryn River in the center of the Fergana Basin is only over 300 meters. Kasansai is higher in the north and lower in the south, with an altitude of about 800 meters in the south and 1,000 meters in the north.
Guishan City is three feet high, and there are cliffs three to four feet high outside the city wall. When the city was built, the site should be on a stone platform, and then the solid stone outside the city wall was cut to be basically parallel to the city wall. It is really impregnable.
Li Guangli couldn't wait to order an attack on the city. Suddenly, arrows were like locusts, and the sound of killing was loud. The Han army either piled up earth to climb up, or erected ladders, or threw hooks and ropes to climb up. However, the brave general Jian Mi in the city led his troops to defend to the death. During the evening attack, the Han army lost more than a thousand people, but Guishan City still stood like a mountain.
The next day, Li Guangli ordered another attack on the city, and hundreds more people were killed. The defenders at the head of Guishan City laughed and insulted him, which made Li Guangli furious. He was even more frightened when he saw the corpses of the cavalrymen who had not had time to bury them.
The Han army brought many craftsmen with them and built dozens of catapults in a few days. On this day, Li Guangli ordered another attack on the city. More than 10,000 Han troops set up catapults and smashed broken logs into the city with the anger of the Han troops. However, the terrain of Guishan City is already high, and if the broken log is thrown over, it will hit the ground as soon as it starts to fall, greatly reducing its power. In addition, the houses in Guishan City were all made of stones, so few buildings were destroyed by broken wood, and the defenders suffered very few casualties.
For several days, the Han army tried their best, but Guishan City was almost unscathed.
When Li Guangli came to the foot of the mountain behind Guishan City, he saw towering cliffs reaching into the clouds, surrounded by dangerous rocks and strange rocks, with no way to climb. Li Guangli came to the foot of the cliff and ordered his men to climb up. The Han army climbed up the vines and vines step by step. They only climbed six or seven feet high. The bare cliff above was as steep as a wall, and there was no grass growing on it.
Li Guangli couldn't care about so much, so he chose the prisoner who was as light as a swallow to stand on the lookout car and use a short knife to slowly drill holes in the stone wall for future climbers to gain a foothold. However, no matter how sharp the short knife is, it will break after cutting three or five holes, so we have to pass the knife up from below.
When a prisoner received the knife, his hands and feet were already weak. When he looked down, he felt dizzy. He simply closed his eyes and fell down, giving up his life. The prisoners on death row below were so frightened that they lost their minds, and some even tried to rush to Li Guangli to beg for mercy. General Li ordered the army to serve Zhao Shi according to the military law, which meant beheading them in public.
Li Guangli ordered the prisoners to work in groups of five. Each group went up and drilled ten holes for footholds and then climbed down the same way. If anyone falls down, all five of them will be killed. In this way, the five-person team naturally became skilled in cooperating. They drilled holes, reinforced them, and passed water and knives. After finishing their work, they clung to the stone wall and risked their way down. They also asked the gods to keep others safe.
The Han army's frontal offensive did not stop. In addition to catapults delivering broken logs every day, Li Guangli ordered a team of troops to dig ditches to divert the river water. He also sent people to dig tunnels into the city and built a large scale of construction in front of the Guishan people.
The cliff is dozens of feet high. The Han army who was the first to reach the top tied a rope around his waist and climbed up like a cloud and mist. Fix it on the big stone, hang down the long rope, and finally you're done.
The Han army on the top looked around. There were many peaks standing beside the cliff. The scenery was extremely magnificent, with rugged rocks, strange beasts and birds, or Qionghua Yao grass. The Han army had no intention of admiring it. When they looked back, they could only see a small section of the cliff. It turned out that some rocks protruded out of the cliff, blocking the view.
The cliffs on the top of the mountain are rugged, and the Han army found a platform that can accommodate people. From here, you can see Guishan City, which is divided into inner and outer cities. The outer city is in the shape of a half oval, connecting the mountains on both sides. The inner city is backed by a mountain, and the other half of the city wall is irregularly square. Not only was the inner city larger than expected, but the cave at the back seemed to be quite large as well. Guishan people were coming in and out of the cave like ants, making it very lively.
The peak platform is not directly behind, but on the flank. If the Han army hangs a long rope down, they will only enter the outer city. The peak platform is not very wide, and more than 500 people are packed into it so tightly that there is almost no room for latecomers. So he hung more than a dozen long ropes, first climbed onto the dead man's long rope and tied it around his waist, and then slowly climbed down to the top of the peak.
As soon as the first man of the Han army landed on the ground, the nearby defenders were alarmed, and the two sides immediately started a fierce battle. The Han army fell from the sky and killed them, but the other side was panicked. After a moment of fighting, the Han army had already reached the city gate.
Some enemy troops thought that the heavenly soldiers were descending from the earth and were so panicked that they forgot to fight and knelt on the ground and kowtowed in worship. The Han army then beheaded the city.
The Han army rushed in, cooperated inside and outside, attacked and killed bravely, captured Guishan's brave general Jianmi alive, and Guishan's outer city was destroyed.
It took Li Guang more than forty days from the time the troops arrived at the city to the time when they conquered the outer city. It might be okay for the Guishan people to flee into the inner city and defend them for dozens of days. As early as more than forty days ago, King Wuwu of Dayuan sent people to move reinforcements to various cities in Dayuan, and also sent people to Kangju to ask for help. The strange thing is that no one came to help.
Other city-states in Dawan, of course, still want to save Guishan City, but the powerful crossbows of the Han army are killing all directions, and the cavalry sentries from other places in Dawan cannot approach Guishan City, let alone organized cavalry.
It would take some time for Li Guangli to continue to conquer the inner city, so he came up with a plan. It turned out that Wusun Kunmi's army Xumi sent two thousand cavalry, but they just watched from a distance and refused to fight. After Li Guangli took the outer city, he invited Wusun people to inspect Guishan City and brought Wusun generals to the top of the outer city.
The Guishan people are divided into two factions: the main war faction and the main peace faction. Originally, the main battle faction had the absolute advantage, but with the brave general Jian Mi being captured and the outer city being destroyed, the strength of the main battle faction was weakened, the soldiers had no fighting spirit, and the number of the peace faction also increased. When the Guishan people saw the Wusun people appearing in the outer city, but no other Dawan city-states or Kangju people came, their psychological defenses immediately collapsed.
King Wuwu of Dayuan was the main war faction, and another nobleman Mocha was the main peace faction. He led his army to attack and kill Wuwu, and took the leader and sent people out of the city to negotiate with Li Guangli. The requirements put forward by the Dawan people were simple and clear. First, they provided war horses to the Han army, and second, the Han army made a truce and retreated from the outer city. The Dawan envoy also said that if the Han army did not agree, the Guishan people would have no choice but to kill all the bloody horses and defend to the end.
Li Guangli is not afraid that the Guishan people will hold on to the end. He is only afraid that the opponent will kill all the bloody horses, and then they will really fall short. So the two sides reached an agreement, Guishan City donated three thousand horses and horses, and the two sides shook hands and made peace.
Li Guangli sent a group of people, the Captain of the Horses and the Captain of the Horses, to follow the Dawan envoy into the inner city to select horses, while the rest of the Han army was still stationed in the outer city.
The Han army's horse selection team headed from the outer city to the inner city. In addition to a winding slope, there were also several paths composed of hundreds of stone steps, and the altitude continued to rise. From the outer city to the inner city, the buildings are mostly built with stones and have many gates. Their simplicity reflects the grandeur of the original builders of the city.
The shops and houses in the inner city are all made of durable building materials such as blue bricks, gray tiles and white stones, and are simple and unpretentious. Most ordinary people ride horses, and they carry weapons, bows and arrows with them. There are horse stalls outside the shops for people to tie their horses.
The horse-carrying captain and the horse-driving captain selected more than 3,000 bloody horses and countless grain and grass, and transported them all to the outer city. Mocha was sent to the outer city. Li Guangli made him the king of Dayuan, swore an alliance with him, and then stopped his troops and returned.
After the war, General Li Guangli of the Second Division was granted the title of Marquis of Haixi, with a settlement of 8,000 households.
