Battle of Hexi

The Battle of Hexi

The Battle of Hexi was two deep raids that took place in the Hexi Corridor in 121 BC (the second year of Yuanshou, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty). The Han Dynasty army was here In the battle, he captured the Xiongnu's Hexi Corridor. Under the leadership of Huo Qubing, the Western Han army achieved a decisive victory.

After the Battle of Henan and the Battle of Monan, Yizhixie Chanyu and King Youxian fled to the north of the desert, leaving only King Xiutu and King Hunxie in the Hexi region.

In the spring of 121 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered General Huo Qubing to lead 10,000 cavalry from Longxi County (where the government was located in Didao County, today's Lintao County, Gansu Province) to attack the Xiongnu in the north. Crossed the Hunu River (today's Shiyang River in Gansu Province), passed through five kingdoms, fought for six days, crossed Yanzhi Mountain (Dahuang Mountain in the southeast of Shandan County, Gansu Province) for more than a thousand miles, killed the Xiongnu King Zhelan, and beheaded Luhou king.

Captured the princes, prime ministers and captains of King Hunxie, beheaded and captured more than 8,900 Huns soldiers, and captured the golden man used by King Xiutu to sacrifice to heaven. The Han army lost seven-tenths. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued an edict to increase the number of households in Huo Qubing by 2,000.

In the summer, Huo Qubing and Heqi Hou Gongsun Ao led tens of thousands of cavalry at the same time from Beidi County (the administrative seat of Maling County, northwest of today's Qingyang City, Gansu Province) to attack the Huns in two groups.

At the same time, Weiwei Zhang Qian and Langzhong Lingguang also attacked from Beiping County on the right (the seat of the government is Pinggang County, southwest of today's Lingyuan County, Liaoning Province) to contain King Xian of the Zuo. Li Guang led four thousand cavalry as the vanguard, several hundred miles away from the main force, and Zhang Qian led more than ten thousand cavalry in the rear. King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu led 40,000 cavalry and surrounded the vanguard led by Li Guang.

Li Guang ordered his son Li Gan to lead dozens of cavalry through the enemy formation, rush out from the left and right sides of the enemy formation and then return. Li Guang ordered his men to form a circular battle formation to face the enemy. The Huns attacked the Han army's position fiercely. Arrows rained down like rain. More than half of the Han army was killed and almost all their arrows were exhausted.

Li Guang ordered his men to fully draw their bowstrings but not to fire. He personally shot several Xiongnu generals to death with a strong rhubarb bow, and then the Xiongnu offensive gradually eased. The next day, the Han army fought vigorously again, destroying the enemy more than its own losses. Zhang Qian's army arrived and the Huns retreated. The Han army was unable to pursue them, so they withdrew their troops and returned. According to Han law: Bowang Hou Zhang Qian delayed the military flight and should be executed and redeemed as a civilian after his death. Li Guang's merits and demerits were equal to each other, so he was not rewarded.

Piaoqi General Huo Qubing penetrated more than 2,000 miles into the Xiongnu, lost contact with Gongsun Ao who had lost his way, and failed to join forces. However, Huo Qubing led his troops across Juyanhai (now north of Ejina Banner, Inner Mongolia), southwest along Weushui (now Nalin River, Gansu Province), passed Xiaoyueshi (now southwest of Jiuguan Site, Nanhu Town, Dunhuang City, Gansu Province), and arrived eastward Qilian Mountain (now the central part of Sunan Yugu Autonomous County, Gansu Province).

The two kings Shan Huan and Qi Tu were captured alive. The prime minister and the captain surrendered with 2,500 people, killing 30,200 people and capturing more than 70 people of Xiao Wang. The Han army lost three-tenths. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty added 5,000 households to the settlement for Huo Qubing, and granted the title of Congpiao Marquis to his outstanding general Zhao Ponu, the commander of Yingshitong Sima. Gao Wei, the school captain, did not know that he was Yiguanhou, and most of his servants were Quhou.

Gongsun Ao, the Marquis of Heqi, stayed on the way and failed to meet up with Huo Qubing. He should have been executed and redeemed as a commoner after his death.

King Hunxie and King Xiutu were captured and killed by tens of thousands of people by the Han army. Chanyu was very angry and wanted to summon them to the royal court to be executed. King Hunxie and King Xiutu planned to surrender to the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was worried that they were pretending to surrender and attacked the border fortress, so he ordered Huo Qubing to lead his troops to meet them.

King Xiutu regretted surrendering to the Han Dynasty, so King Hunxie killed him and annexed his tribe. Huo Qubing crossed the Yellow River and faced King Hunxie's troops from a distance. When King Hunxie's men saw the Han army, many of them did not want to surrender and fled.

Huo Qubing galloped into King Hunxie's camp, met him, and killed eight thousand of his men who tried to escape. He also sent King Hunxie to a chariot to meet Emperor Wu. At the same time, he ordered all his men to cross the Yellow River, and more than 40,000 people surrendered, known as one hundred thousand.

When King Hunxie arrived in Chang'an, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty granted him the title of Marquis of Luo Yin, with a settlement of 10,000 households. Four of his subordinates, including Xiao Wang Hudu Ni, were all granted the title of Lieutenant Marquis. Another 1,700 households were added to Huo Qubing's food town. The crown prince of Xiutu, Jin Ri?, his mother, Yanshi, and his younger brother, Jin Lun, were all punished as slaves of the government and sent to the Huangmen under the jurisdiction of the Shaofu to raise horses.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty moved the surrendered subordinates of King Hunxie to the old fortresses in the five border counties, all south of the Yellow River. They maintained their original customs and established five "vassal states".

From then on, there were no Huns on the west bank of the Jincheng River, from Nanshan to Yanze. In the same year, the Han Dynasty established Jiuquan County here.

In the sixth year of Yuanding (111 BC), the eastern part of Jiuquan County was divided into Zhangye County, and the western part of Jiuquan County was divided into Dunhuang County. In the fourth year of Taichu (101 BC), the territory of King Xiutu was designated as Wuwei County.