How did the Han Dynasty conquer Nanyue?

How the Han Dynasty conquered the Nanyue Kingdom

The Han Dynasty inherited most of the population, land and national systems left by the Qin Kingdom. At the same time, it also inherited the national strategy of annexing neighboring countries. Among the goals of the Han Dynasty, South Vietnam was one of them.

South Vietnam’s embarrassing status

The core group of people in South Vietnam are immigrants from the Central Plains. The ideas of the Central Plains have also affected South Vietnam’s foreign policy to a certain extent. At the critical moment when Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty passed away and Empress Lu took charge of the affairs, Nanyue King Zhao Tuo claimed to be the "Emperor Wu of Nanyue" in an attempt to compete with the Han Dynasty. After Zhao Tuo's death, Zhao Hu, the successor king of South Vietnam, sent Prince Zhao Yingqi to Chang'an as a hostage in order to show his obedience to the Han Dynasty. Zhao Yingqi served as a bodyguard for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in Chang'an, and also married a Handan woman named Di.

After the death of Zhao Yingqi, with the powerful Han Dynasty on his back, Zhao Xing, his own son, ascended the throne of the King of Nanyue and became the Queen Mother of Nanyue. As an outsider, if you want to consolidate your rule in South Vietnam, you must completely become the spokesperson of the interests of the Han Dynasty in South Vietnam. Sure enough, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty soon sent a large team of envoys. The envoy An Guo Shaoji was an old acquaintance of the Empress Dowager in Chang'an. Wei Chen was brave and capable of fighting, and the final army was eloquent.

This is a complete team of courtiers prepared by the Han Dynasty for the Han family. Under the persuasion of these people, South Vietnam King Zhao Xing quickly decided on the policy of leading the Han Dynasty forces to fight against the old local ministers. They first paid tribute, then withdrew all border passes, and finally even handed over the appointment and dismissal of senior officials of the South Vietnamese court to the Han Dynasty.

The backlash of the South Vietnamese localists

The interests of the local Baiyue ethnic group are represented by the Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Lu Jia. No matter what, if Zhao Xing wants to gain the complete support of the Han Dynasty, he needs to eliminate this person. Zhao Xing took advantage of the banquet and had Lu Jia assassinated on the spot by Han Dynasty envoys and followers. However, the matter was not kept secret and the assassination finally failed. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty simply sent Han Qianqiu, the former Prime Minister of Jinan, to lead 2,000 elite troops in the name of an envoy to prepare for an armed overthrow of Lu Jia and other local forces.

After hearing the news, Lu Jia's faction launched a coup and killed Zhao Xing and his mother, the Queen Mother. Then Zhao Jiande, the son of the Cheng family, was made king, and all the Han envoys and 2,000 troops were annihilated. At this point, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's plan to flexibly solve the South Vietnam Kingdom completely failed. The two countries finally fell into a full-scale armed conflict.

Military power disparity

In terms of armed power, the Han Dynasty had an absolute advantage over South Vietnam. This was the peak period of the Han Dynasty's armed forces. Ten years before the crusade against South Vietnam, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to defeat the Huns. The national army of the Han Dynasty was divided into three categories: capital soldiers, county soldiers and border troops. The Han Dynasty collected elite soldiers from all over the country to form the capital army. Junguo soldiers were the local armies of the Han Dynasty in various places. Most adults are required to serve as soldiers for the country, which lasts about two years. After reaching the age of 23, he will be stationed in the capital for one year and serve in the local area for another year.

When serving in the county, they are called officials. If they have the financial resources to equip war horses, they are called knights. When stationed and fighting in the south, they are called building ships. The capital soldiers and county soldiers are at the age when people have both military experience and energy. They can be said to be the most combat-effective elites in the Han Dynasty. In addition, there is an emergency recruitment system that is flexible when the war expands. There were not only warriors recruited, but also prisoners and untouchables from all over the country, called banished people. In order to attack South Vietnam, the Han Dynasty also had to use the waterways opened by the Qin army when it went south.

The Han Dynasty made various inland river ships developed in the pre-Qin period even larger. Warships are divided into warships, bridge ships, fighting ships, stern ships, etc. according to their size and purpose. The most distinctive among them is the building ship developed from the pre-Qin freight ship. These large ships are more than ten feet high and are actually water bunkers built on platforms supported by two hulls. Each level on the ship has a different purpose. The first level is used for storage, the second level is a launching platform for archers, and the third level is an observation point to look out at the enemy troops.

The crossbowmen took advantage of the commanding heights brought by the building ships to easily kill unprotected enemies on the boats. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty specially dug Kunming Pool near Chang'an for training navy troops. Although this approach is similar to learning to swim in a swimming pool, it also cultivates a junior force that can basically operate a warship in a short period of time. Compared with the Han Dynasty, the fundamental disadvantage of the Nanyue Army is that it is only the successor of the Pre-Qin Army without major integration and development. Except for occasional conflicts with the Han Dynasty's border troops, the South Vietnam Kingdom mainly dealt with the Baiyue barbarians.

The warriors of Baiyue are proficient in fighting skills in the mountain jungle, but they have never been a unit.

On the contrary, the Han Dynasty has always faced huge threats from the Xiongnu in the north, and in a series of other internal and external wars, it has faced various military descendants left over from the pre-Qin period. The technological wave brought by Alexander's Eastern Expedition was also absorbed by the Western Regions and the Huns, and finally affected the Han Dynasty itself.

The troops of the Han Dynasty pressed on the territory

In the autumn of 112 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty mobilized 100,000 navy troops and exiled disciples from all over the world, and marched in five directions to attack South Vietnam. He was led by Fubo General Lubode, who grew up in the war with the Huns. Yang Pu, the general of the building ship, went south along the Zhen River from Yuzhang. South Vietnam's surrendered generals Zheng Yan and Tian Jia set out from Lingling and led a fleet of small ships to attack the western counties of South Vietnam. He also sent people to mobilize Bashu sinners and soldiers from southwestern Yi countries to surround the rear of South Vietnam from the east of Guizhou.

The navy led by Yang Pu numbered tens of thousands, and they drove large ships, which gave them considerable advantages in transporting large troops and supplies.

They first used the building fleet to break through the Zhenyang Gorge, the gateway to the South Vietnam Kingdom from Yuzhang, and then went south along the Zhen River. The South Vietnamese army dispatched a fleet of small building ships and canoes, but they were unable to pose a substantial threat to the building ships equipped with strong bows, crossbows and solid defenses. When the Lou fleet captured Shimen, 20 miles north of Panyu, they also captured many South Vietnamese ships and obtained a large amount of grain stored by South Vietnam here. The South Vietnamese army launched a counterattack again, but was still repelled by the Han army's buildings and ships. After taking control of the entire fortress, the Han army stepped up their rest and recuperation, waiting for the arrival of the remaining four groups.

Fubo General Lu Bode's march route was longer and more difficult. Since the South Vietnamese troops were accustomed to conducting small ambushes in the mountains and forests, opponents who marched on land felt very uncomfortable. Most of the troops led by Lubod were criminals and relegated disciples. Not only were their combat effectiveness weak, their marching speed was also relatively slow. He simply threw away the large group of troops and headed to Shimen to join forces with General Louchuan with only a few thousand elite troops. After carefully inspecting the defenses and troop deployment of Panyu, the capital of South Vietnam, the two generals decided to launch an siege without waiting for the rest of the troops to arrive.

The attack was still spearheaded by General Lou Chuan, who led tens of thousands of people, and reached the city of Panyu. Lu Jia and other South Vietnamese nobles led their troops to close the city gates and defend the city. The Han army's building ships took advantage of their height and stormed the southeast corner of the royal city. Lubod camped in the northwest of the city and sent people to recruit the garrison in the city. In the offensive and defensive operations of the city, the water channel became an excellent way for the Han navy to attack, and it was also a huge weakness of the defenders. The Han army had warships specially used for attacking and defending narrow waterways. Oxhide was hung on the ship to block arrows, and warriors used oars to charge forward. The small water channels around the city also allowed Han infantry to break through.

The elite sergeants took advantage of the darkness and used the building boat as a platform to climb over Panyu's not-so-high city wall. By nightfall, the Han army had invaded Panyu and took advantage of the chaos to set fire to the city. Lubold gained fame during his war against the Huns. And it is widely known to the soldiers and civilians of South Vietnam. When the city was breached in the southeast, the pro-Han officers and soldiers who lost hope of resistance surrendered to the Lubold camp one after another. Lu Bod gave the surrenderers official seals on the spot and ordered them to go to the city to recruit their colleagues. The number of South Vietnamese officers and soldiers surrendering in this way continued to increase, and Lu Jia's defense had completely collapsed. He led a few of his confidants and escaped by boat with King Jiande of South Vietnam.