Three classic examples of expeditionary raids

Three classic examples of expeditionary raids

Surprise raid is a more commonly used method in war, which refers to striking the enemy unexpectedly.

Among the many typical battles in history, it is not uncommon to win battles over long distances. Even taking into account the factor of overcoming the difficult geographical environment, there are still many examples of such long-distance surprise attacks. Here are three simple examples: example.

Battle of Mobei: Wei Qing and Huo Qubing made a surprise attack thousands of miles away and crossed the desert to attack Yizhixie Chanyu

After the Battle of Mobei in the sixth year of Yuanshuo (123 BC), for Han The army's attack was already at a loss, so in desperation, they tried to "lure the Han soldiers and surrender them to capture them", which meant to lure the Han army to attack Mobei, in an attempt to defeat the Han army while waiting for work. In order to completely eliminate the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also determined to launch a general attack on the Xiongnu Chanyu headquarters and the left and right kings in the northeast after careful preparation.

In the fourth year of Yuanshou (119 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty formulated a combat policy of concentrating his forces, going deep into Mobei, and finding and annihilating the main force of the Huns in order to take them by surprise and attack them unprepared. To this end, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty mobilized 140,000 cavalry, 140,000 accompanying horses, 100,000 infantry and transporters, commanded by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, and marched towards Mobei in two directions: east and west.

After Wei Qing left the fortress and learned the exact location of Yizhixie Shanyu, he ordered his former general Li Guang and his right general Zhao Shiqi to merge their forces and attack the Xiongnu army from the east. The elite troops attacked the Huns army directly.

Wei Qing's army went out for more than a thousand miles and crossed the desert to meet the troops of Yizhi Xie Shanyu. The two sides fought fiercely for a whole day. Wei Qing took advantage of the sandstorm to send troops to outflank him from the left and right.

The Xiongnu army was surrounded. Yi Zhixie Shanyu saw that the situation was not good and led hundreds of strong cavalry to break out from the northwest and escape. The Han army could not pursue them. In this battle, Wei Qing wiped out more than 19,000 enemies.

On the other way, after Huo Qubing led his army out of Daijun, he marched north for more than two thousand miles, crossed the desert, and encountered the Xiongnu Zuoxian King's tribe. Huo Qubing led his army to attack fiercely, defeated the Xiongnu army, and captured the Tuntou King. 3 people, including the King of Han, and 83 generals, prime ministers, officials, and captains. With 10,000 own losses, more than 70,000 enemy troops were wiped out. The Xiongnu Zuoxian King's elite group was almost completely lost.

King Zuo Xian led his cronies to abandon the army and fled. Huo Qubing sent his troops to pursue him to Langjuxu Mountain. He worshiped the heaven on the mountain and the earth at Guyan Mountain, and returned victoriously.

In the Battle of Mobei, the Han army finally annihilated more than 90,000 Xiongnu people, and almost all the main forces of the two kings of the Xiongnu were wiped out.

The Xiongnu Chanyu no longer dared to establish a foothold on the northern edge of the desert and fled far to the northwest. As a result, the situation of "no royal court in the south of the desert" emerged. The Xiongnu border troubles that had harmed the Han Dynasty for more than a hundred years have been basically eliminated. solve.

The Battle of Wei to Destroy Shu: Deng Ai climbed over the mountains and ridges to sneak into Yinping, and unexpectedly attacked Chengdu and destroyed the Shu Han Dynasty

In the fourth year of Emperor Jingyuan of Wei Yuan Dynasty (263 years), Cao Wei "conscripted troops from all directions for ten years" "Eighty thousand", the troops were divided into three groups to attack Shu. Among them, Deng Ai, the general who conquered the west, led 30,000 troops from Didao to Tazhong. Zhugexu, the governor of Yongzhou, led 30,000 troops from Qishan to Wudu and Yinping Bridge. General Zhong who suppressed the west led Hui led the main force of more than 100,000 troops to march into Hanzhong from Xiegu, Luogu, and Ziwugu.

Due to the internal political struggle in the Shu Han Dynasty, the coach was not in Hanzhong. Although Jiang Wei avoided the danger of being surrounded and annihilated through clever command, Hanzhong, which had no main garrison, was still captured by Zhong Hui's main force.

After hearing that Hanzhong and Yangping Pass were lost, Jiang Wei led his army to join up with Liao Hua, Zhang Yi, Dong Jue and other troops who came from the north to defend Jianmen Pass, and confronted Zhong Hui's main force, while Deng Ai Then arrived at the Yinping intersection.

Since Yinping Road is inaccessible and difficult to allow the army to pass, the Shu Han had no preparations for this road at all. Since Zhong Hui's 130,000 main force was blocked by Jiange Pass, Deng Ai proposed a bold plan to "sneak across Yinping and attack Mianzhu via Zuodan Road from Fucheng". So "in the tenth month of winter, Ai walked from Yinping Road to an uninhabited land for seven days." For more than a hundred miles, mountain passages were carved and bridges and pavilions were built.

The mountains were high and the valleys were deep, and the terrain was extremely difficult and dangerous. The food supply was also in short supply, and the soldiers were often in danger, wrapping themselves in felt. Climb the wooden edge of the cliff and file in."

After Deng Ai led his exhausted army across Yinping, Ma Miao, the defender of Fucheng, surrendered. Deng Ai's army was replenished and continued to advance. He defeated Zhuge Zhan and captured Mianzhu, and then immediately marched towards Chengdu. March.

When Deng Ai led his army to Chengdu, Liu Chan accepted Qiao Zhou's advice and opened the city to surrender to Wei. The Wei army occupied Chengdu, and the Shu Han Dynasty was officially destroyed.

The Battle of Caizhou: Li Su entered Caizhou at night, a famous surprise attack in the history of Chinese wars

During the reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Chun vigorously reduced the feudal vassal. Since the ninth year of Yuanhe (814) In 816, they began to use troops against Huaixi to attack Huaixi Jiedu envoy Wu Yuanji, who supported the army and became independent. However, the long battle failed. In the twelfth year of Yuanhe (816), Tang and Deng Jiedu envoy Gao Xiayu was defeated. In Tiecheng, Yuan Zi was ordered to take command. Yuan Zi also had no military exploits, so Li Su recommended himself to the army and was willing to serve on the front line.

On the tenth day of October in the thirteenth year of Yuanhe (817), Li Su took advantage of the windy and snowy weather and took advantage of the rebels to relax their vigilance. He ordered Shi Min to stay in Wencheng and Li You to lead training. The well-trained death squads had 3,000 people as the vanguard, and he and the supervisors would make 3,000 people as the center army. Li Jincheng was ordered to lead 3,000 people to the rear, and they marched straight to Wu Yuanji with overwhelming force.

At this time, the night was cold, the wind and snow were blowing, the flags were broken, and the men and horses were frozen to death looking at each other on the road. In the middle of the night, the snow became heavier and heavier. The Tang army marched thirty-five miles and quickly arrived at Cai. state.

At the fourth watch, Li Su's army arrived at Caizhou City. However, due to the laxity of the defenders, the enemy's arrival was never discovered. Li You and Li Zhongyi dug a ridge on the city wall, took the lead, climbed to the top of the outer city, killed the sleeping gatekeepers, then opened the city gate, and the Tang army entered the city.

Then, the Tang army attacked the inner city in accordance with the law. By the time the rooster crows, Li Su has already marched to Wu Yuanji's outer house. It was only then that someone from the rebels reacted and urgently alerted Wu Yuanji of the arrival of the army.

On the 12th, the Tang army attacked Yacheng again. The people of Caizhou rushed to carry firewood to help the Tang army burn the south gate of Yacheng.

At dusk, the city gate was destroyed and Wu Yuanji surrendered. More than 20,000 soldiers from Shenzhou and Guangzhou and various towns also surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and Huaixi was pacified.