Under what background did the Battle of Shenhe North break out?

Under what background did the Battle of Shenhe North break out? How to evaluate this war?

The Battle of Shenhe North was an important battle against Yan after the Northern Wei Dynasty defeated Shenhe North (now northeast of Liangcheng, Inner Mongolia, now Yanggao, Shanxi) in the late Sixteen Countries.

From May to November in the tenth year (AD 395), Prince Murong Bao of Houyan led 80,000 Houyan troops to attack the Northern Wei Dynasty. Tuoba GUI, the Daowu Emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, adopted the strategy of "the enemy advances and we retreat, luring the enemy into the depth, delaying without fighting", crossing the Yellow River in the south and confronting the army of Houyan across the river. After a long journey, the Yan army could not make a quick decision. In addition, the weather is getting colder and colder. He mistakenly believed the news of Mu Rongchui's death and decided to withdraw. The 20,000 Northern Wei army led by Tuoba GUI was defeated in the north of Shenhe River. This battle accelerated the demise of Houyan, and laid the foundation for the Northern Wei Dynasty to unify northern China.

Historical background

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the northern minorities in China gradually became powerful. Xiongnu, Jie, Di, Qiang, Xianbei and other ethnic groups have successively established sixteen countries on both sides of the Yellow River and in the north, which is called "Five Lakes and Sixteen Countries" in history.

In 384 AD, Mu Rongchui restored the state of Yan, making its capital Zhongshan (now Dingzhou, Hebei). The year of establishment is Yanyuan, which is called Houyan in history. In the year of Deng (AD 386), Mu Rongchui proclaimed himself emperor; Tuoba GUI, the grandson of Tuoba GUI, the acting king, made his capital Lesheng (now Helinger, Inner Mongolia) and changed his country name to Wei, which was called Northern Wei in history. In order to dominate the north, the two countries killed each other. The battle between Wei Yan and Hebei (now northeast of Liangcheng, Inner Mongolia) took place under such circumstances.

The Murong Department and Tuoba Department of Xianbei have been married for a lifetime, so Mu Rongchui initially supported Tuoba GUI to conquer the Dugu Department and Helan Department, unify the internal affairs, restore the country, build Wei, and control the North as a vassal country. The Northern Wei Dynasty became more and more powerful, and wanted to seek independence, and surrendered to the Houyan frontier tribes many times. The two sides turned against each other from now on.

War assessment

In this battle, Hou Yan's army relied on its strength and despised its enemy, which made the military strategists taboo. The northern Wei army correctly judged the situation of the enemy and ourselves, and adopted the strategy of showing weakness and avoiding and waiting for exhaustion to attack the enemy; Take psychological tactics to shake and disintegrate the enemy's morale; After the Yanjun retreated, they pursued bravely and fought hard to win. From then on, the power contrast between the two countries was changed, and Houyan gradually declined, and the forces of the Northern Wei Dynasty entered the Central Plains.