The reason why it is superficial intimacy is because in these 67 years, although the Han Dynasty was intimate every year, the Huns invaded the border of the Han Dynasty. 1 1 invaded the border of the Han Dynasty on a large scale, robbed property, robbed population, and killed officials and people. They even approached Chang 'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty, and the Xiongnu vanguard was only 100 kilometers away from Chang 'an.
That's why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty went to war against the Huns, because pro-marriage could not solve any problems. Starting from the story of Mayi, the Han Dynasty began to take the initiative to attack the Huns, which was the first time since Liu Bang and Deng Baishan were besieged, until the appearance of the famous Han Dynasty Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. 1 1 year, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing joined forces to drive Huns from the border to Monan, from Monan to Hexi, from Hexi to Mobei, and then fought in Mobei.
At the same time, Huo Qubing also created the highest honor for soldiers in history-sealing wolves in professional posts, meditating on Gu Yan and drinking horses in the vast sea. This is the most important victory since Emperor Wu decided to wage an all-out war with the Huns. After that, the Han Dynasty and Xiongnu temporarily stopped fighting, because Xiongnu could not be found in the whole desert, and then there was no war between the two sides for 12 years.
During the period of 12, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was still not idle. Westward expedition to Dawan and Loulan, northeast to the Korean Peninsula, with four counties in Han Dynasty, southwest conquest to Yelang and Dianguo, and south conquest to Nanyue and Minyue, while Xiongnu was basically in a state of recuperation during 12 years, which was equal to 12 years later, Wei Qing, Huo Qubing and other famous soldiers basically died.
For example, in BC 103, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhao Ponu to attack the Huns. As a result, Zhao Ponu was besieged by 80,000 tarkan, the Han army was completely annihilated, more than 20,000 riders were killed, and the Lord Zhao Ponu was also captured. In 99 BC, Li Ling led 5,000 infantry surrounded by 30,000 tarkan, and then the Huns continued to increase their troops. Li Ling's army was completely annihilated, and most of the 5,000 people died in battle, and the main commander Li Ling was also captured. In 90 BC, Li Guangli led 70,000 Han troops and Xiongnu to fight Xiongnu in Yanran Mountain. The Han Army of the Seventh Army was completely annihilated, and Li Guangli surrendered to the Huns.
These three wars lost 65,438+Wan Hanjun elites, which can be said to be the biggest loss of the Han Empire after Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. And after the death of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, the Han Dynasty never won the Huns. Later, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty saw that he could not defeat the Xiongnu, he gave up the war against the Xiongnu and took a rest instead. By the time of Xuan Di, the Huns were weaker. Coupled with the division, the Huns were divided into five tribes, and their power weakened from then on.
In this case, the question comes, why did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty lose almost all the battles against Xiongnu in the later period, and why did Xiongnu not survive in the end?
In the final analysis, it is still a matter of national strength.
First of all, the war between Han Dynasty and Xiongnu was basically carried out on the border or in Xiongnu territory, which did not affect the agricultural production of Han Dynasty, but had a great impact on the animal husbandry production of Xiongnu. For example, the battles of Monan, Hexi and Mobei were all fought on grasslands and had no influence on the Han Dynasty. For the Huns, without a large area of pasture, the animal husbandry of the Huns was destroyed. Huns originally depended on animal husbandry to survive. Without this, the Huns could not continue to fight.
Secondly, the Huns relied on the Han Dynasty to provide a lot of materials. For example, salt and iron are not produced on grasslands. Without salt, the Huns would have no power, and salt was only produced in the territory of the Han Dynasty. The two sides are at war. When the Han dynasty blocked the border, the Huns would go crazy. The other is iron. The Huns had no iron in the early days, so they had to buy it from the Han Dynasty. Will they sell it after the war? Of course not. Without iron, many Xiongnu weapons, such as arrows, are useless. They are no match for the Han Dynasty.
Finally, of course, the most important thing is the population. In the heyday of the Xiongnu, there were only 2 million people, while in the heyday of the Han Dynasty, the population was close to 60 million, 30 times that of the Xiongnu. Even if one person loses one, the Huns will not lose one. Population was the most important thing at that time, more important than property and cities.
Let's first calculate the population lost by Huns in the early Han Dynasty. According to Records of the Historical Records, both Wei Qing and Huo Qubing recorded their exploits. Together, they captured 6.5438+0.6 million Huns on the battlefield. This does not include the Huns who surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and there are at least ten or two hundred thousand Huns who took refuge in the Han Dynasty. Together, it is 654.38+065.438+.
Even if 400,000 people were lost in the same period of the Han Dynasty, it only accounted for 0.7% of the total population of the Han Dynasty. This is the problem. Even if the Han dynasty lost 2 million people, it didn't hurt the bones, while the Huns lost 400 thousand people, equivalent to losing one-fifth of them. This proportion of war losses is a disaster for the Huns. If we continue to fight, the Huns can't afford to fight at all.
Moreover, the national strength of the Han Dynasty was very strong at that time. Think about it. In the era of cold weapons, in order to fight the battle of Mobei, the Han Dynasty prepared140,000 war horses and100,000 elite cavalry, plus millions of infantry and logistics personnel. This kind of war mobilization ability is not comparable to that of Huns. Because the Huns are all soldiers, they are not opponents of the Han Dynasty, so they are not massive opponents at all.
But war is a consumption, not only the consumption of materials, food, firearms and war horses, but also the consumption of people, and the consumption of people is the most difficult to recover. It takes at least 15~20 years to produce a generation. Although the Huns won a series of victories after the death of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, they also knew that it was a dead end to continue fighting with the Han Dynasty, because war meant killing 10,000 enemies and losing 8,000. There are also huge losses, and the Huns can't live if this continues. By the time of Emperor Gaozu Xuan Di, coupled with natural and man-made disasters, the Huns had been unable to confront the Han Dynasty head-on, and since then they have been weak.