Battle of Mayi: Difference between revisions

|commander1=[[Junchen Chanyu]] Shanyu

|commander2=[[Emperor_Wu_of_Han|HanEmperor WudiWu of Han]]<br />Wang Hui<br />Han Anguo<br />Li Xi<br />[[Li Guang]]<br />Gongsun He

The '''Battle of Mayi''' ({{zh|t=馬邑之戰}}), also known as the '''Scheme of Mayi''' (馬邑之謀) or the '''Encirclement at Mayi''' (馬邑之圍), was an abortive [[ambush]] operation by the [[Han dynasty]] against the invading [[Xiongnu]] forces led by [[Junchen Chanyu]], with minimal casualties from both sides. It Although no fighting actually took place, it marked the end of ''[[de jure]]'' peace between the Han dynasty and Xiongnu, and led to the beginning of the subsequent [[Han-Xiongnu War]]. ItThe failure of the operation also stimulatedmotivated the useHan ofcourt to develop effective cavalry forces and offensivethe militaryuse policiesof byoffensive the[[expeditionary Hanwarfare|expeditionary]] courtmilitary policies.

Before the Battle of Mayi, there had been two main encounters between the Han Chinese and the Xiongnu. During the [[Warring States period]], General [[Li Mu]]<ref>[[Li Mu]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=March 2019}} of the [[State of Zhao]] defeated the Xiongnu by luring them deep inside Zhao territory and ambushing them. With similar tactics, General [[Meng Tian]] of the [[Qin dynasty]] drove the Xiongnu north for 750 &nbsp;km and built the [[Great Wall]] at the edge of the [[Loess Plateau]] to guard against future raids. However the collapse of the Qin dynasty and the subsequent chaos of the [[Chu-Han contention]] created a [[power vacuum]] and allowed the Xiongnu to unite under [[Modu Shanyu]] and became a powerful nomadic confederacy.

After the humiliating defeat of [[Emperor Gaozu of Han|Emperor Gao]] by [[Modu Shanyu]] at's [[Battle of Baideng|humiliating defeat at Baideng]] by Modu in 200 BC, the newly established Han dynasty was forced to resort to politicalan [[appeasement]] policy in order to decrease the scale of Xiongnu hostility, as the nation had yet to fully recover from the attrition of the Chu-Han contention. However, despite the periodic gifts and ''[[heqin]]'' ("marriagepeace alliancethrough marriage"), border townships and villages were still seasonally ravaged by nomads, as the prosperous Han Chinese lands attractedremained attractive to Xiongnu raids.

After seven decades of enduring the military raids, the Han dynasty had built up its military strength. [[Emperor Wu of Han|Emperor Wu]] initially maintained a policy of peace and appeasement early in his early reign, but the court began to formulate ideas of striking a major blow back against the Xiongnu. The traditional Han Chinese strategy was more conservative and defensive, aiming to lure the Xiongnu [[cavalry]] into Han Chinese territory, on terrainterrains where the Chinese army, composed almost entirely of [[infantry]] and chariots[[chariot]]eers, would be at ana [[counteroffensive]] advantage.

In 133 BC, at the suggestion of Wang Hui, the minister of vassal affairs, Emperor Wu had his army set a trap for the [[Xiongnu]] [[Shanyu]] at the city of [[Mayi (town)|Mayi]]. The Chinese name for the Xiongnu was a [[Graphic pejoratives in written Chinese|pejorative term in itself]], as the characters have the meaning of "fierce slave".<ref name=yuuu86-384 />. A powerful local trader/[[smuggler]], Nie Wengyi, also known as Nie Yi, deceptively claimed to [[Junchen Shanyu]] that he had killed the local magistrate and was willing to offer the city to the Xiongnu. The plan was to entice the Shanyu's forces into advancing on Mayi, so that a Han force 300,000 -strong, Han force hidden around the area, could [[encirclement|encircle]] and ambush them.

The plan failed, ironically, because the Han ambusharrangement was made to look tooexcessively attractive. When the Shanyu took the bait and moved in for a raid on Mayi, he saw fields full of cattle but with no [[herder|herdsmen]]s. Feeling increasingly suspicious, the Shanyu ordered his men to halt their advance. Xiongnu scouts then captured a Han soldier from a local outpost, who disclosed the entire plan to the Shanyu. Shaken with shock, the Shanyu then abandoned the raid and withdrew quickly before the Han forces could act. The Han forces were scattered at this point, and unable to concentrate in time to catch the Xiongnu. Wang Hui himself, the commander of the entire Han operation, had only 30,000 troops under his direct command, too few to stop the Xiongnu from retreating to the steppe, orso to defeat them. Wanghe hesitated and ordered the Han forces not to pursue. As a result, neither side suffered any casualties.

Back at the imperial court, Wang Hui's political enemies blamed him for the plan's failure and his reluctance to pursue the retreating Xiongnu army., Heand washad imprisonedhim [[impeach]]ed. While awaiting trial, he bribedsent men to bribe the powerful[[grand primechancellor minister,(China)|chancellor]] Tian Fen, who was Emperor Wu's maternal uncle, in the hope of obtaining a [[parole]]. When Emperor Wu still refused to spare Wang, who(possibly thenbecause the emperor was wary of Tian Fen's growing power), he committed suicide in prison.

Though border military clashes had already continued for decades between the two sides, this "battle" ended the ''de jure'' "peace" between the Han and Xiongnu. The ambush operation revealed the Han dynasty's [[hawkish]] stance, and the "marriage/gift for peace" policy was officially abandoned. For the next few years, Xiongnu would increase their border attacks, further solidifying the cause of pro-war factions and their control in the Han court.

The result of the battle made Emperor Wu realize the difficulty for Hanthe traditionally [[chariot tactics|chariot]]/[[infantry tactics|infantry]]-orientated Han army to achieve tactical superiority against the more mobile Xiongnu [[cavalry]]. That This led to a change in Han strategy and hastened the development of an effective Han[[cavalry tactics|cavalry]] [[military doctrine|doctrine]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} In later campaigns, the Han dynasty went from a defensive-counteroffensive stance to an offensive strategy of launching expeditions[[expeditionary warfare]] deep into Xiongnu territory.

The failure of the Mayi operation also prompted Emperor Wu to reconsider his choice of commanders. Disappointed at the ineffectiveness of existing generals, Emperor Wu began to look for younger generations of military hopefuls capable of offensive anti-cavalry warfare. That led to the rise of famous new-generation tacticians like [[Wei Qing]] and [[Huo Qubing]], and old guard-school commanders like [[Li Guang]] and Han Anguo began to fall out of favor.

[[Category:HistoryMilitary history of Shanxi]]

[[Category:HanEmperor WudiWu of Han]]