Li Mu
Li Mu
Li Mu? He was a famous general and strategist of the state of Zhao in the Warring States period. He was also known as the "four famous generals of the Warring States period" together with Bai Qi, Wang Jian and Lian Po.
Li Mu's life story can be roughly divided into two stages: first, he fought against Xiongnu in the northern border of Zhao state; later, he mainly fought against Qin state, and won the title of Wu'an Jun because of his heavy damage to Qin army in the battle of Yi'an. At the end of the Warring States period, Li Mu was the only good general to support the crisis of Zhao state, known as "Li Mu died, Zhao state died". In 229 B.C., King Zhao moved into the separatist plot of the state of Qin, listened to slander and seized the military power of Li Mu, and soon killed Li Mu.
Li Mu was the most outstanding general of the six Oriental countries in the late Warring States period. He is deeply loved by the soldiers and the people and enjoys high prestige. In a series of operations, he repeatedly hit the enemy without losing, showing the superb art of military command. In particular, the battle of Zhao's defeating Xiongnu and the battle of fat, the former is a typical example of the complete annihilation of cavalry regiment by infantry regiment in the history of Chinese war, and the latter is an example of encirclement and annihilation. His innocent murder made Zhao destroy the great wall and made all the later generations feel bitter.
Life of the characters
Defeat the Huns
Li Mu, a good general on the northern border of Zhao state, was born in Bairen of Zhao state. He had been stationed in Yanmen County for a long time to guard against Xiongnu. He had the right to set up officials according to his needs, and the taxes of cities in Fangdi were sent to Li Mu's shogunate as military funds. He slaughtered a few oxen every day as a reward to the soldiers, taught them to practice archery and horse riding, carefully guarded the beacon towers, and sent more scouts to spy on the enemy's situation. They made rules and said, "if the Xiongnu invades, they should quickly gather up people and horses, retreat into the barracks and guard, and dare to capture the beheading of the enemy." Every time the Xiongnu invaded, the beacon fire sent a warning, and immediately gathered up the troops and retreated into the barracks to defend them. After several years like this, there was no loss of people, horses and materials. But the Huns thought that Li Mu was timid. Even the officers and soldiers guarding the border of the state of Zhao thought that their generals were timid. The king of Zhao blamed Li Mu, but Li Mu remained the same. In his anger, King Zhao recalled him and sent others to lead the army on his behalf.
For more than a year after that, every time the Huns invaded, they sent troops to fight. Troops were sent out to fight, and they were repeatedly defeated, resulting in many casualties. It was impossible to farm and graze on the border. The king of Zhao had no choice but to ask Li Mu to take up the post again. Li Mu kept his door shut and insisted that he was ill. The king of Zhao repeatedly forced Li Mu to come out and let him lead the army. Li Mu said: "the king must use me, I still do as before, only dare to obey orders." The king of Zhao agreed to his request.
Li Mu came to the border according to the original regulations. For several years, Xiongnu got nothing, but they always thought that Li Mu was timid. The officers and soldiers at the border are rewarded every day, but they are willing to fight in a useless place. So Li Mu prepared a selection of 1300 chariots, 13000 horses, 50000 brave men who dare to attack, and 100000 soldiers who are good at shooting. All of them organized to train and fight. At the same time, a large number of livestock were allowed to graze everywhere, and people were grazing all over the mountains and fields. When a small group of Huns invaded, Li Mu pretended to be defeated and deliberately abandoned thousands of people to the Huns. When he heard this, he led a large number of people to invade. Under Li Mubu's command, he spread his left and right wings to encircle the enemy, defeated the Huns and killed more than 100000 people. He killed ch ā NL á n, defeated Donghu, surrendered Linhu and fled alone. For more than ten years, the Huns did not dare to approach the border towns of Zhao.
Lian but Qin Army
Li Mu served in the imperial court after 246 BC. Because of the need of state affairs, he was transferred back to the court and sent to the state of Qin as prime minister. He made an alliance to make the state of Qin return the protons of Zhao.
In 245 BC, King Zhao Xiaocheng passed away, mourning King Xiang's succession to the throne.
In 244 BC, Lecheng was asked to replace the position of general of Lianpo. In a rage, Lianpo led the army to attack Lecheng and Lecheng fled. Lianpo also led his subordinates to the state of Wei. At that time, Tian Dan, Zhao she and Lin Xiangru had already died, and Li Mu became an important official in the court.
In 243 BC, King Zhao sent Li Mu to attack the state of Yan, taking wusui (now Suicheng town in the northwest of Xushui County, Hebei Province) and Fangcheng (now south of Gu'an County, Hebei Province).
In 242 BC, Pang Nuan, a general of the king of Zhao, once again attacked the state of Yan and killed general Ju Xin.
In 235 BC, mourning the death of King Xiang, Zhao Wang Qian ascended the throne.
In 234 BC, Qin general Huan Yu captured Zhao's Pingyang (now Southeast of Cixian County, Handan City, Hebei Province), and Wucheng (now west of Wucheng City, Shandong Province) killed Zhao General Hu Po and wusui, and killed 100 thousand Zhao troops.
In 233 B.C., Huan he took advantage of his victory and led his troops to Shangdang in the East. He crossed Taihang Mountain and went deep into the rear of Zhao state from the North Road, captured chili and Yi'an (now 20 Li southwest of Haocheng in Hebei Province), attacked the rear of Zhao state and marched straight to Handan. The situation was critical. Zhao Wang Qian was transferred back to Li Mu from daiyanmen and appointed him as a general. He led his headquarters to the South and directed all the Zhao troops to fight back against the Qin army.
Li Mu led the main force of the frontier defense forces to meet the Zhao troops sent by Handan and confront the Qin troops near Yi'an. He believed that the morale of the Qin army was very high when they won in succession. If they met in a hurry, it would be difficult for them to win. Therefore, he adopted the principle of building a solid base to avoid a decisive battle and waiting for an opportunity to counterattack when the enemy was tired.
Huan he believed that in the past, Lianpo refused Wang He with a strong base, but now Li Mu also used this strategy; the Qin army was far away, which was not conducive to lasting. He led the main force to attack Feixia, in an attempt to induce the Zhao army to help him. When he got out of the barracks, he annihilated him in the movement. Li Mu knew the enemy's situation and was not moved. When Zhao Cong, general of Zhao, proposed to rescue Feixia, he said that "when the enemy attacked and I rescued, it was to the people", which was "taboo by the military.". After the main force of the Qin army went to fat, the remaining troops in the camp were weak; and because the Zhao army had been on the defensive for many days and refused to fight, the Qin army was used to it and neglected to be on guard. Li Mu then took the opportunity to attack the Qin army camp at one stroke and captured all the left behind Qin army and its logistics. Li Mu decided that Huan he would be rescued, so he deployed a force to stop the enemy from the front and put the main force on both wings. When the front Zhao army contacted with the retreating Qin army, he immediately commanded the two wings of Zhao army to carry out the clamp attack. After fierce fighting, the Qin army was defeated. Li Mu was named the king of Wu'an for his merits.
History says: the battle of fat.
In 232 BC, Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, once again sent Qin troops to invade. Qin troops attacked Zhao in two ways. They went northward from ye (now Linzhang southwest of Hebei Province) and prepared to cross zhangshui to Handan. They attacked Handan, the capital of Zhao. They led the main forces from Shangdang to Jingxing (now Jingxing northwest of Hebei Province) and tried to attack Handan. Zhao was cut off and entered Fanwu (now the south of Pingshan County, Hebei Province). Because Li Mu led the army to fight, the south of Handan was supported by zhangshui and Zhao Great Wall, so it was difficult for the Qin army to break through quickly. Li Mu Sui was determined to take the policy of defending the South and attacking the north, concentrating his forces to attack each other. The main force of the army was stationed in the north of Handan and led by Sima to fight back. The two armies met near Fanwu. Li Mu's army stormed, Qin's army was blocked and defeated. Li Mu returned to Handan and joined forces with Sima Shang to attack the Qin army on the South Road. Knowing that the northern route army had been repulsed, the southern route army of the Qin Dynasty was not expected to win. As soon as it made contact with the northern route army, it withdrew. When Li Mu defeated the Qin army, he was also far away from Korea and Wei.
History says: the battle of Fanwu.
Be wrongly killed
In 229 B.C., due to years of war, plus the earthquake in Daidi, a large area of famine, Zhao's national strength has been quite weak. Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, took the opportunity to send General Wang Jian to Jingxing (now Jingxing County, Hebei Province) and Yang Duanhe to Hanoi. He led hundreds of thousands of troops into Handan, the capital of Zhao. The king of Zhao appointed Li Mu as the general and Sima Shang as the deputy general.
Wang Jian knew that Li Mu could not be removed and the Qin army could not win quickly in the battlefield, so he told the king of Qin and then made a counter plan. He sent spies into Handan, the capital of the state of Zhao, and bribed Guo Kai, a close Minister of the king of Zhao who had framed an honest man, with a large amount of money. Guo Kai spread rumors about Li Mu and Sima Shang colluding with the Qin army and preparing to betray the state of Zhao. As soon as Zhao wangqian heard these rumors, he immediately appointed Zhao Cong, the patriarchal clan, and Yan Ju, the Qi people, to replace Li Mu and Sima Shang. Li Mu, who always abides by the principle that "you will be out, but your orders will not be accepted". Li Mu, who attaches great importance to the right to act independently, refuses to follow this order for the sake of the country, the army and the people. King Zhao secretly sets up a trap to capture Li Mu and kill him, but Sima Shang is abandoned. In 228 BC, Wang Jian took advantage of the situation to attack and defeat the Zhao army. He calmed down the Dongyang area (about now Xingtai area in Hebei Province). Zhao Cong died in the war and Yan Ju fled. After the Qin army captured Handan, they captured Zhao wangqian and Yan Ju. The prince of the state of Zhao Jia fled to the dynasty (now the northeast of Yu County in Hebei Province) and became king.
In 222 B.C., the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Dynasty and captured the young master Jia, and the state of Zhao finally perished.
Posterity status
In the third year of Jianzhong (782 AD) of Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing proposed to Tang Dezong that 64 ancient famous generals should be granted titles, and temples should be set up for them, including "Li Mu, the great general of Wu'an". At the same time, only Sun Bin, Tian Dan, Lian Po, Zhao she and Wang Jian were included in the list.
In the fifth year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty, according to the practice of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty set up temples for the ancient famous generals, including Li Mu.
Character evaluation
General comments
Li Mu, the king of Wu'an, was one of the most outstanding generals of the six Oriental countries at the end of the Warring States period. He is deeply loved by the soldiers and the people and enjoys high prestige. In a series of operations, he repeatedly hit the enemy without losing, showing the superb art of military command. The former is a typical example of annihilating cavalry regiment with infantry regiment, while the latter is an example of encirclement and annihilation. His innocent murder made Zhao destroy the Great Wall, and also made later generations lament.
Chinese PinYin : Li Mu
Li Mu
