Speaking of Li Guang, he was called "Flying General" in history. Among the ancient poems learned in primary school, there are poems dedicated to praising Li Guang:
Song of the plug
In the dark forest, the grass was suddenly blown by the wind, and the wind was rustling. The general thought that the beast was coming and immediately pulled out the arrow.
Dawn went to look for the arrow, which had gone deep into the edge of the stone.
Li Guang likes riding and archery since he was a child. When playing with children, he often plays horse riding and archery to win or lose with others. Over time, he has developed a good skill of riding and shooting.
Li Guang's record of the Wenjing period is the Wenjing period before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Li Guang mainly served as the task of resisting the invasion of Huns, and won many battles in wars of all sizes by virtue of his own ability. Li Guang fought Xiongnu with riding and shooting tactics, and Li Guang mostly relied on his super-high ability in the course of fighting, but at that time, the overall strength of the Han army was obviously at a disadvantage, and it was impossible to win a big victory, let alone a decisive victory.
You can see from Li Guang's resume. Although Li Guang has been in the army for more than forty years, his working time under Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was only the first half of the Wenjing period in 10 (BC129 ~16,5438+09). Han was on the defensive against Xiongnu, and local wars never stopped. Han pays tribute and kisses each other every year. So Li Guang's victory in Wenjing time was not so dazzling.
Therefore, in the period of King Dawen, Li Guang only served as a satrap in Longxi, Beidi, Yanmen (now south of Youyu in Shanxi), Dai Jun (now northeast of Yuxian in Hebei) and Yunzhong (now northeast of Togtoh in Inner Mongolia). In addition, during the Wenjing period, the national policy of doing nothing was adopted to recuperate. It is reasonable that Li Guang could not get a higher title in this period.
The best time for military commanders in the Han Dynasty to make contributions was in the period of Liang Wudi, because in the period of Liang Wudi, after the governance in the Wenjing period, the comprehensive national strength and military strength of the Han Dynasty had surpassed that of Xiongnu, and ambitious Liang Wudi wanted to fight against Xiongnu on a large scale. If Li Guang can make contributions to Hehe in this period, the title of Hou Feng is a bit problematic.
How did Li Guang perform during Katie's reign? The first battle failed, and Emperor Yuan Guang of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne in the sixth year (BC 129). Li Guang led an army out of the Wild Goose Gate to crusade against the Huns. As a result, Li Guang was defeated and captured by Xiongnu. Although Li Guang, with personal courage, robbed a fast horse and a bow and arrow of the Huns, escaped the pursuit of the Huns and returned to Han Ying. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also felt that this battle was too shameful, and he cut Li Guang off as an official for the people.
The following year, Xiongnu soldiers invaded the Han Dynasty again. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once again gave Li Guang the opportunity to make him the prefect of Right Beiping. Hearing this, the Huns called Li Guang "the flying general of the Han Dynasty". After several years, they deliberately avoided and dared not invade. It can be said that the border is safe in recent years.
In the third year of Liang Wudi's founding (BC120th year), Li Guang led 4000 cavalry to be doctors from Beiping, and was surrounded by 40000 cavalry led by Xiongnu Zuo. Li Guang was forced to form a circular array, with his back facing inward and his face facing outward, with his sword drawn and ready for battle;
"Hu Ji hit it, and the arrow rained down."
After several days of hard fighting, I finally got out of danger. Although he led the army out of danger, he was defeated, so he didn't get any reward from the court.
It can be said that before the younger generation of generals such as Wei Qing and Huo Qubing emerged, there were not many opportunities for Li Guang not to make great achievements because his age had passed the golden age. But there is still a chance in theory, which can be said to be the last chance. Li Guang was over 60 years old at that time.
In the fourth year of the founding of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (1 19), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to the Xiongnu. In order to seize this last chance to make contributions, Li Guang asked to join the war. At first, Emperor Wu disagreed. It took some time to appoint him as a former general.
After Wei Qing's army came out of the frontier fortress, it learned that Khan lived in his place, so it decided to personally take the lead in attacking the Xiongnu camp and arranged for Li Guang to cooperate circuitously from the east road, thus forming a siege. In such a crucial battle, Li Guang lost his way and delayed his appointment with Wei Qing.
Wei Qing asked Li Guang about the charges, but Li Guang didn't want to be interrogated by a "knife and pen official"! "Then drew himself.
Analyzing Li Guang's achievements in the golden age, Li Guang encountered the inaction of Emperor Wenjing, and the forces that the imperial court could deploy could not make Li Guang win an absolute victory like Wei Qing. Some people may ask, Huo Qubing has only 10,000 soldiers. How can this achieve such meritorious military service?
Personally, I think there are several aspects:
First, Li Guangtai was too kind to lead troops, but he did not bring up the fighting capacity of the whole army. Even if he won the battle, he relied on superman's ability, but Huo Qubing was different. The fighting capacity of the whole army is like a special team, plus Wei Qing has already beaten him before. The Huns are concentrated in Wei Qing. Huo Qubing's surprise attack also achieved unexpected results.
In the later period, the military capabilities of the two sides of China and Hungary underwent a qualitative reversal, and the Han army gained absolute superiority.
However, when Li Guang became independent, it didn't meet a good opportunity, didn't fight a big battle of absolute victory, and didn't seize the opportunity of meritorious service in the later period. It can only be providence!