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The First warrior of China: Meng Tian

The First warrior of China: Meng Tian

By woodrow portiePublished about a year ago 11 min read
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Meng tien (? 210 BC), a famous general in the period of Qin Shihuang, is known as "the first warrior of China". Han nationality, ancestral Qi, Shandong. It is said that he once improved the writing brush, is the earliest developer of the northwest of the motherland, and is also the ancient development of Ningxia's first person.

Meng Tian's ancestors were from the State of Qi. His grandfather Meng Ao came from the state of Qi to the state of Qin to serve the King of Qin. In the first year of King Zhuangxiang of Qin (249 B. C.), Meng Ao, as a general of the state of Qin, attacked Han, took Chenggao and Xingyang, and established Sanchuan County (ruling in present Luoyang, Henan Province). In two years, Meng Ao seized 37 cities in a rage. In the third year of the First Emperor of Qin (244 BC), Meng Ao attacked Han and captured 13 cities. In the fifth year of the First Emperor of Qin, he led an army to attack Wei, captured 20 cities, and established Dongjun. In the seventh year of the First Emperor of Qin (240 BC), Meng Ao died.

Meng's son was called Meng Wu, and he was Meng Tian's father. Meng Tian studied prison law as a prison officer and was in charge of relevant documents and prison proceedings files. Meng Tian also had a younger brother named Meng Yi, who later became a senior minister and was the right-hand man of the First Emperor of Qin and became an important official in the Qin Dynasty. Two brothers a paper can be described as not good.

In the twenty-second year of the First Emperor of Qin (225 B. C.), the king of Qin sent general Li Xin to attack the state of Chu with 200,000 troops, with Meng Wu as deputy general. Li Xin attacked Pingyu (north of present-day Pingyu County, Henan Province), and Meng Wu attacked Qieqiu (present-day Linquan County, Anhui Province), and defeated the Chu army. After defeating Yan (today's Yanling County, Henan Province), Li Xin led his troops westward to join Meng Wu at Chengfu (east of today's Baofeng County, Henan Province), where they were defeated by the Chu army.

In the twenty-third year of Qin Shihuang (224 BC), Meng Wu took advantage of Wang Jian to lead his troops to attack the state of Chu and defeated the Chu army. He went to Qinan (northwest of Qichun City in Hubei Province), killed the Chu general Xiang Yan and returned in victory. In the 24th year of the First Emperor of Qin (223 B. C.), Meng Wu came back and led an army to attack the State of Chu, capturing the king of Chu and the pacified Chu. In the 25th year (222 B. C.), Meng Wu led an army to march south to Baiyue (today's Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong areas). The Emperor surrendered, and Qin set up Kuaiji County (now Suzhou, Jiangsu).

In the great cause of the unification of China by the First Emperor of Qin, Meng Tian's grandfather Meng Ao and father Meng Wu were both famous generals of Qin. He conquered cities and territories for the state of Qin and risked his life. He made great contributions to the development of Qin's territory and the first imperial unification of China. Therefore, Qin Shi Huang had great trust in the Montessori family.

The Qi army was defeated by the Huns

To Meng Tian's generation is better than the blue. When the first Emperor went out, Meng Tian's younger brother Meng Yi accompanied the first emperor in a car and served the first emperor around. The two brothers, one in charge of foreign military affairs, the other planning domestic affairs, have a good reputation for loyalty. No other general in the state of Qin could compete with his brothers for a favor.

Thus it can be seen that the Montessori family for generations, distinguished war, to Meng Tian this generation has reached the peak of its career. In 221 B.C., Meng Tian became a general of the state of Qin due to his family background. He led a large army to conquer the capital of Qi and achieve the national unification dreamed of by Emperor Qin Shihuang, who granted him the post of internal history. Although Meng Tian did not make great achievements in the battle of unifying the six states, he accumulated enough war experience, and his talent was recognized by the First Emperor of Qin.

When it comes to the relationship between Meng Tian and Xiongnu, it seems that it is doomed by heaven. During Meng Tian's time, the frontier was often plundered by the increasingly powerful Xiongnu, which threatened the Qin regime. Moreover, before Qin unified the six STATES, Xiongnu often plundered the livestock and property of the people in the interior, especially the neighboring states such as Yan, Zhao, and Qin. What was particularly serious was that at the end of Qin's campaign against the six States, Xiongnu seized the opportunity to occupy the Hetao region, the so-called "Henan Land".

This gave Meng Tian a great space to display her patriotic ambition. In the following Hetao battlefield, the first warrior of China let the Xiongnu taste the taste of repeated defeats.

The troops fell to Hetao and fought the Huns

At the end of the Warring States Period, the flames of war were everywhere. The state of Qin swept the six states of the Central Plains as a single state and established the first feudal empire in Chinese history. While fighting in the Central Plains, in the north of China, there was always active fierce people who were good at riding and shooting, the Xiongnu, who took advantage of the war in the Central Plains to harass the northern countries. At the same time when Qin unified the Central Plains, they took the opportunity to cross the Yellow River and occupied a large area of land south of Hetao, which directly threatened the security of Xianyang, the capital of Qin, and became the last trouble of the whole empire. At this time, the first Emperor of Qin sent a general to attack the Xiongnu in the north. This was general Meng Tian.

In 215 B. C., the First Emperor of Qin, with Meng Tian as his commander, commanded 300,000 Qin troops to attack the Xiongnu in the north. On the banks of the Yellow River, the Qin army, dominated by infantry, fought a life-and-death battle with the Xiongnu cavalry. In the upper reaches of the Yellow River (today's Ningxia and Inner Mongolia Hetao area), Meng Tian's army defeated all the Xiongnu armies, forcing the Xiongnu to flee 700 li to the north of the desert. In Han Dynasty, Jia Yi commented on the state of Xiongnu at that time: "dare not go south and herd horses." In the first battle, Meng Tian crushed the mighty Huns, leaving them in rout and running. The Huns did not dare to enter the Han land for several decades, and Meng Tian was extremely successful. Meng Tian commanded a heavy army to sit in Shangjun (now Yulin City, Shaanxi Province). To strengthen the defensive line in the Hetao area, he built a fort and a fort to the north of the Hetao Yellow River (now Wula Mountain, Inner Mongolia) as an outpost of the Yellow River defensive line. This battle brought more than ten years of a stable social environment to the north and created conditions for the development of the Hetao area. Meng Tian's brave battle, surprise victory, and the defeat of Xiongnu is the biggest battle of his life, people praised him as "the first warrior of China".

Solo battle to break the myth of invincibility

When unified China was just created, Meng Tian had no chance to enjoy the glory of a founding hero but shouldered a more arduous mission -- the north to settle Xiongnu. In 221 B.C., Meng Tian led an army to conquer the capital of Qi and achieve the unification of the country that the Emperor had long dreamed of. While the Xianyang city was celebrating the victory, news of frequent harassment and massive invasion of the Xiongnu came from the northern border of Qin. The Xiongnu troops killed and set fire to people and robbed their livestock. At this time, the state of Qin had just been unified. People's minds were fixed, and the army and people were tired of war. Regardless of years of hard work, Meng Tian accepted the order "North by Rong Di", to recover the Hetao area.

Facing the provocation of Xiongnu, Qin Shihuang chose Meng Tian to lead his army. There are probably two reasons for this. First, Meng Tian, who had been guarding the northern border for years in his youth, was very familiar with the warfare of the Xiongnu, which could not be compared with the veteran generals who had been fighting in the Central Plains for years. Second, Meng Tian was the general with the most offensive spirit and field warfare ability in the Qin army. Other generals in the Qin Dynasty mostly fought the tough battles in the Central Plains and had little experience in the field battles against the Xiongnu on the northern steppe.

In 215 BC, Meng Tian led a powerful army of three hundred thousand soldiers who were capable of fighting and marched day and night to the border pass. After setting up camp, he sent his men to reconnoiter the enemy's situation, while climbing the mountains to see the terrain himself. In the first battle, they crushed the Huns and scattered the grassland. In the spring of 214 BC, the most decisive battle of all took place. Meng Tian and the Xiongnu fought several wars north of the Yellow River, and the main force of the Xiongnu suffered heavy losses. At last, the Huns were completely defeated and fled to the infinite north. It IS recorded IN historical books that the Huns traveled more than seven hundred li to the north.

Meng Tian did not live up to the public expectations, the first World War set Hetao, and beat the Huns to death. Jia Yi also once described that "Hu people dare not go south and herd horses", which is the praise of the Hetao campaign. Later, when the Central Plains were in chaos again, the Huns did not dare to go into the Han territory, which had a lot to do with the war.

In the twenty-sixth year of the First Emperor (221 BC), Meng Tian was appointed as a general. He attacked Qi and was honored as Negishi (the highest administrative officer of the capital of the Qin Dynasty) for his achievements in defeating Qi. His younger brother Meng Yi was also appointed as the upper minister. Meng's brothers won the respect and favor of the first Emperor of Qin, Meng Tian as foreign affairs, Meng Yi often for internal planning, known as "loyal" at that time. No other general dares to compete with them.

After Qin unified the six States, Meng Tian was ordered to lead 300,000 troops to attack Xiongnu in the north. The recovery of Henan (now Inner Mongolia Hetao south Yikzhaomeng area), from Yuzhong (now Inner Mongolia Yijin Horo banner north) to Yinshan, set 34 counties. And crossed the Yellow River, occupied Yangshan, migration people to enrich Bian county. Later, the Great Wall was built from Lintao (now Minxian County, Gansu Province) in the west to Liaodong (now Liaoning Province) in the east, connecting the original Yan, Zhao, and Qin Great Walls as one. The Great Wall took advantage of the terrain and natural danger to set up a fortress, which effectively contained the southward advance of Xiongnu. After the emperor Qin was sent to tour the world open straight road, from Jiuyuan county (now southwest of Baotou city, Inner Mongolia) straight to Ganquan Palace, cut off mountains, filling canyons, a total length of 1800 li, but not completed. Meng Tian fought in northern Xinjiang for more than ten years and threatened the Xiongnu.

People arrow - - war fixed universe

After this battle, the Qin army was invincible and Meng Tian became the most outstanding general in the Qin Empire. But Meng Tian is remembered for more than just being a general. He had many talents unmatched by any other general of his time. Meng Tian's talent is second to none in the whole state of Qin. No one can match him. Even Li Si, prime minister of the state of Qin, sighed: "General Meng Tian far exceeds me in many aspects."

Analyzing the battle from a purely military point of view, we believe that it must have been a different way of fighting the Xiongnu. Because the Qin dynasty did not have as many horses as the Han Dynasty, the number of cavalries was far less than the Han Dynasty. Therefore, Qin's attack was mainly based on the combination of riding on foot and chariots. In Records of the Grand Historian, it is recorded that Qin led the way with chariots, arrows like locusts, and the army on foot and horseback followed, and the Huns were defeated. It can be seen that this is a heavy vehicle-based combat method.

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