Li Ling (Han Dynasty) - Battle, Defeat and Defection

Battle, Defeat and Defection

In 99 BC, Emperor Wu ordered Li Guangli to lead 30,000 men for an offensive from Jiuquan against Xiongnu in the Tianshan region. Li Ling was assigned to provide escort for Li Guangli's supply line, a role Li Ling disliked very much. Li Ling therefore requested Emperor Wu to allow him to lead an individual regiment of his own to the east. Li Ling commented that he led a personal legion of "warriors from Jingchu and extraordinary swordsmen", who were capable of "strangling tigers and sharpshooting". Emperor Wu initially frowned at the idea, and warned Li Ling that there was no additional cavalry available to assign to him. Li Ling then bragged that he would crush the Chanyu's main tribe with nothing more than his 5,000 infantry. Impressed by Li Ling's enthusiasm, Emperor Wu agreed and gave him the go-ahead.

A senior general Lu Bode (路博德) was assigned to assist Li Ling. However, Lu did not like the idea of supporting Li in such a mission, and suggested Emperor Wu to delay the mission until spring as Xiongnu's fighting strength often peaked in autumn, so then they could attack with 5,000 men each from two columns. Emperor Wu was angry at Lu's request, thinking that Li Ling collaborated with Lu to do this because of fear towards battles. He then ordered Li's troops to mobilize immediately.

Li Ling's army marched north for 30 days, and sketched maps for the journey encountered. A junior officer named Chen Bule (陈步乐) was sent back to report about the progress. Upon seeing Emperor Wu, Chen started boasting tales of how hard Li Ling and his men had been fighting the enemy (very likely just bluffs, as Li Ling's advance had been unresisted up to this point). Pleasant with the good news, Emperor Wu promoted Chen as a reward.

Li Ling's troops, however, encountered the Chanyu's main forces upon arrival at Altay Mountains (浚稽山), and was quickly encircled by 30,000 cavalry between two mountains. With no supply and reinforcement (Li thought there was no need), Li ordered his troops to use the wagons as cover and form up for battle. Outnumbering the Han army so much, Xiongnu rashly attacked Li Ling's forces front-on, only to suffer heavy casualties under Han troop's crossbow barrage and the subsequent pursuit attack. The Chanyu then summoned 80,000 reinforcement troops, forcing Li Ling to battle hard while retreating into a valley, suffering significant casualties. Li Ling then found that his troopers were low in both morale and energy, leading him to search and kill many women secretly hidden in the wagons, who were serving as prostitutes for his soldiers. Li's forces then battled Xiongnu for another day, killing 3,000 enemies. He then retreated southeast for the next 4 to 5 days into a large reed swamp, where they managed to survive a fire attack. The Chanyu then sent his own son to command the pursuit, only to suffer further casualty when Li Ling's forces took refuge in a forest and repelled the attack with their repeating crossbows and melee combat. Up to this point, the Chanyu began to suspect that Li Ling was planning to draw them into an ambush close to the Han border, but decided to intensify the attacks as he considered it humiliating not able to defeat such as small forces.

For Li Ling, the situation went from bad to worse. The Xiongnu charges frequented over 20 times a day, and were only repelled after suffering another 2,000 casualty. However, a low-level officer from Li's army, Guan Gan (管敢), defected in retaliation to an insult from his superiors, bringing to Xiongnu the news that Li's forces were cut off from supplies and running out of arrows. Chanyu then pressed on his attacks from small mountain trails, trapping Li Ling into a valley, then proceeding to shoot the Han forces from above the cliffs. Li Ling's men returned shots from the bottom, depleted 500,000 arrows in one day, and was forced to abandon their wagon transports. The 3,000 remaining soldiers were in such a dire state that axles were chopped for use as weapons, and many officers resorted to daggers for combat. The Xiongnu forces then bombarded the Han troops with boulders, killing many.

One night, Li Ling left the camp refusing any followers, claiming that he was seeking to assassinate the Chanyu on his own. He returned in vain, crying pessimistically that they were solidly defeated and all going to die. His subordinates suggested the idea of a false surrender, as another Han general Zhao Ponu (趙破奴) previously had done, but Li Ling refused flatly, "Shut up! If I don't die in battle, I'm not a man!" He ordered his troops to destroy the flags and bury the jewels. Every soldier was given some food and ice, and told to wait and escape scattered altogether. In midnight the breakout began, but no one was there to even beat the battle drum. Li Ling and his second-in-command Han Yannian (韓延年), each with only a small escort, rode and fought under the pursuit of several thousand Xiongnu cavalry. After Han was killed in combat, Li Ling cried "I have no face to return and meet the Emperor!", and voluntarily surrendered himself to the Xiongnu. Out of his 5,000 men, only 400 made it out of the encirclement back to the border.