The Military Transformation Of The Northern Wei Dynasty And The Rise Of Han Generals

In the early days of the Northern Wei Dynasty,the army was mainly composed of about 200000 scattered Xianbei tribe soldiers.The army still had obvious grassland characteristics.For example,the Northern Wei army was mainly cavalry,with limited siege and supply capacity.At this time,the ruling area of the Northern Wei Dynasty was limited.Although the troops were not many,they could barely meet the needs of the Northern Wei Dynasty.When Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty unified the north.With the expansion of the Northern Wei Dynasty,the limited forces were not enough to guard the area.Therefore,the military system of the Northern Wei Dynasty changed during the reign of emperor Taiwu.During the reign of emperor Taiwu,the Northern Wei Dynasty established a large number of administrative organizations of military urbanization in the newly conquered areas.These military towns directly inherited or indirectly evolved from the military urbanization administrative areas of the Sixteen Kingdoms of the five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms.The newly expanded territory of the Northern Wei Dynasty is mainly the areas inhabited by Hu people in the north.This shows that after being conquered by the Northern Wei Dynasty,the Hu nationality was incorporated into the military town of the Northern Wei Dynasty.In addition to the changes in the composition of soldiers,the operational mode of the Northern Wei Dynasty also changed.First of all,the proportion of infantry in the army has greatly increased.Although the Xianbei army stationed in Pingcheng may still be composed of cavalry,the local town soldiers are mainly composed of infantry.Secondly,the cooperation of walking and riding and the urban battle are becoming more and more mature.In addition,at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Taiwu emperor,there were some Han generals in the Northern Wei army,mainly composed of the political losers in the south,who led their respective armies to cooperate with the main forces of the Northern Wei in the North-South border.However,with the stability of the Northern Wei Dynasty's rule inthe south of the Yellow River,these Han people will soon be transferred to the northern town and become one of the major members.This shows that in the early period of the Northern Wei Dynasty,the policy of "Hu Han partition" was continued.The army and generals of the Northern Wei Dynasty were still mainly composed of members of the Hu nationality,while the Han people were responsible for taxes,labor and so on.At that time,there was no growing environment for Han generals in the Northern Wei army.The purpose of Xiaowen emperor's reform and moving capital Luoyang is to highlight the legitimacy of the Northern Wei Dynasty's rule over the Central Plains.At this time,the Northern Wei regime was not monopolized by Xianbei.In order to ensure its own legitimacy,the Northern Wei had to absorb a large number of Han people into the regime.After Emperor Xiaowen took power,he deliberately supported the Han Scholars,many of whom were promoted to generals.These Han Dynasties will even become the key factor for the success of Luoyang,the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty.In terms of the composition of the soldiers,the proportion of the Han people in the Northern Wei Dynasty,whether in the central forbidden army or in the local army,increased greatly.The Han people may even occupy the majority of the local army.In addition,the Northern Wei army gradually gave up the cavalry fighting mode of emperor Taiwu.At this time,the Northern Wei army began to have a large number of garrisons in shangtun.In the war,infantry was the main force,and cavalry was the auxiliary.At that time,the Northern Wei army basically became the Central Plains army.After the capital moved to Luoyang,the military buffer zone between the north and the South was greatly compressed.The Northern Wei Dynasty launched large-scale military operations with the southern regime several times.The national power of the Northern Wei Dynasty was far superior to that of the Southern Dynasty,but in the war,the defeat was more than the victory,and the battle of Emperor Xiaowen did not win completely.The operational environment in Jianghuai area is not the same as that in the north.In the process of military transformation in the Northern Wei Dynasty,the old Xianbei generals could not adapt to the new war situation in the south.The military failure of the Northern Wei Dynasty is the pain in the process of military transformation.And the Han who isgood at water war and city war will start to rise in large numbers.The military generals of Han nationality in the Northern Wei Dynasty finally occupied the dominant position of the Northern Wei army.After the reform of Emperor Xiaowen,the change of the military system of the Northern Wei Dynasty is the key factor for the Han Dynasty to survive and grow.Since Wu Hu Luan Hua,the Han regime has been withdrawing to the south,but this does not mean the decline of the Han force in the Central Plains.Facing the pressure of the northern nationalities,the Han people gradually cultivated the warrior spirit.With the northern minorities entering the Central Plains,the riding and shooting style prevailed in northern China.Among the Han soldiers and generals,there are not a few who are good at riding and shooting.This kind of ethos not only enhances the fighting capacity of the Han people,but also shows that the Han people are not inferior to Xianbei in physique.The "Hu Han separation" system since the five Hu Sixteen States made the northern Han people lose the opportunity to fight.However,if there is an opportunity to rise,after adequate training,the Han people still have the power of World War I.