Battle of Mayi

Part of the Han–Xiongnu War

Date	June, 133 BC
Location	Shuozhou, Shanxi
Result	Aborted by Xiongnu retreat

Belligerents

Xiongnu

Han Dynasty

Commanders and leaders

Junchen Shanyu

Han Wudi
Wang Hui
Han Anguo
Li Xi
Li Guang
Gongsun He

Strength

100,000 cavalry

270,000 infantry at Mayi, 30,000 infantry at Dai Prefecture

Casualties and losses

None

None, other than the capture of a low-profile outpost sentry

The Battle of Mayi (馬邑之戰) was an abortive ambush operation by the Han Dynasty against the invading Xiongnu forces, with minimal casualties. It marked the end of de jure peace between the Han Dynasty and Xiongnu. It also stimulated the use of effective cavalry forces and offensive military policies by the Han court.

Before the Battle of Mayi, there had been two main encounters between the Chinese and the Xiongnu. During the Warring States period, General Li Mu of the State of Zhao defeated the Xiongnu by luring them deep inside Zhao territory and ambushing them. With similar tactics, General Meng Tian of the Qin Dynasty drove the Xiongnu north for 750 km and built the Great Wall to guard against future raids.

After the humiliating defeat of Emperor Gao by Modu Shanyu at Baideng in 200 BC, the Han Dynasty was forced to resort to political appeasement in order to decrease the scale of Xiongnu hostility. However, despite the periodic gifts and heqin ("marriage alliance"), border townships and villages were still ravaged by nomads, as the prosperous Chinese lands attracted Xiongnu raids.

After seven decades, the Han Dynasty had built up its strength. Emperor Wu maintained a policy of peace early in his reign, but the court began to formulate ideas of striking a major blow against the Xiongnu. The traditional Chinese strategy was to lure the Xiongnu cavalry into Chinese territory, on terrain where the Chinese army, composed almost entirely of infantry and chariots, would be at an advantage.

In 133 BC, at the suggestion of Wang Hui, the minister of vassal affairs, Emperor Wu had his army set a trap for the Xiongnu Shanyu at the city of Mayi. A powerful local trader/smuggler, Nie Wengyi (聶翁壹; also known as Nie Yi (聶壹)), deceptively claimed to Junchen Shanyu that he had killed the local magistrate and was willing to offer the city to the Xiongnu. The plan was to entice the Shanyu's forces into advancing on Mayi so that a Han force 300,000 strong, hidden around the area, could ambush them.

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Wikipedia