The Xiongnu Empire once dominated Europe.
In the middle of A.D. 1 century, Xiongnu, who was active in the Mongolian Plateau, was repeatedly defeated by the Eastern Han Dynasty in China and squeezed by the emerging Xianbei people in the Mongolian Plateau, and had to move westward. After 300 years, history books rarely mention the whereabouts of Xiongnu. In the 4th century A.D., this mysterious nation appeared in Europe and roamed the Don grassland on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea.
In 375 AD, the Huns began to expand on a large scale. They attacked the Danube to the west and destroyed the countries established by Alan and ostrogoths, conquered Armenia to the south and reached Persia and Syria. Huns are famous for their cruelty, and they often leave ruins and bones wherever they go. After the Huns invaded the Hungarian grassland, they settled down temporarily. In 433 AD, Xiongnu Khan became the head of ministries in Attila and established a strong centralization. From the Volga River in the east, the Rhine River in the west and the Danube River in the south, a huge empire appeared. During Attila's 20-year reign, Buda, the capital of Xiongnu, became the political center of Europe, where envoys from various countries gathered to pay tribute and express their obedience. The Xiongnu Empire entered its heyday.
Xiongnu nemesis and Attila are brothers.
In the 5th century, the Roman Empire was in turmoil. In the conflict with the barbarian regime, it became more and more powerless and had to acquiesce in their independent status. Just then, a great figure in the history of the Roman Empire appeared. His name is Achilles. Achilles was born in a noble family in Gaul, and his father Gordon Jones made many meritorious military service in the western Roman army, and finally became the cavalry commander of the western Roman Empire, and was made an earl. Achilles spent his adolescence among Goths and Huns. As a hostage, Achilles met many Xiongnu nobles. With the support of Huns, Achilles quickly emerged in Roman politics and became the governor of Gaul in the western Roman Empire. In Gaul, he fought against barbarians such as Visigoths, Franks, Alan, etc., and won many battles and became famous.
Achilles and Attila have known each other since childhood and are very close friends. Achilles once found Attila a knowledgeable private secretary to help Attila manage diplomacy; He also sent his son to Attila to learn riding and shooting. Achilles hoped to coexist peacefully with the Xiongnu Empire. He knew that it was very hard for West Rome to deal with the Germanic barbarians in China, and he could never make bad friends with Xiongnu again. The hostage experience in his youth gave Achilles a deep understanding of the Huns. He is familiar with the tactics of the Huns and knows exactly what their weaknesses are. Achilles' efforts won peace for the Western Roman Empire for more than 20 years. During this period, Attila attacked the Eastern Roman Empire many times, but she always lived in peace with the Western Roman Empire. However, the dispute of interests made the two friends finally draw swords against each other, and Achilles' rich experience made him a veritable Xiongnu nemesis.
Want women and land in western Rome
The ambitious Attila had long coveted the prosperity of Gaul and Italy. In 449 AD, the sister of Honoria, the emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was found to be having an affair with the guards. Emperor Valentinian sent her to a monastery and put her under house arrest. Romantic Honoria secretly wrote to Attila for help and made a promise to each other. Attila immediately asked the western Roman emperor for Honoria and asked the western Roman empire to take half of the land as a dowry. Such an excessive and humiliating request was rejected by the western Roman emperor. So Attila used this as an excuse to launch a war against Western Rome.
In 450 AD, Attila assembled the Xiongnu army and 500,000 servants of the conquered people and launched an attack on Gaul in western Rome. With the fall of Gaul, Attila's soldiers pointed to the famous city of Orleans. Attila's army's ravages of northern Gaul shocked all barbarians in the western Roman Empire, and everyone realized that they could not fight the Huns alone. Arches seized the opportunity of uniting the enemy and ran around, and finally United with barbarians to establish a United front against Xiongnu. Gauls, Germanic barbarians all over Spain, and even the Celtic tribes in Britain sent troops to support them. Theo Doric, the visigoth king who fought Archie for 20 years, led the troops to help him personally. When Attila stationed troops at the gates of Orleans, the western Roman Coalition forces in Achilles became stronger and stronger, gathering more than 500,000 people and officially launching a war against the Huns. The two former friends finally met on the battlefield.
1.6 million people died, and Attila miraculously survived.
Attila learned that the western Roman Coalition was approaching Orleans and immediately withdrew to the north. At the same time, Attila ordered the Xiongnu troops who plundered all parts of Gaul to gather in the Champagne Plain. Achilles led a great army followed, and the two armies met near Sharon on the Marne and started a decisive battle. As for the western Roman Coalition, Achilles led the western Roman legion to form the left wing, the Visigoth army was on the right wing, and the Arameans and other barbarians were in the middle. Achilles' deployment was quite risky, because he put the weakest part of the western Roman Coalition in the middle, which made it very easy for the Xiongnu army to break through the center and cut off the western Roman front. On the other hand, the Xiongnu army that broke through the center was also in danger of being attacked by the western Roman Coalition forces. Arches faced his old friend Attila and went out.
A risky move. Attila was tit for tat, leading the Huns to ride in the middle, leaving ostrogoths on the left and other barbarian troops on the right.
On September 20, 45 1 year, the two armies fought a decisive battle in Sharon. In this campaign, both sides invested more than 6.5438+0 million troops. Xiongnu allied forces attacked first. Under the cover of arrows and rain, the Xiongnu elite rode like lightning and rushed to the center of the western Roman Coalition forces. The central front composed of barbarians could not resist, and was deeply inserted by tarquin in a wedge shape. At this point, tarquin began to turn left and outflanked the Visigoth army. Attila is a keen observer of the war situation. He knew that the western Roman legion could not resist the most violent attack of the Huns. But the Visigoths are stronger than Ma Zhuang and a powerful enemy. If we can destroy them, we will win. He organized the two wings of the Xiongnu Coalition forces to press up together, and the battle has turned into a melee, and the situation of the Western Roman Coalition forces is critical. Although the fighting lasted only five hours, there were bodies everywhere and rivers of blood, and 6,543.8+0.6 million people were killed.
The powerful Visigoths saved the Western Roman Union. Theo Doric, the Visigoth king who was over sixty, personally led the armored cavalry to fight back. As a result, the arrow fell and he was trampled to death by the visigoth soldiers who followed closely. The Visigoths who lost their leader only had a moment of panic, and quickly restored order under the command of Prince torres Monte. The fierce counterattack of the Visigoth cavalry drove the Huns back, and tarquin, who had nowhere to go, ran head-on into the shield line of the left-wing Western Roman Legion and fell under the javelin. At this time, ostrogoths, the left wing of Xiongnu, could not resist the impact of Visigoth warriors and took the lead in fleeing, thus ending the battle of Shalong.
Attila was forced to lead the remnants of the Huns to retreat to the camp on the banks of the Marne. The caravan of the Huns was connected end to end, and the archers gathered in the middle, forming a fairly solid defense line. Attila built a hill with a wooden saddle and put all his gold, silver, jewels and concubines on it. He sat in the middle, intending to set himself on fire once the western Roman army broke through his camp.
The arch let Attila go at the critical moment. This outstanding leader of western Rome has a long-term political vision. He believes that the great threat of the Western Roman Empire is not the Huns, but the Gaul barbarians. The invasion of Xiongnu as a foreign enemy can make barbarians headed by Visigoths frightened and have to continue to cooperate with the Western Roman Empire. If Attila dies, the Xiongnu Empire will surely collapse, and the Gaul barbarians will definitely turn their backs on the Western Roman Empire.
Attila died in her new house.
Attila narrowly escaped the battle of Sharon and only lived for two years. In the past two years, he organized troops to attack the Eastern Roman Empire in an attempt to save the decline of the Xiongnu Empire. In 453 AD, Attila married a Germanic bride, Ildico, who was as drunk as a fiddler at the wedding reception. The next day, when they entered the new house, they found Attila's blood vessel ruptured, she died in a pool of blood, and his bride was shivering at the corner of the bed. At that time, some people thought that Attila died of circulatory diseases, while others suspected that Ildico had murdered Attila. At Attila's funeral, Huns cut off their hair, punctured their cheeks and mourned their monarch with blood. Attila's coffin is divided into three layers: the outermost layer is iron, the second layer is silver, and the innermost layer is gold to symbolize his immortal achievements. The Huns stopped the water in a river, buried Attila's body under the dry river bed, and then opened the gate to release water. All the slaves involved in the construction were put to death, so that future grave robbers had no chance. His grave has not been found so far.
After Attila's death, his sons fought a civil war for Khan's position, and the Xiongnu Empire collapsed. In 454 AD, ostrogoths formed an alliance with the Gypsies and defeated the Huns in Hungary. Since then, the Huns have been forced to retreat to the southern Russian grassland. In 46 1 year, one of Attila's sons tried to rebuild the Xiongnu empire and launched the Eastern Gothic War in the Danube River basin, but failed. In 468, he launched a war against the Eastern Roman Empire. As a result, he died on the battlefield. From then on, the Huns were completely silent until they were forgotten by history.