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his own throat.x With the death of Hsiang, Liu Pang completed his conquest of the
main kingdoms. He now took the title of emperor and changed his
QDPHWR.DRWLEHFRPLQJWKH¿UVWPHPEHURIWKH+DQG\QDVW\Challenges to the Han
x The Han dynasty was challenged by a dangerous confederation of
northern nomads. These were the Xiong-nu, a group of tough and
militant horse archers from the area of what is today Mongolia.x In 200 B.C., Kao-ti led an expedition against the Xiong-nu that
turned into a disaster. His army was surrounded by a horde of
Xiong-nu. Unable to deal with the threat by military means, Kao-ti
had to adopt a policy of appeasement, paying tribute to the nomads
and providing hostages.x In the aftermath, the Han undertook military reforms that placed a
greater emphasis on the use of cavalry so that they could counter
the mobility of the Xiong-nu with their own rapidly moving forces.x By 130 B.C., the Han launched a series of aggressive raids against
the Xiong-nu. The emperor who oversaw these campaigns was Wu-
ti; his subordinates managed to push back the Xiong-nu in a series
of campaigns and secure the northern frontier. Because of these
campaigns, China would permanently control the territories through
which ran the eastern section of what would become known as the
Silk Road.Li Ling against the Xiong-nu
x In 99 B.C., the Chinese general Li Ling led 5,000 infantry into
Mongolia, but through an apparent miscommunication, his
supporting cavalry force did not arrive. Li Ling continued to
advance and was surrounded at the Tien Shan Mountains by 30,000
Xiong-nu horsemen.