Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Western Hopei Operation
The Western Hopei Operation was one of the engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Three Infantry, one Cavalry and an artillery Regiment of the crossed to the south bank of the Yangtze River near Ichang to attack the Chinese positions there.
Underground Project 131
Underground Project 131 is a system of tunnels in 's Hubei province constructed in the late 1960s and the early 1970s to accommodate the command headquarters in case of a nuclear war. The facility was never fully completed or used, and is currently open to visitors as a tourist attraction.
The Project 131 site is located in the Gaoqiao Township of the Xian'an District of the Xianning prefecture-level city in Hubei Province.
It is about 15 km east of Xianning urban area, and 80 km south of central Wuhan.
With the increase of tensions in the late 1960s, the Chinese leaders deemed it prudent to construct a number of underground facilities to protect the country's population, military, as well as its command and control bodies, in case of a nuclear conflict. The best known of these facilities is Beijing's .
On January 31, 1969, a decision was made to construct an underground command headquarters for the country's military; the codename "131" for the project stems from this date . The PLA Chief of Staff, General Huang Yongsheng himself was in charge of the construction.
In 1981, the Project 131 site was turned over to the civilian authorities of the prefecture-level city of Xianning, where it is located. An upscale hotel and conference facility was created above the ground, while the tunnel system was turned into a tourist attraction. At present , the underground rooms were mostly bare, decorated with signs describing the purported use of each room, an occasional piece of period furniture, and a few maps dealing with China's military history. There are also some exhibits in the pavilions on the surface.
Huang Yongsheng's grave is also on the site.
Location
The Project 131 site is located in the Gaoqiao Township of the Xian'an District of the Xianning prefecture-level city in Hubei Province.
It is about 15 km east of Xianning urban area, and 80 km south of central Wuhan.
History
With the increase of tensions in the late 1960s, the Chinese leaders deemed it prudent to construct a number of underground facilities to protect the country's population, military, as well as its command and control bodies, in case of a nuclear conflict. The best known of these facilities is Beijing's .
On January 31, 1969, a decision was made to construct an underground command headquarters for the country's military; the codename "131" for the project stems from this date . The PLA Chief of Staff, General Huang Yongsheng himself was in charge of the construction.
Present state
In 1981, the Project 131 site was turned over to the civilian authorities of the prefecture-level city of Xianning, where it is located. An upscale hotel and conference facility was created above the ground, while the tunnel system was turned into a tourist attraction. At present , the underground rooms were mostly bare, decorated with signs describing the purported use of each room, an occasional piece of period furniture, and a few maps dealing with China's military history. There are also some exhibits in the pavilions on the surface.
Huang Yongsheng's grave is also on the site.
Jing Shan-Zhongxiang Campaign
Jing Shan – Zhongxiang Campaign was half a year long struggle in Hubei between the s and the communists for the control of Jing Shan and Zhongxiang regions during the Chinese Civil War and resulted in communist victory.
In the second half of 1947, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping and Li Xiannian decided to reestablish Jianghan Military Region by combining the communist 5th from southern Shaanxi and the communist force in western Hubei in the Dabie Mountains, and Zhao Jimei was named as the first commander. On December 14, 1947, under the new commander Zhang Caiqian , the communist force crossed the Beijing – Hankou railroad to strengthen their positions, and on December 20, 1947, the 1st Regiment of the communist Independent Brigade launched its assault on Jing Shan. Faced with overwhelming enemy force, the security battalion guarding the city was forced to retreat without a fight, but in the haste of retreat, the s failed to destroy abundant provisions stocked in the city, and thus provided the enemy with great resources, which proved to be fatal for the s in the subsequent battles in the region.
At 3:00 AM on December 22, 1947, the communists concentrated their forces by gathering three regiments to start their march toward Zhongxiang. The force was scattered to defend other isolated positions and thus was not able to regroup and reinforce the Zhongxiang which was defended by a single regiment. After an hour of fierce battle, all of the positions in the outskirt of the city fell and being cutoff by the attack enemy, the surviving defenders of these positions were forced to retreat to other directions instead of back into the city.
After witness the annihilation of the defenders outside the city wall, the defenders inside the city wall attempted to via the south gate, but they were beaten back into the city. At 4:00 PM, the final assault on the city begun under the cover of shelling of the positions from several dozen artillery pieces and machine gun fire from over 90 machine guns. The defenders were completely suppressed and the attacking enemy was able to breach the city wall at places of White Tiger Hall and Fuying Hall . The enemy assault team was able to subsequently breach the defense at the Great East Gate of the city wall, enabling the main force of the attacking enemy to enter the city via the gap. After several hours of brave and desperate but futile street fighting put up by the s, the defenders were completely wiped out by the enemy before dusk. The communists gathered 367 cadavers of the defenders in the battle to take Zhongxiang.
After the battle, the communists abandoned the city on December 25, 1947 according to the plan, and retreated to countryside with abundant provisions captured. The s returned to the empty city on {December 29, 1947, but the city was looted clean by the enemy, thus severely limiting the capabilities for any future operations. In contrary, the communists used the abundant supplies captured to boost their strength and solidify their gains in the rural regions surrounding the city, and it was only a matter of time before they retake the city. The s forced on the defensive were incapable of stopping the enemy and in June, 1948, Zhongxiang fell for the second time, and this time for good, with the s being permanently driven out.
The communist victory rooted in the correct strategy of controlling the rural regions surrounding the cities first, and then to take the cities with isolated enemy garrisons. The s, in contrary, managed to avoid heavy loss in the initial stage by not engaging the overwhelmingly strong enemy, but in doing so, allowed the enemy to loot important provisions in great quantity when they failed to destroy any provisions in retreats. As a result, the numerically superior force was not able to sustain themselves for any prolonged operations outside the city walls due to insufficient supply, and was thus gradually reduced in numbers in many small but consecutive engagements as the well supplied enemy attacked.
In the second half of 1947, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping and Li Xiannian decided to reestablish Jianghan Military Region by combining the communist 5th from southern Shaanxi and the communist force in western Hubei in the Dabie Mountains, and Zhao Jimei was named as the first commander. On December 14, 1947, under the new commander Zhang Caiqian , the communist force crossed the Beijing – Hankou railroad to strengthen their positions, and on December 20, 1947, the 1st Regiment of the communist Independent Brigade launched its assault on Jing Shan. Faced with overwhelming enemy force, the security battalion guarding the city was forced to retreat without a fight, but in the haste of retreat, the s failed to destroy abundant provisions stocked in the city, and thus provided the enemy with great resources, which proved to be fatal for the s in the subsequent battles in the region.
At 3:00 AM on December 22, 1947, the communists concentrated their forces by gathering three regiments to start their march toward Zhongxiang. The force was scattered to defend other isolated positions and thus was not able to regroup and reinforce the Zhongxiang which was defended by a single regiment. After an hour of fierce battle, all of the positions in the outskirt of the city fell and being cutoff by the attack enemy, the surviving defenders of these positions were forced to retreat to other directions instead of back into the city.
After witness the annihilation of the defenders outside the city wall, the defenders inside the city wall attempted to via the south gate, but they were beaten back into the city. At 4:00 PM, the final assault on the city begun under the cover of shelling of the positions from several dozen artillery pieces and machine gun fire from over 90 machine guns. The defenders were completely suppressed and the attacking enemy was able to breach the city wall at places of White Tiger Hall and Fuying Hall . The enemy assault team was able to subsequently breach the defense at the Great East Gate of the city wall, enabling the main force of the attacking enemy to enter the city via the gap. After several hours of brave and desperate but futile street fighting put up by the s, the defenders were completely wiped out by the enemy before dusk. The communists gathered 367 cadavers of the defenders in the battle to take Zhongxiang.
After the battle, the communists abandoned the city on December 25, 1947 according to the plan, and retreated to countryside with abundant provisions captured. The s returned to the empty city on {December 29, 1947, but the city was looted clean by the enemy, thus severely limiting the capabilities for any future operations. In contrary, the communists used the abundant supplies captured to boost their strength and solidify their gains in the rural regions surrounding the city, and it was only a matter of time before they retake the city. The s forced on the defensive were incapable of stopping the enemy and in June, 1948, Zhongxiang fell for the second time, and this time for good, with the s being permanently driven out.
The communist victory rooted in the correct strategy of controlling the rural regions surrounding the cities first, and then to take the cities with isolated enemy garrisons. The s, in contrary, managed to avoid heavy loss in the initial stage by not engaging the overwhelmingly strong enemy, but in doing so, allowed the enemy to loot important provisions in great quantity when they failed to destroy any provisions in retreats. As a result, the numerically superior force was not able to sustain themselves for any prolonged operations outside the city walls due to insufficient supply, and was thus gradually reduced in numbers in many small but consecutive engagements as the well supplied enemy attacked.
Jiangxia
Jiangxia may refer to:
An ancient Commandery in Hubei, China .
The modern Jiangxia District in the southern part of the City of Wuhan.
An ancient Commandery in Hubei, China .
The modern Jiangxia District in the southern part of the City of Wuhan.
Hubei Pocket
Hubei Pocket was a that took place in late July and early December 1864, after the end of Taiping Rebellion, in the Hubei of China. It was, for all intents and purposes, the final dagger in Taiping Rebellion's war effort, as more than 200,000 troops were taken prisoner, but remained 19,000 Taiping troops led by Lai Wenkwok broke out and step into southern Henan and combined Nien Rebellion 150,000 together, and prepare raised offensive to Empress Dowager Cixi in Beijing.
Chen Yucheng
Background
From 1854,Western Army of Taipings first commander was Wei June, Second was famous Chen Yucheng, Third was Chen Decai.
The battle
Reinforcement Nanjing but fail
Hong Xiuquan orderd the Western Army of Taipings save capital Nanjing quickly, but too late because forward and back full too much Qing army and cut off them between, Xiang Army occupied Nanjing in 19 July 1864 and finished 14 years Taiping Rebellion, then Western Army of Taipings commander was Chen Decai, vice commander was Lai Wenkwok.
Commander suicide
Chen command 200,000 soldiers, through 3 months dog fight, but over 130,000 soldiers led by general Ma Zongher surrender to Qing government. It forced Chen suicide in Huoshan County‘s mountains and general Lan was arrested in early November 1864. And announced Western Army of Taipings raised from occupied Wuhan on December 1852, fault 1 month just 12 years whole were step in history.
Historians guessed general Ma Zongher surrender by Wei June lobby.
Broke out
Another, Lai Wenkwok and general Liang Chengfu commanded less 100,000 Taiping wins some battles in northern Hubei. General Fan Ruzeng escaped from fallen Nanjing and led 4,000 remains join in them in middle September. Even 4,000 remains enough encouraged them excited. 3 they led 23,000 remains decided Broke out toward north and successed on november.
In december 1864, they allied northern Chinese religions, They choiced Lai Wenkwok lead them and Lai organized and military them, appointed every troop commanders named king of Taiping‘s, great Nien Rebellion raised！
Encirclement Campaign against Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet
The against Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet was a campaign launched by the Chinese Nationalist Government that was intended to destroy Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet and its Chinese Red Army in the local region. It was responded by the Communists’ Counter- at Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet , also called by the communists as the Counter- at Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Revolutionary Base , in which the local Chinese Red Army successfully defended their soviet republic in the southern Jiangxi province against the attacks from December, 1930 to May, 1931.
The communist 16th Army of the Chinese Red Army stationed at the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet launched a preemptive strike against the nationalist forces and succeeded in annihilating an entire nationalist regiment in Tong City in December, 1930 just before the nationalists launched their own attack on their communist enemy at the beginning of the campaign. As a result, nationalists had to withdraw temporarily to regroup, and wait for reinforcement. As the nationalists deployed more troops from other regions to Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet for the preparation to avenge their initial defeat, they had left other regions dangerously vulnerable to enemy attacks. Pounced on the opportunity, the communist forces of the Hunan-Jiangxi Soviet decided to help their comrades in Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet by striking the nationalists in two fronts: western Hunan and southeastern Hunan.
The communist offensives in western and southeastern Hunan were successful and in addition to obtaining more land, weaponry, money and supplies, the communist force of Hunan-Jiangxi Soviet also successfully linked up with the 7th Army of the Chinese Red Army at the border of Hunan and Guangdong. Nationalists were forced to redeploy their troops to face these newer threats that were much more urgent, and as a result, the planned offensives against communists at the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet had to be called off as troops were withdrawn for new assignments. Communists, however, would not let their adversary leave in peace, and the 16th Army of the Chinese Red Army launched another round of assaults on the retreating nationalists, annihilating eleven companies in the process. After the victory, the 16th Army of the Chinese Red Army was joined by the Independent 3rd Division of the Chinese Red Army, and succeeded in annihilating two more nationalist regiments.
The communist Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet was a communist base to the west of Jiangxi Soviet, the most important communist base prior to Long March. In comparison to other Soviet Republics, the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet was relatively small, and it was a collection of communist bases linked together by regions with strong communist guerrilla activities. After suffering defeats in their against Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet, the nationalists decided it was not worth the energy and resources to continue the effort, which should be concentrated on against major communist bases such as other communist Soviet Republics with much larger size, because as larger communist bases were eliminated, the smaller ones would not last for very long afterward either. As a result, the nationalists called off their against Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet, and the communists subsequently declared victory and continued to expand and consolidate their Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet.
The communist 16th Army of the Chinese Red Army stationed at the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet launched a preemptive strike against the nationalist forces and succeeded in annihilating an entire nationalist regiment in Tong City in December, 1930 just before the nationalists launched their own attack on their communist enemy at the beginning of the campaign. As a result, nationalists had to withdraw temporarily to regroup, and wait for reinforcement. As the nationalists deployed more troops from other regions to Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet for the preparation to avenge their initial defeat, they had left other regions dangerously vulnerable to enemy attacks. Pounced on the opportunity, the communist forces of the Hunan-Jiangxi Soviet decided to help their comrades in Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet by striking the nationalists in two fronts: western Hunan and southeastern Hunan.
The communist offensives in western and southeastern Hunan were successful and in addition to obtaining more land, weaponry, money and supplies, the communist force of Hunan-Jiangxi Soviet also successfully linked up with the 7th Army of the Chinese Red Army at the border of Hunan and Guangdong. Nationalists were forced to redeploy their troops to face these newer threats that were much more urgent, and as a result, the planned offensives against communists at the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet had to be called off as troops were withdrawn for new assignments. Communists, however, would not let their adversary leave in peace, and the 16th Army of the Chinese Red Army launched another round of assaults on the retreating nationalists, annihilating eleven companies in the process. After the victory, the 16th Army of the Chinese Red Army was joined by the Independent 3rd Division of the Chinese Red Army, and succeeded in annihilating two more nationalist regiments.
The communist Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet was a communist base to the west of Jiangxi Soviet, the most important communist base prior to Long March. In comparison to other Soviet Republics, the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet was relatively small, and it was a collection of communist bases linked together by regions with strong communist guerrilla activities. After suffering defeats in their against Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet, the nationalists decided it was not worth the energy and resources to continue the effort, which should be concentrated on against major communist bases such as other communist Soviet Republics with much larger size, because as larger communist bases were eliminated, the smaller ones would not last for very long afterward either. As a result, the nationalists called off their against Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet, and the communists subsequently declared victory and continued to expand and consolidate their Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet.
Central Hupei Operation
The Central Hupei Operation was one of the engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Known as the Central Hupei Operation, East and West of Hsiang River, in Japan it is called the 漢水作戦 . The battle lasted from November 25th to 30th, 1940.
After the battle of in the summer of 1940, the Japanese controlled and . The Chinese controlled the area east and west of the . Their lines extended from the southwest of Yuan-an via , north of , and the foothills of Ta-hung Shan, to the area northwest of astride both banks of the Hsiang River. The Wu-tang Mountains were on the right and the Tung-po Mountains on the left. In coordination with the guerilla forces in the southeast, the Chinese repeatedly struck at the Japanese forces that had penetrated to I-chang. As a result the Chinese believed that the Japanese forces at and found their flanks exposed and in a difficult position. To relieve themselves of this threat they launched an offensive against the Chinese forces in late November. Japanese sources say the purpose was to probe to find the location of the Army of Tang Enbo. If that was their purpose they were to be disappointed.
During early November the Japanese made preparations for their attack, repairing and constructing roads, bridges, defense works and airfields. Rations, ammunition, metal and rubber boats, were stored in the vicinity of . They also brought in additional troops into the area west of the Xiang River, estimated at five regiments bringing their strength to the equivalent of three Divisions. To the east at the Japanese increased their strength to a full division at along the Hsiang - Hua highway. They further brought in supporting units of tanks and artillery in these areas.
On November 23rd the Japanese 11th Army preparations were complete and their unit deployed in their attack positions in five major forces:
Kayashima Force at composed of the and elements of the under Lt. Gen Taka Kayashima commander of the 18th Independent Mixed Brigade.
Murakami Force, at [ ] , the under its commander Lt. Gen Keisaku Murakami.
Hirabayashi Force, at , composed of a portion of the 17th Division and Kurahashi Detachment under the commander of 17th Division, Lt-General Morito Hirabayashi.
Kitano Force north of Ching-shan in the vicinity of modern Shuanghe , composed of a potion of the and the Kususe Armored force under Lt. Gen Kenzo Kitano commander of the 4th Division.
Teshima Force at composed of the under its commander Lt. General Fusataro Teshima.
Li Zongren recognizing the Japanese build up foretold an attack, had his 5th War Area alerted. He ordered the River West Army Army Group , Right Army Group and Central Army Group to checking the coming Japanese advance by counterattacks on the flanks of their advancing columns when the opportunity presented itself.
On the morning of November 25, the Japanese began their attack in several columns.
On the Western Front between the Hsiang River and Tang-yang, over 1,000 Japanese from the Kayashima Force, advanced northward from Tang-yang toward Hengtien, and broke through the gap between the positions of the 179th and 37th Divisions of the Chinese 77th Corps at Yang-chi-ai.
Over 3,000 Japanese from Murakami Force from broke through the positions of the 27th Division of the Chinese 30th Corps toward Yen-chih-miao .
Meanwhile the Japanese Kitano Force moving northwest from Chu-chia-fu to Tung-lin-ling and divided into several columns to drive north deep into the Chinese position at Liang-shui-ching, Hsia-chia-tzu, and northeast toward Kuai-huo-pu. At night, the River West Army Group swung reseves into blocking positions from Heng-tien to Yen-chih-miao and Kuai-huo-pu.
On November 26, the Murakami Force reached Hsien-chu. On November 27th the Murakami Force attacked Liu-hou-chi and the two columns of Kitano Force attacked Li-chia-tang, both fighting bitterly for a day against the Chinese 30th Corps reserve, the 30th Division under Liu Chen-shan, who halted their advance. At dusk the Chinese 30th Corps launched a counterattack in force with elements of the 31st and 27th Divisions striking the Japanese rear areas. Unable to withstand this attack the Japanese retreated toward Ching-men and Chung-hsiang, with the Chinese in pursuit.
Meanwhile east of the Hsiang River on the Ching-Chung Highway Front the Japanese Hirabayashi Force massed more than 3,000 men in an attack on Changshoudien and Wang-chia-tien attempting to encircle the - Wu-lung-kuan line. On November 26th, the Japanese reinforced to 5,000 men, advanced a force east to , while the main force attacked Pien-chai, Wang-chia-ho and Yu-nan-men. Heavy fighting lasted until darkness ended the clash in a stalemate. On November 27th the Chinese 44th Corps counterattacked from Wang-chia-ho. Its converging attack with the main force of the 67th Corps towards the northwest, caused heavy casualties to the Japanese.
On November 25th the Japanese Teshima Force on the Sui Hsien Front launched a violent attack with a column of 2,000men from Liang-chui-kou on the Chinese 123rd Division at Lishan. Two additional columns of more than 1000 men each advanced west toward Ho-yuan-tien and Ching-ming-pu. By darkness, the Japanese reinforced. On November 26th the Japanese fought a bitter battle with the Chinese 124th and 127th Divisions at Chin-chi Shan and Ching-ming-pu. Another Japanese force of 700-800 men moved from Hsi-ho via Lang-ho-tien to Tang-chia-fan. Having been attacked by the 41st Corps, the Japanese in the vicinity of Ching-ming-pu linked up with their force at Chin-chi Shan and moved to the vicinity of Ho-yuantien on November 27th. At night, the Japanese force near Tang-chia-fan reached the vicinity of Huan-tan Chen to confront the Chinese 125th Division.
Since its objective was to break the Japanese force 5th War Area command directed its forces to keep secure key localities and take advantage of mountainous terrain to conduct ambushes to stop the invaders. Heavy fighting lasted until the 28th of November when the Japanese retreated. Chinese forces west of the Hsiang River continued their pursuit. The Japanese force in front of the Chinese Right Army Group was routed on the same day, retreating by several routes. Subjected to a converging attack by Chinese forces of the Central Army Group, the Japanese forces facing them in the area of Ho-yuan-tien, and Huan-tan Chen, fell back to high ground in the vicinity of Ho-yuan-tien and Tang-chia-fan and were encircled by the Chinese. The Japanese pulled a further 1,500-1600 infantry and cavalry from Sui Hsien and Yingshan via Shang-shih-tien and Sha-tien for a turning movement against the Chinese to retrieve the situation. Once again, the Japanese were ambushed. Under cover of airplanes and armour, the Japanese retreated toward Sui Hsien and Hsi-ho, as Chinese forces attacked along the line from Chun-chuan to Anchu, Li-shan, and Kao-cheng. On November 30th, the Chinese Army Groups recovered their original positions.
The Japanese operation resulted in the death of over 5,000 and the wounding of 7.000 -8,000 Japanese, over 1,000 bodies being left in the field according to Chinese sources. The Japanese had hoped to have a victory at the time of the establishment of the Wang Ching-wei regime so as to dampen Chinese morale. The effect was the opposite of what was hoped.
Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China.
Pg. 339-342.
Map 22.
Map and order of battle discussion and narative.
After the battle of in the summer of 1940, the Japanese controlled and . The Chinese controlled the area east and west of the . Their lines extended from the southwest of Yuan-an via , north of , and the foothills of Ta-hung Shan, to the area northwest of astride both banks of the Hsiang River. The Wu-tang Mountains were on the right and the Tung-po Mountains on the left. In coordination with the guerilla forces in the southeast, the Chinese repeatedly struck at the Japanese forces that had penetrated to I-chang. As a result the Chinese believed that the Japanese forces at and found their flanks exposed and in a difficult position. To relieve themselves of this threat they launched an offensive against the Chinese forces in late November. Japanese sources say the purpose was to probe to find the location of the Army of Tang Enbo. If that was their purpose they were to be disappointed.
Preparations
During early November the Japanese made preparations for their attack, repairing and constructing roads, bridges, defense works and airfields. Rations, ammunition, metal and rubber boats, were stored in the vicinity of . They also brought in additional troops into the area west of the Xiang River, estimated at five regiments bringing their strength to the equivalent of three Divisions. To the east at the Japanese increased their strength to a full division at along the Hsiang - Hua highway. They further brought in supporting units of tanks and artillery in these areas.
On November 23rd the Japanese 11th Army preparations were complete and their unit deployed in their attack positions in five major forces:
Kayashima Force at composed of the and elements of the under Lt. Gen Taka Kayashima commander of the 18th Independent Mixed Brigade.
Murakami Force, at [ ] , the under its commander Lt. Gen Keisaku Murakami.
Hirabayashi Force, at , composed of a portion of the 17th Division and Kurahashi Detachment under the commander of 17th Division, Lt-General Morito Hirabayashi.
Kitano Force north of Ching-shan in the vicinity of modern Shuanghe , composed of a potion of the and the Kususe Armored force under Lt. Gen Kenzo Kitano commander of the 4th Division.
Teshima Force at composed of the under its commander Lt. General Fusataro Teshima.
Li Zongren recognizing the Japanese build up foretold an attack, had his 5th War Area alerted. He ordered the River West Army Army Group , Right Army Group and Central Army Group to checking the coming Japanese advance by counterattacks on the flanks of their advancing columns when the opportunity presented itself.
Order of Battle Central Hupei Operation
The Offensive
On the morning of November 25, the Japanese began their attack in several columns.
On the Western Front between the Hsiang River and Tang-yang, over 1,000 Japanese from the Kayashima Force, advanced northward from Tang-yang toward Hengtien, and broke through the gap between the positions of the 179th and 37th Divisions of the Chinese 77th Corps at Yang-chi-ai.
Over 3,000 Japanese from Murakami Force from broke through the positions of the 27th Division of the Chinese 30th Corps toward Yen-chih-miao .
Meanwhile the Japanese Kitano Force moving northwest from Chu-chia-fu to Tung-lin-ling and divided into several columns to drive north deep into the Chinese position at Liang-shui-ching, Hsia-chia-tzu, and northeast toward Kuai-huo-pu. At night, the River West Army Group swung reseves into blocking positions from Heng-tien to Yen-chih-miao and Kuai-huo-pu.
On November 26, the Murakami Force reached Hsien-chu. On November 27th the Murakami Force attacked Liu-hou-chi and the two columns of Kitano Force attacked Li-chia-tang, both fighting bitterly for a day against the Chinese 30th Corps reserve, the 30th Division under Liu Chen-shan, who halted their advance. At dusk the Chinese 30th Corps launched a counterattack in force with elements of the 31st and 27th Divisions striking the Japanese rear areas. Unable to withstand this attack the Japanese retreated toward Ching-men and Chung-hsiang, with the Chinese in pursuit.
Meanwhile east of the Hsiang River on the Ching-Chung Highway Front the Japanese Hirabayashi Force massed more than 3,000 men in an attack on Changshoudien and Wang-chia-tien attempting to encircle the - Wu-lung-kuan line. On November 26th, the Japanese reinforced to 5,000 men, advanced a force east to , while the main force attacked Pien-chai, Wang-chia-ho and Yu-nan-men. Heavy fighting lasted until darkness ended the clash in a stalemate. On November 27th the Chinese 44th Corps counterattacked from Wang-chia-ho. Its converging attack with the main force of the 67th Corps towards the northwest, caused heavy casualties to the Japanese.
On November 25th the Japanese Teshima Force on the Sui Hsien Front launched a violent attack with a column of 2,000men from Liang-chui-kou on the Chinese 123rd Division at Lishan. Two additional columns of more than 1000 men each advanced west toward Ho-yuan-tien and Ching-ming-pu. By darkness, the Japanese reinforced. On November 26th the Japanese fought a bitter battle with the Chinese 124th and 127th Divisions at Chin-chi Shan and Ching-ming-pu. Another Japanese force of 700-800 men moved from Hsi-ho via Lang-ho-tien to Tang-chia-fan. Having been attacked by the 41st Corps, the Japanese in the vicinity of Ching-ming-pu linked up with their force at Chin-chi Shan and moved to the vicinity of Ho-yuantien on November 27th. At night, the Japanese force near Tang-chia-fan reached the vicinity of Huan-tan Chen to confront the Chinese 125th Division.
Since its objective was to break the Japanese force 5th War Area command directed its forces to keep secure key localities and take advantage of mountainous terrain to conduct ambushes to stop the invaders. Heavy fighting lasted until the 28th of November when the Japanese retreated. Chinese forces west of the Hsiang River continued their pursuit. The Japanese force in front of the Chinese Right Army Group was routed on the same day, retreating by several routes. Subjected to a converging attack by Chinese forces of the Central Army Group, the Japanese forces facing them in the area of Ho-yuan-tien, and Huan-tan Chen, fell back to high ground in the vicinity of Ho-yuan-tien and Tang-chia-fan and were encircled by the Chinese. The Japanese pulled a further 1,500-1600 infantry and cavalry from Sui Hsien and Yingshan via Shang-shih-tien and Sha-tien for a turning movement against the Chinese to retrieve the situation. Once again, the Japanese were ambushed. Under cover of airplanes and armour, the Japanese retreated toward Sui Hsien and Hsi-ho, as Chinese forces attacked along the line from Chun-chuan to Anchu, Li-shan, and Kao-cheng. On November 30th, the Chinese Army Groups recovered their original positions.
Results
The Japanese operation resulted in the death of over 5,000 and the wounding of 7.000 -8,000 Japanese, over 1,000 bodies being left in the field according to Chinese sources. The Japanese had hoped to have a victory at the time of the establishment of the Wang Ching-wei regime so as to dampen Chinese morale. The effect was the opposite of what was hoped.
Sources:
Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China.
Pg. 339-342.
Map 22.
Map and order of battle discussion and narative.
Campaign to Suppress Bandits in the Border Region of Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan
Campaign to Suppress Bandits in the border region of the Hubei-Hunan-Sichuan was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the fought against the Kuomintang guerrilla left behind after the nationalist government withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was actually fought after the Chinese Civil War was declared over by the PRC in Beijing a year earlier, and took place in the border regions of the following three Chinese provinces: Hubei, Hunan, and Sichuan, and resulted in communist victory. This campaign was part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Central and Southern China.
Nationalists
Anticommunist Salvation Army of the Huan-Hubei-Sichuan Border Region commanded by Qu Boping
*Military and Political Committee of the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan Border Region commanded by Shi Xingzhou
Temporarily Organized 5th Division commanded by Cao Zhenya
Communists
*Two battalions of the 421st Regiment of the 141st Army
*2nd Battalion of the 422nd Regiment of the 141st Army
*Units of the 423rd Regiment of the 141st Army
*Units of the Independent Regiment of communist Enshi Military Sub-District.
*Units of the Laifeng county battalion.
Communists decided to eradicate more than ten thousand nationalist guerrillas mostly consisted of bandits in the border region of Huan-Hubei-Sichuan, in a vast area bordered by Laifeng county in Hubei in the north, Sangzhi and Shuishun in the east, Yongsui county and Baojing County in Hunan in the south, and in the west. Communist western Hunan Military Sub-District formed the Northern Front Bandit Eradication Command, and made plans with other communist forces in adjacent regions under the direction of communist Hunan Military District.
On October 15, 1950, communists attacked the nationalist stronghold in the Dragon Mountain in multiple directions. After more than twenty days of fighting, more than four thousand bandits were annihilated in the northern part of the Dragon Mountain by two battalions of the 421st Regiment of the communist 141st Division. In the meantime, communist troops of the communist Enshi Military Sub-District killed over nineteen hundred bandits of the nationalist Anticommunist Salvation Army of Huan-Hubei-Sichuan Border Region in the Dragon Mountain. Another twelve hundred bandits also surrendered. The commander of the nationalist Anticommunist Salvation Army of the Huan-Hubei-Sichuan Border Region, Qu Boping , with only several bodyguards left was eventually forced to surrender to the communists on November, 1950 with the remaining survivors.
To the southwest of the Dragon Mountain, the other band of bandits was also badly mauled by the attacking communists in the border region of Sichuan – Hunan. As the nationalist survivors attempted to flee into Sichuan, they were beaten back by the communist forces of the communist Military Sub-District. The 2nd Battalions of the 422nd Regiment of the communist 141st Division launched a mop up operation with the help of other communist units and succeeded in killing more than nine hundred bandits. The nationalist commander of the bandit, Shi Xingzhou , was eventually forced to surrender with the last survivors to the communists after holding out for more than twenty days.
The remnant of the nationalist Temporarily Organized 5th Division fled to the north of Yongshun County, where they were surrounded by units of the 421st Regiment and units of the 423rd Regiment of the communist 141st Division, and units of the Independent Regiment of communist Enshi Military Sub-District. In the battle at Nine Dragons Mountain, Cao Zhenya , the commander of the nationalist Temporarily Organized 5th Division was killed and the surviving fifteen hundred nationalist guerrillas were completely annihilated. The campaign concluded with communist victory and in addition to annihilating over ten thousand bandits, including more than a hundred and ten nationalist commanders, the communists also managed to capture over seven thousand guns.
Order of battle
Nationalists
Anticommunist Salvation Army of the Huan-Hubei-Sichuan Border Region commanded by Qu Boping
*Military and Political Committee of the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan Border Region commanded by Shi Xingzhou
Temporarily Organized 5th Division commanded by Cao Zhenya
Communists
*Two battalions of the 421st Regiment of the 141st Army
*2nd Battalion of the 422nd Regiment of the 141st Army
*Units of the 423rd Regiment of the 141st Army
*Units of the Independent Regiment of communist Enshi Military Sub-District.
*Units of the Laifeng county battalion.
Campaign
Communists decided to eradicate more than ten thousand nationalist guerrillas mostly consisted of bandits in the border region of Huan-Hubei-Sichuan, in a vast area bordered by Laifeng county in Hubei in the north, Sangzhi and Shuishun in the east, Yongsui county and Baojing County in Hunan in the south, and in the west. Communist western Hunan Military Sub-District formed the Northern Front Bandit Eradication Command, and made plans with other communist forces in adjacent regions under the direction of communist Hunan Military District.
On October 15, 1950, communists attacked the nationalist stronghold in the Dragon Mountain in multiple directions. After more than twenty days of fighting, more than four thousand bandits were annihilated in the northern part of the Dragon Mountain by two battalions of the 421st Regiment of the communist 141st Division. In the meantime, communist troops of the communist Enshi Military Sub-District killed over nineteen hundred bandits of the nationalist Anticommunist Salvation Army of Huan-Hubei-Sichuan Border Region in the Dragon Mountain. Another twelve hundred bandits also surrendered. The commander of the nationalist Anticommunist Salvation Army of the Huan-Hubei-Sichuan Border Region, Qu Boping , with only several bodyguards left was eventually forced to surrender to the communists on November, 1950 with the remaining survivors.
To the southwest of the Dragon Mountain, the other band of bandits was also badly mauled by the attacking communists in the border region of Sichuan – Hunan. As the nationalist survivors attempted to flee into Sichuan, they were beaten back by the communist forces of the communist Military Sub-District. The 2nd Battalions of the 422nd Regiment of the communist 141st Division launched a mop up operation with the help of other communist units and succeeded in killing more than nine hundred bandits. The nationalist commander of the bandit, Shi Xingzhou , was eventually forced to surrender with the last survivors to the communists after holding out for more than twenty days.
The remnant of the nationalist Temporarily Organized 5th Division fled to the north of Yongshun County, where they were surrounded by units of the 421st Regiment and units of the 423rd Regiment of the communist 141st Division, and units of the Independent Regiment of communist Enshi Military Sub-District. In the battle at Nine Dragons Mountain, Cao Zhenya , the commander of the nationalist Temporarily Organized 5th Division was killed and the surviving fifteen hundred nationalist guerrillas were completely annihilated. The campaign concluded with communist victory and in addition to annihilating over ten thousand bandits, including more than a hundred and ten nationalist commanders, the communists also managed to capture over seven thousand guns.
Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang
The Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang , also known as the Battle of Zaoyi was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The Japanese were seeking a quicker solution to achieve a Chinese surrender. The Japanese contemplated moving directly down the Yangtze to the relocated Chinese capital, Chongqing. To do so, they would need to capture a critical town in western Hubei province, Yichang.
The Japanese attack did not commit much troops or materiel, which enabled the main Chinese commander, Li Zongren, who had frustrated the Japanese before, to repel the Japanese.
Order of Battle: Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang
Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung , Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China. Page 334-339, Map 20, 21
*
*Japanese Map of the battle and discussion about Japanese units and leaders involved
The Japanese were seeking a quicker solution to achieve a Chinese surrender. The Japanese contemplated moving directly down the Yangtze to the relocated Chinese capital, Chongqing. To do so, they would need to capture a critical town in western Hubei province, Yichang.
The Japanese attack did not commit much troops or materiel, which enabled the main Chinese commander, Li Zongren, who had frustrated the Japanese before, to repel the Japanese.
Order of Battle: Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang
Sources:
Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung , Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China. Page 334-339, Map 20, 21
*
*Japanese Map of the battle and discussion about Japanese units and leaders involved
Battle of Yiling (208)
The Battle of Yiling of 208 between Zhou Yu under Sun Quan and Cao Ren under Cao Cao during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms era in China was an integral part of the Red Cliffs campaign, fought immediately after the major engagement at Wulin in the Battle of Red Cliffs. The Battle of Yiling was also the prelude to the Battle of Jiangling that immediately followed.
Immediately after the decisive defeat of Cao Cao at Wulin in the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhou Yu led his thirty thousand strong force proceeded to the Jiangling , the next target of their overall strategy of their Red Cliffs campaign, and camped cross from the Yangtze River on the southern bank. Cao Ren’s staunch resistance made it obvious that the possibility of a quick victory that Zhou Yu had anticipated was impossible to achieve, so Gan Ning suggested a new plan of taking Yiling upstream, to the northwest of Jiangling.
As Jiangling was threatened from the rear, Cao Ren would be surrounded and his supply lines would be cut. If Cao Ren was to rescue Yiling, the force left to defend Jiangling would be reduced so Zhou Yu would face less resistance. Although Zhou Yu agreed with the idea, he was worried about Cao Cao and his unscathed northern thrust not too far away in the north, which was at least four times bigger than his 30,000 member strong force, so he could not afford to split his force. Gan Ning volunteered to lead his own troop of 700 to take Yiling and Zhou Yu agreed.
Cao Cao's force
*General Subduing the South Cao Ren stationed in Jingling
**Guanghan Administrator Xi Su stationed at Yiling ,later defected to Sun Quan
Sun Quan force
*General in the Center Protecting the Army Zhou Yu was named as commander-in-chief of the allied force
**Captain Praising the Army Lu Su was named as Zhou Yu’s deputy
**Viceroy on the Right Cheng Pu
**Danyang Protector - Supervisor Huang Gai was named as the vanguard of the allied navy
**Hengye General of the Imperial Garrison Lü Meng
**Dangkou Governor Gan Ning
**General of the Imperial Garrison Han Dang
**Yichun Mayor Zhou Tai
**General Subduing Barbarians Sun Ben
**Captain of Strong Might Lu Xun
**Captain of Military Ferocity Pan Zhang
**Protect-Supervisor Inheriting Fierceness Ling Tong
The commander of Yiling, Guanghan Administrator Xi Su was originally ’s subject and hated Cao Cao, and once Gan Ning’s troops reached Yiling, Xi Su surrendered without a fight. As Gan Ning’s troops reached a thousand, Zhou Yu wanted to reassign Xi Su and his 300 troops to Lü Meng to strengthen the main force. Lü Meng realized it was a wrong decision and directly appealed to Sun Quan to ask not reassign the Xi Su and his 300 troops to him, but instead, keep them with Gan Ning to strengthen the defense of Yiling, and Sun Quan agreed. Learning the news of the fall of Yiling, Cao Ren immediately gathered all available troops to form a 6,000 strong rescue force. Under intense pressure, Gan Ning remained calm and stabilized defenders’ morale. As Gan Ning’s request for reinforcement reached Zhou Yu, he was reluctant to split his force for the rescue at first. Once again, Lü Meng saved the day by convincing Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu to carry out the rescue.
Zhou Yu left Ling Tong in charge of a token force to guard the main camp at Jiangling to face Cao Ren and Xu Huang, while he led the main army with every other commander to directly attack Cao Ren’s force besieging Yiling. Cao Ren’s force outside the city wall of Yiling did not expected Zhou Yu would ignore Cao Ren and Xu Huang at Jiangling, and would rescue Yiling with a huge army, and thus consequently was defeated when attacked from both sides, suffering more than 3,000 casualties. Meanwhile, Ling Tong deceived Cao Ren into believing that there was still a sizable force left in the main camp of Easter Wu at Jiangling, and thus neither sending more reinforcement to Yiling nor attacking the Easter Wu’s main camp at Jiangling. Lü Meng once again demonstrated his capability by providing a plan to capture enemy’s horses: he would lead 300 soldiers to cover enemy’s retreating road with bundles of fire woods so that horses could not pass but people could. As Lü Meng expected, in order to escape the enemy hot on their trail, Cao Ren’s cavalry abandoned their horses and fled back to Jiangling on foot. Zhou Yu returned to his main camp at Jiangling with over 300 horses captured from the enemy and Yiling was firmly in the allies’ hands for the remainder of the war.
The fall of Yiling meant that the supply route to Jiangling over land was completely severed, and despite having plenty supplies, Jiangling would not last as the supply eventually ran out and Cao Ren was forced to abandon his stronghold and accept defeat after holding out for a year in the Battle of Jiangling, the next battle which immediately followed.
Prelude
Immediately after the decisive defeat of Cao Cao at Wulin in the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhou Yu led his thirty thousand strong force proceeded to the Jiangling , the next target of their overall strategy of their Red Cliffs campaign, and camped cross from the Yangtze River on the southern bank. Cao Ren’s staunch resistance made it obvious that the possibility of a quick victory that Zhou Yu had anticipated was impossible to achieve, so Gan Ning suggested a new plan of taking Yiling upstream, to the northwest of Jiangling.
As Jiangling was threatened from the rear, Cao Ren would be surrounded and his supply lines would be cut. If Cao Ren was to rescue Yiling, the force left to defend Jiangling would be reduced so Zhou Yu would face less resistance. Although Zhou Yu agreed with the idea, he was worried about Cao Cao and his unscathed northern thrust not too far away in the north, which was at least four times bigger than his 30,000 member strong force, so he could not afford to split his force. Gan Ning volunteered to lead his own troop of 700 to take Yiling and Zhou Yu agreed.
Order of battle
Cao Cao's force
*General Subduing the South Cao Ren stationed in Jingling
**Guanghan Administrator Xi Su stationed at Yiling ,later defected to Sun Quan
Sun Quan force
*General in the Center Protecting the Army Zhou Yu was named as commander-in-chief of the allied force
**Captain Praising the Army Lu Su was named as Zhou Yu’s deputy
**Viceroy on the Right Cheng Pu
**Danyang Protector - Supervisor Huang Gai was named as the vanguard of the allied navy
**Hengye General of the Imperial Garrison Lü Meng
**Dangkou Governor Gan Ning
**General of the Imperial Garrison Han Dang
**Yichun Mayor Zhou Tai
**General Subduing Barbarians Sun Ben
**Captain of Strong Might Lu Xun
**Captain of Military Ferocity Pan Zhang
**Protect-Supervisor Inheriting Fierceness Ling Tong
Battle
The commander of Yiling, Guanghan Administrator Xi Su was originally ’s subject and hated Cao Cao, and once Gan Ning’s troops reached Yiling, Xi Su surrendered without a fight. As Gan Ning’s troops reached a thousand, Zhou Yu wanted to reassign Xi Su and his 300 troops to Lü Meng to strengthen the main force. Lü Meng realized it was a wrong decision and directly appealed to Sun Quan to ask not reassign the Xi Su and his 300 troops to him, but instead, keep them with Gan Ning to strengthen the defense of Yiling, and Sun Quan agreed. Learning the news of the fall of Yiling, Cao Ren immediately gathered all available troops to form a 6,000 strong rescue force. Under intense pressure, Gan Ning remained calm and stabilized defenders’ morale. As Gan Ning’s request for reinforcement reached Zhou Yu, he was reluctant to split his force for the rescue at first. Once again, Lü Meng saved the day by convincing Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu to carry out the rescue.
Zhou Yu left Ling Tong in charge of a token force to guard the main camp at Jiangling to face Cao Ren and Xu Huang, while he led the main army with every other commander to directly attack Cao Ren’s force besieging Yiling. Cao Ren’s force outside the city wall of Yiling did not expected Zhou Yu would ignore Cao Ren and Xu Huang at Jiangling, and would rescue Yiling with a huge army, and thus consequently was defeated when attacked from both sides, suffering more than 3,000 casualties. Meanwhile, Ling Tong deceived Cao Ren into believing that there was still a sizable force left in the main camp of Easter Wu at Jiangling, and thus neither sending more reinforcement to Yiling nor attacking the Easter Wu’s main camp at Jiangling. Lü Meng once again demonstrated his capability by providing a plan to capture enemy’s horses: he would lead 300 soldiers to cover enemy’s retreating road with bundles of fire woods so that horses could not pass but people could. As Lü Meng expected, in order to escape the enemy hot on their trail, Cao Ren’s cavalry abandoned their horses and fled back to Jiangling on foot. Zhou Yu returned to his main camp at Jiangling with over 300 horses captured from the enemy and Yiling was firmly in the allies’ hands for the remainder of the war.
Outcome
The fall of Yiling meant that the supply route to Jiangling over land was completely severed, and despite having plenty supplies, Jiangling would not last as the supply eventually ran out and Cao Ren was forced to abandon his stronghold and accept defeat after holding out for a year in the Battle of Jiangling, the next battle which immediately followed.
Battle of Xiaoting
The Battle of Xiaoting , also known as the Battle of Yiling , is a battle in 222 during the Three Kingdoms period in China. It was fought between Shu Han and Eastern Wu in the plains of . The decisive battle here halted Liu Bei's invasion of Wu and eventually led to his death.
Liu Bei, enraged at the execution of his sworn brother Guan Yu at the hands of the Kingdom of Wu in 219, led an attack force to the plains of . In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', it was dramatized by Luo Guanzhong to be 750,000 soldiers. Days before the Shu Kingdom mobilized its forces to attack Wu, , the other sworn brother of Liu Bei, was assassinated by his own subordinates in retribution for treating them unfairly. The fact that these conspirators fled to Wu further enraged Liu Bei, who attacked Wu blindly against his officers' advice. The ablest of Shu's generals and the best troops were committed to this one campaign of retribution, with the exception of Zhuge Liang, who was left in charge of the domestic affairs of Shu, and Zhao Yun, who was ordered to look after logistics.
Contrary to the dramatization of the ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', in which Shu Han had an impressive 750,000 strong army and enjoyed five to one numerical advantage over Eastern Wu, the actual number of troops Shu Han could gather was barely over 40,000. Eastern Wu gathered a total of more than 160,000 troops and thus enjoyed a nearly four to one numerical advantage over Shu Han. The insufficient number of troops was one of the reasons that doomed Liu Bei's attempt to retake Jing Province, and eventually caused his downfall and death.
Shu Han: Liu Bei's plan was to be carried out in several fronts and stages, with the vanguard force tasked to strike deep into the enemy territory at Yidao while the naval force was to take Yiling at the shore of the Yangtze River. Huang Quan's job was to guard the flank of the attacking force from possible attacks from Cao Wei. Additionally, Zhao Yun was stationed at Jiangzhou as backup, while Zhuge Liang stayed behind at Chengdu to help Liu Shan take care of domestic affairs.
*Commander-in-Chief: Liu Bei
*Frontline commander : Feng Xi
*Vanguard: Zhang Nan
*Naval commander: Wu Ban
*Deputy naval commander: Chen Shi
*Zhenbei General: Huang Quan
The total Shu force deployed in Wu was in excess of 40,000, and additional forces were mobilized in Shu, though they did not have the opportunity to participate in the battle.
Eastern Wu: Realizing its survival was at stake, Eastern Wu was thoroughly prepared and deployed its best commanders to defend important cities, and mobilized the largest concentration of troops available. Though was eventually ordered to take the overall command of Wu troops, this did not happen until the second half of the battle, and he was originally deployed as one of the many commanders.
*Commander-in-Chief: Lu Xun
*Zhengwei General Pan Zhang defending Zigui
*General Lu Yi defending at Wu county
*General Li Yi defending Ba Mountain
*General Liu A defending Xing Mountain
*Naval commander Song Qian defending Zhijiang
*Zhengxi General Lu Xun defending Yiling
*Andong General Sun Huan defending Yidao
*Zhaowu General Zhu Ran defending Jiangling with the help of general Han Dang
*Jianwu General Xu Sheng defending Danyang
*Suide General Zhuge Jin defending Gong'an
*Jianzhong General Luo Tong defending Chanling
*Pingwu General Bu Zhi defending Yiyang with the help of General Xianyu Dan
*Sun Quan stationed at Wuchang for support
Each general of Eastern Wu usually had around 10,000 troops under his command, and some of them had forces double the usual strength. The total Eastern Wu force that participated in the battle totaled in excess of 160,000, thus ensuring the numerical superiority over its enemy. This proved to be one of the important factors in its final victory.
Initially, generals of Eastern Wu had significantly underestimated the enemy's tenacity due to their numerical superiority. As the advancing Shu Han enemy took regions including Zigui , Wu county, Ba Mountain, and Xing Mountain, the Wu forces that ventured out their fortifications to engage the enemy were nearly annihilated. The initial defeat of Wu forced Sun Quan to adopt Lu Xun's strategy and name him the overall commander. Realizing that Shu Han forces were mostly infantry, much better in mountainous terrain than the Wu marines, Eastern Wu forces gave up territory and waited for the most opportune time to counterattack.
By January 222, Eastern Wu forces continued to retreat, letting Yiling be taken by Shu Han marines lead by Wu Ban and Chen Shi while at the same time, Liu Bei moved his headquarters forward to Zigui . Liu Bei did not stay at his new headquarters for long as Shu Han forces continued to make significant progress and pushed into the heart of Eastern Wu. In February 222, the vanguard of the Shu Han force reached deep behind enemy lines at Yidao and badly mauled the defending Eastern Wu force in engagements outside the city. Sun Huan and his surviving Eastern Wu troops retreated behind the city walls and a stalemate was reached. Meanwhile, the main force of Shu Han, led by Liu Bei, reached Xiaoting , where Lu Xun made his last stand. With Eastern Wu forces no longer retreating, another stalemate was reached.
As the supply lines from Chengdu grew longer, the Shu troops grew weary. As they advanced into Wu, the terrain became flatter, giving the Wu cavalry and navy a great advantage over the tired Shu infantry. Liu Bei deployed his troops in over fifty camps along the 350 km line from Wuxia to Yiling , while his vanguard force was another 150 km further away, isolated at Yidao . The tide would soon turn in favor of Eastern Wu. Lu Xun, the competent young strategist who was given command of the Wu forces at the second half of the Battle of Yiling, was well aware that Wu must continue to wait. This was much to the dismay of most generals of Eastern Wu. While many of Wu's older officers questioned putting such a youth in charge, Lu Xun had been hand-picked by the ruler Sun Quan as the successor to previous Eastern Wu commander Lü Meng and Lu Xun's strategy was accepted before he reached his new post.
Since the beginning of March, 222, under Lu Xun's direction, the Eastern Wu forces refused to fight any more in mountainous terrain and stayed in their forts, thus taking away Shu's battlefield advantage. As Shu's supplies dwindled, the summer came on. Summer in those regions was extremely hot that year, and killed off many plants and shrubs, as Yiling was right on the Yangtze River next to a great forest. Liu Bei's forces were camped right outside the forest when Lu Xun reached his command, and soon the summer heat started affecting morale. The morale of Shu Han troops dropped further when Liu Bei's planned ambush failed: he had over 8,000 troops hiding in valleys under the command of Wu Ban, while the old and weak ones were sent to challenge Eastern Wu forces, in the hope of luring Wu forces out of their forts to the ambush. However, Lu Xun was smart enough to ignore the trap, and Shu Han forces only wasted more valuable supplies in the unsuccessful deployment.
Lu Xun then adopted a waiting strategy similar to the one Sima Yi would later use against Zhuge Liang during the Northern Campaigns. Since the beginning of March, 222, Liu Bei's men challenged and taunted Lu Xun to send his forces out beyond his walls, but Lu Xun ordered his gates shut and refused to meet the taunts. Heat waves plagued Liu Bei's men during the standoff, and Liu Bei finally had to move his entire army, against 's advice, into the forest for shade, in the dead heat of summer. Liu Bei's fatal error was exploited shortly after, in July 222, when Lu Xun's saboteurs crept behind Liu Bei's camp through the use of the navy and set the entire Yiling camp on fire. The woods, fueled by dead plants and dry air, erupted into wildfires that could not be put out, and as Liu Bei's men rushed for the water, Wu archers shot them down. Furthermore, when Shu Han attempted a counterattack, Pan Zhang's forces rushed forward, breaking the lines as they reformed, making retaliation impossible. The Shu Han navy performed slightly better by barely managing a somewhat orderly retreat: a Shu Han civilian official of Yizhou serving in the navy, Cheng Ji led his force to remain and cover the retreat of others, and the Eastern Wu navy soon caught up with the slowly retreating rear guard of the Shu Han navy. Cheng Ji and his men were surrounded by the vanguard of the advancing Eastern Wu navy, but Cheng Ji personally held a halberd and joined the bloody fight, and led his men to sink all of the smaller boats of the Eastern Wu naval vanguard. However, such resistance was insufficient. When the main force of the Eastern Wu navy arrived, Cheng Ji and his men were killed. In the Romance of Three Kingdoms, the author chose a different death for Cheng Ji by depicting him committing suicide.
A rockslide at Ma'an Hills dealt the final blow when out of the original fifty Shu Han camps in the 350 km stretch, over forty were destroyed. Liu Bei attempted to lead his surviving force at the hills to make last stand, but Lu Xun would not allow it. Lu Xun ordered Zhu Ran to lead five thousand men to cut off Liu Bei's surviving force, and he led Xu Sheng and Han Dang to continue the attack, thus would not provide any chance for Liu Bei to regroup. Liu Bei was not able to make the stand he wanted, and over ten thousand Shu Han troops were killed at Ma'an Hills. As Liu Bei narrowly escaped with his life to Baidicheng with less than a thousand men, the remaining surviving camps were set ablaze by retreating Shu Han troops themselves in order to deter the pursuing Wu army. The isolated vanguard of Shu Han forces at Yidao 150 km further away from Yiling also completely perished, while at the same time while Shu Han commander Huang Quan, the General who Stablizes the North, and his deputies Shi He , the Administrator of the Southern Shire , and Pang Lin , with their surviving force of 318 cavalries at the northern shore were forced to surrender to Eastern Wu as they were cut off. As Liu Bei fled to Zigui , the Eastern Wu troops soon followed. The demoralized Shu troops were not able to hold their ground, and Liu Bei was forced to continue his flight. , the civilian administrative official of Jing province, was killed in the ensuing battle, but his death bought time for Liu Bei to escape . The local Shu Han military commander, General of Standards , Xiang Chong proved to be a capable officer and led an organized retreat without suffering any significant losses, while at the same time, safely escorting Liu Bei all the way back to safety several hundred mile away at the town of Yufu , later renamed as Young'an by Liu Bei before his death. For this great performance, Liu Bei promoted Xiang Chong to the rank of Viceroy . Xiang Chong was able to fend off repeated Eastern Wu attacks on the city until the Shu Han reinforcement led by Zhao Yun arrived. The Eastern Wu troops outside the city of Young'an were forced to camp in the mountains to the south of the city. Thus a stalemate was reached before Eastern Wu troops were eventually forced to retreat. Most of the capable Shu Han commanders were killed in the battle. Only Wu Ban and Chen Shi, the commanders of the Shu Han naval forces, managed to escape back to Shu Han.
Afterwards, the stress of the crushing defeat and the loss of his beloved generals took their toll. Extremely ill at the age of sixty-three, Liu Bei's life ended at Baidicheng. , Liu Bei's military adviser for the Wu Retribution Campaign and the person who had advised him not to camp in the forest, later died in an uprising in Wu Ling.
The Battle of Yiling in 222 sealed Shu Han's fate as most of the entire army was killed or captured in a period of two days. Thereafter Shu Han's power was directed by Zhuge Liang, who eventually established ties with Eastern Wu.
The prestige of such a victory established Eastern Wu as the undisputed ruler of southern Jing province. Lu Xun, the young general who defeated Liu Bei, won recognition throughout the land as a great strategist. This battle marked the beginning of Lu Xun's illustrious career within the Eastern Wu hierarchy, culminating in his becoming the Prime Minister of Eastern Wu.
Liu Bei's death also led to the ascension of his less capable son Liu Shan, who would eventually lead Shu Han to defeat.
*In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', the Wu general Gan Ning is slain by the barbarian king Shamoke, who was asked to participate by Liu Bei.
*The elderly Shu general Huang Zhong is also killed in battle by an arrow fired by the Wu general Ma Zhong.
*In reality, General Gan Ning and General Huang Zhong had both passed on before the campaign took place. Gan Ning died of illness and Huang Zhong most likely died of old age or illness.
*The Wu general Zhu Ran wasn't slain by Zhao Yun while pursuing Liu Bei. As a matter of fact, Zhu Ran outlived Zhao Yun.
*Pan Zhang wasn't killed by Guan Xing , but rather died of illness. *Similarly, the Wu generals Xie Jing, Li Yi, and Tan Xiong were not slain by Guan Xing and Zhang Bao .
*Prior to the battle, Ma Zhong wasn't slain by Mi Fang. Further, Mi Fang, who had defected to Wu while serving Guan Yu, never attempted to return to Liu Bei's service, but served Wu until his death.
*Zhuge Liang was never opposed to the Wu campaign, but stayed behind to defend Chengdu. Zhao Yun did oppose the campaign, however.
*The numbers in the novel are greatly exaggerated for Shu, stating that Liu Bei gathered around 750,000 troops including troops from the western Qiang tribe.
*Also, Lu Xun was trapped in Zhuge Liang's Stone Sentinel Maze while in pursuit of the fleeing Liu Bei. He was guided out by Huang Chengyan, Zhuge Liang's father-in-law, who explained the array to Lu Xun. Lu Xun then exclaimed that he can never top the genius of Zhuge Liang. While such a maze is rumored to exist, there is no proof that Lu Xun ever needed to pass through it.
In the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series for the Playstation 2, the Battle of Xiaoting, called the Battle of Yiling in the game, is a major turning point in the story. Players can follow history and burn the Shu camp to gain an advantage. The Stone Sentinel Maze also is a nuisance to players as the minimap is disabled upon entering.
Background
Liu Bei, enraged at the execution of his sworn brother Guan Yu at the hands of the Kingdom of Wu in 219, led an attack force to the plains of . In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', it was dramatized by Luo Guanzhong to be 750,000 soldiers. Days before the Shu Kingdom mobilized its forces to attack Wu, , the other sworn brother of Liu Bei, was assassinated by his own subordinates in retribution for treating them unfairly. The fact that these conspirators fled to Wu further enraged Liu Bei, who attacked Wu blindly against his officers' advice. The ablest of Shu's generals and the best troops were committed to this one campaign of retribution, with the exception of Zhuge Liang, who was left in charge of the domestic affairs of Shu, and Zhao Yun, who was ordered to look after logistics.
The battle
Contrary to the dramatization of the ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', in which Shu Han had an impressive 750,000 strong army and enjoyed five to one numerical advantage over Eastern Wu, the actual number of troops Shu Han could gather was barely over 40,000. Eastern Wu gathered a total of more than 160,000 troops and thus enjoyed a nearly four to one numerical advantage over Shu Han. The insufficient number of troops was one of the reasons that doomed Liu Bei's attempt to retake Jing Province, and eventually caused his downfall and death.
Order of battle
Shu Han: Liu Bei's plan was to be carried out in several fronts and stages, with the vanguard force tasked to strike deep into the enemy territory at Yidao while the naval force was to take Yiling at the shore of the Yangtze River. Huang Quan's job was to guard the flank of the attacking force from possible attacks from Cao Wei. Additionally, Zhao Yun was stationed at Jiangzhou as backup, while Zhuge Liang stayed behind at Chengdu to help Liu Shan take care of domestic affairs.
*Commander-in-Chief: Liu Bei
*Frontline commander : Feng Xi
*Vanguard: Zhang Nan
*Naval commander: Wu Ban
*Deputy naval commander: Chen Shi
*Zhenbei General: Huang Quan
The total Shu force deployed in Wu was in excess of 40,000, and additional forces were mobilized in Shu, though they did not have the opportunity to participate in the battle.
Eastern Wu: Realizing its survival was at stake, Eastern Wu was thoroughly prepared and deployed its best commanders to defend important cities, and mobilized the largest concentration of troops available. Though was eventually ordered to take the overall command of Wu troops, this did not happen until the second half of the battle, and he was originally deployed as one of the many commanders.
*Commander-in-Chief: Lu Xun
*Zhengwei General Pan Zhang defending Zigui
*General Lu Yi defending at Wu county
*General Li Yi defending Ba Mountain
*General Liu A defending Xing Mountain
*Naval commander Song Qian defending Zhijiang
*Zhengxi General Lu Xun defending Yiling
*Andong General Sun Huan defending Yidao
*Zhaowu General Zhu Ran defending Jiangling with the help of general Han Dang
*Jianwu General Xu Sheng defending Danyang
*Suide General Zhuge Jin defending Gong'an
*Jianzhong General Luo Tong defending Chanling
*Pingwu General Bu Zhi defending Yiyang with the help of General Xianyu Dan
*Sun Quan stationed at Wuchang for support
Each general of Eastern Wu usually had around 10,000 troops under his command, and some of them had forces double the usual strength. The total Eastern Wu force that participated in the battle totaled in excess of 160,000, thus ensuring the numerical superiority over its enemy. This proved to be one of the important factors in its final victory.
First stage
Initially, generals of Eastern Wu had significantly underestimated the enemy's tenacity due to their numerical superiority. As the advancing Shu Han enemy took regions including Zigui , Wu county, Ba Mountain, and Xing Mountain, the Wu forces that ventured out their fortifications to engage the enemy were nearly annihilated. The initial defeat of Wu forced Sun Quan to adopt Lu Xun's strategy and name him the overall commander. Realizing that Shu Han forces were mostly infantry, much better in mountainous terrain than the Wu marines, Eastern Wu forces gave up territory and waited for the most opportune time to counterattack.
By January 222, Eastern Wu forces continued to retreat, letting Yiling be taken by Shu Han marines lead by Wu Ban and Chen Shi while at the same time, Liu Bei moved his headquarters forward to Zigui . Liu Bei did not stay at his new headquarters for long as Shu Han forces continued to make significant progress and pushed into the heart of Eastern Wu. In February 222, the vanguard of the Shu Han force reached deep behind enemy lines at Yidao and badly mauled the defending Eastern Wu force in engagements outside the city. Sun Huan and his surviving Eastern Wu troops retreated behind the city walls and a stalemate was reached. Meanwhile, the main force of Shu Han, led by Liu Bei, reached Xiaoting , where Lu Xun made his last stand. With Eastern Wu forces no longer retreating, another stalemate was reached.
As the supply lines from Chengdu grew longer, the Shu troops grew weary. As they advanced into Wu, the terrain became flatter, giving the Wu cavalry and navy a great advantage over the tired Shu infantry. Liu Bei deployed his troops in over fifty camps along the 350 km line from Wuxia to Yiling , while his vanguard force was another 150 km further away, isolated at Yidao . The tide would soon turn in favor of Eastern Wu. Lu Xun, the competent young strategist who was given command of the Wu forces at the second half of the Battle of Yiling, was well aware that Wu must continue to wait. This was much to the dismay of most generals of Eastern Wu. While many of Wu's older officers questioned putting such a youth in charge, Lu Xun had been hand-picked by the ruler Sun Quan as the successor to previous Eastern Wu commander Lü Meng and Lu Xun's strategy was accepted before he reached his new post.
Since the beginning of March, 222, under Lu Xun's direction, the Eastern Wu forces refused to fight any more in mountainous terrain and stayed in their forts, thus taking away Shu's battlefield advantage. As Shu's supplies dwindled, the summer came on. Summer in those regions was extremely hot that year, and killed off many plants and shrubs, as Yiling was right on the Yangtze River next to a great forest. Liu Bei's forces were camped right outside the forest when Lu Xun reached his command, and soon the summer heat started affecting morale. The morale of Shu Han troops dropped further when Liu Bei's planned ambush failed: he had over 8,000 troops hiding in valleys under the command of Wu Ban, while the old and weak ones were sent to challenge Eastern Wu forces, in the hope of luring Wu forces out of their forts to the ambush. However, Lu Xun was smart enough to ignore the trap, and Shu Han forces only wasted more valuable supplies in the unsuccessful deployment.
Second stage
Lu Xun then adopted a waiting strategy similar to the one Sima Yi would later use against Zhuge Liang during the Northern Campaigns. Since the beginning of March, 222, Liu Bei's men challenged and taunted Lu Xun to send his forces out beyond his walls, but Lu Xun ordered his gates shut and refused to meet the taunts. Heat waves plagued Liu Bei's men during the standoff, and Liu Bei finally had to move his entire army, against 's advice, into the forest for shade, in the dead heat of summer. Liu Bei's fatal error was exploited shortly after, in July 222, when Lu Xun's saboteurs crept behind Liu Bei's camp through the use of the navy and set the entire Yiling camp on fire. The woods, fueled by dead plants and dry air, erupted into wildfires that could not be put out, and as Liu Bei's men rushed for the water, Wu archers shot them down. Furthermore, when Shu Han attempted a counterattack, Pan Zhang's forces rushed forward, breaking the lines as they reformed, making retaliation impossible. The Shu Han navy performed slightly better by barely managing a somewhat orderly retreat: a Shu Han civilian official of Yizhou serving in the navy, Cheng Ji led his force to remain and cover the retreat of others, and the Eastern Wu navy soon caught up with the slowly retreating rear guard of the Shu Han navy. Cheng Ji and his men were surrounded by the vanguard of the advancing Eastern Wu navy, but Cheng Ji personally held a halberd and joined the bloody fight, and led his men to sink all of the smaller boats of the Eastern Wu naval vanguard. However, such resistance was insufficient. When the main force of the Eastern Wu navy arrived, Cheng Ji and his men were killed. In the Romance of Three Kingdoms, the author chose a different death for Cheng Ji by depicting him committing suicide.
A rockslide at Ma'an Hills dealt the final blow when out of the original fifty Shu Han camps in the 350 km stretch, over forty were destroyed. Liu Bei attempted to lead his surviving force at the hills to make last stand, but Lu Xun would not allow it. Lu Xun ordered Zhu Ran to lead five thousand men to cut off Liu Bei's surviving force, and he led Xu Sheng and Han Dang to continue the attack, thus would not provide any chance for Liu Bei to regroup. Liu Bei was not able to make the stand he wanted, and over ten thousand Shu Han troops were killed at Ma'an Hills. As Liu Bei narrowly escaped with his life to Baidicheng with less than a thousand men, the remaining surviving camps were set ablaze by retreating Shu Han troops themselves in order to deter the pursuing Wu army. The isolated vanguard of Shu Han forces at Yidao 150 km further away from Yiling also completely perished, while at the same time while Shu Han commander Huang Quan, the General who Stablizes the North, and his deputies Shi He , the Administrator of the Southern Shire , and Pang Lin , with their surviving force of 318 cavalries at the northern shore were forced to surrender to Eastern Wu as they were cut off. As Liu Bei fled to Zigui , the Eastern Wu troops soon followed. The demoralized Shu troops were not able to hold their ground, and Liu Bei was forced to continue his flight. , the civilian administrative official of Jing province, was killed in the ensuing battle, but his death bought time for Liu Bei to escape . The local Shu Han military commander, General of Standards , Xiang Chong proved to be a capable officer and led an organized retreat without suffering any significant losses, while at the same time, safely escorting Liu Bei all the way back to safety several hundred mile away at the town of Yufu , later renamed as Young'an by Liu Bei before his death. For this great performance, Liu Bei promoted Xiang Chong to the rank of Viceroy . Xiang Chong was able to fend off repeated Eastern Wu attacks on the city until the Shu Han reinforcement led by Zhao Yun arrived. The Eastern Wu troops outside the city of Young'an were forced to camp in the mountains to the south of the city. Thus a stalemate was reached before Eastern Wu troops were eventually forced to retreat. Most of the capable Shu Han commanders were killed in the battle. Only Wu Ban and Chen Shi, the commanders of the Shu Han naval forces, managed to escape back to Shu Han.
Afterwards, the stress of the crushing defeat and the loss of his beloved generals took their toll. Extremely ill at the age of sixty-three, Liu Bei's life ended at Baidicheng. , Liu Bei's military adviser for the Wu Retribution Campaign and the person who had advised him not to camp in the forest, later died in an uprising in Wu Ling.
Aftermath
The Battle of Yiling in 222 sealed Shu Han's fate as most of the entire army was killed or captured in a period of two days. Thereafter Shu Han's power was directed by Zhuge Liang, who eventually established ties with Eastern Wu.
The prestige of such a victory established Eastern Wu as the undisputed ruler of southern Jing province. Lu Xun, the young general who defeated Liu Bei, won recognition throughout the land as a great strategist. This battle marked the beginning of Lu Xun's illustrious career within the Eastern Wu hierarchy, culminating in his becoming the Prime Minister of Eastern Wu.
Liu Bei's death also led to the ascension of his less capable son Liu Shan, who would eventually lead Shu Han to defeat.
Fictional events
*In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', the Wu general Gan Ning is slain by the barbarian king Shamoke, who was asked to participate by Liu Bei.
*The elderly Shu general Huang Zhong is also killed in battle by an arrow fired by the Wu general Ma Zhong.
*In reality, General Gan Ning and General Huang Zhong had both passed on before the campaign took place. Gan Ning died of illness and Huang Zhong most likely died of old age or illness.
*The Wu general Zhu Ran wasn't slain by Zhao Yun while pursuing Liu Bei. As a matter of fact, Zhu Ran outlived Zhao Yun.
*Pan Zhang wasn't killed by Guan Xing , but rather died of illness. *Similarly, the Wu generals Xie Jing, Li Yi, and Tan Xiong were not slain by Guan Xing and Zhang Bao .
*Prior to the battle, Ma Zhong wasn't slain by Mi Fang. Further, Mi Fang, who had defected to Wu while serving Guan Yu, never attempted to return to Liu Bei's service, but served Wu until his death.
*Zhuge Liang was never opposed to the Wu campaign, but stayed behind to defend Chengdu. Zhao Yun did oppose the campaign, however.
*The numbers in the novel are greatly exaggerated for Shu, stating that Liu Bei gathered around 750,000 troops including troops from the western Qiang tribe.
*Also, Lu Xun was trapped in Zhuge Liang's Stone Sentinel Maze while in pursuit of the fleeing Liu Bei. He was guided out by Huang Chengyan, Zhuge Liang's father-in-law, who explained the array to Lu Xun. Lu Xun then exclaimed that he can never top the genius of Zhuge Liang. While such a maze is rumored to exist, there is no proof that Lu Xun ever needed to pass through it.
In Popular culture
In the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series for the Playstation 2, the Battle of Xiaoting, called the Battle of Yiling in the game, is a major turning point in the story. Players can follow history and burn the Shu camp to gain an advantage. The Stone Sentinel Maze also is a nuisance to players as the minimap is disabled upon entering.
Battle of Xiangyang
The Battle of Xiangyang was a six-year battle between invading Yuan Dynasty armies founded by Mongols and forces between AD 1267 and 1273. After the battle, the victorious Yuan forces pushed farther into the Song heartland. Previously for 30 years, the Song Dynasty managed to handle several major offensives by the Mongols. The strategic significance of Xiangyang came from the fact that it is in a position dominating the Han river. Once the Yuan forces occupied Xiangyang, they could travel by ships down the Han river into the Yangtze river. After the Battle of Xiangyang, the Song Dynasty did not enjoy the protection of natural barriers any more and so it collapsed in just a few years. The final battle was the relatively short naval Battle of Yamen in 1279. Thus this battle was decisive.
The battle consisted of skirmishes, ground assault, and the siege of the twin fortified cities of Fancheng and Xiangyang in modern-day Hubei, China. Lü Wenhuan, commander-in-chief of the Southern Song Dynasty, surrendered to Kublai Khan in 1273. The conventional use of Mongolian cavalry was restricted by the woody terrain and numerous military outposts of the Southern Song Dynasty. Chinese firearms and cannons were employed by the Mongols in the victorious siege of Fancheng after capturing the outposts and relieving Chinese forces from Sichuan and Yuezhou, which broke through the siege but was eventually defeated. Especially effective proved the use of the counterweight trebuchet by the Mongols, as the ancient traction trebuchet was the only one known in China beforehand.
The Mongols, before the rule of Kublai Khan, had launched military campaigns as far as Eastern Europe, and had conquered Kievan Rus. However, Song Dynasty China was difficult to conquer because of the strategic location of Xiangyang, hence a vital position for Kublai to capture and hold. The city guarded the waterways of Southern China because the was a major tributary into the Yangtze River. Once the city fell, the Mongols obtained easy access into important Southern cities in China and the Southern Song would collapse shortly after.
However, taking Xiangyang was not easy. Southern Song knew the importance of this vital spot, and treated the defence of Xiangyang as important as defence of their capital. The city was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and a river on one side. Song stored massive amount of supplies inside the fortress, as preparation for long sieges. They also built high walls and towers on all four sides of the fortress. Each entrance of the fortress had at least two layers of walls, used to trap enemy sieging forces inside.
In 1133, the famous Song general Yue Fei led many successful campaigns against the , in the Xiangyang area. From there, he pushed the Jin army back north as far as Kaifeng. In 1234, the Jin Dynasty was conquered by the Mongols under the leadership of Ogedei. At that time, Mongols and the Southern Song dynasty were allies. After that, the two former allies did not have any common enemy. The Mongols set their eyes on Song.
In 1260, Kublai Khan was proclaimed successor to the throne after the death of his brother Mongke, as was his youngest brother Ariq Boke. The succession war between him and Ariq Boke began. Kublai Khan won the war eventually, though his claim as the successor to Mongke was only partially recognized by the Mongols in the west. In 1271, Kublai Khan adopted the dynasty name of "Yuan", establishing the Yuan Dynasty. After defeating his rivals and opponents in Mongolia and Northern China, Kublai Khan wanted to conquer Southern China also.
In 1267, Kublai Khan ordered an attack on Xiangyang, but suffered a major defeat. The famous Mongolian cavalry were powerful on open field battles, but in Xiangyang they were slaughtered by the Song defenders. Every time, Yuan forces would seem to have won, and enter the entrance of the fortress. But once inside, the Yuan forces would be slaughtered to the last man, while trapped between 4 walls. It took the Yuan forces a while to realize what was going on, and they retreated.
However, the defeat did not change the situation. Yuan must take Xiangyang in order to conquer the rest of Song. This humiliation also strengthened their determination to capture it. In 1268, the Yuan army returned to besiege Xiangyang, a siege that they would stay in until Xiangyang fell.
Yuan learned from their mistake, and this time brought along with them about a hundred trebuchets. These trebuchets had a shooting range of around 100 meters, and could use projectiles of around 50 kg. During Mongol campaigns against Jin, the Mongols used about 5,000 trebuchets, and they were very successful in destroying the Jin fortresses.
However, Song had expected a trebuchet siege, and made preparations beforehand. They had expanded the river in this area, to a width of over 150 meters. And in addition to reinforcing their walls, they made nettings, which they used to cover the walls during a trebuchet siege. As a result, the Yuan trebuchets had a hard time hitting the fortress, and the few lucky shots that did hit the wall bounced off harmlessly.
Yuan then started to block Xiangyang off from the rest of Song. A Yuan fleet of 5,000 ships was established, to stop any Song supplies from the Han river. Yuan also sent forces to go around the fortress, and set up camps at the key roads, to stop Song supplies from land. Eventually, Yuan built their own forts at these key locations.
From late 1267 to 1271, Song reinforcements from the south tried, many times, to attack the Yuan positions, in order to supply Xiangyang. Unfortunately, outside of Xiangyang, the Song forces were no match for the Mongolian cavalry. And once the Yuan forts were completed, the situation became hopeless. As a result, the Song forces inside Xiangyang had to depend on themselves.
But Song had stored years of supplies within Xiangyang. That said, by 1271, the fortress finally ran low on their supplies. Still, the Song troops chose to hang on.
Finally, in 1272, a small Song force of 3,000 men was able to break though the Yuan naval blockade, and supplied Xiangyang from the Han river. This was a major morale boost to the defenders. However, no one could not get back out. The Song emperor, considered that reinforcement lost and Xiangyang doomed to fall from the lack of supplies, did not send more Song reinforcements afterwards.
The dream of Song defending Xiangyang forever came to a crashing end on 1273, with the introduction of the counterweight trebuchet.
Guo Kan, one of top generals of the army of Hulagu Khan who founded the Ilkhanate in Persia, was called back to the Yuan court during the reign of Kublai Khan. He has brought back the counterweight trebuchet technology in the earlier conquest of Persia and Middle East. But real Persian experts Ismail and Al al-Din had not arrived in China by the order of Kublai until 1272. They had finished building powerful counterweight trebuchets by March, 1273. These counterweight trebuchets had a shooting range of 500 meters, and could launch projectiles weighing over 300kg. On top of their power, these new trebuchets were much more accurate than the old ones, and were the only artillery powerful enough to break the strong walls of Xiangyang. Yuan forces built about 20 of them, and used them to assist the siege of Xianyang.
Yuan started the siege with Fancheng in early 1273. Song soldiers in Xiangyang watched in horror as giant rock fall flew right over the gigantic walls of Fancheng, and hit the houses inside. The walls, with netting on them, crippled as if the walls were made of sand. And as soon as the walls fell, Mongolian cavalry stormed the fortress. Fancheng, after holding up for years, suddenly fell within a few days.
Yuan then turned their attention to Xiangyang. However, Lü Wenhuan did not give up, because he knew Xiangyang must not fall. He sent a messenger to the Song emperor, to request immediate reinforcements. The messenger successfully got by the Yuan forts and reached the emperor. But upon hearing the power of these new trebuchets, the emperor considered Xiangyang lost and did not send reinforcements.
For the next few days, Song soldiers looked to the south for reinforcements, but all they saw were Yuan counterweight trebuchets and more than 100,000 Mongolian cavalry waiting to end their lives. For years, the Song soldiers had hoped that the situation will eventually get better for them, but it only got worse.
In February, one testing shot was fired into the city, and the shot happened to hit a stone bridge inside. When the stone landed, it sounded like thunder. Song soldiers went to check the damage, and to their horror the stone had sunk a few feet into the solid ground.
Massive chaos occurred right after the testing shot. Many soldiers and civilians tried to open the gate and escape. Yuan told Lü Wenhuan that, if Song did not surrender, everyone inside, including all civilians, would be slaughtered. Lü Wenhuan, with no chance of defending the fortress any longer, and no reinforcements in sight, surrendered his forces, hence ending this long six year siege.
Xiangyang, the strongest fortress of the Song Dynasty, had fallen. As a result, Yuan forces were free to conquer the rest of southern China. Everywhere else Yuan went, Song fortresses fell like sand castles, due to the counterweight trebuchets and later, cannons.
Many people agree that the fall of Xiangyang essentially marked the end of the Song Dynasty. For the six years that Yuan sieged Xiangyang, Song were unable to regroup and strike back at Yuan with their resources in the south. In fact, they could not even get much reinforcements and supplies to Xiangyang, to support the hard working defense there.
The sieges of Fancheng and Xiangyang were also noteworthy for the introduction of the counterweight trebuchet in China from Persia as these new weapons proved to be decisive in forcing the surrenders of the two cities in 1273. Within a few days after the Yuan forces took up the bombardment of Fancheng by the counterweight trebuchet in March 1273, the city had been ripe for attack and successfully assaulted. Shortly afterwards, the Song commander of Xiangyang, realizing that the city could not withstand a similar attack, accepted the surrender terms of the Yuan.
The counterweight trebuchet was a relatively new type of ballistic siege engine which was much more powerful than the earlier traction trebuchets, which had existed in China for centuries. The origin of the counterweight trebuchet is obscure, but it appears to have been invented somewhere in the Mediterranean basin in the twelfth century. Many possible inventors have been hypothesized, including Emperor Alexios I Komnenos of Byzantium and the Muslim engineers of Saladin.
Since the Yuan employed Muslim engineers for the designing of the counterweight trebuchets, they were designated in Chinese historiography as the "Muslim" trebuchet . However, regarding the exact nature of the trebuchets used by the Mongol armies, recent research by Paul E. Chevedden indicates that the ''hui-hui pao'' was actually a European design, a double-counterweight engine that as Cheveddens shows had been introduced to the Levant by Holy Roman Emperor only shortly before. The Muslim historian Rashid al-Din refers in his universal history to the Mongol trebuchets used at the Song cities as "Frankish" or "European trebuchets" :
Before that there had not been any large Frankish catapult in Cathay , but Talib, a catapult-maker from this land, had gone to Baalbek and Damascus, and his sons Abubakr, Ibrahim, and Muhammad, and his employees made seven large catapults and set out to conquer the city .
The Chinese scholar Zheng Sixiao indicates that, "in the case of the largest ones, the wooden framework stood above a hole in the ground". Chevedden considers this to be clearly a description of the double-counterweight ''bricola'', since, according to him, that was the only counterweight piece of artillery that had a framework capable of being mounted in a hole in the ground and was commonly set up in this fashion. Thus, the fall of the Song cities was testimony to the wide diffusion of military technology which the Mongol conquests brought along.
Another version is given by Marco Polo in his book '''' where he claims having been responsible for teaching the Mongols how to build and use catapults during the siege of Xiangyang. However, the names of the Muslim engineers were given by Muslim sources as Talib and his sons Abubakr, Ibrahim, and Muhammad, respectively by Chinese sources as Ala-ud-Din and Isma'il. Moreover, the siege had already ended before Marco Polo's arrival in China.
In the wuxia novel ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'' by Jinyong, a battle at Xiangyang is the climax of the story, with the protagonists such as Yang Guo and Guo Jing participating in the defense of the city.
The battle consisted of skirmishes, ground assault, and the siege of the twin fortified cities of Fancheng and Xiangyang in modern-day Hubei, China. Lü Wenhuan, commander-in-chief of the Southern Song Dynasty, surrendered to Kublai Khan in 1273. The conventional use of Mongolian cavalry was restricted by the woody terrain and numerous military outposts of the Southern Song Dynasty. Chinese firearms and cannons were employed by the Mongols in the victorious siege of Fancheng after capturing the outposts and relieving Chinese forces from Sichuan and Yuezhou, which broke through the siege but was eventually defeated. Especially effective proved the use of the counterweight trebuchet by the Mongols, as the ancient traction trebuchet was the only one known in China beforehand.
Background
The Mongols, before the rule of Kublai Khan, had launched military campaigns as far as Eastern Europe, and had conquered Kievan Rus. However, Song Dynasty China was difficult to conquer because of the strategic location of Xiangyang, hence a vital position for Kublai to capture and hold. The city guarded the waterways of Southern China because the was a major tributary into the Yangtze River. Once the city fell, the Mongols obtained easy access into important Southern cities in China and the Southern Song would collapse shortly after.
However, taking Xiangyang was not easy. Southern Song knew the importance of this vital spot, and treated the defence of Xiangyang as important as defence of their capital. The city was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and a river on one side. Song stored massive amount of supplies inside the fortress, as preparation for long sieges. They also built high walls and towers on all four sides of the fortress. Each entrance of the fortress had at least two layers of walls, used to trap enemy sieging forces inside.
In 1133, the famous Song general Yue Fei led many successful campaigns against the , in the Xiangyang area. From there, he pushed the Jin army back north as far as Kaifeng. In 1234, the Jin Dynasty was conquered by the Mongols under the leadership of Ogedei. At that time, Mongols and the Southern Song dynasty were allies. After that, the two former allies did not have any common enemy. The Mongols set their eyes on Song.
In 1260, Kublai Khan was proclaimed successor to the throne after the death of his brother Mongke, as was his youngest brother Ariq Boke. The succession war between him and Ariq Boke began. Kublai Khan won the war eventually, though his claim as the successor to Mongke was only partially recognized by the Mongols in the west. In 1271, Kublai Khan adopted the dynasty name of "Yuan", establishing the Yuan Dynasty. After defeating his rivals and opponents in Mongolia and Northern China, Kublai Khan wanted to conquer Southern China also.
In 1267, Kublai Khan ordered an attack on Xiangyang, but suffered a major defeat. The famous Mongolian cavalry were powerful on open field battles, but in Xiangyang they were slaughtered by the Song defenders. Every time, Yuan forces would seem to have won, and enter the entrance of the fortress. But once inside, the Yuan forces would be slaughtered to the last man, while trapped between 4 walls. It took the Yuan forces a while to realize what was going on, and they retreated.
However, the defeat did not change the situation. Yuan must take Xiangyang in order to conquer the rest of Song. This humiliation also strengthened their determination to capture it. In 1268, the Yuan army returned to besiege Xiangyang, a siege that they would stay in until Xiangyang fell.
Failure of the old trebuchet
Yuan learned from their mistake, and this time brought along with them about a hundred trebuchets. These trebuchets had a shooting range of around 100 meters, and could use projectiles of around 50 kg. During Mongol campaigns against Jin, the Mongols used about 5,000 trebuchets, and they were very successful in destroying the Jin fortresses.
However, Song had expected a trebuchet siege, and made preparations beforehand. They had expanded the river in this area, to a width of over 150 meters. And in addition to reinforcing their walls, they made nettings, which they used to cover the walls during a trebuchet siege. As a result, the Yuan trebuchets had a hard time hitting the fortress, and the few lucky shots that did hit the wall bounced off harmlessly.
Yuan entrapment
Yuan then started to block Xiangyang off from the rest of Song. A Yuan fleet of 5,000 ships was established, to stop any Song supplies from the Han river. Yuan also sent forces to go around the fortress, and set up camps at the key roads, to stop Song supplies from land. Eventually, Yuan built their own forts at these key locations.
From late 1267 to 1271, Song reinforcements from the south tried, many times, to attack the Yuan positions, in order to supply Xiangyang. Unfortunately, outside of Xiangyang, the Song forces were no match for the Mongolian cavalry. And once the Yuan forts were completed, the situation became hopeless. As a result, the Song forces inside Xiangyang had to depend on themselves.
But Song had stored years of supplies within Xiangyang. That said, by 1271, the fortress finally ran low on their supplies. Still, the Song troops chose to hang on.
Finally, in 1272, a small Song force of 3,000 men was able to break though the Yuan naval blockade, and supplied Xiangyang from the Han river. This was a major morale boost to the defenders. However, no one could not get back out. The Song emperor, considered that reinforcement lost and Xiangyang doomed to fall from the lack of supplies, did not send more Song reinforcements afterwards.
New weapon of the Yuan
The dream of Song defending Xiangyang forever came to a crashing end on 1273, with the introduction of the counterweight trebuchet.
Guo Kan, one of top generals of the army of Hulagu Khan who founded the Ilkhanate in Persia, was called back to the Yuan court during the reign of Kublai Khan. He has brought back the counterweight trebuchet technology in the earlier conquest of Persia and Middle East. But real Persian experts Ismail and Al al-Din had not arrived in China by the order of Kublai until 1272. They had finished building powerful counterweight trebuchets by March, 1273. These counterweight trebuchets had a shooting range of 500 meters, and could launch projectiles weighing over 300kg. On top of their power, these new trebuchets were much more accurate than the old ones, and were the only artillery powerful enough to break the strong walls of Xiangyang. Yuan forces built about 20 of them, and used them to assist the siege of Xianyang.
Yuan started the siege with Fancheng in early 1273. Song soldiers in Xiangyang watched in horror as giant rock fall flew right over the gigantic walls of Fancheng, and hit the houses inside. The walls, with netting on them, crippled as if the walls were made of sand. And as soon as the walls fell, Mongolian cavalry stormed the fortress. Fancheng, after holding up for years, suddenly fell within a few days.
Yuan then turned their attention to Xiangyang. However, Lü Wenhuan did not give up, because he knew Xiangyang must not fall. He sent a messenger to the Song emperor, to request immediate reinforcements. The messenger successfully got by the Yuan forts and reached the emperor. But upon hearing the power of these new trebuchets, the emperor considered Xiangyang lost and did not send reinforcements.
For the next few days, Song soldiers looked to the south for reinforcements, but all they saw were Yuan counterweight trebuchets and more than 100,000 Mongolian cavalry waiting to end their lives. For years, the Song soldiers had hoped that the situation will eventually get better for them, but it only got worse.
In February, one testing shot was fired into the city, and the shot happened to hit a stone bridge inside. When the stone landed, it sounded like thunder. Song soldiers went to check the damage, and to their horror the stone had sunk a few feet into the solid ground.
Massive chaos occurred right after the testing shot. Many soldiers and civilians tried to open the gate and escape. Yuan told Lü Wenhuan that, if Song did not surrender, everyone inside, including all civilians, would be slaughtered. Lü Wenhuan, with no chance of defending the fortress any longer, and no reinforcements in sight, surrendered his forces, hence ending this long six year siege.
Aftermath
Xiangyang, the strongest fortress of the Song Dynasty, had fallen. As a result, Yuan forces were free to conquer the rest of southern China. Everywhere else Yuan went, Song fortresses fell like sand castles, due to the counterweight trebuchets and later, cannons.
Many people agree that the fall of Xiangyang essentially marked the end of the Song Dynasty. For the six years that Yuan sieged Xiangyang, Song were unable to regroup and strike back at Yuan with their resources in the south. In fact, they could not even get much reinforcements and supplies to Xiangyang, to support the hard working defense there.
Role of the counterweight trebuchet
The sieges of Fancheng and Xiangyang were also noteworthy for the introduction of the counterweight trebuchet in China from Persia as these new weapons proved to be decisive in forcing the surrenders of the two cities in 1273. Within a few days after the Yuan forces took up the bombardment of Fancheng by the counterweight trebuchet in March 1273, the city had been ripe for attack and successfully assaulted. Shortly afterwards, the Song commander of Xiangyang, realizing that the city could not withstand a similar attack, accepted the surrender terms of the Yuan.
The counterweight trebuchet was a relatively new type of ballistic siege engine which was much more powerful than the earlier traction trebuchets, which had existed in China for centuries. The origin of the counterweight trebuchet is obscure, but it appears to have been invented somewhere in the Mediterranean basin in the twelfth century. Many possible inventors have been hypothesized, including Emperor Alexios I Komnenos of Byzantium and the Muslim engineers of Saladin.
The design of the trebuchets deployed at Xiangyang
Since the Yuan employed Muslim engineers for the designing of the counterweight trebuchets, they were designated in Chinese historiography as the "Muslim" trebuchet . However, regarding the exact nature of the trebuchets used by the Mongol armies, recent research by Paul E. Chevedden indicates that the ''hui-hui pao'' was actually a European design, a double-counterweight engine that as Cheveddens shows had been introduced to the Levant by Holy Roman Emperor only shortly before. The Muslim historian Rashid al-Din refers in his universal history to the Mongol trebuchets used at the Song cities as "Frankish" or "European trebuchets" :
Before that there had not been any large Frankish catapult in Cathay , but Talib, a catapult-maker from this land, had gone to Baalbek and Damascus, and his sons Abubakr, Ibrahim, and Muhammad, and his employees made seven large catapults and set out to conquer the city .
The Chinese scholar Zheng Sixiao indicates that, "in the case of the largest ones, the wooden framework stood above a hole in the ground". Chevedden considers this to be clearly a description of the double-counterweight ''bricola'', since, according to him, that was the only counterweight piece of artillery that had a framework capable of being mounted in a hole in the ground and was commonly set up in this fashion. Thus, the fall of the Song cities was testimony to the wide diffusion of military technology which the Mongol conquests brought along.
Another version is given by Marco Polo in his book '''' where he claims having been responsible for teaching the Mongols how to build and use catapults during the siege of Xiangyang. However, the names of the Muslim engineers were given by Muslim sources as Talib and his sons Abubakr, Ibrahim, and Muhammad, respectively by Chinese sources as Ala-ud-Din and Isma'il. Moreover, the siege had already ended before Marco Polo's arrival in China.
Cultural references
In the wuxia novel ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'' by Jinyong, a battle at Xiangyang is the climax of the story, with the protagonists such as Yang Guo and Guo Jing participating in the defense of the city.
Battle of Xiangyang (191)
The Battle of Xiangyang in 191 was a battle between Sun Jian and Liu Biao during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period in China. Liu Biao emerged victorious against Sun Jian's forces. Shortly after their coalition had ousted Dong Zhuo from the capital city, Luoyang, Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao, two feudal lords vying for power, had formed alliances against one another, with Sun Jian and Gongsun Zan supporting Yuan Shu while Cao Cao and Liu Biao supported Yuan Shao. Sun Jian was asked by Yuan Shu to attack Liu Biao in order to extinguish Yuan Shao's influence in the southern half of China. Although Sun's forces initially outmanoeuvred and outfought Liu's, Sun Jian himself was killed in battle, forcing his army to retreat.
Sun Jian and his forces encountered the forces of Liu Biao's general, Huang Zu, between Fancheng and Deng . There, he easily routed Huang's forces and surrounded the city of Xiangyang itself. Within the confines of the city, Liu Biao again sent Huang Zu out, this time to make a surprise sortie. However, Huang was again defeated, and when he attempted to withdraw to the city once more, Sun Jian cut off his line of retreat, and he fled to Xianshan. Wishing to follow up on his success, Sun Jian pursued. According to Sun Jian's ''Sanguozhi'' biography, he was shot by a soldier in Huang Zu's unit who was hiding in a bamboo grove where he was carried off the battlefield and died. Other theories of Sun Jian's death include Sun Jian fighting in the wilderness and being killed, or being crushed to death by boulders thrown down from above in 193.
Sun Jian's death effectively ended the battle, although Liu's forces had suffered far more casualties. Huan Jie, one of Sun Jian's officers, successfully negotiated for Sun's corpse to be returned, and Sun Jian's army temporarily came under the control of Sun Jian's nephew, Sun Ben. Sun Ben then went to join Yuan Shu with most of Sun Jian's followers. Sun Ce, Sun Jian's eldest son, was given Sun Jian's marquisate, but chose to pass the position down to his youngest brother, Sun Kuang, who was still young.
The Battle of Xiangyang appears in video games such as ''Dynasty Warriors'', but the name of the battle changes with almost every release. After Sun Jian is killed, Sun Ce takes command of the army instead of Sun Ben. How Sun Jian dies changes with each game release possibly to reflect the confusion on how he died.
Battle
Sun Jian and his forces encountered the forces of Liu Biao's general, Huang Zu, between Fancheng and Deng . There, he easily routed Huang's forces and surrounded the city of Xiangyang itself. Within the confines of the city, Liu Biao again sent Huang Zu out, this time to make a surprise sortie. However, Huang was again defeated, and when he attempted to withdraw to the city once more, Sun Jian cut off his line of retreat, and he fled to Xianshan. Wishing to follow up on his success, Sun Jian pursued. According to Sun Jian's ''Sanguozhi'' biography, he was shot by a soldier in Huang Zu's unit who was hiding in a bamboo grove where he was carried off the battlefield and died. Other theories of Sun Jian's death include Sun Jian fighting in the wilderness and being killed, or being crushed to death by boulders thrown down from above in 193.
Aftermath
Sun Jian's death effectively ended the battle, although Liu's forces had suffered far more casualties. Huan Jie, one of Sun Jian's officers, successfully negotiated for Sun's corpse to be returned, and Sun Jian's army temporarily came under the control of Sun Jian's nephew, Sun Ben. Sun Ben then went to join Yuan Shu with most of Sun Jian's followers. Sun Ce, Sun Jian's eldest son, was given Sun Jian's marquisate, but chose to pass the position down to his youngest brother, Sun Kuang, who was still young.
Modern references
The Battle of Xiangyang appears in video games such as ''Dynasty Warriors'', but the name of the battle changes with almost every release. After Sun Jian is killed, Sun Ce takes command of the army instead of Sun Ben. How Sun Jian dies changes with each game release possibly to reflect the confusion on how he died.
Sources
Battle of West Hubei
The Battle of West Hubei , was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was also one of the four major battles that took place in Hubei. It resulted in a Chinese strategic victory, although they lost more troops than the , the Japanese were ultimately defeated.
Battle of Tianmen
The Battle of Tianmen was a battle between the s and the s immediately after World War II during the Chinese Civil War in Tianmen, Hubei, China and resulted in communist victory.
Like other similar clashes immediately after the end of World War II between the communists and the s in China, this conflict also rooted from the fact that Chiang Kai-shek had realized that his regime simply had neither the sufficient troops nor enough transportation assets to deploy his troops into the Japanese-occupied regions of China. Unwilling to let the communists who had already dominated most of the rural regions in China to further expand their territories by accepting the Japanese surrender and thus would consequently control the Japanese occupied regions, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the Japanese and their turncoat Chinese puppet regime not to surrender to the communists and kept their fighting capabilities to “maintain order” in the Japanese occupied regions, fighting off the communists as necessary, until the final arrivals and completion of the deployment of the troops. As a result, most members of the Japanese puppet regimes and their military forces rejoined the s.
However, it must be noted that most of these former s turned Japanese puppet regime forces were not from Chiang Kai-shek’s own clique, but instead, they were mainly consisted of troops of who were only nominally under the Chiang Kai-shek’s before World War II, since they were s in name only and mostly maintained their independent and semi-independent status. These were only interested in keeping their own power and defected to the Japanese side when Japanese invaders offered to let them keep their power in exchange for their collaborations. After the World War II, these forces of former Japanese puppet regimes once again returned to the camp for the same reason they defected to the Japanese invaders. Obviously, it was difficult for Chiang to immediately get rid of these warlords for good as soon as they surrendered to Chiang and rejoined s, because such move would alienate other factions within the ranks, and these former Japanese puppet regime's warlords could still help the s to gain more territories by holding on to what was under their control until Chiang completed the deployment of his own troops to takeover. Chiang Kai-shek’s objective was to simultaneously solve the problem that had plagued China for so long and the problem of the extermination of communism together, which proved to be an extremely fatal mistake for him and his regime later on, as shown in this conflict.
In accordance with his strategy to simultaneously solve the problem that had plagued China for so long and the problem of the extermination of communism together, Chiang Kai-shek and his followers had hoped that these former Japanese puppet regime's warlords who rejoined the s would be able to hold on to the regions long enough for Chiang to deploy his own troops by holding off communists. If the communists were victorious in such conflicts, however, the result would still benefit to Chiang and China because the power of these warlords would be reduced as their military forces were smashed by the communists, and the warlord problem plagued China for so long could thus be greatly reduced, while at the same time, communists would be weakened by the fights and Chiang's own troops would have easier time to take control.
For the former turned Japanese puppet regime forces, these s and their troops had no problem of following Chiang Kai-shek’s orders, and they were eager to prove themselves. These s and their troops were well aware that due to the collaboration with the Japanese invaders during the Second Sino-Japanese War, they were well hated by the general population in China, including those s who refused to surrender to the enemy and fought the enemy until the eventual victory. Therefore, in the impending demilitarization after World War II, they were certainly be disarmed and discharged, which would probably be the best outcome and the power of these would be reduced or even completely eliminated as a result. Chiang Kai-shek’s ordering them not surrendering to the communists and fighting off the communists was a savior for them because by carrying out such orders, these s and their troops could legitimize themselves and thus retain their power by fighting the communists who were targeted as rebels by Chiang Kai-shek and his regime.
The communist strategy was much simpler than that of the s because there was not any huge division within the communist rank like that of the . The communists already earned considerable popular support by being the only Chinese force left in the region fighting the Japanese invaders and their puppet regime after the withdrew, and after successfully establishing communist bases in the rural regions where better life was provided to the general populace in comparison to that of Japanese occupied regions, the general Chinese populace agreed that the communists were well deserved to represent the China to accept the invaders’ surrender in the region and takeover the regions occupied by the invaders.
After the former turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II had refused to surrender to the communists, the only Chinese force in the region under the order of Chiang Kai-shek’s regime, the 15th Brigade of the 5th of the communist New Fourth Army launched its offensive in Tianmen, Hubei, China against these units. Unable to fight off the communists, these former turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II enlisted the help of their former Japanese master, which only further enraged the local population, whose support went to the communist side as a result.
The battle lasted only several hours, and after 50 Japanese troops and over 100 troops of the former turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II were killed, the remaining 5 Japanese troops and 200+ troops of the former turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II were forced to surrender. The communists had captured a cannon, a heavy machine gun, five light machine guns, and over 270 repeating rifles. The communist casualties was light in terms of numbers, but Huang Xiting , a battalion commander and Yang Li , a battalion level political commissar were among those killed.
Like other similar clashes immediately after the end of World War II between the communists and the s in China, this conflict also showed that Chiang Kai-shek’s attempt to simultaneously solve the problem that had plagued China for so long and the problem of the extermination of communism together proved to be a fatal mistake. Although the result of the campaign turned out exactly like Chiang Kai-shek and his subordinates had predicted, and consequently the power of the in this region was indeed reduced as their military forces were smashed by the communists, so that the problem plagued China for so long was thus reduced for this particular region, and Chiang Kai-shek’s secondary objective was achieved here, any positive gains obtained by the nationalists were negated by the politic fallout. The reason was that this success of achieving the secondary objective came at a huge cost in nationalists’ loss of popular support in this region formerly dominated by the Japanese, because the local population had already blamed nationalilsts for losing the regions to the Japanese invaders, while reassigning these former Japanese puppet regime forces as the nationalist forces to fight the communists, the only Chinese force left in the regions, only further alienated the local populace and strengthened the popular resentment to Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist regime.
Prelude
Like other similar clashes immediately after the end of World War II between the communists and the s in China, this conflict also rooted from the fact that Chiang Kai-shek had realized that his regime simply had neither the sufficient troops nor enough transportation assets to deploy his troops into the Japanese-occupied regions of China. Unwilling to let the communists who had already dominated most of the rural regions in China to further expand their territories by accepting the Japanese surrender and thus would consequently control the Japanese occupied regions, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the Japanese and their turncoat Chinese puppet regime not to surrender to the communists and kept their fighting capabilities to “maintain order” in the Japanese occupied regions, fighting off the communists as necessary, until the final arrivals and completion of the deployment of the troops. As a result, most members of the Japanese puppet regimes and their military forces rejoined the s.
However, it must be noted that most of these former s turned Japanese puppet regime forces were not from Chiang Kai-shek’s own clique, but instead, they were mainly consisted of troops of who were only nominally under the Chiang Kai-shek’s before World War II, since they were s in name only and mostly maintained their independent and semi-independent status. These were only interested in keeping their own power and defected to the Japanese side when Japanese invaders offered to let them keep their power in exchange for their collaborations. After the World War II, these forces of former Japanese puppet regimes once again returned to the camp for the same reason they defected to the Japanese invaders. Obviously, it was difficult for Chiang to immediately get rid of these warlords for good as soon as they surrendered to Chiang and rejoined s, because such move would alienate other factions within the ranks, and these former Japanese puppet regime's warlords could still help the s to gain more territories by holding on to what was under their control until Chiang completed the deployment of his own troops to takeover. Chiang Kai-shek’s objective was to simultaneously solve the problem that had plagued China for so long and the problem of the extermination of communism together, which proved to be an extremely fatal mistake for him and his regime later on, as shown in this conflict.
Strategy
In accordance with his strategy to simultaneously solve the problem that had plagued China for so long and the problem of the extermination of communism together, Chiang Kai-shek and his followers had hoped that these former Japanese puppet regime's warlords who rejoined the s would be able to hold on to the regions long enough for Chiang to deploy his own troops by holding off communists. If the communists were victorious in such conflicts, however, the result would still benefit to Chiang and China because the power of these warlords would be reduced as their military forces were smashed by the communists, and the warlord problem plagued China for so long could thus be greatly reduced, while at the same time, communists would be weakened by the fights and Chiang's own troops would have easier time to take control.
For the former turned Japanese puppet regime forces, these s and their troops had no problem of following Chiang Kai-shek’s orders, and they were eager to prove themselves. These s and their troops were well aware that due to the collaboration with the Japanese invaders during the Second Sino-Japanese War, they were well hated by the general population in China, including those s who refused to surrender to the enemy and fought the enemy until the eventual victory. Therefore, in the impending demilitarization after World War II, they were certainly be disarmed and discharged, which would probably be the best outcome and the power of these would be reduced or even completely eliminated as a result. Chiang Kai-shek’s ordering them not surrendering to the communists and fighting off the communists was a savior for them because by carrying out such orders, these s and their troops could legitimize themselves and thus retain their power by fighting the communists who were targeted as rebels by Chiang Kai-shek and his regime.
Communist Strategy
The communist strategy was much simpler than that of the s because there was not any huge division within the communist rank like that of the . The communists already earned considerable popular support by being the only Chinese force left in the region fighting the Japanese invaders and their puppet regime after the withdrew, and after successfully establishing communist bases in the rural regions where better life was provided to the general populace in comparison to that of Japanese occupied regions, the general Chinese populace agreed that the communists were well deserved to represent the China to accept the invaders’ surrender in the region and takeover the regions occupied by the invaders.
The Battle
After the former turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II had refused to surrender to the communists, the only Chinese force in the region under the order of Chiang Kai-shek’s regime, the 15th Brigade of the 5th of the communist New Fourth Army launched its offensive in Tianmen, Hubei, China against these units. Unable to fight off the communists, these former turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II enlisted the help of their former Japanese master, which only further enraged the local population, whose support went to the communist side as a result.
The battle lasted only several hours, and after 50 Japanese troops and over 100 troops of the former turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II were killed, the remaining 5 Japanese troops and 200+ troops of the former turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II were forced to surrender. The communists had captured a cannon, a heavy machine gun, five light machine guns, and over 270 repeating rifles. The communist casualties was light in terms of numbers, but Huang Xiting , a battalion commander and Yang Li , a battalion level political commissar were among those killed.
Outcome
Like other similar clashes immediately after the end of World War II between the communists and the s in China, this conflict also showed that Chiang Kai-shek’s attempt to simultaneously solve the problem that had plagued China for so long and the problem of the extermination of communism together proved to be a fatal mistake. Although the result of the campaign turned out exactly like Chiang Kai-shek and his subordinates had predicted, and consequently the power of the in this region was indeed reduced as their military forces were smashed by the communists, so that the problem plagued China for so long was thus reduced for this particular region, and Chiang Kai-shek’s secondary objective was achieved here, any positive gains obtained by the nationalists were negated by the politic fallout. The reason was that this success of achieving the secondary objective came at a huge cost in nationalists’ loss of popular support in this region formerly dominated by the Japanese, because the local population had already blamed nationalilsts for losing the regions to the Japanese invaders, while reassigning these former Japanese puppet regime forces as the nationalist forces to fight the communists, the only Chinese force left in the regions, only further alienated the local populace and strengthened the popular resentment to Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist regime.
Battle of Suixian-Zaoyang
The Battle of Suixian-Zaoyang , also known as the Battle of Suizao was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Near the end of April, 1939, to secure their gains after the Battle of Wuhan, 4 divisions from the IJA launched two simultaneous attacks on the cities of Suizhou and Zaoyang, along the Xiangyang-Huayuan Highway and Jingshan-Zhongxiang Highway respectively. The bulk of the 5th was defending the area. In early May the armies clashed along the roads, but the NRA was forced to retreat on 7 May, 1939. Suizhou and Zaoyang both fell on the same day. On the 8th the Japanese force advanded further south, and the commander-in-chief of the 5th Theatre, Li Zongren, deployed two army groups, the 31st Army Group from the 5th Theatre, and the 2nd Army Group from the 1st Theatre, to attack the IJA army from the rear. A full-scale assault was launched on the 15th, and after 3 days of intense fighting the IJA began to retreat. On the 19th Zaoyang was retaken; Suixian was retaken 23 May. The IJA failed to achieve its objective and the battle ended in Chinese victory, with Chinese casualties of 9,000, and Japanese casualties of 13,000. This is one of the only battles where the Chinese won and suffered less casualties than the Japanese.
Near the end of April, 1939, to secure their gains after the Battle of Wuhan, 4 divisions from the IJA launched two simultaneous attacks on the cities of Suizhou and Zaoyang, along the Xiangyang-Huayuan Highway and Jingshan-Zhongxiang Highway respectively. The bulk of the 5th was defending the area. In early May the armies clashed along the roads, but the NRA was forced to retreat on 7 May, 1939. Suizhou and Zaoyang both fell on the same day. On the 8th the Japanese force advanded further south, and the commander-in-chief of the 5th Theatre, Li Zongren, deployed two army groups, the 31st Army Group from the 5th Theatre, and the 2nd Army Group from the 1st Theatre, to attack the IJA army from the rear. A full-scale assault was launched on the 15th, and after 3 days of intense fighting the IJA began to retreat. On the 19th Zaoyang was retaken; Suixian was retaken 23 May. The IJA failed to achieve its objective and the battle ended in Chinese victory, with Chinese casualties of 9,000, and Japanese casualties of 13,000. This is one of the only battles where the Chinese won and suffered less casualties than the Japanese.
Battle of Fancheng
The Battle of Fancheng was fought between the forces of Liu Bei and Cao Cao in the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period in China. It is named after Fancheng a city which is now the Fancheng District of the city Xiangfan.
In October, 218, Cao Cao's general Hou Yin and his deputy Wei Kai of Wan led several thousand troops to rebel. It would take four months for General Subduing the South Cao Ren to finally crush the rebellion by killing both Hou Yin and Wei Kai. After Liu Bei took Hanzhong by defeating Cao Cao in May 219, Liu Bei further expanded his gains in June 219 by sending Meng Da and Liu Feng to take Fangling and Shangyong . Cao Cao was temporarily forced to be on the defensive after a continuous setback and Sun Quan of Jiangdong decided to take the opportunity to attack Cao Cao while their newly defeated men were regrouping and resting.
Realizing the imminent attacks of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, Cao Cao planned to launch a preemptive strike against Jing province , the eastern part of Liu Bei's territory led by Guan Yu. The plan reasoned that Liu Bei could not continue his offensive in the north due to the need to consolidate his new gains, and so an attack into Jing province would not be hindered by Liu Bei's invasion elsewhere. However, the plan was called off because Cao Cao's troops still needed time to recover, regroup and re-supply from the campaign to suppress the rebellion of Hou Yin and Wei Kai, as well as from earlier setbacks in the struggles for Hanzhong. The worn-out troops were not ready for another campaign.
Cao Cao forces' order of battle:
*General Subduing the South Cao Ren
**Runan Administrator Man Chong
**Staff officer Zhao Yan
**General Lü Chang
*General on the Right Yu Jin
**General Establishing Righteousness Pang De
*General Conquering the Bandits Xu Huang
**General Xü Shang
**General Lü Jian
**General Yin Shu
**General Zhu Gai
Liu Bei forces' order of battle:
*General in the Front Guan Yu
**Hu Xiu , the former Inspector of Jing province under Cao Cao
**Fu Fang , the former Administrator of Southern Township under Cao Cao
**Sun Lang , a peasant rebel leader of Luhun
In July, 219, Sun Quan mobilized his forces in preparation to attack Hefei, and Cao Cao's forces were redeployed to the region to the south of Huainan to fend off the possible invasion. Seizing the opportunity, Guan Yu decided to launch an offensive of his own against Cao Cao. Mi Fang, Administrator of Nan Commandary was order to stay behind to guard Jiangling Commandery, while General Fu Shiren was ordered to stay behind to guard Gong’an . Liu Bei's main force in the region was led by Guan Yu himself to attack Cao Cao's strongholds in the north.
In addition to deploying heavy troops which totalled tens of thousands, Cao Cao guarded the vital strategic strongholds of the region by stationing Cao Ren at Fancheng , Lü Chang at Xiangyang , Yu Jin and Pang De to the north of Fancheng, Xu Huang at Wan. In August, heavy rain caused to flood, and under the intense attack of Guan Yu’s force, forces under the command of Yu Jin and Pang De were completed annihilated, suffering at least forty thousand fatalities, and another thirty thousand surrendered to Guan Yu. Pang De and Yu Jin were both captured; Yu Jin begged for his life and surrendered, while Pang De refused to surrender and was executed. Cao Ren, with several thousand of his surviving troops were forced on the defensive by retreating behind the safety of the Fancheng city wall, while Xu Huang, with his force purely consisted of new recruits was also forced to take a defensive posture instead of venturing out actively engaging the enemy. Meanwhile, Hu Xiu , Cao Cao's Inspector of Jing province , and Fu Fang , Cao Cao's Administrator of Nan Township both defected to Guan Yu. Sun Lang , a peasant rebel leader of Luhun also killed local officials to welcome Guan Yu.
Guan Yu’s threat to Cao Cao after his initial success was so immense that Cao Cao was considering relocating the capital. As Cao Cao asked his subjects for input, Sima Yi and Jiang Ji strongly opposed. They pointed out that the alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan was shaky at the best due to the feuding of the control of Jing province, and Sun Quan would definitely be unhappy to see Guan Yu’s success. They suggested that Cao Cao should send an emissary to Sun Quan, requesting him to flank Guan Yu’s rear and Jiangnan would then be awarded to Sun Quan as spoils of war and that the forces at Fancheng would then be dissolved. At first, Sun Quan sent an emissary to Guan Yu relating his wish for a marriage be arranged between his own son and Guan Yu’s daughter. Guan Yu insulted the emissary and rejected the marriage proposal. Sun Quan became furious.
The initial victory also proved to be the prelude to catastrophe for Guan Yu due to logistic problems. At the outbreak of the battle, Liu Bei only controlled three commandaries of Jing province: Wuling commandary, Yidu commandary, and Jiangling commandary, the least among all three powers, and thus simply could not sustain a huge army, especially one with the size under Guan Yu’s command at the time, when his force suddenly tripled as thirty thousand troops captured in his earlier victory joined his original fifteen thousand strong army. In order to feed his army, Guan Yu sent out these new troops to confiscate grains stored by Sun Quan in the local border region. This further infuriated Sun Quan, and coupled with the Guan Yu’s rejection of Sun Quan’s marriage proposal and insults to Sun Quan’s emissary, Sun Quan decided to sever the alliance with Liu Bei.
With only several thousand troops left, and the food in short supply, Cao Ren considered abandoning Fancheng when the city was flooded. Administrator Man Chong convinced Cao Ren to not withdraw by indicating that the flood was only temporary and would not last long. Man Chong also noted that Guan Yu’s vanguard had already advanced to Jia County yet his main force dared not to follow, because he was afraid of being cutting off from the behind and being attacked from both sides. The strategic strongholds Fancheng and Xiangyang were still in Cao Cao’s hands, which posed a serious threat to the advancing enemy force that bypassed the two cities. Man Chong argued that if the two strategic strongholds were abandoned, the entire region to the south of Yellow River would be in danger of being overrun by the enemy, because not only the region Guan Yu attacked would be lost, the vast region in the east would be lost to Sun Quan since Cao Cao's force deployed there would risk being cutting off should Guan Yu decide to strike in that direction. Hence, Man Chong concluded, these two strategic strongholds must be held at all costs and the defenders must fight to the very last man. Cao Ren agreed and strengthened the defense, and boosted his troops to over ten thousand by drafting every available man in the city.
As Xu Huang was ordered to reinforce Cao Ren, Cao Cao sent two generals, Xü Shang and Lü Jian to lead additional reinforcements to join Xu Huang, ordering the latter that he should never attack until all of the reinforcement sent to him had arrived. To wait for further reinforcements, Xu Huang pushed toward Yangling Slope, located to the north of Fancheng. Because the majority of Cao Cao's force under Xu Huang’s command consisted of new recruits, Xu Huang faithfully carried out Cao Cao’s order to restrain from attacking until further reinforcements. Guan Yu was well aware of Xu Huang’s situation, and coupled with the earlier victory, he thus completely ignored Xu Huang’s threat and committed a serious blunder by dividing his force, which did not enjoy a numerical superiority, by sending another army to besiege Xiangyang, because he mistakenly believed that Fancheng would easily fall into his control. However, due to the defenders’ strong resolute and the lack of sufficient troops to siege the city, the city remain defiant.
Guan Yu made further strategic blunders in allowing his vanguard advancing too far ahead of his main force and not linking up with the vanguard promptly in a time he could not afford to split his force. As a result, the vanguard was around three miles to the north of Fancheng, leaving a huge gap between itself and the main camp. Seizing the opportunity, Xu Huang faked the digging of a long trench, giving the false impression of cutting off the Guan Yu’s vanguard, which fell for the trick and retreated. Xu Huang's army therefore took the abandoned Yan City and pressed further toward Guan Yu’s main army. By this time, Xu Huang's force was large enough to challenge Guan Yu's, because the twelve thousand strong army which consisted of battle hardened veterans led by Yin Shu and Zhu Gai had joined Xu Huang. Now Xu Huang's army totalled twenty thousand, exceeding the original strength of Guan Yu's force when Guan Yu first started his campaign.
As the stalemate was reached again, the Cao Cao emissary returned to Luoyang, the capital, with a letter written by Sun Quan, which informed Cao Cao that Sun Quan planned to attack Guan Yu in his rear, Jing province. Sun Quan asked Cao Cao to keep this secret so that Guan Yu would not be prepared, and most Cao Cao officials agreed. However, Cao Cao’s advisor objected, pointing out that Liu Bei and Sun Quan would also be the two adversaries of Cao Cao despite the temporary subjection of Sun Quan to Cao Cao. For the long term goal, it would be in the best interest of Cao Cao to not to let one of the two adversaries to become too weak, so that both could continue to fight each other and thus continuously weaken each other, instead of letting one adversary become too strong in the long run. For the short term goal, if Guan Yu knew about Sun Quan’s attack in his rear, he would certainly withdraw his army to reinforce his home base in Jing province, and the siege of Fancheng would be lifted. The most important issue, however, was the danger of Liu Bei and Sun Quan joining their forces despite Sun Quan’s intention to attack Guan Yu: Fancheng was under siege for some period of time, and despite absolute numerical superiority, the morale of Cao Cao force was low. If this critical information was not passed along to the defenders, the morale would collapse and the region would fall into Guan Yu’s hands. Once the region changed hands following the downfall of the important stronghold of Fancheng, Sun Quan would definitely exploit the opportunity by attacking Cao Cao in the east, because there was much more to gain by taking the vast region from Cao Cao in the east than merely taking three commandaries in Jing province. This possibility must be prevented at all cost, said Dong Zhao.
Cao Cao and others were convinced by Dong Zhao and did exactly what he had proposed: copies of Sun Quan’s letter was tied to arrows, which were then shot into Fancheng and Guan Yu’s camp by Xu Huang’s archers. Morale of the defenders of the city boosted, while Guan Yu was in a dilemma: he neither wanted to abandon the assaults on Cao Cao, because he believed that Jiangling and Gong’an, his rear bases, would not easily fall. Furthermore, if he succeeded in defeating the enemy defenders, Sun Quan would certainly exploit the opportunity to attack Cao Cao's weakened defenses instead of attacking the three commandaries under Liu Bei, since Sun Quan had much more to gain in taking the vast region in the eastern region downstream the Yangtze River from Cao Cao. This is the exact scenario Cao Cao’s advisor Dong Zhao had feared, and Cao Cao would do anything to prevent it from happening. As it turned out, things did not go as Guan Yu had planned. As Guan Yu was hesitating in his dilemma, Cao Cao had personally led another reinforcement army on his way, and had already reached Mo Slope .
The bulk of the forces under Guan Yu’s command was camped in Weitou , while the remaining camped in Sizhong . Xu Huang spread word of an imminent attack on Weitou, but instead, he led his forces to strike Sizhong unexpectedly. Fearing the Sizhong camp would be lost, Guan Yu led five thousand troops for the rescue, but the attack of Sizhong was only a decoy, as Guan Yu became ambushed by Xu Huang's men when he was on his way for the rescue mission. The defeated Guan Yu withdrew to his main camp, but Xu Huang’s force followed closely behind and charged into Guan Yu’s main camp, successfully killing the defectors Hu Xiu and Fu Fang. With his camp overrun by the enemy, Guan Yu was forced to concede defeat by lifting the siege of Fancheng and retreating southward.
Every Cao Cao commanders at the frontline believed that they should take the advantage and pursuing Guan Yu, with exception of the army advisor Zhao Yan , who pointed out that there should not be any pursuit because Guan Yu’s force should be left alone so that they could fight Sun Quan, thus weakening both adversaries of Cao Cao. Cao Ren agreed with Zhao Yan and did not pursue Guan Yu, and surely enough, when the news of Guan Yu’s retreat reached Cao Cao, he sent an emissary to Cao Ren, prohibiting Cao Cao force from giving a chase for the exact same reason Cao Ren and Zhao Yan had believed.
When Guan Yu returned south, he discovered that his rear bases in Jiangling and Gong'an had both surrendered to Lü Meng, commander of Sun Quan's westward army. Lü Meng held hostage the wives and children of Guan Yu’s army, but treated them and the citizenry of Jing province with the utmost care. Guan Yu's soldiers, hearing that Jing province had fallen to Sun Quan and their families were in good hands, lost their will to fight and deserted from Guan Yu.
Guan Yu, with only a handful of men left, became isolated in Maicheng with Sun Quan's forces on three sides and Cao Cao's at the north. As Guan Yu attempted to escape, he and his surviving followers including his son Guan Ping, his Inspector General Zhao Lei were captured in an ambush in Zhang Township by Sun Quan's generals Zhu Ran and Pan Zhang. Guan Yu was later executed by Sun Quan at Lingju , along with his son Guan Ping and Zhao Lei.
Guan Yu’s campaign was destined to fail because Guan Yu was waging a war that it simply could not afford to support, both in terms of manpower and logistics: the population of Liu Bei's territories in Yi province and Hanzhong was less than a million, and though Jing province had a population around a million, most of the region was controlled by Cao Cao and Sun Quan. At the outbreak of the battle, Liu Bei only controlled three commandaries of Jing province: Wuling commandary, Yidu commandary, and Jiangling commandary, with a total population around a quarter of million, the least among all three powers, both in terms of population and area. The total number of troops Guan Yu had was only twenty-five thousand, and this token force would have to be further divided into two portions, with the majority deployed for the offensive against Cao Cao while the remaining was scattered in the three commandarys of Jing province to protect the rear area. This separation meant that neither objective could be successfully achieved: at the frontline, the attacking force could not achieve numerical superiority , and attacking an enemy that enjoyed absolute numerical superiority would be no different than committing suicide. In the rear, the thinly spread and overstretched garrison could not effectively protect the large region .
Liu Bei's forces also faced other dilemmas their enemy never had, all having to do with logistics. Having the least control in terms of population and area in the local region meant that they could not provide the necessary logistic for a prolonged campaign, but with absolute numerical inferiority, the campaign was bound to be a long one, if there was any slightest chance of winning. The astonishing initial victory of Guan Yu actually exemplified the problem much further: barely able to sustain its own force of the original twenty-five thousand, the additional thirty thousand troops that surrendered to Guan Yu only gave more logistic problems when Guan Yu failed to take Cao Cao’s domain in Jing province. Other historians took a more sympathetic stands for Guan Yu because at the outbreak of the battle, he faced the dilemma of an unfavorable result regardless the offensive was launched or not. In the north, although Liu Bei successfully drove Cao Cao from Hanzhong, Liu Bei in effect gained nothing because the entire population of Hanzhong totaling more than thirty thousand households were relocated into Cao Cao's territories when Cao Cao was forced to give up the region and retreat. Both the wealth and population of Hanzhong was taken by Cao Cao despite its defeat, and Liu Bei had to strengthen the newly acquired territory by repopulating Hanzhong in order to consolidate his gain. The near vacant region could not provide any logistic support had Liu Bei continued his campaign against Cao Cao, and the necessary strengthening of Hanzhong had caused the Liu Bei offensive in the north to completely lose its momentum. However, in order to keep the pressure on Cao Cao, the offensive on the enemy must be continued. Guan Yu was tasked with an impossible task of carrying on the offensive against the enemy where Liu Bei left off, but the scope of the campaign had far exceeded what Liu Bei could support from its base in the south. Had Guan Yu not made the blunder of destroying the alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, but instead, strengthen it, he might have a chance of succeeding what he started.
The biggest winner of the battle was Cao Cao, which not only secured its domain in Jing province by successfully fending off Liu Bei’s attack, but more importantly, also successfully destroyed the alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, thus taking the strategic initiative. Historians often debated that Liu Bei should have waited longer to regroup and re-supply after Liu Bei took Hanzhong and strengthen the alliance with Sun Quan, only then could Liu Bei launch a simultaneous assault from both Hanzhong and Jing province against Cao Cao in addition to Sun Quan’s own attack on Cao Cao, so that there would be greater chances of success.
In the historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', the flooding of Han River was dramatized to have Guan Yu damming the rivers beforehand and opening the dam when the dam was full, thus flooding the armies in the lower plains in an event named "Drowning of the Seven Armies" . Pang De was captured afterwards and showed no fear of execution, contrasted to Yu Jin's begging for his life.
Several weeks thereafter, Sun Quan, which had secretly allied itself with Cao Cao, attacked Guan Yu's army at Jiangling. Sun Quan, a previous ally of Liu Bei, surprised and defeated the Guan Yu's forces there, forcing Guan Yu to lift the siege on Fancheng and retreat. Guan Yu and his son, Guan Ping, while fleeing to Sichuan, were caught and executed by soldiers of Wu.
In the novel, the strength of Guan Yu was greatly exaggerated for dramatic effect, and the most obvious example was that the entire Jing province was depicted as under Liu Bei’s control. In reality, the state was divided into three parts at the time, controlled separately by the three powers, with Liu Bei controlling the least portion, both in terms of population and area, and could only field twenty five thousand troops at any one time from the region it controlled, with Guan Yu leading only fifteen thousand troops at the start of the battle. Other important historical facts not mentioned in the novel included the fact that it was Cao Cao who originally planned a preemptive strike against Guan Yu, but failed to materialize because of the need to crush the rebellion first. Logistic support, another deciding factor of the result of the battle, was not mentioned either in novel. Though Guan Yu in real life certainly deserves some credits for the his bravery of leading a token force attacking an enemy that was almost ten times of his strength, as well as achieving an astonishing victory during the initial stage, his exploits were exaggerated in the novel because the author himself adored Guan Yu, the most eulogized and glorified character in his work.
In the video games ''Dynasty Warriors 4'' and '''', Shu commander Guan Yu is depicted as simultaneously defending the lands of Jing and besieging 'Fan Castle', as it is named. The second location is the focus of the stage. Cao Ren of Wei is the defending commander, and Wu forces usually appear as anti-Shu reinforcements. Notably, Pang De takes a prominent role, and proves to be a dangerous opponent for Guan Yu and his allies in this stage.
Background
In October, 218, Cao Cao's general Hou Yin and his deputy Wei Kai of Wan led several thousand troops to rebel. It would take four months for General Subduing the South Cao Ren to finally crush the rebellion by killing both Hou Yin and Wei Kai. After Liu Bei took Hanzhong by defeating Cao Cao in May 219, Liu Bei further expanded his gains in June 219 by sending Meng Da and Liu Feng to take Fangling and Shangyong . Cao Cao was temporarily forced to be on the defensive after a continuous setback and Sun Quan of Jiangdong decided to take the opportunity to attack Cao Cao while their newly defeated men were regrouping and resting.
Realizing the imminent attacks of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, Cao Cao planned to launch a preemptive strike against Jing province , the eastern part of Liu Bei's territory led by Guan Yu. The plan reasoned that Liu Bei could not continue his offensive in the north due to the need to consolidate his new gains, and so an attack into Jing province would not be hindered by Liu Bei's invasion elsewhere. However, the plan was called off because Cao Cao's troops still needed time to recover, regroup and re-supply from the campaign to suppress the rebellion of Hou Yin and Wei Kai, as well as from earlier setbacks in the struggles for Hanzhong. The worn-out troops were not ready for another campaign.
Order of battle
Cao Cao forces' order of battle:
*General Subduing the South Cao Ren
**Runan Administrator Man Chong
**Staff officer Zhao Yan
**General Lü Chang
*General on the Right Yu Jin
**General Establishing Righteousness Pang De
*General Conquering the Bandits Xu Huang
**General Xü Shang
**General Lü Jian
**General Yin Shu
**General Zhu Gai
Liu Bei forces' order of battle:
*General in the Front Guan Yu
**Hu Xiu , the former Inspector of Jing province under Cao Cao
**Fu Fang , the former Administrator of Southern Township under Cao Cao
**Sun Lang , a peasant rebel leader of Luhun
Initial stages
In July, 219, Sun Quan mobilized his forces in preparation to attack Hefei, and Cao Cao's forces were redeployed to the region to the south of Huainan to fend off the possible invasion. Seizing the opportunity, Guan Yu decided to launch an offensive of his own against Cao Cao. Mi Fang, Administrator of Nan Commandary was order to stay behind to guard Jiangling Commandery, while General Fu Shiren was ordered to stay behind to guard Gong’an . Liu Bei's main force in the region was led by Guan Yu himself to attack Cao Cao's strongholds in the north.
In addition to deploying heavy troops which totalled tens of thousands, Cao Cao guarded the vital strategic strongholds of the region by stationing Cao Ren at Fancheng , Lü Chang at Xiangyang , Yu Jin and Pang De to the north of Fancheng, Xu Huang at Wan. In August, heavy rain caused to flood, and under the intense attack of Guan Yu’s force, forces under the command of Yu Jin and Pang De were completed annihilated, suffering at least forty thousand fatalities, and another thirty thousand surrendered to Guan Yu. Pang De and Yu Jin were both captured; Yu Jin begged for his life and surrendered, while Pang De refused to surrender and was executed. Cao Ren, with several thousand of his surviving troops were forced on the defensive by retreating behind the safety of the Fancheng city wall, while Xu Huang, with his force purely consisted of new recruits was also forced to take a defensive posture instead of venturing out actively engaging the enemy. Meanwhile, Hu Xiu , Cao Cao's Inspector of Jing province , and Fu Fang , Cao Cao's Administrator of Nan Township both defected to Guan Yu. Sun Lang , a peasant rebel leader of Luhun also killed local officials to welcome Guan Yu.
Turning of the tide
Guan Yu’s threat to Cao Cao after his initial success was so immense that Cao Cao was considering relocating the capital. As Cao Cao asked his subjects for input, Sima Yi and Jiang Ji strongly opposed. They pointed out that the alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan was shaky at the best due to the feuding of the control of Jing province, and Sun Quan would definitely be unhappy to see Guan Yu’s success. They suggested that Cao Cao should send an emissary to Sun Quan, requesting him to flank Guan Yu’s rear and Jiangnan would then be awarded to Sun Quan as spoils of war and that the forces at Fancheng would then be dissolved. At first, Sun Quan sent an emissary to Guan Yu relating his wish for a marriage be arranged between his own son and Guan Yu’s daughter. Guan Yu insulted the emissary and rejected the marriage proposal. Sun Quan became furious.
The initial victory also proved to be the prelude to catastrophe for Guan Yu due to logistic problems. At the outbreak of the battle, Liu Bei only controlled three commandaries of Jing province: Wuling commandary, Yidu commandary, and Jiangling commandary, the least among all three powers, and thus simply could not sustain a huge army, especially one with the size under Guan Yu’s command at the time, when his force suddenly tripled as thirty thousand troops captured in his earlier victory joined his original fifteen thousand strong army. In order to feed his army, Guan Yu sent out these new troops to confiscate grains stored by Sun Quan in the local border region. This further infuriated Sun Quan, and coupled with the Guan Yu’s rejection of Sun Quan’s marriage proposal and insults to Sun Quan’s emissary, Sun Quan decided to sever the alliance with Liu Bei.
Stalemate
With only several thousand troops left, and the food in short supply, Cao Ren considered abandoning Fancheng when the city was flooded. Administrator Man Chong convinced Cao Ren to not withdraw by indicating that the flood was only temporary and would not last long. Man Chong also noted that Guan Yu’s vanguard had already advanced to Jia County yet his main force dared not to follow, because he was afraid of being cutting off from the behind and being attacked from both sides. The strategic strongholds Fancheng and Xiangyang were still in Cao Cao’s hands, which posed a serious threat to the advancing enemy force that bypassed the two cities. Man Chong argued that if the two strategic strongholds were abandoned, the entire region to the south of Yellow River would be in danger of being overrun by the enemy, because not only the region Guan Yu attacked would be lost, the vast region in the east would be lost to Sun Quan since Cao Cao's force deployed there would risk being cutting off should Guan Yu decide to strike in that direction. Hence, Man Chong concluded, these two strategic strongholds must be held at all costs and the defenders must fight to the very last man. Cao Ren agreed and strengthened the defense, and boosted his troops to over ten thousand by drafting every available man in the city.
As Xu Huang was ordered to reinforce Cao Ren, Cao Cao sent two generals, Xü Shang and Lü Jian to lead additional reinforcements to join Xu Huang, ordering the latter that he should never attack until all of the reinforcement sent to him had arrived. To wait for further reinforcements, Xu Huang pushed toward Yangling Slope, located to the north of Fancheng. Because the majority of Cao Cao's force under Xu Huang’s command consisted of new recruits, Xu Huang faithfully carried out Cao Cao’s order to restrain from attacking until further reinforcements. Guan Yu was well aware of Xu Huang’s situation, and coupled with the earlier victory, he thus completely ignored Xu Huang’s threat and committed a serious blunder by dividing his force, which did not enjoy a numerical superiority, by sending another army to besiege Xiangyang, because he mistakenly believed that Fancheng would easily fall into his control. However, due to the defenders’ strong resolute and the lack of sufficient troops to siege the city, the city remain defiant.
Guan Yu made further strategic blunders in allowing his vanguard advancing too far ahead of his main force and not linking up with the vanguard promptly in a time he could not afford to split his force. As a result, the vanguard was around three miles to the north of Fancheng, leaving a huge gap between itself and the main camp. Seizing the opportunity, Xu Huang faked the digging of a long trench, giving the false impression of cutting off the Guan Yu’s vanguard, which fell for the trick and retreated. Xu Huang's army therefore took the abandoned Yan City and pressed further toward Guan Yu’s main army. By this time, Xu Huang's force was large enough to challenge Guan Yu's, because the twelve thousand strong army which consisted of battle hardened veterans led by Yin Shu and Zhu Gai had joined Xu Huang. Now Xu Huang's army totalled twenty thousand, exceeding the original strength of Guan Yu's force when Guan Yu first started his campaign.
Strategies
As the stalemate was reached again, the Cao Cao emissary returned to Luoyang, the capital, with a letter written by Sun Quan, which informed Cao Cao that Sun Quan planned to attack Guan Yu in his rear, Jing province. Sun Quan asked Cao Cao to keep this secret so that Guan Yu would not be prepared, and most Cao Cao officials agreed. However, Cao Cao’s advisor objected, pointing out that Liu Bei and Sun Quan would also be the two adversaries of Cao Cao despite the temporary subjection of Sun Quan to Cao Cao. For the long term goal, it would be in the best interest of Cao Cao to not to let one of the two adversaries to become too weak, so that both could continue to fight each other and thus continuously weaken each other, instead of letting one adversary become too strong in the long run. For the short term goal, if Guan Yu knew about Sun Quan’s attack in his rear, he would certainly withdraw his army to reinforce his home base in Jing province, and the siege of Fancheng would be lifted. The most important issue, however, was the danger of Liu Bei and Sun Quan joining their forces despite Sun Quan’s intention to attack Guan Yu: Fancheng was under siege for some period of time, and despite absolute numerical superiority, the morale of Cao Cao force was low. If this critical information was not passed along to the defenders, the morale would collapse and the region would fall into Guan Yu’s hands. Once the region changed hands following the downfall of the important stronghold of Fancheng, Sun Quan would definitely exploit the opportunity by attacking Cao Cao in the east, because there was much more to gain by taking the vast region from Cao Cao in the east than merely taking three commandaries in Jing province. This possibility must be prevented at all cost, said Dong Zhao.
Cao Cao and others were convinced by Dong Zhao and did exactly what he had proposed: copies of Sun Quan’s letter was tied to arrows, which were then shot into Fancheng and Guan Yu’s camp by Xu Huang’s archers. Morale of the defenders of the city boosted, while Guan Yu was in a dilemma: he neither wanted to abandon the assaults on Cao Cao, because he believed that Jiangling and Gong’an, his rear bases, would not easily fall. Furthermore, if he succeeded in defeating the enemy defenders, Sun Quan would certainly exploit the opportunity to attack Cao Cao's weakened defenses instead of attacking the three commandaries under Liu Bei, since Sun Quan had much more to gain in taking the vast region in the eastern region downstream the Yangtze River from Cao Cao. This is the exact scenario Cao Cao’s advisor Dong Zhao had feared, and Cao Cao would do anything to prevent it from happening. As it turned out, things did not go as Guan Yu had planned. As Guan Yu was hesitating in his dilemma, Cao Cao had personally led another reinforcement army on his way, and had already reached Mo Slope .
Conclusion
The bulk of the forces under Guan Yu’s command was camped in Weitou , while the remaining camped in Sizhong . Xu Huang spread word of an imminent attack on Weitou, but instead, he led his forces to strike Sizhong unexpectedly. Fearing the Sizhong camp would be lost, Guan Yu led five thousand troops for the rescue, but the attack of Sizhong was only a decoy, as Guan Yu became ambushed by Xu Huang's men when he was on his way for the rescue mission. The defeated Guan Yu withdrew to his main camp, but Xu Huang’s force followed closely behind and charged into Guan Yu’s main camp, successfully killing the defectors Hu Xiu and Fu Fang. With his camp overrun by the enemy, Guan Yu was forced to concede defeat by lifting the siege of Fancheng and retreating southward.
Every Cao Cao commanders at the frontline believed that they should take the advantage and pursuing Guan Yu, with exception of the army advisor Zhao Yan , who pointed out that there should not be any pursuit because Guan Yu’s force should be left alone so that they could fight Sun Quan, thus weakening both adversaries of Cao Cao. Cao Ren agreed with Zhao Yan and did not pursue Guan Yu, and surely enough, when the news of Guan Yu’s retreat reached Cao Cao, he sent an emissary to Cao Ren, prohibiting Cao Cao force from giving a chase for the exact same reason Cao Ren and Zhao Yan had believed.
Aftermath
When Guan Yu returned south, he discovered that his rear bases in Jiangling and Gong'an had both surrendered to Lü Meng, commander of Sun Quan's westward army. Lü Meng held hostage the wives and children of Guan Yu’s army, but treated them and the citizenry of Jing province with the utmost care. Guan Yu's soldiers, hearing that Jing province had fallen to Sun Quan and their families were in good hands, lost their will to fight and deserted from Guan Yu.
Guan Yu, with only a handful of men left, became isolated in Maicheng with Sun Quan's forces on three sides and Cao Cao's at the north. As Guan Yu attempted to escape, he and his surviving followers including his son Guan Ping, his Inspector General Zhao Lei were captured in an ambush in Zhang Township by Sun Quan's generals Zhu Ran and Pan Zhang. Guan Yu was later executed by Sun Quan at Lingju , along with his son Guan Ping and Zhao Lei.
Analysis
Guan Yu’s campaign was destined to fail because Guan Yu was waging a war that it simply could not afford to support, both in terms of manpower and logistics: the population of Liu Bei's territories in Yi province and Hanzhong was less than a million, and though Jing province had a population around a million, most of the region was controlled by Cao Cao and Sun Quan. At the outbreak of the battle, Liu Bei only controlled three commandaries of Jing province: Wuling commandary, Yidu commandary, and Jiangling commandary, with a total population around a quarter of million, the least among all three powers, both in terms of population and area. The total number of troops Guan Yu had was only twenty-five thousand, and this token force would have to be further divided into two portions, with the majority deployed for the offensive against Cao Cao while the remaining was scattered in the three commandarys of Jing province to protect the rear area. This separation meant that neither objective could be successfully achieved: at the frontline, the attacking force could not achieve numerical superiority , and attacking an enemy that enjoyed absolute numerical superiority would be no different than committing suicide. In the rear, the thinly spread and overstretched garrison could not effectively protect the large region .
Liu Bei's forces also faced other dilemmas their enemy never had, all having to do with logistics. Having the least control in terms of population and area in the local region meant that they could not provide the necessary logistic for a prolonged campaign, but with absolute numerical inferiority, the campaign was bound to be a long one, if there was any slightest chance of winning. The astonishing initial victory of Guan Yu actually exemplified the problem much further: barely able to sustain its own force of the original twenty-five thousand, the additional thirty thousand troops that surrendered to Guan Yu only gave more logistic problems when Guan Yu failed to take Cao Cao’s domain in Jing province. Other historians took a more sympathetic stands for Guan Yu because at the outbreak of the battle, he faced the dilemma of an unfavorable result regardless the offensive was launched or not. In the north, although Liu Bei successfully drove Cao Cao from Hanzhong, Liu Bei in effect gained nothing because the entire population of Hanzhong totaling more than thirty thousand households were relocated into Cao Cao's territories when Cao Cao was forced to give up the region and retreat. Both the wealth and population of Hanzhong was taken by Cao Cao despite its defeat, and Liu Bei had to strengthen the newly acquired territory by repopulating Hanzhong in order to consolidate his gain. The near vacant region could not provide any logistic support had Liu Bei continued his campaign against Cao Cao, and the necessary strengthening of Hanzhong had caused the Liu Bei offensive in the north to completely lose its momentum. However, in order to keep the pressure on Cao Cao, the offensive on the enemy must be continued. Guan Yu was tasked with an impossible task of carrying on the offensive against the enemy where Liu Bei left off, but the scope of the campaign had far exceeded what Liu Bei could support from its base in the south. Had Guan Yu not made the blunder of destroying the alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, but instead, strengthen it, he might have a chance of succeeding what he started.
The biggest winner of the battle was Cao Cao, which not only secured its domain in Jing province by successfully fending off Liu Bei’s attack, but more importantly, also successfully destroyed the alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, thus taking the strategic initiative. Historians often debated that Liu Bei should have waited longer to regroup and re-supply after Liu Bei took Hanzhong and strengthen the alliance with Sun Quan, only then could Liu Bei launch a simultaneous assault from both Hanzhong and Jing province against Cao Cao in addition to Sun Quan’s own attack on Cao Cao, so that there would be greater chances of success.
In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''
In the historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', the flooding of Han River was dramatized to have Guan Yu damming the rivers beforehand and opening the dam when the dam was full, thus flooding the armies in the lower plains in an event named "Drowning of the Seven Armies" . Pang De was captured afterwards and showed no fear of execution, contrasted to Yu Jin's begging for his life.
Several weeks thereafter, Sun Quan, which had secretly allied itself with Cao Cao, attacked Guan Yu's army at Jiangling. Sun Quan, a previous ally of Liu Bei, surprised and defeated the Guan Yu's forces there, forcing Guan Yu to lift the siege on Fancheng and retreat. Guan Yu and his son, Guan Ping, while fleeing to Sichuan, were caught and executed by soldiers of Wu.
In the novel, the strength of Guan Yu was greatly exaggerated for dramatic effect, and the most obvious example was that the entire Jing province was depicted as under Liu Bei’s control. In reality, the state was divided into three parts at the time, controlled separately by the three powers, with Liu Bei controlling the least portion, both in terms of population and area, and could only field twenty five thousand troops at any one time from the region it controlled, with Guan Yu leading only fifteen thousand troops at the start of the battle. Other important historical facts not mentioned in the novel included the fact that it was Cao Cao who originally planned a preemptive strike against Guan Yu, but failed to materialize because of the need to crush the rebellion first. Logistic support, another deciding factor of the result of the battle, was not mentioned either in novel. Though Guan Yu in real life certainly deserves some credits for the his bravery of leading a token force attacking an enemy that was almost ten times of his strength, as well as achieving an astonishing victory during the initial stage, his exploits were exaggerated in the novel because the author himself adored Guan Yu, the most eulogized and glorified character in his work.
Modern references
In the video games ''Dynasty Warriors 4'' and '''', Shu commander Guan Yu is depicted as simultaneously defending the lands of Jing and besieging 'Fan Castle', as it is named. The second location is the focus of the stage. Cao Ren of Wei is the defending commander, and Wu forces usually appear as anti-Shu reinforcements. Notably, Pang De takes a prominent role, and proves to be a dangerous opponent for Guan Yu and his allies in this stage.
Battle of Changban
The Battle of Changban took place at Changban , China in the year 208. It was fought between Liu Bei, who later founded the Shu Han state, and Cao Cao, the de facto ruler of northern China during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms.
After in 207, he made arrangements for a southern expedition into the Jing province , held by Liu Biao at the time. Initial minor invasions led by Xiahou Dun were repelled by Liu Bei of Xinye, who was a vassal of Liu Biao at the time, thus Cao Cao personally led his armies south to conquer Jing province in the seventh month of 208.
In August, when Cao Cao's forces had reached , Liu Biao died of illness and his younger son succeeded him. Liu Cong's advisers Kuai Yue and Fu Xun convinced Liu Cong that he could not resist Cao Cao even with Liu Bei's help, so Liu Cong agreed to surrender. Liu Bei, at Fancheng at the time, was not informed of Liu Cong's decision to surrender. When Liu Bei became suspicious, he sent an attendant to Xiangyang to question Liu Cong, and only then would Liu Cong pass the news to Liu Bei through his subordinate official Song Zhong . Dismayed, Liu Bei angrily drew his sword on Song Zhong, but did not kill him. Surrender was not an option to Liu Bei, since he had been involved in an assassination plot to remove Cao Cao when Liu was in the service of Cao roughly ten years ago and it was unlikely that Cao Cao would forgive him.
Liu Bei then called his followers to council. Zhuge Liang suggested that Liu Bei should attack Liu Cong to secure Jing province and defend against Cao Cao there, but Liu Bei rejected this and said, "as Liu Jingzhou was dying, he entrusted his orphans to me. I cannot turn from this obligation and seek my own advantage. When I die, how could I show my face to Liu Jingzhou?". Not willing to fall under the hands of Cao Cao, Liu Bei gathered his men and marched to the south. As he passed Xiangyang he called out to Liu Cong, but Liu Cong dared not see him and hid. Many officials and civilians of Xiangyang followed Liu Bei as he left, as he was greatly beloved by the people.
In September, Liu Cong set out from Xiangyang towards Xinye to receive Cao Cao, surrendering Jing province. Cao Cao took over the command of Jing province's forces, especially their fleet, a component which Cao Cao's forces lacked. Fearing that Liu Bei would take the southern base of Jiangling, Cao Cao swiftly gave chase to Liu Bei with five thousand elite horsemen, leaving his baggage behind. As Liu Bei was bringing along more than a hundred thousand unarmed people and thousands of carts of luggage, his force could not move very quickly. Someone suggested to Liu Bei that he should abandon the people for his safety, but Liu Bei did not have the heart to desert them when the people risked their own lives to follow him. Instead, Liu Bei had Guan Yu sail ahead down the with a detachment of several hundred ships and take a roundabout route to Jiangling, where they planned to meet.
Cao Cao's horsemen caught up to Liu Bei's congregation at Changban, Dangyang Commandery, and Liu Bei had to flee for his life, galloping away south with his close generals Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang while leaving his family and the populace behind. Cao Cao's forces captured all his army and his baggage. Xu Shu, a friend of Zhuge Liang who was also serving Liu Bei at the time, had the misfortune of his mother getting captured by the Cao forces. He then requested leave from Liu Bei and left to serve Cao Cao. Also, Liu Bei's two daughters were captured by Cao Chun in the battle.
Zhang Fei commanded twenty horsemen as rearguard. He held the river and broke the bridges down; looking fierce and shaking his lance, he shouted, "I am . Come and battle me to the death!" None of Cao Cao's men dared to go near him, buying time for Liu Bei to escape.
In the chaos, Zhao Yun disappeared to the north, prompting suspicion that Zhao Yun had surrendered to Cao Cao. When someone reported that to Liu Bei, Liu Bei angrily threw a handaxe and said " would never desert me." Surely enough, Zhao Yun came back with Liu Bei's in his arms along with Lady Gan. With this, Zhao Yun was promoted to General of the Standard.
Turning east from Changban, Liu Bei and the remnants of his party had crossed the Han River to the east where , Liu Biao's elder son, still held control of Jiangxia commandery. They met Guan Yu's fleet and over ten thousand men led by Liu Qi in . Together, they sailed down the river to Xiakou .
Cao Cao did not follow up in immediate pursuit. The main objective of his drive to the south had been the base at Jiangling, and he pressed on south to secure that base first.
After the Battle of Changban, the land of Jing province west of the Han River became territories of Cao Cao. Cao Cao entered Jiangling and settled the officials and peasants there. An adviser to Cao Cao, Jia Xu, suggested that Cao Cao should make full use of the resources in the Jing province to settle in the soldiers before further territorial expansions, but Cao Cao preferred to use the momentum from his victories to attack Jiangdong next.
Lu Su, a statesman from Jiangdong, was originally on a peace mission to Jing province to send condolences for Liu Biao's death. By the time he reached Jing province, however, Liu Cong had already surrendered and Liu Bei had fled south. Lu Su went to see Liu Bei at Changban and, after Liu's defeat, followed him to Xiakou. There he asked where Liu Bei was heading after, and Liu Bei replied that he plans to take refuge under Wu Ju , an old friend, in the distant Cangwu commandery . To this, Lu Su dissuaded Liu Bei from joining Wu Ju, saying Wu Ju is only an ordinary fellow who would not be independent for long; and persuaded Liu Bei to form an alliance with his lord Sun Quan to defend against Cao Cao. Liu Bei was extremely pleased at this suggestion, and sent Zhuge Liang to go with Lu Su to see Sun Quan in order to secure the alliance.
This led to the Battle of Red Cliffs shortly after in the same year, where the Sun-Liu alliance defeated the overwhelming northern fleets, driving Cao Cao back north and forming the basis of the Three Kingdoms.
In the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' by Luo Guanzhong, the battle was romanticized into a showcase of the power and bravery of Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun.
Liu Bei lost the battle and was pursued by Cao Cao. Liu Bei had been leading around the civilians who journeyed with him, and many of them were lost in this battle. Also, Liu Bei's wife was caught up in enemy lines, with his infant son Liu Shan. Being recognized only by Liu Bei and his brothers, Zhao Yun greatly frightened the whole army of Cao Cao by attempting to retrieve Liu Bei's wife and son. He managed to get to Lady Mi, Liu's wife, who placed the young Liu into his breast armor so as to keep the baby from harm, then killed herself by falling down a well, not wanting to be a burden to the general. Zhao Yun pushed over a wall to bury his lord's wife, then raced back to Liu Bei's side, still fighting with a child in his bosom.
Zhao Yun encountered Xiahou En, Cao Cao's sword bearer, but swiftly cut him down and gained a prized sword named the "Qinggang Sword" . Cao Cao, seeing Zhao's bravery, wanted him captured with the hopes of turning him to his side, and so ordered pursuit. While Zhao Yun was fleeing, he encountered many generals who attempted to capture him. When Zhao Yun escaped from an encirclement by four such generals, another unit led by Zhang He then blocked Zhao Yun. Without a word, they both fought. In about ten bouts Zhao Yun broke off the contest and applied the whip on to his mount. Unfortunately, the horse fell into a ditch. Zhang He approached for the kill, but a beam of reddish light formed an arc over the ditch. Zhang He fell back from this miraculous light. Zhao Yun's mount leapt up and went full speed.
Cao Cao's men then followed him all the way to Changban Bridge, where Cao Cao's troops were halted when they saw Zhang Fei standing alone on the bridge where he made his famous yell: "I am Zhang Fei of . Who dares fight with me?!" Cao Cao, seeing that his enemy was so fierce and resolute, also out of fear for ambush, decided to retreat. Zhang Fei then shouted, "What mean you? You will not fight nor do you run away!" It was then Xiahou Jie , a general of Cao Cao, was so frightened by Zhang Fei he died. Supposedly, Cao Cao ordered his troops to take a detour, remembering Guan Yu's comments on the fearsome Zhang. Zhang later destroyed the bridge to regroup with Liu Bei.
At the sight of Zhao Yun and his son, Liu Bei took his son and threw him to the ground because he had endangered Zhao Yun. While in the context of the time period such an action was not considered in a particularly negative light , modern day detractors of Liu Bei suggest that this incident caused Liu Shan brain-damage and led him to grow up to become the incompetent ruler who undid all Liu Bei had strived to accomplish years later.
The Battle of Changban is the highlight of Zhao Yun's story in the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series. Whether the player is Zhao Yun or any other character, it is generally advised at the beginning not to fight the Wei forces and instead protect Liu Bei. It is however the opposite if the player is Liu Bei himself.
Background
After in 207, he made arrangements for a southern expedition into the Jing province , held by Liu Biao at the time. Initial minor invasions led by Xiahou Dun were repelled by Liu Bei of Xinye, who was a vassal of Liu Biao at the time, thus Cao Cao personally led his armies south to conquer Jing province in the seventh month of 208.
In August, when Cao Cao's forces had reached , Liu Biao died of illness and his younger son succeeded him. Liu Cong's advisers Kuai Yue and Fu Xun convinced Liu Cong that he could not resist Cao Cao even with Liu Bei's help, so Liu Cong agreed to surrender. Liu Bei, at Fancheng at the time, was not informed of Liu Cong's decision to surrender. When Liu Bei became suspicious, he sent an attendant to Xiangyang to question Liu Cong, and only then would Liu Cong pass the news to Liu Bei through his subordinate official Song Zhong . Dismayed, Liu Bei angrily drew his sword on Song Zhong, but did not kill him. Surrender was not an option to Liu Bei, since he had been involved in an assassination plot to remove Cao Cao when Liu was in the service of Cao roughly ten years ago and it was unlikely that Cao Cao would forgive him.
Liu Bei then called his followers to council. Zhuge Liang suggested that Liu Bei should attack Liu Cong to secure Jing province and defend against Cao Cao there, but Liu Bei rejected this and said, "as Liu Jingzhou was dying, he entrusted his orphans to me. I cannot turn from this obligation and seek my own advantage. When I die, how could I show my face to Liu Jingzhou?". Not willing to fall under the hands of Cao Cao, Liu Bei gathered his men and marched to the south. As he passed Xiangyang he called out to Liu Cong, but Liu Cong dared not see him and hid. Many officials and civilians of Xiangyang followed Liu Bei as he left, as he was greatly beloved by the people.
In September, Liu Cong set out from Xiangyang towards Xinye to receive Cao Cao, surrendering Jing province. Cao Cao took over the command of Jing province's forces, especially their fleet, a component which Cao Cao's forces lacked. Fearing that Liu Bei would take the southern base of Jiangling, Cao Cao swiftly gave chase to Liu Bei with five thousand elite horsemen, leaving his baggage behind. As Liu Bei was bringing along more than a hundred thousand unarmed people and thousands of carts of luggage, his force could not move very quickly. Someone suggested to Liu Bei that he should abandon the people for his safety, but Liu Bei did not have the heart to desert them when the people risked their own lives to follow him. Instead, Liu Bei had Guan Yu sail ahead down the with a detachment of several hundred ships and take a roundabout route to Jiangling, where they planned to meet.
Battle
Cao Cao's horsemen caught up to Liu Bei's congregation at Changban, Dangyang Commandery, and Liu Bei had to flee for his life, galloping away south with his close generals Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang while leaving his family and the populace behind. Cao Cao's forces captured all his army and his baggage. Xu Shu, a friend of Zhuge Liang who was also serving Liu Bei at the time, had the misfortune of his mother getting captured by the Cao forces. He then requested leave from Liu Bei and left to serve Cao Cao. Also, Liu Bei's two daughters were captured by Cao Chun in the battle.
Zhang Fei commanded twenty horsemen as rearguard. He held the river and broke the bridges down; looking fierce and shaking his lance, he shouted, "I am . Come and battle me to the death!" None of Cao Cao's men dared to go near him, buying time for Liu Bei to escape.
In the chaos, Zhao Yun disappeared to the north, prompting suspicion that Zhao Yun had surrendered to Cao Cao. When someone reported that to Liu Bei, Liu Bei angrily threw a handaxe and said " would never desert me." Surely enough, Zhao Yun came back with Liu Bei's in his arms along with Lady Gan. With this, Zhao Yun was promoted to General of the Standard.
Turning east from Changban, Liu Bei and the remnants of his party had crossed the Han River to the east where , Liu Biao's elder son, still held control of Jiangxia commandery. They met Guan Yu's fleet and over ten thousand men led by Liu Qi in . Together, they sailed down the river to Xiakou .
Cao Cao did not follow up in immediate pursuit. The main objective of his drive to the south had been the base at Jiangling, and he pressed on south to secure that base first.
Aftermath
After the Battle of Changban, the land of Jing province west of the Han River became territories of Cao Cao. Cao Cao entered Jiangling and settled the officials and peasants there. An adviser to Cao Cao, Jia Xu, suggested that Cao Cao should make full use of the resources in the Jing province to settle in the soldiers before further territorial expansions, but Cao Cao preferred to use the momentum from his victories to attack Jiangdong next.
Lu Su, a statesman from Jiangdong, was originally on a peace mission to Jing province to send condolences for Liu Biao's death. By the time he reached Jing province, however, Liu Cong had already surrendered and Liu Bei had fled south. Lu Su went to see Liu Bei at Changban and, after Liu's defeat, followed him to Xiakou. There he asked where Liu Bei was heading after, and Liu Bei replied that he plans to take refuge under Wu Ju , an old friend, in the distant Cangwu commandery . To this, Lu Su dissuaded Liu Bei from joining Wu Ju, saying Wu Ju is only an ordinary fellow who would not be independent for long; and persuaded Liu Bei to form an alliance with his lord Sun Quan to defend against Cao Cao. Liu Bei was extremely pleased at this suggestion, and sent Zhuge Liang to go with Lu Su to see Sun Quan in order to secure the alliance.
This led to the Battle of Red Cliffs shortly after in the same year, where the Sun-Liu alliance defeated the overwhelming northern fleets, driving Cao Cao back north and forming the basis of the Three Kingdoms.
In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''
In the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' by Luo Guanzhong, the battle was romanticized into a showcase of the power and bravery of Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun.
Liu Bei lost the battle and was pursued by Cao Cao. Liu Bei had been leading around the civilians who journeyed with him, and many of them were lost in this battle. Also, Liu Bei's wife was caught up in enemy lines, with his infant son Liu Shan. Being recognized only by Liu Bei and his brothers, Zhao Yun greatly frightened the whole army of Cao Cao by attempting to retrieve Liu Bei's wife and son. He managed to get to Lady Mi, Liu's wife, who placed the young Liu into his breast armor so as to keep the baby from harm, then killed herself by falling down a well, not wanting to be a burden to the general. Zhao Yun pushed over a wall to bury his lord's wife, then raced back to Liu Bei's side, still fighting with a child in his bosom.
Zhao Yun encountered Xiahou En, Cao Cao's sword bearer, but swiftly cut him down and gained a prized sword named the "Qinggang Sword" . Cao Cao, seeing Zhao's bravery, wanted him captured with the hopes of turning him to his side, and so ordered pursuit. While Zhao Yun was fleeing, he encountered many generals who attempted to capture him. When Zhao Yun escaped from an encirclement by four such generals, another unit led by Zhang He then blocked Zhao Yun. Without a word, they both fought. In about ten bouts Zhao Yun broke off the contest and applied the whip on to his mount. Unfortunately, the horse fell into a ditch. Zhang He approached for the kill, but a beam of reddish light formed an arc over the ditch. Zhang He fell back from this miraculous light. Zhao Yun's mount leapt up and went full speed.
Cao Cao's men then followed him all the way to Changban Bridge, where Cao Cao's troops were halted when they saw Zhang Fei standing alone on the bridge where he made his famous yell: "I am Zhang Fei of . Who dares fight with me?!" Cao Cao, seeing that his enemy was so fierce and resolute, also out of fear for ambush, decided to retreat. Zhang Fei then shouted, "What mean you? You will not fight nor do you run away!" It was then Xiahou Jie , a general of Cao Cao, was so frightened by Zhang Fei he died. Supposedly, Cao Cao ordered his troops to take a detour, remembering Guan Yu's comments on the fearsome Zhang. Zhang later destroyed the bridge to regroup with Liu Bei.
At the sight of Zhao Yun and his son, Liu Bei took his son and threw him to the ground because he had endangered Zhao Yun. While in the context of the time period such an action was not considered in a particularly negative light , modern day detractors of Liu Bei suggest that this incident caused Liu Shan brain-damage and led him to grow up to become the incompetent ruler who undid all Liu Bei had strived to accomplish years later.
In popular culture
The Battle of Changban is the highlight of Zhao Yun's story in the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series. Whether the player is Zhao Yun or any other character, it is generally advised at the beginning not to fight the Wei forces and instead protect Liu Bei. It is however the opposite if the player is Liu Bei himself.
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