Battle of Xiaoting

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Battle of Xiaoting
Part of the Three Kingdoms period
Date July 221 – July 222 CE
Location Yiling, Hubei
Result Decisive Wu victory
Belligerents
Eastern Wu Shu Han
Commanders
Lu Xun Liu Bei
Strength
50,000-70,000 ~50,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown ~47,000
v • d • e

The Battle of Xiaoting (猇亭之戰), also known as the Battle of Yiling (夷陵之戰), is a famous battle which took place in 222 during the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. The battle was fought between Shu Han and Eastern Wu on the plains of Yiling (present-day Yichang in Hubei Province). The battle was most significant for the decisive victory of Wu, which halted Liu Bei's invasion of Wu and preceded Liu's subsequent death in Baidicheng.

Contents

[edit] Background

[edit] The death of Guan Yu and loss of Jingzhou

In 219, Jingzhou, which was part of Shu Han territory, was seized by Eastern Wu. Guan Yu, the Shu Han general defending Jingzhou, was captured by Eastern Wu forces after his defeat and executed. Liu Bei, the ruler of Shu Han, was enraged by Eastern Wu's "backstab" (Eastern Wu was formerly Shu Han's ally) and the execution of Guan Yu. Liu ignored advice from some of his subjects to withdraw his decision to attack Eastern Wu and declared war. Among those who opposed Liu Bei's resolution to war with Eastern Wu included his chancellor Zhuge Liang and general Zhao Yun. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu was Liu Bei's sworn brother and one of the justifications for Liu's war against Eastern Wu was to avenge Guan Yu. Historians have expressed doubts over the reasons for Liu Bei's conclusion, but it is undeniable that vengeance was one of the motives.[citation needed]

[edit] The death of Zhang Fei

As Shu Han mobilised its troops in preparation for the attack on Eastern Wu, another Shu Han general Zhang Fei died. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Fei was the other sworn brother of Liu Bei. His death was dramatised by the author Luo Guanzhong, in which he was assassinated by two of his subordinates Fan Jiang and Zhang Da. Apparently, Zhang Fei was growing impatient with the war preparations as he was anxious to avenge Guan Yu. He imposed strict deadlines on his subordinates in making battle preparations but they failed to meet the time limit. Zhang was furious and gave them a good trashing before warning them that they would be executed under military law if they founder again. Fan Jiang and Zhang Da assassinated Zhang Fei in his sleep and severed his head and defected to Eastern Wu.

Liu Bei was overwhelmed with grief over the loss of his two sworn brothers and Zhang Fei's death hardened his decision to attack Eastern Wu for revenge. Once again, Shu Han's chancellor Zhuge Liang and several others advised Liu Bei against launching the campaign but Liu Bei ignored them. Eventually, Liu Bei departed from Shu Han's capital city Chengdu with a large army and advanced towards Eastern Wu on both land and water (along the Yangtze River). Zhuge Liang was left in charge of Chengdu with the crown prince Liu Shan while Zhao Yun was placed in charge of logistics.

[edit] The battle

[edit] Size of armies

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Shu Han army's size was highly exaggerated to be 750,000, although historians estimated the actual size of the army to be between 40,000 and 50,000.[citation needed] As for Eastern Wu, historians estimate its army's size to be around 50,000-70,000, while some claim that it was about 160,000.[citation needed] As far as concerned, it is a fact that Shu Han was indeed outnumbered by Eastern Wu, in contrary to the dramatised account in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

[edit] Order of Battle and participants

[edit] Shu Han forces

[edit] Eastern Wu forces

[edit] First stage

[edit] Eastern Wu's defeats

Initially, Eastern Wu forces underestimated the enemy's tenacity due to their superiority in numbers. As the advancing Shu Han army captured regions including Zigui, Wu County, Mount Ba and Mount Xing, the Eastern Wu forces that set out from their fortifications to engage the enemy were nearly all annihilated. The initial defeat made Sun Quan decide to adopt Lu Xun's strategy and appoint Lu as the Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Wu forces.

Eastern Wu forces realised that the Shu Han troops were better versed in warfare in mountainous terrain as they were mostly infantry. Thus, they decided to abandon their defenses at certain territories and retreat to vital positions and defend them instead. After that, they would hold on to those positions and wait for an opportunity to launch a counter-attack.

[edit] Retreat and stalemates

In January, Shu Han naval forces led by Wu Ban and Chen Shi captured Yiling. Liu Bei built his headquarters in Zigui but did not stay there for long as the Shu Han forces continued to make progress and push further into the heartland of Eastern Wu. In February, the Shu Han vanguard army broke through enemy lines at the city of Yidao and defeated the Eastern Wu defenders in engagement outside the city. The Eastern Wu general Sun Huan who was guarding Yidao retreated with his remaining troops into the city and held on to their positions until a stalemate was reached.

Meanwhile, the main force of Shu Han led by Liu Bei reached Xiaoting and was unable to push any further as the Eastern Wu forces led by Lu Xun held on firmly to their positions. With no further retreat by the Eastern Wu forces, both sides reached at stalemate at Xiaoting.

[edit] Falling morale of the Shu Han army

As the Shu Han troops ventured further into Eastern Wu territory, their supply lines from Chengdu lengthened and supplies took longer to arrive. The Shu Han troops also became gradually weary and tired from battle. The terrain became flatter and the Shu Han infantry lost its advantage in mountainous terrain. Liu Bei deployed his troops in over 50 camps along the 350 km line from Wuxia to Yiling on the southern bank of the Yangtze. His vanguard army was isolated 150 km away at Yidao. The Eastern Wu forces thought that it was the best time to launch their counter-attack but Lu Xun ordered them to hold on.

By March, most of the Eastern Wu forces have evacuated from mountainous terrain and held up in their fortifications on flat terrain. Summer soon arrived and the sweltering heat killed several plants and shrubs. Liu Bei's forces camped at Yiling were directly next to a forest so the heat became even more unbearable. Some of the Shu Han troops were affected by heatstroke. By then, the Shu Han army's morale had fallen significantly as compared to at the start of the campaign, as the troops were now weary and suffering from the intense heat.

Liu Bei planned an ambush which turned out to be a failure. He deployed 8,000 elite troops to lie in ambush in nearby valleys and sent Wu Ban to lead a weaker force to challenge and lure Eastern Wu forces out of their fortifications into the ambush. However, Lu Xun recognised Liu Bei's ambush plan and ordered his troops to ignore the taunts from the Shu Han forces. It was said that he even ordered his troops to put wax into their ears. The failure of the ambush caused the Shu Han army's morale to plummet even lower.

[edit] Second stage

[edit] The burning of the camps

The Shu Han troops were suffering from the summer heat as the stalemate, which began in March, continued to progress. Liu Bei decided to shift his camp into the nearby forest for shade and shelter from the heat even though his advisor Ma Liang opposed his decision. However, Liu Bei's move proved to be a fatal mistake. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Liu Bei sent a map of the layout of his camps to Zhuge Liang in Chengdu, Zhuge was furious and shocked when he saw the deployment of the camps. He even remarked "Who suggested to our lord to lay out the camps in this way? He ought to be killed!" Subsequently, Zhuge Liang, as though as he had foreseen Liu Bei's defeat, immediately gave orders to prepare the Stone Sentinel Maze.

In July, the Eastern Wu commander Lu Xun knew that the time was ripe for the counter-attack. Lu ordered Eastern Wu saboteurs to encircle Liu Bei's camp by travelling on water with the navy. Once they were behind Liu Bei's camp at Yiling, the saboteurs set the camp on fire. The woods gradually became a fiery inferno within hours as wildfires fueled by dead plants and dry air erupted everywhere. When the Shu Han troops rushed towards the Yangtze River for water to put out the fires, Eastern Wu archers lying in ambush shot them down. Shu Han forces attempted a counter-attack, but Eastern Wu forces led by Pan Zhang broke through the lines they reformed and made retaliation impossible. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the event was described as "The burning of the linked camps for 700 li" (火燒聯營七百里). However, the camps were not actually "linked" and 700 li is an exaggerated approximation of the distance the fires spread.

[edit] Shu Han retreat

The Shu Han navy fared slightly better by barely managing an orderly retreat. Cheng Ji, a Shu Han civilian official, personally led a force to defend the rear of the retreating navy and cover them. The Eastern Wu navy caught up with the rear guard of the Shu Han navy and engaged in battle. Cheng Ji and his men were surrounded by the Eastern Wu navy's vanguard but they managed to hold on by sinking the smaller boats of the enemy. However, they were eventually outnumbered when the main force of Eastern Wu's navy arrived and were killed. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cheng Ji committed suicide but it was unknown whether he did the same in factual history.

The Shu Han forces lost over 40 of their original 50 camps on the 350 km line to a rockslide at the Ma'an Hills. Liu Bei attempted to reform and regroup his remaining forces at the hills to make a last stand. However, his troops were split up before they could regroup as one. The Eastern Wu general Zhu Ran led an army of 5,000 to disrupt the lines and prevent Liu Bei from reforming. Lu Xun led an attack on the Shu Han forces personally with Xu Sheng and Han Dang, and succeeded in preventing Liu Bei from making his last stand. The entire Shu Han army was nearly wiped out at Ma'an Hills.

[edit] Liu Bei's escape and death

The remaining camps of the Shu Han army were set ablaze by retreating Shu Han troops to hinder Eastern Wu forces' pursuit. Meanwhile, the isolated vanguard army at Yidao was also completely destroyed by Eastern Wu forces. Huang Quan managed to escape together with his deputies Shi He and Pang Lin along with 318 cavalry to the northern bank of the Yangtze River where they were cut off from the Shu Han forces and forced to surrender to Eastern Wu.

Liu Bei fled to Zigui with the Eastern Wu troops hot on his heels and the demoralised Shu Han troops were unable to hold their ground and kept retreating. Amidst the retreat, the Shu Han official in charge of Jingzhou, Wang Fu, was killed in the ensuing battle, but his death bought time for Liu Bei to continue on his flight. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wang Fu was killed around the same time as Guan Yu when Eastern Wu forces captured Jingzhou. Xiang Chong, the military commander stationed at Jingzhou, managed to lead the defeated Shu Han troops on an organised retreat without them suffering any great losses again.

Xiang also led Liu Bei safely to Yufu (present-day Fengjie County) and managed to hold off any further attacks by the Eastern Wu pursuit forces. Liu Bei was impressed with Xiang Chong's performance and promoted him to the rank of Viceroy. Eventually, reinforcements led by Zhao Yun arrived and a stalemate was reached before the Eastern Wu forces decided to retreat, thus ending their spectacular counter-attack. Of all the Shu Han commanders who participated in the campaign, most of them were killed and only the naval commanders Wu Ban and Chen Shi managed to return to Shu Han safely.

Liu Bei died a year later in the spring of 223 at Baidicheng from dysentery. He was succeeded by the crown prince Liu Shan with the chancellor Zhuge Liang assisting him.

[edit] Aftermath

The Battle of Xiaoting in 222 sealed the fate of Shu Han as a large portion of Shu Han's armed forces were destroyed in the battle. Ever since then, Shu Han's military was not as powerful as it once was.[citation needed] After Liu Bei's death, Shu Han was ruled by chancellor-regent Zhuge Liang on behalf of the new emperor Liu Shan. Zhuge also sought to make peace with Eastern Wu and reform their earlier alliance. This was achieved in the same year 223.

On the other hand, the Battle of Xiaoting allowed Eastern Wu to establish its control over Jingzhou after the victory. The Eastern Wu commander-in-chief Lu Xun also made his name after the battle and became widely recognised as a great strategist. The victory also marked the beginning of Lu Xun's illustrious career within Eastern Wu and led to his eventual appointment as the chancellor of Eastern Wu.

[edit] Fictional events

[edit] In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

  • Sun Quan attempted to make peace with Liu Bei as the Shu Han army approached. He sent the defectors from Shu Han (Fu Shiren, Mi Fang, Fan Jiang and Zhang Da) back to Liu Bei as an appeasement offer. Mi and Fu, who caused Guan Yu's downfall by surrendering Jingzhou to Eastern Wu, were killed by Guan Xing (Guan Yu's son). Fan and Zhang, who assassinated Zhang Fei, were slain by Zhang Bao (Zhang Fei's son).
  • Gan Ning participated in the battle although he was ill then. He was killed in battle by the tribal leader Shamoke who supported Shu Han. In fact, Gan Ning had already died of illness before the battle.
  • Pan Zhang was killed by Guan Xing. In fact, Guan Xing was in charge of civilian affairs and did not participate in the battle. Pan Zhang died of illness.
  • Ma Zhong was not killed by Mi Fang prior to the battle. In fact, Mi Fang never returned to serve Shu Han after his defection and served Eastern Wu until his death.[citation needed]
  • Huang Zhong was killed by an arrow fired by Ma Zhong. In fact, Huang Zhong had died before the battle, probably from illness or old age.
  • Zhuge Liang strongly opposed Liu Bei's decision to start the campaign. In fact, Zhuge Liang did not oppose but Zhao Yun did.[citation needed]
  • Lu Xun ventured into the Stone Sentinel Maze laid down by Zhuge Liang while pursuing Liu Bei. He was trapped in the maze and eventually Huang Chengyan guided him out. Lu Xun then exclaimed that he was inferior to Zhuge Liang in terms of intelligence. Lu also ordered the Eastern Wu forces to retreat after the episode as he was worried that Cao Wei might take the advantage to attack Eastern Wu.

[edit] In popular culture

The Battle of Xiaoting, known as the Battle of Yiling, is featured in the Dynasty Warriors game series based on the Three Kingdoms.

[edit] References

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Xiaoting"