Battle of Yamen

Battle of Yamen
Part of the Song-Yuan Wars
Date March 19, 1279 Location Yamen, China Result Decisive Yuan victory, Song Dynasty ends.
Belligerents
Song Dynasty	Yuan Dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Zhang Shijie	Zhang Hongfan
Strength
200,000 1000+ warships	20,000 50+ warships
Casualties and losses
unknown, though almost all perished	unknown

The Battle of Yamen (old pronunciation: Yaimen) (崖門戰役; or 崖山海戰, lit. Naval Battle of Mt. Ya) was a 1279 battle, and considered the last stand of the Song Dynastyagainst the Yuan Dynasty. Although outnumbered, the Yuan navy delivered a crushing tactical victory, annihilating the Song.

Today, the battle site at Yamen is located in Xinhui County, Guangdong Province, China.

Background

In 1276 the Southern Song court fled from the Mongol invaders by boat to Guangdong, leaving Emperor Gong of Song China behind. Hopes of resistance centered on two young princes, Emperor Gong's brothers. The older boy, Zhao Shi, who was nine years old, was declared emperor. In 1277 the imperial court sought refuge first in Lantau Island's Mui Wo and then in what is today Kowloon City, Hong Kong. Emperor Zhao Shi older brother became ill and died; he was succeeded by his younger sibling, Zhao Bing, who was seven. Zhang Shijie, the Grand General at the time, brought the boy Emperor Bing to Yamen and prepared the defense against Yuan there.

Later, Wen Tianxiang, who fought against Yuan in Guangdong and Jiangxi at the time, was captured by Wang Weiyi in Haifeng County, eliminating all Song forces on land.

The battle

In 1279, Zhang Hongfan of Yuan attacked the Song navy in Yamen. Li Heng, who previously captured Guangzhou, reinforced Zhang Honghan. Some within the Song forces suggested that the navy should first claim the mouth of the bay, so as to secure their line of retreat to the west. Zhang Shijie turned this suggestion down to prevent his soldiers from fleeing the battle. Further, he ordered the burning of all palaces, houses, and forts on land for the same reason.

Zhang ordered about a thousand warships to be chained together to forming a long string within the bay, and placed Emperor Bing's boat in the center of his fleet. The Yuan forces steered fire ships into the Song formation, but the Song ships were prepared for such an attack: all Song ships had been painted with fire-resistant mud. The Yuan navy then blockaded the bay, while the Yuan army cut off Song's fresh water and wood sources on land. The Song soldiers were forced to eat dry foods and drink sea water, causing nausea and vomiting. Zhang Hongfan even kidnapped Zhang Shijie's nephew, asking Zhang Shijie to surrender on three occasions, to no avail.

In the afternoon on March 18, Zhang Hongfan prepared for a massive assault. The employment of cannons was turned down because Hongfan felt that cannons could break the chains of formation too effectively, making it easy for the Song ships to retreat. The next day, Zhang Hongfan split his naval forces into four parts: one on each of the Song's east, north, and south side, while Hongfan led the remaining faction to about a li away from the Song forces.

First, the north flank engaged the Song forces but failed. The Yuan then began playing festive music, leading the Song to think that the Yuan forces were having a banquet and lowering their guard. At noon, Zhang Hongfan attacked from the front, hiding additional soldiers under large pieces of cloth. Once Zhang Hongfan's boats neared the Song fleet, the Yuan sounded the horn of battle, revealing Yuan soldiers under the fabric. Caught off guard, the Song fleet lost seven ships. Seeing that the battle was a lost, Zhang Shijie picked out his finest soldiers and cut about a dozen ships from the formation in an attempted breakout to save the emperor.

The Yuan forces advanced to the center and to Emperor Bing. There, Left Minister Lu Xiufu saw no hope of breaking free, and jumped into the sea with the boy emperor, killing them both. Many officials and concubines followed suit. The History of Song records that, seven days later, hundreds of thousands of corpses floated to the surface of the sea. Reportedly, the body of the boy emperor was found near today's Shekou in Shenzhen, where his actual grave is still to be found. In the 1980s, another grave was restored in the area to commemorate the boy emperor.

Zhang Shijie, having escaped the battle, hoped to have Dowager Yang appoint the next Song emperor, and from there continue to resist the Yuan dynasty. But after hearing of Emperor Bing's death, Dowager Yang also commited suicide at sea. Zhang Shijie buried her at the shore. Zhang Shijie and his remaining soldiers drowned at sea due to a tropical storm soon afterward.

Aftermath

As Emperor Bing is the last Song emperor, his death effectively ended the Song Dynasty. The Yuan dynasty, under Kublai Khan, now had all of China under its control.

Many temples were built in the surrounding area in memory of the brave souls in Song's dying years, most notably: Wen Tianxiang, Lu Xiufu, and Zhang Shijie.

References

• 《宋史》History of Song, compiled under Toktoghan 脫脫 in 1344.
• 《元史》History of Yuan, compiled under Song Lian 宋濂 in 1370.