Battle of Han River | |||||||
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Part of the Hanzhong Campaign | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Liu Bei | Cao Cao | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Zhao Yun | Cao Cao | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
Battle of Han River | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 漢水之戰 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 汉水之战 | ||||||
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The Battle of Han River was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in April 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle was the last major engagement in the Hanzhong Campaign,in which Liu Bei emerged victorious and subsequently declared himself King of Hanzhong.
Cao Cao's general Xiahou Yuan was defeated and killed by Liu Bei at the Battle of Mount Dingjun in February 219. In retaliation,Cao Cao led a large army along with millions of grains to supply his troops. Cao Cao wanted to attack Liu Bei's camp at the south of the Han River. Therefore,Liu Bei sent his generals Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong to defend it. Later,as Huang Zhong along with his soldiers went to capture the enemy's supplies. Zhao Yun and his subordinate Zhang Zhu (張著) remained in the main camp with Zhang Yi to keep it safe until their return. [2]
Huang Zhong led some troops to capture the supplies of grain Cao Cao stocked at the North Mountain. Zhao Yun along with his unit assisted Huang Zhong during this mission. As Huang Zhong had been gone for long,Zhao Yun became worried that something happened to him and along with some tens light cavalry left his camp to find Huang Zhong's unit. During their search,they encountered Cao Cao's main army and were forced to fight against them,as more and more of Cao Cao's soldiers joined the battle. Yet,Zhao Yun with a handful of soldiers charged among their masses. At the same time,attacking and retreating,Zhao Yun managed to defeat a far larger army. [3] [4]
Cao Cao's soldiers soon regrouped but Zhao Yun again,along with his fellow riders broke the encirclement and lead them back to the main camp. During this battle,the officer Zhang Zhu (張著) was wounded hence he could not retreat. Zhao Yun turned back,rescued the wounded Zhang Zhu and led him back to the camp. However,Cao Cao's army followed them until they reached the camp. When Zhang Yi saw that Cao Cao's army was in pursuit of Zhao Yun,and headed towards the main camp. He thought that they should close the gates and prepare for their assault. However,Zhao Yun ordered to have the gates wide open,lowered the flags and quieted the drums. [5] [6]
Seeing this,Cao Cao's army was fearful of some ambush therefore they withdrew. At this moment,Zhao Yun suddenly ordered to beat the drums with thundering sounds and along with crossbowmen,he led Liu Bei's forces as they pursued the retreated army. Cao Cao's soldiers panicked and while fleeing trampled over each other,with many among them drowning into the Han river. [7] [8]
As Liu Bei later arrived and inspected the battlefield. He exclaimed:"Zilong is full of guts!" He ordered a celebration until late that night honoring Zhao Yun. From then on,Liu Bei's army called Zhao Yun "General of Tiger's Might" (虎威將軍). [9] [10]
The Battle of Xiaoting (猇亭之戰),also known as the Battle of Yiling and the Battle of Yiling and Xiaoting,was fought between the state of Shu and the state of Wu,between the years 221 and 222 in the early Three Kingdoms period of China. The battle is significant because Wu was able to turn the situation from a series of initial losses into a defensive stalemate,before proceeding to win a decisive victory over Shu. The Wu victory halted the Shu invasion and preceded the death of Liu Bei,Shu's founding emperor.
Liu Bei,courtesy name Xuande (玄德),was a Chinese warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding emperor of Shu Han,one of the Three Kingdoms of China.
Zhao Yun,courtesy name Zilong (子龍),was a military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a subordinate of the northern warlord Gongsun Zan,Zhao Yun later came to serve another warlord,Liu Bei,and had since accompanied him on most of his military exploits,from the Battle of Changban (208) to the Hanzhong Campaign (217–219). He continued serving in the state of Shu Han –founded by Liu Bei in 221 –in the Three Kingdoms period and participated in the first of the Northern Expeditions until his death in 229. While many facts about Zhao Yun's life remain unclear due to limited information in historical sources,some aspects and activities in his life have been dramatised or exaggerated in folklore and fiction. In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms,he was lauded as a member of the Five Tiger Generals under Liu Bei.
Zhang Fei,courtesy name Yide (益德),was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu,who were among the earliest to join Liu Bei,shared a brotherly relationship with their lord and accompanied him on most of his early exploits. Zhang Fei fought in various battles on Liu Bei's side,including the Red Cliffs campaign (208–209),takeover of Yi Province (212–214),and Hanzhong Campaign (217–218). He was assassinated by his subordinates in 221 after serving for only a few months in the state of Shu Han,which was founded by Liu Bei earlier that year.
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Guo Huai,courtesy name Boji,was a Chinese military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao as a subordinate of Cao Cao's generals Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He. During the Three Kingdoms period,he served in Wei,the state established by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi,and lived through the reigns of four Wei emperors. From the 220s until his death in 255,he governed and defended Wei's western borders in Yong and Liang provinces. During this time,he resisted multiple invasions by Wei's rival state,Shu Han,and quelled some rebellions by local Qiang,Di and other non-Han Chinese tribes.
The Empty Fort Strategy involves using reverse psychology to deceive the enemy into thinking that an empty location is full of traps and ambushes,and therefore induce the enemy to retreat. It is listed as the 32nd of the Thirty-Six Stratagems. Some examples are listed in the following sections.
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Zhang Yi,courtesy name Bogong,was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty,Zhang Yi was a 10th-generation descendant of Zhang Liang. He started his career as a scribe under the warlord Liu Bei,who founded Shu later,and gradually rose to the positions of a county prefect and commandery administrator. In the early 230s,he served as an area commander tasked with maintaining the peace in Shu's southern commanderies. In 234,he led the Shu vanguard during the Battle of Wuzhang Plains against Shu's rival state Wei. From 238 to 259,Zhang Yi steadily rose through the ranks to become one of Shu's top generals. During this time,although he strongly opposed the Shu general Jiang Wei's aggressive stance towards Wei,he still accompanied Jiang Wei on his military campaigns against Wei. In 263,he surrendered to Wei forces along with the Shu emperor Liu Shan when Wei launched a large-scale invasion of Shu. In the following year,Zhang Yi was killed by mutineers during a rebellion by the Wei general Zhong Hui. Like Liao Hua and Zong Yu,Zhang was one of few officials who served the Shu-Han state throughout its entire existence.
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