Battle of Pengcheng | |||||||
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Part of the Chu-Han contention | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Western Chu | Kingdom of Han | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Xiang Yu | Liu Bang | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
30,000 | 560,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | 200,000+ |
Battle of Pengcheng | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 彭城之戰 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 彭城之战 | ||||||
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The Battle of Pengcheng was fought in Pengcheng (present-day Xuzhou,Jiangsu,China) in April 205 BC between the kingdoms of Western Chu and Han,led by Xiang Yu and Liu Bang respectively. The Han forces were unprepared and suffered heavy losses. Several of Liu Bang's family members were captured and some of his allies defected to Chu as a result of his defeat.
In the spring of 205 BC,Xiang Yu was at war with the State of Qi. In 206 the Qi general Tian Rong had forcibly reunited Qi under his rule against the wishes of Xiang Yu. As a result,in December 206 Xiang Yu invaded Qi,and in January 205 he defeated Tian Rong near the city of Chengyang. Tian Rong fled to Pingyuan where he was killed by the locals,and Xiang Yu installed another member of the royal Tian clan,Tian Jia,as the new king. However,resistance remained,and Tian Rong's younger brother Tian Heng gathered tens of thousands of scattered Qi soldiers. Xiang Yu responded by marching all the way to the northern coast of the Shandong peninsula,conducting a campaign of terror as he went,burning homes,burying alive prisoners-of-war,and capturing women,the weak,and the elderly. However,Xiang Yu's brutality prompted rebellions,and Tian Heng defeated and killed Tian Jia in Chengyang. In March Tian Heng then put Tian Rong's son,Tian Guang,on the throne. [1]
Xiang Yu made several attacks on Chengyang but could not retake the city. He was thus distracted when Liu Bang launched an invasion of Western Chu. After invading Guanzhong in August 206 and securing the region as his administrative centre by September (see the Three Qins),Liu Bang had begun to expand his power into the Central Plain. In October he annexed the State of Henan,in November the State of Haan,and in March 205 the States of Western Wei and Yin. [2] In April he used Xiang Yu's assassination of King Huai II of Chu to launch a full-scale war against Xiang Yu for control over China (see the Chu-Han Contention). In January 206,when Xiang Yu made himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu,he had awarded King Huai with the title of Emperor Yi (Acting Emperor). However,it was a ceremonial title,and Xiang Yu employed it as part of his effort to side-line the king. In April 206 he forcibly moved the emperor from the capital Pengcheng to the remote county of Chen south of the Yangtze River,and most of the emperor's ministers refused to follow him into effective exile. In October,recognizing that the emperor could still be used against him,Xiang Yu then had the vassal kings of the formerly Chu southern kingdoms,Ying Bu of Jiujiang,Wu Rui of Hengshan and Gong Ao of Lingjiang,assassinate the figurehead. [3]
In April 205 Liu Bang used this action to declare a war of vengeance against Xiang Yu,dressing in white robes and holding a mourning ceremony for three days. He then sent envoys with the following message to the other kings in China:"The Acting Emperor is the emperor over all the people. We are all his subjects and should place ourselves in his service. Now Xiang Yu has removed the Acting Emperor to the south of the Yangtze River and had him killed in the river. He has committed a serious crime. I have sent all the troops in the area of Guanzhong and the armies of Henei,Henan,and Hedong areas to embark on an expedition together with the forces of the kings of all the states against the one who has ordered the assassination of the Acting Emperor." [4] The Zhao general Chen Yu also sent troops to assist Liu Bang after the latter pretended to have executed the Zhao political exile Zhang Er. [5] The Han General-in-Chief Han Xin remained in Guanzhong to continue the siege of Zhang Han,the former Qin general and current king of Yong,in Feiqiu. [6]
A massive coalition led by Liu Bang,supposedly consisting of 560,000 troops,converged on the Chu capital of Pengcheng from three directions. A northern army under Cao Shen,Fan Kuai,Zhou Bo and Guan Ying started from Henei,marched to Xiuwu,crossed the Yellow River at the port of Baima,and marched south-east to Dingtao,where they defeated a Chu army under the generals Long Ju and Xiang Tuo before marching to Dang and Xiao. The southern army under Wang Ling,Xue Ou and Wang Xi had already marched to the garrisoned city of Yangxia,which they attacked and captured. The middle army was led by Liu Bang himself,who was accompanied by his advisors Zhang Liang and Chen Ping,the Minister Coachman Xiahou Ying,the generals Jin Xi and Lu Wan,the vassal kings Haan Xin (King of Haan) and Wei Bao (King of Western Wei),the Zhao political exile Zhang Er (originally the King of Changshan),and former kings who had surrendered to Liu Bang,namely Sima Xin of Sai,Dong Yi of Zhai,Shen Yang of Henan,and Sima Ang of Yin. They captured Quyu and marched on Pengcheng via Waihuang. En route,Liu Bang was joined by the warlord Peng Yue,formerly an ally of Tian Rong,whom he made the Prime Minister of Wei and sent north to recapture towns and cities in the former Wei region of Liang. The three armies reached Pengcheng and captured the city. [7]
Liu Bang confiscated the treasures and concubines in Xiang Yu's palaces and held banquets to celebrate his victory. However,after hearing of the fall of Pengcheng,Xiang Yu ordered the bulk of his forces to continue campaigning in Qi while he personally led 30,000 crack troops to retake the capital. Quickly and secretly,they marched south via the towns of Lu and Huling and reached Pengcheng from the west,encamping about ten miles from the city in present-day Xiao County,Anhui. In doing this,Xiang Yu cut off the coalition army's route of retreat to their bases in the west. The celebrating coalition army was unaware of Xiang Yu's movements.
At dawn Xiang Yu's army attacked the coalition camps,whose soldiers,in their surprise and confusion,began to rout. In the course of the day,Xiang Yu's men fought all the way to Pengcheng,which they recaptured. The coalition troops lacked a clear line of retreat to the west,and the Chu army pursued them further east into the Sishui (泗) and Gu (穀) Rivers,where supposedly more than 100,000 coalition troops were slaughtered. Many of the survivors fled southward towards the hills,but the Chu army pursued them closely and attacked them on the Suishui River,driving them into the waters. Sima Qian claimed that around 100,000 more coalition troops were massacred here,with the corpses blocking the river's flow. [8] [9]
Sima Qian claimed that Xiang Yu's men surrounded Liu Bang,but that he escaped because a great wind confused the Chu formation. In any case,as the coalition army fragmented,Liu Bang escaped with a handful of mounted bodyguards,and he encountered on the road his eldest daughter and second eldest son Liu Ying. The Chu army coerced a local into leading them to two of Liu Bang's family members:his father Liu Taigong and wife LüZhi. These two Xiang Yu captured and retained as hostages. [10]
A famous and possibly fictional account of Liu Bang's flight portrays him as so fearful that he thrice dumps his children out of his chariot in order to move faster,and it is only the repeated intervention of Xiahou Ying that secures the children's escape. [11]
Liu Bang had suffered serious losses. His father and wife had been taken as hostages,and the states of Wei,Dai and Zhao soon defected to Xiang Yu,as did the former kings of Sai and Zhai,Sima Xin and Dong Yi. Sima Ang,the former king of Yin,went missing in action. [12]
However,although Xiang Yu had won a stunning reversal,he personally returned to Pengcheng to attend to the needs of his capital,which had been plundered by the occupying Han armies. In doing so,he perhaps compromised his best chance to win the war. He sent a Chu army to build on the momentum of the victory and pursue the Han forces west. However,the Han General-in-Chief Han Xin led reinforcements from Guanzhong into the Central Plain and attacked and defeated this army between Jing County and Suo Village,both in present-day Henan. [13] [14]
Meanwhile,Liu Bang found his way to safety. Arriving first in Xiayi and then Yu,on Zhang Liang's advice he sent the envoy Sui He to Ying Bu,king of Jiujiang,in the hope that Ying would switch sides,although Sui would not succeed in securing Ying's defection until November,following Han Xin's victory at Jingxing. In May Liu Bang arrived in the strong city of Xingyang in the Central Plain,and he and Han Xin reorganized the Han army,establishing strong Han garrisons in Xingyang and nearby Chenggao. Near to Chenggao was Ao Granary,and the Han constructed a walled supply road along the banks of the Yellow River connecting the granary to Xingyang. [15] [16] Liu Bang and Han Xin also put down a rebellion by Wang Wu and Cheng Chu - former Qin commanders - and Shen Tu,the magistrate of Wei,capturing their base,the city of Waihuang. [17]
As Xiang Yu's main army approached Xingyang,Liu Bang made Guan Ying commander of the Gentlemen of the Palace's Cavalry in order to contend with Xiang Yu's numerous cavalrymen. Assisted by the former Qin cavalry commanders Li Bi and Luo Jia,Guan Ying defeated a Chu cavalry force to the east of Xingyang,and was then ordered to attack Chu supply lines. [18] Liu Bang ordered the warlord Peng Yue to also attack Xiang Yu's supply lines,and Peng would conduct these operations up until 203. [19]
In June Han Xin completed the siege of Feiqiu,with Zhang Han committing suicide,and he also developed his plan to conquer northern China,with the aim that Xiang Yu would be too distracted by Liu Bang and his bases of Xingyang and Chenggao to properly counter Han Xin in the north. Moreover,Xiang Yu could not endanger his line of retreat by marching further west past Xingyang and Chenggao into Guanzhong,and so later in the year Xiang began a series of operations designed to capture both cities. [20] [21] These operations saw the cities change hands multiple times and devolved into a war of attrition that would not end until 203 (see the Battle of Gaixia). Thus,the next decisive engagement would not occur around these cities but to the north,in August 205,with Han Xin's conquest of the State of Wei. [22]
This article concerns the 200 BC decade,that lasted from 209 BC to 200 BC.
Year 204 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Tuditanus. The denomination 204 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period,when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 205 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Dives. The denomination 205 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period,when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
LüZhi,courtesy name E'xu (娥姁) and commonly known as Empress Lü and formally Empress Gao of Han,was the empress consort of Gaozu,the founding emperor of the Han dynasty. They had two known children,Liu Ying and Princess Yuan of Lu. Lüwas the first woman to assume the title Empress of China and paramount power. After Gaozu's death,she was honoured as empress dowager and regent during the short reigns of Emperor Hui and his successors Emperor Qianshao of Han and Liu Hong.
Emperor Gaozu of Han,given name Liu Bang (劉邦),born Liu Ji (劉季),was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty,reigning from 202 to 195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Emperor Gao,or Gaodi;"Gaozu of Han",derived from the Records of the Grand Historian,is the common way of referring to this sovereign even though he was not accorded the temple name Gaozu.
Zhang Liang,courtesy name Zifang,was a Chinese military strategist and politician who lived in the early Western Han dynasty. He is also known as one of the "Three Heroes of the early Han dynasty" (漢初三傑),along with Han Xin (韓信) and Xiao He. Zhang Liang contributed greatly to the establishment of the Han dynasty. After his death,he was honoured with the posthumous title "Marquis Wencheng" by Emperor Qianshao. Zhang Liang is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang.
The Chu–Han Contention (楚漢相爭),also known as the Chu–Han War (楚漢戰爭),was an interregnum period in ancient China between the fall of the Qin dynasty and the establishment of the Han dynasty. After the third and last Qin ruler,Ziying,unconditionally surrendered to rebel forces in 206 BCE,the former Qin Empire was divided by rebel leader Xiang Yu into the Eighteen Kingdoms,which were ruled by various rebel leaders and surrendered Qin generals. A civil war soon broke out,most prominently between two major contending powers –Xiang Yu's Western Chu and Liu Bang's Han. Some of the other kingdoms also waged war among themselves but these were largely insignificant compared to the main conflict between Chu and Han. The war ended in 202 BCE with a Han victory at the Battle of Gaixia,during which Xiang Yu committed suicide after making a last stand. Liu Bang subsequently proclaimed himself emperor and established the Han dynasty as the ruling dynasty of China.
Xiang Yu,born Xiang Ji,was the Hegemon-King of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period of China. A noble of the Chu state,Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dynasty,destroying their last remnants and becoming a powerful warlord. He was granted the title of "Duke of Lu" (魯公) by King Huai II of the restoring Chu state in 208 BC. The following year,he led the Chu forces to victory at the Battle of Julu against the Qin armies led by Zhang Han. After the fall of Qin,Xiang Yu was enthroned as the "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" (西楚霸王) and ruled a vast area covering modern-day central and eastern China,with Pengcheng as his capital. He engaged Liu Bang,the founding emperor of the Han dynasty,in a long struggle for power,known as the Chu–Han Contention,which concluded with his eventual defeat at the Battle of Gaixia and his suicide. Xiang Yu is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang.
Emperor Yi of Chu,also known as King Huai II of Chu before receiving his de jure emperor title,personal name Xiong Xin,was the ruler of the revived Chu state in the late Qin dynasty. He was a grandson of King Huai of Chu. In 223 BC,during the Warring States period,the Chu state was conquered by the Qin state,which unified the various Chinese feudal states in a series of wars and established the Qin dynasty in 221 BC. In 209 BC,when rebellions broke out throughout China to overthrow the Qin dynasty,the Chu state was revived as an insurgent state against Qin imperial rule. Xiong Xin was discovered by Xiang Liang,a rebel leader who descended from a famous Chu general,Xiang Yan,and installed on the Chu throne as "King Huai II of Chu". However,Xiong Xin was a puppet ruler because power was concentrated in Xiang Liang's hands,and while he was able to assert his power after Xiang Liang was killed in battle,eventually Xiang Liang's nephew,Xiang Yu,would concentrate power in his own hands through a coup against King Huai II's general Song Yi during the Battle of Julu. In 206 BC,the Qin dynasty was overthrown by the rebels,after which Xiang Yu,who was the de facto leader of all the rebel forces,divided the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms. He promoted King Huai II to a more "honourable" title –Emperor Yi of Chu –and made him the nominal sovereign ruler over all the Eighteen Kingdoms. Xiang Yu then had Emperor Yi relocated to Chen County and secretly ordered Ying Bu to assassinate the emperor during the journey.
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The Battle of Jingxing (井陘之戰),also known as the Battle of Tao River (洮水之戰),was fought in October 205 BC between the army of Han,commanded by Han Xin,and a Zhao army. The Zhao were led by Prince Zhao Xie (趙歇) of Zhao and Chen Yu (陳餘),also known as the Lord of Cheng An (成安君),who was serving as Zhao Xie's prime minister.
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The Battle of Gaixia was a last stand fought in December 203 BC during the Chu–Han Contention between the forces of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. The battle concluded with victory for Liu Bang,who proclaimed himself Emperor and founded the Han dynasty. This is the last major battle of the Chu-Han Contention,ending with the suicide of Xiang Yu and the undisputed rule of Liu Bang.
Cao Shen or Cao Can,courtesy name Jingbo,was a Chinese politician. He served as a chancellor of the Western Han dynasty. He participated in the Chu–Han Contention on Liu Bang 's side and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dynasty.
Long Qie was a military general who served under the warlord Xiang Yu during the Chu–Han Contention.
Dong Yi was a military general of the Qin dynasty. He surrendered to Xiang Yu after the Battle of Julu in 207 BC. In 206 BC,following the collapse of the Qin dynasty,he was conferred the title of "King of Di" (翟王) by Xiang Yu and given part of the lands in Guanzhong as his fief when the latter split the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms.
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