Battle of Xiakou | |||||||
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Part of the wars at the end of the Han dynasty | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Sun Quan | Liu Biao | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ling Cao † | Huang Zu | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Several thousands at most | 30,000 at least |
Battle of Xiakou | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 夏口之戰 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 夏口之战 | ||||||
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The Battle of Xiakou was a battle fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Liu Biao in 203 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Sun Quan's forces attempted to conquer Jiangxia Commandery (present-day Xinzhou District,Wuhan,Hubei),which was defended by Liu Biao's general,Huang Zu. The battle was inconclusive as Sun Quan's forces were unable to capture Jiangxia even when Huang Zu retreated. The battle is not to be confused with the Battle of Jiangxia that took place five years later,which concluded with victory for Sun Quan over Huang Zu.
In 200,Sun Quan inherited the territories in Jiangdong conquered by his older brother,Sun Ce,between 194 and 199. He was confirmed by the Han government's de facto leader,Cao Cao,as a legitimate lord of the Jiangdong lands,and was appointed by the Han government as Grand Administrator of Kuaiji. [1]
Two years later,Sun Quan suppressed a rebellion by Li Shu and merged Li's 30,000 troops into his own army. By 203,Sun Quan had achieved a stable control over his territories in Jiangdong,so he set into motion a strategy proposed by his advisor,Lu Su. According to the plan,Sun Quan would take Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan),governed by Liu Biao,and take control of all the lands in southern China,then use the Yangtze River as a natural barrier to defend against invading forces from the north. The first obstacle on Sun Quan's path to dominating Jing Province was Jiangxia Commandery,which served as the eastern gateway to Jing Province along the Yangtze. In addition,Sun Quan had a personal stake in the campaign on Jiangxia because Huang Zu,Liu Biao's appointed Administrator of Jiangxia,was responsible for causing the death of his father,Sun Jian,at the Battle of Xiangyang,12 years ago. [2]
Sun Quan appointed Ling Cao as leader of the vanguard fleet and ordered him to mobilize first,while he kept the larger vessels with himself for a slower advance. On the other hand,Huang Zu led his army from Jiangxia to Xiakou and set up a defense line in anticipation of the enemy.
En route to Jiangxia,Ling Cao's fleet encountered Huang Zu's navy at the Xiakou riverbank,with Huang's large vessels spread out far and wide. [3] Even though Ling Cao was at a numerical disadvantage then,he considered it his duty as a vanguard leader to eliminate any enemy standing in his lord's path. Undaunted,Ling Cao charged ahead of his men and dashed uninterruptedly into the heart of Huang Zu's fleet. Since Huang Zu did not expect such a small unit to engage his larger force,he was unprepared for Ling Cao's attack. Before Huang Zu could react to the situation,Ling Cao had cleared a path in front of him. Fearing for his life,Huang Zu abandoned his flagship and boarded a small boat,leaving his navy impaired. [4] When Huang Zu's soldiers saw their commander fleeing towards their home base,they started to desert their posts and scrambled to retreat,resulting in a total collapse of the naval formation.
Ling Cao gave pursuit to Huang Zu and boarded a light vessel in the midst of chaos and fighting. However,when he was close to claiming Huang Zu's head,he was hit by an arrow fired by Huang's subordinate,Gan Ning,and died. [5] Thus,Huang was able to retreat to Jiangxia safely. Huang Zu remained in Jiangxia thereafter and did not respond to the challenges of Sun Quan's main army. Unable to breach Jiangxia's walls,Sun Quan soon withdrew his troops to Jiangdong to deal with the Shanyue tribes who constantly raided his lands. [6]
Even though Gan Ning saved Huang Zu's life at a critical moment,Huang was unappreciative of his effort because he despised Gan for his background (Gan Ning used to be a pirate). [7] Gan Ning then heeded the advice of his comrade,Su Fei (蘇飛),to defect to Sun Quan's side,bringing along with him confidential intelligence on Huang Zu's forces. Sun Quan received Gan Ning warmly and followed Gan's suggestion to launch a full assault on Huang Zu again three years later,in 208,starting the subsequent Battle of Jiangxia.
The Battle of Xiakou was featured as a playable stage in the fourth,fifth,and seventh installments of Koei's video game series, Dynasty Warriors . In the games,the battle was merged with the Battle of Jiangxia. In the later instalments,the battle became more significant after Ling Tong (Ling Cao's son) became a playable character. In Dynasty Warriors 5,it was incorrectly stated that the Battle of Xiakou took place in 208.
The Three Kingdoms from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the Western Jin dynasty. The short-lived state of Yan on the Liaodong Peninsula, which lasted from 237 to 238, is sometimes considered as a "4th kingdom".
Sun Quan, courtesy name Zhongmou (仲謀), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by his elder brother, Sun Ce, in 200. He declared formal independence and ruled from November 222 to May 229 as the King of Wu and from May 229 to May 252 as the Emperor of Wu. Unlike his rivals Cao Cao and Liu Bei, Sun Quan was much younger than they were and governed his state mostly separate of politics and ideology. He is sometimes portrayed as neutral considering he adopted a flexible foreign policy between his two rivals with the goal of pursuing the greatest interests for the country.
Sun Ce, courtesy name Bofu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the eldest child of Sun Jian, who was killed during the Battle of Xiangyang when Sun Ce was only 16. Sun Ce then broke away from his father's overlord, Yuan Shu, and headed to the Jiangdong region in southern China to establish his own power base there. With the help of several people, such as Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu, Sun Ce managed to lay down the foundation of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.
Gan Ning, courtesy name Xingba, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Originally a notorious pirate, he gave up the life of a marauder in the late 190s and became a subordinate of Huang Zu, the Administrator of a commandery in present-day east-central Hubei. Disheartened by Huang Zu's indifferent attitude towards him, Gan Ning eventually left Huang and made his way into Wu territory, where he found his calling and became a military officer under the warlord Sun Quan. Throughout his years of service under Sun Quan until his death, Gan Ning fought in numerous battles for his lord, including the battles of Jiangxia (208), Red Cliffs (208–209), Xiaoyao Ford (214–215) and Ruxu (217).
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The Battle of Changban was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Liu Bei in October 208 in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. The battle took place at Changban.
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The Battle of Red Cliffs, also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in the winter of AD 208–209 at the end of the Han dynasty, about twelve years prior to the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The battle was fought between the allied forces of the southern warlords Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Liu Qi against the numerically-superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao. Liu Bei and Sun Quan frustrated Cao Cao's effort to conquer the land south of the Yangtze River and reunite the territory of the Eastern Han dynasty.
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Ling Tong (189–217), courtesy name Gongji, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He started his service under Sun Quan when he was still a teenager and, throughout his entire life, had been contributing to the foundation and solidification of the state of Eastern Wu, which Sun Quan established in 229. He fought in numerous battles for his lord, including those against Huang Zu, Liu Bei and the Shanyue tribes, but is best known for his performance in the campaigns against Sun Quan's rival Cao Cao, in which he displayed great skill in extremely adverse situations.
Ling Cao was a Chinese military general serving under the warlords Sun Ce and Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the father of Ling Tong. He was killed by Gan Ning after his ambush at Xiakou.
Huang Zu was Chinese military general and politician during the Eastern Han dynasty. . He served as the Administrator of Jiangxia Commandery under Liu Biao, the Governor of Jing Province. He is best known for killing the warlord Sun Jian in an ambush during the Battle of Xiangyang (191) and resisting an invasion by the warlord Sun Quan at the Battle of Xiakou (203). He was defeated and killed at the Battle of Jiangxia in 208 against Sun Quan's forces.
Wen Ping, courtesy name Zhongye, was a military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of China. During his tenure as a general under the warlord Cao Cao, he was credited with defeating the enemy general Guan Yu and defending Cao Cao's interests in Jiangxia Commandery from the eastern warlord Sun Quan.
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