Gongjinghui
Hunan Revolutionary Army"},"commander1":{"wt":"{{flagicon|Qing dynasty}}[[Yuan Shikai]]
{{flagicon|Qing dynasty}}[[Feng Guozhang]]
{{flagicon|Qing dynasty}}[[Duan Qirui]]
{{flagicon|Qing dynasty}}[[Yinchang]]
{{flagicon|Qing dynasty}}[[Sa Zhenbing]]"},"commander2":{"wt":"{{flagicon image|十九星旗.svg}}[[Li Yuanhong]]
{{flagicon image|十九星旗.svg}}[[Huang Xing]]"},"units1":{"wt":"{{tree list}}\n*1st Corps\n**4th Division\n**3rd Brigade\n**11th Brigade\n*Sea-going fleet\n{{tree list end}}"},"units2":{"wt":"{{ubl|8 infantry brigades and various other units|Later expanded to 8 divisions}}"},"strength1":{"wt":"{{ubl|25,000 troops|1 cruiser ({{ship|Chinese cruiser|Hai Chen||2}})|Several gunboats}}"},"strength2":{"wt":"~100,000 troops"},"casualties1":{"wt":""},"casualties2":{"wt":""},"notes":{"wt":""},"campaignbox":{"wt":""}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBA">@media all and (min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .desktop-float-right{box-sizing:border-box;float:right;clear:right}}.mw-parser-output .infobox.vevent .status>p:first-child{margin:0}
Battle of Yangxia | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Xinhai Revolution | |||||||
Artillerymen of the Revolutionary Army take aim on Qing Army positions during the Battle of Yangxia. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Hubei Revolutionary Army TongmenghuiGongjinghui Hunan Revolutionary Army | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Yuan Shikai Feng Guozhang Duan Qirui Yinchang Sa Zhenbing | Li Yuanhong Huang Xing | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
|
| ||||||
Strength | |||||||
| ~100,000 troops |
The Battle of Yangxia (simplified Chinese :阳夏之战; traditional Chinese :陽夏之戰; pinyin :yángxià zhīzhàn), also known as the Defense of Yangxia (simplified Chinese :阳夏保卫战; traditional Chinese :陽夏保衛戰; pinyin :yángxià bǎowèizhàn), was the largest military engagement of the Xinhai Revolution and was fought from October 18 to November 27, 1911, between the revolutionaries of the Wuchang Uprising and the loyalist armies of the Qing dynasty. The battle was waged in Hankou and Hanyang, which along with Wuchang collectively form the tri-cities of Wuhan in central China. Though outnumbered by the Qing armies and possessing inferior arms, the revolutionaries fought valiantly in defense of Hankou and Hanyang. After heavy and bloody fighting, the stronger loyalist forces eventually prevailed by taking over both cities, but 41 days of determined resistance by the Revolutionary Army allowed the revolution to strengthen elsewhere as other provinces defied the Qing dynasty. The fighting ended after the commander-in-chief of the Qing forces, Gen. Yuan Shikai, agreed to a cease-fire and sent envoys to peace talks with the revolutionaries. Political negotiations eventually led to the abdication of the Last Emperor, the end of the Qing dynasty and the formation of a unity government for the newly established Republic of China.
On October 10, 1911, revolutionaries in Wuchang launched an uprising against the Qing dynasty. They quickly seized Hankou and Hanyang, on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and made Li Yuanhong their commander. On October 14, the Qing court in Beijing ordered Yinchang and Feng Guozhang to lead the Beiyang Army, the strongest military unit of the regime, against the uprising in Wuhan. Sa Zhenbing, commander of the Qing Navy, was ordered to sail from Qinhuangdao to Shanghai and then up the Yangtze River to Wuhan to assist with military operations. The Qing court also recalled Yuan Shikai, the founder of the Beiyang Army, from retirement and made him the Viceroy of Huguang, but did not initially vest him with formal powers. Yuan had been forced into retirement in 1908 because the court feared that he wielded undue influence.
Yinchang, a Manchu noble, reached Hankou by rail and attempted to seize control of the city's northern suburbs. On October 18 more than 1,000 revolutionary fighters attacked Liujiamiao, a train station guarding the northern approach to Hankou, but were driven back and retreated to Dazhimen. [2] In the afternoon the revolutionaries regrouped and, with the help of railway workers, ambushed a train carrying Qing troops heading south. The train derailed and sent the Qing troops fleeing, and more than 400 were killed by revolutionaries. The following day the revolutionary forces, supplemented by enthusiastic volunteers, grew to more than 5,000 and captured Liujiamiao. [2] The revolutionaries on October 20 tried to press on to Wushengguan further north but were driven back with serious losses. [2] Nevertheless, their victory at Liujiamiao boosted the morale of the revolutionary movement. On October 22 Hunan and Shaanxi Province both declared their independence from the Qing regime.
Following the setback at Liujiamiao, the Qing court removed Yinchang from command and handed formal power to Yuan Shikai, whose lieutenants in the Beiyang Army, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui, headed the 1st and 2nd Armies moving on Wuhan, respectively. [2] On October 26, the Beiyang Army moved swiftly south by rail and attacked the northern suburbs of Hankou with heavy artillery and machine guns. The revolutionaries suffered over 500 killed in action and were also hampered by indecisive leadership from Zhang Jingliang, who was suspected of collaborating with the Qing government. [2] The revolutionaries lost and then regained Liujiamiao, only to lose it to Qing troops on October 27. The Qing armies pressed into the city and the two sides engaged in fierce house-to-house fighting. [2]
On October 28 Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren, two leaders of the Tongmenghui or Revolutionary Alliance, arrived in Hankou from Shanghai to support the revolutionaries. [2] On the 29th Huang led over 1,000 reinforcements to Wuchang, which had 6,000 revolutionaries holding out against superior Qing forces. [2] Due to inferior arms the revolutionaries suffered heavy casualties, but were supported by local residents. In retaliation, Feng Guozhang ordered the razing of Hankou. [3] The fire burned for three days and destroyed much of the city. By November 1 Qing troops controlled Hankou. [2] Both sides suffered casualties in the thousands.
On November 3 Li Yuanhong handed the command of the revolutionary forces to Huang Xing. Their strength was boosted by the arrival of revolutionaries from Hunan. [2] [4] By then 11 provinces had broken away from the Qing regime. The Qing Navy had also defected, sending some ships to assist the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Revolutionary Army's siege of Nanjing and other ships to support the revolutionaries in Wuhan. In Hanyang the revolutionaries had 13,000 soldiers arrayed against 30,000 Qing troops across the Han River in Hankou. Huang Xing, against the advice of Sun Wu and others who favored defending Hanyang, attempted to retake Hankou. [2] Yuan Shikai, on the other side of the river, was determined to press the Qing military's local advantage to halt the momentum of the revolution nationwide. On November 17 the revolutionaries shelled Hankou from the Guishan heights in Hanyang and crossed the Han River in a two-pronged attack. [2] The revolutionaries' artillery was inaccurate and their right flank was halted by an artillery barrage from the Qing army. [4] The left flank crossed the river alone, met stiff resistance from superior Qing forces, and was forced to retreat on the evening of the 18th, having suffered over 800 casualties. [2]
On November 21 the Qing armies launched their invasion of Hanyang. One force bypassed the revolutionaries' defense by striking from Xiaogan further to the west. [2] The two sides clashed at Sanyanqiao. On November 22 another Qing force managed to cross the Han River from Hankou and eventually captured the strategic heights in Hanyang. The revolutionaries twice sent reinforcements from Wuchang across the Yangtze River to Hanyang but suffered heavy casualties en route. [2] Another group of revolutionaries in Wuchang planned to cross the Yangtze River to Hankou and then attack Liujiamiao behind Qing lines, but the commander of this group was drunk and did not join the assault force, which faced heavy Qing artillery barrages from the opposite bank and could not land. [2] The Hunan reinforcements were so disgusted by what they perceived as efforts by the Hubei revolutionaries to preserve their strength, that they left the front lines and returned to Hunan, despite efforts by Li Yuanhong to clarify the misunderstanding. [2] After seven days and nights of fierce house-to-house combat, the Qing forces gradually fought their way into the city center, capturing the Hanyang munitions factory and the revolutionaries' artillery positions on Guishan. [2] On November 27, the revolutionaries retreated from Hanyang. [2] Over 3,300 revolutionary fighters and residents died defending Hanyang. [2]
At the end of November Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui prepared and submitted plans to Yuan Shikai to take Wuchang. [5] [6] By then, despite Qing advantages in Wuchang, Sichuan had seceded from the Qing regime and revolutionaries were threatening to take Nanjing and Shanxi. On the evening of December 1 Yuan Shikai agreed to a three-day cease-fire and began talks with the revolutionaries in Hankou. [2] The cease-fire was extended by another three days, then by 15 days, and finally to the end of December. [5] On December 18 Yuan sent envoys on behalf of the Qing court to negotiations in Shanghai. [5] On December 25, 1911, Sun Yat-Sen returned to Shanghai from exile, and founded the Republic of China on January 1, 1912. He agreed to hand over the presidency of the provisional government to Yuan Shikai in exchange for the latter's assistance in securing the abdication of the last Qing Emperor. When this was done on February 12, 1912, the Qing dynasty formally ended its 267-year reign in China.
With the cease-fire of December 1, 1911, the conflict moved from the military arena to the political one. This was a politically calculated decision of Yuan Shikai, who understood that if the revolution, which had him indispensable to the regime, were to be fully suppressed, he would again be destined to retirement. At the same time, at the Battle of Yangxia, he had demonstrated that his Beiyang Army was the most powerful in China. With his personal power at its height, he chose to maneuver politically to place himself at the top of the new political regime.
During the 41-day battle, 13 other Chinese provinces joined the revolution and declared their independence from the Qing dynasty. Peace talks were held in the British concession of Hankou and then moved to Shanghai in late December. The political negotiations eventually led to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor, Puyi, and the formation of a united provisional government of the Republic of China led by former loyalist Yuan Shikai and revolutionaries Sun Yat-sen, Li Yuanhong and Huang Xing. In October 1912 Yuan conferred honors to commanders on both sides of the battle for their contribution to the founding of the Republic. A memorial in Wuhan was built to commemorate those who died, including 4,300 unknown soldiers, in the battle. [7]
The Japanese wartime artist T. Minyano created a series of lithographic print illustrations of the battle, which were printed in Japan in 1920.
Yuan Shikai was a Chinese general and statesman who served as Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet, the second provisional president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and Emperor of China from 1915 to 1916. A major political figure during the late Qing dynasty, he spearheaded a number of major modernisation programs and reforms and played a decisive role in securing the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in 1912, which marked the collapse of the Qing monarchy and the end of imperial rule in China.
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the seventh-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine national central cities.
Wuchang is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the right (southeastern) bank of the Yangtze River, opposite the mouth of the Han River. The two other cities, Hanyang and Hankou, were on the left (northwestern) bank, separated from each other by the Han River.
The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang in the Chinese province of Hubei on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthrew China's last imperial dynasty. It was led by elements of the New Army, influenced by revolutionary ideas from Tongmenghui. The uprising and the eventual revolution directly led to the downfall of the Qing dynasty with almost three centuries of imperial rule, and the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC), which commemorates the anniversary of the uprising's outbreak on 10 October as the National Day of the Republic of China.
The history of the Republic of China began in 1912 with the end of the Qing dynasty, when the Xinhai Revolution and the formation of the Republic of China put an end to 2,000 years of imperial rule. The Republic experienced many trials and tribulations after its founding which included being dominated by elements as disparate as warlord generals and foreign powers.
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a decade of agitation, revolts, and uprisings. Its success marked the collapse of the Chinese monarchy, the end of over two millennia of imperial rule in China and the 200-year reign of the Qing, and the beginning of China's early republican era.
Huang Xing or Huang Hsing was a Chinese revolutionary leader and politician, and the first commander-in-chief of the Republic of China. As one of the founders of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Republic of China, his position was second only to Sun Yat-sen. Together they were known as Sun-Huang during the Xinhai Revolution. He was also known as the "Eight Fingered General" because of wounds sustained during war. His tomb is on Mount Yuelu, in Changsha, Hunan, China.
Li Yuanhong (Chinese: 黎元洪; pinyin: Lí Yuánhóng; Wade–Giles: Li2 Yüan2-hung2; courtesy name 宋卿; Sòngqīng; Sung4-ch'ing1; October 19, 1864 – June 3, 1928) was a prominent Chinese military and political leader during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. He was the Provisional Vice President of the Republic of China from 1912 to 1913 as well as the president of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1917, and between 1922 and 1923.
The Beiyang Army, named after the Beiyang region, was a Western-style Imperial Chinese Army established by the Qing dynasty in the early 20th century. It was the centerpiece of a general reconstruction of the Qing military system in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion and the First Sino-Japanese War, becoming the dynasty's first regular army in terms of its training, equipment, and structure. The Beiyang Army played a major role in Chinese politics for at least three decades and arguably right up to 1949. It made the 1911 Revolution against the Qing dynasty possible, and, by dividing into warlord factions known as the Beiyang clique, ushered in a period of regional division.
Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow, was one of the three towns merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers where the Han flows into the Yangtze. Hankou is connected by bridges to its triplet sister towns Hanyang and Wuchang.
Feng Guozhang was a Chinese general and politician in the late Qing dynasty and early republican China who was Vice President from 1916 to 1917 and then acting President of the Republic of China from 1917 to 1918. He emerged as one of the senior commanders of the Beiyang Army and is considered the founder of one of the main warlord factions, the Zhili clique, that vied for control of the internationally recognized government in China during the Warlord Era.
Duan Qirui was a Chinese warlord, politician and commander of the Beiyang Army who ruled as the effective dictator of northern China in the late 1910s. He was the Premier of the Republic of China on four occasions between 1913 and 1918, and from 1924 to 1926 he served as acting Chief Executive of the Republic of China in Beijing.
Cheng Qian was a Chinese army officer and politician who held important military and political positions in both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China. Educated at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and Waseda University, he first met Sun Yat-sen in Tokyo, becoming an early supporter. Later, under Chiang Kai-shek, he was one of the most powerful members of the Kuomintang, notably serving as Chief of Staff of the Military Affairs Commission during the Second Sino–Japanese War.
The Provisional Government of the Republic of China was a provisional government established during the Xinhai Revolution by the revolutionaries in 1912. After the success of the Wuchang Uprising, revolutionary provincial assembly representatives held a conference in the district of Wuchang, China, which framed the organizational outline of the Provisional Government.
Yinchang or In-ch'ang was a Chinese military official, ambassador to Germany, and educational reformer in the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. He was appointed the nation's first Minister of War in the late Qing dynasty. During the Republic he served as the military Chief of Staff for all of the subsequent presidents in the Beiyang Government. He was ethnic Manchu, and his family belonged to the Plain White Banner Clan of the Manchu Military Organization (滿洲正白旗); he held the title of Prince of the Plain White Banner Clan; at court he was addressed as Wu-lou (五/午楼).
Lu Rongting, also spelled as Lu Yung-ting and Lu Jung-t'ing, was a late Qing/early Republican military and political leader from Wuming, Guangxi. Lu belonged to the Zhuang ethnic group.
The prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province, China, has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,500 years. Starting out from the Shang dynasty-era archaeological site at Panlongcheng associated with Erligang culture, the region would become part of the E state and Chu state during the Zhou dynasty. The region evolved into an important port on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and the cities of Hanyang, Hankou and Wuchang were united into the city of Wuhan in 1926. Wuhan briefly serving as the capital city of China in 1927 and in 1937. Modern-day Wuhan is known as 'China's Thoroughfare' (九省通衢) due to its status as a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city and connecting to other major cities.
The Second Revolution was a failed 1913 revolt by the governors of several southern Chinese provinces and supporters of Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government of the Republic of China, led by Yuan Shikai. It was quickly defeated by Yuan's armies and led to the continued consolidation of Yuan's powers as President of the Republic of China.
The Articles of Favourable Treatment of the Great Qing Emperor after His Abdication, also known simply as the Articles of Favourable Treatment, was an agreement drawn up by the Qing dynasty government and the Provisional Government of the Republic of China on the relevant protection measures after the abdication of the Qing imperial family and the Xinhai Revolution. The document is dated 26 December, 1914.