Author: Zhao Xinfang
The Battle of Tangdao, also known as the Battle of Tangdao, the Battle of Jiaoxi, and the Battle of the Yellow Sea, was a decisive battle fought between the Song and Jin dynasties in the Yellow Sea in the thirty-first year (1161) of shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty, with a non-main combat force composed of 3,000 soldiers serving as defensive tasks, 120 warships to meet the Jinguo's 70,000 regular water army, 600 warships, won a complete victory in the first world, and created a myth in the history of naval warfare in the ancient world.
(1) The strategic posture before the Battle of Tangdao
After the Jingkang Rebellion, the Northern Song Dynasty fell, and the Southern Song Dynasty "directly made Hangzhou a prefecture", preferred to the southeast, killed the famous anti-Jin general Yue Fei on the charge of "false accusations", and signed the "Shaoxing Peace Agreement" with the Jin State in November of the eleventh year of Shaoxing (1141), adopting the method of dividing the land and claiming the title of vassal and paying tribute to silver silk, and wishful thinking intended to coexist peacefully with the Jin State.
The Jin Dynasty was not satisfied with this at all, and had been preparing for war, trying to eliminate the Southern Song Dynasty in the southeastern corner of An'an. Jin Taizu's grandson, Yan Liang, was competitive and ambitious from an early age, and in the nineteenth year of Shaoxing (1149), he killed the then emperor of his country, Jin Xizong, and established himself as emperor, ordering the capital to be moved to Yanjing (present-day Beijing), and seizing the construction of Nanjing (present-day Kaifeng), while building warships and large-scale compulsory conscription.
After everything was ready, Yan Liang continued to create trouble on the border between the two sides, and also sent people to forcibly claim the vast land in the Huai han region from the Southern Song Dynasty. Seeing that the threat of intimidation was not successful, Yu Shaoxing officially dispatched 600,000 land and water troops to invade the south in the thirty-first year (1161), and advanced from the sea in the east to the frontal battlefield of Shaanxi in the west.
The land is divided into three roads: west, middle and east, and the sea route is led by Su Baoheng and Guanyan Zhengjianu, a fleet with 600 warships and 70,000 sailors to the coast, directly attacking Lin'an, and cooperating with the land battlefield to form a four-way simultaneous attack on the Southern Song Dynasty, and the pincer-shaped offensive of sea and land attacks was formed. Yan Liang declared: More than a hundred days, less than a month, to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty.
(2) Li Bao unexpectedly defeated the strong with the weak
Emperor Gaozong of Song was forced to fight and appointed Yu Yunwen and other commanders of various theaters on land. Li Bao, who was then the deputy commander of the Horse Infantry Army of the Two Zhejiang West Roads and the captain of the fleet to guard coastal defense, commanded the rebel army under Yue Fei in his early years, and made many achievements in fighting against the Jin Army, taking the initiative to lead a fleet with only 120 warships and 3,000 sailors, starting from Pingjiang (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu) and running north along the East China Sea to attack the Jinguo Fleet.
In August of that year, the Southern Song general Wei Sheng, taking advantage of the Jin army's invasion of the south, led an army to retake Haizhou (海州, southwest of present-day Lianyungang, Jiangsu). After Yan Liang was furious, in order to ensure the supply line of the Jin army in the rear and relieve the worries of the rear, tens of thousands of troops were divided into tens of thousands to besiege Haizhou. When Li Bao learned of this news, he immediately commanded the troops to land support. Before the battle, Li Bao pointed his sword at the land under his feet and told the soldiers that this land was almost no longer the land of our Great Song Dynasty, and whether we could keep it or not depended on whether we could defeat the Jin Army today! Li Bao took the lead in rushing towards the enemy position, and after a bloody battle, he finally repelled the Jin army and lifted the siege of Haizhou.
(Yu Yunwen)
In late October, Li Bao's fleet reached Mount Shiusu (near present-day Rizhao, Shandong). They happened to encounter hundreds of Han Sailors from the Jin Dynasty who had come to surrender, and learned from them that the Jin Fleet was moored on Tang Island (also known as Chenjia Island, near present-day Lingshanwei, Shandong). Tang Island is only 15 kilometers away from Ishiusu Mountain. Li Bao immediately made a decision and decided to preemptively attack the enemy with fire.
In the early morning of October 27, the north wind turned to the south wind, and Li Bao's fleet rode forward by the wind. When approaching the enemy ship, the golden soldiers in the cabin were not yet aware. Li Bao firmly grasped the fighter and ordered the fleet to attack in an all-round way. The Jin army was raided, panicked, and the ships were in a mess, unable to dispatch and command. The sails of the Golden Warship were made of tarpaulin, and Li Bao ordered the firing of gunpowder arrows at the Golden Warship, and in an instant the Jinguo Fleet exploded, the smoke soared, and the flames soared into the sky, and hundreds of warships were suddenly plunged into the sea of fire.
A small number of enemy ships that were not attacked by rockets still wanted to resist. Li Bao commanded the fleet to insert into the enemy position, and ordered the soldiers to jump on the enemy ship and engage the Jin soldiers in a white-knife battle. As a result, the Jinguo fleet was completely destroyed, except for the commander Su Baoheng, who escaped alone. Subsequently, the famous southern Song Dynasty general Yu Yunwen led an army to defeat the enemy at Quarry Rock.
The victory in the Battle of Tangdao, together with the victory in the Battle of Quarry Rock commanded by Yu Yunwen on land, intensified the contradictions within the ruling class of the Jin Dynasty, accelerated the division and collapse of the ruling clique of Guanyan Liang, turned the Southern Song Dynasty into a safe place, delayed the decline of the Southern Song Dynasty, and formed a situation of long-term confrontation between the North and the South of the Song dynasty, which affected the entire process of historical development.
(3) The reasons and significance of the victory in the Battle of Tangdao
Li Bao took the initiative to command his troops to land in support of Wei Sheng and lifted the siege of Haizhou. After the defeated Jin army escaped, Wei Sheng went out of the city to meet Li Bao's troops, repair their warships, and reward them. The soldiers of Li Bao's troops were very excited, and their enthusiasm for fighting was fully mobilized. Jin Bing was a northerner, not accustomed to the wind and waves at sea, most of them hid in the cabin, and only a few were on the surface of the ship. The Han soldiers of the Jin Dynasty, who were captured and forced to become sailors, saw Li Bao's fleet heading for Tang Island from a distance, and coaxed a small number of Jin soldiers on the surface of the ship into the cabin, so that Li Bao's fleet achieved a high degree of secrecy before the war. This is the power of "man and man"!
When the fleet arrived at Shiusu Mountain, the Han soldiers of the Jin Dynasty who had come to surrender took the initiative to introduce the relevant military information, so that Li Bao could have a clear idea in mind, so that he could formulate a correct battle plan and make full preparations for battle. Thus taking advantage of the "geographical advantage".
In the early morning of October 27, the north wind on the opposite side suddenly turned to the downside south wind, and Li Bao's fleet rode the wind and waves to break through the waves, greatly reducing the time to meet the enemy. It is counted as "day time".
The author believes that the advantages of "time, place, people" are not naturally generated, and even if they can be all naturally generated, it depends on whether they can be seized! In this Battle of Tangdao, the Southern Song Dynasty army gathered the hearts and minds of the people, led the army to work out a correct combat plan by judging the hour and sizing up the situation, and had the courage to lead the soldiers to fight a decisive battle and win a decisive victory, which is the key!
The Battle of Tangdao was the first time in the history of human naval warfare that gunpowder firearms were used in large-scale naval warfare, and it has a landmark position in the history of world naval warfare. Prior to this, the naval army of the Southern Song Dynasty was only a supplement to the army, mainly used for inland river defense, cross-sea troops, and landing behind enemy lines. After the Battle of Tangdao, the Southern Song Dynasty Water Army, as an independent combat armed force, had an important position in the war and played a more important role.
The Battle of Tangdao promoted the development of shipbuilding technology and was also of great significance to navigation. According to history, the Southern Song Dynasty opened the era of great navigation for mankind. The Southern Song Dynasty not only opened up trade routes between the East and the West from land, but also opened up the Indian Ocean route.
【About the author】Zhao Xinfang, pen name Zhao Shi, is a member of the Chongqing Nan'an District Writers Association.
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