The Battle of Jiangxia was a battle fought in 208 between the forces of the warlords Sun Quan

Sun Quan

Sun Quan , son of Sun Jian, formally Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He ruled from 222 to 229 as King of Wu and from 229 to 252 as Emperor of Wu....

 and Liu Biao

Liu Biao

Liu Biao , style name Jingsheng , was a warlord and the governor of Jing Province during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was a member of the extended family of the Han Dynasty emperors...

 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

 period of Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

. The battle was the last part of a series of military engagements between Sun Quan and Liu Biao's general Huang Zu

Huang Zu

Huang Zu was a military general serving under the warlord Liu Biao during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was an experienced naval commander, and was most famous for having skillful warriors like Sun Jian and Ling Cao killed in battle.-Background:Huang was born in an influential...

 in the vicinity of Jiangxia Commandery (present-day Yunmeng County

Yunmeng County

Yunmeng County is a county in Hubei Province, People's Republic of China administered by Xiaogan City.-History:...

, Hubei

Hubei

' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

).

Background

In the spring of 208, Gan Ning

Gan Ning

Gan Ning was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was born in Linjiang, Ba Commandery .-Early life as a pirate:...

, who defected from Huang Zu to Sun Quan's side, suggested to his new lord to prepare a full assault on Jiangxia. Gan Ning mentioned that Huang Zu was already old, and his right-hand men only knew how to do business and bully lower-ranked officials, and Huang's arsenal had not been replenished for some time.

Despite opposition from his chief civil clerk, Zhang Zhao

Zhang Zhao

Zhang Zhao was an official of Eastern Wu during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China.-Biography:Zhang was born in present-day Jiangsu. A brilliant scholar, he devoted his life mainly to the study of Chinese classic texts...

, Sun Quan still appointed Ling Tong

Ling Tong

Ling Tong was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He started his service to the Sun family since his childhood, and throughout his entire life, he had been contributing to the foundation and solidification of Eastern Wu...

 to lead the vanguard force, Lü Meng

Lü Meng

Lü Meng was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He served as the commanding general in the invasion of Jing Province that led to the death of Guan Yu.-Early life:Lü Meng was born in Fupo, Runan Commandery in 178...

 to be the naval commandant, and Zhou Yu

Zhou Yu

Zhou Yu was a military general and strategist who served his close friend, the warlord Sun Ce, during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history...

 as Front Commander to regulate the operation. The campaign had two main objectives: elimination of Huang Zu, who was responsible for the death of Sun Quan's father Sun Jian

Sun Jian

Sun Jian was a military general and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power...

 at the Battle of Xiangyang

Battle of Xiangyang (191)

The Battle of Xiangyang in 191 was a battle fought between Sun Jian and Liu Biao during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Liu Biao emerged victorious against Sun Jian's forces...

; conquest of Jiangxia, which stood in Sun Quan's path to dominating Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei

Hubei

' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

 and Hunan

Hunan

' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...

).

Initial clashes

In response to Sun Quan's aggression, Huang Zu assigned his general Zhang Shuo as the vanguard, and Chen Jiu as the admiral, but he would stay behind the high walls of Jiangxia to avoid conflict in the frontline. Before the battle started, Zhang Shuo led his troop on a large vessel to reconnoitre the riverbank, but was located by Ling Tong, who was also scouting the area. At the time, Ling Tong only had tens of his closest warriors on a light vessel, yet he was able to climb Zhang Shuo's vessel probably under the cover of nightfall or the disguise as Zhang's own men, and surprise attacked his enemy. Zhang Shuo was slain by Ling Tong, and his mariners were captured.

Deadlock

Upon hearing the news that Zhang Shuo was killed, Huang Zu immediately ordered Chen Jiu to block the entrance of Miankou River with two of his largest capital ships (mengchong) covered with ox-hide at the choke point. In addition, Huang had strong men and archers ambushed on top of the cliff next to the river to thrown down rocks and fire on large enemy vessels. To bring down Huang Zu's mengchongs, Zhou Yu sent out his large vessels, but only to be destroyed by the rocks thrown down from the cliff. After several hours of fighting, Zhou Yu realized Huang Zu's arsenals were not that unchecked, and that Sun Quan's men were exhausted and dealt with casualties by the heavy cross fire from the elite crossbows on the mengchongs.

Fall of the great capital ships

To change the tide of battle, Zhou Yu had Ling Tong and Dong Xi, along with 100 "die-hard" soldiers, donned two suits of armour each and charged towards the enemy despite the rain of rocks from the cliff and heavy fire from the mengchongs. Through fierce fighting, Ling and Dong finally succeeded in breaking the connections between the two vessels, and the downfall of the mengchongs aspired the fighting spirit of Sun Quan's forces. Lü Meng even engrossed in melee combat, and had Chen Jiu killed in a duel. With the admiral gone, Huang Zu's massive navy was annihilated by Sun Quan's smaller forces. Before the time Lü Meng could eliminate Huang's navy, Ling Tong had led a separate command to attack Jiangxia, and took over the city.

Doom of Huang Zu

Unable to resist Sun Quan's forces, Huang Zu fled the city, but was caught up and killed by a horseman named Feng Ze. His head was specifically requested by Sun Quan to be placed inside a container for examination. After receiving Huang Zu's head, Sun Quan presented it as a sacrifice at his late father Sun Jian

Sun Jian

Sun Jian was a military general and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power...

's temple.

Conflict between Ling Tong and Gan Ning

With Huang Zu killed, Sun Quan had taken his revenge; however, Ling Tong's father, Ling Cao

Ling Cao

Ling Cao was a military officer serving under the warlord Sun Ce during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was the father of Ling Tong.-Early life:...

, was killed by an arrow fired by Gan Ning during the previous Battle of Xiakou

Battle of Xiakou

The Battle of Xiakou was a battle fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Liu Biao in 203 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Sun Quan's forces attempted to conquer Jiangxia Commandery , which was defended by Liu Biao's general Huang Zu...

, and had not be avenged. Thus, Ling Tong would attempt to provoke Gan Ning during a banquet held in Lü Meng's house some time later. In the end, Sun Quan settled this conflict through political maneuver, as he "exiled" Gan Ning to station at Half Island, hence Ling Tong would perceive as justice done.

Abandonment of Jiangxia

Liu Biao's son Liu Qi wanted to succeed Huang Zu's position, and went east after Sun Quan took away the captives. However, Liu Qi was not allowed the time to solidify his control over Jiangxia because northern Jing Province had been incorporated into Cao Cao

Cao Cao

Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

's domain without much resistance after his father died of illness. Therefore, Liu Qi stationed his troop at Han Ford, where he met Liu Bei

Liu Bei

Liu Bei , also known as Liu Xuande, was a warlord, military general and later the founding emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history...

, who was escaping from Cao Cao's pursuit, they then joined forces and went to Xiakou to ask help from Sun Quan. As Jiangxia was famous for being the cradle of the Huang clan, Sun Quan gave up the idea to hold the city after he received news that Cao Cao had acquired northern Jing Province. Liu Biao's general Wen Ping, who defected to Cao Cao after Liu's death, became the new governor of Jiangxia.