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CHINA
***BATTLE OF CHENGPU***
Sides: Chu vs. Jin
Time: 632 BC
Place: Yangtze River
Action: During the spring and autumn period in Chinese history, the
states of Chu, Wu and Jin did battle over
territory. In a big chariot battle, the Jin faked a retreat while the Chu followed them. The Jin stirred up dust by dragging
tree branches and when the Chu were obscured,
they made a turnaround and attacked the superior enemy, destroying 100
chariots.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Chu withdrew but state-state conflict continued,
developing into the Warring States Period.
***BATTLE OF GUAI LING***
Sides: Wei vs. Qi
Time: 341 BC
Place: Northern China
Action: The Warring States Period saw much fighting. When the Wei
besieged the Zhao city of Handan,
the Qi intervened by attacking the state of Wei while the army was busy. The
Wei general recalled the army to protect the homeland, and on the march back
were surprised by a thousand Qi crossbowmen. "All war is deception,"
Sun Tzu wrote in the Art of War, about this time.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: As the warring states era dragged on, philosophers tried to
come up with new ways of explaining the world.
***BATTLE OF CHANGPING***
Sides: Qin vs. Zhao
Time: 260 BC
Place: Shansi Province
Action: The seven feudal feuding kingdoms, Qi, Chu,
Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin, were in conflict. The Qin were gaining ground with
tactics they learned from the Mongols, with the Zhao being second strongest.
The showdown, a massive infantry-foot soldier battle, took place at Changping.
Crossbows, iron spears, pikes and a mess of bodies, with generals riding around
on chariots. The Qin were taking no prisoners and won the victory.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: 40 years after the battle, Qin Shihuangdi became emperor of
a unified China,
to which he gave his name.
***XIONGNU ATTACKS***
Sides: Xiongnu vs. China
Time: 200 BC
Place: Inner Mongolia
Action: The Qin dynasty was brief. It collapsed and the Han took its
place, saving China
from political chaos. But the Han faced a new threat from the steppes: Xiongnu
nomads. With up to 300,000 horsemen, they invaded and surrounded the Chinese
forces. The Han emperor gave his daughter to their chief in marriage.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: When the disruption ended, the Han era began in earnest,
and is thought of a the classical age in Chinese history.
***BATTLE OF RED CLIFFS***
Sides: Chinese feudal warlords vs. the Han state
Time: 208
Place: Yangtze River, Central China
Action: During the decline of the Han after 400 years, warlords Liu Bei
and Sun Quan from the south made a power grab. Cao Cao, the Han leader, was
tricked into having his numerically superior nullified by facing the warlords
in an amphibious battle on the Yangtze River.
When Cho Cho ordered his ships chained together for stability, they were
attacked by fire arrows and his forces fell into disarray.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The weakening of the Han opened the door for the collapse
of classical China
into smaller states for a few centuries.
***Battle of Fei River***
Sides: Jin vs. Tibetan Warlord
Time: 383
Place: Fei River, Central China
Action: Warlord Fu Jian assembled a multinational army of Chinese from
different provinces, Tibetans and nomads from the north. He outnumbered the Jin
10-1, but fell for a trick. Offered a pitched battle by the Jin (which he would
surely win), if only he would let their forces cross the Fei river in peace, he
moved his soldiers away for the crossing. But the Jin warriors began attacking
his disorganized forces, who were now spreading rumors that they were going to
lose. Many fled.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: China
was politically disintegrating in the 4th century.
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