The Battle of Xiangyang was a key battle between the invading Mongols of the Yuan dynasty and Chinese Southern Song forces from AD 1267 to 1273. The battle consisted of skirmishes, ground assault, and the siege of the twin fortified cities of Fancheng and Xiangyang in modern-day Hubei, China. The strategic significance of Xiang Yang came from the fact that it was in a position dominating the Han River. Once the Mongol forces occupied Xiangyang, they could travel by ships down the Han river into the Yangtze river.
About Battle of Xiangyang in brief
The Battle of Xiangyang was a key battle between the invading Mongols of the Yuan dynasty and Chinese Southern Song forces from AD 1267 to 1273. The battle consisted of skirmishes, ground assault, and the siege of the twin fortified cities of Fancheng and Xiangyang in modern-day Hubei, China. Once the Mongol forces occupied Xiangyang, they could travel by ships down the Han river into the Yangtze river. After the battle, the victorious Mongol forces pushed farther into the Chinese heartland. The Southern Song collapsed in just a few years, with the final battle being the relatively short naval Battle of Yamen in 1279. After defeating his rivals and opponents in Northern China, Kublai Khan established his empire of Ukhkhkh instead of the Mongol Empire. The sudden death of Möngke Khan forced the imperial army of the Mongols to withdraw from the Song territory in 1259-60. The Song killed Mongol envoys and attempted to invade the Mongol territories. After that, the two former allies did not have any common enemy. In 1260, the succession war between Ariq Böke and Mögke Khan began, though his claim to the throne was only partially recognized by Mongols. The war eventually ended in 1271, when Kub lai Khan won the war and became the successor to Möggke Khan. The Mongols and the Southern Song dynasty were allies for 30 years, until 1267. The strategic significance of Xiang Yang came from the fact that it was in a position dominating the Han River.
The city guarded the waterways of South China because theHan River was a major tributary into theYangtze River. In 1133, the famous Song general Yue Fei led many successful campaigns against the Jin dynasty, in the Xiangyang area. The city was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and a river on one side, as preparation for long sieges. The Mongolian cavalry were lured in Xiangyang where they were slaughtered by the Song defenders due to the fortress’ double layered wall design. When a Mongol contingent entered the entrance of the fortress, the Mongol Forces would be slaughtered to the last man, while trapped between 4 walls. Mongols lifted the siege in 1273, when Lü Wenhuan, commander-in-chief of the SouthernSong dynasty, surrendered to Kublay Khan in 1272. The twin cities of Xiangyang-Fenchang, with walls almost 5 kilometers around and 200,000 people, withstood a Mongol assault in 1257. Once the city fell, the Mongobs obtained easy access into important Southern cities in China and theSouthern Song would collapse shortly after. In 1267, Liu Zheng and Acheng Khan ordered the defector Liu Zheng to attack Xiangyang and defector General Lu Fencheng and General Zende Khan had also attacked Xiangyang. Liu Zheng wanted to continue his grandfather Genghis Khan’s conquest of China, and also wanted to also attack his grandfather’s grandfather.
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This page is based on the article Battle of Xiangyang published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 07, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
