Battle of Changban

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Battle of Changban
Part of the wars of the Three Kingdoms

The painting "Zhao Yun's Fight at Changban" inside the Long Corridor on the grounds of the Summer Palace in Beijing
Date October 208
Location Changban, Dangyang, Jing Province
(south of present day Duodao District, Jingmen, Hubei)
Result Cao Cao victory
Liu Bei evacuated to Xiakou
Belligerents
Cao Cao Forces Liu Bei Forces
Commanders
Cao Cao Liu Bei
Strength
5,000 elite cavalry advance guard unknown number of infantry
100,000 mostly unarmed civilians
Casualties and losses
Unknown, minimal Unknown
v • d • e
Three Kingdoms

The Battle of Changban (Chinese: 長坂之戰; pinyin: Chángbǎn zhī zhàn) took place at Changban (near the modern-day city of Jingmen in Hubei Province[1]), China in the year 208. It was fought between Liu Bei, who later founded the Shu Han state, and Cao Cao, the de facto ruler of northern China.

Contents

[edit] Background

After Cao Cao's unification of northern China in 207, he made arrangements for a southern expedition into the Jing province (荊州), held by Liu Biao at the time. Initial minor invasions led by Xiahou Dun were repelled by Liu Bei of Xinye, who was a vassal of Liu Biao at the time, thus Cao Cao personally led his armies south to conquer Jing province in the seventh month of 208.

In August, when Cao Cao's forces had reached Wancheng, Liu Biao died of illness and his younger son Liu Cong succeeded him. Liu Cong's advisers Kuai Yue and Fu Xun (傅巽) convinced Liu Cong that he could not resist Cao Cao even with Liu Bei's help, so Liu Cong agreed to surrender. Liu Bei, at Fancheng at the time, was not informed of Liu Cong's decision to surrender. When Liu Bei became suspicious, he sent an attendant to Xiangyang to question Liu Cong, and only then would Liu Cong pass the news to Liu Bei through his subordinate official Song Zhong (宋忠). Dismayed, Liu Bei angrily drew his sword on Song Zhong, but did not kill him. Surrender was not an option to Liu Bei, since he had been involved in an assassination plot to remove Cao Cao when Liu was in the service of Cao roughly ten years ago and it was unlikely that Cao Cao would forgive him.

Liu Bei then called his followers to council. Zhuge Liang suggested that Liu Bei should attack Liu Cong to secure Jing province and defend against Cao Cao there, but Liu Bei rejected this and said, "as Liu Jingzhou (Liu Biao) was dying, he entrusted his orphans to me. I cannot turn from this obligation and seek my own advantage. When I die, how could I show my face to Liu Jingzhou?". Not willing to fall under the hands of Cao Cao, Liu Bei gathered his men and marched to the south. As he passed Xiangyang he called out to Liu Cong, but Liu Cong dared not see him and hid. Many officials and civilians of Xiangyang followed Liu Bei as he left, as he was greatly beloved by the people.

In September, Liu Cong set out from Xiangyang towards Xinye to receive Cao Cao, surrendering Jing province. Cao Cao took over the command of Jing province's forces, especially their fleet, a component which Cao Cao's forces lacked. Fearing that Liu Bei would take the southern base of Jiangling, Cao Cao swiftly gave chase to Liu Bei with five thousand elite horsemen, leaving his baggage behind. As Liu Bei was bringing along more than a hundred thousand unarmed people and thousands of carts of luggage, his force could not move very quickly. Someone suggested to Liu Bei that he should abandon the people for his safety, but Liu Bei did not have the heart to desert them when the people risked their own lives to follow him. Instead, Liu Bei had Guan Yu sail ahead down the Han River with a detachment of several hundred ships and take a roundabout route to Jiangling, where they planned to meet.

[edit] Battle

Map of the battle
Map of the battle

Cao Cao's horsemen caught up to Liu Bei's congregation at Changban, Dangyang Commandery, and Liu Bei had to flee for his life, galloping away south with his close generals Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang while leaving his family and the populace behind. Cao Cao's forces captured all his army and his baggage. Xu Shu, a friend of Zhuge Liang who was also serving Liu Bei at the time, had the misfortune of his mother getting captured by the Cao forces. He then requested leave from Liu Bei and left to serve Cao Cao. Also, Liu Bei's two daughters were captured by Cao Chun in the battle.

Zhang Fei commanded twenty horsemen as rearguard. He held the river and broke the bridges down; looking fierce and shaking his lance, he shouted, "I am Zhang Yide. Come and battle me to the death!" None of Cao Cao's men dared to go near him, buying time for Liu Bei to escape.

In the chaos, Zhao Yun disappeared to the north, prompting suspicion that Zhao Yun had surrendered to Cao Cao. When someone reported that to Liu Bei, Liu Bei angrily threw a handaxe and said "Zilong would never desert me." Surely enough, Zhao Yun came back with Liu Bei's infant son in his arms, also bringing back Lady Gan. With this, Zhao Yun was promoted to General of the Standard. (牙門將軍)

Turning east from Changban, Liu Bei and the remnants of his party had crossed the Han River to the east where Liu Qi, Liu Biao's elder son, still held control of Jiangxia commandery. They met Guan Yu's fleet and over ten thousand men led by Liu Qi in Hanjin (漢津). Together, they sailed down the river to Xiakou (夏口).

Cao Cao did not follow up in immediate pursuit. The main objective of his drive to the south had been the base at Jiangling, and he pressed on south to secure that base first.

[edit] Aftermath

After the Battle of Changban, the land of Jing province west of the Han River became territories of Cao Cao. Cao Cao entered Jiangling and settled the officials and peasants there. An adviser to Cao Cao, Jia Xu, suggested that Cao Cao should make full use of the resources in the Jing province to settle in the soldiers before further territorial expansions, but Cao Cao preferred to use the momentum from his victories to attack Jiangdong next.

Lu Su, a statesman from Jiangdong, was originally on a peace mission to Jing province to send condolences for Liu Biao's death. By the time he reached Jing province, however, Liu Cong had already surrendered and Liu Bei had fled south. Lu Su went to see Liu Bei at Changban and, after Liu's defeat, followed him to Xiakou. There he asked where Liu Bei was heading after, and Liu Bei replied that he plans to take refuge under Wu Ju (吳巨), an old friend, in the distant Cangwu commandery (蒼梧; eastern part of modern-day Guangxi). To this, Lu Su dissuaded Liu Bei from joining Wu Ju, saying Wu Ju is only an ordinary fellow who would not be independent for long; and persuaded Liu Bei to form an alliance with his lord Sun Quan to defend against Cao Cao. Liu Bei was extremely pleased at this suggestion, and sent Zhuge Liang to go with Lu Su to see Sun Quan in order to secure the alliance.

This led to the Battle of Red Cliffs shortly after in the same year, where the Sun-Liu alliance defeated the overwhelming northern fleets, driving Cao Cao back north and forming the basis of the Three Kingdoms.

[edit] In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, the battle was romanticized into a showcase of the power and bravery of Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun.

Liu Bei lost the battle and was pursued by Cao Cao. Liu Bei had been leading around the civilians who journeyed with him, and many of them were lost in this battle. Also, Liu Bei's wife was caught up in enemy lines, with his infant son Liu Shan. Being recognized only by Liu Bei and his brothers, Zhao Yun greatly frightened the whole army of Cao Cao by attempting to retrieve Liu Bei's wife and son. He managed to get to Lady Mi, Liu's wife, who placed the young Liu into his breast armor so as to keep the baby from harm, then killed herself by falling down a well, not wanting to be a burden to the general. Zhao Yun pushed over a wall to bury his lord's wife, then raced back to Liu Bei's side, still fighting with a child in his bosom.

Zhao Yun encountered Xiahou En, Cao Cao's sword bearer, but swiftly cut him down and gained a prized sword named the "Qinggang Sword" (青釭劍). Cao Cao, seeing Zhao's bravery, wanted him captured with the hopes of turning him to his side, and so ordered pursuit. While Zhao Yun was fleeing, he encountered many generals who attempted to capture him. When Zhao Yun escaped from an encirclement by four such generals, another unit led by Zhang He then blocked Zhao Yun. Without a word, they both fought. In about ten bouts Zhao Yun broke off the contest and applied the whip on to his mount. Unfortunately, the horse fell into a ditch. Zhang He approached for the kill, but a beam of reddish light formed an arc over the ditch. Zhang He fell back from this miraculous light. Zhao Yun's mount leapt up and went full speed.

Cao Cao's men then followed him all the way to Changban Bridge, where Cao Cao's troops were halted when they saw Zhang Fei standing alone on the bridge where he made his famous yell: "I am Zhang Fei of Yan. Who dares fight with me?!" Cao Cao, seeing that his enemy was so fierce and resolute, also out of fear for ambush, decided to retreat. Zhang Fei then shouted, "What mean you? You will not fight nor do you run away!" It was then Xiahou Jie (夏侯傑), a general of Cao Cao, was so frightened by Zhang Fei he died. Supposedly, Cao Cao ordered his troops to take a detour, remembering Guan Yu's comments on the fearsome Zhang. Zhang later destroyed the bridge to regroup with Liu Bei.

At the sight of Zhao Yun and his son, Liu Bei took his son and threw him to the ground because he had endangered Zhao Yun. While in the context of the time period such an action was not considered in a particularly negative light (since a brave and powerful general was far more useful to the desperate Liu Bei than a baby), modern day detractors of Liu Bei suggest that this incident caused Liu Shan brain-damage and led him to grow up to become the incompetent ruler who undid all Liu Bei had strived to accomplish years later.

[edit] In popular culture

The Battle of Changban is the highlight of Zhao Yun's story in the Dynasty Warriors series. Whether the player is Zhao Yun or any other character, it is generally advised at the beginning not to fight the Wei forces and instead protect Liu Bei. It is however the opposite if the player is Liu Bei himself.

[edit] References

  1. ^ History of Duodao District