The Military History Thread

[haroldeye]

The Percy family are now the Dukes of Northumberland and my first Commanding Officer was Geoffrey Scrope, a direct descendant of that Archbishop.

[Ennath]

February 20, 1944
Big Week

Throughout 1943, US 8th Air Force had been growing in size and experience and started pressing attacks deeper into Germany. It was believed that the defensive firepower of the B-17 and B-24 bombers, typically ten .50 caliber machine guns or more per aircraft, would allow them to defend themselves as long as they remained in tight formations, allowing for overlapping fire. In practice this proved less successful; although the bombers did claim a fair number of German fighters, losses among the bombers were unsustainable.

The Schweinfurt-Regensburg missions are a famous example. On August 17, 1943, 230 bombers launched a mission against the ball bearing factories in Schweinfurt and another 146 against the aircraft factories in Regensburg. Of this force, 60 aircraft were lost before returning to base and another 87 had to be scrapped due to irreparable damage. The Germans claimed 27 fighters lost, serious enough but paling in comparison to the US losses. The Schweinfurt raid of October 14, 1943, remembered as Black Thursday, was even worse; of the 291 aircraft on the mission, 60 were lost outright, with a further 17 damaged beyond repair. Daylight missions into Germany were called off in order to rebuild the forces.

The raids were extensively studied by both sides. The Germans concluded that their tactic of deploying twin-engine heavy fighter designs, with heavy armament to make them usable as bomber destroyers and serving primarily with the Zerstörergeschwader wings, was working well. Over the winter of 1943–44 they continued this program, adding to their heavy fighters and developing heavier armaments for all of their aircraft. They also pulled the bulk of their fighter forces back into Germany, as the majority of their losses were due to fighter actions over forward areas. There seemed to be no point in trying to attack the bombers with enemy fighters in the area. The Allied forces came to other conclusions. Schweinfurt demonstrated that the bombers were not able to protect themselves, contrary to earlier thinking, and fighter cover had to be extended over the entire mission. Luckily for the Americans, the P-51D Mustang, an aircraft that had the range to escort the bombers to targets deep within Germany, was starting to arrive in quantity. Over the winter they re-equipped their fighter squadrons as Mustangs arrived and longer-range versions of existing fighters were developed.

By the early spring of 1944, both forces had laid their plans. The Americans, expecting a fighter advantage, planned missions that would demand a German response. They decided to make massive raids on the German fighter factories; if the Germans chose not to respond they would be at risk of losing the air war without firing a shot, if they did respond, they would meet the new fighters. The Germans needed no provocation, they were ready to meet a raid with their new forces. However, by up-gunning their fighters they reduced their performance, making them easy targets for the new and unexpected Mustangs.

For a week, beginning on February 20, 1944, the Americans flew continuously escorted missions against airframe manufacturing and assembly plants and other targets in numerous German cities including: Leipzig, Brunswick, Gotha, Regensburg, Schweinfurt, Augsburg, Stuttgart and Steyr. In six days, 8th Air Force bombers based in England flew more than 3000 sorties and 15th Air Force based in Italy more than 500. Together they dropped roughly 10,000 tons of bombs. During Big Week, 8th Air Force lost 97 B-17s, 40 B-24s and another 20 scrapped due to damage. 15th Air Force lost 90 aircraft and American fighter losses stood at 28. Three major British raids were added to the effort, losing another 131 bombers. Although these numbers are high in absolute terms, the numbers of bombers involved in the missions were much higher than previously, and the losses represented a much smaller percentage of the attacking force. The earlier Schweinfurt missions had cost the force nearly 30 percent of their aircraft per mission; for the Big Week it was under 7 percent.

US aircrews claimed more than 500 German fighters destroyed, though these numbers were massively exaggerated, the actual number begin about 260. The Luftwaffe losses were high amongst their twin-engined Zerstörer units, and the Bf110 and Me410 groups were severely depleted. More worrying for the Luftwaffe was the loss of 17 percent of its fighter pilots, nearly 100 of them being killed. In contrast to the raids of the previous year, the US losses were replaceable, while the Germans were already hard pressed due to the war in the East.

Due to the protection offered by Allied long-range fighters, a change of tactics was introduced: German fighters formed up well in front of the bombers, took a single head-on pass through the stream and then departed. This gave the defending fighters little time to react and a few shells into the cockpit could destroy a bomber in one pass. In a repeat of earlier RAF strategy, the Luftwaffe also attempted to form up their own version of the Big Wing, which they hoped would allow them to bring the twins back into combat in the safety of a huge number of escorting single-engined fighters. These formations proved extremely difficult to arrange.

Although not fatal, Big Week was an extremely worrying development for the Germans. The actual damage to the German aircraft industry was fairly limited; during 1944 the industry was to reach its fighter production peak by reducing the production of other aircraft types and ruthlessly exploiting the workforce. The lack of skilled pilots due to an attrition in the 3-front war was the factor eroding the capability of the fighter force. The Luftwaffe had to abandon its tactic of “maximum defensive effort” to daylight bombing missions in favor of hit-and-run intercepts. While German air defense remained formidable, air superiority had passed irrevocably to the Allies.

[Ennath]

February 21, 1543
Battle of Waina Dega

Islam was introduced to the Horn of Africa from the Arabian peninsula, shortly after the hijra. By the late 9th century, Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard. The Adal Sultanate, with Zeila as its capital, probably dates back to at least the 9th or 10th centuries, governed by local dynasties consisting of Somalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis, who also ruled over the similarly-established Sultanate of Mogadishu to the south. Adal’s history would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighboring Ethiopia.

In 1529, Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi defeated a larger Ethiopian army at the Battle of Shimbra Kure, though at heavy cost. It was the start of a conquest referred to as the Futuh Al-Habash (Conquest of Abyssinia), which would bring 3/4 of Christian Ethiopia under the power of the Muslim Sultanate. Some authorities attribute Imam Ahmad’s success to the presence of an elite company of Ottoman matchlockmen. If this is the case, then this battle was the first time Ethiopian forces had to fight against a force armed with firearms. Despite this success, and his desire to capture the Emperor’s palace at Badeqe, Imam Ahmad, in part to appease his restive men, withdrew from the highlands and did not directly engage the Ethiopian army for two years.

The victories that gave the followers of Imam Ahmad the upper hand came in 1531. The first was at Antukyah, where Ottoman mercenary cannonfire at the start of the battle panicked the Ethiopians. The second was on October 28 at Amba Sel, when troops under the Imam not only defeated but dispersed the Ethiopian army and captured items of the Imperial regalia. These victories allowed the army to enter the Ethiopian highlands, where they began to sack and burn numerous churches, including Atronsa Maryam, where the remains of several Emperors had been interred. The country was looted by the Imam’s forces, who destroyed Christian monuments and oppressed the non-Muslim Amhara and Tigray.

Emperor Dawit II died on September 2, 1540. Gelawdewos succeeded to the throne. Despite his youth, over the next few months he made several successful attacks on the Somali garrisons in northern Ethiopia. These lifted the morale of the Ethiopians, and upon arriving in Semien, he was surrounded by deserters who sought his clemency. Soon after, the young Emperor crossed the Tekezé, to observe Easter 1541 in Sard. Garad Emar, Ahmad’s governor of Ganz, assumed that Galawdewos’ lieutenants would be away at their homes to celebrate the holiday, so picked this date to strike; these plans were quickly communicated to Gelawdewos, who was able to prepare a response. Nevertheless, the emperor’s ambush failed in a battle at Sahart on April 24. Gelawdewos fled far to the south, over the Abay River into Gojjam, then back over the Abay to eventually reach Gindabret, “lying south of the most southerly reaches of the Blue Nile”. The queen was besieged at the capital.

However, the Ethiopians now managed to secure the assistance of the Portuguese, based in Massawa, under Cristóvão da Gama. On February 2, 1542, da Gama and 400 men attacked the Adal position at Bacente. Queen Mother Sabla Wengel advised against this attack, arguing that Gama should wait until Gelawdewos could march north from Shewa and join the Portuguese. However, da Gama was concerned that if he marched around this Muslim-held strongpoint, the local peasantry would be demoralized and stop providing him supplies. After a probing attack on the defenses, which Sabla Wengel initially mistook for a defeat, Gama ordered an attack from three sides on the following day. The defenders were annihilated, with negligible losses to the Portuguese. A mosque, which had originally been a church before the hill fort was occupied, was reconsecrated as a church and dedicated to Our Lady of Victory. The expeditionary force spent the rest of February there, recovering from the battle. The Portuguese went on to another victory in April at Jarte and in early August at the Hill of the Jews (possibly Amba Sel).

Da Gama advanced into Tigray. Ahmad Gran met him in battle at Wolfa. The Somalis had not only a numerical superiority, but now also had an edge in forearms, with more aid from the Ottomans. The Portuguese and Ethiopians were heavily defeated at Wolfa on August 28. While fleeing the field, da Gama, with his arm broken from a bullet, was captured, taken before the Imam, tortured and finally beheaded by the Imam personally.

By any reasonable assessment, the Imam had gained a decisive victory. He reduced his mercenary Ottoman arquebusiers to 200, and relying on his own forces retired to Emfraz near Lake Tana for the coming rainy season. Miguel de Castanhoso states that the arquebusiers left his service because they were upset that he beheaded da Gama, whom they wanted to present to the Ottoman emperor. However, a chronicle states that some of them threatened the Imam’s life unless he gave them 10,000 ounces of gold, to which he “gave a very favorable reply”. When the rest of the group learned of this, they came to the Imam and made a similar demand; deciding that he had no further need of their services, he sent them home giving them 2000 ounces of gold.

However, Gama had inspired a fierce loyalty in his surviving followers, all but 50 of whom had reassembled after their defeat around Queen Sabla Wengel, and taken refuge at the Hill of the Jews. Gelawdewos joined them around Christmas and agreed to march against the Imam. The Portuguese firearms which had been stored at Debre Damo were produced. A message was sent to a company of Portuguese soldiers who had proceeded to Debarwa to return to the main body, but they failed to respond in time for the coming battle. The allied forces spent the following months marching the provinces before heading to Imam Ahmad's camp by Lake Tana. On February 13, 1543, at Wogera, they defeated a body of troops led by the Imam's lieutenant Sayid Mehmed, who was killed. From prisoners it was learned that the Imam was camped only 5 days’ march away at Deresgue, and flush with victory the army marched to confront their enemy.

Once the Ethiopian-Portuguese army found the army of Imam Ahmad, they set up camp nearby; Gelawedewos advised against engaging right away, hoping that the 50 missing Portuguese would arrive soon as “in that country 50 Portuguese are a greater reinforcement than one thousand natives.” Over the following days, both sides conducted cavalry raids. The allies had the better of the exchange, keeping their opponents from venturing from their camp for supplies, until the Somalis managed to kill the leading Ethiopian commander, Azmach Keflo, which demoralized the Ethiopian troops. Faced with the potential desertion of his force, Galawedewos decided he could wait no longer and prepared for an assault the next day. He had 8000 Ethiopian infantry and 500 cavalry, plus a Portuguese contingent of 70 arquebusiers and 60 horsemen. Ahmad Gran led an army of 14,000 foot, 1200 cavalry and 200 Ottoman arquebusiers.

The two forces started the main battle early on February 21, with the Somali force divided into two groups. At first, the Muslims succeeded in driving the allies back, until a charge by the Portuguese and Ethiopian cavalry broke up the advance. At this point Imam Ahmad al-Ghazi, with his son at his side, took to the field and personally led a renewed assault. It was in this charge that the Imam was killed by a bullet to his chest which threw him from his horse. At the end of the battle, when Emperor Galawedewos offered his sister’s hand in marriage to the man who killed the Imam, an Ethiopian soldier presented the Imam’s head as proof of the deed; but a subsequent investigation revealed that the Portuguese had wounded him before the soldier had cut off the Imam’s head, “thus he did not give his sister to that man, nor did he reward the Portuguese, as it was not known who wounded him”.

When they heard of the death of the Imam, his followers fled the field. The Ottomans were the exception; they fought on, 160 of them dying. Ahmad’s wife Bati del Wambara managed to escape with a the surviving Ottomans, 300 horsemen of her personal guard, and as much of the Imam’s treasure as they could carry. The moment they left their camp, the victorious Ethiopian army poured in, slaughtering everyone except for women and children. Amongst the women were numerous Christian captives.

According to Bruce, there remained one enemy leader, Joram, with a sizable force still at large. He had been unable to join the Imam before the battle, and Emperor Gelawadewos learned he was hastening towards him, unaware that the battle had already been lost. The emperor sent out a party who successfully ambushed him. Once the rains ended, Gelawdewos began the long task of consolidating his rule. Ethiopian independence was preserved, but both parties to the conflict exhausted their resources and manpower, which resulted in the contraction of both powers and changed regional dynamics for centuries to come.

[Ennath]

February 22, 1727
Siege of Gibraltar

On January 1, 1727, the Spanish ambassador to the Court of St. James sent a letter to the Duke of Newcastle explaining why the Spanish Crown believed that Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht (which granted Britain perpetual control of Gibraltar under certain conditions) had been nullified by infractions by the British: increasing its defenses beyond stipulated limits, admitting Jews and Moors, and smuggling.

The letter was tantamount to a declaration of war. Spain, however, was not in a particularly good position to capture Gibraltar. Following their defeat at the battle of Cape Passaro (1718, see posting) and the capture of Vigo and Pasajes, the Spanish Navy was severely weakened. The Royal Navy had complete sea supremacy in the Straits, ruling out a Spanish landing in the south, and ensuring that the British garrison would be well supplied through a siege. Any attempt to scale the Rock from the east (as 500 men under Colonel Figueroa had done in 1704) was now impossible as the British had destroyed the path. The only route open to the Spanish was along a narrow funnel (reduced in width by an inundation) that ran between the sea and the western side of the North Face of the Rock. This narrow strip of land would come under fire from three sides: Willis’ battery to the east, the Grand Battery to the south, and the Devil’s Tongue Battery on the Old Mole to the west.

A number of King Philip V’s senior military advisers warned the King that the recapture of Gibraltar was near impossible. The senior Flemish engineer, George Prosper Verboom, agreed with this opinion, and “gave it as his considered opinion that the only plan with any possibility of success was of a seaborne attack from the south”. However, the King was impressed by the Count de las Torres de Alcorrín, Viceroy of Navarre, who vowed that he could “in six weeks deliver Spain from this noxious settlement of foreigners and heretics”. The disagreement between Verboom and de las Torres was to continue throughout the siege. Despite Verboom's doubts, the King gave de las Torres leave to attempt an assault. The count began to muster troops at San Roque at the start of 1727, in total 30 infantry battalions, 6 squadrons of horse, 72 mortars and 92 guns (although on occasion some heavier guns were brought from Cadiz). Large parts of the army were not Spanish. Of the infantry battalions 19 were foreign mercenaries, Walloons, Irish, Savoyard, Neapolitan, Swiss, Corsican, and Sicilian. Serving alongside the Jacobite Irish was the infamous Duke of Wharton, founder of the original Hellfire Club. He attained permission from Philip V to serve as volunteer aide to the Count de las Torres, and was something of an embarrassment to both sides. “The Duke of Wharton never comes into the trenches but when he is Drunk, and that then, and only then, he is mightily valiant.” He was to be badly injured in the leg during the siege and he was later declared an outlaw by the British Government.

Both the Earl of Portmore, Governor of Gibraltar, and Brigadier Jasper Clayton the Lt-Governor, were in England when the Spanish began to assemble. Col. Richard Kane, the British commander of Minorca, was in temporary command of the sparse garrison of approximately 1200 men from the 5th Regiment (Pearce’s), the 13th (Lord Mark Kerr’s), the 20th (Egerton’s) and the 30th (Bisset’s). Kane expelled the 400 Spanish residents and continued to improve the defenses until February13, when Clayton arrived with a fleet under Adm. Sir Charles Wager and reinforcements from the 26th Regiment (Antruther’s), the 29th (Disney’s) and the 39th (Newton’s). By early February Spanish laborers had moved down to the isthmus and started to construct siege lines. On February 22, a warning shot was fired over the heads of the working parties. Thus the siege began.

De las Torres’ first move was to move 5 battalions and 1000 workers forward by night to take the Devil’s Tower and 2 other abandoned fortifications, and to dig trenches parallel to Gibraltar’s walls. Fixed guns could not be depressed below the horizontal, so the Spanish working parties could not be fired upon from the North Face of the Rock. The finished trenches might have proved the attackers with a good foothold from which to assault the town. However, Wager moved his squadron to the east of the isthmus and began 3 days of bombardment, inflicting perhaps 1000 casualties. The Spaniards built batteries to drive away the ships, but even without naval gunfire, the strong winds and heavy rain of February made digging and maintaining the trenches nearly impossible. The Spanish attempted to mine under Willis’ battery on the North Face, but the limestone on which it was located was too solid to mine in less than 8-10 months.

Failing to create a strong stepping stone for a land assault, and lacking the means for a sea assault, de las Torres’ only option now was to pound the British into surrender. On March 24, the Spanish began what they hoped would be a decisive bombardment. They did great damage to the northern part of the town, the affluent Villa Vieja; after the siege the ruins were removed to create present day Casemates. Despite the structural damage there were few casualties. The greater concern was the number of men the British had available to man the guns, repair the damage to the defenses and serve on sentry duty. This proved to be a major problem for the garrison. The bombardment continued for 10 days. The terrible weather caused great problems for the besiegers in the trenches beneath the rock, and the Spanish had to ease their bombardment. Their forces were reduced by illness and desertion. A relative lull followed.

During this time, much needed reinforcements arrived. On April 7, the 25th (Middleton’s), and 34th (Haye’s) Regiments arrived with a 480-strong detachment from Minorca. On May 1, the Earl of Portmore arrived with 10 companies of the 1st Guards and the 14th Regiment (Clayton’s). Room was made for the new reinforcements by moving troops south. Camp Bay derives its name from this siege, when a regiment was encamped above it. An attempted sortie just before Portmore’s arrival was spoiled by the gunners opening up too soon.

By May 7, de las Torres was ready to launch another heavy bombardment. This caused major damage to the town and batteries, and caused far more British casualties than any earlier point in the siege. The recently arrived British reinforcements, however, allowed the garrison to maintain the batteries, remount damaged guns and return fire. Portmore, in an attempt to boost the morale and productivity of his infantry turned laborers, increased their pay from 8 pence to a shilling a day. On May 15, de las Torres, trying to make a point, sent a flag of truce to inform the governor that their was no siege; the Spanish were only exercising their ordnance, even as the bombardment continued.

Nevertheless, the firing from the Spanish guns began to slacken. After several days’ continuous fire the Spanish iron cannon began to burst, whilst the better brass cannon began to drop at the muzzle from overheating. The besiegers were also beginning to suffer from a lack of supplies owing to the poor Andalusian roads. The garrison, on the other hand, had ample supplies from the sea, and soon began to outgun the Spaniards. The Spanish continued to fire upon Gibraltar, but with decreasing effect.

Frustrated with de las Torres’ obstinacy and inability to take his advice, Verboom had left for Madrid. His proposed overland attack from the north failing, de las Torres asked his remaining engineers . Their response was blunt: “Had we found ourselves in such a position as to be worthy of being asked our opinion of the enterprise before the siege began, as we are now to be worthy of being consulted by your Excellency over its prosecution, we would have voted on nothing more than a diversionary tactic overland ... [the geography and defenses of Gibraltar] all combine to make a counterattack so manifestly unbeatable.” On June 23, the Spanish offered a truce, which was agreed the next day. The Spanish had lost 392 men killed and 1019 wounded, the British 118 killed and 207 wounded. The Spaniards were to remain encamped outside Gibraltar, but hostilities were to cease. An uneasy truce remained.

The Spanish had expected material help from the Austrians, but they received little. They had been outmaneuvered by British diplomats, who had concluded a secret deal with the Austrians to prevent them intervening. No more hostilities took place and a truce was declared in February 1728, with a preliminary agreement of issues at the March Convention of El Pardo and the Congress of Soissons. The final peace, that confirmed the status-quo, was concluded in the 1729 Treaty of Seville. Many of the outstanding issues between the two states had not been resolved, and a decade later the War of Jenkins’ Ear broke out between them. Britain emerged from the conflict by forming a strong alliance with Austria, that lasted until 1756.

[Ennath]

c1175 BC
Defeat of the Sea Peoples

In Egypt, Ramesses III was fighting to save his country and Empire in the midst of the Bronze Age collapse, a prolonged period of region-wide droughts, crop failures, depopulation, and collapse of urban centers. It is likely that the Nile irrigated lands remained fruitful and would have been highly desirable to Egypt’s neighbors. Ramesses had previously defeated an attack by the Libyans on the Egyptian Empire’s western frontier. A greater threat was posed by a group of migrating peoples called the Sea Peoples. These were times of crisis in the Mediterranean, as many 12th century BC civilizations were destroyed by the Sea Peoples and other migrating nations. The great Hittite Empire fell, as did the Mycenaean civilization, the kingdom of Cyprus and Ugarit, and other great cultures.

Their orgigins are still disputed. Some believe they were refugees from the collapse of Bronze Age Greek civilizations (and there is some similarity between Mycenaean pottery and that of the Sea People-descended Philistines). Other possible origins are Italy and Anatolia. Whatever their origins, the Sea Peoples moved around the eastern Mediterranean, attacking the coasts of Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria and Canaan, before attempting an invasion of Egypt in the 1180s. They were a confederation of 9 tribes – the Denyen, Ekwesh, Lukka, Peleset, Shekelesh, Sherden, Teresh, Tjeker and Weshesh. We know that the Sea Peoples were skilled fighters, and some evidence suggests they had a high level of organization. Egypt was in particular danger because the invaders did not merely want the spoils and goods of the land, but the land itself, in which to settle.

Prior to the battle, the Sea Peoples had sacked the Hittite vassal state of Amurru which was located close to the border of the Egyptian Empire. This gave the pharaoh time to make preparations for the expected onslaught. As Ramesses notes in an inscription from his mortuary temple at Medinet Habu: “I equipped my frontier in Zahi (Djahy) prepared before them.” The Sea Peoples’ land forces moved south through Canaan, but were repulsed by the frontier fortification at Djahy in the region of the later Phoenicians (Lebanon and northern Israel). While the battle ended with a great Egyptian victory, Egypt's war with the Sea Peoples was not yet over. The Sea Peoples would attack Egypt proper with their fleet, around the mouth of the Nile river.

Ramesses rushed back to Egypt where preparations for the assault had already been completed. According to the Medinet Habu inscriptions, Ramesses looked towards the sea and stared at a force of thousands of enemies. The pharaoh lined the shores of the Nile Delta with ranks of archers. Knowing that he would be defeated in a battle at sea, Ramesses enticed the Sea Peoples and their ships into the mouth of the Nile, where he had assembled a fleet in ambush. This Egyptian fleet worked the Sea Peoples’ boats towards shore. Then archers both on land and on the ships devastated the enemy. The Sea People's ships were overturned, many were killed and captured and some even dragged to the shore where they were killed. Since the Sea Peoples were a migrating force, the dead almost certainly included many women and children. An any rate, Egypt would not go the way of so many neighbors.

However, Egypt could not ultimately prevent the Peleset from settling in the eastern parts of their empire a few decades later, becoming the Philistines. Some were settled in Egypt, forming the Sherden Guard. Egypt's treasury became so depleted that she would never fully recover her imperial power. The Egyptian Empire over Asia and Nubia would be permanently lost less than 80 years later under Ramesses XI, the last king of Egypt’s New Kingdom.

[Ennath]

February 23, 1842
Texian-Mexican War

Following Santa Anna’s defeat and capture at the Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836, see posting), the Mexican Army withdrew from Texas, leaving the Republic de facto independent. On July 29, the Mexican Congress repudiated Santa Anna’s concessions, but it was too late to reverse the army’s withdrawal. Mexico, however, continued to refuse to recognize the Republic of Texas and continued to regard it a rebellious state.

Immediate military action to recover the lost lands was deferred due to internal unrest. Liberal revolts occurred until early 1838, followed by French intervention in the Pastry War (see posting). Further internal unrest then followed into 1840. However, fighting continued at sea. The two brigs of the Texas Navy were run aground by Mexican squadrons in June 1837, but the Republic began rebuilding its navy in late 1838, and soon dominated the coasts, aided by the French capture of most of the Mexican Navy in the Pastry War.

In 1841, the Texians launched their first expedition into New Mexico, claiming all land on its side of the Rio Grande. The 320-man force was surrounded by 1500 Mexicans and forced to surrender. The fiasco cast doubt on the Republic’s ability to occupy territory it claimed and weakened its financial credibility in Europe, as well as reducing the flow of immigration from the United States. The Mexicans gained in confidence and a new offensive was planned.

The ever-alert Santa Anna seized power in the aftermath of the New Mexico affair and decided to carry the war to Texas. He ordered Gen. Mariano Arista, commanding the Army of the North, to dispatch a raiding force of 500 well-mounted and equipped troops to San Antonio. Departure was delayed until February 23, 1842, but finally 391 troops under Brevet Gen. Rafael Vasquez trekked across 188 miles in 10 days to their objective. There they were met by 260 Texians, who surrendered the city. The garrison, a company of Texas Rangers, escaped. On March 5, Vasquez took possession of the town, appointed a mayor, declared Mexican law to be in effect, and withdrew back across the Rio Grande.

In support of the this expedition, Capt. Ramon Valera led 200 cavalry from Mier. By the end of the month, desertions had reduced the force to 132, mostly on foot after losing their horses in the rough terrain. Using 40 of the best remaining mounts, Valera sent Capt. Aznar to surprise the town of Goliad, captured without a fight, then doing the same a Refigo Mission. Having received no news of Vasquez and due to the poor state of his horses, Valera decided to return to the Nueces, but on March 10, while camped at Santa Gertrudis, was attacked by 300 Lipan and Tancahue Indians; the Mexicans lost 16 men badly wounded, while the Indians lost over 40.

Santa Anna was dissatisfied with the results. To counteract possible rumors that Vasquez had retreated from fear of the Texians, he ordered Gen. Arista to dispatch some 800 men under Gen. Adrian Woll. A disgusted Arista, pleading poor health, transferred command to Gen. Isidro Reyes. He was informed by Mexico City that some 3000 Texians would strike from New Orleans against Matamoros and was ordered to concentrate between there and Mier. Another 500 troops were sent from Tampico. However, the invasion never materialized.

In the spring, a Texian force of 180 attacked Mexico’s transcontinental trade caravan, routing 400 Mexican cavalry moving to join it as escort. However, the caravan was then found to be under escort by 200 US dragoons. The Texians were informed that they were trespassing on US soil and disarmed, returning home humiliated.

On June 17, Col. Antonio Canales, commanding at Camargo, learned than some 200 Texians were camped at Lipantitlan, near the mouth of the Nueces. He moved to attack with 185 regulars and 354 militia. At dawn on July 7, the Texians discovered the Mexican force attempting to encircle them. The Texians sought refuge in dense woods, repulsing a Mexican attack. The Mexicans then plundered the abandoned camp and retired. Both sides claimed to have inflicted 30 casualties, but to have suffered few. Emotions ran high in Texas and on June 27, its Congress declared a war of invasion against Mexico, but the bill was vetoed by President Houston.

The Texians were more successful at sea, capturing several merchantmen, in support of a rebellion in Yucatan. However, the Mexican Navy purchased a modern side-wheeler from Britain and captured several Yucatecan rebel vessels. All were rearmed with heavy guns, outranging any guns in the now dilapidated Texian fleet.

On August 31, Woll led 1082 hand-picked troops, 2 guns and a large supply train north. He avoided the well-traveled roads and cut across the desert to avoid detection. On September 7, he camped 7 miles from San Antonio, moving into the town the next morning. Once the force had reached the center of town, it was fired upon. Some 150 Texians had hastily constructed a redoubt, but after 30 minutes of fighting, 52 surrendered; the rest escaped into the woods. Woll remained for several days, but on September 18, as he was preparing to fall back across the Rio Grande, 38 mounted Texians were detected east of town. The Mexicans immediately pursued and fell into an ambush by 300 Texians under Col. Matthew Caldwell. Woll detected the trap, but counting on his numerical superiority, ordered an attack, while 500 Mexican cavalry overwhelmed 53 Texians at nearby Salado Creek. The main attack, however, was repulsed. The Mexicans lost 29 dead and 58 wounded, the Texians 36 dead and 15 captured. Woll’s column then completed its withdrawal.

The raid created a public outcry in Texas to invade Mexico and eliminate the threat. Houston was publicly opposed to such an adventure, believing it to be folly; however, the outcry was so great he gave in. He ordered Brig. Gen. Alexander Somervell to march 750 volunteers, now at San Antonio, to the Rio Grande. This force occupied Laredo on December 8, pillaging it. Somervell then crossed the Rio Grande with 500 men and occupied Guerrero on December 17. He then ordered a withdrawal back to San Antonio. Only 180 men obeyed; the remaining 300 chose a new commander, William Fisher, and followed the river southeast to the town of Mier.

Meanwhile, the Mexicans were hurriedly gathering their nearby forces at Mier. The Texians arrived first, on December 22. Awaiting a ransom to be paid by the town, they spent the night at Casas Blancas ranch 9 miles away. Here they captured a scout who informed them that Gen. Ampudia now occupied Mier with a few hundred men. The Texians decided to attack before he could be reinforced. On Christmas evening, the 300 Texians attacked the 635 Mexicans in town, gaining a foothold at the south edge. The next day, Ampudia counterattacked. His cavalry seized the ford across the Rio Bravo, cutting the attackers off from their supply train at Casas Blancas, while his infantry pressed against the Texians in town. Superior numbers pressed the Texians back against the river, where they finally surrendered. There were 242 prisoners. Mexican losses were 30 dead and 66 wounded. The prisoners began a march to Mexico City, but on February 10, Capt. Ewan Cameron led the majority in overpowering their guards. The 193 escapees began heading home, but were recaptured by Mexican cavalry. Mexico City ordered that 1 in10 be executed; 17 black beans were mixed in ajar with 157 white beans. Those drawing a black bean were shot. The Mier disaster only intensified public pressure in Texas for an offensive against Mexico.

Meanwhile, the fighting at sea picked up. Commodore Edwin Moore, commanding the Texas Navy, decided not to let the naval imbalance grow further. Funded by the Yucatan rebels, he put to sea with the brigs Austin and Wharton. This was strictly unofficial, as Houston was already negotiating peace. Learning that the Mexican steamer Moctezuma was embarking troops at Telchac, he set out, hoping to catch the ship alone. On April 30, 1843, he found the Moctezuma at Lerma coaling and 5 others Mexican warships 10 miles to the south. The Texians failed to get to the Moctezuma before it could rejoin the squadron and both forces maneuvered for position, the Texians hampered by lack of steam and the Mexicans by a yellow fever epidemic among the crews. There was brief inconclusive fight, the first engagement where explosive shells were used by opposing warships. Another followed on May 16, in which, despite the disparity in firepower, the Mexicans broke off after 3 hours. Moore now learned that Houston had declared his cruise an illegal and piratical act. His ships returned to Galveston on June 14; Moore was later cleared by a court-martial.

On July 7, the British minister to Mexico informed its president that Texas was interested in negotiating. On February 15, 1844, an armistice was signed, suspending military operations and providing for further talks. Mexico did not recognize Texas independence, nor did Texas admit to subservience. Although the truce would soon break down, major fighting was over.

[Ennath]

February 24, 1861
Battle of Ky Hoa

After early French victories at Tourane (Da Nang) and Saigon, the Cochinchina campaign reached a point of equilibrium with the French and their Spanish allies besieged in Saigon, which had been captured by a Franco-Spanish expedition under Adm. Charles Rigault de Genouilly on February 17, 1859. The end of the Second Opium War in 1860 allowed the French to dispatch a reinforcements of 70 ships under Adm. Léonard Charner and 3500 soldiers under Gen. de Vassoigne to Saigon. Charner’s squadron, the most powerful French naval force seen in Vietnamese waters before the eve of the Sino-French War (1884–85), included the steam frigates Impératrice Eugénie and Renommée, the corvettes Primauguet, Laplace and Du Chayla, 11 screw-driven dispatch vessels, 5 gunboats, 17 transports and a hospital ship. The squadron was accompanied by half a dozen armed lorchas purchased in Macao.

The French and Spanish were besieged in Saigon by a Vietnamese army around 32,000 strong under the command of Nguyen Tri Phuong. The Vietnamese siege lines, 7.5 miles long, were centered on the village of Ky Hoa. Ky Hoa itself had been transformed into a formidable entrenched camp. The first objective was the capture of this camp. It was a rectangle measuring around 3280 yards by 985 yards, divided into 5 compartments separated by traverses and enclosed within walls 11.5 feet high and 6.5 feet thick. The camp was armed with more than 150 cannon. Subsidiary defenses were piled in front of its walls: wolf-pits, ditches filled with water, palisades and chevaux de frise. The walls were crowned with thorn bushes along their entire length.

The first assault was made on February 24, 1861. The French artillery moved forward to a position half a mile from the siege lines, and bombarded the Vietnamese defenses. The French and Spanish infantry formed up behind the artillery positions in battalion columns. Then, at the canter, the mountain guns advanced to within 550 yards of Redoubt Fort and the line of entrenchments that stretched away to the east. The rest of the artillery soon followed, and when the infantry reached this new line it split into two assault columns, the soldiers to the right led by Major Allizé de Matignicourt, and the sailors on the left under the command of Commander Desvaux, captain of the transport Entreprenante. The French and Spanish assault columns captured Redoubt Fort and part of the Vietnamese trench lines. However, the attackers suffered heavily from defending fire. Gen. de Vassoigne and the Spanish commander Col. Palanca y Guttierez were both wounded in the attack.

A second assault was made on February 25. The attack came at dawn, by two columns of infantry supported by artillery. Again, the artillery led 2 columns of infantry. On the left were the engineers, marines and chasseurs, while the sailors and Spanish were on the right. The low dawn sun spoiled the aim of the gunners and they advanced their pieces close to the defenses and engaged them with case shot. Defending fire caused significant casualties, but the storming parties managed to close with their scaling ladders. Most of these were too light, however, and broke, leaving the attackers to scale the walls by climbing on the shoulders of their comrades. Finally, troops with grappling hooks breached the perimeter fence and entered the fort. They then found themselves in an enclosed compartment swept by the fire from the neighboring compartment, to which they could make no reply. It was a critical situation, and they suffered heavy losses. Finally, several men succeeded in smashing in the gate to the other compartment with their axes, just as the engineers succeeded in breaking in, while the marine infantry and the chasseurs outflanked the enemy line on the left. The defenders were either killed or routed, leaving the whole of the Ky Hoa Lines in allied hands. Once again, French and Spanish casualties were relatively heavy (12 dead and 225 wounded). According to the French, the Vietnamese lost around 1000 men, including Nguyen Tri Phuong, who was wounded during the battle.

The victory at Ky Hoa allowed the French and Spanish to assume the offensive. In April, My Tho fell to the French. In early 1862 the French captured Bien Hoa and Vĩnh Long. These victories forced the Vietnamese to sue for peace in April 1862. By then the French were not in a merciful mood. What had begun as a minor punitive expedition had turned into a long, bitter and costly war. It was unthinkable that France should emerge from this struggle empty-handed, and Emperor Tu Duc was forced to cede the 3 southernmost provinces to France. Thus was born the French colony of Cochinchina, with its capital at Saigon.

[Ennath]

February 25, 1887
Emin Pasha Relief Expedition

The Mahdists captured Khartoum in 1885 (see posting Siege of Khartoum); Egyptian administration of the Sudan collapsed and the extreme southern province of Equatoria was nearly cut off from the outside world, located as it was on the upper reaches of the Nile near Lake Albert. Emin Pasha was an Ottoman doctor and naturalist who had been appointed Governor. He was able to send and receive letters via Buganda and Zanzibar and had been informed in February 1886 that the Egyptian government would abandon Equatoria. In July, he was encouraged by missionary Alexander Mackay to invite the British government to annex Equatoria. The government was not interested in such a doubtful venture, but the public came to see Emin as a second Gordon in mortal danger from the Mahdists.

By November, explorer Henry Morton Stanley had been approached by private interests about leading a relief force and he expressed a readiness to do so. Money was then raised for the force. Stanley was officially still in the employment of Leopold II of Belgium, by whom he had been employed in carving out the Congo Free State. As a compromise for letting Stanley go, it was arranged between Stanley and the king that the expedition would take a longer route up the Congo River, contrary to plans for a shorter route inland from the East African coast. In return, Leopold would provide Free State steamers for the transportation of the expedition up the river, from Stanley Pool (now Pool Malebo) as far as the mouth of the Aruwimi River.

By January 1887, Stanley was back in London preparing the expedition to widespread public acclaim. Stanley himself was intent that the expedition be one of humanitarian assistance rather than of military conquest. However, the backers also hoped for the annexation of Equatoria.

The plan of the expedition was to go to Zanzibar to hire porters, then around the Cape to the mouth of the Congo, up the Congo by Leopold’s steamers, branching off at the Aruwimi River. Stanley intended to establish a camp there, then go east through unknown territory to reach Equatoria. He expected that Emin would send the families of his Egyptian employees back along the new, along with a large store of ivory accumulated there, while Stanley, Emin, and his soldiers would proceed east to Zanzibar. Any public doubts over the plan centered around whether it could be achieved; the possibility that Emin might not want to leave seems not to have been considered. The expedition was the largest and best-equipped to go to Africa; a 28-foot steel boat named the Advance was designed to be divided into 12 sections for carrying overland, and Hiram Maxim presented the expedition with one of his recently invented Maxim guns, the first to be brought to Africa.

Stanley arrived in Cairo on January 27. Egyptian objections to the Congo route were overridden by a telegram from Lord Salisbury, and the expedition was permitted to march under the Egyptian flag. Stanley also gathered recent intelligence. He left Cairo on February 3 and arrived in Zanzibar on the 22nd. The next days were spent packing for the expedition, loading the Madura, and negotiating. Stanley convinced the Sultan of Zanzibar to grant a concession for what later became the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC), and made two agreements with Tippu Tib, the Congo warlord. The first included appointing him Governor of Stanley Falls, an arrangement much criticized in Europe as a deal with a slave-trader, and the second agreement regarded the provision of carriers for the expedition. Stanley posted letters to Emin predicting his arrival on Lake Albert around August. The expedition departed Zanzibar on February 25.

Stanley arrived at Banana at the mouth of the Congo on March 18. His arrival was somewhat unexpected, because a telegraph cable had broken and local officials had received no instructions. Chartered steamers brought the expedition to Matadi, where the carriers took over, bringing some 800 loads of stores and ammunition to Leopoldville on the Stanley Pool. Progress was slow, since the rainy season was at its height, and food was short - a problem that was to be persistent throughout the expedition (the area along the route rarely had spare food for 1000 hardworking men, as it was a subsistence economy). On April 21, the expedition arrived at Leopoldville. King Leopold had promised a flotilla of river steamers, but only one worked: the Stanley. Stanley requisitioned two (Peace and Henry Reed) from missionaries, whose protests were overridden, as well as the Florida, which was still under construction and so used as a barge. Even these were insufficient, so many of the stores were left at Leopoldville and more at Bolobo. At this point, Stanley also announced the division of the expedition: a Rear Column would encamp at Yambuya on the Aruwimi, while the Advance Column pressed on to Equatoria.

The voyage up the Congo started May 1 and was generally uneventful. At Bangala Station, Barttelot and Tippu Tib continued up to Stanley Falls in the Henry Reed, while Stanley took the Aruwimi to Yambuya. The inhabitants of Yambuya refused permission to reside in their village, so Stanley attacked and drove the villagers away, turning the deserted village into a fortified camp. Meanwhile, at Stanley Falls, Tippu Tib attempted to acquire carriers, but he believed that Stanley had broken his part of their agreement by leaving ammunition behind, and Barttelot came to Yambuya with only an indefinite promise that carriers would arrive in several weeks.

Stanley, however, insisted on speed, and left for Lake Albert on June 28, expecting to take two months. The Advance Column, however, was unprepared for the extreme difficulties of travel through the Ituri forest and did not reach the lake until December. Only 169 of the 389 who set out from Yambuya were still alive. The trees of the forest were so tall and dense that little light reached the floor (thus the phrase “darkest Africa”), food was scarcely to be found, and the local Pygmies took the expedition for an Arab raiding party, shooting at them with poisoned arrows. The expedition stopped at two Arab settlements, in each case leaving more of their equipment behind in exchange for food. The forest eventually gave way to grassland, and on December 13 the expedition reached Lake Albert. However, Emin was not there, and the locals had not seen a European in years. Stanley decided to return to the village of Ibwiri on the plateau above the lake, and built Fort Bodo. Finally, on April 18, 1888, his force received a letter from Emin, who had heard about the expedition a year earlier, and had come down the lake in March after hearing rumors of Stanley’s arrival.

A boat was sent up to Mswa to meet Emin, bringing him back to meet Stanley on April 29. Emin provided Stanley with food and other supplies, thus rescuing the rescuers. At this point things became difficult. Emin was primarily interested in ammunition and other supplies, and a communications route, all of which would assist him in remaining in Equatoria, while Stanley's main goal was to bring Emin out. A month of discussion produced no agreement, and on May 24, Stanley went back to Fort Bodo.

On June 16, Stanley left the fort in search of the Rear Column; no word of them had been received in a long time. Finally, on August 17 at Banalya, 90 miles upstream from Yambuya, Stanley found William Bonny the sole European left in charge of the Column, along with a handful of starving carriers. Herbert Ward had gone back down the Congo to telegraph the Relief Committee in London for further instructions (the Column had not heard from Stanley in over a year). The original purpose of the Rear Column - to wait for additional carriers from Tippu Tib - had not been accomplished, since without the ammunition supplied by the expedition, Tippu Tib had nothing with which to recruit. After several side trips, Edmund Barttelot decided to send those on the sick list down the Congo, and on June 11, after the arrival of a group of Manyema warriors, bringing his total to 560, set off in search of Stanley.

But the march soon disintegrated into chaos, with large-scale desertion and multiple trips to try to bring up stores; then on July 19, Barttelot was shot trying to interfere with a Manyema festival. James Jameson decided to go down to Bangala to bring up extra loads and left shortly before Stanley’s arrival. Stanley was incensed at the state of the Rear Column, blaming them for lack of motion despite his previous orders that they wait for him at Yambuya. From surviving officers Stanley also heard stories of Barttelot’s brutality and that of Jameson, who was alleged to have purchased a young female slave and given her to cannibals so he could record her being killed and eaten. After the dispatch of a number of letters down-Congo, the expedition returned to Fort Bodo, taking a different route that proved no better for food supply, and it reached the Fort on December 20, now reduced to 412 men, of whom 124 were too ill to carry any loads.

On January 16, 1889, near Lake Albert, Stanley received letters from Emin, who had been made prisoner by his officers for several months, while at the same time the Mahdists had been capturing additional stations in Equatoria. Since Stanley's arrival, rumors had gone around about Emin’s intentions and the likely fate of the soldiers, and in August matters had come to a head; a number of officers rebelled, deposed Emin as governor, and kept him under a sort of house arrest in Dufile until November. Even so, Emin was still reluctant to abandon the province.

In February, the expedition and Emin with 65 loyalists met at Lake Albert. Hundreds more of Emin’s followers, many of them the families of his soldiers, joined them in the following weeks. Finally, on April 10, they left for the coast. They passed by Lake Edward and Lake George, then across to the southernmost point of Lake Victoria, passing through the kingdoms of Ankole and Karagwe. Stanley made treaties with the various rulers; although it is most likely that these were not regarded as such by the locals, they were later used to establish IBEA claims in the area. The expedition reached the missionary station at Usambiro on August 28. At this point they began to learn of the complicated changing situation in East Africa, with British and German interests scrambling to stake their claims, and a second relief expedition under Frederick Jackson. After waiting fruitlessly for news of the Jackson expedition, Stanley left on September 17, with a party now reduced to some 700 by a combination of death and desertion. As the expedition approached the coast, they encountered signs of German activity in the interior, and were met by commissioner Wissmann on December 4 and escorted into Bagamoyo. Stanley went on to Cairo as the expedition dispersed. Here he wrote the 900 pages of In Darkest Africa in just 50 days. Emin took service with the Germans in February 1890, and the other Europeans returned to England.

Stanley returned to Europe in May 1890 to tremendous public acclaim; both he and his officers received numerous awards, honorary degrees, and speaking engagements. In June his just-published book sold 150,000 copies. But the adulation was to be short-lived. By autumn, as the true cost of the expedition became known, and as the families of Barttelot and Jameson reacted to Stanley’s accusations of incompetence in the Rear Column, criticism and condemnation became widespread. In the end, it came to be the last expedition of its type; future African expeditions would be government-run in pursuit of military or political goals, or conducted purely for science.

[Ennath]

February 26, 1233
Fall of Kaifeng

Genghis Khan was declared Khaghan in 1206. The Mongols had united under his leadership, and defeated the rival tribes of the steppes. In the same period, China was divided into three separate states. In the north, the Jurchen Jin dynasty controlled Manchuria and all of China north of the Huai River. The Tangut Turk Western Xia ruled parts of western China, while the Song Dynasty reigned over the south. The Mongols partly subjugated Western Xia in 1210. In that same year, the Mongols renounced their vassalage to the Jin. Hostilities between the Jin and Mongols had been building. The Mongols coveted Jurchen territory; they may have also harbored a grudge against the Jin for assassinating Ambaghai, one of Genghis’ predecessors, and for the Jin emperor Wanyan Yongji’s rude behavior to Genghis when Wanyan Yongji was still a prince.

The Mongols learned that a famine had struck the Jin, and invaded in 1211. Two armies were dispatched into Jurchen territory, with one under the command of Genghis. The Jin built up strength and reinforced its cities in preparation for the incursion. The Mongol strategy was based on capturing small settlements and ignoring the fortified major cities. They looted and retreated in 1212. The Mongols returned the next year and besieged Zhongdu (Peking), the capital of the Jin, in 1213. The Mongols were not able to penetrate the walls of the city, but intimidated the Jin emperor into paying tribute. They withdrew in 1214. Later in the year, fearing another siege, the Jin moved their capital from Zhongdu to Kaifeng. The Mongols besieged Zhongdu once more in 1215 once they learned that the Jin court had left the city. It fell on May 31 (see posting Genghis Khan Sacks Peking), and by 1216, large swaths of Jin territory were under Mongol control.

Meanwhile, the Jin had been afflicted by multiple revolts. In Manchuria, the Khitans, under Yelü Liuge, declared their independence and allied with the Mongols. Yelü was enthroned as a puppet ruler under the Mongols in 1213, and given the title emperor of the Liao Dynasty. The Jurchen expedition sent against him commanded by Puxian Wannu was not successful. Wannu, realizing the Jin dynasty was on the verge of collapse, rebelled and declared himself king of Dazhen in 1215. Further south, rebellions had broken out in Shandong beginning with Yang Anguo’s revolt in 1214. The rebels were known as Red Coats, from the color of the uniforms they wore starting in 1215. After the fall of Zhongdu, the Mongols downsized their war effort against the Jin, and shifted their resources for the invasion of Central Asia. The Jurchens tried to make up for their territorial losses to the Mongols by invading the Song in 1217. The invasion failed and the Jin sought to negotiate peace, but the Song rebuffed their offers. By 1218, Jurchen diplomats were prohibited from traveling to the Song. The Mongol war against the Jurchens had subsided, but not stopped, and went on through the early 1220s under the command of the general Muqali. Muqali died from sickness in 1223, and the Mongol campaigns against the Jin wound down. The Jin obtained a peace with the Song, but the Song continued to assist the Red Coats insurgency.

Genghis Khan fell ill and died in 1227; his successor Ögedei renewed the war against the Jin in 1230. Two Mongol armies were dispatched to capture the Jin capital of Kaifeng, then named Bian. The plans were to have one army approach from the north, while the second attacked from the south. Ögedei Khan headed the army based in Shanxi and his brother Tolui commanded the army stationed in Shaanxi. An illness incapacitated Ögedei and Tolui, and they relinquished their roles in the campaign. Ögedei later regained his health, but Tolui died the next year. Subutai led the combined Mongol forces once the two armies converged in late 1231 and early 1232. The Mongols reached the Yellow River on January 28, 1232, and began massing around Kaifeng on February 6. They besieged the city on April 8.

The Jurchens tried to end the siege by negotiating a peace treaty. There was some progress in the summer of 1232, but the assassination of the Mongol diplomat Tang Qing and his entourage by the Jurchens made further talks impossible. The Jin grew desperate. They had enlisted most of the available men in the empire to either defend Kaifeng or fight the Mongols in the field. While the negotiations were ongoing, a plague was devastating the population of the city. Starvation was rampant. The supplies stored in Kaifeng were running out, even with what had been forcibly seized from people. The city’s political disintegration created unfounded fears that there was an internal threat. Several residents of the city were executed on the suspicion that they were traitors.

The defense did not collapse immediately. The Jin held out for months before the city fell. The Jurchen emperor was afforded the opportunity to escape in late 1232, and departed with a retinue of court officials. He left the governance of the city to General Cui Li and moved to the city of Guide (Anyang) in Henan. The retreat of the emperor was ruinous to the morale of the defenders. In the wake of the emperor's departure, Cui ordered the execution of those loyal to the emperor who had remained in the city. He realized that prolonging the siege was suicidal, and offered to surrender. Cui opened the gates and the Mongols were let into the city. He was later killed outside of battle in a personal dispute, for insulting the wife of someone under his command. The Mongols looted the city, but atypical of most sieges in the period, they permitted trade. The richest residents of the city sold their luxury belongings to Mongol soldiers for critically needed food supplies. Male members of the royal family residing in the city were captured and executed.

After Emperor Aizong had failed to raise a new army in Hebei, he returned to Henan and established his base in Guide. Scattered Jin armies began to gather from the surrounding regions, and the supplies in the city could no longer feed all these soldiers. Thus Aizong was left with only 730 troops under Pucha Guannu and Ma Yong to guard the city, and dispersed the rest to forage in Su (in Anhui Province), Xu (Jiangsu Province), and Chen (Henan Province).

Pucha Guannu then launched a coup with his troops, killing Ma Yong and more than 300 other courtiers, as well as about 3000 officers, guards and civilians who refused to cooperate. He made Aizong a puppet ruler and became the real master of the Jin court. At this point the Mongols had arrived outside Guide and were preparing to besiege the city. Guannu then led his 450 troops out on boats from the southern gate at night, armed with fire-lances. They rowed along the river by the eastern side of the city, reaching the Mongol camp early in the morning. Aizong watched the battle from the northern gate, with his imperial boat prepared for him to flee if the Jin troops were defeated. The Jin troops assaulted the Mongol camp from two directions, using their fire-lances to throw the Mongols into a panic. More than 3500 Mongols drowned in the river while trying to flee, and the Mongol stockades were burned. Sajisibuhua was also killed in the battle. Pucha Guannu had achieved a remarkable victory and was promoted by Aizong. But Guide was not defensible in the long term, and the other courtiers urged Aizong to move to Caizhou, which had stronger walls and more provisions and troops. Pucha Guannu opposed the move, afraid that his power base would be weakened, arguing that Caizhou’s advantages had been overstated.

Three months later, Aizong had Guannu assassinated, and quickly began preparations to move to Caizhou. By the time new reports reached him that Caizhou was still too weak, , he was already on the way there. The fate of the Jin dynasty was sealed, despite the earlier victory at Guide.

The Southern Song dynasty, wishing to deliver the coup de grace, declared war upon the Jurchens, and put a large army in the field. The remainder of the Jin army took shelter in Caizhou, where they were closely besieged by the Mongols on one side and the Song on the other. Driven thus into a corner, the Jurchens fought with the courage of despair and long held out against the combined efforts of their enemies. At last, Emperor Aizong saw that the struggle could not be prolonged, and he prepared himself to end his life. When the enemy breached the city walls, he committed suicide after passing the throne to his general Wanyan Chenglin. Wanyan Chenglin, historically known as Emperor Mo, ruled for less than a day before he was finally killed in battle. Thus the Jin dynasty came to an end.

[Ennath]

342 BC
Battle of Maling

Of the seven Warring States, Wei was particularly vulnerable, following its defeat by Zhao and Qi at Kuei-ling in 353 BC. While not crippling, the defeat encouraged border raids on Wei. King Hui of Wei decided to focus on one enemy at a time and defeat each in detail. He improved relations with Zhao and Qin as best he could, and then sent an army under P’ang Chuan west to invade Han, advancing on its capital city of Cheng.

Han sent urgent pleas for help to Qi. While the debate went on the Qi court, Han armies are driven back to the capital and shut up in the city. After a year of resistance, the defense was approaching the point of exhaustion, when Qi finally responded to a second plea.

The King of Qi, on Wei’s eastern border, sent an army under Tien Qi and Sun Bin to threaten an advance on Wei’s capital at Taliang. King Hui ordered P’ang Chuan to break of his siege of Cheng and return to defend his own realm’s capital. Although incensed at having to break off so close to victory, P’ang Chuan hurried back and was joined by another force under Prince Shen, with the prince assuming overall command. Both sides were apparently fairly even in strength, traditionally about 100,000 men.

Learning from the defeat of 353 BC, P’ang Chuan sought to move around the Qi army to avoid an ambush along the main road. The terrain was fairly flat, with a few streams and woods, and apparently suited to this tactic. Taliang was just to the southwest.

Instead of rushing into battle with the Wei army, high in morale after its victories in Han, Sun Bin rested his troops. These moved slowly back and prepared an ambush site. He also ordered fewer and fewer camp fires lit each night, to give the impression of sinking morale and mass desertions. This and the enemy retreat emboldened the Wei commanders. This continued for three days and nights, the Qi even abandoning some of their artillery. The Wei commanders finally decided to finish the job by attacking their seemingly dissolving enemy and scatter them. P’ang Chuan pressed ahead with the chariots and elite infantry, about a fifth of the army, while Prince Shen followed with the rest, mainly heavy infantry.

However, the Qi army was not in disarray. Sun Bin had prepared an ambush at the narrow and heavily wooded pass of Maling. The bulk of the heavy troops, centered around the chariots were placed in a blocking position at the end of the pass and the terrain off the road was well-littered with caltrops. The hills on either side of the pass were manned with 10,000 archers with a new weapon, seeing its first important use - the crossbow.

Estimating the arriving of the Wei vanguard about nightfall, Sun Bin had a tree cut down and its bark stripped, with a message attached, reading “P’ang Chuan shall die at Maling Pass, under this tree.” He gave orders to the crossbowmen to open fire as soon as they saw a torch in the dark. Sure enough, when P’ang Chuan arrived, he lit a torch to read the message and was one of the first to die in the ensuing barrage. The Wei mounted troops were unable to maneuver off-road due to the caltrops and were already disordered when the Qi main body launched its attack. The Wei force was thrown into panic and routed back into the following heavy infantry, and the whole Wei army soon dissolved.

The Wei defeat allowed Qi and Qin to grow substantially in strength, with Qin seizing much Wei territory following the battle and Qi fairly free of threats along its borders. By 298 BC, Qi gained hegemonic status after defeating Qin, with the help of Wei and Han. This did not last long and, in 285 BC, Qin, Wei, Han and Zhao defeated Qi, with Qin becoming the leading power and eventually unifying China in 220 BC.