Battle of Yiling

Battle of Yiling The Battle of Yiling (also known as the Battle of Xiaoting) took place from July 221 to August 222 AD. It was a decisive battle between the Shu Han and Soochow Wu to compete for Jingzhou. It ended with Liu Bei's defeat and Lu Xun's victory in the fire attack, and finally finalized the three kingdoms' tripartite pattern. This battle originated from the dispute over the ownership of Jingzhou: after the Chibi War, the ownership of Jingzhou was unclear, and Sun Quan's request was unsuccessful. In 219, Lu Meng "crossed the river in white clothes" to attack Jingzhou and killed Guan Yu, leaving only Yizhou in the Shu Han Dynasty. After Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor in 221, he ignored dissuasion and personally led an army of 40,000 to 50,000 to the east in the name of revenge. Sun Quan appointed 36-year-old Lu Xun as the Grand Governor and led a 50,000-strong Wu army for defense. The Shu army was overwhelmingly powerful at the beginning, but Lu Xun avoided its edge and lured the enemy deep into Xiaoting. Liu Bei set up camp for hundreds of miles along mountains and forests. Under the scorching heat, his soldiers were exhausted and lost all their energy. In June 222, Lu Xun seized on the flammable weakness of the thatch in the Shu camp and took advantage of the favorable night wind to set fire to it. More than forty camps of the Shu army were burned to the ground. Zhang Nan, Samoko and others were killed in the battle, and their bodies were scattered all over the field. Liu Bei broke through and fled to Baidi City. Huang Quan's return route was cut off and he surrendered to Wei. Ma Liang also died in the battle. After this battle, the Shu Han elite was exhausted. Liu Bei died of illness in Baidi City the following year, and he no longer had the ability to expand eastward. Dongwu stabilized Jingzhou's defense line, and Lu Xun became famous in the first battle. This battle is a military example of "defense as offense", which confirms the motto of "The Art of War" by "Sun Tzu" that "the Lord must not raise an army in anger", and became the final battle of the Three Kingdoms.