Battle of the Hulao Pass 虎牢之战 2: The Tiger's Trap
It was 3,000 vs 100,000. The Battle of Hulao- or the Battle of the Tiger's Trap Pass on May 28, 621 was one of the most decisive battles in all of Chinese history, the climax of which was decided by a deadly charge with one of the principle commanders- the 23 year old Prince Li Shimin of Tang leading from the front. Hulao made the Tang dynasty the undisputed ruler of China and cemented its rule in as a hegemonic power in Asia for the next 2 and a half centuries.
Chapter 1 found here. The career of one ruthless late Sui- dynasty general: Wang Shichong, epitomized the brutal and chaotic nature of the world right after the fall of the Sui dynasty. In the same year (618) that the last Sui Emperor was killed by his mutinous generals, Wang had raced to one of the last remaining sons of the Sui Emperor who was trapped in the metropolis of Luoyang and introduced himself as a loyal ally. Within months he had purged the entire Prince's court and made himself the de facto generalissimo of the great city, won a decisive battle that drove all of his foes' armies out of the resource- rich Henan Province, which had been the breadbasket of the realm. And only a year after emperor Yang of Sui's death, he had ordered his cousins to strangle the 15 year Sui Prince- ending the Sui royal line and made himself the Emperor of a new dynasty called "Zheng."
THE EMPEROR OF HENAN, TRAPPED
Soon, almost all corners of the Henan province was controlled and staffed by Wang's 19 cousins and kinsmen who were all made Princes and local commanders. The lightning- fast speed of Wang's ascension characterized exactly the type of men who would rise and rule in this lawless age of warlords, where even unknown bit players could overturn established giants and forever change the history of China. But right after Wang's greatest moment of triumph, he would find himself beset by a foe that absolutely outmatched him in both speed and cunning: for on his heels was a general like none other- the warrior prince Li Shimin of Tang. What follows would lead to one of the greatest battles in Chinese history.
What came for Wang was faster than anything that he could have ever anticipated. On August 620, immediately after Prince Li Shimin's overwhelming victory over the rival Liu Wuzhou in the Tang home province of Shanxi, Li and his 50,000-strong army left Shanxi and raced directly for Luoyang. Despite the sheer size of Henan which was comparable to that of an European country, they advanced with lightning speed. Within a month- by September the Tang troops had already smashed all of the Zheng defenders outside the city's walls and sent the shattered remnants back to the metropolis. Having secured a foothold, Li immediately blocked all the exits of Luoyang with military precision and began to establish a ring of fortified camps and siege equipments that strangled the great city. The usurper Emperor of Henan was trapped.
During one of the early battles, the 21 year old Li Shimin wanted to see the enemy lines with his own eyes but found little areas that offered a good view, he felt frustrated and sought for a more advanced position along his array. Although Wang's formation was beaten up, Wang Shichong's elite cavalry spotted Li's banners, and also saw from their position that Li was extended from the lines in a poorly guarded bulge.
They rushed forward and began to shower a hail of arrows against the Tang Prince. Li Shimin's mount was shot down in the melee, but thanks to the desperate rescue of his elite bodyguards all encased in Black armor he was pulled out of danger, after several continual rounds of fierce fighting, Wang Shichong's forces were finally defeated and pushed back.
With Luoyang completely surrounded, the theater of battle soon shifted from the city itself to the immediate countryside surrounding the metropolis. Of which- most of the towns, forts, and local garrisons are still under the direct control of Wang's kinsmen. After all of the Zheng forces in the capital are trapped, Prince Shimin divided his 50,000 and sent out detachments riding hard towards the city's south, east and north with the aim of dislodging all of the local Zheng garrisons and detaching Wang's center from any possible reinforcements. It was not difficult for the Tang forces to find many recruits as they raced through the countryside, since Wang had been an unpopular ruler in the eyes of the locals. Soon many unexpected allies rose up and pledged loyalty to the Tang. Most noticeably a particular group of self-reliant warrior monks from an isolated nearby monastery.
THE MONKS OF SHAOLIN
For centuries, the monks of the Shaolin Monastery (lit. "Young Forest Monastery") had kept a low profile and aside from occasionally defending against bandits, they mostly chose to only mind their own affairs under the shadows of the Song Mountains. But their recent entanglements with Wang Shichong and his kinsmen had forced the monks to throw their lot in with the Tang forces. Upon the arrival of Prince Shimin's forces in early 621, the monks pledged their services to the Tang. After combining and mingling with Li's forces they soon marched out together against a Zheng fortress at Mount Huanyuan.
STORMING OF CYPRESS VALLEY FORT
When the Shaolin monks pledged their support to the Tang forces, the
Tang siege of Luoyang had lasted many months. The monks convened,
hedged their bets against the titanic warring forces, and threw their
weight in favor of the Tang.
Before the coming of the Tang forces, the Shaolin monastery had simply acted as an island (albeit well defended one) in the ocean of chaos. However, trouble would come for them regardless of their wishes. Overlooking Luoyang on the nearby Mount Huanyuan was the Baigu Wu 柏谷坞 lit. "Cypress Valley Manor," which had served as the site of a well guarded fort during the Jin dynasty, and also a military commandery during later periods- in time the area was known as the Baigu or the "Cypress Valley Fort." As a poetic aside, "Baigu" 柏谷 in Chinese is also an ominous homonym for 白骨 White Bones.
Baigu Fort: Located to the east of Luoyang in the viccinity of Yangshi where Wang Shichong had won his victory 2 years prior. Mount Huanyuan was dotted with 12 slopes, several radiating ravines, switchbacks, and many tall cypresses. Because of the difficult terrain surrounding this region, and its scenic vantage, it was of vital strategic importance and thus saw much conflicts in the chaotic centuries of China's disunity.
Whoever possessed this fort projected power in the nearby countryside and secured Luoyang's eastern flanks. Wang Shichong in his desperation had confiscated the estate from the Shaolin monks and garrisoned it with his own army. It was the site of a Zheng garrison and a fortified watchtower.
The much- respected Emperor Wen of Sui had bestowed the mountain fort for the Shaolin monks to farm but Wang Shichong- who saw the strategic value of such a site, seized the mountain estate and placed many of his troops and a fortified signal tower there, he also established a military prefecture called Yuanzhou that was centered from this headquarter.
On May 23, 621, the Tang forces assaulted and took the fortress with the help of the Shaolin monks. The assault was rapidly carried out and message soon raced back to Li Shimin reporting of its success. During the storming of the fort, they manage to capture Wang Renze, the nephew of Shichong. The garrison at Mount Huanyan represented the last local hope for Wang, because it had been poised as a possible force- in- waiting, that threatened to at any time swoop down the mountains and crash on the besiegers below, but with its garrison uprooted, Wang was completely isolated in his capital.
In the months since Li's arrival between September 620 and May 621, almost all of the nearby Zheng forces in Henan had been uprooted to remission. And each time Wang Sichong had attempted to sally forth and break the siege, the Tang besiegers would repel his desperate efforts. Soon, the situation for the Zheng regime became critical, the lack of food made Luoyang's situation more and more dramatic. But something else is coming, something that stretched for miles and shook the hills and valleys with the mighty dust it stirred.
A DESPERATE PLEA, NOW COMES THE OUTLAW PRINCE OF XIA
That gargantuan "something" was the last- mad, fatal plea summoned by Wang himself. Before the Zheng forces had been uprooted from Henan, Wang Shichong had sent his generals and raced them to solicit relief from the powerful warlord Dou Jiande of neighboring Hebei for a deadly alliance against the Tang. It was a dreadful summons, like Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, the Robin Hood-esque warlord was a proven commander who had repeatedly won against the dreaded Sui imperial forces for almost a decade. With him moved the combined might of Hebei, which numbered anywhere from 100,000 men to nearly 120,000, vastly outnumbering Li's 50,000 who were beneath Luoyang's walls.
The army Dou Jiande 窦建德 had raised for this undertaking was immense, and truly showed both the charisma and experience of Dou as a commander. Prior to him taking control of all of Hebei, the region was one of the most anti-government sectors in the entire Sui empire. Where once, no less than a dozen rebellions simultaneously warred against imperial troops because of the oppression they had endured. In 611, Dou's family was slaughtered by Sui officials, if he had any wives or children prior to that point, they too would have likely been slaughtered. Though Dou had started out as merely one of the bands of rebels who were forced into outlawdry, the charismatic Dou soon united all of the rebels under his personal command and went on to destroy multiple Sui imperial columns. In the end, he incorporated many of the Sui remnants and officials he had defeated into the ranks of his vast army. He soon made himself the "Prince of Xia," effectively the sole ruler of Hebei.
THE CONVERGENCE: ALL ROADS LEADS TO HULAO PASS
A besieged Luoyang, Li's separate campaigns in Henan, and a massive hurtling army. Here is where all our story points connects, that of Wang at his breaking point, with nearly all of his cousins and local power bases uprooted. And where the Tang troops that had surrounded Luoyang also began to tire out due to Luoyang’s arrow fire and catapults. Lastly of Dou Jiande, who had been a looming python- like beast watching intently at the entire affair, began to pick up speed and race toward Luoyang aiming to strike a decisive blow.
The army Dou Jiande 窦建德 had raised for this undertaking was immense, and truly showed both the charisma and experience of Dou as a commander. Prior to him taking control of all of Hebei, the region was one of the most anti-government sectors in the entire Sui empire. Where once, no less than a dozen rebellions simultaneously warred against imperial troops because of the oppression they had endured. In 611, Dou's family was slaughtered by Sui officials, if he had any wives or children prior to that point, they too would have likely been slaughtered. Though Dou had started out as merely one of the bands of rebels who were forced into outlawdry, the charismatic Dou soon united all of the rebels under his personal command and went on to destroy multiple Sui imperial columns. In the end, he incorporated many of the Sui remnants and officials he had defeated into the ranks of his vast army. He soon made himself the "Prince of Xia," effectively the sole ruler of Hebei.
The respective territories of Tang of the Li clan (Pink), Wang Shichong's Zheng (Yellow), and Dou Jiande's Xia (Orange) in 620. The Li family of Tang controlled mostly the northwestern sectors of the realm, Wang controlled the resource rich central five point of the empire at Henan, while Dou controlled the equally populous and fiercely turbulent province of Hebei. Though the Tang holdings were territoriality impressive, at this point they only controlled the frontier backwaters of the empire + the capital of Chang An. Comparatively, both Wang and Dou controlled the most prosperous, populous, and well defended regions of the empire, composing nearly 60% of the empire's population and respective industries. As of early 621, nearly all three contenders had only been regional hegemons, powerful and capable enough to merely control provinces. However the Battle of Hulao would present the realm with a proven victor to follow.
If combined together, Wang and Dou's alliance would unite two of the most populous and richest provinces in China in one coalition- not to mention two of the most experienced commanders of the post-Sui anarchy. After all, the combined population of Henan and Hebei composes some 60% of the empire's population.
DOU: THE COMING HAMMER
It is here we should address the staggering number of men Dou had raised for the deadly coming conflict. Though it is likely most of the records of this period exaggerated and inflated the number of the participants. According to historian David A. Graff: the army that Dou fielded was a typical- albeit very powerful provincial army of this period. It was not out of ordinary that the unifer of Hebei could raise an army of 100,000 strong- consisting of many smaller armies of former Hebei warlords united under his hegemony. Many others of his forces are simply Henan natives inducted into his ranks for this undertaking. The earliest records of the 120,000 figure could be found in Du You's Tong dian, ch. 154, and in the fragments of Wu Jing's lost Taizong Zun Shi, (Record of Taizong's merit,) quotes in Sima Guang's Tongjian Kaoyi (Comprehensive mirror to aid in government.) Of the contemporary records mentioned above, it was recorded that the great army was supplied by land with many grain wagons and a flotilla of grain transports which sailed alongside the army on the Yellow River.
BATTLE AIMS AND MOTIVATIONS
But it is also here that we should address the reason that such a mighty allied army- with the aim of rescuing the trapped Zheng regime took nearly 6 months to materialize: almost poetically precisely right at Wang Shichong's breaking point. Dou should not be anywhere this late since he had been warned very early on by Wang's emissaries of Luoyang's dire situations in the previous winter of 620. Though Dou did eventually come as an "ally," the history he had shared with Wang was steeped in mistrust and suspicion. The two had been at war only 2 years ago in 619 after all. If anything, Dou had came less intending to heroically rescue a friend but to wait until two foes had worn themselves out in the struggle then swoop in and take naked advantage of the situation. In all manners, Dou was more akin to a great coiled beast, eagerly watching the situation unfold with grim satisfaction.
Music: Red Forest
The eye of a storm: In the unfolding drama, one of the most proactive players in the entire conflict was the famous Tang general Li Shiji- who by pure accident had run-ins with all three of the major contenders. Originally, he served Li Mi- the very warlord Wang Shichong would expel from Henan during his ascension. Li Shiji then pledged his loyalty to the Tang and held out Li Mi's former holding of Liyang for his Tang lords.
But in so doing he found himself trapped between Wang and Dou as a lone hold out for the Tang. Stationed at Liyang in northern Henan: right between Tang's Shanxi, Dou's Hebei, and Wang's Henan, Li was in the worst straights in the dog- eat- dog anarchy. He found himself between the open wars of three of the most powerful warlords in the age, the very eye of a killing storm.
When Dou invaded Tang territories in 619, Li Shiji ambushed Dou, but Dou prevailed and in anger, captured Liyang, taking many Tang hostages including Li Shiji's father. After this, Li pledged his loyalty to Dou, though in truth he remained loyal to the Tang. Under a pretext of expanding Dou's empire, during a brief war between Wang Shichong and Dou in the fall of 619, Li Shiji captured a key city held by Wang and captured many grains and rescued many of Dou's comrades. He then audaciously attempted to attack Dou, hoping to kill him and rescue his father, however the plot was unraveled and Li fled with a small band back to the Tang territories. After regaining contact with Gaozu and the rest of Tang high command, Li Shiji joined Prince Li Shimin on the 620 Shanxi campaigns and later in 620 followed Prince Shimin right back into Henan.
He would one day become one of Tang's most powerful generals
and defeat both the Göktürks and Xueyantuo Khaganates in battle.
During the reign of Li Shimin's son Emperor Gaozong, he
served as Chancellor and destroyed the ancient
Korean kingdom of Goguryeo.
DOU WAITS
There is a proverb in Chinese known as the Struggle of the Snipe and the Clam 鹬蚌相争- a giant clam was sitting out in the sun when suddenly a snipe flew down to peck at the clam. Suddenly the clam slammed the shell shut, gripping the snipe's long beak, the two struggled on and on until both were exhausted. The clam, in its protective stubbornness, never let his shells off the snipe's long beak, and the snipe, tired from the struggle can no longer take flight. Just then, a passing fishermen found both and threw a net over both and made both his prize.
For Dou Jiande, the deeply entangled war between Zheng and Tang offered both an opportunity and an implicit danger. If Luoyang falls, then the Tang would have no other forces to stop them and would be in a numerical as well as strategic advantage if they chose to turn against Dou; thus Dou has to fight. However, timing was still at his disposal. If he chose to...say, wait until the absolute critical moment when both the Tang and Zheng were completely exhausted, then swoops in like the proverbial fisherman who caught the snipe and the clam, his numerical superior army will easily swat aside Tang's exhausted and outnumbered forces. Then, if he choose to: also oust a severely weakened Wang and annex Henan as part of his own kingdom of Xia.
Regardless, Wang was so desperate that he does not have enough to feed his soldiers nor could he last long enough to protect himself from a possible mutiny that might deliver him bound and gagged to the besiegers. Though outwardly Dou tried to appease Wang's pleading emissaries and state that he was doing his utmost to prepare his forces for the campaign to deliver their patron from danger. It's probably by intentional calculation that Dou purposely delayed to exactly until April, when he reasoned the situation would be near the breaking point for Wang. Only then, did Dou start snaking westward with his giant host.
By March of 620, Luoyang had been besieged for almost 6 months and the city was in a desperate situation. Reports by this time had indicated that the population of the capital is reduced to searching the trash to find food scraps, or having to eat cakes made of rice and mud. A month later, Wang was at his breaking point. It is here where all the characters of our stories converged.
Goals: when facades and charades are dropped, all three of the contenders coveted
the control of Henan province. All armies, strengths, are committed here, like a Russian
Roulette. Only one will walk away alive from this battle.
The stakes? China's future itself.
Regardless, Wang was so desperate that he does not have enough to feed his soldiers nor could he last long enough to protect himself from a possible mutiny that might deliver him bound and gagged to the besiegers. Though outwardly Dou tried to appease Wang's pleading emissaries and state that he was doing his utmost to prepare his forces for the campaign to deliver their patron from danger. It's probably by intentional calculation that Dou purposely delayed to exactly until April, when he reasoned the situation would be near the breaking point for Wang. Only then, did Dou start snaking westward with his giant host.
THE CONVERGENCE: ALL ROADS LEADS TO HULAO PASS
When the many Tang generals heard that Dou had decided to throw his massive weight to come to Wang's aid, they immediately pleaded for Li Shimin to withdraw, but Prince Shimin stubbornly responded that should he pull out his siege lines and withdrew, Wang would recover and again be a major threat in the future. He would not pullout the siege works from Luoyang.
THE SUICIDAL RIDE TOWARD HULAO
Li Shimin immediately placed his younger brother Li Yuanji in charge of the siege operations and rode off some 60 miles (97 km) eastward from Luoyang with not even a fraction of his forces but a fraction of a fraction of his total forces. From the pool of some 50,000 forces entrenched around Luoyang, Li only picked 3,000/ 3,500 of his troops and rode out in late April to confront Dou's colossal army of 100,000. Although Wang Shichong was notified of their strange departure, he did not respond to this, for he did not know the purpose nor intention Li's army.
Among Li's 3,000 included no less than 1,000 of his most elite bodyguard cavalry: the Xuán jiǎ jūn 玄甲军: or "Jet Black Armor Cavalry" clad from head to toe in black armor. A unit that was commanded by Li to serve as a vanguard and included some of the most ferocious Tang warriors such as Yuchi Gong, Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie, and Zhai Zhangsun as his sub- commanders. Perhaps tellingly, along with the 3,000 of those who had willed themselves and threw themselves toward the oncoming doom, were a number of Shaolin monks who had chose to stay with the bittersweet course. It should be stated that this is yet before the battle of Baigu, or Cypress Valley Fort had taken place, and siding with Li Shimin was still a leap of faith for all involved.
Between them and the oncoming army, only an ancient pass stood in its way: called Hulao~ or "The Tiger's Trap."
Music: The Phoenix King
Historians would probably never knew how much blood had really been spilled across the vicinity of what was known as the Hulao Pass 虎牢关~ or more precisely, the "Tiger's Trap Pass." Since time immemorial, even by the standards of ancient China- Since the times of Shang, since beyond archaeological evidence, since Xia, since the legendary Emperors and since mythic gods and ancestors, none of human factors could contend with what nature itself had fashioned in raw, strategic landscape.
And Hulao Pass was precisely one of such a narrow channel where any force that wished to enter into the fertile valley of Luoyang from the east has to cross. So long as there is conflict, Hulao blocks. A veritable Thermopylae useful for all the ages and used ad infinitum, right beside the same nestled capital surrounded by the same shield ring of mountains and the perennial farmlands that the Chinese civilization first emerged from. From Yu the Great to Cao Cao to Chiang Kai Shek, and here for Li Shimin to make his stamp on history.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Luoyang was the capital of the Republic of China for a brief period of time. Perhaps tellingly, in Japan's 1944 attempt to take Luoyang they chose to completely bypass and circle around the Hulao approach and attacked from the
north and south instead.
Hulao Pass was named when King Mu of Zhou once trapped a tiger in this place. Due to its important location, the site had seen endless amount of conflict that dated across Chinese history due to its proximity to the fertile valley of Luoyang. Since Luoyang was shielded by a ring of mountains in the shape of a C > and have the Yellow River completely protecting its north, there are only several entrances in which an outside force could approach the nestled valley. As such, this area had seen conflicts that dated throughout the Warring States period, Zhou, Han, Era of Fragmentation, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and throughout the 20th century. It was little wonder that when the novel "Romance of Three Kingdom" was written, that the author chose this site for a legendary battle between the three sworn brothers of Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu against the seemingly unstoppable Lu Bu.
A funnel in the east. The ring of mountain that protects the fertile valley around Luoyang forms a distinctive C > shape, the location of Hulao Pass is marked with an X.
What happens next conforms exactly to Li Shimin's usual battle pattern. In his previous battles at Qianshuiyuan and battles against Liu Wuzhou in Shanxi, Li Shimin was known for racing headlong to secure a strategically vital spot. From there, be it upon a bluff or in this instance a fort, he would entrench the area until it's impregnable, well stocked with supplies, and securely connect with a supply line. After the initial phase of this offensive- defense is accomplished, Li would think of ways to endlessly test out his enemies. An ever curious and ever studious man, Li would then send out light detachments of skirmishers and harass the enemy to rest out the enemy's unit cohesion and response time. Once he think he knew his enemy commander and the enemy army, that is when Li Shimin's true battle began. Dou Jiande, the Prince of Xia, would come as any other enemy.
STANDOFF
Yellow earth characterize the Hulao region that flanked the south bank of the Yellow River.
Everywhere is the ubiquitous presence of flaky and yellow- gray dust, be it the sediments
upon the dry cliffs or the yellow powders one kick up from under their boots.
However upon reaching the entrance into the Hulao Pass, Dou ruefully found that the entrance into the valley had been heavily fortified and readied for battle. Though Dou probably had enough confidence to believe he could overwhelm the defenders, he did not commit to an assault against the guarded pass. By this point Dou was still unsure of the army that was hidden and laying in waiting within the valley. And even should he tried to roughly bottleneck his forces into it, in the given terrain his giant army would be funneled very narrowly- loosing both its numerical advantage in the terrain and also risk bombardments from a higher vantage. He already knew he was facing a very reputed and very cunning foe in the fabled "Tiger's Trap" Pass after all. Thus, the two armies stalemated at Hulao and Dou set up camp at Banzhu, a plain 10 miles (16 km) east of the pass.
THE WEARY STALEMATE
Dou then ordered that other approaches be checked. However, although other passes were available through the hills near Hulao, they too were very narrow and equally defensible; given the size of the Xia army, the only other alternatives for Dou would have been to bypass the Tang position entirely, either by crossing the Yellow River to the north or by venturing further south to the Huanyuan Mountain and the Cypress Valley Fort.
Over the next few weeks, Dou repeatedly marched to Hulao and offered battle, deploying his 100,000 in battle formation as long as 10 kilometers. Li Shimin, however, was content to remain in his powerful defensive position from which his numerically inferior force could easily hold the Xia forces at bay. Li also knew that time worked in his favor on a daily basis, as each day the standoff continued, it only meant Wang Shichong's garrison at Luoyang would be edged closer to collapse and total surrender. And with the surrender of Louyang, meant that most of the rest of his 47,000 would be freed to rejoin him here.
It was around this time on 26th of May, 621, reports came to Li Shimin's garrison that the monks of Shaolin had capturing Baigu Fort at Mount Huanyan. With this move, the Tang flank was totally secured. In gratitude, Li dictated the following to the monks who had rendered aid to his forces. From his direct speech, we heard the words of someone who is less grimly aware of his circumstances and fatalistically ready to face death, than an impetuous youth. A 22 year old who's punch- drunk with confidence and ready to change, or more precisely, to fix the broken world. Against such suicidal odds, Li Shimin said the following as if it were a prophecy. For Li too was planning to face Dou on the open fields even without the rest of his 47,000.
Music: Villages of Khitai
LI SHIMIN'S LETTER TO THE MONKS OF SHAOLIN
To: The Cypress Valley Fort, Shalin Monaster's Dean and Abbot, and their disciples, as well as to the military and civil leaders, officers, common people, and the rest:
"Recently, there has been chaos under heaven. Nowhere in the land is there a lord. The world is falling apart and had abandoned the guiding ways of the Buddha. War-horses sweep through the land, the Middle Kingdom is boiling and the devils are all contending.
This court (the Tang dynasty) has recieved the Heavenly Mandates of government. It upholds the correct Buddhist truth...It glorifies the Great Treasure (of the Buddhist faith.) Therefore, virtue will reach the common folk, and the true words will soon instruct the faithful. Thus, the people will enjoy the grace of release from suffering, and all will be favored with the benefits of nirvana.
Wang Shichong usurped another's position. He dared to oppose the Heavenly Principle. He coveted the sacred sanctuaries (Cypress Valley Estate.) He acted recklessly, disregarding the laws of Karma.
Now the winds of virtue are blowing far, and the beacon of wisdom is glowing near. The Buddhist Eight-fold Path is being (re)opened, and throughout the land the Buddhist sanctuaries are being restored.
Shaolin's masters deeply comprehended the changing circumstances and adapted to them. The monks immediately realized which action would yield the Buddhist fruit, and they succeeded in drawing an excellent plan. Together...They captured the evil villain (Wang Renze), and they cleansed the sanctuary. The result of their respectful observance and expressed loyalty have become known at our court. Their way of attainment and self-cultivation adds further glory to their temple.
We heard of Shaolin's contribution with pleasure and appreciation. It surpasses imagination and words. The monastery should be supported, and its monks generously rewarded. Regardless of changing circumstances, the monastery should always be provided with a fixed income.
The crisis at the eastern capital (Luoyang) will be resolved shortly. At the same time we should urge the people to exert themselves and make a contribution, so that they provide example to future generations. Everyone should peacefully resume his previous vocation, forever enjoying heavenly blessings. Therefore, I send you this stele to express my utmost appreciation. "
May 26, 621.
THE TIGER COMES STOMPING
The pre-dawn of May 28th, 621 was warm and brightened with the first fingers of the late spring sun. Nearly a month had passed since Dou staked his camp at Banzhu. For most of Dou's men, it was a day like any other not too dissimilar to many of the fruitless days of the past month. Another day of being arrayed in line and blocks, another day of peacocking and chest-pounding under the sun, making noises but knowing full well they'll finish the day with nothing to showing for but a parched throat and even less faith in their purpose here. Another day of crab like posturings. But something is different this day, for before before the 6:00 a.m sun had risen, reports quickly came in from incoming scouts that the Xia supply lines were under assault by Tang raiders.
For those who are already familiar with Hannibal's famous battle of River Trebbia, what unfolds in the early stages of the engagement almost mirrored it beat by beat. The sun had just barely risen when a full alarm was sounded throughout the Xia camp. Dou quickly ordered his forces to gear up and chase the raiders toward Hulao's gates with full speed and likely without a breakfast. The unsettled soldiers, roused before dawn soon took up their positions in the marching ranks and soon, several snaking columns of Xia forces began to stream along the south banks of the Yellow River toward the Sishui River from several paths, kicking up mighty cloud of dust along their way.
In the distance, the two army's light cavalry skirmished, but Li's light lancers always kept their enough distance to always avoid both their pursuers and the main Xia column. They were some of the best trained skirmishers anywhere in the realm. The Tangs retained such skilled men because they were the wardens of China's northern frontiers and frequently warred with the Gokturk horse archers, some of the deadliest skirmishers on the open steppes. These darting cavalry skirmishes would be the only engagements Li would offer. Ponderously, the giant columns of Xia soldiers eked their way toward Hulao.
It took hours but by the time the sun had risen around 08:00, Dou had deployed his army for battle along the eastern shore of the Sishui river beside the Pass. The massive battle formation that they would take was as long as 10 kilometers. Per usual, it was an hourly affair until all the soldiers were arrayed for battle. However, the Tang troops did not come forth to deploy for battle; instead they remained in their strong defensive positions and watched. For many within the Xia army, they must have thought it was another one of those days, another day where they formed up and the Tang defenders simply amused themselves from atop their walls. Many must have felt the bitter sting of having been baited.
THE HUNTER WATCHES
The pre-dawn of May 28th, 621 was warm and brightened with the first fingers of the late spring sun. Nearly a month had passed since Dou staked his camp at Banzhu. For most of Dou's men, it was a day like any other not too dissimilar to many of the fruitless days of the past month. Another day of being arrayed in line and blocks, another day of peacocking and chest-pounding under the sun, making noises but knowing full well they'll finish the day with nothing to showing for but a parched throat and even less faith in their purpose here. Another day of crab like posturings. But something is different this day, for before before the 6:00 a.m sun had risen, reports quickly came in from incoming scouts that the Xia supply lines were under assault by Tang raiders.
In the distance, the two army's light cavalry skirmished, but Li's light lancers always kept their enough distance to always avoid both their pursuers and the main Xia column. They were some of the best trained skirmishers anywhere in the realm. The Tangs retained such skilled men because they were the wardens of China's northern frontiers and frequently warred with the Gokturk horse archers, some of the deadliest skirmishers on the open steppes. These darting cavalry skirmishes would be the only engagements Li would offer. Ponderously, the giant columns of Xia soldiers eked their way toward Hulao.
THE HUNTER WATCHES
An hour, then another, then several passed. Apart from skirmishes between the two armies' cavalry, the two armies maintained their standoff from about 08:00 until noon, when the Xia troops began to show signs of thirst and weariness. It must be remembered that this day, they were forced out and rushed out. By noon, lunch hour had approached, and the Xia army had began to grumble, much of Dou Jiande's soldiery were hungry and tired. Many have completely missed a breakfast and waded through an exhaustive march. Many began to sat down, fighting for rations and drinking water. The morale of the whole Xia army continued to deteriorate.
Li Shimin from a high vantage point upon the pass saw this, he saw that discipline within the Xia army had began to break down. their morale plummet, and soon sent out 300 cavalry of his cavalry under Yuwen Shiji in a probing attack. They passed the west of the Xia army and then angled sharply southward. The results were far better than Li probably have expected. Instead of simply repelling the enemy, entire sections of Xia units began to break formation and desert from their ranks in panic. When Li saw that demoralized Xia ranks had recoiled from even this probing assault, he soon gained enough confidence for an all out assault. Per his favorite tactics, Li Shimin soon divided his forces and angled for a devastating hammer and anvil attack.
This time, Li sent more of his cavalry to circle around and harass Dou's left flank from the south. The appearance of the Tang cavalry caused Dou and his ministers great alarm and Dou reacted by emerging out of his camp and ordered the wholesale withdrawal of his entire army from the Sishui river to the a better defensive position by the eastern escarpment of the Sishui valley. Whatever his intentions, the transmission and execution of his orders to his gargantuan army proved difficult, and this redeployment created massive confusion throughout the Xia lines, breaking their battle order.
Soon, whole units began to break formation and stragglers appeared. The entire army was less a might train of armed men but a mob of shuffling and confused voices all embalmed in a cloud of choking dust. It was precisely this moment Li had been waited for: So as to say, that Li realized the greatest weakness of Dou's army was actually their over-congested numbers. A huge army like that (especially one composed of many raw recruits) lacked channels of effective communication and flexibility if their original plans were disrupted. This was the moment where they are all without an immediate purpose.
Li soon summoned Qin Shubao, Shi Da Nai, and Cheng Zhijie, his best warriors to his side, each a proven warrior who had been personally inducted into Li's bodyguards. The men prepped their equipment and horses then readied themselves to rapidly cross the Shishu River and charge into the Xia host. It was the killing hour, do or die, winner takes all. What followed was one of the most remarkable moments in Chinese history. 1,000 rushed off against a host several dozens of times its own size. As we progress perhaps it is best that we hear from the composition created by our protagonist in his own choice of sounds.
Shifachi 什伐赤: Li's horse that carried him in the Battle of Hulao. It's name is Turkic,
as all of Li's warhorses, Its name derives from the Turkic term Shad or šad,
which means prince, royal governor, or viceroy.
PRINCE OF QIN BREAKING THE ENEMY ARRAYS
Music: Prince Qin Breaking the Enemy Arrays:
Composed by Prince Li Shimin's staff
Li Shimin charged forward at the head of his 1,000 most elite bodyguards as he always does.
They were the Xuan Jia Jun, or "Jet Black Armor Cavalry" 玄甲军, known for the
black armor which they all wore.
From the distance, they came, a small but impressive wall of 1,000 blacks, each warrior encased in heavy black armor festooned with cords of many colors. At their head rode Prince Li Shimin himself, their ominous banners fluttered behind them, deforming along with their streaming cloaks . They must have came like a mirage, at first slow, in a practiced pace. Then, as they got closer, they picked up speed and soon galloped in a suicidal charge and plunged toward the disordered ranks.
The Blacks smashed into the Xia ranks like a meteor and easily shredded through the first ranks of Xia infantry they encountered, scattering many. Soon, entire units of the Xia army began to collapse, one after another soon turned into a formless mob of screaming men. Masses of men in the hundreds soon began to scatter from the Tang assault, crashing back into their own lines and toward Dou's own camp. But Li and his men did not stop their momentum, instead, he continued the deadly thrust. As a cavalry commander he knew well that for soldiers on horseback to lower their speed and allow enemy infantry to get close means death. As such they relentlessly mowed forward. Li stated that he cut down over a dozen Xia soldiers during the charge and the furious melee.
Li Shimin's cousin, Li Daoxuan 李道玄 was able to cut his way through masses of Xia soldiers and then cut his way back again, repeating the operation several times before the battle neared it's close, at which point he had so many arrows sticking out of his armor that he looked like a "porcupine."
THE BREAKING POINT
Shocked at the rapid development, Dou shouted commands and countermands
and did his best to shepherd his spooked army. But Li did not let off the
pursuit. Instead he relentlessly zeroed in upon his hemorrhaging foe.
Thousands of Xia soldiers broke from the onslaught and Dou tried his utmost in rallying his disheartened troops, shouting commands and countermands. Those of his massive army who were still under his sway congregated near the eastern escarpments beside the Sishui River, hemorrhaging men all the way. However Li and his cavalry quickly converged toward Dou's center. Near the Shishui banks Li and his pursuing cavalry found the camp of Dou and his ministers and charged directly right into the horrified Xia ranks. Lines of Dous guards were broken there.
Music: Tai He Song
Just then, something astonishing happened. Right in full view of both armies, the tall banner of Tang was unrolled and raised high right in the heart of the Xia army. Along with the raising of this dreadful beacon. The remaining Tang forces rushed in with blood thirsty vigor, and it was soon after this moment that the Xia army was completely broke. Men soon began to rout in all directions, and Dou himself was barely able to get out of the fray.
For fifteen kilometers (9 miles), there were men escaping in all directions and Tang forces pursued them all the way, cutting down. But by now they mostly captured the enemy in the tens of thousands. Whole units surrendered to Tang and threw down their arms despite being outnumbering them dozens times to one. Some tried to escape along the banks of the Yellow River. Dou was among them, struggling forward with great pain after having sustained a spear wound, with him followed his bodyguards. And behind them, Tang riders were hot on their heels.
However, when Dou reached near the banks of the Yellow River, he fell. The Tang general Bai Shirang (白士让) who was chasing him, soon closed up the distance and was about to slew Dou when the Xia commander screamed out his identity and offered to be bound and captured. Bai quickly tied Dou up with ropes and rode back to Li Shimin.
With the capture of the self- styled Prince of Xia. Li achieved his great aim in breaking his massive foe. For the rest of the day, Li's cavalry continued in capturing many fleeing Xia soldiers. In total: out of Dou's great 100,000 men army, 3,000 were slain by the Tang army, while some 50,000 men were captured. It was David and Goliath. 3,000 men, with its royal commander leading from the front of his 1,000 bodyguards had completely changed the fortune of not only the battlefield, but for 2 vital provinces and China's destiny for the next 3 centuries. Of the 50,000 Xia soldiers who were captured, many of them were Henan locals, - Li released them and sent them home on that very day, retaining only Xia's captured generals and ministers.
HULAO, AFTERMATH AND BRIEF ANALYSIS
The Tang were supreme after the victory at Hulao, and in the coming months, the consequence of this decisive battle soon became clear throughout northern China. Following Hulao, Li Shimin marched back to the walls of Luoyang and paraded the captured Dou Jiande and his generals in caged wagons before the city walls. Among them too, were the emissaries and generals Wang had sent to Dou. Without any hope or rescue and with an entire city ready to mutiny, Wang Shichong surrendered on 4 June whereby Li politely received him. Li Shimin pardoned many within Wang's army, spared the city from looting, but executed a number of Wang's high level officials he considered treacherous, however he spared Wang himself, his family, and the rest of the officials. At the age of 22, Li Shimin had won the broken empire for his father.
"The crisis at the eastern capital (Luoyang) will be resolved shortly. At the same time we should urge the people to exert themselves and make a contribution, so that they provide example to future generations. Everyone should peacefully resume his previous vocation, forever enjoying heavenly blessings. Therefore, I send you this stele to express my utmost appreciation. "
May 26, 621.
In one suicidal charge at Hulao, Li Shimin not only defeated two of the most powerful rivals in
all of China but also acquired two of the most populous, resource rich regions in the realm.
Many other warlords soon submitted to the Tang, and from this point on, Tang
supremacy was little in doubt. Only mop up operations remained.
Music: Through the City Gates
Flushed with victory, Li Shimin took Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande back to the Tang capital at Chang An and presented them both to his father Emperor Gaozu. Li Shimin returned to Chang An in a grand victory procession where he wore a golden armor, and to reward his sons, Emperor Gaozu awarded both Li Shimin and his younger brother Li Yuanji three mints so that they could mint money of their own. The general Li Shiji (who had fought for the Tang at Liyang and returned to Tang lines after escaping from Dou Jiande) was one of the 25 generals honored, they were permitted to ride with Li Shimin at the center of the grand procession and to offer the captives at Tang's imperial ancestral temple. He was also united with his father Li Gai, who managed to survive the collapse of the Xia regime and return to Tang territory.
Gaozu also bestowed on Li Shimin the special title of “Grand General of Heavenly Strategies”. Meanwhile, Li Shimin’s staff, already full of generals and strategists, were now being supplemented with a number of literary officials from his father and the pool of captured Xia and Zheng ministers.
The Shaolin Temple enjoyed imperial patronage for the remainder of the dynasty. The oldest evidence of Shaolin participation in combat is a stele from 728 that attests to two occasions: a defense of the monastery from bandits around 610 and their role in the defeat of Wang Shichong at the Battle of Hulao in 621.
Although the Tang were widely known by this point for the leniency they had treated most of their defeated rivals, Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong were soon eliminated: Dou was presented to Emperor Gaozu Chang An, where he was executed in the grand Market. When Emperor Gaozu met Wang and rebuked him, Wang stated, "I should be beheaded, but the Prince of Qin (Li Shimin) had agreed to spare me." Wang was ostensibly allowed by Gaozu to retire in exile as a demoted commoner, however on his way to exile, a Tang official who had once suffered under Wang and bore a grudge against him was "allowed" a meeting with Wang and killed him along with his brothers there.
Many other warlords soon submitted to the Tang, and from this point on, Tang supremacy was little in doubt. Only mop up operation remained.
Many other warlords soon submitted to the Tang, and from this point on, Tang supremacy was little in doubt. Only mop up operation remained.
Throughout the 620s, Tang authority had not yet encompassed all of China, and new rebellions continued to occur for a few more years. The most notable of these occurred in late 621, when the the pardoned former- Xia officials rose up in Hebei under the leadership of Dou's cavalry commander Liu Heita. However, the eventual outcome of the civil war was truly decided at Hulao. The last of the rebels, Liang Shidu of modern Inner Mongolia (and a vassal of the Easter Gokturk Khaganate) was defeated in June 628, marking the end of the civil war. However, with Tang's consolidation of China, another powerful enemy- powerful enough to destroy that of the Tang: the Eastern Gokturk (Tujue) Empire attacked China in 628 after Li Shimin ascended the throne as the Taizong Emperor. With the coming of the Gokturks came the age of massive clashing empires.
ANALYSIS
The Battle of Hulao was an extremely dramatic affair, and it was historically decisive because of what happened before it and what happened after it. It was a drama laden with high stakes, all three of the men who converged into the region were proven men, and each bore enough of a threat and grit to back up their claim in the deadly contention where only one potentially could walk out alive. They all wanted the same thing and competed for it with suicidal abandon- in the case of Li Shimin he threw all of his forces and led from the front of his outnumbered band. The battle itself was also ladden with drama as well. Already, the backdrop of the conflict was rife with a baseline of tension, upsets, and deadly clashes. The opening of the battle bore similarities with Hannibal's opening of River Trebia, and the battle itself bore similarities to Nobunaga's ambush at Okehazama, with Li leading from the front that resembled one of Alexander's Great's deadly charges with his companions.
Although not many of the soldiery converging at Hulao knew of the powerful implications of this battle except for a madly confident prince, it turned out to be the battle that changed not only China but Asia for the next three centuries. It was the battle that ended the Post- Sui civil war and completely tilted the favor toward the Tang for all to see. The Tang dynasty would dominate China and East Asia for the next 290 years, and Li Shimin, as the new Taizong Emperor would become one of its greatest Emperors.
In late 629, Li Shimin, by now the new Taizong Emperor of China, ordered the erection of Buddhist monasteries on the sites of seven of the battles he had fought during the civil war. For Hulao he chose the name "Temple of Equality in Commiseration"
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