Song (960- 1279) Military Overview Part 6- Yue Fei- The Northern Expedition: 宋代军事概要 6- 岳飞- 北伐

March 28, 2025

Song (960- 1279) Military Overview Part 6- Yue Fei- The Northern Expedition: 宋代军事概要 6- 岳飞- 北伐

Yue Fei 1/6 Figure. Jiao Zongmo Playing 胶宗模玩 x Longyuan Pavilion 龙渊阁 JZMW-010

Music: Through the City Gates

This is the middle chapter that covers Yue Fei's relentless war path north to reclaim the old lost homeland. The leadup to this conflict is extensively covered in the 2 previous chapters, including Yue Fei's early military victories and his rise from a humble patrolman to become the head of one of Southern Song's major armies. This chapter we shall see how he was able to distinguish himself from merely being one of the more able Southern Song generals into the foremost among his age.

Painful Exodus: 1129: Song's ravished heartland (Black), Jin (Gold), Gaozong's Flight (Scarlet), Song disjointed territories in remission (Sienna): After sacking the Song imperial capital of Kaifeng and abducting the court and the imperial family in 1127, the Jurchen Jin dynasty satisfied themselves with looting the Song heartlands but had little interest in directly rule over the vast and inevitably unruly Han populace. Instead they appointed Han puppet vassals in their wake to control these regions on their behalf. However a Song prince yet lived, this resurgent Song government then toppled Jin's puppet regime. In response, in 1129, the Jin invaded again in full strength in all directions, several columns bore down across northern China and even managed to pierce into coastal eastern China and southeastern China. The new Song court (Southern Song) fled south in desperation, at one time with Jin cavalrymen only miles from capturing the Song emperor and his court.

It was in this darkest hour that a new generation of Song patriots rose and upheld their battered nation. Generals like Zhang Jun, Han Shizhong, and Yue Fei rallied to the young Song emperor Gaozong and save him on multiple occasions. All of them proved themselves in battle either as equals or had scored victories against the Jin. Zhang Jun's army was able to save Gaozong personally during his desperate flight from the Jin pursuers, Han Shizhong dealt the departing Jin army a severe blow at Hangtiangdang north of Nanjing. From 1130-1133 Yue Fei (along with Han Shizhong) were able to retake Nanjing for the court and also swiftly pacify a number of dangerous southern rebel warlords. With these victories the immediate periphery around the new Song capital at Hangzhou became stabilized. The Song was saved from the brink on its death's door. However many wolves still circled around the fledgling capital in the south.

TRIAL BY FIRE

The Age of Uprisings: The realm in 1130-1133. In the old (lost) former Song heartlands, Jin raised the puppet state of "Qi" in black. The Song (Scarlet) was severely strained, due to the constant relocation of the imperial court and the relentless Jin (Gold) pursuit, much of what would be the Southern Song were isolated and not in constant communication with the new imperial core. Several regions in the south thereby fell to powerful bandits or declared independence with turncoat rebels. Though peasant uprisings had cropped up before the Jin invasion- as those done by Song Jiang (protagonist of "Water Margin") and Fang La: rebels in this era had became exponentially more powerful and numbered in hundreds of thousands such as those led by the bandit warlords Cao Cheng and Zhang Yong whom Yue Fei defeated.

Yue Fei was not someone born to any illustrious lineage. He was born from impoverished and desperate tenant farmers. In his youth he had to personally perform extra farming on the private lands great landlords simply to make ends meet. An end that was not met even with his job as a patrolman constable. Because of his arduous origins, Yue Fei consistently offered mercy to the defeated rank and file soldiers and on a larger level strictly forbade soldiers of the 24,000 strong Yue Family Army from looting on pain of death.

Home: Yue Fei's home was in Henan~ the former heartlands of the Song in the Central Plains now lost to the invaders. Henan was where the old Song capital of Kaifeng sat, the breadbasket of the empire, and much of his soldiery's home. Most of the Yue Family Army's soldiers were northerners and lost their literal homes to the invaders.

During 1130- 1133 Yue Fei distinguished himself as a tenacious fighting general and was able to deal an unbroken string of victories against the veteran bandit warlord Cao Cheng. However, aside from his victories, Yue Fei also displayed a remarkable streak of leniency and diplomacy. Instead of vanquishing his defeated foes, Yue Fei was able to persuade Cao Cheng, and another major rebel warlord Zhang Yong to surrender along with all of their surviving soldiers. These rebels agreed and were granted pardons, Yue Fei then recruited these men into his own Yue Family Army: after the victory over Cao Cheng, Yue's army doubled in strength from 12,000 to about 23,000~ 24,000 men, which was comparable to the largest operating Southern Song armies under other distinguished generals.

For these achievements in late 1133 Yue Fei was promoted to high command, given the honorary rank of 承宣使 Chengxuanshi and personally rewarded by the Gaozong Emperor in Hangzhou. However trouble stirred anew and new calamity struck.

THE FIRST NORTHERN EXPEDITION

Reenactor: William C & Chinese Armor Men

In 1133, while Yue Fei achieve his strings of victories against the rebel warlord Cao Cheng in the south, disaster struck the Song when they attempted an ambitious multi- pronged march north. By this time the Jin had reorganized the conquered regions of central China into a collaborator puppet state called Qi and primed them as a unremitting battering ram against the Song in the south. Headed by a former Song governor- the state enforced military conscription and crippling taxes across northern China. For almost a decade this deeply unpopular Quisling regime would send many invading armies south on behalf of its Jurchen overlords.

Traitor: Liu Yu 刘豫; Instead of laboriously garrisoning northern China. The Jurchens opted to ruled it via ethnic Han puppets. Liu Yu was originally a former Song prefect in Shandong, however when the Jin armies arrived he murdered the Song commander in the area and surrendered to the invaders. Jin therefore made him the emperor of the puppet state of Qi whose entire existence was to defensively act as a Jin buffer state and offensively continue to invade the Song.

The 2 Roads South. Before the development of modern road infrastructure, in most of Chinese history, in order to reach the south travel consisted of either the western route (via the Han River valley passing through Xiangyang) or eastern route (via the Grand Canal along the mountain-less Eastern coast) of today's Anhui Jiangsu provinces. The previous 3 years saw the Song decisively repel the Jin from the east coast. Now Jin shifted its attention to the west at Xiangyang and further south to Sichuan.

In 1133, a large Qi army led by general Li Cheng 李成 stormed strategically vital Song city of Xiangyang along the Han river junction and took over the whole region. Xiangyang was located at key traffic nexus to southern China and this critical loss meant that the totality of Song was exposed to a swift invasion from this gap. Repressively the Qi armies then terrorized the old Song heartlands (its own heartland now) by levying crippling taxes on the populace and looting the old Song imperial tombs in Henan.

In response the Southern Song dispatched a large army northward toward Kaifeng in an attempt to reclaim Henan led by multiple generals. Spooked by the multi- pronged Song response- Qi immediately pleaded to their Jin handlers for aid. Jin arrived with its own force of crack cavalry and joined Li Cheng's 20,000 puppet state troops.

FAILED GHOSTS

Figure by QinyiErjian

Jurchen Jin Dynasty Tiefutu or "Iron Pagodas" 铁浮图. Alternately they were translated as "Iron Buddhas," encased almost completely in armor save their eyes and hands these cataphracts were a powerful fist of the Jin conquerors. Deployed in the thousands, their charges were devastating and more fanciful versions recorded that in order to maximize a charge each 3 fully armored horsemen would tie ropes or leather strings between the riders to mow down any enemy infantry who stood between them- this formation was called the Guizi Ma 拐子马 (though this version- was doubted by later historians and is almost certainly not true.) Regardless, Jin used them to great advantage as an armored vanguard.

Armored Fists: The Iron Pagoda Cavalry rode in several rows while light cavalry provided archery support from behind- acting as a charging maul and with the light cavalries supplementing their deadly charge. This armored fist configuration is rather unique in that many nearby powers- including that of Jin's former overlords the Liao preferred to deploy light horse archers as a screen in the front.

THE SONG LAY WIDE OPEN- THE OMINOUS BLOW

On the open plains the Song expedition army was resoundingly annihilated by the Jin crack cavalry northwest of Kaifeng at Mougang, resulting in the scattering of the Song forces and the death of 1 of the major generals. Prongs of Song survivors then fled back along the Yangtze. Qi then exploited the situation by contacting and coordinating with the anti- Song riverine rebels along the Yangtze and made a pact with them. While the Song wallowed in weakness, Qi would attack from the north by land while the riverine rebels located around the Dongting Lake: Yang Yao and Huang Cheng would attack by water in the south and together would crush the Song and meet in the Song court at Hangzhou to "restore the realm to peace."

The Grand Conspiracy: A Coalition Threat to End the Song. In 1134, with the Song suffering a major defeat against the Qi. Compounded with the loss of the strategically vital Xiangyang region (circled)~ situation became existentially dire for the Song. The Song is now lay wide open with no major army at its center and should a decisive hostile strike be made Song could be bisected in half completely. Qi (black) joined in alliance with the rebel Yang Yao (blue) who held the Dongting lake region with a vast personal riverine flotilla of pirate ships. Together, they plotted to penetrate to the Song capital in 2 unstoppable prongs, Qi swiftly by land, and Yang Yao- with their own massive flotilla by water using the downflow of the Yangtze River. Worse yet, while Song hands were tied in the center, the Jin traveled through their Qi puppet and attempted to outflank the Song by attacking through Shaanxi and Sichuan in the west.

After the Song court's flight in 1130- the wet Yangtze river lands of Hubei/ Hunan region along the vast Dongting Lake (lit. "Cavern Court" derived from a myth that a water dragon held an opulent court under it) erupted in rebellion. Rebels like Yang Yao ruled the region with a vast flee of ships large and small: the largest 30 tower ships were vast and mult- storied with its own long rows of oars: the rest were composed of hundreds of smaller but extremely fast "sea eel ships" which were amphibious and powered by paddlewheels.

For his naval prowess, he boasted some 100,000 riverine pirates- many of them former fishermen, sailors, and traders along these rivers who now survived by farming seasonally then raid by piracy. With their unstoppable navy they can overawe all challengers and if push came to shove easily sail downstream to the Song capital unopposed.

THE PIRATE KING OF DONGTING LAKE

Yang Yao was originally a subordinate to another rebel the region: the Manichean warlord Zhong Xiang, however after Zhong was betrayed by an ally and perished Yang Yao then reforged the rebel army into a dangerous amphibious flotilla. The late was fortified with many outposts and water forts. The vast number of warships they boasted was such that the Song court deemed them an existential threat.

"Sea Eel Ships" a larger later Song example shown here. A medieval anachronism. These paddleboats boasted well protected superstructures and crenellated firing platforms, some could be bristling with multiple traction trebuchets that slung explosive bombs. The marines too could also be equipped with fire lances, fire arrows, and bombs. Original colored version by Osprey Books here. Such ships are ideal for the river environment: their paddlewheels afforded extremely high speed both up and down the river and when their masts are completely retracted (solely using paddlewheels) their low silhouette made them very stealthy to enemy patrols and make them a dangerous transport.

Floating Fortresses: Yang Yao's massive riverine navy boasted some 30 great towerships like this (albeit according to sources they were more likely oared and cannot sail into the shallows) Unlike their Sea Eel counterparts, they are massive in silhouette and has multiple decks bristling with archers. Because of this deadly arsenal Yang Yao was able to overpower all rivals in the region and make himself the uncrowned king of Dongting lake hub. Should he press his ambition all of the Yangtze, and by extension the south could be his.

Contemporary incendiary bomb arrow from Wujing Zongyao

YUE FEI WENT ON THE OFFENSIVE

With the situation becoming desperate, the scattered Song generals wrote to Yue Fei begging for Yue's relief. Yue Fei calculated that of the 2 incoming prongs, the Qi force by land was more pressing and chose to attack Qi first with his northern march. He also reasoned that in evicting the Qi forces from the Xiangyang region Yang Yao's rebels at Dongting would be isolated, a far better outcome than risking the 2 prongs from joining up. The Song court agreed with Yue Fei's proposal. To strengthen his authority he was given the governorship of Jingnan, E, and Yue. The court then sent another commander named Wang Xi to contain Yang Yao's pirate fleet at Dongting Lake while Yue Fei assembled his northern march.

To avert the disaster of the previous year's nightmare, the Song cobbled the surviving Song generals from the previous year's expedition: Niu Gao, Dong Xian, Li Dao, Zhang Qi and their troops into Yue Fei's army. The supreme commander of 1133's campaign was of the same rank as Yue Fei, not wanting to be subordinated under an upstart, he instead withheld his 15,000 soldiers and placed them under Yue's superior Zhang Jun. Another surviving commander Zhai Cong was transferred to head an independent army. Despite these parting cases, the new assembly of experienced leaders provided Yue's army with many talented subordinate officers. The 2 generals Li Dao and Niu Gao personally requested transfer to be placed under Yue's command they would be greatly entrusted with independent operations in the following campaign.

Yue Fei's first priority laid in shaping the contact line between both Song and Qi. Most of his attention laid in securing the line of recently lost mountain cities along the natural barrier of the Dabie Mountains separating Henan (Qi)'s Central Plains to Hubei (Song) mountains. The greater Qinling - Xiangyang Gap- Dabie Mountain range could be seen as an extended wall with Xiangyang as its gate. Should this be secured, the south as a whole will be a fortress with Yangtze as its highway.

Yue Fei's Army was called the "Yue Family Army" 岳家军. It's soldiery composed both his oldest comrades as well as former rebels persuaded to the cause.

Before Yue's departure, around 5,000 additional soldiers were augmented to his army, boosting his total number to around 35,000. Knowing the desperately strapped Song court existentially cannot afford another major defeat, before Yue's departure Gaozong personally issued an edict promoting 3 of Yue Army's generals with lavish gifts, and offered Yue Fei several lavish titles. And just as a final sprinkling of favors, Gaozong also ordered 2 of Yue's superiors each provide him with 100 quality war horses. On April 1134 Yue Fei set out, from E (pronounced "Ugh" not "Yee") ~ Yue Fei crossed the Yangtze and advanced north. However before continuing north he swore to his staff and soldiery in the middle of the river that: "I will nor cross this river until I have captured the enemy leader and restore the old territory!"

Historically Xiangyang's vital importance was not lost to key players and major generals. During the 3 Kingdoms era: the illustrious Shu general Guan Yu (depicted in anachronistic romanticized Song era armor) fought and held this city despite staggering odds.

Music: Face What I Truly Am

On May 5, 1134 Yue Fei’s army arrived at the city of Yingzhou (Zhou means county and often the seat of capital of a county is also named "Zhou".) Yue Fei circled the city to inspect the terrain. Before attacking the city, he ordered Zhang Xian to persuade Jing Chao, the governor of Yingzhou of the Qi regime to surrender. Jing Chao and Liu Ji, the magistrate of Changshou, led more than 10,000 troops to defend the city and refused to surrender. Due to logistical difficulties, the Yue Family Army had only two meals of food (thus make it impossible for a long siege), but Yue Fei declared, "That will be enough. I will defeat the rebels at 9:00 p.m. the next day!"

THE TAKING OF YINGZHOU & SUIZHOU

At dawn on the 6th, the Yue Family Army began a general attack. According to Yue's grandson Yue Ke, during the battle, a large stone flung by one of the defender's mangonels suddenly fell in front of Yue Fei, who was commanding the troops however, he remained calm. Soon, Yue Fei's army captured Yingzhou. The governor Jing Chao committed suicide by jumping off a cliff. Liu Ji was captured alive and beheaded. As for the rest as many as 7,000 of the Qi defenders were killed. Having forgone a siege Yue manage to take the city in merely 1 day.

Yue Fei's army then split into two groups. Zhang Xian and Xu Qing led their troops to the northeast to attack Suizhou, while Yue Fei led his main force northwest to attack Xiangyang Prefecture, where Li Cheng 李成, the victorious Qi general that defeated Song's 1133 expedition was stationed. Having heard that Yue Fei managed to take Yingzhou in 1 day Li Cheng fled without a fight, and on May 17, Yue Fei occupied Xiangyang. Despite this personal anti-climax for Yue, on the other side of the operation, Wang Song, the Qi governor of Suizhou, held his ground fiercely. Zhang Xian and Xu Qing attacked for several days without success. At last the bold Niu Gao volunteered to lead his troops to support Zhang Xian and Xu Qing with only three days’ rations. On May 18, before the three days’ rations were finished, Niu Gao, Zhang Xian, and Xu Qing joined forces to capture Suizhou in a coordinated attack. At that time, Yue Fei's 16 old Yue Yun was the first to scale up the city wall using two iron sword breakers. At the end of the battle 5,000 Qi troops were captured, and Wang Song was taken to Xiangyang and executed.

Yue Jun 岳云: Art by: 异客岁月 | cui shiying

The eldest son and favorite of Yue Fei.

whereas his father's name 岳云 Fei 飞 means "Flight," Yun 云 literally means "Cloud."

(锏 "jiǎn"- Sword Breakers) was a long quad-edged (alternatively segment ridged) sword shaped club specifically designed to break weapons with sharp edges. The traditional Chinese weapon has a rectangular cross section with sharp corners, making it ideal to focus on damaging other weapons with brutal impact. They could be made long with a sharpened tip and at times warriors wielded them in pairs. They were often quite heavy and only the strongest warriors wielded them with dexterity.

LI CHENG RETURNS FOR VENGEANCE

Only 1 year before, Li Cheng 李成 laid low a numerously superior Song Northern Expedition and took over the region with Jin aid. For many of Yue Fei's sub commanders- survivors of the last years humiliation, this was a hotly anticipated rematch.

Not soon had Song took hold of Xiangyang, its former governor returned with massive reinforcements. Just like the previous year in 1133 against Song's failed Northern Expedition, Qi swiftly marshalled troops across the Central Plains and requested Jin reinforcements into a large response. Together with the escaped Li Cheng and his army, the Qi response was reported to be some 300,000 troops (Yue Ke most likely shamelessly exaggerated this.) Yue Fei ordered Wang Wan, the commander of Yue's army, and another commander Xin Tai, from Jingnan's Pacification Commission, to guard Qing river 清江 and provoke the Qi army to attack. However while Wang followed Yue's orders, Xin Tai's nerves frayed and he fled on his own. On June 5, after Wang Wan's army engaged the responding Qi army which numbered some 100,000, Yue Fei personally led the main force to attack Li Cheng.

The next day, Li Cheng lined up to fight, but according to Yue Ke's records: Li made the same tactical mistake that the famed Han dynasty founder Liu Bang made in his Battle of Pengcheng (ie, they were deployed on the separate banks and thus unable to reinforce each other), this was quickly noticed by Yue Fei. In response to the requests of Wang Gui, Niu Gao and other generals who were itching for a rematch against Li Cheng, Yue Fei then pointed out the mistake Li Cheng had made, that "The advantage of infantry is in dangerous terrain, and the advantage of cavalry is in plains. However Li Cheng has put his cavalry on the left bank of the river and his infantry on the right. Even though he has 100,000 men, what could he do?"

Yue Fei raised his whip and said to Wang Gui: "You use the long spear infantry to attack the cavalry from Cheng's right." He also said to Niu Gao: "You use the cavalry to attack the infantry from Cheng's left." Similar to Liu Bang's lopsided humiliating defeat in the Battle of Pengcheng, after Li Cheng's front cavalry was scattered, this pushed the rear cavalry into the water and drowned them. The army collapsed on both of the banks and was defeated. With this resounding defeat Li Cheng's army was severely damaged and never recovered.

Music: Black Cloud, Red Fire

THE CONTACT LINE SECURED- JIN UPSET AT IMMORTAL'S PASS

Above: Gate Guardians. During the Song pavise crossbowmen were deployed in significant numbers as concentrated armor-piercing crossbow volleys were the best counter to incoming armored cavalry charges. Additionally, the narrow western passes were extremely adverse to Jin invaders. While their cavalry excelled in battles on the open Central Plains, these mountainous passes greatly favored the entrenched Song defenders.

With this disastrous defeat, Liu Yu- the Emperor of Qi pleaded with his overlord for more help. However the Jin were only recently defeated as well. 2 months before Yue Fei's trek a full Jin army tried to outmaneuver the Song center and sneak through the narrow western mountain passes near Shaanxi and Sichuan. The Jin army- personally led by the veteran Jin commander Prince Wuzhu suffered a massive defeat to the Song brother generals Wu Jie 吴玠 and his younger brother Wu Ling 吴璘 at the Battle of Xianren Pass 仙人关之战 (lit. "Immortal's Pass".) In this battle at a narrow mountain pass, the entrenched Song defenders made use of their already excellent massed crossbowmen and archers through volley fire. Followed by the death of several Jin generals Song then counterattacked in force leading to a Jin collapse, in all some tens of thousands of Jin soldiers died.

A "D" shaped stirrup hoop were added to the top of these bows and when fired from behind a wall of pavise in concentrated volleys. The powerful Divine Arm crossbow was reputedly able to shoot as far as 240 paces and effective at killing around 150 paces.

According to Yue Ke the Jurchens also could not stand the heat of midsummer and had to recuperate back in the north. The most they could do for Qi was dispatching a 2nd rate general with the first name of Liu Hebojin 刘合孛堇 and whose surname was not recorded to aid Li Cheng. Altogether, some tens of thousands of puppet state troops are mustered from Shaanxi to Hebei, and arrayed in some 30 camps around Dengzhou for defense. Dengzhou laid in the plains in the shadow of the Dabie Mountains- the plains under the "wall" of the proverbial fortress if you will. To attack them will lead Yue Fei's army out of the comfort zone of their freshly conquered mountain defenses.

THE SONG REGAINS INITATIVE

Reenactor Model: 盔甲吧

Before marching to Dengzhou, Yue Fei made preparations for more than a month, and also wrote to the Song court for permission to strike deeper into the Central Plains with around 200,000 troops, what's more the locals of these old territory will welcome liberation and be obedient. He further warned that if they do not do so at that moment, the enemy will reconsolidate their hold in these rich lands. Despite these pleas, the Song court did not approve any military action beyond the conquered and nearby counties.

To take Dengzhou, Yue Fei sent out generals Wang Gui and Zhang Xian to advance with their troops in 2 directions respectively. On July 15, 1134, Wang Gui and Zhang Xian’s troops met with tens of thousands of Qi and Jin troops more than 30 miles outside Dengzhou City. Right at this moment, 2 other of Yue Fei's generals Wang Wan and Dong Xian’s troops suddenly appeared and the prongs attacked from both sides crushing their opponents.

The Jin general Liu Hebojin fled alone with his solddiers. Meanwhile Yue’s troops captured more than 200 enemies including a general and seized more than 200 war horses. Another Qi general: Gao Zhong retreated back to Dengzhou City. On July 17, Yue Fei’s troops stormed the city, and his son Yue Yun was again the first warrior to climb the city wall. The Yue army captured Dengzhou and captured Gao Zhong alive. According to Yue Ke's records: to avoid suspicion, Yue Fei only reported Yue Yun’s accomplishments in Suizhou, but not those in Dengzhou. A year later, the Song court investigated the matter and promoted Yue Yun to the rank of Wuyilang . Yue Yun became popular with the soldiery and was accordingly hailed as Yinguanren “赢官人” or promotion winner.

On July 23, Li Dao, one of Yue Fei's othe commanders, captured the nearby Tangzhou (Tang County.) At the same time, Wang Gui and Zhang Xian defeated the Qi army and the Jin army again 30 mile north of Tangzhou. On the same day, Yue's army defeate another Qi army and captured 50 Qi officials including the governor of Tangzhou in charge of the whole region. On July 26, Li Qiong, another Song general under Liu Guangshi (a peer of Yue Fei in charge of the south) arrived with 5,000 reinforcements, but there was no battle to fight. Despite their lack of participation, Yue Fei made a special report, requesting that these 5,000 men be "rewarded first," and told his subordinates that "it would be against human nature if they were not rewarded at all ".

“先次推赏”、“卒使不沾寸赏，恐咈人情”

This concludes the first of Yue Fei's northern marches, and achieved the aims of Song to secure the counties which formed a natural barrier around the Dabie Mountains- including recovering the critical fortress city of Xiangyang. With a true hard shell of the borderlands secured, Yue Fei moved nearly all of his operation and infrastructure to the Ezhou (E County- pronounced "Ugh) due north of the Yangtze river but south of the natura "wall" made by the Dabie Mountains. For his victorious campaign Yue Fei was awarded and his army rated as one of the most important of the Southern Song arm. The following year, Emperor Gaozong of Song rewarded Li Dao and Cui Bangbi with a golden belt each for these achievements.

XIANGYANG- ENTRENCHING THE GATE FORTRESS

Music: Transcendent Beauty

Yue Fei's victories was a vital plug that stabilized the gaping hole created by 1133's failures. Now the Song was able to coordinate military matters all along a conjoined contact line from the western most reaches (the pass manned by Wu Jie's army in Sichuan, Yue Fei in the middle, all the way to the east by armies commanded by Han Shizhong with Liu Guangshi as a ready reserve in the south. Although at this time Yang Yao's pirate fleet still remained a thorn at Song's side (with the latent danger they could break out) because of Yue Fei's elegant stroke, they were isolated. For the time being Yue Fei shifted most of his efforts on turning Xiangyang into his new military and operation headquarters and extensively rebuilding the city into an impregnable fortress.

The Gate and Highway to Southern China. Xiangyang and Dongting Lake: because the major mountain formation of Qinling Mountains and Dabie Mountains formed a major barrier for massive armies to cross, most of the troop movement and riverine naval movement must pass through the vital fortress city of Xiangyang. In a north vs south conflict: which was seen multiple times in Chinese history, the vertical bottleneck created by the Xiangyang Gap gave initiative to its owner at the other's expense. Horizontally, Dongting Lake: situated at the center of the Yangtze river served as a vital midway traffic hub. Multiple nearby rivers fed into this vast lake network. Because of the mountainous terrain of most of southern China, the Yangtze river served as the single most important highway that threads through the entire region. Whoever controls this central lake traffic hub control the Yangtze river. Whoever possesses the Yangtze all but control the south.

Because of its location directly between the mountain chain of the Qinling and Dabie Mountains, all invasion could only arrive from predictable directions- either north or south. However the city's placement tucked under the western bank in the Y shaped fork of the Han river also made it well protected from any invasion from the north and east. Additionally, the possession of the Fancheng fortress north of Xiangyang now channels invasions solely from the east. A tactical nightmare for anyone familiar with Moltke problems. All armies arriving from the east could be easily be checked by the defenders. Should the defenders ever lay hands on a formidable navy (as we shall soon see) it would be virtually impossible to dislodge the sitting defenders.

Xiangyang- aside from being channeled by impassible mountains is also ringed by other natural defenses. The Han river provided a massive deferent against any unequipped land army. What's more, the city was also ringed by a massive moat the size of a small lake that was even wider in medieval times, making any enemy sieges virtually an amphibious operation against the walled fortress. It was because of this imperative position that in nearly all of the north/ south wars in major Chinese history the city was bitterly contested, be it during the Three Kingdoms period by Guan Yu or the Northern and Southern dynasties period. This is true for the ages after this period as well. When Kublai Khan invaded Southern Song Xiangyang and Fancheng would cause him immense headaches.

Yue Fei's immediate priority laid in the repair of the great city's walls. However he faced several other challenges directly. Because of the Qi's invasion and the great uncertainly caused by the loss of the old Song heartlands, this section of the Han river was largely abandoned by the original settlers.

Much of the farmlands around this region was abandoned. Without local provisions, this made it impossible to station a large army there. In order to make the region self sustaining, Yue sought to attract fresh farmers thus he actively lent out oxen and sees. He also stipulated a 3 year tax exemption or all settlers. What's more all private and official debts of previous settlers would be forgiven before returning to work. The countryside would be allowed to heal. From Xiangyang, Yue Fei would stake his roots and restrengthen his army. It is here we will conclude the coverage of the first of his four northern expeditions. It was a triumphal note: what had began as a year of worries and impending calamity was saved on multiple fronts into one of stability, though now there still remained a massive pirate fleet that remained aloof in the heart of the empire.

One should remember that at this moment of Gaozong's reign because all of the high Song commanders proved their loyalty to Gaozong in one occasion or another, Gaozong afforded them great degree of autonomy and did not often peg them with the usual Cha Jinsi 差监司- court supervisors who often kept strict and reductive civilian oversight as was done in the previous centuries.

As such Yue Fei was the military governor of the region and built up his own forces (something that would cause major distrust later on Gaozong's part.) Regardless, Yue Fei would still serve dutifully. After a small respite, the general would turn wade into the watery domain of the pirate king of Dongting Lake with purpose.

Stay Tuned for more of Yue Fei