Song (960- 1279) Military Overview Part 7- Yue Fei- The Pirates of Cavern Court Lake: 宋代军事概要 7- 岳飞南讨杨幺

So what he wrestled Xiangyang for the Song? His southern flank was still a watery graveyard, filled with 4 years of Song dead in its churning depth.

Music: The Black Wind King's Pride

April 1135 had began as any other for the hardened pirates lounging on deck in the Dongting lake, not great not terrible. Despite the bad news from the north, their captains and the foreign Buddha had guided them well thus far. Even if that court's lapdog Yue Fei want to pick a fight in these spiderweb of waters, it will easily be his doom like all other vanquished Song forces they annihilated so far, even imperials divisions.

Top: enthroned Jesus image on a Manichaean temple banner from ca. 10th-century Xinjiang. Below: wrestlers and outlaws/ Song dynasty. Art by: Shuai Zhang. These were not any rebels: once they were sailors, fishermen, traders and local farmers who long traversed the Yangtze during peaceful times, but with the Jin invasion and the disintegration of the Song heartlands, the region fell into chaos. Instead of becoming victims, the various communities banded together and created an invincible pirate fleet answerable only to themselves.

Japanese woodblock print depicting one of the renowned legendary 108 outlaws of Song Jiang in the classic novel the "Water Margin" alternatively: "Outlaws of the Marsh" in the book, a rough and diverse band of righteous and heroic outlaws consisting of disgraced generals, rebellious monks, cunning scholars, and guileful matrons banded together against a deeply corrupt Song court and even militarily repelled the imperial army and navy multiple times until the court finally gave them amnesty and they became commissioned servicemen of the court. Though entirely exaggerated (for the historical Song Jiang) in this instance, the pirates at Dongting lake (lit. "Cavern Court" lake) were far more than the 108 outlaws of Water Margin ever were.

ARMORED PATROL FLEET

According to the record: "Record of Yang Mo (Yang Yao)'s Deeds" 杨么事迹, the Dongting pirate's fleet by 1135 had in possession of hundreds of armored "Sea Eel Ships" (largest examples here) which were amphibious and powered by paddlewheels. With a distinctive silhouette reminiscent of 19th century ironclads and Vietnam War patrol boats, the Sea Eel Ships- distinguished by its paddles and armored superstructure made them ideal for dominating the vast water networks around the Dongting lake area. 

The largest of such paddlewheel ships boasted 22 paddlewheels in total on both sides and a massive stern wheel with 2 deck's height. It has water tight bulkheads, and is surmounted by multiple traction trebuchets. It can carry 200-300 crew and the marines could be equipped with firelances, grenades, crossbows, and bows that can fire bomb arrows. Additionally because they were equipped with both retractable sails and paddlewheels, they were able to sail swiftly in any current (even upstream or to sea if need be) and still be very stealthy (able to completely sail without unfurling any sails and maintain a low profile.)

Watery Spiderweb: Major affluents that ran into the Dongting Lake. The lake is located at a very low point surrounded on nearly all side by tall mountains, the result over eons is the formation of great runoffs from these mountains and gathers all into the Dongting lake at the center. Although the lake itself is already sizeable in scope- the amphibious Sea Eel Ship's ability to readily travel up and down stream through paddlewheels ensured that the pirates were well entrenched in this domain. What's more? By being directly south of the Yangtze River, the Lake provided a perfect staging ground and home base for juggernauts that laid waiting right in this central hub.

Juggernauts: even should any invader breach into the lake itself and try to strong arm through the Yangtze river, they would be nightmarishly overmatched. Leading the great Dongting lake fleet were 30 massive tower ships with multiple well protected decks and crenellated shooting platforms. They would be carried with long rows of oars (or as ^ some reconstructions depicted paddle wheels as well.)

Smaller Riverine Patrols: Chinese Stealth Transport Paddleboats: the Qianli chuan 千里船 (lit. "Thousand League Boat") were paddle wheel boats used in medieval China. The boats were driven by human pedaling and were able to cruise hundreds of kilometers per day with no wind blowing. Because they had no sails their silhouette profile was extremely low in water and some historians believed they were employed as inconspicuous transports able to both stealthily deploy advance parties behind enemy lines and also extract soldiers from hotly contested frontlines. 

Closeup of the broadside of the armored paddle ship: the paddle wheels are operated by crews on treadmills inside the crammed ship, the sides above the wheel (and the paddlewheel itself) are protected by an exterior hoarding. The armored pavise- like panels on each side can be pulled up on command by a crew member via pulley from the inside- allowing crossbowmen to fire out at opportune intervals.  

Top/ Bottom: Approximation from the 2012 Japanese movie "The Floating Castle" and 2023 movie "Kubi" The lake was also at this time dotted with many watery fortresses large and small. By the time Yue Fei arrived at the Dongting lake it was dotted with water forts and stockades and watch towers at key watery junctions and islands.

Music: On the Battlefield

THE GREAT EQUALIZER

 

The origin of the Dongting pirates (modern Hunan Province) began in strange chaotic circumstances. When the imperial heartland of the Song dynasty was overrun at the tail end of the disastrous emperor Huizong's rule, an indignant Manichean sorcerer named Zhong Xiang began to rally followers and declared that "The law divides people into noble and humble, rich and poor, which is unjust. When I enforce the law, I shall treat people equally, rich and poor." 法分贵贱贫富，非善法也。我行法，当等贵贱，均贫富。

Modern readers would have surely been struck by the strangely egalitarian~ almost communistic core tenant of this rally call. But At this point in Song history there were already multiple examples of such brief rebellions: such as those briefly declared by Li Shu and Wang Xiaobo, both who led massive  popular uprisings in Sichuan at the founding of Song and both proclaimed the rally call of “均贫富” "Equalizing Rich and the Poor" with promises they will rebalance the stratified social order. Furthermore Zhong Xian was not even the first or only Manichean rebel at this time. Just a decade ago the rebel Fang La was said to be a Manichean and briefly ruled several major cities in the Hangzhou area.

Zhong Xian's rally was very popular with the locals and soon his son was able to gather a 300 man militia~ not in rebellion against the Song but~ since the Song capital was overrun by the Jin and sacked, actually marched to the Song remnants and pledged their service as peacekeepers in the region, however they were turned back. Seeing that the world was in chaos, they began to aggressively arm themselves and gather many military flags and banners in preparing to secure an advantageous position in the doomed world around them. 

Unfortunately for them, it was trouble that found them like a wrecking ball. In the heartland of the empire- not far from where Yue Fei was also born, there was once a notorious murderer and bandit named Kong Yanzhou 孔彦舟: Kong's entrance onto history was marked by his notoriously violent and opportunistic streak. When the Song imperial capital was first besieged by the Jurchens, seeing the Song court's desperation, Kong enlisted in the army and was quickly promoted to the military commander of northern Shandong. Although- once the Jurchens returned and captured the Song imperial court and the 2 Emperors in the Jingkang Incident, instead of staying and protecting Shandong against the Jin invaders, Kong led his troops across the Yangtze region in a spree of looting- sacking many towns and stealing the local's wealth.

Elsewhere- a realm wide perspective: for those well aware of Yue Fei's career, this part should sound somewhat familiar. 1129 was the disastrous year that the Song court at Hangzhou was nearly extinguished and was pursued within only miles by the Jurchen army under the personal command of Prince Wuzhu of Jin- with the court only manage to escape via a sea going fleet. To the rest of the realm the Song appeared to have completely collapsed. In this wake many pockets of the realm rose up in rebellion often with ambitious local strongmen attempt to carve out their own niche in their region.

As such the early 1130s southern Song along the Yangtze became rife with many rebel factions that ravaged the nearby towns of their once- countrymen- with the largest of such armies numbered in hundreds of thousands. Such disorder thus also created the domino effect of forcing more local forces to band together for their own protection.

Zhong Xiang also launched a rebellion and proclaimed himself King of Chu, established a separatist regime. He issued imperial edicts, appointed officials, and vowed to be irreconcilable with the Southern Song regime, naming himself Tian Dasheng or "Great Heavenly Sage" 天大圣. In less than a month, the rebels occupied 19 counties along the shores of Dongting Lake. This ambitious bid for power swiftly came to the attention of Kong, and soon these 2 large rebel armies clashed in battle. 

In 1130, Kong Yanzhou manage to drastically ruin Zhong's force, because the Zhong rebels had suddenly swelled to some hundreds of thousands it was very easy to sneak many spies and bribe collaborators from inside the Zhong camp. When Kong attacked it came both from outside and within the camp. Kong swiftly breached into Zhong Xiang's camp, captured and executed Zhong Xiang, his wife Yi, and his three sons, and then after sacking and looting across the region, drove northward and surrendered to the Jurchen- sponsored puppet state of Qi to the north. Despite a momentary rise, Zhong Xiang's dream, along with himself and much of his family was ripped to shreds. 

CRUSHING & REBIRTH UNDER YANG YAO

There is also a factor that Yang Yao might have been quite young when he took over the mantle of the Dongting rebels. At the time he was the youngest of Zhong Xiang's rebel generals: from peasant birth, his original name is Tai 太, however in the local dialect, the youth were called Yao 幺, and Yang Yao- as a moniker is something akin to "Yang the Kid."

The surviving rebels, mostly consisting of Zhong Xiang's general Yang Yao fled west and joined forces with Zhong Xiang's surviving son Zhong Ziyi. However even though military leadership was largely consolidated again under Yang Yao, trouble again came to the region, this time from the resurrected Song court itself to the east. Yang Yao would mold the survivors into an unmatched riverine pirate force.

Mani on a hanging scroll, c. 14th/15th century. Chinese style. Mancheanism in China was called 明教 Mingjiang- or "Enlightened Doctrine" alternatively "Enlightened Faith"

Despite being thrusted into the position of leadership, Yang Yao's orders were very tall, right on the heel of Zhong Xiang's defeat, the Song court appointed Cheng Changyu as governor of the region responsible for suppressing all rebel bandits. Cheng was a cunning diplomat and was able to quickly rip apart the other commanders in the region. One general Yang Hua was persuaded to surrender, another, Yang Guang was assassinated by his bribed subordinates- faced with the Song armies closing in ever more around his territories, Yang Yao staunchly refused surrender and assumed sole command of the Dongting rebels declaring himself himself Dasheng Tianwang (lit. "Great Sage Heavenly King") 大圣天王 with Zhong Xiang's surviving son Zhong Ziyi as crown prince and Huang Cheng as his adviser. What followed was both unexpected and lopsided.

Yang Yao proved himself an exceptional organizer of labor and taskmaster. In order to counter the inevitable Song invasion, Yang Yao and his followers built 30 massive tower ships ^ which was multiple stories tall and were well armored. They would be powered by long oars- rendering them unable to sail in shallow waters. Despite these limitations, within the core areas around Dongting lake and Yangtze river they would be bigger than any ship that the Song could throw against them. Whatever these tower ships lacked, they would be supplemented with hundreds of amphibious Sea Eel Ships large and small that acted with great initiative and cooperated with the floating juggernauts. 

Music: In Revel, We Find Pain

THE PIRATE KINGDOM

Dongting had been a vital economic and cultural region since Spring and Autumn era and was the heartland of the kingdom of Chu. The name itself actually means "Cavern Court" because the locals believed that there is a large cavern palace under the lake surface where a dragon resides and blesses the locals with rain.

According to "Record of Yang Mo (Yang Yao)'s Deeds" 杨么事迹, Yang Yao was able to discover a precious engineering treatise by a Song naval supervisor named Gao Xuan, which provided detailed blueprint of cutting edge paddleboats, and he was able to swiftly construct eight such large ships and also equip them with variety of explosives. Fishermen from Dongting Lake supported the rebels and helped them build hundreds of boats and watercrafts. 

With this arrangement, Yang Yao defeated Cheng Changyu multiple times in battle and the middle lap of the Yangtze became firmly under Yang Yao's control. In order to ingratiate himself to nearby townships, he extensively exported silk and silkworm trade flourished. In time the Dongting pirates was supported not only from within but by a network of nearby fellow traveler townships as well which provided them food and other traded goods. The pirates became such a problem that the Song named them the 3rd most dangerous threat they faced, behind Qi, and Jin. Emperor Gaozong of Song even personally issued an edict to recruit Yang Yao, but was rejected by Yang Yao.

Yang Yao's Domain (Blue): Dongting (lit. "Cavern Court") Lake is the central lynchpin of the Yangtze river. A cursory look at southern China will immediately reveal that much of it are mountainous and represent difficult terrain for movement of land armies. By stark contrast the Yangtze river at its center acted as a watery highway. 

Simply put: anyone who controlled the Yangtze river and its hinterlands can easily control the whole south, and key large lake hubs (such as Dongting and Poyang) allowed massive fleets to be built and acted as naval staging points. It was for exactly these reasons that in much of Chinese history southern Chinese kingdoms often preferred to be naval powers and that even as late as the rising of the Ming dynasty the likes of Zhu Yuangzhang (Ming's Hongwu Emperor) was still fighting rivals to the death for large lakes like the Poyang.

A closeup of the Dongting lake itself and its close proximity to the Yangtze river at large. From the great lake itself there exists several entranced into the Yangze river's flow.

By 1133, Yue Fei had eliminated other powerful rebels bordering the Dongting region, powerful rebel armies, such as those of Cao Cheng and Zhang Yong which once numbered some 100,000 were repeatedly defeated, and then offered total amnesty should they surrender. This generous offer of clemency- paired with Yue Fei's army's strict discipline that forbade any of its soldiery from plundering and looting the locals quickly convinced both Cao Cheng and Zhang Yong to surrender along with their army. Because of such measures, nearly all of the surrendered soldiers promptly were then enrolled into Yue Fei's army's ranks, ballooning his army to over 24,000. Although this ensured Yue Fei's reputation as a decisive but also merciful commander, in that same year, the Song commander assigned to put down the Dongting pirates were far far more vicious and without a shred of mercy.

In June 1133, the Song court assigned general Wang Xi as the new military governor of these southern regions, consisting mostly of the hinterlands on the 2 banks of the Yangtze river. This time the Song came with decisive force, Wang Xi boasted one of the larger armies of the court and he arrived with 10,000 of his elite "Shenwu Vanguards" (Shenwu means "Divine Martial" or "Divine Warriors" and were often the designation of crack imperial troops in both Tang and Song dynasties) in an invasion force totaling around 50,000 soldiers to encircle and completely destroy Yang Yao and his pirate force. Instead, unknowingly, they signed to their own death warrant.

CRUSHING OF THE IMPERIAL DIVISIONS - BATTLE OF YANGWU KUO 

Yang Yao completely annihilated the imperial guards. Thorough ambushes and maneuver the 10,000 Song naval forces led by Cui Zeng and Wu Quan were destroyed in the water. Having overmatched their watery contenders, Yang Yao then turned his full force on Wang Xi's main force and the imperial vanguards on land. 

Despite their illustrious designation, it was here that Wang Xi's army proved itself to be a paper tiger. Previously against the Jurchens they had conducted themselves poorly and often retreated without fighting against Jin forays, their discipline were also overall very poor. 

Yang Yao was able to apply severe pressure on this army and soon, unable to contend on land and totally unable to contend on waters what so ever, Wang Xi's survivors were forced to pull back in humiliation. They did not depart in good order however, the combination of poor leadership, poor discipline, and recent humiliation made them turn on the local populace. The army indiscriminately "plundered and butchered countless local people" until the locals loathed them so much that they "wanted to eat their flesh but could not." 

After this battle, Wang Xi's remaining 15,000 of the deeply humiliated army was transferred to Han Shizhong in the east. Cheng Changyu (from the earlier attempt to wrangle the region) was also transferred away to serve in the court directly. The Dongting for all intents and purposes, was left a devastated but defiant outlaw kingdom.

THE PRECARIOUS TIPPING POINT: 1134

With such treatment one can hardly not expect what Yang Yao did next. In 1133- well covered in our last chapter, the large Jurchen puppet state of Qi which controlled much of the central plains attacked southward and captured the strategic Song fortress of Xiangyang. Song in turn dispatched a massive joint army more than 100,000 soldiers to recapture the region. Qi swiftly requested aid from their patrons and the Jurchens dispatched some elite 20,000 cavalry and joined Qi on the field completely crushing the Song army sending the broken Song columns scurrying south. 

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.

The loss was calamitous, Xiangyang was not only a key nearly impregnable fortress along the Han river- and flows directly into the Yangtze, a critical lynchpin to the south. Whoever possessed it has great initiative as a staging ground for further invasion either north or south. And it was at this time Qi concluded an alliance with Yang Yao to jointly invade Song in a land and water invasion east toward the Southern Song capital of Hangzhou. 

Geopolitically, Xiangyang cuts right into the middle of the Yangtze river, and can with a stroke, completely sever Song control of the south right at its center (Dongting) and provided unimpeded reinforcement from Qi to Dongting lake. 

At this time Yang Yao's fleet had reached the aforementioned hundreds of ships and the desperate Song court regarded both Qi and Yang Yao as existential threats. Against this combined enemy, Song deployed Yue Fei to restabilize the region. 

The Song was thoroughly shaken by their complete reversal of fortune, Yue Fei was dispatched immediately with low provisions and quickly rejoined many columns that survived the defeat from last year. The general then quickly promoted several of the surviving commanders to be his top subordinate generals. To greatly incentivize victory, the Song court promised Yue Fei and several of his generals nobility and lucrative promotions if they win.

Yue Fei's response was swift, reasoning that of the 2 invaders the Qi land army is more dangerous- he chose to attack Qi first with the goal of recapturing the lynchpin city of Xiangyang, and also capture several key cities on the Dabie Mountains range to Xiangyang's east- which had also been lost to the Qi. 

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 choice to attack north also is somewhat emblematic of a key weakness of his own army he know well- that nearly all of his army at this point (original core from Henan heartlands and the north, pardoned outlaws from rebel bandit Cao Cheng and Yang Yong's surrendered army, and other Song imperial survivors from 1133's ordeal) were overwhelmingly northerners and completely lacked fighting experience in riverine conditions. 

Reasoning that he has a far better chance dealing with an enemy he can be more evenly matched, on April 1134 Yue Fei set out with rather low rations. Despite these logistic limitations, Yue Fei rapidly captured several cities along the Dabie Mountain range, then he moved on to Xiangyang and captured it as well. 

Song Restabilized in 1134: the center and the key gate of the south was recovered by Yue Fei. Meanwhile, in the west, 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. The Jin collapse, in all some tens of thousands of Jin soldiers died. With the contact line along the Song- Qi border secured, Yang Yao's forced become completely isolated.

YUE FEI'S DONGTING CAMPAIGN

It is here that our intro teaser began. By the spring of 1135 although news had reached back to Dongting regarding to their co-conspirator's failures in the north, circumstances were still by no means untenable for them. Yue Fei arrived in early April of 1135 and immediately found an extremely entrenched domain- brimming with paddleboat patrol fleets and at many treacherous twist and turn of forking stream and inlets, well fortified water forts. Despite these staggering odds which the Song had failed for four years to suppress, he would pacify the rebellion in just 3 months.

In February of that year, Yue Fei met his patron Emperor Gaozong who appointed him governor of several towns and the overall commander of the Shenwu army of this region, rewarding him large amount of cash and 5,000 pieces of silk with the command for him to suppress Yang Yao. The next month, Yue Fei sat out. At this time, the Song still appointed civil officials to supervise the army and its generals, and Gaozong assigned Zhang Jun to evaluate Yue Fei's performance. 

Chancellor Zhang Jun- the general would be Yue Fei's most important sponsors. A masterful anti- insurgency general Zhang gained great favor and privileges when he and his army personally saved Gaozong during his desperate flight to board the fleets with the Jurchens hot on heels. Thereafter Zhang was appointed the governor of Zhejiang region and all generals subordinated to his oversight. By this point exorbitantly rewarded by the emperor in titles and privileges, Zhang Jun had a keen insight for talent and was also a clever politician. His esteem in Yue Fei lend much material and political support for Yue Fei during his northern march.

Yang Yao's fleet had became a major amphibious threat at this time: consisting of some 50,000- 60,000 combat troops and hundreds of Sea Eel Ships large and small, with 30 Tower Ships. By this time the rebels- consisting both of committed rebels as well as their hundred of thousands of their families and nearby communities who have rallied for common protection have perfected the core strategy of “farming on land and fighting on water” 陆耕水战.

During spring and summer, when the water level of the lake rose and the Song army nearby was unable to fight them on water, they cultivated the fields. In autumn and winter, when the water level receded and enemy armies often launched offensives, they would conduct extensive raids and guerrilla warfare against the Song army. Because of their amphibious nature, if they government forces struck on land they would slip away through water, if attacked by water they would go on shore.

THE WATERY NOOSE

Having learned of how the rebels conducted their warfare, Yue Fei did the unexpected, and chose to instead attack during spring and summer. In order the prevent the rebel's cultivation of fields, Yue dispatched troops and blocked all the main roads that would leave from these domains and initiated a blockade of trade and food supplies that would come into the region. 

The second part of his stratagem was far more insidious, having controlled the conditions, Yue Fei began to lean onto the human factors- and either began to capture or generously bribe the rebels and their commanders and use them as local guides. For this reason, Yue Fei asked Zhang Jun to appoint Tian Ming, the former sub commander of Yang Yao’s army who had surrendered earlier, as an honored official of the heartland of the region- a very coveted cushy job that had little responsibility in administrative affairs, but would regularly receive an exorbitant salary as an example that: "so that those who had corrected their mistakes can be comforted."

Another commander, Yang Hua- who had originally served Yang Yao's predecessor Zhong Xiang and left the rebels and surrendered, and at this time serving as the honored governor of another nearby district was brought back and tried to convince many of his old fellow soldiers to surrender and overthrow Yang Yao. Such demonstrations quickly had a rippling effect along the rebel ranks. When Huang Zuo, the main advisor and right hand man of Yang Yao, heard that Yue's army was coming to suppress them, he said to his subordinates: "I heard that Yue's orders are as strong as a mountain, and we can't play with them. If we fight him, we will never survive. It's better to surrender quickly. Yue is a sincere man and will treat us well." 

Not only did Yue Fei promised general amnesty and forgiveness of all low level ranks, but any high rank rebels who surrendered would be given elevations equivalent to nobles and governors, with stipends and mansions undreamed of.

So he led his troops to Yue Fei to surrender. Yue Fei recommended him as a seventh-rank official and a minister of the cabinet, and rode personally alone to Huang Zuo's camp to "inquire about the situation". On April 14, Huang Zuo led his troops to break through the water stronghold of Zhou Lun, a close confidant of Huang Cheng, a counselor of Yang Yao's army, and captured and surrendered nine rebel leaders, and burned down the entire water stronghold. Yue Fei immediately promoted Huang Zuo with his promised rewards. 

In the first two months, Yue Fei released prisoners and accepted surrenders several times, but rarely deployed troops. 

However even with these gains, for 2 months, due to his frequent release of captured prisoners and lack of significant conquests some of his overseers were unimpressed and petitioned for Zhang Jun to remove Yue Fei from command. Zhang Jun staunchly rebuffed the petition, but behind his stance he still did not comprehend Yue Fei's plans. At this time Emperor Gaozong was becoming impatient and summoned Zhang Jun for discussion about an autumn defense in fear of another joined Jin- Qi invasion from the north. Zhang Jun too saw that Yue Fei was still uncommitted despite on dangerous terrain and with no seeming chance of a victory, so he summoned Yue Fei personally for discussion. 

During the discussion Yue Fei pointed out that the pirates are unmatched on water and even if the Song troops attacked with full strength the chances are slim to secure a victory. However with his current arrangement of bribed local commanders, isolation of the Yang Yao inner circle, the general shortage of food supply over all, the daily defection among the Yang Yao ranks, circumstances are far more certain and can be concluded within 10 days. After this conversation, Yue arrived to the frontline camps on May 25 and 26 and arrayed the Song fleet. 

As soon as Yue Fei arrived in force, on June 2, he first forced Yang Qin, a fierce general of Yang Yao's army who had been in communication to surrender by Huang Zuo for a long time, to finally surrender. Yang Qin led his entire camp of more than 3,000 soldiers, including the old and young, a total of more than 10,000 people, to surrender. Yue's army obtained more than 400 large and small boats, more than 500 cattle, and more than 40 horses. Yue Fei personally went to the east of Dingzhou to inspect the surrender, and immediately reported to Zhang Jun to confer the title of officialdom on Yang Qin. He also gave Yang Qin the golden belt and battle robe bestowed by Song Gaozong- designating him a high noble, and sent his deputy Wang Gui to host a banquet. Yang Qin was treated with courtesy, and he persuaded Quan Cong, Liu Shen and other commanders to surrender to Yue Fei as well. 

As for any of Yang Yao's troops that refused to surrender, Yang Qin suggested to Yue Fei to block the lake with floating grass bundles to jam up the paddlewheel of ships with a draft of ten feet from moving. Yue Fei also ordered the use of giant rafts to block the various ports on the lake and sent small raiding boats to lure out Yang Yao's main fighting force. Yang Yao, Zhong Xiang's son Zhong Ziyi and others went to fight, but the wheels of their boats predictably became entangled in weeds and could not maneuver. 

Yue Fei then commanded Niu Gao, Fu Xuan and other generals to attack. Yang Yao attempted to break out, but was intercepted by the giant rafts in the various ports. Chen Tang, the commander of Yang Yao's army, and others- when completely cornered surrendered on Zhong Ziyi's flagship. Yang Yao was killed and beheaded. Romanticized versions had him scream "Master" his old address to Zhong Xiang- in his dying breath. Zhong Ziyi leapt out from the fray and swam back to his own water fort, but was also captured by Huang Cheng. 

A loyal berserker, ferocious and relentless as an ox. Niu Gao 牛皋- one of Yue Fei's best generals, originally a sub commander of the Song northern expedition that was defeated on the field by the Jin in 1133, he was then accepted into Yue Fei's army's ranks, rising rapidly within 1 year in the Xiangyang campaign (1st Northern expedition) to successfully lead independent detachments which either secured vital flanks or coordinated with Yue Fei in simultaneously striking at foes from different points. Yue Fei's appreciation for Niu is exemplified by the great mission- based autonomy which was always vested in him. His last name of Niu 牛 literally means "Ox."

Most of the other key pirate leaders surrendered after this ordeal. The remaining water forts, except for a water fort of Xia Cheng, the commander of the Sanya Infantry Division of Yang Yao's army, were also successively destroyed or recruited within ten days . 

It took around 14 or 15 days from the time Yue Fei personally arrived at the front to the time when Xia Cheng's camp was almost destroyed and had to surrender. Another 4~ 5 days from when Huang Cheng and others escorted the captured Zhong Ziyi to surrender. Technically this slightly exceeded the time limit Yue Fei had promised earlier, but Zhang Jun was so impressed that Yue Fei had annihilated the core force of the pirates that this was not a problem.

As for the more than hundreds of thousands of the family members of the surviving and surrendered men and women of Yang Yao's rebel forces, Yue Fei issued official certificates to these more than 27,000 families- most of them elderly, weak and young, to return to their fields with a a certain amount of rice and grain. 

Those who had "no place to go" were sent to a nearby prefecture, where they were given refugeed abandoned farmlands and made tend those fields as farmers. Yue Fei's own pacification were striking compared to his predecessors. Where as previous Song operations- especially under the likes of Wang Xi inflicted indiscriminate brutality upon the local citizenry, and thereby significantly bolster the credibility and ranks of of Yang Yao and his rebels, also paired with repeated Song fails on land and water. Yue Fei- who long realized a key weakness of his own force- that they are almost entirely composed of northern troops with none existent experience in naval combat, opted for using the pirates against pirates, but also amnesty and clemency for nearly all. Instead he became a solution so many desperately needed. For the rest, of the tens of thousands of Yao Yang's riverine rebels, Yue Fei incorporated them into his own army- becoming the crack troops of the Yue Family Army's new naval arm. 

Japanese woodblock print depicting several renowned legendary 108 outlaws of Song Jiang in the classic novel the "Water Margin." Yang Yao actually has a rather favorable reputation in historiography and would be seen by later generations with some distinct sympathy. Because his predecessor had championed for radical equality and distribution of wealth, and Yang Yao taking over the reins of leadership after some of the worst villains had ravaged the local populace and offered protection for them, his reputation has had a sharp rehabilitation during early communist China. Where for a time by comparison Yue Fei was seen in a more unfavorable light due to the fact he too from the rebel's perspective would be a running dog for an abusive Song regime and was a class traitor to locals because he grew up as a poor tenant farmer. Such controversies are almost completely harmonized today with Yue Fei retaining his revered remembrance.

Foresight: the paddleboat fleet would be a crucial arm of the Song defensive line between the Song and Jin borders in the future. Though Chinese dynasties had already been using them before this age, by the time of the Southern they became a mobile patrol along the whole stretch of the Huai river. Their efficacy was so vital to the Song's defense (and to the chagrin of both Jurchens and Mongols) that both preferred to skirt around than challenge the Song on water. A generation later after this time, when Jin tried to invade the south in 1161 with its navy it was this branch of Song navy under Yue Fei's former subcommander Li Bao 李宝 that dealt a crushing blow to the Jin navy.

The remedy extends into social arena as well, in paving the path for locals to change from feral defenders to farmers and traders again along this route. Perhaps it speaks well to Yue Fei's effort that after Yang Yao's rebellion, there would be no rebellion of similar scale in this area. By the time the definitive account of Yang Yao's rebellion "Record of Yang Mo (Yang Yao)'s Deeds" 杨么事迹 was written in 1182, some nearly 5 decades later, prosperity and peace had returned to these riverlands again, by then Yue Fei's memory was well cherished. From this point onward the southern interior of the Song was truly secured and Yue Fei was able to entirely focus on the march north. 

Music: Mighty Descent

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