THE SUNG DYNASTY AND ITS ENEMIES.

By Chris Peers.
Being interested in what the uncharitable might call slightly obscure subjects, I have often found in
the past that gaming projects have failed to get off the ground properly for lack of the right figures,
especially in my preferred 25/28mm scale !o people could be forgiven for thinking that I had some
sort of sinister influence over the output of "he #ssault $roup, who have come up with at least
three major releases in the past year of figures which I happen to be interested in % &acific 'orld
'ar II, #(tecs, and now medieval )hinese % the latter to be followed, it seems, by the *ongols and
all their other #siatic enemies to complement the !amurai who are already out #ctually I don+t
have any say at all in what they do, but it is a nice change to see that somebody else is interested in
the same things % and, it seems, has taken the trouble to research the subject thoroughly, which
unfortunately has not always happened with )hinese ranges in the past, especially in 25mm In fact
it is the prospect of this whole medieval ,ar -astern range that has inspired me to return to this
subject after an interval of several years 'ith its tremendous diversity of e.otic troop%types the
whole period obviously has a lot to offer, whether you are thinking in terms of a skirmish game or a
full%scale clash of armies "he heavily armoured cavalry of the /hitans and "anguts0 the
disciplined and ruthless *ongols0 the colourful and individualistic 1apanese0 the elephant armies of
!outh%east #sia0 and the ferocious 2dare%to%die3 detachments and bi(arre gunpowder weapons of
)hina % these are just a few of the possibilities
4bviously the subject is just asking to be gamed, but how e.actly5 *ost people are probably going
to be thinking in terms of a full%si(ed army for 6B*, 'arhammer, or whatever their favourite rules
happen to be, but this is by no means the only option I have just worked out a 577 point 6B*
!ung )hinese army 89ist :; in Book <=, which would re>uire about <<7 figures0 this is a si(eable
investment in 28mm, and while I am sure the manufacturers would like me to urge everyone to buy
this amount of metal, it is probably not a realistic initial purchase for anyone but the keenest 6B*
player, especially when you consider that there is inevitably going to be a temptation to collect
several opposing forces *y own answer is to develop my own set of medieval ?large skirmish?
rules, by which I mean that they will cope with forces of up to ;77 or so a side, while still allowing
scope for individual combat, the role of leaders and champions, etc "here is still some work to be
done on this, but at least I can start painting with some confidence that my figures will really see
the tabletop one day@
But what I want to do here is take a general look at the army which happens to be the subject of
"he #ssault $roupAs first release % the much maligned !ung, who seem 8rather unjustly= to be a
byword for military failure as far as )hinese dynasties are concerned #ctually this can be a very
effective wargames army, and its unusual pyrotechnic weapons especially can make it an
interesting one to play with ,urthermore its real%life prototype was by no means a total failure, as
we shall see 'hat a !ung army actually consists of in terms of troop types will probably be easy
enough to find out from whatever set of army lists you care to use 8which is not to say that I
necessarily endorse every list which has ever been produced0 some >uite recent ones still canAt seem
to shake off the tendency to ignore the differences between dynasties and give everybody rocket
launchers or something= But having got your army, who can it fight5 It is best known as an
unsuccessful opponent of the *ongols, but its earlier history % while not e.actly an unbroken
catalogue of victories % is more inspiring than it is usually given credit for #fter all, the dynasty did
;
manage to survive for more than <77 years, from its foundation in B:7 #6 until the death of its last
-mperor and the loss of the last remnants of its territory to /ubilai /han in ;2CB In its prime !ung
)hina was probably the wealthiest and most populous state on earth, and it presided over what has
often been regarded as an early industrial and technological revolution It certainly was in some
ways a very modern%seeming society % culturally refined, centralised, and dedicated to business and
scholarship rather than bloody feats of arms &erhaps for that reason its achievements were not of
the sort which usually impress the military historian Dnless, that is, we choose to regard the
dynasty+s stubborn endurance under centuries of battering from its more warlike neighbours as an
achievement in itself
Before the arrival of their last and most deadly enemies, the *ongols, the !ung had been embroiled
for more than two centuries with three particularly dangerous foes on their northern and north%
western frontiers "hese were the /hitan % a *ongolian people who had established their 9iao
dynasty in the region of what is now &eking % the "angut Esi%Esia of the north%west, and the
1urchen from *anchuria, who overthrew their 9iao overlords early in the ;2
th
century #ll these
peoples were strongly influenced by )entral #sian nomad traditions, and they relied on cavalry %
both heavily and lightly armoured % to a far greater e.tent than did the !ung It is worth mentioning,
though, that they all used large numbers of )hinese infantry as allies or au.iliaries, so your !ung
figures will come in useful for the dynastyAs enemies as well "he 9iao, Esi%Esia and 1urchen are
all e.tremely interesting armies to play with, and I hope to have more to say about wargaming with
them in a later article
"he 'ars of Dnification
"he greatest military achievements of the !ung came right at the beginning of the period, when
they established their dynasty and reunified the empire in a series of campaigns which knocked out
their )hinese rivals one by one In B:7 )hao /Auang%yin, an officer of the palace guard in the
relatively minor state of )hao, staged a coup and proclaimed his own regime % the !ung Ee then
embarked on an e.traordinary series of con>uests, with the aim of subduing the various kingdoms
among whom )hina had been divided since the collapse of the "Aang in B7C Eis strategy was to
pick off the weakest of his opponents first, and in this he was helped by the chronic hostility which
prevented them from forming an alliance against him, or even coming to each otherAs aid when the
real threat from the !ung was finally understood )hing%nan and )hAu, on the middle Fangt(e, fell
first, followed by !hu in the western region of !(echwan !hu was initially overrun in only GG days,
though a subse>uent popular uprising took five years to suppress, with a series of major battles
being fought between the !ung army and the rebels on the plain around )hengtu
"he ne.t victim was the !outhern Ean in the far south, a populous state whose armies % apart from
outnumbering the !ung % were noted for their use of war elephants, each of which was said to be
manned 8or perhaps escorted= by ten men )hao /Auang%yinAs men dealt with the elephants with a
barrage of crossbow bolts, and by BC; the Ean were incorporated into his growing empire ,or the
ne.t campaign, against the !outhern "Aang, the !ung built the first ever bridge of boats across the
mighty Fangt(e Hiver "his was a meticulously planned operation, involving months of
reconnaissance work to map the river currents, and was actually carried out in only three days,
using several thousand boats lashed together "he state of 'u%Fueh, which had foolishly helped
the !ung against the !outhern "Aang, then fell without much resistance, leaving only the Iorthern
Ean in the far north holding out I feel that this series of wars would be the ideal background for a
semi%historical campaign, with players taking on the roles of the rulers of the individual states 'e
could either play it ?straight?, recreating the actual historical situation, or in the interests of a
balanced game we might conveniently ignore the actual differences in strength between the states,
2
and give each of the si. main contenders % !ung, Iorthern Ean, !hu, !outhern Ean, !outhern "Aang
and 'u%Fueh % an e>ual chance at becoming the ?!on of Eeaven?
"he /hitan
But the !ung army was soon to be tested against more formidable foes "rouble with the /hitan
was now inevitable, because they were actively supporting the Iorthern Ean as a potential buffer
state against a newly united )hina ,urthermore they themselves controlled an area known as the
?si.teen districts? which had once been part of the "Aang empire, and which the !ung founder had
vowed to recover In BCB the new -mperor "ai%tsung decisively crushed the Ean, defeating several
9iao e.peditionary forces in the process But he then went on to disregard all advice and lead his
tired and overstretched army straight into the si.teen districts "he /hitan cavalry smashed the
invaders at the battle of the /ao%liang Hiver, and the rival powers settled down to a generation of
indecisive frontier wars
"hen in ;77G the 9iao launched a massive invasion of !ung territory "hey besieged the frontier
stronghold of Fing%chou, but failed to take it as >uickly as they had planned, so bypassed it and
marched on as far as the mouth of the Fellow Hiver at !han%yuan, where the !ung -mperor )heng%
tsung was waiting with his army Both sides prepared for a decisive battle, but in the preliminary
skirmishing the 9iao commander was killed by one of the specially trained crossbow marksmen
operating on the !ung side Eis officers, worried about the threat to their communications from
!ung armies manoeuvring on both flanks and the unsubdued garrison of Fing%chou, retreated
&eace was made, and a sometimes uneasy co%e.istence established with the /hitan for another
century "his campaign illustrates two of the most characteristic features of !ung warfare % the
importance of fortified towns, and the role played by picked troops and special weapons
"he 2Fang%ping3 #rmy
6uring the period of the /hitan wars the !ung army grew from about <C5,777 strong to more than
one and a >uarter million, but its effectiveness was less than these huge numbers might suggest In
fact )hao /Auang%yin had deliberately downgraded its status and reduced the authority of its
commanders, conscious of the role that over%mighty warlords had played in the downfall of the
"Aang "he army was recruited mainly according to what was known as the 2yang%ping3 system0 the
rank and file were basically professionals, drawn from the poorer elements of society and serving
for pay and rations "he problem was that with the economy booming and the social status of the
military so low, those enlisting tended to be criminals, bandits and similar social misfits % not too
different perhaps from 'ellington+s 2scum of the earth3, but without a respected officer class to
keep them in line
In fact the army came to be seen as a sort of job creation scheme, with the additional role of
keeping these desperate characters out of trouble *ost of the officers were likewise drawn from
the lower classes, as no respectable aristocrat or educated man would be seen dead in the company
of soldiers if he could help it #nd what was more, they were subject to close and humiliating
control by civilian officials, reporting to emperors who were obsessed with the risk of military
coups )orruption was naturally rife, pay was routinely embe((led, and although the troops were
often individually skilled and could display a sort of desperate courage, discipline was not a strong
point Iot surprisingly, !ung armies followed a long and distinguished )hinese tradition by relying
heavily on what we might call ?dirty tricks? !ometimes these involved blatant deceit0 the late !ung
writer )hang Fu admits in his commentary on !un "(u to employing e.pendable agents to
incriminate enemy officers, or even to propose a peace treaty in order to put the enemy off his
<
guard before he attacked
"he 6B* lists are clearly right to classify !ung troops 8other than guard units= as Irregular "his
does not mean that they would necessarily look irregular, though "he usual wargamersA assumption
is that because !ung soldiers were drawn from the lower classes they would mostly have worn an
assortment of black, grey or similar dull colours &ersonally I think this is unlikely ,or one thing,
the often%>uoted statutes regulating which groups could wear which colours actually date from the
"Aang dynasty, and were pretty well a dead letter by the time of the !ung #part from which, as
long%service regulars the troops would have been e>uipped by the state, and must surely have been
dressed in a distinctive way Hed would probably have been the predominant colour in most casesJ
it had been associated with )hinese armies since the 'arring !tates, and was also traditionally the
colour of fire, the ruling element of the !ung dynasty 8"hough the fact that the army of a ;<
th
century warlord, 9i )hAuan, was known as the ?Hed 1ackets? implies that not all )hinese armies
were routinely uniformed in this colour= &arado.ically, the palace guard troops, who were allowed
to wear long hair and beards as an indication of their military status, might well have looked
scruffier and more ?irregular? than the ordinary ?line? units
"hroughout the period both infantry and cavalry used a spectacular variety of spears and polearms,
which may not have been much more effective in combat than more conventional spears, but
certainly enhance the appearance of a wargames army )omposite bows were also in use, but the
characteristic missile weapon of the !ung infantry was the crossbow "his was regarded as a
decisive weapon when used en masse, though the difficulty of reloading in a hurry made it less
suitable for close >uarters skirmishing In pitched battles the crossbowmen kept up a continuous
2fire3 by deploying in three ranks, alternately advancing to shoot and retiring to reload Hepeating
crossbows were apparently in use by the ;;
th
century #6, but were not common in !ung armies
before the ;<
th
century # te.t dating from ;25B mentions a 2bo. and tube crossbow3, presumably
referring to the maga(ine which held the bolts for a repeater Its advantages included not only its
higher rate of fire, but the fact that it could be easily reloaded even in pitch darkness simply by
operating a lever $ood cavalry were scarce, mainly because the old horse%breeding areas of the
north remained in the hands of the barbarians, but they seem to have been well e>uipped and well
armoured, fighting with a similar range of weapons to the infantry % including on occasion fire%
lances, which must have re>uired the riders to e.ercise considerable control over their horses
!ung 2!pecial ,orces3
In the past, !ung armies % and all too often )hinese armies in general % have usually been treated by
wargamers as basically defensive forces, lining up masses of cheap missilemen along their own
table edge and blasting away at anyone who came near "he !ung are admittedly a good choice for
this tactic, as their cheapness in points and lack of cavalry means that you can have an awful lot of
crossbowmen and archers But the trouble with this style of play is that not only is it unrealistic, it
is also rather boring In fact real life )hinese tactics were generally geared to the offensive, and the
!ung were no e.ception to this Eowever, not having enough of the heavily armoured aristocratic
horsemen who formed the cutting edge of earlier dynasties+ armies, they relied more heavily on
new technology, and also on picked infantry units
Dnlike medieval )hristian or *uslim societies the !ung did not regard fighting as the function of a
social elite, so they were less hampered by considerations of honour and prestige when selecting
men for particular missions &artly for this reason they made much greater use than their -uropean
contemporaries of detachments of picked infantrymen for spearheading attacks or for various
special missions #nother factor may have been that although the majority of the infantry were not
G
very enthusiastic, there would always have been a minority of natural fighters who made up in
ferocity for what they lacked in discipline !uch men could best be utilised by grouping them
together into 2dirty do(en3 type detachments, rather than, as most armies do, trying to use them as
I)4s to improve the overall >uality of the mass !ung guardsmen are also known to have been
trained in unarmed combat techni>ues, and often put on bo.ing demonstrations for the public
"hese techni>ues were presumably related to modern kung%fu or !haolin bo.ing, and so might have
been >uite effective in the fluid small%scale fighting for which these picked detachments were
designed
!uch ad hoc assault units, which were known in !ung times as 2!heng%ch+uan3, make ideal
subjects for a skirmish game "hey varied enormously in si(e depending on the task in hand, but
were often fairly large0 at the siege of Esiang%yang by the 1urchen in ;27C for e.ample, two !ung
generals led 577 spearmen, ;,777 crossbowmen and ;77 drummers in a surprise attack on the
enemy camp "he generals of the later *ing dynasty, who had to deal with similar huge but poorly
disciplined armies, often put themselves at the head of small picked units and used them to
spearhead assaults, and it would not be surprising if !ung commanders had done the same By their
nature such improvised forces do not lend themselves well to rigidly prescribed tables of
organisation, but our sources do give us some clues to possible unit si(es #ccording to the account
of infantry organisation given by )hang Fu, two s>uads or 2wu3, each of five men, made up a
section or 2huo3 ,ive 2huo3 comprised a 2tui3, which with a complement of 57 men can be
considered as roughly e>uivalent to a platoon "he s>uads described in this source were further
subdivided into a 2pair3 and a 2trio3, which suggests that they might have contained a mi. of
weapons % perhaps two spears or halberds and three crossbows, or the other way round 8#nother
!ung writer is emphatic that crossbows should not be mi.ed up with other weapons, but from the
conte.t this appears to refer to large scale formations designed for pitched battles, so it may not be
relevant to the sort of action we are considering here=
"he Esi%Esia
"he story of the !ung dynasty+s relations with its north%western neighbour, Esi%Esia, is not a happy
one Between B82 and ;;;B the two dynasties fought seven wars 8not counting numerous minor
frontier incidents=, the main result of which was to weaken the !ung and make them vulnerable to
their other enemies #dmittedly the "anguts did occupy what had once been the prime horse
breeding region of "Aang )hina, but they were generally content to leave the )hinese alone unless
provoked Eowever the !ung, unwilling to accept the permanent loss of any ground which had
belonged to their predecessors, supplied constant provocation In B87 a claimant to the "angut
throne, "oba )hi%p+eng, called on the !ung for help against his rebellious vassals, leading to a
temporary )hinese occupation of the principal "angut towns, but most of the "angut nobles backed
an anti%)hinese rival, )hi%ch+ien, who eventually became the first 2-mperor3 of the Esi%Esia
dynasty "he resulting war lasted from B82 until ;77:, and saw the !ung e.pelled entirely from the
country 9ike this one, the wars of ;7G7 and ;7C7 succeeded mainly in running up huge casualty
lists #fter the former conflict the Esi%Esia ruler was obliged to recognise his !ung counterpart as a
nominal overlord, though in return for this apparent moral victory the !ung agreed to pay a massive
tribute in cash, silk and tea % apart from which their official history admitted that <77,777 )hinese
troops had lost their lives 4ne problem was that in order to recapture their horse breeding territory,
the infantry%based )hinese had to carry the war into the open steppe % ideal country for the cavalry
which their opponents possessed in abundance and they did not It was also very e.pensive to keep
garrisons on this arid frontier, where the wheat and rice on which the men depended could not be
grown, but had to be imported over great distances
5
#fter the war of ;7C7 'ang #n%shih, an official in the service of -mperor !hen%tsung, made a
determined attempt to reform the armed forces Ee set up a system of locally%based 2pao%chia3
militias, to which every ten households had to contribute a man "he idea was to provide a trained
reserve for the regular army, as well as to provide a leavening of solid citi(ens with some motive
for loyalty to the dynasty Eorse breeding was also to be encouraged in suitable areas, and a
centralised ministry was set up to oversee the manufacture of armaments "he latter reform seems
to have worked, as in later wars the army was on the whole well supplied with an increasing variety
of weapons, but the militia and the horse breeding were short%lived e.periments with little
influence on future campaigns
In ;78; the !ung hatched another plan "his involved an advance on the Esi%Esia capital with
nearly <77,777 men in five converging columns, and inevitably failed to come off in the face of
communication difficulties and mutual jealousies among the commanders "he invaders succeeded
in capturing si. frontier fortresses, but once again at enormous cost in casualties "his, the bloodiest
of all the wars with Esi%Esia, dragged on for another four years, after which the !ung armies were
back where they had started Eowever we cannot just dismiss )hinese efforts as a mere catalogue
of blunders $reat things were occasionally achieved despite the difficulties, as when the /oko Ior
region, on the border with "ibet, was invaded and occupied in ;7B: "his part of the world was
incredibly remote from the )hinese bases, the local chiefs were staunchly pro%"angut, and the
altitude and climate made it e.ceptionally difficult campaigning country, even for armies which did
not chronically lack cavalry #nd yet the !ung occupation of /oko Ior was sustained in the face of
all these difficulties until after the catastrophe of ;;2C which almost destroyed the dynasty
!iege 'arfare
1ust as in contemporary -urope, sieges invariably predominated over pitched battles in the wars of
the !ung In fact )hinese techni>ues of fortification and siegecraft were e.tremely sophisticated,
making use of the latest developments in fields such as stone%throwing engines and gunpowder
technology *assive earth and stone fortifications were constructed around most towns along the
frontiers as well as the most important cities in the interior, and conse>uently % in contrast to early
medieval -urope % siege warfare focused on the taking of walled cities rather than smaller purpose%
built castles "he Esi%Esia, whose economy relied heavily on the oasis towns of the semi%desert
north%west, were just as reliant on fortified places as the )hinese !o of course were rebels within
)hina itself, so that !ung armies had to become as e.pert at attacking fortifications as at defending
them
It is not surprising that wargamers tend to neglect siege warfare in favour of pitched battles, which
are usually much faster moving and more decisive, as well as easier to stage *odel fortifications
are time%consuming to scratch build and e.pensive to buy, as well as being hard to transport and a
nightmare to store, and the daily grind of siege work can seem unappealing as a game Fet we can
hardly claim to be staging an accurate representation of !ung warfare if we ignore sieges
altogether 4ne possible way out of the dilemma would be to play a small portion of the action in a
siege as a skirmish game % perhaps a sortie to destroy an engine which is threatening the walls, a
fight around a breach or broken gate, or an attempt by a picked unit to establish a foothold on top of
a section of wall
$unpowder 'eapons
4ne of the most interesting aspects of the !ung army is of course its use of gunpowder technology
By the middle of the ;;
th
century e.plosive and incendiary projectiles had become common in the
:
arsenals of )hina "he !ung was the first native dynasty to deploy them in large numbers, but there
is evidence that some neighbouring states % notably Esi%Esia % ac>uired some such devices at
around the same time, and the 1urchen adopted them with enthusiasm after their con>uest of north
)hina #t first they were employed mainly in sieges, and took the form of flamethrowers, mines
and e.plosive bombs hurled by rope%powered artillery 8the famous rocket launchers did not make
an appearance until after the end of the !ung dynasty= *ore interesting from the point of view of
small%scale infantry combat, however, was the fire%lance "here is some evidence that this was a
genuine 2secret weapon3 in early !ung times It does not appear in any of the military manuals until
the end of the ;2
th
century, but a painted banner from "un%huang, which appears to be reliably
dated to the ;7
th
century, depicts a bunch of demons using these weapons 8along with what look
like e.plosive hand%hurled grenades= in an attempt to distract the Buddha from his meditation@ "un%
huang was then in "angut territory, but as all the known e.periments with gunpowder to date had
been occurring in )hina proper, the weapons 8or at least the technology= are likely to have been
imported from the !ung or their immediate predecessors, rather than developed locally 4bviously,
if !ung policy was to keep such devices secret, it had failed spectacularly almost from the start In
later years they were particularly associated with the followers of some rebels or independent
warlords, such as 9i )hAuanAs ?Hed 1ackets?, who at various times fought for both the !ung and the
*ongols
,ire%lances came in numerous different versions, often with pictures>ue names like the ?pear%
flower spear? or the ?enemy%e.terminating yin%yang shovel?, but were all basically similar in
design "hey consisted of a spear shaft 8usually but not always with a blade on the end= combined
with a sort of firework which shot out flames, smoke, and sometimes small projectiles "hey were
ideally suited to surprise attacks and similar 2special forces operations3 because of their portability
and their psychological impact, especially against opponents who were not familiar with them
'hat is more, although not really a missile weapon, a fire%lance must have significantly increased
the reach of its wielder "he 2flying fire spears3 used by the 1urchen against the *ongols at
/aifeng in ;2<2 allegedly shot flames for more than ten paces, although this might be an
e.aggeration % a later Fuan source gives a range of about half this for a very similar weapon By
about ;;C7 another fiendish variant on this device was in useJ the 2yen ch+iang3 or 2smoke lance3,
which discharged to.ic or irritating smoke "o judge from illustrations this weapon was not fitted
with a spearhead, which suggests that the user was not e.pected to hold onto it for long once it was
lit "his is understandable, because the slightest change of wind would have had unpleasant
conse>uences, and you could hardly advance >uickly with it without running into your own gas
cloud -ven the !ung seem to have stopped short of inventing gas masks@
"here are a few ideas here which might be useful when devising rules for fire%lances in skirmish
games *y preferred approach is to treat most of them as close combat weapons, but with a longer
reach than ordinary spears !ome sort of morale penalty for men and animals facing them would
also be sensible0 in fact the effect of the ?smoke lance? would probably be purely psychological, in
view of the lack of any cold steel to back it up But as the gunpowder would burn itself out within a
few minutes, normal fire%lances should revert to being treated as ordinary spears after a number of
turns "hey cannot, of course, be re%lit once e.tinguished
"he 1urchen
"he catastrophe mentioned above, which brought the long struggle between !ung and Esi%Esia to
an abrupt end, was a result of war with a new power in the north%east % the 1urchen "hese rather
unsophisticated forest%dwellers had originally been vassals of the 9iao, but under their great chief
'an%yen #kuta they achieved their independence and established the )hin or 2$olden3 dynasty in
C
what had once been 9iao territory In ;;;C they made an alliance with the !ung against the 9iao,
even though the former might have been better advised to shore up the latter as a buffer against
wilder tribes like the 1urchen "he !ung then compounded diplomatic folly with military
incompetence, failing to take the enemy+s southern capital at Fen, and leaving the )hin to do most
of the fighting % which they did so successfully that they >uickly overran the former 9iao
possessions in Iorth )hina 8!ome of the /hitan aristocracy escaped to )entral #sia, where they
established the state of Kara% /hitan which lasted until ;2;;, when the *ongols 2liberated3 it= #
1urchen governor was installed in Fen, but a 9iao officer known as )hang )hueh murdered him
and attempted to defect to the !ung "he latter eventually agreed to send )hang )hueh+s head to
the new )hin -mperor, 'u%ch+i mai, but the damage was already done "he !ung had shown
themselves to be both treacherous and weak, and the ne.t move for the e.panding 1urchen empire
was only too predictable
'u%ch+i mai+s army now combined the formidable heavy cavalry of the tribal 1urchen with the
manpower and technology of north )hina, and the !ung proved to be incapable of dealing with it in
open battle "he first onslaught, in ;;2:, reached the !ung capital at /+ai%feng but failed to take it,
and the invaders agreed to be bought off with massive tribute and a host of royal hostages But in
the following year /+ai%feng fell to a second assault, and the -mperor Eui%tsung was captured "he
1urchen pressed on into the south, but a !ung fleet still controlled the Fantg(e Hiver and most of
the invaders who crossed it were cut off and destroyed 4ver the ne.t few years central )hina fell
into complete chaos Iorth of the Fellow Hiver the )hin were supreme0 south of the Fangt(e, the
authority of what now came to be known as the !outhern !ung regime was still fairly secure But
between the two great rivers 1urchen raiders, !ung forces cut off by the invasions, semi%
independent warlords and local self%defence militias all clashed constantly and indecisively with
each other
"he situation for the !ung did not improve until ;;<5, when an unusually gifted commander named
Fueh ,ei organised a counteroffensive "he 1urchen had set up a )hinese puppet state in !hantung
under an officer called 9iu Fu, who was supposed to be a buffer against such a move by the !ung,
but his troops failed to put up an effective resistance to Fueh ,ei !ung armies rapidly overran
much of the con>uered territory and established a new frontier on the Hiver Euai, about half way
between the Fangt(e and the Fellow Hiver 9iu Fu was forced into retirement, but the influence of
a vociferous peace party at the !ung court halted the offensive In ;;G; Fueh ,ei was murdered by
his political enemies, and a peace treaty was made with the )hin by which the !ung profited far
less than they could have done Iot only was all the country north of the Euai officially ceded to
the 1urchen, but the !ung -mperor agreed to accept the humiliating status of vassal of the )hin
Ieedless to say, this capitulation did not secure peace in the long run In ;;:; the )hin -mperor
Eai%ling wang % an admirer of )hinese culture, but by all accounts a bloodthirsty tyrant who was
unpopular even with his own people % crossed the Euai with an army said to have been G77,777
strong, including many )hinese troops "he !ung fell back to the Fangt(e, where they deployed
about ;27,777 men in defensive positions along the southern shore, while their superior navy
patrolled the river itself "he decisive action was fought in Iovember at "s+ai%shih, where ;8,777
!ung managed to block an attempt to force a crossing "he !ung ships attacked as the )hin crossed,
and cut off their advance units on the southern bank, who were annihilated by the defenders "his
was not >uite the epic stand of ;8,777 men against G77,777 portrayed in later )hinese legend,
because only a part of the )hin force was deployed at "s+ai%shih, but the victory was a major boost
to !ung morale "he 1urchen, on the other hand, were badly shaken Eai%ling wang was murdered
by a group of his officers % who had apparently been planning a coup even before the defeat % and
the )hin forces retired
8
"he threat to southern )hina from the 1urchen was gone for good In ;;BG the Fellow Hiver
suddenly changed its course, accompanied by catastrophic floods, which killed thousands of
)hinese farmers and permanently weakened the )hin dynasty By this time the 1urchen were losing
their old martial virtues, and their once%formidable cavalry was badly depleted in numbers "hey
were also distracted by the growing turbulence in the far north, on the *ongolian frontier !o in
;27: the !ung attempted to recover their lost lands, pushing across the Euai with ;:7,777 men But
after taking one frontier town the offensive literally bogged down, and was >uickly pushed back to
its start line Eeavy rain and flooding demoralised the men and ruined the horses+ fodder, while the
)hinese population of the Fellow Hiver plain, whom the !ung commanders had hoped would rise
in their support, remained apathetic Instead, the !ung governor of !(echwan province in the west
defected to the )hin with C7,777 soldiers In ;278 the !ung were forced to make peace, sending to
the )hin court the head of the minister whose idea the war had been "he !ung%)hin wars were not
>uite over, but they were soon to become irrelevant &robably neither side took much notice at the
time, but ;27: was the year in which the despised *ongol barbarians acclaimed a new leader %
"emujin, soon to become better known to most of the world as )hinggis /han
4ther -nemies
"he *ongol con>uest is a huge and complicated subject, best saved for future articles, but the list
of the !ung+s enemies does not end there 9ess well known campaigns on other frontiers included
two invasions of Lietnam, where the kingdom of 6ai )o Liet had achieved independence from
)hinese control early in the ;7
th
century In B8; and ;7C< shipborne e.peditions were sent to re%
establish )hinese authority, but without long%term success #lso it should not be forgotten that
among the most persistent opponents which !ung armies had to fight were their fellow )hinese
"he history of the dynasty is full of rebellions by disaffected officers, disgruntled soldiers, hungry
peasants, secret societies % and of course ordinary bandits 4n occasion whole armies sent to put
down these rebellions defected to the enemy, as the 2'inged "igers #rmy3 did in !hantung in
;7G< # !ung ?civil war? would therefore be another possibility for a wargaming scenario
,urther Heading
!o far there is no comprehensive account of the military history of the !ung, but the following are
all fairly accessible, and will give a general overview of the dynasty and the problems it faced
) Blunden M * -lvin, ?)ultural #tlas of )hina?, 4.ford, ;B8<
1 $ernet, ?6aily 9ife in )hina on the -ve of the *ongol Invasion?, 9ondon, ;B:2
! 9egg, ?"he Eeartland?, 9ondon, ;BC7
1 Ieedham, ?!cience and )ivilisation in )hina, Lol 5, &art CJ "he $unpowder -pic?, )ambridge,
;B8B
) &eers, ?Imperial )hinese #rmies 82=J 5B7 % ;2:7 #6?, 4sprey *en%at%#rms no 2B5, ;BB:
! "urnbull, ?!iege 'eapons of the ,ar -ast, &arts ; M 2?, 4sprey Iew Languard nos G< M GG,
277; M 2772
B