While Rome Burns – The Battle of Yongqiu 756 CE 1up Podcast Network

In 8th century CE China, The Lushan rebellion rose up in opposition to the wildly successful . As the rebellion advanced from small rebellion to overwhelming opposing state, it seemed as if the Tang dynasty and the accompanying golden age, was over. But for some loyal soldiers of the Tang dynasty, losing hope and faith in their Emperor was an unacceptable position. Our story today is a story of brilliant tactics, loyalty, and just a bit of brashness. Our story is about The Battle of Yongqiu in 756 CE. Sit Back… relax… And let me tell you a story… While Rome Burns.

The Tang dynasty rose to power in 618 CE. Emperor’s rose and fell over the years, but the general stability that the Tang established led to a golden age of art, literature and culture from China. This golden age reached its peak during the 44-year rule of the Emperor Xuanzong. Poets such as Du Fu, produced their great works during this time, the trading of goods from China into the middle east became a huge industry, the government of China was staffed by members of a variety of political factions, and inflation in the Chinese economy was reduced. By all rights, the Tang dynasty looked to be on track for a long, healthy, and prosperous existence for decades and possibly centuries to come.

But this prosperity was not shared by all throughout the Chinese empire and eventually the stirrings of discontent by those feeling exploited exploded into full on rebellion. Emperor Xuanzong appointed a Turkic general named to take control of three garrisons in the north east of the country. This effectively gave An Lushan an army of nearly 165,000 men. An Lushan had rivals in the imperial court who opposed his appointment to this position of command. These rivals were Chancellors Guozhong and Wei Jiansu. Yang orchestrated political attacks against An and his political allies around China. The resulting tension did nothing but drive An Lushan further away from the Emperor’s inner circle and foment the stirrings of rebellion in the mind of An Lushan. Finally, in the winter of 755, An Lushan finally made his move. An Lushan emptied the Northeastern Garrisons and marched his army directly south west into Chang’an, the seat of Imperial Power. The pretense of this action was supposedly to remove his rival Yang from power by order of Emperor Xuanzong. However, the Emperor dispelled this notion and began preparing his capital for an attack. An Lushan had the advantage, and the imperial court new it. Many of the armies and garrisons in China were set up to defend the borders from the surrounding nations and kingdoms who had their own political turmoil going on at the time. Additionally, as An Lushan marched to the capital, he made sure to treat the local leaders and commanders that had surrendered with respect and dignity, making them more willing to support the rebellion. A final advantage was given to An Lushan as he marched to the capital and captured areas along the Grand Canal, cutting off crucial food supplies to the western capital of Chang’an. The emperor sought ways to take back the advantage from An Lushan. First he called upon his General, General Feng to raise an army and take the fight to An Lushan in the east. He also hoped to break An Lushan’s spirits and morale by making a more personal attack on An Lushan. Emperor Xuanzong ordered the execution of An Qingzong and An Lushan’s first wife, Lady Kang. Unfortunately, these efforts were not enough to slow down or stop the rebellion. General Feng’s army was caught ill-prepared in . The battle was quick and decisive, with Feng fleeing Luoyang and heading back to Chang’an. Feng and another general named , urged the Emperor to retreat to the more defensible position of the . The emperor followed this advice and moved his imperial defenses to the Tong pass, he then had these top two generals executed after accusations and court intrigue eventually targeted Geng and Gao. Luckily for Emperor Xuanzong, he would have plenty time to plan his defenses, as An Lushan allowed his own hubris and ambition to stop his advance on the imperial forces. On February 5th, 756 CE, the day of the Lunar New Year, An Lushan held a ceremony in Luoyang declaring himself the Emperor of the new state of . He filled his imperial court with former Tang officials and named two of his sons princes of various provinces in the new state. This slow down gave Emperor Xuanzong time to regroup and muster his remaining forces. The Tang forces, having the time needed to regroup and plan a counter attack, began making progress and attacked the Yan territories in earnest. They took Yan provinces north of the , cutting off a vital point of communication between the northern and southern territories of the Yan state. An Lushan suffered another serious setback at the battle of Yongqiu. An Lushan sought to not only take Chang’an, but to also spread the influence of his rebellion to Southern China, where it would theoretically take root with the civilians who were becoming more disillusioned with the Tang by the day. The Tang army needed a victory at Yongqiu to prevent An Lushan’s rebellion from spreading further south. Southern china was also rich in resources that would prove vital to whichever side of the rebellion controlled these areas. The battle of Yongqiu began in March of 756 CE. Yongqiu had changed hands throughout the course of the past couple of months between the Tang and the Rebels. The Rebel Commander, Linghu Chao, surrounded Yongqiu with 40,000 rebel troops that An Lushan had given to him. The Tang garrison at Yongqiu consisted of 2,000 men commanded by General . Outside the fortress of Yongqiu, these two Generals met for a council of war. Chao asked Xun to unilaterally surrender and that the rebel army would show them the mercy, respect and dignity that An Lushan had shown the other commanders that he had defeated in his march south. Xun refused this call, noting that Chao, who was once known for his fierce loyalty, could no longer be trusted asking, “Where is your loyalty now?” As the council of war broke down and each commander returned to their camps, Xun decided on a brazen, and possibly even suicidal plan. He returned into the fortress and immediately ordered 1,000 troops, half his force, to immediately assault the enemy camped outside the gates. The attack scattered Chao’s troops and forced a sudden and frenzied retreat from the fortress, buying Xun time to plan for the follow-up attack. He wouldn’t have to wait very long. Chao brought his troops back and surrounded the fortress, bringing up siege towers in an attempt to swarm the city with his overwhelming numbers. Xun had other plans and had used a fire attack to burn many of the siege ladders. The fire attack caused many troops to either burn to death or fall from the ladders. The damage was so one sided that many troops refused to climb the remaining ladders, for fear of meeting the same fate. Chao took a different approach and simply surrounded the Tang forces, hoping to cut off supplies and to use the psychological effects that siege warfare typically has on the besieged populace. Unfortunately, Xun intended to flip the script on Chao and implement his own form of psychological warfare on the rebels. As night fell, Xun ordered his troops to begin beating war drums, signaling to the outside rebels that they should prepare for battle. The rebels formed ranks and prepared for another direct attack from within the fortress, but no attack came. Xun repeated this the following night, again, the rebels prepared for a battle that never came. Xun repeated this tactic until the rebels started ignoring the nightly war drums. This was exactly the false sense of security that Xun was hoping to lure the Yan forces into. As the war drums continued to beat on, Xun led small forces to raid the enemy encampment night after night, causing further casualties upon the Yan. The Yan rebels were forced to sleep in constant fear or not sleep at all, for fear of being killed in these raids. Chao was continuing to lose men, resources, and morale. As the siege marched on, the fear that food would run scarce within the fortress turned out not to be as big of an issue. The Tang soldiers hunted rodents, birds and other animals found within the walls of the fortress, allowing them to outlast the siege much longer than was expected. One resource that Xun was unable to readily provide for his soldiers were arrows. As the defenders in the siege, the Tang Army would need arrows to repel any direct attack by the Yan rebels. Taking inspiration from another figure we’ve talked about in another episode of this podcast, Xun knew what to do. Xun ordered his men to create scarecrows and then place their own armor on the scarecrows. At night, the soldiers lowered these scarecrows down the walls of the fortress. Chao, having realized the strategy of Xun’s night raids, ordered his archers to fire at the scarecrows, which they mistook for actual soldiers. After the scarecrows had been filled with arrows, Xun raised the scarecrows back up and took possession of the arrows and resupplied their stock. Chao realized the deception and then ordered his soldiers to ignore figures hanging from the walls of the fortress, as shooting at them would do nothing but waste arrows. The second night, Xun had the scarecrows lowered, but they collected no arrows and the rebels ignored Xun’s actions. So Xun tried another daring plan. He lowered down the walls of the fortress 500 of his best soldiers and ordered a sneak attack on the encampment. This attack would be the most devastating attack that Chao’s forces had endured to date.

This 500 man strike force scattered the rebel forces, causing 10,000 soldiers to either be killed or to desert the army altogether. The remaining rebel forces retreated nearly 10 miles away . The remaining months of the siege dragged on but eventually supplies ran low in Xun’s fortress. Lumber was in critically short supply. Xun knew there was no way he could continue defending the fortress and requested another council of war with Chao. Xun asked that Chao retreat 30 miles back with all of his forces to allow Xun and his army to retreat safely. Once Xun had retreated, the fortress would be in the hands and control of the state of Yan. Chao, knowing that morale in camp was low and not wishing to prolong the battle, readily agreed to this plan and ordered his men to retreat back. During the siege, Chao’s rebel soldiers had constructed housing and huts in their encampment, to allow for sturdier housing during the prolonged siege. Chao left these buildings standing and did not order them taken down. After Chao had pulled his forces back, Xun’s soldiers rushed out, broke up these make-shift huts, and brought the lumber from the huts along with any and all other supplies behind the walls of the fortress and sealed it back up. Chao, learning that he had, once again, been outsmarted by Xun ordered a final retreat of The Yan rebels, handing the Tang dynasty and Zhang Xun a decisive and overwhelming victory. Eventually, The fizzled out and the Tang dynasty returned to undisputed rule over a unified China. Unfortunately, the rebellion in China coupled with the constant rise and fall of rulers in the surrounding countries, ultimately weakened the Tang dynasty and they would never fully reach the heights they had reached during the Golden Age of the dynasty. But that is a story for another time.

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