Battle of Xingyang (190)
| Battle of Xingyang | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the campaign against Dong Zhuo | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Guandong Coalition | Dong Zhuo | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Cao Cao Cao Hong Wei Zi † |
Xu Rong | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3000+ | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Several thousands | |||||||
| Battle of Xingyang | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 滎陽之戰 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 荥阳之战 | ||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Xíngyáng Zhī Zhàn |
The Battle of Xingyang was a battle fought in 190 in the late Eastern Han dynasty as part of the campaign against Dong Zhuo. It took place when Dong Zhuo's retreating forces, led by Xu Rong, encountered Cao Cao's pursuing army at Xingyang.
In 190, dissenting regional officials and warlords formed a coalition against the Chancellor of State, Dong Zhuo, who controlled Emperor Xian. Dong Zhuo was concerned that the capital Luoyang was not as easy to defend as Chang'an to the west, and thus moved all civilians and court officials, including the emperor, to Chang'an while the military under Dong stayed to defend Luoyang. During the mass relocation on 9 April, Dong ordered his soldiers to raze Luoyang, confiscate from the rich, and looted from the Han emperor tombs.
Around the time, the coalition members were stationed in different locations as such: Yuan Shao at Henei (河內); Zhang Miao, Liu Dai, Qiao Mao and Yuan Yi at Suanzao (酸棗, near present-day Yanjin, Henan); Yuan Shu at Nanyang (南陽); Kong Zhou at Yingchuan (潁川); Han Fu at Ye. Dong Zhuo's forces were still powerful, so the coalition members did not dare to pursue Dong as he retreated to Chang'an.
Cao Cao, then stationed in Suanzao, saw this as an opportunity to attack Dong Zhuo and he announced to the dormant alliance:
We rallied troops of righteousness to destroy oppression and disorder, now that we're united, why do you hesitate? At the beginning, if Dong Zhuo heard that armies have risen (against him) in Shandong, he would have relied on the imperial house, occupied the old capital [Luoyang], and turned east to attack the rest of the empire; then even though he behaved immorally, he would still be a threat. Now he's burning the palace, holding the Son of Heaven hostage and moving him away. The empire is in disorder and nobody knows where to turn to. This is the time when he is condemned by Heaven. One battle and the empire will be settled. We must not lose this opportunity.
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Wikipedia