Battle of Yangcheng
| Battle of Yangcheng | |||||||
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| Part of the wars at the end of the Han dynasty | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Yuan Shao | Yuan Shu | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Zhou Yu (Renming) Zhou Ang |
Sun Jian Gongsun Yue † |
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| Battle of Yangcheng | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 陽城之戰 | ||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 阳城之战 | ||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Yángchéng Zhī Zhàn |
The Battle of Yangcheng was a battle fought between the warlords Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu as the coalition against Dong Zhuo fell apart in 191 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Sun Jian, Yuan Shu's nominal subordinate returning from his triumphant capture of the abandoned capital of Luoyang, became involved in Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu's personal feud as the former allies turned against one another. Yuan Shao's forces, under Zhou Yu, first got an upper hand against Sun Jian's forces, but was beaten back by Sun's counterattack.
In 190, regional warlords and officials from across China formed a coalition against Chancellor of State Dong Zhuo, who controlled state power and held Emperor Xian hostage. Yuan Shao was elected leader of the alliance. To participate in the campaign against Dong Zhuo, Sun Jian led an army north to join Yuan Shu, who was part of the coalition. Yuan Shu appointed Sun Jian as Acting General Who Smashes the Caitiffs (破虜將軍) and Inspector of Yu Province (豫州刺史), and sent him to attack Dong Zhuo at the capital city of Luoyang. Sun Jian defeated Dong Zhuo's forces, causing Dong to set fire to Luoyang and force its people to move to Chang'an, where the new capital was situated. Sun Jian's capture of Luoyang, in ruins, was militarily untenable since the other members of the alliance had no mind to reinforce his position, while they themselves were on the verge of dissolution. Sun abandoned Luoyang and made his way back south.
Yuan Shu, apparently dissatisfied that his cousin Yuan Shao was elected coalition leader and received all the prestige that came with his appointment, insulted his cousin as "a family slave" and "not a true son of the Yuan clan". Yuan Shao was predictably angry at this. In 191, he named Zhou Yu (Renming) as Inspector of Yu Province, a title to which Sun Jian was entitled, and sent him to attack Sun's territories in Yu Province while Sun was away.
Zhou Yu decided to attack Yangcheng of Yingchuan Commandery (潁川; southeast of present-day Dengfeng, Henan). Originally, an outpost was set up here by Sun Jian during his march north against Dong Zhuo, and the outpost remained to watch for possible attacks from Dong Zhuo from the west after Sun Jian left Luoyang. Although the city of Yangcheng belonged under Sun Jian's government in Yu Province, it was also within Yuan Shao's sphere of influence in Ji Province (冀州), and thus it was a sensible target for Yuan's aggression.
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