Battle of Yamen

The Battle of Yamen (Chinese: 厓門戰役), also known as the Battle of Yashan (Chinese: 厓山海戰), was a naval battle which took place in southern China on 19 March 1279. It is considered to be the last stand of the Song dynasty against the invading forces of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. Although outnumbered 10 to 1, the Yuan navy delivered a crushing tactical and strategic victory, destroying the Song.

Today, the battle site is located in the town of Yamen, in Xinhui County, Jiangmen, Guangdong.

In 1276, the Southern Song court, in their rush to flee the capital city of Lin'an to avoid Yuan forces approaching Fuzhou, left Emperor Gong behind to be captured. Hopes of resistance centered on two young princes, Gong's brothers. The older boy, Zhao Shi, was declared emperor. In 1277, when Fuzhou fell to the Yuan dynasty, the exiled Southern Song dynasty fled to Quanzhou, where Zhang Shijie, the Grand General of Song, hoped to borrow boats to continue their flight. However, the Muslim merchant Pu Shougeng refused their request, prompting Zhang to confiscate Pu's properties and flee on stolen boats with the Southern Song court. In fury, Pu slaughtered imperial clan members and many officials in Quanzhou and surrendered to the Yuan, strengthening the Yuan's naval power.

At this point of the war, it was obvious that the Song did not have sufficient strength to risk fighting the Yuan in a head-on conflict. Zhang Shijie decided to build a vast fleet with what remained, to allow the Song court and soldiers to move from place to place until the situation improved. The Song court sailed to Guangdong from Quanzhou. However, Zhao Shi's boat capsized in a storm on the way to Leizhou. Although he survived, he fell ill because of this ordeal. The imperial court later sought refuge in Lantau Island's Mui Wo, where Zhao Shi eventually died; he was succeeded by his younger sibling, Zhao Bing, who was seven.^{[citation needed]} Zhang Shijie brought the new emperor to Yamen and prepared the defense against the Yuan there.

In 1278, Wen Tianxiang, who had fought against the Yuan in Guangdong and Jiangxi, was captured by Wang Weiyi in Haifeng County, eliminating all the Song land forces nearby.

In 1279, Zhang Hongfan of the Yuan attacked the Song navy in Yamen. Li Heng, who previously had captured Guangzhou, reinforced Zhang Hongfan. Some within the Song forces suggested that the navy should first claim the mouth of the bay, to secure their line of retreat to the west. Zhang Shijie turned down this suggestion in order to prevent his soldiers from fleeing the battle. He then ordered the burning of all palaces, houses and forts on land for the same reason.

Zhang Shijie ordered about 1,000 ships to be chained together, forming a long string within the bay, and placed Zhao Bing's boat in the center of his fleet. This was done to prevent individual Song ships from fleeing the battle. The Yuan forces steered fire ships into the Song formation, but the Song ships were prepared for such an attack: all Song ships had been painted with fire-resistant mud. The Yuan navy then blockaded the bay, while the Yuan army cut off the Song's fresh water and wood sources on land. The Song side, with many non-combatants, soon ran out of supplies. The Song soldiers were forced to eat dry foods and drink sea water, causing nausea and vomiting. Zhang Hongfan even kidnapped Zhang Shijie's nephew, asking Zhang Shijie to surrender on three occasions, to no avail.

In the afternoon of 18 March, Zhang Hongfan prepared for a massive assault. The employment of cannons was turned down because Hongfan felt that cannons could break the chains of the formation too effectively, making it easy for the Song ships to retreat. The next day Zhang Hongfan split his naval forces into four parts: one each for the Song's east, north, and south sides, while Hongfan led the remaining portion to about a li away from the Song forces.