The Siege of Diaoyu Castle (釣魚城之戰) was a battle fought between Song China and the Mongol Empire at Diaoyu Castle in 1259, during the Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty. It was notably the only battle where the Mongols lost their Khan in one of their campaigns, creating a huge setback in their conquests.
History[]
The Mongols had to lay siege to Diaoyu Castle, which served as the administrative center of Hechuan county, in order to seize control of the city of Hechuan. They initially tried to break through the Xin Dong Gates, but the approach was conclusively feeble, forcing them to take another plan of action, this time at the Hu Guo Gate under the cover of darkness. The second assault would be led by Möngke Khan's commander-in-chief, Wang Dechen, but due to disease, only the fittest Mongols could participate, among them an officer by the name of Bayan.[1]
When the time came, Wang Dechen rallied the troops and silently creeped across the terrain until reaching the walls of the fortress. There, he signaled his men to ready themselves as the throwers sent their lines to the top of the wall, where the hooks lodged in stone. Just as Bayan's unit began to climb up, the troops were ambushed by Song archers northwest of them in the trees, who used the darkness to mask their positions, killing a third of the horde with rains of arrows.[2]
Wang Dechen ordered Bayan's unit to dispose of the Song archers, leading to a confrontation between Bayan and a veteran Song commander in the forest. At last, the Song forces brought out their artillery and fatally wounded Dechen in an explosion, ending their significant contact. Bayan eventually killed the veteran, and the Mongol troops withdrew from the fray with their general, who was barely alive. They brought him to their shaman, but Dechen perished nonetheless.[2]
Several days later, Bayan, believing that the Song forces had used a secret entrance to their fortress to set their ambush, endeavored to find it. At the same time as Bayan scouted Diaoyu Castle's walls for any hidden entrance, the Assassin apprentice Zhang Zhi left the fortress through Feiyan Cave, hoping to infiltrate the Mongol camp and kill Möngke Khan as revenge for the death of her father—the same Song commander slain by Bayan. The Mongol commander spotted Zhi leaving the cave and tried to chase her, but ultimately lost her in the forest.[3]
Following Zhi's successful assassination of the Khan, she was ambushed by Bayan when she returned to Feiyan Cave.[4] After a fight which left both of them grievously injured and on the brink of death, Bayan fled back to the Mongol camp while Zhi managed to make her way back to her Mentor Kang's house.[5] Möngke's death greatly demoralized the Mongol troops and they ultimately abandoned their siege of Diaoyu Castle. Möngke's younger brother and successor Kublai Khan would attempt to conquer the fortress several more times, but the Song forces held off the Mongols until 1279, when Kublai officially dissolved the Song dynasty and established the Yuan dynasty.[6]
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan – Chapter One
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan – Chapter Five
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan – Chapter Nine
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan – Chapter Twelve
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan – Chapter Fourteen
- ↑
Siege of Diaoyucheng on Wikipedia
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