Text/Chen Shisong
The use of elephants in warfare began during the Yin and Shang Dynasties and has a history of more than 2,000 years. Although a large number of ivory tusks were unearthed in Sanxingdui, Guanghan, it is not yet possible to conclude that they are relics left behind by the war. Historical documents show that the rare spectacle of elephant fighting in the Bashu region appeared in the Ming and Qing Dynasties when the ancient elephant soldiering system in my country became increasingly mature. The elephant soldiers on the Bashu battlefield during the Ming and Qing Dynasties were, without exception, from neighboring Yunnan.
An elephant carrying soldiers arrayed outside Chengdu
In the first month of the fourth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1371), Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang saw the whole situation The overall situation of the unification of the country has been decided. The Ming Dynasty's Daxia regime still relied on Shu to resist Shengjiao, and decided to attack Shu on a large scale. He ordered generals Tang and , Liao Yongzhong to lead the boat division from Qutang to Chongqing, Fu Youde to lead the infantry and cavalry from Qin. , Long towards Chengdu.
In July of the same year, Liao Yongzhong arrived in Chongqing from Kuizhou. Xia Houzhu Mingsheng and his mother and son surrendered to the army. However, the cavalry led by Fu Youde was blocked outside Chengdu by Prime Minister Dai Shou of Xia.
According to " Ming Dynasty Records ", the Daxia army guarding Chengdu came out of the city to resist the war and "carried soldiers on elephants and lined them up in front of the formation." Fu Youde ordered the forwards to "charge them with bows and arrows, but the elephants missed the target. "The soldiers were ravaged by longevity, and many people died." Fu Youde "was also a target."
Where the elephant troops that appeared in front of the Chengdu formation came from, there is no clear explanation in the historical records. It can only be inferred from circumstantial evidence that these elephant troops must be related to the historical opportunity of the Great Xia expedition to Yunnan.
7 years ago, in February of the second year of the Great Xia Dynasty (1364), after Ming Yuzhen proclaimed himself emperor in Chongqing, he immediately sent the Wansheng Tong three-way army to expedition to Yunnan. Wan Sheng led the Chinese army and went deep into Yunnan from Yongning Road. Along the way, he received the cooperation and support of ethnic minorities such as Wusha and Wulong.
Huangbiao's "Pingxia Lu" clearly records that after Wan Sheng won his first victory in Yunnan, he immediately sent his attendant Yang Yuan to present his appearance to Ming Yuzhen, saying that he had "obtained his image to present". When the Daxia soldiers returned to Sichuan from Yunnan, they brought back various trophies from Yunnan, including elephants and fine horses. Wan Sheng brought the elephants back to Sichuan together with the ethnic minority soldiers who controlled the elephants, and formed an elephant army belonging to Daxia. It was completely logical.
At the critical moment when the Ming army destroyed Xia, Dai Shou, the general guarding the Western Shu region, deployed this elephant army outside Chengdu to resist the Ming army's infantry and cavalry attacking the city. The soldiers of the Xia army, who were sitting on the back of the elephant, lined up in front of the formation and shot arrows, causing Fu Youde to be hit by an arrow. The elephant was also under fierce attack from the Ming army's bows and rockets, and Zhongya retreated, eventually injuring countless soldiers on his side.
At this time, Tang He sent people to report the victory in Chongqing, and Dai Shou and others also obtained letters from his family. Knowing that Chongqing had surrendered, they had no fighting spirit and surrendered in the warehouse. Fu Youde marched in from the east gate of Chengdu and gained 30,000 soldiers and horses. In August, the whole of Shu was in peace.
The elephants drove in a raid, and the troops were killed.
In the Ming Dynasty, wars continued in Sichuan. Since it had nothing to do with Yunnan, there were few elephant soldier wars. When the Ming Dynasty fell, the Qing army entered the pass, and after the death of Zhang Xianzhong, general Sun Kewang led the remnants of the Great Western Army out of Shu from Guizhou and settled in Yunnan. They adhered to the strategy of uniting the Ming Dynasty to fight against the Qing Dynasty, and established the Yongli imperial court as kings and ministers. It became the military pillar that solely supported the Nanming regime.
After that, the officers and soldiers of the Daxi Army finally developed a specialty tactic - elephant warfare by learning from the southwest ethnic minorities, and brought it to the south and southwest of our country. It was against this historical background that the use of elephant soldiers to attack cities and demolish villages began to appear in the Bashu region.
In the eighth year of Shunzhi (1651), Emperor Yongli was newly established, and Sun Kewang was named King of Qin. The military strength was greatly strengthened, and he had great ambitions to conquer Shu. He ordered Funan General Liu Wenxiu to lead his troops into Sichuan. All the generals in Sichuan obeyed the order, but Yuan Tao and Wu Dading, the generals of the Can Ming Department, refused to obey the order. Yuan Tao was a member of Zhang Xianzhong's farewell general and the remnants of the Thirteenth Family of the Yellow Emperor; Wu Dading was originally under the banner of Sun Chuanting, the governor of the Ming Dynasty, and was later demoted to Li Zicheng. After entering Shu, he was under the command of General Li Gande.
Li, Yuan and Wu were jealous of the Ming general Yang Zhan in southern Sichuan and planned to murder him at a banquet. They took the opportunity to seize Jiading and replaced him with the prefecture and county in southern Sichuan. Liu Wenxiu, under the pretext of defending Yang Zhan, sent troops to fight against him. Yuan and Wu's troops won six out of six battles. They underestimated the enemy and therefore lacked equipment.Suddenly, Liu Wenxiu arrived suddenly from the Yunnan Elephant Team and overwhelmed Yuan and the martial arts masters. Yuan and Wu were defeated and captured.
Shen Xunwei's "Shu Difficulty Narrative" records the process of this battle in detail. It is said that in August of that year, Liu Wenxiu led his troops to Sichuan from Jianchang. Wu Da ordered his generals to lead the masses to reject them. The two armies met at Yingjing and fought for ten years. The rest of the day. The military soldiers "selected the best cavalry to challenge each day, and Wenxiu defended himself. Once he filled the trenches, pulled out the fences, and fought on Xiaoping Mountain. After a long time, Wenxiu drove the elephants to trample them. When the military soldiers saw big beasts at first sight, both men and horses were able to escape... and they won... Twenty-three out of ten will be spared." At this point, the southern and western Sichuan areas were occupied by Sun Kewang's army of the Southern Ming Dynasty.
Elephants roared and horses frightened, and they sat open the gate of Xufu.
In March of the ninth year of Shunzhi (1652), the Qing army arrived and occupied Chengdu.
Liu Wenxiu had returned to Guizhou, and Bai Wenxuan, the remaining general, was selected to guard Jiading. Wu Sangui led the Qing army from Chengdu to Jiading, and sent General Soldier Lan Yikui to lead troops to seize Xufu and defend it. In August, Liu Wenxiu entered Shu from Guizhou and moved his camp from Yongning to the outskirts of Xufu. Lan Yikui escaped into the city.
"Shu Nan Narrative" records what the Xiang army saw and heard when they opened the city gate: "In a moment, Wenxiu came to the city with all the attacking tools, and the slain people were piled up under the city, but they could not conquer it. The rear city gate was damaged by the elephants, and Wenxiu succeeded. Enter. "
Xufu city fell and Lan Yikui was arrested. When Wu Sangui heard about it, he sent troops from Jiading to rescue him. Liu Wenxiu and his colleagues sent Wang Fuchen out of the elephant team to intercept.
Li Furong's "Yan Lin Nang" records the thrilling scene of the elephant battle, saying that Wang Fuchen "charged the elephant in front of his horse with the infantry on the left and right, rushed into the team, the elephant roared and the horse was frightened, the soldiers were not strong, and Sangui was defeated and fled to northern Sichuan."
In the Battle of Baoning, the Qing army broke the elephant formation
In October of the ninth year of Shunzhi , Liu Wenxiu led his troops to attack Baoning, but Wu Sangui led the Manchu and Han soldiers out of the city to reject them.
At that time, Liu Wenxiu "was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, and his momentum was very strong." Liu Wenxiu formed a battle array in the northeast of the city, with thirteen battalions led by thirteen elephants. They formed a four-tiered formation, with the elephant in the front, holding cards, spears, swords, and blunderbuss. The formation was as round as the moon and unbreakable.
According to Zha Jizu " Sin Wei Lu " records, among the Nanming Yongli armies, Jin King Li Dingguo was known for his "good use of elephants", so he was named after "Xiang Thirteen". Everything will be broken. In this battle, Liu Wenxiu adopted the highest-standard lineup strategy of "Thirteen Elephant Leaders Leading Thirteen Battalions", and it can be said that he tried his best.
Liu Wenxiu repeatedly defeated the Qing troops in Baoning and underestimated the enemy. Without waiting for Bai Wen to select troops, he directly built Fuliang to help his troops and planned a quick attack. Wang Fuchen urged not to besiege the city, but Liu Wenxiu refused.
Sun Xi's "Broken Mirror of Shu" records the decisive battle between the elephant formation and the infantry and cavalry in the Battle of Baoning, saying that the governor of Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty, Li Guoying, "smashed the core, broke the elephant formation, and sent sharp troops out of the way to attack the base quickly. It would be useless to annihilate tens of thousands of thieves and to squeeze them to death in the river below the city."
Wang Fuchen died in battle, and Liu Wenxiu was defeated. When he escaped, he was blocked by the Jialing River. As a result, the entire army was wiped out, but a "long-haired floating corpse" was seen covering the river. But hundreds of people, including Liu Wenxiu and Zhang Heishen, relied on "superficial illusions" to escape. Wu Sangui did not dare to pursue him, and said: "I have never seen such a powerful enemy in my life. I really need an ear." , was granted the title of King of Shu, and once again led troops to the south of Sichuan. He built a palace and Tiansheng City in Huaxi, southwest of Hongya County. At that time, the southern and western Sichuan areas were still guarded by the Yongli regime.
In February of the second year (1657), Li Dingguo urged Liu Wenxiu to return to Yunnan, but he died of illness. The Xiang Army he brought to Sichuan was inherited by his general Gao Chengen. Gao Cheng'en was originally the adopted son of Hao Mengxuan, a martyr in Yazhou . Since Hao Mengxuan raised his troops to resist Zhang Xianzhong, the ministry has become a military force guarding Yazhou and controlling southern and western Sichuan. After Hao Mengxuan's death, Gao Cheng'en guarded Yazhou as the Marquis of Xianning, relying even more on his strength. No one in Shu dared to resist.
In July of the 16th year of Shunzhi (1659), Hao Chengyi, the son of Hao Mengxuan, was dissatisfied with Gao Chengen's sole control of the military. He murdered Gao Chengen and appointed himself a general. Fearing that the crowd would not obey, he had to surrender to Wu Sangui of the Qing army.
In August of the 17th year of Shunzhi (1660), Hao Chengyi surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and resumed his rebellion. After taking action, he led the elephant soldiers to attack Jiading from Yazhou.The Qing army, which had just recaptured Chengdu from Baoning, fought against Hao Chengyi in Hongya, which was unfavorable. In November, Hao Chengyi used elephant troops to attack the Qing infantry and cavalry in Qiongzhou, and only "twenty-three out of ten" were able to defeat the siege.
In the first month of the 18th year of Shunzhi (1661), Li Guoying, the governor of Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty, came to help from eastern Sichuan and garrisoned Jiading. The governor led his troops to station in Hongya and confronted Hao Chengyi's army. Hao Chengyi relied on the danger of Zhuqing Pass and the land on the other side to secure it, so he set up gates and guarded them with dozens of people each. The Qing army sent troops at night, heading towards Zhuqing Pass, breaking through the rebel defense line. Hao Chengyi marched south to Yingjing County .
On April 1, the two armies met at Babu Shi. The road was dangerous and steep, making it difficult for them to move forward, so they both abandoned their horses and fought on foot. After a fierce battle, the rebels were starving. At this time, "the elephant retreated and trampled on the others", and Hao Chengyi was defeated and dispersed. The Qing army took advantage of the victory and pursued it, but the remaining troops surrendered, and southern Sichuan was peaceful.
"The Narrative of Shu Nan" records the aftermath: "The elephant sought death, and there were two or three buckets of cannons and arrowheads in it. More than a hundred people could not exhaust the skin, bones, teeth and teeth. The descendants were captured in the valley of Lizhou."
After this battle, under the attack of the Qing army's hot and cold weapons such as gunpowder, artillery, spears, bows and arrows, the remaining soldiers in Sichuan were wiped out at Yingjing Babu Shi. There were "two or three buckets" of cannons and arrowheads used to kill elephants, plus the elephant's "skin, bones, teeth," and other relics. The weight was so staggering that more than a hundred people could not lift them all. This shows how brutal the war was. .
Throughout the 10 years of war between the eighth year of Shunzhi (1651) and the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (1661) in the early Qing Dynasty, the Xiang Army brought into Sichuan by Liu Wenxiu from Yunnan traveled to Jiading (today's Leshan City ), Yingjing (Today Yingjing County, Ya'an City ), Xufu (now Yibin City), Baoning Prefecture (now Langzhong City, Nanchong City), Qiongzhou (now Qionglai City, Chengdu City), Hongya (now Hongya County, Meishan City) and other places , the elephant battle scene it left behind can be called a rare spectacle in the history of Bashu wars.
After that, as the Western powers entered China with their powerful ships and cannons, the ancient arm of the elephant soldiers retired from the stage of history earlier than the cavalry. In this way, the few elephant wars in the Bashu region during the Ming and Qing Dynasties became a swan song that resounded throughout history. (The pictures in this article are all data pictures and have nothing to do with the article)
[About the author]
Chen Shisong is a native of Santai, Sichuan, and his ancestral home is Fujian. Outstanding researcher of of Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, expert enjoying special allowance from the State Council, and outstanding expert with outstanding contributions in Sichuan Province. He is currently the director of the Immigration and Hakka Culture Research Center of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, the director of the Sichuan Hakka Research Center, a member of the Sichuan Provincial Chronicle review committee, an academic member of the Sichuan History Institute of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, and an editorial board member of the "Chinese Culture Forum". He once served as a director of the Chinese National History Society and a director of the Yuan History Research Association. He is currently the vice president of the Sichuan Provincial Historical Society and the consultant of the Sichuan Provincial Folklore Society.
studied under Professor Meng Siming, a doctor of philosophy and historian from Harvard University in the United States. He serves as a visiting scholar at Haverford College in the United States and a visiting scholar at the United College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Mainly studies Yuan history, Sichuan local history, immigration history and Hakka culture. He is the editor-in-chief of "General History of Sichuan" and has authored or co-authored more than 20 academic works. He has published more than 200 papers in newspapers such as "Historical Research" and "Guangming Daily". His achievements won 10 first, second and third prizes in the Provincial Government’s Philosophy and Social Sciences Achievement Awards. Hosted 4 National Social Science Fund projects.
's main representative works include "The Biography of Yu Jie", "Manuscript of the History of Mongolia's Destination of Shu", "Luzhou in the Song and Yuan Dynasties", "History of the War between Song and Yuan Dynasties", "Biography of Song Zhe and Yuan Dynasties", "History of Chinese Feudal Dynasties" (Yuan Dynasty Volume), "A Brief History of Sichuan", "Sichuan History" "General History" "General History of Chengdu" "Sichuan People in the World" "Sichuan Hakkas" "The Great Migration: Historical Interpretation of "Huguang Fills in Sichuan"" "Great Changes: Interpretation of the Impact of "Huguang Fills in Sichuan"" "Great Migration: "Huguang Fills in Sichuan" Hometown Memory "wait. Among them, "Sichuan People in the World" has been reprinted many times and has been listed on the Sichuan Province Good Books List; "The Great Migration" has been reprinted many times and was listed on the "Recommended Good Books" list of global Chinese by Hong Kong's "History Lecture Hall" in 2008.
has been committed to research on immigration and Hakka culture in recent years. He has led the Sichuan Hakka Research Center team and has made remarkable achievements in improving the research level of immigrants and Hakka in Sichuan Province, promoting and applying Hakka culture research results, and boosting local social and economic development, with outstanding demonstration effects. , making outstanding contributions to the development of the tourism and cultural industry in Luodai Town, the "No. 1 Hakka Town in Western China", making it a famous foreign cultural brand in Sichuan Province and winning unanimous praise from the Hakka world at home and abroad. Invited to contribute to the historical and cultural sorting and argumentation and museum display in Rongchang District and Fengdu County of Chongqing City, Luzhou City, Yilong County and Wusheng County of Sichuan Province.
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