| Battle of Kherlen | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Eastern Mongols | Ming China | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Bunyashiri Arughtai |
Qiu Fu † Wang Cong † Qoryocin † Wang Zhong † Li Yuan † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | 1,000 cavalry [1] | ||||||
The Battle of Kherlen (Chinese: 臚朐河之戰) took place between the Eastern Mongols and Ming China at the banks of Kherlen River (Kerulen) in the Mongolian Plateau on 23 September 1409.[2]
After Bunyashiri had been crowned with the regnal title of Öljei Temür Khan in 1403, the Yongle Emperor sent an envoy to congratulate him and demand his submission in 1409. Bunyashiri detained the Ming envoy to say he was not willing to join the tributary relationship with the Ming dynasty. The leader Arughtai beheaded another envoy of the Yongle Emperor in the same year and declared his allegiance to the Khagan.
The Eastern Mongols were attacked north of Ningxia by the Oyirad Mongols led by Mahmud and were thus routed to the Kherlen River, so the Yongle Emperor took the opportunity for a military expedition against the Eastern Mongols.[1] The emperor sent an army led by Qiu Fu against the Eastern Mongols.[1] The Mingshi records that the army comprised 100,000 cavalry, but Rossabi (1998) states that this is an unrealistic and exaggerated figure.[1]
On arrival at Kherlen River, Qiu Fu's troops captured a Mongol who revealed that the enemy was disorganized and retreating chaotically.[1] They acted on this information and pursued the Eastern Mongols into the steppe without taking into account the tactic of feigned retreat.[1] Qiu Fu only took a force of 1,000 cavalry in the pursuit north of the river.[2] He was detached from the other troops in his army and was in a vulnerable position when the Eastern Mongols attacked.[1] Bunyashiri and Arughtai's forces attacked Qiu Fu's force west of Onohu, which resulted in the defeat of Qiu Fu's force and the death of Qiu Fu in the battle.[1] Qiu Fu only had the 1,000 cavalry when the Eastern Mongols engaged in this battle.[1] In the battle, Qiu Fu (Duke of Qi) was killed along the four marquises Wang Cong, Qoryocin, Wang Zhong, and Li Yuan, who all assisted Qiu Fu in the military campaign.[2]
The Yongle Emperor wrote to the heir apparent wherein he blamed Qiu Fu for not waiting for the army's arrival, stripped Qiu Fu and Qoryocin (Qiu Fu's subordinate, who reluctantly went along according to the writing) from their noble titles, and exiled Qiu Fu's family to Hainan island.[2] In the aftermath of this battle, the emperor would personally lead a punitive expedition against the Eastern Mongols, which resulted in the defeat of both Bunyashiri and Arughtai's forces by the Ming army in the expedition.[1][3]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rossabi, Morris (1998). "The Ming and Inner Asia". In Twitchett, Dennis; Mote, Frederick W. (eds.). The Cambridge History of China, Volume 8: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 228–229. ISBN 978-0-521-24333-9.
- ^ a b c d Tsai, Shih-Shan Henry (2001). Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle. University of Washington Press. pp. 167–168.
- ^ Chan, Hok-lam (1988). "The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-hsi, and Hsüan-te reigns, 1399–1435". In Mote, Frederick W.; Twitchett, Denis (eds.). The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-521-24332-2.