Battle of Kunyang 23AD

By the end of the Xin Dynasty, peasants all over China rebelled against the Xin Emperor Wang Mang for years of his incompetent rule. There were calls for the reestablishment of the Han Dynasty which had been over thrown by the Wang Mang. These voices were heard and the leaders of the rebellions Lulin supported Liu Xuan to be emperor of the new Han Dynasty.

The current emperor Wang Mang decided he must destroy the newly constituted Han regime before it could gain momentum. He sent his cousin Wang Yi and his prime minister Wang Xun with several hundred thousand men to attack the Lulin forces.

The Lulin forces were split into two. The first led by Wang Feng, Wang Chang and Liu Xiu while the other was led by Liu Yan. The first part of the Lulin forces were able to take the castles of Kunyang, Dingling and Yanxian, while the other part of the Lulin force had begun to attack Yangguan. However, after hearing of the arrival of the main body of the Xin forces, Liu Yan decided to retreat his forces to Kunyang.

The 9000 strong Lulin force in Kunyang were vastly outnumbered by the Xin armies. Many of the Lulin rebels wanted to scatter and retreat to Jingzhou but Liu Xiu opposed it. He advocated that they guard Kunyang securely as a scattered army would be easily picked off. Liu Xiu also promised to gather all other available troops in the surrounding areas and would attack the Xin forces outside the castle. With the Xin forces approaching, Liu Xiu led 13 horsemen out of Kunyang during the night to rally reinforcements from Dingling and Yanxian.

The Xin commander Wang Li was confident in his overwhelming numbers and stated his army would “annihilate all in his path, massacre the town and dance in its blood” and laid siege to Kunyang. Faced with siege towers and tunnels under the castle walls, the Kunyang defenders fought hard and held on until Liu Xiu returned with reinforcements of 10,000 footmen and cavalry.

By this point the Xin force’s morale was dropping while the Lulin force’s morale was at its peak with Liu’s return. Liu Xiu took a chance to lead 1000 men to engage the Xin forces while another force of 3000 men marched around to the rear of the Xin army and attacked their main camp.

Wang Li still underestimated the Lulin forces and led 10,000 men with Wang Xun to meet the enemy, while the rest of his men were ordered to stand their ground unless ordered to attack. Once Wang Xun was engaged in battle the other Xin forces as ordered were hesitant to assist them. As a result, Liu Xiu killed Wang Xun in battle, as of this moment the Lulin forces burst from the city and attacked the rest of the Xin units. Although having a much larger force, the Xin army suffered a total collapse and broke into retreat.

Unable to gather most of his men, Wang Yi had to withdraw with the remaining several thousand men back to Luoyang. The news of the battle of Kunyang spread throughout the empire and people simultaneously rose everywhere, often killing the local government officials and claiming to be officials under the new Han regime. Within a month, almost the entire empire had slipped out of Xin control. Eventually Liu Xiu managed to bring China back under Han Rule.

The Battle of the Ice 1242

The Battle of the Ice took place on the 5^th April 1242 during the Northern Crusades in Europe which were directed against Pagans and Eastern Orthodox Christians. This battle was fought between the Republic of Novgorod and the Livonian Order of the Teutonic Knights, and marked the end of the Crusaders campaigns against the Orthodox Novgorod Republic for the next century.

In the wake of the Mongol and Swedish invasions of the Novgorod Republic, the Teutonic Knights, in an attempt to exploit the nations weakened state, attacked in 1240 and occupied Pskov, Izborsk and Koporye. As the Teutonic Knights advanced deeper into the Republic’s territory, the local citizens called to the City of Novgorod itself the 20 year old Prince Alexander Nevsky who had been banished earlier that year.

Throughout his campaign in 1241 Alexander managed to retake Pskov and Koporye from the crusaders. In spring 1242 the Teutonic Knights defeated a detachment of Novgorodians before they met with Alexander’s forces at Lake Peipus (between modern day Estonia and Russia).

On April 5^th 1242 Alexander, intending to fight in a place of his choosing, retreated in an attempt to draw the over confident Crusaders onto the frozen lake. The Teutonic Knights charged across the lake at the Novgordian militia. The Novgordian force caused the crusader attack to slow, and successfully held the enemy force. A little after two hours of close quarter fighting, Alexander ordered the left and right wings of his army to enter the battle.

The crusader army by this time was exhausted from the fierce fighting on the icy surface and began to retreat in disarray further onto the ice, then the appearance of the fresh Novgorod troops and cavalry made them retreat in a panic.

The battle ended in a decisive victory for the Novgorod Republic. It halted the eastward expansion of the Teutonic Order and established a permanent border between Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism. The crusaders defeat at the hands of Alexander’s forces prevented the crusaders from retaking Pskov and leaving a lasting mark which made the crusaders never mount a serious challenge eastward again.

 

(The images used are artist’s interpretations of events and we do not own the rights to them, full credit to the owners of the images)

Battle of Okehazama 1560

During the 1500s Japan was in Civil War with local warlords seeking control of the country. Imagawa Yoshimoto a leading warlord in the Tōkaidō Region of Japan, led 25,000 men to march on Kyoto. On the march they entered Oda territories belonging to the much weaker warlord Oda Nobunaga.

Imagawa Yoshimoto took the border fortresses of Washizu and Marune before setting up camp in the wooded gorge known as Dengaku-Hazama. Oda’s scouts reported all of this to Oda who then moved his own forces of 2000-3000 men into a temple called Zebshio-ji.

Oda Nobunaga’s force was heavily outnumbered and his own generals urged him to surrender. Oda however had a reputation for being reckless and unpredictable even thought of by some as being mentally unstable, he ignored the advice from his generals instead ordering a dummy army be constructed at Zensho-Ji with a large number of banners to give the impression this was to be the location of his main force.

Meanwhile Oda ordered an attack and led his main force of 2000 men through the forest undetected to the rear of the Imagawa Army camped at Dengaku-Hazama. The Imagawa samurai were celebrating their recent victories at camp and did not expect and attack. A thunderstorm that took place that night shielded Oda’s men’s advance.

As soon as the storm passed, Oda’s men charged into the camp onto the drunk and unprepared army who lost all discipline with large numbers fleeing from their attackers. They left the commander’s tent largely undefended and the Oda warriors closed in. Yoshimoto unaware of what was happening heard the noise and came outside to order his men to quit their drunken activities and return to their posts. By the time he realised that the samurai in front of him were not his own it was too late to organise a defence. Yoshimoto was attacked and although deflected their initial attacks was killed by two of Oda’s samurai Mori Shinsuke and Hattori Koheita.

With Imagawa Yoshimoto dead and only two senior officers left alive, the remaining Imagawa force joined Oda’s army. Soon after the Imagawa faction was no more and Oda Nobunaga was at the front of military power.

Walther Wenck “The Boy General”

Walther Wenck was the youngest General of the branch in the German Army and a staff Officer during World War Two.

He was born on the 18^th September 1900 in Wittenberg. In 1919 he joined the Paramilitary group Freikorps and in 1920 joined the Army of the Weimar Republic. During 1939 until 1942, Wench was Chief of Operations for the 1^st Panzer Division. In 1942 he was an instructor at the War Academy, chief of staff for the LVII Corps, and then the 3^rd Romanian Army on the Eastern Front.

In 1944 he was made chief of staff of Army Group South Ukraine, it was here that he first got the attention of Adolf Hitler with his report on conditions on the Eastern Front saying “As you see my Fuhrer, the Eastern Front in like Swiss cheese, full of holes”. He was reprimanded for using informal language but Hitler commended the “liveliness” of his report!

On the 10^th April 1945, Wenck was appointed commander of the German Twelfth Army in the west of Berlin to guard against the advancing American and British forces. However, as the allies made gains in the Western and Eastern fronts towards Berlin, the German’s lines were backed toward each other. As a result, Wenck’s army’s area of control to his rear and East of the Elbe River had become a vast refugee camp for German civilians fleeing the Soviets in the East. Wenck took great pains to provide food and shelter for the refugees and at one stage the Twelfth Army was feeding more than a quarter of a million people every day.

On 22^nd April 1945 and the Battle of Berlin raged, SS-General Felix Steiner retreated leaving Wenck’s Twelfth Army as Hitler’s last hope of saving Berlin. Wenck was ordered to disengage the Allied forces to his west and attack east, linking up with the Ninth Army to battle the Soviets encircling Berlin. Wenck’s forces met heavy Soviet resistance outside Potsdam and neither the 9^th or 12^th armies were able to progress towards Berlin. However, Wenck’s eastward attack toward Berlin had also been aimed specifically at providing the population and garrison at Berlin with an escape route to areas occupied by Western Allied forces.

On the night of April 28^th Wenck reported to the German Supreme Army Command that his Army had been forced back and that no attack on Berlin was possible. Instead, Wenck moved his forces towards the forest of Halbe and linked up with the remnants of the Ninth Army. “Comrades, you’ve got to go in once more” Wenck said, “It’s not about Berlin anymore, it’s not about the Reich anymore”. Their task was to save the people from the fighting and advancing Soviets. Wenck’s actions successfully evacuated tens of thousands of troops and civilians across the Elbe River to safety and surrender to Western forces, with Wenck himself being the last one who crossed the river.

Battle of Islandbridge

In 919, a number of Irish Kings joined together to try and expel the Vikings from Dublin once more. The native Irish coalition was led by Niall Glúndub, overking of Northern Ui Néill and High King of Ireland against the Dublin Based Vikings of the Uí Ímair led by Sitric Cáech.

The ruling Vikings of Dublin had been expelled from the city in 902, however this was only temporary and Viking raids continued into Irish settlements.

In 914, a large fleet came to the previously Viking held city of Waterford and in the following year more settled in Limerick.

In 917 two prominent members of the Vikings of Uí Ímair, Ragnall and Sitric Cáech sailed two fleets to Ireland. Ragnall landed in Waterford and Sitric landed at Cenn Fuait in Leinster. Several Irish kings joined forces to try and drive the Vikings away again. At the Battle of Mag Femen in Brega the Vikings won a great Victory over the Irish forces and then another at Cenn Fuait. Sitric led his men on a triumphant return to Dublin re-establishing Viking control and installing himself as King while Ragnall returned to England.

In 919, the Irish Kings Niall Glúndub of Northern Ui Néill, Áed mac Eochocáin of Ulster, Máel Mithig mac Flannacain of Brega, Mael Craibe mac Duibsinig of Airgilla, Conchobarmac Flann of Mide and Cellach mac Fogartaig of South Brega intended to push the Vikings from Dublin. The Irish Kings were emboldened by the departure of Ragnall back to England and marched against the Vikings.

The Irish forces and Vikings met near Islandbridge (modern day County Dublin) on the 14^th September 919. The battle was a disaster for the Irish, the Kings Niall Glúndub, Áed mac Eochocáin, Máel Mithig mac Flannacain, Mael Craibe mac Duibsinig, Conchobar mac Flainn and Cellach mac Fogartaig were all slain in the battle along with many Irish nobles. The failure of the coalition to drive out the Vikings ensured their hold on Dublin remained strong until 1014.

 

 

(I do not own the rights to the images used, they are artist’s own impressions)

The Battle of Vienna 1683

The battle of Vienna is one of the most significant battles in European History, it took place in September 1683 between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg Hungry against the Ottoman Empire. This battle is largely marked as the end of the Ottoman invasions into Europe.

The Ottoman Empire wanted to take the City of Vienna for its control over the Black Sea to Western Europe, Southern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean to Germany’s trade routes. The Ottomans repaired and established roads and bridges leading to the Holy Roman Empire as well as moving cannons and ammunition into the Balkans.

The Holy Roman Empire made an alliance with the Polish in 1683 called the Treaty of Warsaw. In this treaty it promised that the Holy Roman Empire would support Poland if the Ottomans attacked Krakow and in return the Polish would come if Vienna was attacked.

On the 14^th July 1683 the Ottoman army of 150,000 men laid siege to Vienna. Kara Mustafa Pasha who led the Ottoman force ordered his men to dig trenches towards to the city to help protect his troops from the defenders cannons as they advanced. In order to take the city the Ottomans mined tunnels under the city walls to blow them up using large amounts of Black Powder. However the defenders knocked down large trees to help bolster the old palisade delaying the Ottoman attack. This greatly helped in creating enough time for a relief force to arrive in September.

On September 6^th the Polish under King John III Sobieski crossed the Danube northwest of Vienna at Tulin to join the Imperial troops of the Holy Roman Empire along with soldiers from Saxony, Bavaria, Badan, Franconia and Swabia, giving the Polish King 70,000 men under his command.

The relief army were racing against time to save the city and created an effective leadership structured around the Polish King and the Winged Hussars.

On September 12^th the Ottoman force attacked trying to disrupt the Holy Leagues Troops. The German forces were the first to counterattack. The Imperial Army attacked on the left and Centre and after heavy fighting managed to take several key positions from the Ottomans by noon.

The Ottoman force largely focused on taking Vienna still however, their sappers prepared a large final detonation to breach the walls with a total of 10 mines set to explode. The defenders were able to locate and disarm these mines while the Ottoman force was occupied with the relief forces.

On the Right Flank of the Ottoman army the Polish advanced and managed to take the village of Gersthof which would serve as a strong position for a cavalry charge. The Ottomans were now in a desperate position caught between the Imperial and Polish Forces who by 5pm had now become very close to the Central Turkish position.

The Polish Cavalry now arrived onto the battlefield with cheers from the infantry. This was to be the final blow. The Polish King ordered the cavalry attack in 4 groups. Three of these Polish and one from the Holy Roman Empire. 18,000 horseman charged down the hills creating the largest cavalry charge ever recorded in history led by the legendary Polish Winged Hussars. The charge easily broke through the Ottomans lines who soon began to leave the battlefield. The cavalry headed for the Ottoman Camps and Kara Mustafa’s headquarters, and the remaining Viennese garrison charged out of their defences to join the attack. Less than three hours after the cavalry charge, the Christian armies had been victorious and saved Vienna.

 

This casualties of this battle totalled 8000-15,000 Ottomans killed and 5000 captured, 12,000 dead or wounded defenders and 4500 dead or wounded Holy League Troops.