| Battle of Xia Kou | |||||||
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| Forces | |||||||
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| Sun Quan's Force | Huang Zu's Force | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Sun Quan Ling Cao † |
Huang Zu | ||||||
Battle of Xia Kou (夏口之戰) was a war fought between Sun Quan and Liu Biao's general Huang Zu. Sun Quan attempted to conquer Jiang Xia, which was guarded by Huang Zu. The battle was inconclusive, as even after Huang Zu retreated, Sun Quan failed to capture Jiang Xia.
Background[]
In 200, Sun Quan inherited the Jiang Dong region which had been conquered by his elder brother Sun Ce.
In 203, as proposed by Sun Quan's adviser Lu Su, Sun Quan would occupy Jing Zhou under the jurisdiction of Liu Biao, control the entire South China region, and use the Yangtze River as a natural barrier to resist the invasion of northern troops. In addition, there were personal factors in Sun Quan's attack on Jiang Xia, as Huang Zu caused his father Sun Jian to be killed in the Battle in during the Battle of Xiang Yang in 191.
Campaign[]
Sun Quan appointed Ling Cao to lead the campaign, while he himself moved forward slowly with the larger ships. Huang Zu led his troops from Jiang Xia to Xia Kou to set up defenses.
On the way to Jiang Xia, Ling Cao encountered the large ships of Huang Zu's navy on the Xia Kou riverbank. Although outnumbered, Ling Cao led the charge and charged straight into the center of Huang Zu's fleet. Huang Zu did not expect that his large army would be attacked by a small force and was caught off guard. By the time he reacted, Ling Cao had already cleared a path in front of him. In order to escape, Huang Zu abandoned his flagship and boarded a small boat, causing chaos in the navy.
Ling Cao pursued Huang Zu and boarded a small boat during the melee. However, when he was close to claiming Huang Zu's head, he was shot dead by Huang Zu's general Gan Ning. Huang Zu was then able to retreat safely to Jiang Xia. After that, Huang Zu stayed in Jiang Xia and did not respond to the challenges of Sun Quan's main army. Unable to destroy the city wall of Jiang Xia, Sun Quan withdrew to Jiang Dong to deal with the frequent attacks from nearby tribes.
Aftermath[]
Although Gan Ning saved Huang Zu's life, Huang Zu was not grateful and despised Gan Ning for his past as a pirate. Gan Ning followed the advice of his colleague Su Fei and betrayed Huang Zu to join Sun Quan.
