The Battle of Fort Zhenjiang () was a military conflict between the

Later Jin Later Jin may refer to two states in imperial China: * Later Jin (Five Dynasties) (後晉; 936–947), one of the Five Dynasties * Later Jin (1616–1636) (後金; 1616–1636), precursor to the Qing dynasty See also * Jin (disambiguation) Jin ...

and the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. In the fall of 1621 Ming general

Mao Wenlong Mao Wenlong (; 10 February 1576 – 24 July 1629), courtesy name Zhennan, was a Chinese military general of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for commanding Ming forces in the naval battles against forces of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in the Ye ...

captured Fort Zhenjiang on the border of the Jin-Joseon border and held it against multiple Jin assaults before retreating.

Nurhaci Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing (), was a Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th century in Manchuria. A member of the House of Aisin-Gioro, he reigned ...

burnt down the fort afterwards rather than risk having it captured again.

Background

After the Ming loss at the Battle of Shen-Liao, Ming general Mao Wenlong began raiding Jin territory from his base on

Ka Island Ka Island (alternately, Ga Island) is a North Korean island in the Pansong Archipelago in West Korea Bay. It lies just south of the Cholsan Peninsula. It includes Ka Island Village (, ''Kato-ri'') and forms part of North Korea's Cholsan County. ...

("Pidao") near the mouth of the

Yalu River The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...

. Mao worked in conjunction with

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

units and successfully damaged some Jin outposts.

Course of battle

With 197 men on 4 ships, Mao arrived at Zhu Island, where he recruited commoners discontent with Jin rule. Mao then sent spies to Fort Zhenjiang, where they made contact with commoners and set up signals to open the gate when ready. Fort Zhenjiang was taken with ease as a few dozen garrison soldiers were killed. With Ming supplies coming in from the sea, Mao was able to hold the fort against Jin assaults for some time. Mao had originally hoped that the Ming court would reinforce his position with an additional 30,000 to 50,000 troops from the sea, but when no reinforcements were forthcoming, Mao decided to pull back and retreat to

. When Nurhaci recaptured the fort he torched it rather than risk having it captured again.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Qing dynasty topics 1621 in Asia Fort Zhengjiang 1621 Fort Zhengjiang 1621