Dingbian 1388 AD

[Duncan Head]

Elephants and guns: what's not to like?

Battle:Dingbian, AD 1388

Ming China (Mu Ying) vs Luchuan-Pingmian Tai (Si Lunfa)

Background
Ming forces conquered northern Yunnan from the Mongolian Yuan dynasty in 1382. The southern part of the modern province of Yunnan was governed by various local rulers who had been tributary to the Yuan, and these accepted Ming overlordship. The most important of these local groups was Luchuan-Pingmian (originally two separate principalities), an ethnically Tai grouping known in some Chinese sources as Bai-yi which stretched across south-western Yunnan into modern Burma. In Burmese records, these frontier Tai groups are known as Shan. Luchuan-Pingmian is also identifiable with the Mong Mao (various other spellings may be met) described in Thai records, or perhaps with the most important of a group of principalities known as Mong Mao.

Hostilities broke out in January 1388 when local Tai forces captured a Ming outpost, the Mo-sha-le stockade, but the Ming soon retook it. The ruler of Luchuan-Pingmian, known as Si Lun-fa in Chinese sources, later blamed a subordinate chief for these initial attacks, but he himself led the resistance to the major Ming punitive expedition which followed.

Reported numbers: Ming, 30,000 men; or 30,000 cavalry, plus other troops. Tai, 300,000 men and 100 elephants.

Source: Ming Shi-lu under Hongwu year 21, month 3, day 30 (6 May 1388); Geoff Wade, translator, Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource: an open access resource, Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore, http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/entry/2876, accessed November 30, 2014. The Luchuan-Pingmian Tai are called "Bai-yi".

Translation:
The Xi-ping Marquis Mu Ying punished Si Lun-fa of the Bai-yi and pacified him. At this time, Si Lun-fa had raised a force of 300,000 men and over 100 elephants and had repeatedly attacked Ding-bian. He wanted to gain revenge for the Mo-sha-le campaign and his force was extremely violent. The newly-attached man and yi secretly formed alliances and they all had rebellious inclinations. The Xi-ping Marquis Mu Ying knew that the yi people were rebellious and thus spoke to the troops, saying: "The Bai-yi are angered about the defeat at Mo-sha-le, and they have dared to raise a great force and wage attacks. When troops are angry, they are certain to be defeated. You will indeed destroy them."

He then selected 30,000 skilled cavalrymen and proceeded thither, riding day and night. After 15 days, they reached the bandits' camp and they built a defensive wall against them. First 300 light cavalrymen were sent to provoke them. The Bai-yi met them with 10,000 men and 30 vanguard elephants to do battle. Zhang Yin, commander of the Yun-nan Forward Guard, led 50-plus cavalrymen as a vanguard, while the chieftains, astride their huge elephants, proceeded forward. Our army let fly with their arrows and these hit an elephant in the left knee and the ribs. The elephant fell to the ground and the chieftain was also hit, but fled. He was pursued and killed with arrows. Then, with great screams, the troops rushed forward and hundreds of heads were taken. The army took advantage of the victory and proceeded forward with a great uproar. The bandit forces thus drew back.

Ying then again collected his generals and aides and said: "Ding-bian has long been besieged. Now, if we do not destroy the bandits and control over Ding-bian is lost, the bandit's power will grow. What the bandits rely on is their elephants. We have tried doing battle with cavalry against them, but the cavalry cannot compete against them. I know what they will not be able to withstand." He thus issued orders to the army to set up guns and "mystical-mechanism arrows" (神機箭 - shén jī jiàn) in three lines within the ranks. Then when the elephants advanced, the front line of guns was to fire its arrows. If the elephants did not retreat, the second line was to fire off its arrows. If the elephants still did not fall back, the third line was to fire its arrows.

The following morning, the army was divided into three forces. The commissioner-in-chief Feng Cheng led the forward force, the vice commissioner-in-chief Ning Zheng led the left force and Tang Zhao led the right force. Ying again gave orders to the troops saying: "Now we are deep in bandit territory and are to do battle with them. Victory will mean life and defeat will mean death. We have received the Emperor's great kindness and must repay this. Victory will be achieved today and I make a pact with you on this. Those who realize achievements will indeed be rewarded, while those who shrink back or withdraw will indeed be beheaded." Thus, the generals and troops were aroused and determined to do battle. The bandits came out of their camp and joined ranks to meet them. The chieftains, local commanders and the zhao-gang all rode on elephants. The elephants were all armoured and on their backs they bore a battle-turret like a parapet, while bamboo tubes hung on the two sides. Short lances were placed between these prepared for attacks. When the forces were about to meet, the massed elephants rushed forward. Our army attacked them and fired off arrows and stones. The sound shook the mountains and valleys and the elephants, shaking with fear, fled.

The Guard Commander Zhang Yin and the Battalion Commander Zhang Rong-zu took advantage of the victory and led the troops in pursuing them. They followed them to their stockade, which was taken and subsequently put to the torch. The flames and smoke reached to the heavens. Then the commanders again employed troops in attacking the bandits and many of the latter were killed or wounded. The bandits' most valiant and powerful fighter was called Xi-la-zhe and he led their troops in fighting to the death. From a high vantage point Ying saw that the left force of our army had retreated a little. He thus sent urgent orders that the force commander be beheaded. The force commander was thus frightened and roused and, with a yell, rushed into the fray. The troops followed him and each was worth 100 men. The bandit troops were greatly defeated. Over 30,000 heads were taken and over 10,000 men were taken prisoner. More than half of the elephants were killed and 37 were taken alive. The remaining bandits all fled.

Our army pursued and attacked them, the bandits were unable to eat for days on end, and their corpses were found lying side by side. Si Lun-fa fled. Ying then sent an envoy to memorialize victory and he took the army back to Yun-nan.

Ming Shi-lu under Hongwu year 25, month 6, day 17 (7 July 1392), Geoff Wade, translator, Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource, Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore, http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/entry/3029, accessed November 30, 2014.

The obituary of Mu Ying, summarising his career:

Translation:
In the 21st year (1388/89), Si Lun-fa of the Bai-yi, attacked Mo-sha-le Stockade in Ma-long-ta-lang Dian. Ying sent generals to attack him and they defeated him. In the 22nd year (1389/90) Si Lun-fa again attacked Ding-bian. His troops numbered 300,000 and he had over 100 elephants. The force was extremely wild and violent. Ying selected 30,000 skilled and valiant men and went to attack him. When they reached the bandit camp, they challenged the bandits to battle. The bandit's vanguard elephants were shot by arrows and ran off. The chieftains were pursued and also shot. Several hundred heads were taken and their troops were greatly defeated. Ying took a vow with the entire force and set up cannons and "magic mechanism arrows" (神機箭). When the two forces did battle, the bandits were routed. Their general Dao Si-lang and others were captured and 37 elephants were taken. Si Lun-fa fled and, having been frightened, requested permission to surrender.

Aftermath
Si Lunfa submitted to the Ming and was soon paying tribute again. In 1397-98 he could even call upon Ming support to restore him to his throne after he had been ejected by a subordinate chief

The Luchuan-Pingmian kings remained powerful until a new series of Ming campaigns in 1436-1449. The Chinese killed the Tai state's king and claimed victory, after which Luchuan-Pingmian's attentions seem to have been diverted away from the Chinese frontier and towards Burma; but these expensive and difficult campaigns also weakened Ming power in the south-west. (See Jon Fernquest, "Crucible of War: Burma and the Ming in the Tai Frontier Zone (1382-1454)"  and Liew Foon Ming, "The Luchuan-Pingmian Campaigns (1436-1449) in the Light of Official Chinese Historiography").

Commentary:
Numbers
Mu Ying's obituary in Ming Shilu says that he had 30,000 troops, but this may be taken from the earlier account which mentions 30,000 cavalry used against part only of the Tai forces, implying that the entire Ming army may have been larger. The army that originally subdued Yunnan in 1382 was said to be 300,000 strong (Ming Shi-lu for 28 Nov 1389) and most of these troops may still have been in the area.

Si Lunfa's force is described as 300,000 men and 100 elephants. The outcome of the battle, with 37 elephants captured and "more than half" (so 38 at the very least) killed, suggests that the figure of 100 elephants may not be far out. The alleged total of 300,000 men, however, contrasts sharply with the claim of a later Ming official that major military operations against Luchuan are not worth the expense because "Lu-chuan is a small area on the Southern border comprising several hundred li with perhaps 10,000 people" (Ming Shi-lu for 7 Feb 1441). Both versions may be exaggerating, in opposite directions, for effect. The Tai casualties at Dingbian are reported as 40,000 killed and captured, which if true certainly suggests much more than a total population of 10,000.

Elephants
The Tai elephant-armour with bamboo tubes and spearheads is not something I have come across elsewhere. Another translation is a bit different:

Their leaders and senior officers all rode on elephants, and the elephants all wore armour. On their backs they carried fighting towers that resembled screens, and bamboo tubes hung down both sides, with short spears in them to prevent thrusts from the side.

(in Mark Elvin, The Retreat of the Elephants: an environmental history of China, Yale UP 2004).

There seems to be some difference as to whether the spears were between the bamboos or somehow fixed in them, but both versions suggest spearheads protruding out to deter attacks by enemy troops on the sides of the beast.

Guns
The Ming firearms were decisive. At first the translation suggests that the guns and the arrows were separate weapons – "set up guns and mystical-mechanism arrows" – but is then clearer that the arrows are shot out of the guns – "the front line of guns was to fire its arrows". According to Liew Foon Ming, the word used for guns is huochong, and Needham mentions Mu Ying preparing "a couple of thousand" huochong in anticipation of a war with Burma the year before this battle. Early Chinese vocabulary for firearms is not always clear or consistent, but huochong usually seems to be used for handguns rather than cannon. Frequently these would shoot arrows rather than bullets. (Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, Volume 5 Part 7: Military Technology; The Gunpowder Epic, Cambridge UP 1986, especially pages 307-314). I have not come across the term "mystical-mechanism arrows" (神機箭 – shén jī jiàn) elsewhere, although the similarly-named shén qiang jian, "magical lance arrows" were a type of arrow-shooting firelance mentioned in a Ming manual. The order to the handgunners to shoot as three successive ranks is reminiscent of the three-rank formations, shooting in rotation, described for Chinese crossbowmen.

By 1397 Si Lun-fa was obtaining firearms of his own from Ming deserters (http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/entry/3104). Charles Hucker suggests that the Luchuan Tai were subseqently "using Burmese elephants against Chinese forces and Chinese firearms against Burmese forces" (Charles O Hucker, The Ming Dynasty: its origins and evolving institutions (1978)).

[Andreas Johansson]

It's interesting that the elephants apparently were defeated by the noise rather than the projectiles of the guns. I guess war elephants of the gundpowder age - Mughal ones, say - must have been trained to get used to things that go boom similar to how horses were.

[Duncan Head]

It always seems easier to frighten elephants than to kill them; but somewhere along the way, more than half the elephants are killed, and I shouldn't think that it was the noise that did it. Perhaps many of the killings might have taken place in the pursuit or at the stockade, though.

George Gush claimed that Mughal elephants were trained with fireworks to prepare them for the sound of gunfire - I haven't tried to look up the sources for that, but it sounds reasonable.