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Battle of Honshui

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The Battle of Hongshui was a military campaign that took place in 638 BC during the Eastern Zhou period. The battle was fought between the State of Song and the State of Chu and resulted in defeat for Song. The Battle of Hongshui took place about fifteen kilometers north of present day Zhecheng County in Henan Province. Chu was able to rout Song through a combination of superior troop numbers and favorable geographic conditions. After its victory, the state of Chu was free to expand throughout the Central Plain without resistance. In the years following, Chu's influence was able to expand north of the Yellow River until it was finally curbed with the defeat of the Chu army at the Battle of Chengpu at the hands of the State of Jin. After defeat in the Battle of Hongshui, Song's influence declined dramatically and was never able to recover afterward, gradually fading in significance until Song was conquered by the State of Qi during the Warring States Period in 286 BC.[1]

Significance for Conventions of Chinese Warfare[edit]

Although the Battle of Hongshui's scale was relatively small, it played an important role in modernizing the way in which wars were fought in China. Before the battle, conventional Chinese war strategy emphasized a form of battlefield rite or morality. It was this sense of custom that led Duke Xiang of Song, who was commanding the Song army, to stop and wait for the Chu army to cross a river and prepare for battle as opposed to attacking the Chu army when it was most vulnerable. Song's defeat in the battle encouraged generals in the future to adopt a relatively no holds barred style of warfare, as exemplified by Sun Tzu's writings in The Art of War; "Appear when they do not expect, attack when they are unprepared".

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