2011/08/10

The mysterious defeat of an Emperor's army

In ancient China, during the years 1643-1645BC, Li Zicheng was famous for his rapid rise from poverty, remarkably, to holding an emperor’s seat, albeit a short lived reign.
But the downfall of Li Zicheng has always remained a mystery.

For more than a century, experts have held different opinions about the possible cause of his demise. Was it through losing popular support, pride, complacency or even corruption? Others suggest a femme fatale as the cause and so on. Yet none of them are convincing. Why? Because all of these explanations cannot explain one problem. Within 40 days of Li Zicheng's powerful army occupying Beijing, the troops seemed to suddenly lose their fighting ability, and collapsed at their first encounter with the Qing Army.

According to Qiku’s analysis, Li Zicheng’s army was highly disciplined and had abundant wealth, about 70 million worth of silver, which is an amount equivalent to that raised by  the Ming Dynasty’s 10-year tax. Even during a time of extreme shortage of military funding, Li Zicheng was able to build his massive army, but why did he lose his fighting prowess after becoming rich? Why could he not organise an adequate defense after occupying Beijing?

Li Zicheng was known for his indomitable character. Several times during his previous campaigns, he was almost completely annihilated, one campaign leaving only 18 of his men standing. On another occasion only just over 50 of his soldiers were left. It can be seen that Li Zicheng staged comebacks again and again, eventually commanding an army of millions and taking down the Ming Dynasty in Beijing.
After arriving in Beijing, what undermined his power? In  papers written by Cao Shuji such as “50 Years of Historical Research Papers”, we may well be able to find the answer. Li Zicheng was not defeated by Qing, but was defeated by the plague which was rampant at that time.
The plague epidemic was rife at the end of the Ming Dynasty, before and after Li Zicheng’s arrival in Beijing. A number of documents record the plague epidemic in and around Beijing at that time.
Plague is a highly infectious disease caused by the Y. pestis bacterium, which spreads mainly among people, fleas and mice. It is characterized by swollen "nodes" and the black colour of the victims corpses. Research shows that when the plague spreads to a new region where the immune resistance of the people is low, it causes high death rates, usually higher than 50%. Documents from 7th century Europe recorded that the first plague epidemic in Europe had a death rate of up to 70%. The plague is a dreadful disease which is highly infectious, making it difficult to control and causing high rates of mortality.
Li Zichengs' army arrived in Beijing in March of the Chinese Lunar Calendar (April 5 of the Gregorian Calendar). Accounts recorded in ”Autumn of Chongzhen 16th year”, the plague appeared in the vicinity of Beijing and due to the low temperature in winter, the spread of it slowed. When spring came in March and the flowers were in bloom, the mice and fleas became active, causing a large-scale outbreak.
Due to the high mortality rate of plague, it is not surprising that the imperial guards of “Chongzhen” lost their strength over a short period of time. Li occupied Beijing without a big bloody battle, although after arriving in Beijing, Li's army quickly became infected by the plague, thus their strength in battle was greatly reduced. Even though the Qing army was a lot smaller it quickly defeated Li’s debilitated army.
The defeated army had become a source of transmission of the plague, according to the documents of “Where the thieves went so went the epidemic”. Although Li was wealthy at the time, and could recruit a large army, the new recruits would be infected and unable to resist the strong army of Qing. The plague spread throughout the barracks and, unable to shake it off for a long time, the spirit of Li and his army suffered a devastating blow, and he lost his position and collapsed after a single defeat.

Because soldiers were living as a group, the plague was devastating for the ancient army. The outbreak of the plague in 14th century Europe had caused 25 million deaths, with the majority of them being soldiers. Li’s 100 million strong army was helpless, and was left with no option but to wait for their demise in the face of the plague.
This poses another major question for that time in history. Why the Qing army did not suffer from this plague?
Wall paintings and accounts from 14th century Europe recorded that only the cavalry escaped the plague. So it has been concluded that the plague was spread by fleas. It is known that fleas are repelled by the odour of horses, and so, the cavalry was not infected. The Qing army was mainly composed of cavalry, so they did not suffer from the plague. Even though they were greatly outnumbered by Li’s army, they were in much better health, and thus in much better condition to fight.
Plague was a new type of infectious disease and was not known to Chinese people at that time, nor was their a readily known treatment. Under such conditions, the demise of the Ming Dynasty and Li Zicheng was inevitable.

Li’s army of millions was alas brought down by a relatively small plague which greatly benefited the Han Man military and played a significant role in the birth of the Qing Dynasty. Thus a great and talented leader of many uprisings was defeated, and at his death, with his last breath, was recorded as sighing “it is heaven who has eliminated me”.

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