Great Ming Military: Yu Da You

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3 June 2017

Movie review: God of War movie (《蕩寇風雲》)

The movie God of War is truly a breath of fresh air from the China's cinema scene. From the unimaginative bog that's choke-full of overused, money grabber adaptions of Romance of Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and fictitious Wuxia stories, we finally get a proper historical war epic! This fact alone is enough to convince me to reach for my wallet, and the attention to details as well as accurate unfolding of historical events are just icing on the cake. What a pleasant surprise!

Yu Da You's battle formations

Although Yu Da You (俞大猷) was not as well-known as the legendary Qi Ji Guang (戚繼光), especially to modern audience, during his time he was a renowned commander and celebrated hero, and every bit as capable as Qi Ji Guang, if not moreso. Yu Da You's tactics and formations had profound influence over commanders and tacticians that came after him, including Qi Ji Guang and Xu Guang Qi (徐光啟).

Basic Tactic

Unlike Qi Ji Guang, who had a relatively smooth rise to prominence, Yu Da You's military career was nothing short of miserable. He frequently faced obstacles and hostilities from within and without the Ming court, his contributions intentionally downplayed or stolen by others, and his achievements rewarded with punishments. As such, Yu Da You did not have the luxury of raising, equipping and training a fresh army like what Qi Ji Guang did with Qi Jia Jun (戚家軍), and had to make do with whatever troops assigned to him at the time. Such was the charisma and capacity of the legendary commander that he was always able to turn a ragtag bunch of misfits into formidable warriors and disciplined soldiers.

It was also due to this circumstance that Yu Da You did not go into detail about equipment for his formations. Any and every kinds of weapons could be used, although Yu Da You preferred shorter polearms such as Hu Cha (虎叉, tiger fork), Tang Pa (鎲鈀) and Gou Lian Dao (鈎鐮刀), probably because he himself was a quarterstaff master of legendary calibre. The smallest tactical unit in Yu Da You's battle formations was Dui (隊) of five troops. A basic formation consisted of five Dui working together, although it could be upscaled or downscaled as needed.

Die Zhen (疊陣, lit. 'Stacked formation')

A Die Zhen, from 'Zheng Qi Tang Ji (《正氣堂集》)'.

Yu Da You's Du Lun Che (獨輪車) — Part 5

Other war carts in Yu Da You's division

Du Lun Che (獨輪車) was not the only type of war cart in the war cart division. Yu Da You (俞大猷) also designed several other war carts to be used together with Du Lun Che.

Shuang Lun Zhan Che (雙輪戰車, lit. 'Two wheeled war cart')

Basic layout of Shuang Lun Zhan Che, from 'Zhen Qi Tang Ji (《正氣堂集》)'.

Shuang Lun Zhan Che was more stable and compact that its one wheeled counterpart. It was pushed by six crews instead of eight, with two of the pushers stationed inside the cart. Yu Da You mentioned that it had the same armament as Du Lun Che, however the illustration shows that it had seven spearheads instead of the usual four.

Shuang Lun Liang Che (雙輪糧車, lit. 'Two wheeled grain cart')

Basic layout of Shuang Lun Liang Che, from 'Zheng Qi Tang Ji (《正氣堂集》)'.

Shuang Lun Liang Che was the supply cart of the war cart division. It was almost identical to Shuang Lun Zhan Che, except slightly smaller and only had five spearheads. It was not known whether this supply cart was armed with firearms or not.

Xin Zhi Shuang Lun Zhan Che (新製雙輪戰車, lit. 'New model two wheeled war cart')

Basic layout of the Xin Zhi Shuang Lun Zhan Che, from 'Zheng Qi Tang Ji (《正氣堂集》)'.

After the success of war cart at Datong Defence Region (大同鎮), Yu Da You also tried to introduce the war cart to Jing Ying (京營, lit. 'Capital Regiment') stationed at the capital. He succeeded in raising a sixty thousand strong war cart army in his elderly years.

Xin Zhi Shuang Lun Zhan Che was the war cart designed for imperial guards. It was slightly larger than its Datong Defence Region counterparts, had two wooden screens instead of leather shields, and came equipped with five spearheads and three Fo Lang Ji (佛狼機) cannons. It also had two iron chains that were used to link multiple war carts together.

Yu Da You's Du Lun Che (獨輪車) — Part 4

Entire war cart regiment was known as Da Ying (大營, large regiment), consisted of thirteen Xiao Ying (小營), or one hundred and sixty-nine war carts. With such a large number of war carts operating together, the regiment no longer had to be always on the defensive. Instead Yu Da You (俞大猷) opted for an aggressive tactics that bring the fight to their enemy.

Large Unit Tactics

Ming Chinese War Wagon Offensive Formation

Yu Da You's war cart formation (large), from 'Zheng Qi Tang Ji (《正氣堂集》)'.

Yu Da You's Du Lun Che (獨輪車) — Part 3

Circling up the wagons

Defensive formation of war wagons was fairly straightforward: war wagons were deployed into a rectangle or circle to form a makeshift fortification. However, owing to its lighter weight, the war carts of Yu Da You (俞大猷) could maintain some mobility even after a defensive circle was formed. This was very crucial to Yu Da You's war cart regiment, as Mongol horsemen were simply too fast and too unpredictable. A mobile defensive circle was a temporary defensive formation that protected the army so that it could relocate to a favourable position and deploy into a proper wagon fort.

Yu Da You drafted the following formations based on a medium sized battlegroup consisted of seven Xiao Ying (小營), or ninety-one war carts.

Battlegroup on the march: War cart battlegroup formed into a long column, with mounted scouts riding ahead and behind the formation.

Yu Da You's Du Lun Che (獨輪車) — Part 2

Yu Da You (俞大猷) organised his war cart regiment to be able to functions at different tactical levels. The smallest military unit in Yu Da You's war cart regiment capable of independent operations was Xiao Ying (小營, small battalion), consisted of thirteen war carts.

Small Unit Tactics

Yu Da You's war cart formation (small) at its initial position, from 'Zheng Qi Tang Ji (《正氣堂集》)'.

As the smallest operational unit in the war cart regiment, Xiao Ying was geared towards small scale engagement, namely to engage and defeat small numbers of Mongol skirmishers or raiders looking for plunder. As such, mobility and firepower were far more important than forming impenetrable defensive formation to defeat an enemy that frequently employed hit-and-run tactics and would not hesitate to retreat at the first sign of trouble. Xiao Ying did not form into wagon fort (Yu Da You thought that defensive formation should be left for larger unit) but deployed in checkerboard formation to maximise the firepower of Fo Lang Ji (佛狼機) cannons.

Yu Da You's Du Lun Che (獨輪車) — Part 1

Contrary of popular misconception, war wagons formed an integral part of the Song, Ming and early Manchu armies, particularly in North China. Massive numbers of war wagons once roamed China's soil, defending Ming territories against Mongol raiders, and much of the battles between Ming Chinese and Manchus were fought with war wagons from both sides.

While mentions of Ming period war wagons are plentiful, famous Ming general Yu Da You (俞大猷) was one of the earliest pioneers to discuss in detail the deployment and tactics of these war machines. He also designed Du Lun Che (獨輪車, lit. 'One wheeled cart'), which was basically a giant armed and armoured wheelbarrow.

Early Version

This version of Du Lun Che was designed by Yu Da You before his transfer to Datong Defence Region (大同鎮). Early Du Lun Che was a simple cart armed with two long spears, manned by ten crews and supported by ten infantries, twenty horsemen and twenty packhorses. The infantries were armed with Gou Lian Dao (鉤鐮刀), Hu Cha (虎叉, lit. 'Tiger fork', a trident that was similar but much larger than Tang Pa (鎲鈀). Its use was more common during Qing period.), Long Dao Qiang (龍刀鎗), as well as round shields paired with Huan Dao (環刀, lit. 'Ring sabre', this is an archaic Yuan period term referring to a sabre. Korean continued to use this terminology in the form of Hwando or 환도 to refer to their sabre).

Unlike its more advanced variant, early Du Lun Che was not equipped with shield or firearm.

Late Version

Basic layout of Du Lun Che, from 'Zheng Qi Tang Ji (《正氣堂集》)'.

Great Ming Military