Battle of Huangtiandang

From 1129, the Jin forces led by Wuzhu marched southward, successively conquering several important cities north of the Yangtze River.

Emperor Gaozong ordered the chancellor Du Chong to abandon the defense of Kaifeng, withdrawing his fellow soldiers to the south of the Yangtze River.

Zhang Jun and Xin Qizong suggested pulling back the army to Changsha, but Han Shizhong objected.

[2]: 46 Han Shizhong loaded all the material reserves in Zhenjiang onto his seagoing vessels, and burned the military installations in the city.

[2]: 47 During the night of the Lantern Festival of 1130, Han Shizhong led about 8,000 soldiers to Zhenjiang and built their encampment near Jiaoshan Temple.

At first the Song troops were pushed back, but after Liang Hongyu directed the soldiers with her drums, they took advantage and the Jin retreated.

Han forced his navy into Huangtiandang, a water area about 70 li northeast of Jiankang that joins the Yangtze at one narrow gap.

Han Shizhong's fleet of seagoing vessels were large and stable, and his subordinates made many big iron hooks for dragging rails of the Jin ships.

A Fujian merchant gave a suggestion to fill the ships with earth to keep them stationary, and to wait until a breezeless day to attack so that the big vessels of Song would not be able to move at a fast clip.

Wuzhu's troops used incendiary arrows to shoot at the sails of Han's ships, and most Song soldiers were burned or drowned.