Battle of Lake Poyang

The Battle of Lake Poyang (Chinese: 鄱陽湖之戰; pinyin: Póyáng Hú Zhīzhàn) was a naval battle which took place (30 August – 4 October 1363)[note 1] between the rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang during the Red Turban Rebellion which led to the fall of the Yuan dynasty.

On 30 August 1363, the forces of Chen Han conducted a major amphibious assault on Nanchang but failed to take it due to the defenders' use of cannons and suffered significant losses.

The town of Nanchang was strategically located to guard Lake Poyang, which connected the Yangzi with other river basins.

During the early 1360s, Zhu Yuanzhang held key garrisons on the lake and administered them from Nanjing 560 kilometers downriver.

After this failure, Chen set up a blockade, determined to starve out the defenders, but a small fishing boat managed to slip out and reached Nanjing in time to warn Zhu Yuanzhang.

[4] This shows that older gunpowder weapons co-existed alongside guns, and proto-guns such as fire lances were not supplanted until after the early Ming.

The next day, the wind shifted toward Chen's forces, and Zhu sent burning ships into the opposing fleet, destroying several hundred vessels.