Tumu Crisis 1449
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
About the battle
The Tumu Crisis, also known as the Crisis of the Tumu Fortress, or the Jisi Incident, was a border conflict between the Oirat Mongols and the Ming dynasty of China. In July 1449, Esen Taishi, leader of the Oirat Mongols, launched a large-scale, three-pronged invasion of China. Despite having capable generals, Emperor Yingzong of Ming, under the influence of eunuch Wang Zhen who dominated the Ming court at the time, made the decision to personally lead his armies into battle against Esen. On 1 September, the Ming army suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the much weaker Mongols, and the Emperor was captured. This defeat was one of the biggest military failures in the Ming dynasty's three centuries of existence, and it was largely attributed to the poor leadership of their army.
Esen was not prepared for the scale of his victory or for the capture of the Ming emperor. Initially, he attempted to use the captured Emperor to raise a ransom and planned to conquer the undefended Ming capital of Beijing. His plan was foiled due to the steadfast leadership of the commander in the capital, Yu Qian, and the ascension of the captured Emperor's brother, the Jingtai Emperor. Emperor Yingzong was eventually released in 1450, but his brother placed him under house arrest.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Tumu Crisis (revision 1374653708), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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