Meng Gong

Timeline

1. 1195–1210Zaoyang County · Zaoyang ArmyMeng Gong was born in Zaoyang; his father Meng Wei was a Southern Song general. From youth he studied archery and the art of war, inheriting his family's military learning, and grew up in the Jinghu army, laying the foundation for his later command against the enemy.
2. 1211–1220Xiangyang Prefecture · Xiangyang PrefectureDuring the Jiading era Meng Gong campaigned with Zhao Fang in Xiangfan. In 1215 the Mongols besieged Zaoyang; Meng Gong joined the relief and routed the Mongol army. In 1217 he again followed Zhao Fang in defeating the Jin general Wanyan Saibu at De'an. In this period Meng Gong distinguished himself by his courage and gradually became a key general under Zhao Fang.
3. 1220–1234Jingxi South Circuit · Jingxi South CircuitAfter Zhao Fang's death Meng Gong continued to defend Xiangfan, rising to Jinghu pacification commissioner. In the 1230s he joined a joint Mongol-Song campaign against Jin, taking part in the 1234 Battle of Caizhou, which ended Jin. Meng Gong was famed for 'self-defense warfare,' skilled in building fortifications and chariot warfare, and represented the Southern Song's later military reforms.
4. 1234–1246Sichuan · Sichuan Pacification CommissionAfter Jin's fall the Mongols invaded south; Meng Gong repelled them at Zaoyang in 1236, defeated them at Ezhou in 1239, and recovered Xiangyang in 1237. Later appointed Sichuan pacification commissioner, he reorganized Shu's defenses. He died in 1246 (Chunyou 6), posthumously named Zhongshun, and later generations ranked him the foremost general of the late Southern Song.