The Last Refuge of a Dying Empire

In the spring of 1370, the Northern Yuan Dynasty—the rump state of Mongol rule after their retreat from Dadu (Beijing)—faced existential crisis. Emperor Toghon Temür (Yuan Shundi), who had fled to the desert stronghold of Yingchang (modern Inner Mongolia), lay dead from dysentery exacerbated by the harsh conditions of his exile. His demise created a power vacuum just as Ming general Li Wenzhong’s army advanced toward the Gobi.

The Yuan court’s relocation to Yingchang had been disastrous. Accustomed to the luxuries of Dadu’s palaces, the emperor suffered in the arid climate. Contaminated water from Lake Darhai, lack of fresh vegetables, and psychological torment from Ming taunts (“inquiring after his health” in mocking letters from Zhu Yuanzhang) hastened his death on April 22. His successor, Ayushiridara (Yuan Zhaozong), now confronted Ming forces while struggling to consolidate authority over fractious Mongol factions.

Li Wenzhong’s Desert Gamble

General Li Wenzhong, nephew and adopted son of Zhu Yuanzhang, hesitated at Kaiping. The Ming army, inexperienced in desert warfare, faced supply nightmares: scarce water, shifting sands, and the risk of losing their way. Horses and soldiers alike struggled with the environment. Yet intelligence breakthroughs came unexpectedly.

On May 13, Li’s scouts captured Yuan couriers bearing news of the emperor’s death—a revelation already known to Zhu Yuanzhang, who had cynically posthumously titled the deceased ruler “Shundi” (“Compliant Emperor”) while preparing a mock-grievous memorial. Seizing the moment, Li abandoned caution. With 10,000 light cavalry, he raced toward Yingchang, covering 200 miles of desert in two days. Soldiers ate dried meat in saddles; water bags replaced halts.

The Collapse of Yingchang

Yuan defenses crumbled spectacularly. Ayushiridara’s hastily assembled militia broke before Li’s charge—”冲过去!” (Charge through!) became the battle cry. The Ming cavalry, appearing like a sandstorm, overwhelmed resistance near Lake Darhai. By May 16, Yingchang fell, though Ayushiridara escaped northwest to Karakorum, where the general Köke Temür (Wang Baobao) regrouped.

Li’s spoils included:
– Ayushiridara’s son Maidilibala and imperial consorts
– 15 Song Dynasty jade seals and ritual objects
– 36,900 surrendered Yuan troops at Xingzhou

Zhu Yuanzhang’s Calculated Mercy

The Ming emperor displayed strategic leniency. Maidilibala was paraded in Mongol garb at Nanjing’s Fengtian Hall but then granted Han clothing and the title “Marquis of Chongli.” Zhu declared:

> “As ruler of all under heaven, I make no distinction between Hua and Yi. Though surnames differ, all shall be treated equally.”

This “soft conquest” policy aimed to demoralize Yuan loyalists, yet Ayushiridara and Köke Temür rejected overtures, prolonging the Northern Yuan’s resistance for decades.

The Gobi’s Echoes: Legacy of a Campaign

Li Wenzhong’s strike, though failing to capture the Yuan heir, shattered Mongol revival hopes. Unlike Xu Da’s western campaign against Köke Temür—which severed the Yuan’s military arm—Li’s thrust pierced its heart. The Northern Yuan persisted nominally until 1635, but as Li’s biographer noted:

> “The Mongol old man never truly recovered. Even when they captured Emperor Yingzong at Tumu, it was but a death spasm.”

The desert campaign also revealed environmental warfare’s perils. Contemporary records describe soldiers hallucinating from thirst and horses collapsing—a foreshadowing of later Ming struggles against the Jurchens in similar terrain.

Epilogue: Sands of Time

Today, Lake Darhai’s shores whisper of this clash. Archaeologists find Ming arrowheads beside Yuan coins, while local ballads preserve the tragedy:

> “Bones hide in yellow grass,
> Ghosts wail on the wind.
> Who lies beneath three feet of sand?
> A general’s tomb, a fortress’s corpse—
> Only the desert remembers.”

Zhu Yuanzhang’s “Great Ming” had secured its northern frontier, but at a cost that would echo through centuries: the endless tug-of-war between steppe and sown, now written in blood upon the Gobi’s shifting dunes.