On 19 March 1279, the Mongols secured their final victory over the Song Dynasty in the decisive naval Battle of Yamen, marking the end of centuries of Han Chinese rule.
Facing an overwhelming Mongol fleet, the last remnants of the Song, led by the young Emperor Zhao Bing and his loyal ministers, made a desperate stand in the waters off Guangdong.
Vastly outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the Song forces were annihilated, and in a final act of defiance, the emperor’s regent, Lu Xiufu, leapt into the sea with the child-emperor in his arms, choosing death over surrender.
With this battle, the Yuan Dynasty, under Kublai Khan, cemented its control over China, ushering in a new era of Mongol dominance.
