December 28 in Military History — On This Day

Revolt of the Three Feudatories

The young Kangxi Emperor's decision to abolish the three feudatory kingdoms in the south — autonomous fiefdoms granted to Chinese generals who had helped conquer the empire for the Qing — provoked the largest internal war of the Qing dynasty. Wu Sangui, the same general who had opened Shanhai Pass to the Manchus in 1644, now raised the standard of rebellion, claiming to restore the Ming. At its peak, the revolt controlled half of China. But Wu Sangui's allies fell away one by one, and the Kangxi Emperor's patient strategy of isolating the rebels and winning defectors gradually turned the tide. Wu Sangui died in 1678, and the last rebels surrendered in 1681.

The Three Feudatories was the Qing dynasty's greatest internal crisis and the last serious military challenge to Manchu rule until the Taiping Rebellion two centuries later. Kangxi's victory consolidated Manchu control over southern China and demonstrated that the dynasty could survive without relying on the Chinese warlords who had helped conquer the empire.

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⚔️📍 Ardennes, Belgium and Luxembourg1944

Battle of the Bulge — German Offensive Crumbles

With Allied forces pressing in from all sides and German fuel supplies exhausted, Hitler finally authorized withdrawal from the Ardennes salient. The battle that had created the largest American engagement of WWII was ending in German defeat.

The Bulge consumed Germany's last strategic reserves; with no more offensive capability, Germany faced only the question of how long it could survive Allied advances from east and west.

Outcome

German withdrawal; last offensive capability destroyed