Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...
period of China.
Background
Around March 234,
Shu Han
Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <
chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...
launched a
Northern Expedition
The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...
against Wei for the fifth time. Shu requested assistance from its ally, Wu, to attack Wei together, and the Wu emperor
Sun Quan
Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...
agreed.
The battle
Around June or July, Sun Quan's army, claimed to be 100,000 strong, garrisoned near
Chao Lake
Chao Lake (), also known by its Chinese name Chao Hu, is a lake wholly situated in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province. It is the largest lake in Anhui and one of the five largest freshwater lakes in China.
Mythology
According to legend, the ...
. Sun Quan personally led his troops to attack Wei's fortress at Xincheng (新城; literally: "new city/fortress"),
Hefei
Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...
. On the other hand, he also sent his generals
Lu Xun
Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. W ...
and
Zhuge Jin
Zhuge Jin (174 – July or August 241), courtesy name Ziyu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty, Zhuge Jin started his career in ...
to garrison at Jiangxia () and Miankou (), and they would attack
Xiangyang
Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...
from there. A third Wu army, led by Sun Shao and Zhang Cheng advanced towards Guangling () and Huaiyin (). In total, Wu was attacking Wei from three directions.
In July or early August, the Wei general
Man Chong
Man Chong () (before 175According to the chronology of Man Chong's biography in ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', he was older than 17 when he was recruited by Cao Cao during Cao's tenure as Governor of Yan Province between 191 and 192. By calc ...
wanted to lead reinforcements to support Zhang Ying (), who was in charge of defending Xincheng. However,
Tian Yu
Tian Yu (c. 171 – c. 252), courtesy name Guorang, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Life
Tian Yu was from Yongnu County (), Yuyang Commandery (), which is present-day Wuqing Distric ...
opposed Man Chong's idea, as he thought that Xincheng's defences were adequate, and was worried that the Wu army might turn around to attack the Wei relief force. At that time, many Wei military personnel were on leave, so Man Chong requested for them to be recalled back, and gather them to resist the enemy. The Wei emperor
Cao Rui
Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later remarr ...
disagreed with Man Chong's view, as he felt that Hefei, Xiangyang, and Mount Qi () were the three most important positions on Wei's eastern, southern and western borders respectively, so they already had sufficient defences. Liu Shao felt that Man Chong should focus on defending instead of attacking, because of the Wu forces' high morale; the Wei court would first send 5,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry to relieve Xincheng, and the troops should be spaced further apart, with more flags, banners, and war drums added, so as to create an impression of a large army. Liu Shao predicted that the Wu forces would retreat upon seeing the arrival of this "large army". The Wei emperor
Cao Rui
Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later remarr ...
approved Liu Shao's strategy and despatched the suggested relief force.
In August or early September, Cao Rui personally led a naval fleet east to lift the siege on Xincheng. Man Chong recruited several men to set fire to the Wu army's siege engines, and Sun Quan's nephew Sun Tai () was killed in the battle. At that time, many Wu soldiers were ill and Sun Quan decided to withdraw his troops when he learnt that Cao Rui's army was approaching. Sun Shao and Zhang Cheng also pulled back their forces when they heard that Sun Quan had withdrawn, while Lu Xun pressed on the attack at Xiangyang for some time but also retreated later.
In popular culture
The battle is featured as a playable stage in
Koei
Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on p ...
's video game series ''
Dynasty Warriors
is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now is Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel of ...
''. In the games, the battle is known as the "Battle of Hefei Castle", and is not to be confused with another stage (Battle of Hefei), which refers to the
Battle of Xiaoyao Ford
The Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, also known as the Battle of Leisure Ford, Battle of Hefei, and Hefei Campaign, was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Sun Quan between 214 and 215 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The two contending sides were ...
Records of the Three Kingdoms
The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...
Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...