The Battle of Dongxing, also known as the Battle of Dongguan, was fought from January to February 253 between the states of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Eastern Wu during the

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 Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

period of China. The battle concluded with a tactical victory for Wu.

Background

As early as 211, Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Wu, had already ordered the construction of defensive structures at Ruxu (濡須; north of

Wuwei County Wuwei () is a county-level city in the southeast of Anhui Province, China, under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Wuhu. Previously a county, Wuwei was upgraded to a county-level city in late 2019. It has population of 1,214,000 as ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

) for defensive preparations against possible attacks from a rival warlord, Cao Cao. In 230, Sun Quan had a dam built at Dongxing to contain the nearby

Lake Chao 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 died in 252 and was succeeded by his son

Sun Liang Sun Liang (245–260), courtesy name Ziming, was the second emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the youngest son and heir of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Wu. He is also known as the Prince of ...

as the emperor of Wu. In November or December 252, the Wu regent

Zhuge Ke Zhuge Ke (203 – November or December 253), courtesy name Yuanxun (元逊), was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the eldest son of Zhuge Jin, a military gene ...

started construction works at the Dongxing dam, increasing its length such that it joined the hills at either side of the dam, and two castles were built in the middle. Zhuge Ke stationed 1,000 troops in each castle and put Quan Duan (全端) and Liu Lue (留略) in charge of them, while he led the rest of the men back.

Prelude

Wei felt humiliated when Wu began infringing on its territory by doing construction works on the Dongxing dam. The Wei general

Zhuge Dan Zhuge Dan (died 10 April 258), courtesy name Gongxiu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. When he held key military appointments throughout his middle to late career, h ...

proposed to the regent

Sima Shi Sima Shi () (208 – 23 March 255), courtesy name Ziyuan, was a military general and regent of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. In 249, he assisted his father Sima Yi in overthrowing the emperor Cao Fang's regent Cao Shuang, al ...

a plan to counter Wu, and Sima Shi accepted his idea. In December 252 or January 253, the Wei imperial court commissioned Wang Chang,

Guanqiu Jian Guanqiu Jian (died 16 March 255), courtesy name Zhonggong, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Life Guanqiu Jian was from Wenxi County (), Hedong Commandery, which i ...

, Zhuge Dan and

Hu Zun HU or Hu may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Hu Sanniang, a fictional character in the ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature * Tian Hu, one of the antagonists in the ''Water Margin'' * Hollywood Und ...

(胡遵) to attack Wu from three directions: Wang Chang would attack Jiangling; Guanqiu Jian would attack Wuchang (武昌; present-day

Ezhou Ezhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hubei Province, China. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,079,353, of which 695,697 lived in the core Echeng District. The Ezhou - Huanggang built-up (''or metro'') area was home ...

, Hubei); Zhuge Dan and Hu Zun would lead 70,000 troops to Dongxing to attack the two castles and damage the dam.(魏遣諸葛誕、胡遵等攻東興，諸葛恪率軍拒之。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 55. When news of the Wei attack reached Wu, Zhuge Ke led 40,000 troops to resist the enemy. Hu Zun ordered his men to build

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry. ...

s to get to the dam and divided them into two groups to attack the two castles. However the castles were situated on high ground and difficult to access. The Wu generals said, "When the enemy learns that the Grand Tutor (Zhuge Ke) is coming here personally, they will surely retreat when we reach the shore." However, only Ding Feng had a different view. He said: "No. They are making large movements in their territory. They are prepared, as they have mobilised large numbers of troops from Xu and

Luo Luo may refer to: Luo peoples and languages *Luo peoples, an ethno-linguistic group of eastern and central Africa **Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania or Joluo, an ethnic group in western Kenya, eastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania. *** Luoland, th ...

, so why would they go back empty-handed? Don't think that the enemy won't come. We should ready ourselves for battle." When Zhuge Ke reached Dongxing, he placed Ding Feng, Liu Zan,

Lü Ju Lü Ju (died 12 November 256), courtesy name Shiyi, was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Lü Fan, a general who served under Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Wu. ...

and

Tang Zi Tang Zi ( 225–262) was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China. In 258, he defected to Wu's rival state, Cao Wei, and became a general under Wei. Life Tang Zi was from Licheng Comman ...

in command of the vanguard and they moved west along mountainous terrain. Ding Feng warned: "We are moving too slow. If the enemy seizes favourable ground, it will be harder to deal with them." He then led 3,000 soldiers with him, travelling on a different route from the main bulk of Wu forces.

The battle

Strong north winds were blowing at that time. Ding Feng and his 3,000 men reached the frontline within two days and seized control of Xu embankment (徐塘). It was in winter and there was snowfall. The Wei officers were off guard and having a drinking session, so, despite the feeble size of his army, Ding Feng rallied his men: "Today is the day we claim titles and rewards!" He then ordered his troops to remove their armour and helmets, discard their '' ji''s and spears, and arm themselves with only shields and short weapons such as swords. The Wei soldiers laughed when they saw this event, and instead refused to ready themselves for combat. Ding Feng and his men fought bravely and destroyed the enemy camp at the front. Just then, another Wu force led by Lü Ju and others arrived and joined Ding Feng in attacking the enemy camp. The Wei forces were shocked by the sudden fierce assault and were thrown into chaos. Many Wei soldiers scrambled to cross the pontoon bridges but the bridges collapsed. They fell into the water and started trampling on each other while desperately trying to get onto land. Huan Jia, a

Wei Commandery Wei Commandery ( zh, 魏郡) was a historical commandery of China, located in modern southern Hebei and northern Henan. The commandery was created during Emperor Gaozu of Han's reign, with its seat at Ye. In late Western Han, it administered 18 ...

administrator, was killed in action. Han Zong, a Wu general who defected to Wei and led the Wei vanguard in this battle, also lost his life in battle. Zhuge Ke decapitated Han Zong's body and sent the head to Sun Quan's temple.

Aftermath

When Wang Chang and

heard of the Wei defeat at Dongxing, they burnt their camps and withdrew as well. Back in the Wei imperial court, many officials argued for the Wei commanders to be either demoted or dismissed for their failure in the invasion. However

said: "I did not listen to Gongxiu (

) and that resulted in this situation. It's my fault. What have the generals done wrong?" Sima Shi's younger brother Sima Zhao, who was supervising the campaign, was stripped of his title of nobility. On the other hand, Wu forces captured large quantities of equipment and livestock left behind by Wei forces and marched back in triumph.

received the title of Marquis of Yangdu (陽都侯) and the appointment of Governor (牧) of Jing and

Yang Yang may refer to: * Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy * Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902 * YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration ...

provinces, as well as 1,000 '' jin'' of gold, 200 fine horses and 10,000 rolls each of silk and cloth. Ding Feng was promoted to General Who Eliminates Bandits (滅寇將軍) and enfeoffed as a Marquis of a Chief Village (都亭侯).(遷滅寇將軍，進封都亭侯。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 55.

Order of battle

Cao Wei forces

* General Who Stabilises the East (安東將軍) Sima Zhao supervised the campaign. * Senior General Who Attacks the South (征南大將軍) Wang Chang attacked Jiangling. * General Who Guards the South (鎮南將軍)

attacked Wuchang (武昌; present-day

, Hubei). * General Who Attacks the East (征東將軍)

(胡遵) led 70,000 troops to attack Dongxing. ** General Who Guards the East (鎮東將軍)

** Administrator of Yue'an (樂安太守) Huan Jia ** Han Zong was the vanguard.

Eastern Wu forces

* Grand Tutor (太傅)

led 40,000 troops to Dongxing to resist the Wei army. ** Champion General (冠軍將軍) Ding Feng led 3,000 troops to attack the Wei camp. ** General of the Right (右將軍)

** Colonel of the Garrison Cavalry (屯騎校尉) Liu Zan **

In popular culture

The battle is featured as a playable stage in the seventh installment of Koei'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 ...

''. The battle consists of two halves in ''Dynasty Warriors 7''. The first half is played from

's point of view and the second features

Wang Yuanji Wang Yuanji (217 – 20 April 268) was a Chinese noble lady, aristocrat and later empress dowager of Jin dynasty, who lived during the Three Kingdoms period. She was the wife of Sima Zhao, a regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three King ...

saving Zhuge Dan after crossing a bridge and being ambushed by Ding Feng. The game also states that Zhuge Dan successfully captured the two strongholds at Dongxing. In the Xtreme Legends expansion, the battle is playable from Ding Feng's point of view. His aim is to ambush Wei forces from the mountain.

References

* Chen, Shou. '' Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Fang, Xuanling. ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang ...

'' (''Jin Shu''). * Pei, Songzhi. '' Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{coord missing, Anhui Dongxing Cao Wei Eastern Wu 253 250s conflicts