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 ...
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
,
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 ...
, to invade Wei. It was part of an attempt to divert Wei forces away from Jing Province following the
Battle of Shiting
The Battle of Shi'ting (literal meaning "stone pavilion") was fought between the states of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu in 228 during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The battle concluded with a Wu victory.
Battle
The Wu king Sun Quan ordered Zho ...
between Wei and Shu's ally state, Eastern Wu. The siege came to an end when Shu forces retreated after failing to capture Chencang.
Battle of Shiting
The Battle of Shi'ting (literal meaning "stone pavilion") was fought between the states of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu in 228 during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The battle concluded with a Wu victory.
Battle
The Wu king Sun Quan ordered Zho ...
, Wei reinforced the east by mobilizing its troops in the west. Shu Chancellor and regent, Zhuge Liang, hoped to use this opportunity to launch an incursion into Wei territory. Before the Chancellor finalized an operation plan,
Cao Zhen
Cao Zhen (died April or May 231), courtesy name Zidan, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was an adopted son of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power in the late Eastern Han dynasty and l ...
of Wei had distinctly anticipated Zhuge's route of advancement and recommended Hao Zhao to build fortifications for Chencang. The Supreme General, Cao Zhen, assured the young 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 rem ...
of the defence against probable invasions from Shu. However, Hao Zhao was only assigned 1,000 men for his task. The prognosis was made after Zhuge Liang had lost the first expedition earlier that year.Chen Shou. ''Records of Three Kingdoms'', Volume 35, Biography of Zhuge Liang.
The battle
Prelude
After his failure on Mount Qi and Jieting, Zhuge Liang indeed changed his target to Chencang as Cao Zhen reckoned. Thoroughly prepared, the Shu Chancellor brought with him a selection of siege weapons and an expedition force of one hundred thousand men. Although a few officers including
Wei Yan
Wei Yan () (died October 234), courtesy name Wenchang, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a subordinate of the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dyna ...
recommended an alternate route, Zhuge Liang was determined to follow the Jialing Valley, which emerges in the north where the Wei River widens considerably near the city of Chencang. Zhuge Liang planned to capture Chencang as a midpoint for further military actions against the great metropolis
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...
.
The Shu army reached the fortress-city of Chencang during December 228, wherein the Wei defences were apparently not completed as Cao Zhen had not sent additional forces to move in. Having completed the encirclement, Zhuge Liang sent Jin Xiang, a personal friend of Hao Zhao, to convince the latter to defect. The first time the two friends spoke, Hao Zhao would hear none of it, saying "The laws of Wei are what you practise; the nature of me is what you know. I have received so much from my country and I can't let down my family. You ought to say no more, I'll only die defending this city." Jin Xiang told Zhuge Liang what Hao Zhao had said, and again Zhuge Liang sent Jin Xiang to soften Hao Zhao. "Our armies are enormous while you only have a tiny force, what good is it to perish for a futile effort?" said Jin Xiang outside the city gate. This time, however, Hao Zhao fitted an arrow to his bow and replied, "What I said earlier remains solid. I know you, but my arrow doesn't", implicitly threatening to kill Jin Xiang. Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang began his offensive.
Siege
Zhuge Liang aimed to take the fortress directly; he carried out an
escalade
{{Unreferenced, date=May 2007
Escalade is the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders. Escalade was a prominent feature of sieges in ancient and medieval warfare, and though it is no longer common in modern warfare ...
tactic through the use of siege ladders, but Hao Zhao countered with fire arrows, burning the platforms and parching the men upon them. While the ladders were still aflame, Zhuge Liang's battering rams designed to breach the city gate had arrived, and Hao Zhao hurriedly chained some boulders and rolled them down, smashing the rams. The quick response and leadership of Hao Zhao shocked Zhuge Liang, as the latter never expected such a determined resistance.
Zhuge Liang then ordered a withdrawal and reconsidered his tactics. Since moats made access to the walls difficult for siege weapons, which needed to be brought up against a wall to be effective, Zhuge Liang decided to remove the trenches to create more possible attack points. Following Zhuge Liang's order, the besiegers started to fill the chasms and prepared their
siege towers
A Roman siege tower or breaching tower (or in the Middle Ages, a belfry''Castle: Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections''. Dorling Kindersley Pub (T); 1st American edition (September 1994). Siege towers were invented in 300 BC. ) is a specialized siege ...
. With the ditches removed, the
siege engines
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while other ...
moved upon the castle while foot-soldiers climbed the walls like ants. However, Hao Zhao outwitted Zhuge Liang by building interior walls within the outer walls. As long as the siege towers could not pass the outer walls, the soldiers on top of the towers who managed to overcome the outer walls could not climb the second inner walls. Trapped inside the two gates of walls, those soldiers who descended from the towers became easy targets for archers on the inner walls.
Suffering another defeat, Zhuge Liang adopted an architectural approach by asking his soldiers to dig tunnels that led to the substructure of the fortress. However, his method was actually different from the more common mining tactic, which is to excavate beneath the foundations of the walls, and then deliberately collapsing or exploding the tunnel—it is recorded that Zhuge Liang wanted to create some underground passages for his armies to enter the city directly in order to catch his opponent off guard.(亮又为地突，欲踊出于城里，昭又于城内穿地横截之。). ''Brief History of Wei''.
Eventually news came of Wei reinforcements led by Zhang He, so the Shu army retreated. Seeking glory, a Wei general, Wang Shuang, led his cavalry in pursuit of the enemy to the
Qinling Mountains
The Qinling () or Qin Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan ("Southern Mountains"), are a major east–west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, China. The mountains mark the divide between the drainage basins of the Yangtze and Yellow ...
, where he fell into an ambush planted by Zhuge Liang and was killed. On the other hand, Zhang He precisely predicted Zhuge Liang would retreat before he even arrived at Chencang, so Zhang He headed for Nanzheng, but was not able to catch up with Zhuge Liang.
Aftermath
Scoring such a victory, Hao Zhao instantly became a celebrity, and an imperial decree was passed down to grant him a marquis title. Cao Rui also summoned Hao Zhao to the Wei capital,
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang ...
, where he highly praised the general for his valiant defence of Chencang. However, Hao Zhao soon died of illness during his stay in Luoyang.
In the same year of 229, Zhuge Liang launched the third Northern Expedition. This time, he again changed his target, sending Chen Shi to besiege Wudu and Yinping commanderies. The Wei defending general,
Guo Huai
Guo Huai (died 23 February 255), courtesy name Boji, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei (or Wei) during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao ...
The Siege of Chencang is featured as a playable stage in the Koei video game, ''
Dynasty Warriors 5
is a hack and slash video game set in China and the fifth installment in the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series, developed by Omega Force and published by Koei. The game was released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It is based on the Chinese novel ''Roma ...
Chencang
Chencang District , is a district of the city of Baoji, Shaanxi province, China.
Chencang is the former name of Baoji, which was given to the district. The district makes up the outer areas of Baoji, most of the area being rural. In 2020, the Bao ...