Battle of Jianwei

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Battle of Jianwei
Part of the third of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions
The third of Zhuge Liang's northern expeditions
Date February – May 229[1] Location Longnan, Gansu, China Result Shu victory Territorial changes Wudu and Yinping commanderies captured by Shu
Belligerents
Cao Wei	Shu Han
Commanders and leaders
Guo Huai	Zhuge Liang Chen Shi

The Battle of Jianwei was fought between the contending states of Shu Han and Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. The battle was also the third of a series of military campaigns against Wei launched by Shu's chancellor, Zhuge Liang. The battle concluded with a Shu victory and the capture of Wudu and Yinping commanderies, which were located near present-day Longnan, Gansu.

The battle[]

In the spring of 229, Zhuge Liang ordered Chen Shi to lead troops to attack the Wei-controlled Wudu (武都; near present-day Cheng County, Gansu) and Yinping (陰平; present-day Wen County, Gansu) commanderies,^[2][3] while he remained at the staging area in Yangping Pass with an army as backup.^{[citation needed]}

Upon receiving news that the Wei general Guo Huai had mobilised his forces to attack Chen Shi, Zhuge Liang moved his army from Yangping Pass to Jianwei (建威; in present-day Longnan, Gansu) in the northwestern corner of Wudu Commandery.^[4][3] When Guo Huai heard that Zhuge Liang was heading towards Jianwei, he decided not to attack Chen Shi, and instead ordered his troops to evacuate the area and set up a defensive line in anticipation of further Shu advances.^{[citation needed]} However, Zhuge Liang did not proceed further after reaching Jianwei, where he deployed his troops to counter any Wei reinforcements that might show up.^{[citation needed]}

Guo Huai and his troops retreated later. The Shu forces thus successfully captured Wudu and Yinping commanderies.^[5][3] As the Wei government deemed the two commanderies unimportant, they did not send forces to recapture them from Shu.^{[citation needed]}

Since Wei forces had relocated the local tribesmen and livestock away from the two commanderies, Zhuge Liang thought that it would be futile and strategically useless to station troops there to guard them. As a result, he withdrew all Shu forces from the two commanderies and retreated to the Hanzhong Commandery.

Aftermath[]

The victory at Jianwei was short-lived, and the manpower and resources invested in it were a major drain on the third Northern Expedition. For the rest of 229 and for the first part of 230, the Shu forces could do nothing more than construct a defensive line in Hanzhong Commandery in preparation for an expected Wei offensive towards Hanzhong in the autumn.^{[citation needed]} The diminished Shu forces would launch no further offensives until the fourth expedition in 231.^{[citation needed]}

When Zhuge Liang returned from the campaign, the Shu emperor Liu Shan issued an imperial decree to congratulate him on his successes in defeating Wang Shuang during the second Northern Expedition and capturing Wudu and Yinping commanderies during the third Northern Expedition. He also restored Zhuge Liang to the position of Imperial Chancellor (丞相).^[6]

References[]

• Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
• de Crespigny, Rafe (2003). The Three Kingdoms and Western Jin; a history of China in the Third Century AD. https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/html/1885/42048/3KWJin.html^{[dead link]}
• Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).
• Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.