Hanzhong Campaign
Hanzhong Campaign | |||||||
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Part of the wars at the end of the Han dynasty | |||||||
A portrait of Cao Cao from Sancai Tuhui. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Liu Bei | Cao Cao | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Liu Bei |
† Xiahou Yuan until February 219 Cao Cao from February 219 |
Hanzhong Campaign | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 汉中 | ||||||
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The Hanzhong Campaign was a military campaign launched by the warlord Liu Bei to seize control of Hanzhong Commandery from his rival, Cao Cao. The campaign took place between December 217 and August 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period. Although Cao Cao's forces had settled in Hanzhong Commandery two years prior after the Battle of Yangping, they were worn out by an overall Fabian strategy employed by Liu Bei's forces, who used targeted attacks to capture strategic locations from the enemy. One of these attacks resulted in the death of Xiahou Yuan, one of Cao Cao's top generals, delivering a huge blow to the morale of Cao Cao's forces. Due to logistical and other issues, Cao Cao was eventually forced to abandon Hanzhong Commandery and order a retreat in June 219.[1] Liu Bei emerged victorious in the campaign and occupied Hanzhong Commandery, after which he declared himself "King of Hanzhong" in August of that year.[1]
The campaign would ultimately prove to be the final military campaign that Cao Cao participated in before his death in March of 220.
Background
[edit]In April 215,[2] Cao Cao attacked the warlord Zhang Lu in Hanzhong Commandery, defeating the latter at the Battle of Yangping. In December,[2] Zhang Lu surrendered and Hanzhong Commandery came under Cao Cao's control.[3] Afterwards, Cao Cao appointed Pu Hu (
On Liu Bei's side, he had also recently seized control of Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) from Liu Zhang in July 214,[7] and was in the midst of a dispute with his ally Sun Quan over Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) in July 215.[2] Liu Bei felt threatened when he received news that Hanzhong Commandery had fallen to Cao Cao, because Hanzhong was the northern "gateway" into Yi Province and he was now in danger of losing Yi Province to Cao Cao. Hence, Liu Bei came to a border treaty with Sun Quan, who had seized Changsha (
Strategic difference
[edit]In Hanzhong Commandery, Sima Yi and Liu Ye urged Cao Cao to use the opportunity to attack Yi Province, but Cao Cao rejected the idea, saying, "We should not be discontent. Now that we've already conquered Longyou (referring to present-day eastern Gansu), you're still longing about merging Shu (referring to Yi Province)!"[9] Cao Cao then left his generals Xiahou Yuan, Zhang He and Xu Huang behind to defend Hanzhong Commandery, and his Chief Clerk (
In December 217,[1] Liu Bei's adviser Fa Zheng analysed the reason Cao Cao left Xiahou Yuan to guard Hanzhong Commandery and didn't push to conquer Yi province was not because of a lack of strength or insight but because he met some internal problems and was needed back at the capital. Fa Zheng also believed that Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He's ability didn't match those of Liu Bei's commanders, so the pair could not defend Hanzhong Commandery. Hence, Fa Zheng urged Liu Bei to attack Hanzhong Commandery, stating three benefits if the commandery could be taken: ideally it could serve as a base of operations to attack Cao Cao and revive the Han dynasty; if that were not possible one could still attack Yong and Liang provinces from it (Hanzhong Commandery granted access to the two provinces) and expand his territory; and finally Hanzhong Commandery had long-lasting strategical impact on the survival of Liu Bei's regime. Liu Bei agreed with Fa Zheng's analysis and ordered him to plan for the upcoming campaign.[11]
The campaign
[edit]Initial clashes
[edit]In December 217,[1] Liu Bei's army advanced towards Yangping Pass (
In April 218,[1] Zhang Fei and Ma Chao's army garrisoned at Gushan (
On another front, Liu Bei was facing Xiahou Yuan at Yangping Pass. Between May and August (summer) 218,[1] Liu Bei sent Chen Shi to attack Mamingge, but the latter was defeated by Xu Huang, and some of the fleeing soldiers fell into the deep valleys during their escape.[13] Liu Bei personally led an assault on Zhang He at Guangshi but was unable to overcome his enemy.[14] He then sent an urgent letter to Zhuge Liang in Yi Province's capital, Chengdu, to request for reinforcements. Zhuge Liang vacillated and consulted Yang Hong (楊洪), who said, "Hanzhong is the throat of Yi Province. This is a critical point of survival and destruction. Without Hanzhong there will be no Shu (Yi Province). A disaster has befallen on the gates of our home. At this moment, the men should go to war, the women should help in transporting supplies, what's there to hesitate about sending reinforcements?"[15] Zhuge Liang accepted Yang Hong's advice and sent reinforcements to Liu Bei while Liu Bei continued his standoff against Cao Cao's forces.
Turn of the tide
[edit]By October 218,[1] Cao Cao moved from Ye city to Chang'an near Hanzhong Commandery to direct the defence against Liu Bei, but had been held up by internal problems including a major coup d'état and some local uprisings. In the meantime, Liu Bei and Xiahou Yuan had been locked in a stalemate for a year. In February 219,[1] to break the deadlock, Liu Bei crossed the Mian River (沔水) south of Yangping Pass and advanced towards Hanzhong Commandery through the mountains. Liu Bei's army set up camp at Mount Dingjun. In response, Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He led their forces out in an attempt to take control of higher ground, and they made camp at Zouma Valley (
As Cao Cao's forces had just lost their commander, Xiahou Yuan, a tempest ensued. Du Xi and Guo Huai regrouped their scattered troops and (unofficially) nominated Zhang He to replace Xiahou Yuan. Zhang He accepted and gave orders to his troops, restoring peace and order in his army. The following day, Liu Bei planned to cross the Han River and attack Zhang He, whose officers pointed out they were outnumbered, and suggested to Zhang He to set up camps along the banks of the Han River.[20] Guo Huai felt that their forces were displaying weakness to the enemy by doing so, he proposed setting up camp far away from the river to lure the enemy to cross the shallow, during which they counterattack the enemy.[21] Zhang He agreed with Guo Huai's idea and moved his camp further away from the river. Liu Bei became suspicious and did not dare to cross the river.[22] In Chang'an, when Cao Cao heard that Xiahou Yuan had been killed in action, he despatched Cao Zhen with an army to reinforce their forces at Yangping Pass. When Cao Zhen arrived, he directed Xu Huang to attack Gao Xiang, an officer under Liu Bei. Xu Huang scored a victory and temporarily restored some morale for Cao Cao's side.[23]
Last stages
[edit]In April 219,[1] Cao Cao personally led an army from Chang'an to Hanzhong Commandery via Xia Valley (
Later, when Cao Cao's forces were transporting supplies via Beishan (
As Cao Cao's forces had been in a standoff against Liu Bei for several months and had been facing serious logistics problems, he eventually gave an order, "chicken rib" (雞肋). No one understood what Cao Cao meant when he said "chicken rib", except his registrar, Yang Xiu. Yang Xiu explained that it was a pity to discard a piece of chicken's rib even though it may not have much meat on it. This was an analogy to the situation Cao Cao was in: Cao Cao knew that he had little chance of defeating Liu Bei, but felt that it was a pity to abandon Hanzhong Commandery. Cao Cao was not pleased with Yang Xiu's explanation and later had him executed. By June 219,[1] Cao Cao retreated back to Chang'an and gave up Hanzhong Commandery to Liu Bei.[26]
Aftermath
[edit]In July 219, one month after the capture of Hanzhong, Liu Bei sent Meng Da to attack Fangling Commandery (
On the other hand, after withdrawing, Cao Cao was worried that Liu Bei might attack Wudu Commandery, so he ordered Zhang Ji, the Inspector (
Word of Liu Bei's victory at Hanzhong eventually reached Guan Yu, who was, at the time, stationed in southern Jing province. Seeking to take advantage of the success of the Hanzhong Campaign, Guan Yu led an army of his own to attack Cao Cao's strongholds in northern Jing province, leading to the Battle of Fancheng in July of 219.
Order of battle
[edit]
Liu Bei forces[edit]
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Cao Cao forces[edit]
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Notes
[edit]- ^ This Kuai Qi was a nephew of Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang and previously married Zhuge Liang's oldest sister.[29]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sima (1084), vol. 68.
- ^ a b c Sima (1084), vol. 67.
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