The Battle Of JieTing

Opening moves

Zhuge Liang first sent generals Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi to attack Mei, while he personally led a force towards Mount Qi. Cao Rui, the emperor of Wei, moved to Chang'an and sent Zhang He to attack Zhuge Liang while Cao Zhen would oppose Zhao Yun. Zhuge Liang chose generals Ma Su and Wang Ping to intercept Zhang He.

The battle

Jieting was a crucial region for the securing of supplies, and Zhuge Liang sent Ma Su and Wang Ping to guard the region. Ma Su went accompanied by Wang Ping but did not listen to his sound military advice. Relying purely on books of military tactics, Ma Su chose to "take the high ground" and set his base on the mountains instead of in a city, ignoring Wang Ping's advice to make camp in a valley well supplied with water. Wang Ping, however, managed to persuade Ma Su to give him command of a portion of the troops, and later Wang set up his base camp near Ma's camp, in order to offer assistance when Ma was in danger. Due to this tactical mistake, the Wei army led by Zhang He encircled the hill and cut off the water supply to the Shu troops and attacked; later, Sima Yi's forces set fire to the hill. Wang Ping led his troops in an attempt to help Ma Su but the Shu army suffered a great defeat in which both the army and the fort were lost. Though he survived the battle, Ma Su feared punishment and attempted to flee. However, he was soon captured by Shu forces.
 

Aftermath

Ma Su was sentenced to death by Zhuge Liang, along with his deputy commanders Zhang Xiu (張休) and Li Sheng (李盛), but Ma eventually died of illness in prison before the execution could be carried out, while the other two were executed.
Because of the loss of Jieting, the supply situation became dire for Zhuge Liang's army and he had to retreat to his main base at Hanzhong. In addition, the defeat at Jieting had caused the First Northern Expedition to result in failure.

In fiction

In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of Three Kingdoms, Ma Su was executed on the order of a tearful Zhuge Liang, whose continued high appraisal for Ma's intelligence made that a very reluctant decision. The scene has also been reenacted in Chinese opera. A Japanese proverb, "executing Ma Su with tears" (泣いて馬謖を斬る naite Bashoku wo kiru^?) refers specifically to this incident, meaning "punishing a person for his wrongdoings regardless of relations or his abilities."
In the novel, the loss of Jieting exposed Zhuge Liang's current location, the defenseless Xicheng. Zhuge Liang used the Empty Fort Strategy to ward off the enemy before retreating.

The Battle Of Yi Ling

Before the Battle...
 Immediately after Cao Cao's defeat at Wulin in the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhou Yu led 30,000 troops into Nan Commandery in a move to capture Jing Province's capital city, Jiangling (江陵; in present-day Jingjiang 荆江, not to be confused with present-day Jiangling County, Hubei). Zhou Yu's army camped on the southern bank of the Yangtze River. Before engaging Cao Cao's general Cao Ren, Zhou Yu ordered Gan Ning to take Yiling (夷陵; present-day Yichang, Hubei) as a preemptive move to secure the entrance to Yi Province (covering the Sichuan Basin).^[1] In addition, if Yiling was captured, Cao Ren would be isolated from Yi Province's governor Liu Zhang, who was sending reinforcements to support him.<sup>[2]

The Battle...
________________________________________________________________________________________________
 Defection Of Xi Su...</sup>
 The commander of Yiling, Xi Su (襲肅), who was also Administrator of Guanghan, was originally an official under Liu Zhang and he hated Cao Cao. When Gan Ning's troops reached Yiling, Xi Su surrendered without a fight. As Gan Ning's force reached 1,000 (Gan had 700 men initially), Zhou Yu wanted to merge Xi Su and his 300 troops into Lü Meng's unit to strengthen the main force. Lü Meng refused the offer and appealed to Sun Quan not to reassign Xi Su and his 300 men, but rather, keep Xi Su with Gan Ning to reinforce defenses at Yiling. Sun Quan agreed to Lü Meng's proposal. When Cao Ren learnt that Yiling had fallen, he immediately sent 6,000 cavalry to retake the city. Under intense pressure, Gan Ning remained calm and stabilized his army's morale.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Lu Meng's Strategies...

As Gan Ning's request for reinforcements reached Zhou Yu, nearly "everyone pointed out that there were not enough men to spare as a relief force".^[3] However, Lü Meng stood up and urged his colleagues to go and support Gan Ning, and guaranteed that Ling Tong could defend their main camp on his own for at least ten days.^[4]
Ling Tong took up the burden of facing Cao Ren and Xu Huang alone, in order to buy time for Zhou Yu, Lü Meng, and others to help Gan Ning at Yiling. Cao Ren did not expect Zhou Yu to ignore his massive army at Jiangling, and was consequently defeated at Yiling, suffering more than 3,000 casualties. Meanwhile, Ling Tong deceived Cao Ren into believing that was still a sizable army left in Zhou Yu's main camp, so Cao did not launch an all-out assault on Ling. Instead, Cao Ren sent Xu Huang to attack Ling Tong but was failed. En route back to the main camp, Lü Meng suggested a plan to capture enemy warhorses: he would lead 300 soldiers to block the enemy's retreat route with bundles of firewood so the horses were unable to pass through. As Lü Meng expected, in order to escape from Zhou Yu's pursuit, Cao Ren's cavalry abandoned their steeds and fled back to Jiangling on foot.^[5] Zhou Yu returned with over 300 captured enemy warhorses and Yiling remained firmly in Sun Quan's control for the rest of the war.

After the battle...
 The fall of Yiling meant that Sun Quan's forces had opened up the entrance to Yi Province. It also implied that Cao Ren, who was in Jiangling, would no longer receive any reinforcements from Liu Zhang.

 

The Battle Of Wu Zhang Plains

Before the Battle...
In the spring of 234, Zhuge Liang led 100,000 troops through Xiagu Pass (斜谷口) after three years of preparation since his last Northern Expedition. At the same time, Zhuge Liang sent an emissary to Shu Han's ally state Eastern Wu, hoping that Wu would attack Cao Wei concurrently. In April, Shu forces reached the Wuzhang Plains near the Wei River and made camp there. The Cao Wei commander Sima Yi was well-prepared with a 200,000 strong army and a fortified position on the southern bank of the Wei River.

The Battle...
Guo Huai suggested that Sima Yi should form a position in the northern part of the Plains, since Zhuge Liang would likely strike there. Sima Yi agreed, and sent Guo Huai to set camp there. Shu forces attacked the Wei camp there while it was being built, but Guo Huai was able to hold them off.
Sima Yi would not engage the Shu forces, instead trying to make the enemy retreat through attrition. Zhuge Liang understood the problem, and implemented the tuntian system to sustain his troops.
The Shu army awaited an agreed offensive by Wu for the moment to strike. However, Sun Quan's armies in the Huai River region were defeated by forces led by the Wei emperor Cao Rui and succumbed to an endemic disease. Thus the stalemate remained in place and continued for hundreds of days. Shu forces tried to engage the Wei forces several times, but Sima Yi remained firmly in camp and refused to engage the enemy.
In an attempt to provoke Sima Yi to attack him, Zhuge Liang sent women's clothing to Sima, suggesting that Sima should be a woman since he did not dare to attack him. Sima Yi's subordinates were enraged by the insult, but Sima himself remained calm. To appease his men, Sima Yi asked Cao Rui for permission to engage the enemy. Cao Rui understood the situation and sent minister Xin Pi to persuade the Wei army to be patient.

The Death Of Zhuge Liang...
In another attempt to force Sima Yi to go to battle, Zhuge Liang sent an emissary to urge Sima to fight him. However, Sima Yi refused to discuss military issues with the messenger, and instead inquired about Zhuge Liang's daily tasks. The emissary replied that Zhuge Liang had been personally overseeing all affairs in the army, ranging from strategic planning to his men's daily meals, and that Zhuge himself had not been eating and sleeping well. Sima Yi later told an aide that Zhuge Liang would not last long.
In August, Zhuge Liang fell ill due to exhaustion and his condition worsened day by day. News reached the Shu emperor, Liu Shan, who sent minister Li Fu (李福) to ask Zhuge Liang about future plans for Shu. Zhuge Liang replied that Jiang Wan could succeed him, and Fei Yi could succeed Jiang. When Li Fu asked again about Fei Yi's successor, Zhuge Liang fell silent. Li Fu then returned to the capital Chengdu.
Zhuge Liang also gave instructions on how the Shu forces should withdraw back to Hanzhong: Yang Yi and Fei Yi would lead the army while Jiang Wei and Wei Yan would lead a force to defend the rear; if Wei Yan disobeyed orders, the army would proceed on without him. Zhuge Liang eventually died at the age of 54 in the early autumn of 234.

Shu Retreat

Following Zhuge Liang's death, the Shu forces quietly withdrew from their camps while not revealing news of Zhuge's death. Sima Yi was convinced by the locals that Zhuge Liang had died, so he gave chase to the retreating enemy. Jiang Wei then had Yang Yi turn around and pretend to strike. Seeing this, Sima Yi feared that Zhuge Liang had faked his death to lure him out, and immediately retreated. Common folklore tells of a double, or a wooden statue, disguised as Zhuge Liang, driving Sima Yi away in this incident. Another folktale tells that Jiang Wei dressed up as Zhuge Liang. In any case, word that Sima Yi fled from the already dead Zhuge Liang spread, spawning a popular saying, "A dead Zhuge scares away a living Zhongda (Sima Yi's style name)" (死諸葛嚇走活仲達). When Sima Yi heard of such ridicule, he laughingly responded, "I can predict the living, but not the dead."
News of Zhuge Liang's death were kept secret until the Shu army had reached the safety of the Baoye valley to return to Hanzhong. Sima Yi, fearful that the announcement was false and merely another opportunity for Zhuge Liang to demonstrate his talent for ambuscade, hesitated to pursue. Only after his inspection of the empty Shu encampment did he resolve that pursuit was appropriate. However, upon reaching Baoye, Sima Yi decided that they had insufficient supplies to support the advance, so he ordered a retreat back to the Wei River.

Wei Yan, dismayed that the Shu forces are retreating "over the death of one man", gathered his men and rode ahead of the main army and razed the gallery road behind them to prevent the main army from returning home. Yang Yi, who held a personal grudge against Wei Yan, sent the emperor Liu Shan a letter accusing Wei Yan of treason; Wei Yan did likewise against Yang Yi. Liu Shan asked Dong Yun and Jiang Wan for their opinions, and both were suspicious of Wei Yan. Liu Shan then sent Jiang Wan to lead a force of imperial guards north to cope with the disorders.
Later, Yang Yi led the main army through the mountains despite the loss of the gallery roads and confronted Wei Yan's detachment at Southern Valley Pass (南谷口). There, Wei Yan sent troops to attack Yang Yi while Yang ordered Wang Ping to resist Wei Yan. Upon meeting, Wang Ping scolded Wei Yan, "His Excellency (Zhuge Liang) has died recently and his body has yet to turn cold; how dare you act this way!" Hearing this, Wei Yan's forces scattered, knowing their commander was in the wrong. Wei Yan, along with his sons and a few followers, fled to Hanzhong. Yang Yi sent Ma Dai to give chase, and soon Ma chopped off Wei Yan's head and sent it to Yang Yi. Yang Yi stepped on Wei Yan's head and issued orders for the extermination of Wei's clan.
Jiang Wan was about ten li away from the capital Chengdu when he heard news of Wei Yan's death, so he returned.

The Long-term influences
After Zhuge Liang's death, Jiang Wan took his post, but Jiang was more interested in domestic affairs than military expansion. Thus the death of Zhuge Liang ended a huge strategic threat to Cao Wei and the Wei court soon began development of ambitious public works.
Sima Yi's success and subsequent rise in prominence paved the way for his grandson Sima Yan's founding of the Jin Dynasty, which would eventually bring an end to the Three Kingdoms period




 

The Battle Of Chang Ban

Before the Battle
After Cao Cao unified northern China in 207, he made arrangements for a southern campaign on Jing Province (荊州; covering present-day Hubei and Hunan), governed by Liu Biao at the time. Initial minor invasions led by Xiahou Dun were repelled by Liu Biao's vassal Liu Bei, whose forces were stationed at Xinye at the northern border of Jing Province. Following that, Cao Cao personally led his armies south to attack Jing province in the seventh lunar month of 208.
In the eighth month, when Cao Cao's forces had reached Wancheng (present-day Nanyang, Henan), Liu Biao died of illness and was succeeded by his younger son, Liu Cong. Liu Cong's advisers Kuai Yue and Fu Xun (傅巽) convinced Liu Cong that he could not resist Cao Cao even with Liu Bei's help, so Liu Cong agreed to surrender. Liu Bei, who was at Fancheng at the time, was not informed of Liu Cong's decision to surrender. When Liu Bei became suspicious, he sent an attendant to Xiangyang to question Liu Cong, and only then would Liu Cong pass the news to Liu Bei through his subordinate official Song Zhong (宋忠). Dismayed, Liu Bei drew his sword on Song Zhong, but did not kill him. Surrender was not an option to Liu Bei, since he had been involved in an assassination plot to remove Cao Cao when Liu was in the service of Cao roughly ten years ago and it was unlikely that Cao would forgive him.
Liu Bei then called for a council of his advisors. Zhuge Liang suggested that Liu Bei should attack Liu Cong to secure Jing Province and defend against Cao Cao there, but Liu Bei rejected this and said, "as Liu Jingzhou (Liu Biao) was dying, he entrusted his orphans to me. I cannot turn from this obligation and seek my own advantage. How am I to face Liu Jingzhou after I die?". Not willing to fall under the hands of Cao Cao, Liu Bei gathered his men and marched to the south. As he passed Xiangyang he called out to Liu Cong, but Liu Cong dared not see him and hid. Many officials and civilians of Xiangyang followed Liu Bei as he left, as he was greatly respected by the people.
In the ninth month, Liu Cong set out from Xiangyang towards Xinye to receive Cao Cao, surrendering Jing Province. Cao Cao took over the command of Jing Province's military, especially its naval fleet, a component which Cao Cao's forces lacked. Fearing that Liu Bei would take the southern base of Jiangling, Cao Cao swiftly gave chase to Liu Bei with 5,000 elite horsemen, leaving his baggage behind. As Liu Bei was bringing along more than 100,000 unarmed people and thousands of carts of luggage, his force could not move very quickly. Someone suggested to Liu Bei that he should abandon the people for his safety, but Liu Bei did not have the heart to desert them when the people risked their own lives to follow him. Instead, Liu Bei had Guan Yu sail ahead down the Han River with a detachment of several hundred ships and take a roundabout route to Jiangling, where they planned to rendezvous.

The Battle
Cao Cao's cavalry caught up to Liu Bei's congregation at Changban, Dangyang Commandery, and Liu Bei had to flee for his life, galloping away south with Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang, while leaving his family and the populace behind. Cao Cao's forces captured all his army and his baggage. Xu Shu, a friend of Zhuge Liang who was also serving Liu Bei at the time, requested leave from Liu and left to serve Cao Cao after learning that his mother was captured by Cao's men. Liu Bei's two daughters were also captured by Cao Chun in the battle.
Zhang Fei commanded 20 horsemen as rearguard. He held the river and broke the bridges down; looking fierce and shaking his lance, he shouted, "I am Zhang Yide. Come and battle me to the death!" None of Cao Cao's men dared to go near him, buying time for Liu Bei to escape.
As Zhang Fei retreated with Liu Bei, Cao Cao ordered his men to build pontoon bridges and launch an assault, but a timely arrival of Guan Yu and his forces prevented Cao Cao from fully attaining victory.
In the chaos, Zhao Yun disappeared to the north, prompting suspicion that he had surrendered to Cao Cao. When someone reported that to Liu Bei, Liu angrily threw a handaxe and said "Zilong (Zhao Yun) would never desert me." Surely enough, Zhao Yun came back with Liu Bei's infant son Liu Shan in his arms along with Lady Gan. With this, Zhao Yun was promoted to General of the Standard (牙門將軍).
Turning east from Changban, Liu Bei and the remnants of his party had crossed the Han River to the east where Liu Qi, Liu Biao's elder son, still held control of Jiangxia Commandery (present-day Yunmeng County, Hubei). They met Guan Yu's fleet and over 10,000 men led by Liu Qi in Hanjin (漢津). Together, they sailed down the river to Xiakou.
Cao Cao did not follow up in immediate pursuit. The main objective of his drive to the south had been the base at Jiangling, and he pressed on south to secure that base first.

The Result Of The Battle
After the Battle of Changban, the land of Jing Province west of the Han River became territories of Cao Cao. Cao Cao entered Jiangling and pacified the officials and peasants there. Cao Cao's advisor Jia Xu suggested that Cao should make full use of the resources in Jing Province to settle his troops before further territorial expansions, but Cao Cao preferred to use the momentum from his victories to attack Jiangdong next.
Lu Su, a statesman under the Jiangdong warlord Sun Quan, was originally on a mission to offer condolences for Liu Biao's death. By the time he reached Jing Province, however, Liu Cong had already surrendered and Liu Bei had fled south. Lu Su went to see Liu Bei at Changban and, after Liu's defeat, followed him to Xiakou. There he asked where Liu Bei was heading after, and Liu replied that he plans to take refuge under Wu Ju (吳巨), an old friend, in the distant Cangwu Commandery (蒼梧; eastern portion of present-day Guangxi). To this, Lu Su dissuaded Liu Bei from joining Wu Ju, saying Wu was only an ordinary fellow who would not be independent for long; and persuaded Liu Bei to form an alliance with his lord Sun Quan against Cao Cao. Liu Bei was pleased at this suggestion, and sent Zhuge Liang to follow Lu Su back to meet Sun Quan and secure the alliance.
The successful formation of the Sun-Liu alliance led to the Battle of Red Cliffs shortly after in the same year, where the allied forces defeated Cao Cao's overwhelming fleets, driving him back north and forming the basis of the Three Kingdoms.

The Battle Of ChiBi (Red Cliffs)

The Battle of Red Cliffs unfolded in three stages: an initial skirmish at Red Cliffs followed by a retreat to the Wulin (烏林) battlefields on the northwestern bank of the Yangtze, a decisive naval engagement, and Cao Cao's disastrous retreat along Huarong Road.
The combined Sun-Liu force sailed upstream from either Xiakou or Fankou to Red Cliffs, where they encountered Cao Cao's vanguard force. Plagued by disease and low morale due to the series of forced marches they had undertaken on the prolonged southern campaign (de Crespigny 2003), Cao Cao's men could not gain an advantage in the small skirmish which ensued, so Cao Cao retreated to Wulin (north of the Yangtze River) and the allies pulled back to the south (de Crespigny 2004:257).
Cao Cao had moored his ships from stem to stern, possibly aiming to reduce seasickness in his navy, which comprised mostly northerners who were not used to living on ships. Observing this, divisional commander Huang Gai sent Cao Cao a letter feigning surrender and prepared a squadron^[3] of capital ships described as mengchong doujian (蒙衝鬥艦).^[4] The ships had been converted into fire ships by filling them with bundles of kindling, dry reeds, and fatty oil. As Huang Gai's "defecting" squadron approached the midpoint of the river, the sailors applied fire to the ships before taking to small boats. The unmanned fire ships, carried by the southeastern wind, sped towards Cao Cao's fleet and set it ablaze. Within a short time smoke and flames stretched across the sky, and a large number of men and horses either burned to death or drowned (Chen c. 280:54.1262–63).
Following the initial shock, Zhou Yu and the allies led a lightly armed force to capitalise on the assault. The northern army was thrown into confusion and was utterly defeated. Seeing the situation was hopeless, Cao Cao then issued a general order of retreat and destroyed a number of his remaining ships before withdrawing (Chen c. 280).
Cao Cao's army attempted a retreat along Huarong Road, including a long stretch passing through marshlands north of Dongting Lake. Heavy rains had reduced the track to a thick mire, making the road so treacherous that many of the sick soldiers had to carry bundles of grass on their backs and use them to fill the road, to allow the horsemen to cross. Many of these soldiers drowned in the mud or were trampled to death in the effort. To the misery of Cao Cao's army, the allies, led by Zhou Yu and Liu Bei, gave chase over land and water until they reached Nan Commandery (南郡); combined with famine and disease, this decimated Cao Cao's remaining forces. Cao Cao then retreated north to his home base of Ye, leaving Cao Ren and Xu Huang to guard Jiangling, Yue Jin stationed in Xiangyang, and Man Chong in Dangyang (Chen c. 280).
The allied counterattack might have vanquished Cao Cao and his forces entirely. However, the crossing of the Yangtze River dissolved into chaos as the allied armies converged on the riverbank and fought over the limited number of ferries. To restore order, a detachment led by the allied general Gan Ning established a bridgehead in Yiling to the north, and only a staunch rearguard action by Cao Ren prevented further catastrophe (Eikenberry 1994:60; de Crespigny 2007:239).

See also: Red Cliffs order of battle

Battle of Red Cliffs, and Cao Cao's retreat (also shown: Battle of Changban). Note that the battlefield location is marked at the site near Chibi City; see Location of Red Cliffs.

This Is where Zhou Yu decided to set up, Cao Cao.