Conquest of Shu by Wei

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Conquest of Shu by Wei
Part of the Three Kingdoms period
Date September – November 263 Location Sichuan and Shanxi, China Result Cao Wei victory, surrender of Shu Han
Belligerents
Cao Wei	Shu Han
Commanders
Zhong Hui, Deng Ai, Zhuge Xu	Liu Shan, Jiang Wei
Strength
200,000+	100,000+

v • d • e Three Kingdoms Yellow Turbans – Dong Zhuo (Xingyang) – Jieqiao – Xiangyang – Yan Province – Sun Ce – Wancheng – Xiapi – Yijing – Guandu – Bowang – Xiakou – Changban – Red Cliffs – Tong Pass – Jicheng – Licheng – Yi Province – Hefei – Ruxukou – Mt. Dingjun – Han River – Fancheng – Jing Province – Xiaoting – Southern Campaign – Northern Expeditions – Shiting – Xingshi – Jiang's Expeditions (Didao) – Fall of Shu – Fall of Wu

The conquest of Shu Han by Cao Wei (魏滅蜀之戰) was a military campaign launched by Cao Wei of the Three Kingdoms against the rival state Shu Han in 263, culminating in the destruction of Shu Han and the tripartite equilibrium maintained in China for over forty years. The conquest signified the beginning of a reunified China that had been fragmented since the end of the Han Dynasty.

Contents 1 Background 2 The decision to conquer Shu Han 3 Strategic planning 3.1 Strategy of Cao Wei 3.2 Strategy of Shu Han 4 Order of battle 4.1 Order of battle of Cao Wei 4.2 Order of battle of Shu Han 5 Prelude 6 Eastern front 7 Central front 8 Western front 9 The fall of Shu Han 10 References

[edit] Background

Main article: Three Kingdoms

When the Han Dynasty fell into decline roughly around 190, the warlords came into power and began warring with each other for supremacy over their territories. Despite the successes of the powerful warlord Cao Cao in unifying northern China in the name of Han, his advances to the south were stopped at the Battle of Red Cliffs by the forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan. The battle ensured the survival of the victorious forces, which went on to become two of the contending states of the Three Kingdoms: Shu Han in the southwest and Eastern Wu in the southeast, while Cao Cao still had control of the north. In 220 when Cao Cao died, his son Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate, ending the 400-year old dynasty, and proclaimed himself to be the emperor of Cao Wei. With the later establishments of Shu Han and Eastern Wu, China was officially divided into three.

Among the three contending states, Cao Wei was the dominant military power in terms of economic resources, manpower, and geographic size. Noting this, Shu Han Chancellor Zhuge Liang allied Shu Han with Eastern Wu to counter Cao Wei's supremacy, and began a series of ill-fated attempts to capture the Wei capital from 228 until his death in 234. Zhuge Liang's protege Jiang Wei continued his legacy, where Jiang had his own Northern Expeditions from 247 to 262. Jiang's attempts were even less successful than those of Zhuge Liang, and were criticized by both contemporaries and later historians as wastes of men and resources. These campaigns strained the already disadvantaged Shu Han, while its incapable emperor Liu Shan indulged in pleasures and neglected state affairs.

Meanwhile in Cao Wei, the powerful Sima family, through years of political maneuvering, had ousted the imperial family from power and reduced the role of the Wei emperors to mere figureheads. The ambitious Sima Zhao, who succeeded his brother Sima Shi as regent in 255, had designs on the throne himself. Sima Zhao believed that a successful military campaign to reunify China would bolster his prestige and convince the imperial court that the mandate of heaven had fallen on the Sima family, which would minimize the opposition for his usurpation. Disturbed by Jiang Wei's constant harassments on the Wei border and aware of Shu Han's internal decay, Sima Zhao decided that the conquest of Shu Han would be the vital first step in unifying all under heaven.

[edit] The decision to conquer Shu Han

In 262, Sima Zhao announced his intention to conquer Shu Han. Most subjects in the imperial court of Cao Wei were against such a campaign, including Deng Ai, the most capable Cao Wei commander, who was at the forefront of fighting Shu Han in the past. Sima Zhao consequently assigned his personal secretary, the Registrar (主簿) Shi Cuan (师纂), as a major (司马) in Deng Ai’s army to convince him, which Shi Cuan successfully did and turned Deng Ai’s opposition to support. The change of Deng Ai’s attitude and his strong support for the campaign was the most influential factor that turned the opinion in the imperial court of Cao Wei about the campaign from doubt and opposition to support.

Cao Wei’s decision to launch a campaign against Shu Han first was the result of careful strategic analysis. The other rival state Eastern Wu enjoyed the natural barrier, the Yangtze River, and a strong navy with over five thousand ships. Cao Wei’s lack of a strong navy meant that it must take its time to build one and train the sailors first if it was to attack Eastern Wu. If Shu Han was attacked, forces of Cao Wei would be marching on land, avoiding the problem it would face in the campaign against Eastern Wu. Shu Han was the smallest among the Three Kingdoms, with only 100,000-men strong force, less than half of the 230,000 troops Eastern Wu had. Despite its small size, Shu Han took a very aggressive posture by constantly attacking Cao Wei, which proved to be a major headache for Cao Wei. Whenever Cao Wei had trouble at its eastern border with Eastern Wu, Shu Han had always seized the opportunity to strike while Eastern Wu failed to do the same when Cao Wei had similar problems in its western border with Shu Han. Therefore, the conquest of Eastern Wu could not be achieved without Shu Han being taken care of first, since when taking care of Shu Han, Eastern Wu’s attack on Cao Wei in the east would be ineffective even if there was a such one, which was proven to be right later on in the following campaign. The highly unfavorable scenario of fighting at the two fronts when attacking Eastern Wu before destroying Shu Han would be avoided if Shu Han was to be attacked first.

[edit] Strategic planning

[edit] Strategy of Cao Wei

Sima Zhao made detailed plan to conquest Shu Han by attacking in three fronts, while in a move to disguise their true objectives, general Tang Zi was placed in charge of building a strong navy for the preparation of campaign against Eastern Wu. In reality, more than 200,000 troops, or half of the total regular standing army of Cao Wei of 400,000 would be grouped in Guanzhong for the true objective: the campaign against Shu Han.

Cao Wei would attack Shu Han in three fronts, with the eastern front as the main thrust, initially attacking Hanzhong from Xie Valley (斜谷, south of present day Mei County, Shaanxi), Luo Valley (骆谷), and Ziwu Valley (子午谷, south of present day Xi'an). After that, the three forces at the eastern front would join forces and continue the push toward the heart of Shu Han. The western force would engage Jiang Wei at Tazhong (沓中, northwest of present day Zhouqu County 舟曲县 in southern Gansu) from four directions and then join forces and continue their push toward the heart of Shu Han. The central front would attack Wuje Bridge (武街桥, northwest of present day Cheng County 成县, Gansu) from Qishan (祁山, present day Qishanbao 祁山堡 region of Li County 礼县, Gansu), cutting off Jiang Wei’s retreating route, preventing his army from reinforcing the passes along the attack route.

[edit] Strategy of Shu Han

Since the last Shu offensive towards Wei in 262, Jiang Wei had turned from the offensive to the defensive. To anticipate a Wei attack, he purposely vacated all the passes in the Qinling Mountains so the Wei forces would enjoy an easy passage into the Hanzhong plain, where they would be blocked by fortifications and vulnerable to a Shu counterattack. Jiang argued that this strategy would extend the invading army's tenuous communication and supply line, and would bring about a decisive defeat to the Wei forces previously unattained when they had just defended along the Qinling. This strategy, however, was erred in that Jiang Wei's main army was too far away in Tazhong to stage a counterattack in time, as the later course of events would point out.

On the eve of the Wei invasion, Jiang Wei had realized all of the strategies planned by Cao Wei and wrote to the imperial court in Chengdu from Tazhong, urging to strength the defense by sending reinforcement led by Liao Hua to Yang’an (阳安) Pass and reinforcement led by Zhang Yi (Bogong) to Yinping (阴平). The Shu emperor, however, trusted his eunuch Huang Hao, who believed in witchcraft. Huang Hao believed that Cao Wei would not dare to attack Shu Han and such belief was “confirmed” by a witch when asked. As a result, Jiang Wei’s letter was kept a secret to avoid “unnecessary panic”, and no one else knew about it — this unpreparedness was a major cause of the downfall of Shu Han.

[edit] Order of battle

Numerous commanders of both sides had participated in the campaign and some of the major commanders included:

[edit] Order of battle of Cao Wei

The Wei offensive would be split into three prongs, each with its own commander answerable only to Sima Zhao. The three prong would act independently, with not one prong having authority on the other. This arrangement meant that the three commanders could keep watch on each other, preventing the possibility of one commander taking half of Wei's standing army and rebel.

Eastern front

• The Director of Retainers (司隶校尉) Zhong Hui, the strongest supporter of Sima Zhao’s decision to launch the campaign, was rewarded the rank of General who Stabilizes the West (镇西将军), and was named as the Area Commander (都督). Zhong Hui was in charge of the eastern front, the main thrust, commanding over 140,000 troops attacking Hanzhong.
  • General Stablizing the West (镇西将军) Du Yu
  • General in the Front (前将军) Li Fu (李辅)
  • General protecting the Army (护军将军) Xun Kai (荀恺) (great-grandson of Xun Yu & grandson of Sima Yi)
  • General protecting the Army (护军将军) Hu Lie (胡烈) was named as the vanguard of the eastern front.
  • The Administrator of Weixing (魏兴太守) Liu Qin (刘钦) as the deputy vanguard of the eastern front

Western front

• General who Subdues the West (征西将军) Deng Ai, who is already an Area Commander equal in rank to Zhong Hui, was given 30,000+ troops to attack Jiang Wei at Tazhong from the western front. This force was to split in two directions, with Deng Ai himself attacking Gansong (甘松, south of present day present day Diebu County 迭部县) from Didao (狄道, present day Lintao County), while three subordinates of his would attack Tazhong directly.
  • The Administrator of Tianshui Wang Qi (王颀) would attack Jiang Wei at Tazhong from the east.
  • The Administrator of Longxi (陇西) Qian Hong would attack Jiang Wei at Tazhong from the north.
  • The Administrator of Jincheng (金城) Yang Qu (杨趋) would attack Jiang Wei at Tazhong from the west.
  • Deng Ai’s son, Deng Zhong, the Marquis of Huitang (惠唐亭侯) was assigned as Deng Ai’s vanguard
  • Registrar Shi Cuan was assigned as a major in Deng Ai’s army

Central front

• The Inspector of Yong Province (雍州刺史) Zhuge Xu (诸葛绪) would with 30,000+ troops would attempt to cut off Jiang Wei’s retreating route at the Wujie Bridge.

[edit] Order of battle of Shu Han

• General-in-Chief (大将军) Jiang Wei
  • General of Chariots and Cavalry on the Right (右车骑将军) Liao Hua
  • General of Chariots and Cavalry on the Left (左车骑将军) Zhang Yi (Bogong)
  • Senior General Assisting the Nation (辅国大将军) Dong Jue
  • Guanzhong Area Commander (关中都督) Fu Qian
  • General Jiang Shu (Deputy of Fu Qian
  • General protecting the Army (护军将军) Jiang Bin (蒋斌)
  • Inspector-General (监军) Wang Han (王含)
  • Administrator of Jiangyou (江油太守) Ma Miao
  • General of the Guards (护卫将军) Zhuge Zhan
    • Zhuge Zhan’s son, Zhuge Shang was the Zhuge Zhan’s vanguard
    • Minister Steward (尚书) Huang Chong
    • Minister Steward Zhang Zun
    • Right Commander of the Feathered Forest Imperial Bodyguard (羽林右部督) Li Qiu (李球)

[edit] Prelude

In the summer of 263, order to invade Shu Han was formally given. The son of the renowned general Xu Chu, Xu Yi (许仪), was in charge of road construction. However, the road was poorly built and as result, Zhong Hui had Xu Yi beheaded, and the execution shocked everyone. By doing so, Zhong Hui built his authority and the road was rebuilt. However, it was not until months later when the new road was complete, and as result, the campaign was pushed back to be launched in September, 263.

The Shu reaction was slow once it learned the news of the upcoming attack. In addition to redeploying its troops, Shu Han also asked help from Eastern Wu, which responded rapidly by attacking Cao Wei in the east in the hope of forcing Cao Wei to abandon its campaign against Shu Han. The Wu General-in-Chief Ding Feng led the majority of the Wu force to attack Shouchun, while forces of the general Liu Ping (留平) and general Shi Ji (施绩) attacked the Nan Commandery (南郡), while forces of another Ding Feng (丁封) and the general Sun Yi (孙异) attacked Mianzhong (沔中). However, as Cao Wei had predicted, such attacks were rather ineffective and did not alter the course of the war.

[edit] Eastern front

The eastern front of the campaign, where the main thrust was, did not progress as expected. As Zhong Hui’s army marched on in three directions according to the plan, two forces were sent to take the two cities: Han (汉), which was located in Mianyang (沔阳) (present day Mian (勉) County in Shaanxi), and Le (乐), which was located in Chenggu (城固, present day Chenggu County in Shaanxi). Both cities were built under the direct personal supervision of Zhuge Liang in the winter of 229 and had since became Shu’s strongholds supporting Hanzhong. Inspector-General (监军) Wang Han (王含) led a 5,000 strong force stationed at Le, while Jiang Wan's son, Jiang Bin (蒋斌), the General protecting the Army (护军将军), led another 5,000 strong army stationed at Han. Both Shu commanders proved to be capable enough to repulse the Wei attacks. After numerous attacks to take the two cities were beaten back, Zhong Hui abandoned the original plan of first taking the two cities, instead, a long term siege was carried out. General in the Front (前将军) Li Fu (李辅) was assigned 10,000 troops to besiege Le, while General protecting the Army (护军将军) Xun Kai (荀恺) was assigned another 10,000 troops to besiege Han, and a stalemate was thus reached. Due to the overstretched supply lines, food were running low and it appeared that the Wei force at the eastern front was about to suffer same defeat Cao Shuang had suffered years earlier in the Battle of Xingshi in 244. However, luck was on Wei’s side in that it received two unexpected help.

The first was the indecisiveness of the Shu emperor Liu Shan, who was the overall command. Surprised that Cao Wei had actually attacked, as opposed to what Huang Hao had recommended, Liu Shan was not able to make correct decisions in his panic. Liu Shan sent Liao Hua to Tazhong to reinforce Jiang Wei in the west, because the western front was closer to Chengdu, the capital of Shu. However, Liu Shan ignored Jiang Wei’s correction to reinforce Yinping (阴平), located about one third way from Tazhong to Chengdu. This blunder was instrumental in Deng Ai’s success later, which brought the downfall of Shu Han. Although Liu Shan did sent Zhang Yi (Bogong) and Dong Jue to reinforce Yang’an (阳安) Pass, he ordered the vast area in Hanzhong region to be abandoned in order to concentrate forces to guard the critical pass. As a result, Zhong Hui was able to gain much region without a fight.

Despite gaining large portions of land, the serious supply problem Zhong Hui originally faced only worsened since his force was deeper in the enemy territory after newly gaining the large land the enemy had given up. If the problem persisted, Zhong Hui would be forced to retreat, losing all the territory newly gained, as Cao Shuang had been forced to do in his unsuccessful campaign against Shu Han years earlier. Zhong Hui was lucky in that the deputy commanders of Yang’an Pass of Shu Han, Jiang Shu, was dissatisfied with his superior Fu Qian, as well as his own position. Jiang Shu was originally at equal rank with Fu Qian at a different post, but due to a mistake he had made previously, he was demoted to be Fu Qian's deputy and was reassigned to the pass. Once Zhong Hui’s vanguard force led by Hu Lie reached Yang’an Pass, the defenders Fu Qian and Jiang Shu disagreed in the manner they should defend against the enemy. Jiang Shu, using the pretext of engaging the Wei force outside the gates, led 5,000 troops, or half of the total defending force at the time, out of Yan'an Pass and surrendered to Hu Lie. Furthermore, Jiang Shu opened the gates and let the enemy in unopposed. Fu Qian was subsequently killed and when Hu Lie captured the pass. Fu Qian and his father were highly respected for their actions in their serving of Shu, and after Sima Yan became the emperor, the emperor personally issued an imperial decree to honor Fu Qian and his father Fu Tong.

The Yang’an Pass was a strategic stronghold intended to fend off enemy attacks for a prolonged period and Shu Han had stockpiled huge amount of grains for the long time defense. The captured of the Yang’an Pass was particularly important to Zhong Hui in that his supply problem was temporarily solved. Shu Han reinforcements were rendered meaningless since the pass had fallen into the hands of Cao Wei before any reinforcements had reached the pass. After capturing Hanzhong, Zhong Hui personally wrote to Jiang Bin still guarding Han city, telling the latter that he had already paid his respect to Zhuge Liang at his tomb, and now he wanted to pay his respect to Jiang Wan, Jiang Bin's father, and asked the latter where Jiang Wan's tomb was. Refusing to surrender, Jiang Bin replied politely that his father passed away in Pei (涪) County, and Zhong Hui could pay his respect to Jiang Wan on his way west. Pei County was almost 500 km to the west of the Yang'an pass, deep in the heart of Shu Han, and Jiang Bin's reply was a show of determination that he would hold out until the very last. Indeed, Jiang Bin successfully held out against Cao Wei and it was only after the surrender of Liu Shan and the end of Shu Han did Jiang Bin finally surrender. Despite this minor setback, the glorious achievement of taking Hanzhong was enough for Sima Zhao to finally accept the title of the Duke of Jin (晋公) in Luoyang on October 22, 263, after rejecting the previous six offers from the imperial court of Cao Wei. However, Zhong Hui’s continuous push toward Chengdu was checked at the Jian'ge (剑阁) stronghold where Jiang Wei unexpectedly appeared, thus another stalemate was reached.

[edit] Central front

Jiang Wei’s force, who was supposed to be annihilated or at least tied down by the forces of Cao Wei at the western and central fronts in a pincer movement was able to defeat the original plan of Cao Wei and temporarily save the day by his own ingenuity. As Jiang Wei learned that Cao Wei forces had taken Hanzhong, he immediately realized that Yang’an Pass was also in danger of being lost, and Jian'ge would be threatened, and possibly also lost. Without waiting orders from Liu Shan, Jiang Wei immediately disengaged Deng Ai’s force by giving up Tazhong and retreated toward Jian'ge. However, as Jiang Wei led his men to Yinping, the bridge was already occupied by Zhuge Xu, the Cao Wei commander of the central front, and Jiang Wei’s force was in danger of being annihilated when the pursuing Cao Wei force of western front caught up with him while the Cao Wei force of central front blocked his way.

To trick Zhuge Xu into opening the passage for him, Jiang Wei led his men from Konghan Valley (孔函谷, southwest of present day Wudu County 武都) to the rear of Zhuge Xu’s force, appearing to be cutting off the central prong's retreating route. Fearing this may happen, Zhuge Xu ordered his force to retreat 15 km and Jiang Wei immediately turned back and crossed the bridge. Once Zhuge Xu learned that he was tricked, Jiang Wei’s force was long gone and it was impossible to catch up with the retreating Shu Han force. Jiang Wei subsequently led his force to joined up with that of Liao Hua, Dong Jue and Zhang Yi, and strengthened the defense at Jian'ge.

Meanwhile, Deng Ai reached Yinping, and suggested to Zhuge Xu to bypass Jian'ge by directly attacking Chengdu via Jiangyou. Zhuge Xu felt the risk was too great and besides, his jobs was to destroy Shu Han’s main force led by Jiang Wei, and it would also be safer to join Zhong Hui and attack Shu Han in a final blow with much stronger forces, thus he refused Deng Ai’s suggestion and led his men eastward to join Zhong Hui. Zhong Hui was furious that Zhuge Xu failed his task and secretly reported to the imperial court of Cao Wei that Zhuge Xu’s failure was due to his cowardliness and as a result, Zhuge Xu was recalled back to Luoyang, the capital of Cao Wei, and all of his troops were reassigned under Zhong Hui. However, the strengthened numerical superiority proved to be no help at all when against the geographical advantage held by the defenders: the Dajian Mountain (大剑山, Greater Sword Mountain) and the Xiaojian Mountain (小剑山, Lesser Sword Mountain) at Jian'ge enabled to Jiang Wei’s fifty thousand strong force to hold out against Zhong Hui’s 170,000+ troops, and more importantly, the supply of such a huge army was once again running low and Cao Wei force appeared to be forced to retreat. Feeling Deng Ai’s strategy had no chance of any success, Zhong Hui agreed to let Deng Ai venture towards Jiangyou, feeling that if Deng Ai’s force was completely lost in the attempt, his own failure would not appear that terrible when he was forced into retreat.

[edit] Western front

The route Deng Ai chose was nearly impassible and all the enemy had to do was to starve his force by staying behind the protection of the city walls. Deng Ai’s force would even be annihilated much quicker if the enemy ventured out to attack them, for that Deng Ai’s force had to travel over 350 km of impassible terrain without any roads, thus leaving little or no horses and supplies. The exhausted troops would be an easy target. However, there were advantages: since the route Deng Ai chose was considered impassible, Shu Han did not deploy any forces along the way. Furthermore, after the stalemate was reached at Jian'ge and Zhong Hui’s force begun to have supply problems, Shu Han was confident in that Cao Wei force would retreat. As a result, no troops were deployed to strengthen the defense of Chengdu, and the General Securing the South (安南将军) Huo Yi’s request to lead his force to reinforce the capital was denied, as with all similar requests. To boost his troops’ confidence and morale, Deng Ai personally led the way.

Luck was once again on Cao Wei’s side when Deng Ai’s force reached Jiangyou after safely made it through its 350 km journey in October, 263. The Administrator of Jiangyou, Ma Miao was so surprised by the sudden appearance of Deng Ai’s force hundreds of miles behind the frontline and deep in the heartland of Shu Han, that he surrendered without a fight. This provided much needed rest and supply Deng Ai’s force desperately needed and after getting both, Deng Ai led his force continued on toward Chengdu. The sudden appearance of Deng Ai's force so close to the capital and the fall of Jiangyou shocked Shu Han. Under the recommendation of his imperial secretary (中书), Xi Zheng, Liu Shan issued three imperial decrees in a row to ask General of the Guards Zhuge Zhan to lead the available force Shu Han could have gathered to stop Deng Ai. Zhuge Zhan was highly upset with the corruption of the imperial court, especially about the influence of Huang Hao, and thus had previously refused to serve under the excuse of being ill. When the matter was the survival of his country, Zhuge Zhan changed his mind and led his men to defend Mianzhu (绵竹) after Liu Shan’s third imperial decree.

However, Zhuge Zhan was in a dilemma: as his subordinate, Minister Steward (尚书) Huang Chong had correctly suggested, the greatest weakness of Deng Ai was in supply so his only chance was to fight Zhuge Zhan immediately and achieve victory before his supply ran out. As long as Zhuge Zhan held out without engaging Deng Ai, it was only be a matter of time before the enemy starved to death. However, Deng Ai sent a letter to Zhuge Zhan to ask his surrender, and promised that if he did, Deng Ai would personally recommend him to be the Prince of Langya (琅玡王), a title that was higher than Deng Ai could ever get (i.e. marquis if Deng Ai was successful in his conquest of Shu Han). Although the angry Zhuge Zhan beheaded Deng Ai’s envoy, he was put into a precarious situation by Deng Ai: with the earlier example of Jiang Shu and Ma Miao, he would be suspected to plan to surrender indeed if he did not engage the enemy immediately. As a result, Zhuge Zhan ventured out of Mianzhu to engage Deng Ai, which proved to be a disaster that spelled the end of Shu Han.

Deng Ai initially attacked Zhuge Zhan’s formation in a pincer movement, with his son Deng Zhong at the right and Shi Cuan at the left. However, the initial attacked was beaten back and the angry Deng Ai ordered an all out attack on the enemy, and threatened to behead both commanders of his if the second attack failed. The second attack was successful, completely defeating the enemy. Shu Han commanders including Zhuge Zhan, his son Zhuge Shang who was his vanguard, Minister Steward Huang Chong, Minister Steward Zhang Zun, and Right Commander of the Imperial Bodyguard Li Qiu (李球) were all killed in the battle. Zhuge Zhan’s defeat at Mianzhu and the subsequent fall of the city meant that the gateway to Chengdu was wide open, and Deng Ai’s force marched on toward the capital of Shu Han after taking Luo (雒) county (north of present day Guanghan) on its way.

[edit] The fall of Shu Han

While other forces of Shu Han such as those led by Jiang Wei were hundreds of miles away, Shu Han was unable to gather anymore forces to defend its capital, and the subjects in the imperial court were divided on what to do in their panic. Some had suggested to flee southward to Nanzhong (the border region of present day of southern Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou) region while others suggested to flee to Eastern Wu, but the future for both were bleak and uncertain at the best. One of Liu Shan's sons, the Prince of Beidi (北地王) Liu Chen advocated resistance, suggesting that they still have a chance given that Deng Ai's forces had exhausted themselves after the perilous journey. However, Liu Shan disregarded this advice, and Liu Chen, in despair, killed his wife and children before committing suicide in the temple of Liu Bei, the founder of Shu. Finally, Liu Shan accepted Qiao Zhou’s suggestion to surrender and sent Zhao Shao (张绍), Zhang Fei's second son, and Deng Liang (邓良), Deng Zhi's son, to Luo county to inform Deng Ai that he would surrender,carrying the Imperial Seal of Shu Han. In November, 263, Liu Shan had both his hands tied behind his back, a casket behind him, with more than five dozen subjects in waiting, formally surrendered to Deng Ai outside city gate of Chengdu, marking the end of Shu Han. Deng Ai accepted the surrender by untying Liu Shan and burning the casket.

Jiang Wei, meanwhile, was still holding off Zhong Hui at Jian'ge. He first learned the news of the disastrous defeat of Zhuge Zhan but failed to know what exactly happened to his emperor Liu Shan. He decided to withdraw from Jian'ge, to avoid being attacked by the enemy from both the front and rear, and successfully lost Zhong Hui’s force chasing him once reaching Bazhong. Once he reached Qi (郪) County (present day Shehong County), Jiang Wei received Liu Shan’s imperial decree ordering him to surrender, so he obeyed by surrendering to Zhong Hui at Pei (涪) City. The final destruction of Shu Han was completed and Cao Wei thus achieved its original goal.

The final military engagement of Shu Han was not against Cao Wei but against Eastern Wu on the eastern border of Shu. Sheng Man of Wu, using the pretext of assistant and support, led his army toward the Shu garrison at Yong'an in hopes of enhancing the Wu defenses along the Yangtze by capturing the region. The Administrator of Badong, Luo Xian, deciding that their Wu allies could not be trusted, put up a staunch defense against Wu and submitted to Cao Wei, honouring Liu Shan's last decree as an emperor. Eastern Wu forces under Lu Kang besieged the garrison for six months before they had to retreat when Hu Lie of Wei threatened the Wu line of communications.

[edit] References

• Chen, Shou. Sanguo Zhi
• Killigrew, John H. "A Case Study of Chinese Civil Warfare: The Cao-Wei Conquest of Shu-Han in AD 263", Civil Wars, Vol.4, No.4 (Winter 2001). pp.95-114
• Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian
• Selected Examples of Battles in Ancient China Writing Team, Selected Examples of Battles in Ancient China, 1st Edition, published by Chinese Publishing House & Distributed by New China Bookstore Publishing House in Beijing, 1981 - 1984.
• Yuan, Tingdong, War in Ancient China, 1st Edition, published by Sichuan Academy of Social Science Publishing House & Distributed by New China Bookstore in Chengdu, 1988, ISBN 7805240582
• Zhang, Xiaosheng, General View of War of Ancient China, 1st Edition in Xi'an, published by Long March Publishing House in Beijing & Distributed by New China Bookstore in Beijing, 1988, ISBN 7800150313 (set)