Novel scene
Jiang Wei Defeated at Mount Niutou 姜維兵敗牛頭山
About this event
This scene is the episode named in the chapter title of Chapter 107 of the Romance, "Jiang Wei is defeated at Mount Niutou," the passage in Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions in which Jiang Wei, trying to relieve the two forts at Mount Qu, is blocked at Mount Niutou by Chen Tai and Guo Huai, loses more than half his army, and withdraws. The Romance sets it in the 8th month of autumn of the year in which Cao Shuang of Wei was executed and Xiahou Ba defected to Shu. Romance, Ch. 107 §38 · 42 · 51–53
Chen Shou recorded this battle most fully in the account of Chen Tai in the Biographies of Huan, Er, Chen, Xu, Wei and Lu, Records of Wei 22, and also briefly in the biography of Guo Huai in Records of Wei 26 and in the Biography of the Later Sovereign, Records of Shu 3, and the Biography of Jiang Wei, Records of Shu 14. The Biography of the Later Sovereign says that in the autumn of the 12th year of Yanxi (249) Jiang Wei attacked Yong Province but returned without success, and that the generals Gou An and Li Shao (李韶) surrendered to Wei. Records, Wei 22 §39–41Records, Wei 26 §77Records, Shu 3 §29Records, Shu 14 §34
In the Romance
In Chapter 107 of the Romance, Jiang Wei brings the defector Xiahou Ba before the Later Sovereign and asks to take the field, saying that Wei is in danger because Sima Yi and his sons hold power and Cao Fang is weak. The Prefect of the Masters of Writing Fei Yi tries to stop him, saying this is something even the Chancellor could not achieve, but Jiang Wei replies that if they join hands with the Qiang, the land west of Long can at least be cut off and held. Jiang Wei sends envoys to the Qiang to form an alliance and decides to build two forts below Mount Qu so that they support each other like pincers. Romance, Ch. 107 §38–41
In the 8th month of autumn Gou An and Li Xin build two forts in front of Mount Qu with fifteen thousand men; Guo Huai gives Chen Tai fifty thousand men to surround the forts and cut the supply route from Hanzhong, and then, seeing that the forts on the high ground have little water, builds a dam to cut off the upper stream. The parched Shu troops in the forts hold out by melting heavy snow, and Li Xin breaks out of the encirclement alone to tell Jiang Wei of the emergency. Jiang Wei says he was delayed waiting for the Qiang troops. Romance, Ch. 107 §42–46
Following Xiahou Ba's advice, Jiang Wei heads for Mount Niutou to strike at the empty rear of Yong Province, but Chen Tai, foreseeing this, waits at Mount Niutou, while Guo Huai seizes the Tao River and cuts the Shu army's supply route. Jiang Wei drives off Chen Tai and pitches camp below Mount Niutou, but on hearing that his supply route has been cut, he sends Xiahou Ba back first and covers the rear himself. Having lost more than half his army to Chen Tai, who pursues by five roads, and to Guo Huai, who strikes from the Tao River, Jiang Wei flees toward Yangping Pass, drives off Sima Shi, who blocks his way, within three bouts, and the Marquis Wu's repeating crossbows (Liannu) hidden at the pass hold back the pursuing Sima Shi. Romance, Ch. 107 §47–55
Where the Romance differs
Who cut off the water: In Chapter 107 of the Romance, Guo Huai sees that the forts on the high ground have little water and builds a dam to cut off the upper stream. In the account of Chen Tai in Records of Wei 22, Chen Tai proposed surrounding and taking the forts because the Qu fort was far from Shu and had to have its food carried in, and Guo Huai followed this plan, having Chen Tai lead Xu Zhi, Deng Ai and others to surround the forts and cut both the supply route and the flowing water outside the walls. Romance, Ch. 107 §43Records, Wei 22 §39–40
The outcome at Mount Niutou: In Chapter 107 of the Romance, Jiang Wei fights and beats Chen Tai at Mount Niutou and holds on, then withdraws when Guo Huai seizes the Tao River, losing more than half his army. In the Biography of Chen Tai in the Records, Chen Tai told the armies not to give battle and proposed to Guo Huai that he go to Mount Niutou and cut off the line of retreat; when Guo Huai encamped on the Tao River, Jiang Wei took fright and fled, and Gou An and the others, left isolated, all surrendered. Romance, Ch. 107 §51–53Records, Wei 22 §40–41
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.