Battle
Battle of Qucheng 麴城之戰
About this event
The Battle of Qucheng was the campaign of the 1st year of Jiaping (249; the 12th year of Yanxi in Shu-Han) in which Chen Tai and Guo Huai of Wei surrounded the two forts that Jiang Wei of Shu had built on Mount Qu (麴山) and forced them to surrender; it was one of Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions. Jiang Wei had the Gate Generals Gou An and Li Xin hold the two forts and gathered the Qiang and Hu to press the commanderies of Wei, but when Chen Tai cut off the supply route and the water, and Guo Huai moved to cut off the line of retreat of Jiang Wei, who had come to the rescue, Jiang Wei fled and Gou An and the others surrendered. Records, Wei 22 §39–41Records, Shu 3 §29
Chen Shou recorded this battle in detail in the passage on Chen Tai in the Biographies of Huan, Er, Chen, Xu, Wei and Lu, Records of Wei 22, and also included it in the passage on Guo Huai in Records of Wei 26, the passage on Deng Ai in Records of Wei 28, and the Biography of the Later Sovereign in Records of Shu 3. The original text calls the two forts Qucheng (麴城). The Romance portrays it in Chapter 107 as the story of Jiang Wei building two forts in front of Mount Qu and being defeated at Mount Niutou, and records Gou An's surrender at the opening of Chapter 108. Records, Wei 22 §39–41Records, Wei 26 §77Records, Wei 28 §54–55Records, Shu 3 §29Romance, Ch. 107 §40–55Romance, Ch. 108 §2
Course of events in the Records
In the 1st month of the 1st year of Jiaping (249), when Cao Shuang was executed in Wei, the General of the Right Xiahou Ba surrendered to Shu, and in the autumn of that year Jiang Wei went out and attacked Yong Province. Chen Tai had by then replaced Guo Huai as Inspector of Yong Province. Records, Shu 3 §29Records, Wei 22 §38
Jiang Wei built two forts against Mount Qu and had the Gate Generals Gou An, Li Xin and others hold them, and gathered hostages from the Qiang and Hu to raid the commanderies. When Guo Huai, General Who Conquers the West, asked how to resist him, Chen Tai said that although Qucheng was strong, it was far from Shu and the roads were steep, so that grain would have to be carried in, and that the Qiang and Yi, suffering under Jiang Wei's labor levies, would not follow him; so if they surrounded it they could take it without bloodying their blades, and even if relief came, the mountain roads were steep. Records, Wei 22 §39
Guo Huai followed this plan and had Chen Tai lead Xu Zhi, Protector of the Army for Attacking Shu, Deng Ai, Administrator of Nan'an, and others to surround the forts, and Chen Tai cut off the supply route and the water flowing outside the walls. Gou An and the others offered battle, but he would not respond, and the officers and men in the forts shared out their grain and gathered snow to hold out from day to day. When Jiang Wei did indeed come out by way of Mount Niutou and faced Chen Tai, Chen Tai ordered the various armies to hold their ramparts firmly and not to fight, and proposed that he himself cross the Baishui River to the south and move east while Guo Huai went to Mount Niutou to cut off the line of retreat. When Guo Huai led his army to encamp on the Tao River, Jiang Wei took fright and fled, and Gou An and the others, now isolated, all surrendered. Records, Wei 22 §40–41
The passage on Deng Ai records what followed. When Jiang Wei withdrew, Guo Huai attacked the Qiang to the west, and Deng Ai remained, encamped north of the Baishui River. Three days later, when Jiang Wei sent Liao Hua to make camp south of the Baishui River, Deng Ai judged that Jiang Wei meant to pin him in place and attack the city of Tao to the east, so he marched sixty li secretly by night and took the city first. Jiang Wei did indeed cross over, but Deng Ai had arrived first, so he was not defeated. Records, Wei 28 §54–55
The passage on Guo Huai says that in the 1st year of Jiaping Guo Huai, combining plans with Chen Tai, made the Shu Gate General Gou An and others surrender at Chishang (翅上), and an edict of the following year raised Guo Huai to General of Chariots and Cavalry, citing his merit in recent years in crushing Liao Hua and capturing Gou An. The Biography of the Later Sovereign records that Jiang Wei returned without prevailing and that the generals Gou An and Li Shao surrendered to Wei. Records, Wei 26 §77–78Records, Shu 3 §29
In the Romance
In Chapter 107 of the Romance, Jiang Wei asks the Later Sovereign for leave to march out, saying that he will use Xiahou Ba, who has surrendered, as his guide, and after brushing aside Fei Yi's attempts to dissuade him, he resolves to ally with the Qiang and build two forts below Mount Qu to form a pincer position. In the 8th month, in autumn, Gou An and Li Xin build two forts one after the other in front of Mount Qu with 15,000 men and hold them, one to the east and one to the west. Romance, Ch. 107 §38–42
Guo Huai gives Chen Tai 50,000 men to attack them, and when Chen Tai surrounds the forts and cuts the supply route from Hanzhong, Guo Huai, seeing that the forts on the high ground have little water, builds an earthen dam to cut off the upper stream. From the parched forts Li Xin breaks through the encirclement with a few dozen horsemen, and when heavy snow falls, those in the forts hold out by melting the snow. Meeting Li Xin, Jiang Wei says that he was delayed because the Qiang troops had not arrived. Romance, Ch. 107 §42–46
Following Xiahou Ba's plan, Jiang Wei tries to circle round by Mount Niutou and strike at the rear of Yong Province, but Chen Tai, foreseeing this, blocks the road at Mount Niutou, while Guo Huai secretly seizes the Tao River and cuts his supply route. Pursued along five routes, Jiang Wei loses more than half his army; fleeing toward Yangping Pass, he drives back Sima Shi, who blocks his way, and holds off the pursuit with the repeating crossbows of Marquis Wu hidden at the pass. At the opening of Chapter 108, Gou An in the fort at Mount Qu, with no relief arriving, opens the gates and surrenders to Wei, and Jiang Wei returns to Hanzhong having lost tens of thousands of troops. Romance, Ch. 107 §47–55Romance, Ch. 108 §1–2
Where the Romance differs
The plan of the siege: In Chapter 107 of the Romance, Guo Huai sees that the forts have little water and cuts off the upper stream, while Chen Tai cuts the supply route. In the passage on Chen Tai in the Records, it was Chen Tai who devised the plan of surrounding the forts and taking them without bloodshed, and who, leading Xu Zhi and Deng Ai in person, cut off the supply route and the water flowing outside the walls. Romance, Ch. 107 §42–43Records, Wei 22 §39–40
Mount Niutou: In Chapter 107 of the Romance, Jiang Wei clashes with Chen Tai at Mount Niutou and withdraws when Guo Huai seizes the Tao River, and drives back Sima Shi in front of Yangping Pass. In the Records, Chen Tai did not fight Jiang Wei when he came out at Mount Niutou but held his ramparts and sent Guo Huai toward Mount Niutou to cut off his line of retreat, and when Guo Huai encamped on the Tao River, Jiang Wei took fright and fled. Sima Shi does not appear in this battle in Chen Shou's text. Romance, Ch. 107 §51–54Records, Wei 22 §40–41
Jiang Wei's renewed advance: The Romance ends this battle with Jiang Wei's withdrawal to Yangping Pass. In the passage on Deng Ai in the Records, three days later Jiang Wei placed Liao Hua south of the Baishui River to pin Deng Ai down and tried to attack the city of Tao, but Deng Ai entered it first by night and held it. Romance, Ch. 107 §53–55Records, Wei 28 §54–55
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.
Belligerents
| Item | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| Factions | Shu | Wei |
| Commanders | Jiang Wei, Liao Hua, Gou An(句安), Li Xin | Chen Tai, Deng Ai, Guo Huai, Xu Zhi(徐質) |
Factions, commanders, strength and casualties are checked against the source texts (3KDEX). Strength and casualties show only figures stated in the sources. Source: Wei 22 §41