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Battle of Quebei

(Redirected from Quebei Campaign)
Battle of Quebei
Part of the wars of the Three Kingdoms period
DateApril – July 241
Location
Shou County, Anhui, China
Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
Cao Wei Eastern Wu
Commanders and leaders
Wang Ling
Sun Li		 Quan Cong
Zhuge Ke
Zhang Xiu
Gu Cheng
Battle of Quebei
Traditional Chinese芍陂之役
Simplified Chinese芍陂之役
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinQuèbēi Zhī Zhàn

The Battle of Quebei[1][2] was a military offensive launched in 241 by the state of Eastern Wu against its rival state, Cao Wei, during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The campaign was initiated by Wu's founding emperor, Sun Quan, two years after the death of the second Wei emperor, Cao Rui. The campaign ended with an overall failure. Despite its name, Quebei being the location where most of the fighting took place, the campaign was actually a two-front attack and covered a wide area in Anhui and Hubei.

Prelude

In the spring of 241, Sun Quan prepared to launch a campaign against Wei. Yin Zha (殷札), the administrator of Wu Commandery, advised Sun Quan to attack Wei in coordination with their ally state, Shu Han. According to Yin Zha's suggested plan, the Shu forces would attack Wei from the west of Chang'an, while the Wu forces would attack Wei from three directions: Zhuge Jin and Zhu Ran to attack Xiangyang; Lu Xun to attack Shouchun (壽春; present-day Shou County, Anhui); Sun Quan to attack the Huai River region and enter Xu Province. Yin Zha explained that this coordinated campaign would wear down Wei's defences because they were unable to fend off attacks on two fronts. However, Sun Quan did not follow his plan.[3]

The battle

Sometime between 28 April and 27 May, Wu forces attacked Wei at four different locations: Quan Cong attacked the Huai River region and clashed with Wei forces at Quebei (芍陂; south of present-day Shou County, Anhui); Zhuge Ke attacked Lu'an; Zhu Ran and Sun Lun (孫倫) attacked Fancheng (樊城; present-day Fancheng District, Xiangyang, Hubei); Zhuge Jin and Bu Zhi attacked Zhazhong (柤中; in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei).

Wang Ling and Sun Li led an army to resist Quan Cong at Quebei, defeating several Wu detachments. In an effort to prevent a total rout, Zhang Xiu and Gu Cheng led troops to intercept Wang Ling and managed to halt their advance. Taking an advantage of their progress, Quan Cong's eldest son Quan Xu (全緒) and relative Quan Duan (全端), who were also serving in the Wu army, led their troops to attack the Wei forces after they stopped advancing, and succeeded in driving them back.[4] When Zhu Ran was defeated in the Battle of Fancheng by the Wei regent Sima Yi, Sun Quan ordered the complete withdrawal of the Wu army, forcing Zhuge Ke to retreat from Lu'an.

After the battle, when Sun Quan was giving rewards to the officers who participated in the battle, he deemed Zhang Xiu and Gu Cheng's contributions greater than those of Quan Xu and Quan Duan because he believed that it was more difficult to halt the enemy advance than to drive the enemy back. As a result, he promoted Zhang Xiu and Gu Cheng to the rank of general, while Quan Xu and Quan Duan were respectively promoted to lieutenant-general and major-general only. Due to this incident, the Quans bore a grudge against Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu and, by extension, against Gu Cheng's brother Gu Tan as well.[5]

Aftermath

After successfully repelling the Wu invasion, the Wei imperial court wanted to promote agriculture and build up an abundant stockpile of food supplies in Yang and Yu provinces in preparation for a future campaign against Wu. Deng Ai was sent to survey the lands in the Huai River region from Chen Commandery (陳郡; around present-day Zhoukou, Henan) east to Shouchun, and he proposed constructing a series of canals to irrigate the lands. Sima Yi approved Deng Ai's plan. The project commenced in the following year and helped to resolve not only food shortages but also flooding problems once it was in place.[6]

Two years later, in 243, Zhuge Ke sent spies to scout the strategic locations near Shouchun (壽春; present-day Shou County, Anhui) in preparation for an attack on Shouchun. In October 243, Sima Yi led troops from Luoyang to attack Zhuge Ke at Wan (皖; present-day Qianshan County, Anhui). When Sima Yi and the Wei army reached Shu County (舒縣; present-day Shucheng County, Anhui), Zhuge Ke gave orders to burn down all the supplies stockpiled in Wan, abandon the garrison and retreat.[7] Sun Quan eventually reassigned Zhuge Ke to guard Chaisang Commandery (柴桑郡; near present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi).[8] Lü Ju, a son of the Wu veteran general Lü Fan, was also promoted to lieutenant-general (偏將軍) for his contributions in the campaign.[9]

The Quans later found an opportunity to report Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu for committing serious offences, claiming that they had secretly collaborated with the staff officer Chen Xun (陳恂) to make false submissions about their contributions during the battle. [10][11] As a result, Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu were imprisoned, while Gu Cheng's brother Gu Tan was implicated in the case because of his relationship with them. Sun Quan was reluctant to punish them but sought to appease the Quan clan, so he ordered Gu Tan to publicly apologise with the intention of pardoning the three men. However, Gu Tan refused to capitulate, stating: "Your Majesty, how can you let baseless accusations have their way?" [12][13] An official accused Gu Tan of displaying great disrespect towards the emperor when he protested his innocence and lobbied to have him executed. Sun Quan took into consideration that Gu Tan's grandfather Gu Yong had rendered meritorious service in the past, and decided to have Gu Tan, Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu exiled to Jiao Province instead. [14] As the official Sun Hong had previously feuded with Zhang Xiu, he seized the opportunity to accuse him of further crimes, which resulted in Zhang Xiu being forced to commit suicide by imperial order. [15]

References

  1. ^ (芍陂之役，拜奮威將軍...) Sanguozhi vol. 52.
  2. ^ (芍陂之役，譚弟承及張休皆有功...) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 74.
  3. ^ (春，吳人將伐魏。零陵太守殷札言於吳主曰：「今天棄曹氏，喪誅累見，虎爭之際而幼童涖事。陛下身自御戎，取亂侮亡，宜滌荊、揚之地，舉強羸之數，使強者執戟，羸者轉運。西命益州，軍于隴右，授諸葛瑾、朱然大衆，直指襄陽，陸遜、朱桓別征壽春，大駕入淮陽，歷青、徐。襄陽、壽春，困於受敵，長安以西，務禦蜀軍，許、洛之衆，勢必分離，掎角並進，民必內應。將帥對向，或失便宜，一軍敗績，則三軍離心；便當秣馬脂車，陵蹈城邑，乘勝逐北，以定華夏。若不悉軍動衆，循前輕舉，則不足大用，易於屢退，民疲威消，時往力竭，非上策也。」吳主不能用。) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 74.
  4. ^ (先是，譚弟承與張休俱北征壽春，全琮時為大都督，與魏將王淩戰於芍陂，軍不利，魏兵乘勝陷沒五營將秦晃軍，休、承奮擊之。遂駐魏師。時琮羣子緒、端亦並為將，因敵旣住，乃進擊之，淩軍用退。) Sanguozhi vol. 52.
  5. ^ (時論功行賞，以為駐敵之功大，退敵之功小，休、承並為雜號將軍，緒、端偏裨而已。寄父子益恨， ...) Sanguozhi vol. 52.
  6. ^ (朝廷欲廣田畜穀於揚、豫之間，使尚書郎汝南鄧艾行陳、項以東至壽春。艾以為：「昔太祖破黃巾，因為屯田，積穀許都以制四方。今三隅已定，事在淮南，每大軍出征，運兵過半，功費巨億。陳、蔡之間，土下田良，可省許昌左右諸稻田，幷水東下，令淮北二萬人，淮南三萬人，什二分休，常有四萬人且田且守；益開河渠以增溉灌，通漕運。計除衆費，歲完五百萬斛以為軍資，六、七年間，可積二千萬斛於淮上，此則十萬之衆五年食也。以此乘吳，無不克矣。」太傅懿善之。是歲，始開廣漕渠，每東南有事，大興軍衆，汎舟而下，達于江、淮，資食有儲而無水害。) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 74.
  7. ^ (四年秋九月，帝督諸軍擊諸葛恪， ... 軍次于舒，恪焚燒積聚，棄城而遁。) Jin Shu vol. 1.
  8. ^ (吳諸葛恪遠遣諜人觀相徑要，欲圖壽春。太傅懿將兵入舒，欲以攻恪，吳主徙恪屯於柴桑。) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 74.
  9. ^ (朱然攻樊，據與朱異破城外圍，還拜偏將軍，入補馬閑右部督，遷越騎校尉。) Sanguozhi vol. 56.
  10. ^ (... 共構會譚。) Sanguozhi vol. 52.
  11. ^ (吳錄曰：全琮父子屢言芍陂之役為典軍陳恂詐增張休、顧承之功，而休、承與恂通情。) Wu Lu annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 52.
  12. ^ (休坐繫獄，權為譚故，沈吟不決，欲令譚謝而釋之。) Wu Lu annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 52.
  13. ^ (及大會，以問譚，譚不謝，而曰：「陛下，讒言其興乎！」) Wu Lu annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 52.
  14. ^ (江表傳曰：有司奏譚誣罔大不敬，罪應大辟。權以雍故，不致法，皆徙之。) Jiang Biao Zhuan annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 52.
  15. ^ (為魯王霸友黨所譖，與顧譚、承俱以芍陂論功事，休、承與典軍陳恂通情，詐增其伐，並徙交州。中書令孫弘佞偽險詖，休素所忿，弘因是譖訴，下詔書賜休死，時年四十一。) Sanguozhi vol. 52.
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