Northern Expeditions

In the seven years 227 to 234, the master strategist of Shu, Zhuge Liang, launched no less than five campaigns against Wei, which became known as the Northern Expeditions (Beifa). Among the most studied of military conflicts in Chinese history are the battles in this period. The ultimate objective of the expeditions was Chang'an, nestled in the Wei valley and strategic crossroads for communication routes to Shu, the Central Plain, the Upper reaches of the Yellow River as well as the localities of the ancient Silk Road. The capture of Chang'an was a natural military move for Shu strategists; once captured, it would be easily defendable in the east with the Wu and Hangu passes, and would cut off from Wei its sources of cavalry units and contact with the northwest. Chang'an was also a ideological and political objective of Shu, since it had been capital to the Western Han. A reinstatement of the Han court in the city would be a major boost to Shu's credibility as legitimate successor. But to capture Chang'an Zhuge Liang always conceived a left hook to take the Longyou region in the upper Wei River and throughout his Northern Expeditions he stubbornly continued this maneovre time after time.

The Plan

The idea of the northern expedition had been envisaged by Zhuge Liang as early as 207. He explained to Liu Bei in what came to be know as the Longzhong Dui the plan for the tripartite division of China. The plan proposed that Liu Bei absorb the Yizhou and Jingzhou areas from incompetent rulers, as his base of operations, and form a balance of power by allying with Sun Quan in the east. The culminating clause of the Longzhong Dui was a two-pronged northern campaign which would consummated by seizure of the Central Plain and reestablishment of the Han court. As history unfolded, Jingzhou was lost and soon after political moves by Cao Pi formally ended the Han dynasty. Liu Bei's disastrous campaign against Wu culminated in his defeat at Yiling and by 223 the state of Shu was tottering on collapse in the face of native revolts in the south and hostile enemies from the north and east. Zhuge Liang nonetheless attentively reconstructed the Wu-Shu coalition and in the Spring of 227, was ready for an offensive against Wei. After making suitable arrangements for the administration at Chengdu, he moved north with the expeditionary force of 100,000 to his base at Hanzhong.

The First Northen Expedition At Hanzhong, doorstep of the Shu plain, Zhuge Liang held war council on the method of realisation of the tactical objectives. He proposed a wide left hook to seize the upper Wei valley and the Longyou region as a necessity to the capture of the city itself. Wei Yan, however, objected to the plan and suggested a bold strike through a pass in the Qinling with 10,000 elite troops to take Chang'an by surprise. He was confident that he could hold the city against Wei until the main forces of Zhuge Liang arrived. Wei Yan's plan was rejected by Zhuge as being too ambitious; he preferred a more cautious approach. Two small forces were sent through Ji Gorge, one of which was commanded by Zhao Yun, as decoys to give the appearance of threatening Meicheng. The real objective, however, was to seize the Longyou area: Tianshui, Anding, Nan'an and mostly of all Qishan, the defensive bastion that screened the upper Wei valley. The Wei Emperor himself moved to Chang'an to oversee defense. Supreme Commander Cao Zhen secured Meicheng against Zhao Yun whilst a combined cavalry-infantry force of 50,000 under Zhang He were sent west to oppose Zhuge's main army.