User:Kamek98/Zhong Hui's invasion of Shu

Zhong Hui's invasion of Shu was the attack led by Zhong Hui during the Conquest of Shu by Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. Zhong Hui's invasion went well, but Deng Ai's forces surprisingly captured Chengdu first.

Background
Zhong Hui had previously strongly supported the Wei offensive on Shu suggested by Sima Zhao. Zhong Hui was given command to attack with the main force of three fronts into Hanzhong.

Although, after Zhong Hui and his fellow commanders set out on the campaign, many politicians warned Sima Zhao that Zhong Hui might take the chance to rebel after Shu was conquered, as this concern mostly brought up by Zhang Hua.

Zhong Hui's siege on Han and Yue fortresses
Zhong Hui was pressing siege on Han Fortress and Yue Fortress. Zhong Hui besieged Yue Fortress under Wang Han (王含) and sent another mass of men to attack Jiang Bin (蔣斌) at Han Fortress.

Zhong Hui was quick to besiege, and to hurry the siege, he ordered Xun Kai to attack Han with 10,000 and Li Fu to attack Yue with another 10,000. Zhong Hui moved to advance early and left Xun Kai and Li Fu to finish the resistant siege.

Zhuge Xu's attacks
Jiang Wei's ideal forces main priority was to resist the Wei forces at Yinping (陰平), because if Yinping was to be lost, it meant that Jiang Wei was vulnerable for annihilation. Ironically, instead of reinforcing this idea, the Shu emperor Liu Shan, ignored the idea and proceeded to send the veteran general Liao Hua to station some of the Shu forces at Tazhong, where Deng Ai was moving to the offensive on the Wei side. Tazhong was where Jiang Wei was stationed, therefore his rear was still unsecured. Zhong Hui's main force was moving fast and vigorously, lowering Shu morale. Zhong Hui sent his generals Wang Qi and Yang Qu to engage in comabt with Jiang Wei wherever possible. Yinping was also still unsecured, so Zhuge Xu (諸葛緒) led his forces from Qishan Hills (south of the Wei river, between Didao and the Ye Gorge, just north of the then Hanzhong Shu-Wei border) to capture Jiang Wei's escape route.

Jiang Wei was quickly defeated severely numerous times by the two Wei pursuing armies, and barely escaped. Yang Qu was first to rediscover Jiang Wei's army, and continued a hot pursuit. Jiang Wei was too late to Yinping, as Zhuge Xu had beaten him to the stronghold.

The only way Jiang Wei saw to remove Zhuge Xu's forces out of his only escape route was to deceive Zhuge Xu's troops into thinking he was leading Shu forces into Konghan Valley (孔函谷) to set up an attack near the back end of Yinping. This successfully removed Zhuge Xu away from the Yinping bridge, successfully allowing Jiang Wei to move across the bridge. Zhong Hui's only chance to catch up with Jiang Wei was to attack Guancheng, and quickly push further into the heart of Shu and intercept Jiang Wei at Jiange. On his way the to Guancheng, Zhuge Xu arrived to merge with Zhong Hui after declining Deng Ai's stealth march operation. In order to increase his chances of victory over Shu, he stole Zhuge Xu's troops and sent him back to Luoyang covered in Zhong Hui's accused cowardice.

Supply problems
Without hesitation, Zhong Hui quickly arrived at the Yang'an stronghold. Shu forces led by Dong Jue and Zhang Yi were quickly overrun by Zhong Hui because they were limited in resources that Jiang Wei wasted in his previous expeditions against Wei. Now, Hanzhong was near conquered by Wei, as Shu was driven deeper and deeper into the pit of a demolished dynasty. (Hanzhong was still not conquered because Jiang Bin was still giving up a strong resistance at Han fortress)

Zhong Hui felt that he was vulnerable to a stalemate and humiliating defeat upon his large conquest of Shu territory, so instead of moving onto Guancheng himself first, he relied on the Wei vanguard Hu Lie (胡烈) to capture the depot as he would reinforce the vanguard later. Guancheng was a valuable location for a supply depot, therefore a major amount of troops were given to Hu Lie.

Jiang Shu-Fu Qian conflict
Guankou was the first location Hu Lie would have to strike, but the disagreements between Shu officers Jiang Shu and Fu Qian drove a wedge between Jiang Shu's loyalty to Shu. Before the events of 263 CE, Jiang Shu was the Shu commander of Wuxing. Though the Shu imperial court demoted Jiang Shu and promoted Fu Qian; thus forming a grudge made of hatred.

The two commanders of Guankou did not come to a resolution on how to defend the depot, so Jiang Shu left outside the depot gates and surrendered. Therefore, Guankou was opened, and Hu Lie's forces entered the depot. Fu Qian gave up a fight, but was ultimately killed. Thus the problem of supplies was solved. Jiang Wei learned of this, and set his forces on course to defend Jiange (劍閣; present-day Jiange County, Sichuan).

Jiang Bin stalls Zhong Hui
In the meantime, Zhong Hui was considering emotionally forcing Jiang Bin to surrender by paying respects to Zhuge Liang at his tomb. Jiang Bin still refused to surrender, so Zhong Hui sent a message asking Jiang Bin, where his father, Jiang Wan's tomb was. Jiang Bin replied that his father passed away west (where Zhong Hui was advancing) in Fu County (涪縣). Fu County was near the heart of Shu, so Zhong Hui was forced to remain in combat.

Stalemate
Zhong Hui was forced to engage in combat with Jiang Wei. By this time, Deng Ai was already engaging in battle at Mianzhu with Zhuge Zhan's forces. Quickly, Deng Ai annihilated Zhuge Zhan's forces.

End of the invasion
Jiang Wei and Zhong Hui's forces were still in combat when Deng Ai had reached Chengdu. Liu Shan, knowing all was lost, surrendered. With the rest of the Shu forces, Jiang Bin finally surrendered. Jiang Wei surrendered to Zhong Hui too. Though immediately after Shu was conquered, Jiang Wei and Zhong Hui began to secretly meet before returning to Wei.

Aftermath
Though Shu was successfully conquered, Zhong Hui had always had a rivalry with Deng Ai, also envying him. Jiang Wei was still alive at this time, while the other Shu troops who refused to surrender fled to Persia. Envying Deng Ai's glory in the conquest of Shu, Zhong Hui decided to rebel.

In fiction
In Luo Guanzhong's novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang's spirit haunts Mount Dingjun, causing Zhong Hui to mourn Zhuge Liang at his tomb, instead of initially doing it to force Jiang Bin to surrender.

Order of battle
Cao Wei forces
 * Director of Retainers (司隸校尉) Zhong Hui, the most influent supporter of Sima Zhao's decision to launch the campaign, was rewarded with the rank of General Who Stabilizes the West (鎮西將軍), He never reached Chengdu before the capital fell to Deng Ai.
 * General Who Stabilizes the West (鎮西將軍) Du Yu, one of Zhong Hui's strongest supporting commanders during the invasion.
 * General of the Vanguard (前將軍) Li Fu (李輔)
 * General Who Protects the Army (護軍將軍) Xun Kai (荀愷), great-grandson of Xun Yu and maternal grandson of Sima Yi
 * General Who Protects the Army (護軍將軍) Hu Lie (胡烈) was named as the vanguard of the eastern front
 * Administrator of Weixing (魏興太守) Liu Qin (劉欽) as the deputy vanguard of the eastern front
 * Inspector of Yong Province (雍州刺史) Zhuge Xu (諸葛緒), attempted to block off Jiang Wei's escape route at Yinping. Sent back to Luoyang after refusing to work with Deng Ai. Troops taken by Zhong Hui.

Shu Han forces
 * General-in-Chief (大將軍) Jiang Wei, commanded Shu Han Forces, stalemated and stalled Zhong Hui
 * Senior General Who Assists the Nation (輔國大將軍) Dong Jue, commanded a mass of Shu Han Forces, suffered defeat against Zhong Hui.
 * General of Chariots and Cavalry on the Right (右車騎將軍) Liao Hua, reinforced Tazhong
 * General of Chariots and Cavalry on the Left (左車騎將軍) Zhang Yi, commanded a mass of Shu Han Forces, suffered defeat against Zhong Hui
 * Area Commander of Guanzhong(關中都督) Fu Qian, killed during the betrayal at Guankou.
 * General Jiang Shu, deputy to Fu Qian, betrays Shu and opens Guankou Depot's gates.
 * General Who Protects the Army (護軍將軍) Jiang Bin (蔣斌), submitted to Wei after Liu Shan surrendered the Shu Han kingdom.

Modern references
The invasion appears in Koei's seventh installment of the Dynasty Warriors video game series. Although, the stage that shows the Conquest of Shu by Wei splits this event into two of the three parts of the stage. The Yinping stage requires the player to Zhong Hui, where Xiahou Ba is slain. The rest of the Hanzhong stage requires the player to use Deng Ai, where he faces Zhuge Zhan and Zhuge Liang's ghost.