Battle of Xiabian

Battle of Xiabian
Part of the Hanzhong Campaign
Date 218 CE Location Xiabian (near present-day Longnan, Gansu), China Result Cao Cao victory
Belligerents
Cao Cao Di (Five Barbarians)	Liu Bei
Commanders and leaders
Cao Hong Cao Xiu Qiangduan	Wu Lan † Lei Tong † Ren Kui †
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown, possibly heavy

Battle of Xiabian
Traditional Chinese	下辨之戰
Simplified Chinese	下辨之战
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xià biàn zhī zhàn

The Battle of Xiabian was fought between the armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei in 218 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Cao Cao's army, led by Cao Hong and Cao Xiu along with some support from the Native Di tribesmen led by Qiangduan, managed to inflict a crushing defeat on Liu Bei's forces led by Wu Lan, Lei Tong, and Ren Kui.

The battle

In 218, Liu Bei was making preparations to launch the Hanzhong campaign and began by personally leading his main army towards Yangping Pass (陽平關). Whilst in the middle of that, against the advice of officials Zhou Qun and Zhang Yu, he also sent a detachment from his main army led by generals Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Wu Lan (吳蘭), Lei Tong (雷銅) and Ren Kui (任夔) to initiate an attack on nearby Wudu Commandery (武都郡). This detachment would subsequently make headquarters at Xiabian County (下辨縣). In response to this, a force led by Cao Hong and Cao Xiu was sent to attack Xiabian, lifting the threat towards Wudu.

Later that year, Zhang Fei and Ma Chao moved a portion of the army to Gushan (固山), leaving Wu Lan, Lei Tong, and Ren Kui behind to guard Xiabian. Zhang Fei and Ma Chao spread rumours that they were going to block the enemy's rear supply route, cutting off Cao Cao's forces from any possibility of retreat. Cao Hong wished to attack Wu Lan's detachment in Xiabian, but was unable to do so at the time, as his officers were wary of Zhang Fei's motives and movements. Cao Xiu dispelled the skepticism in Cao Hong's camp by reasoning that if Zhang Fei was really going to cut off their rear, he would keep the plan secret rather than openly reveal his intentions. Now that they knew for certain it was a ruse, they could use the chance to feign retreat and attack instead. Cao Hong agreed with Cao Xiu's advice and launched an assault. Liu Bei's forces in Xiabian were caught off-guard by this sudden attack and suffered a terrible defeat. Lei Tong and Ren Kui were both slain in battle, while Wu Lan fled Xiabian to join the Di tribes, where he was subsequently beheaded by Qiangduan, a Native tribal leader and the King of Yinping who had allied with Cao Cao. Wu Lan's body was subsequently sent to Cao Cao as a gift from Qiangduan.

After hearing word of the heavy loss at Xiabian, Zhang Fei and Ma Chao withdrew their forces and retreated from Gushan in April 218.

References

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📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Caracalla's campaigns of 214–216
• Battle of Yangpingguan

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