Battle of Yangpingguan

Battle of Yangpingguan
Part of the Hanzhong Campaign
Date 218 CE Location Yangping Pass (near present-day Yangpingguan, Ningqiang County, Hanzhong, Shaanxi), China Result Cao Cao victory
Belligerents
Liu Bei	Cao Cao
Commanders and leaders
Liu Bei Chen Shi Gao Xiang	Xiahou Yuan Zhang He Xu Huang
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown, possibly heavy	Unknown

Battle of Yangpingguan
Traditional Chinese	陽平關之戰
Simplified Chinese	陽平關之战
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yángpíng guān zhī zhàn

The Battle of Yangpingguan, not to be confused with the earlier Battle of Yangping in 215, was fought between the forces of Liu Bei and Cao Cao in 218 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Liu Bei’s army, led by Liu Bei himself, would suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of Cao Cao’s forces led by Xiahou Yuan.

The battle

The Hanzhong Campaign was in full motion around the middle of 218, with various engagements between Liu Bei and Cao Cao occurring. While Zhang Fei and Ma Chao were stationed at Gushan (固山) and Wu Lan at Xiabian (下辨), Liu Bei led the main portion of his army in person to Yangping Pass to attack the enemy. Cao Cao’s forces at Yangping Pass were commanded by Xiahou Yuan, with Zhang He and Xu Huang guarding Guangshi (廣石) and Mamingge (馬鳴閣) respectively.

Liu Bei ordered Chen Shi and Gao Xiang to attack Mamingge. Chen Shi and Gao Xiang set up camp near Mamingge and launched an assault, but suffered a heavy loss at the hands of Xu Huang, who thoroughly routed Chen Shi and Gao Xiang’s detachment. During the disorganized flight, many of Liu Bei’s soldiers perished from falling into the deep valleys and ravines while retreating. After this defeat, Liu Bei would personally lead an assault on Guangshi to try and defeat Zhang He, but was unable to make any progress. He would then subsequently write to Zhuge Liang in Chengdu to request reinforcements. Zhuge Liang was unsure of whether to send troops or not, so he approached Yang Hong (楊洪) for advice. Yang Hong told Zhuge Liang "Hanzhong is the throat of Yi Province. This is a critical point of survival and destruction. Without Hanzhong there will be no Shu (Yi Province). A disaster has befallen on the gates of our home. At this moment, men should go to war, women should help in transporting supplies, what is there to hesitate about sending reinforcements?" Zhuge Liang heeded Yang Hong’s words and would send fresh reinforcements to Liu Bei, who would continue to do battle with Xiahou Yuan.

References

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

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

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