Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi Wear Each Other Down

The first Northern Expedition failed at Jieting.

Zhuge Liang executed Ma Su, accepted demotion, and continued to rebuild the army and state.

For Shu Han, northern war was costly. Giving it up would also weaken the meaning of restoring Han.

Jiang Wei Comes to Shu

The first expedition did bring one important gain: Jiang Wei.

Jiang Wei came from Ji County in Tianshui and belonged to a local elite family. He was skilled in both civil and military affairs.

When Zhuge Liang reached Qishan, the Wei administrator of Tianshui suspected Jiang Wei and others of disloyalty and fled east at night.

Jiang Wei was left behind. Local officials pushed him toward Zhuge Liang.

After Jieting failed, Zhuge Liang withdrew and took Jiang Wei and others back to Shu.

Later tradition says Jiang Wei received a letter from his mother urging him to seek danggui, "returning." Jiang Wei replied using another medicine name, yuanzhi, "far-reaching ambition," to show that he would not return.

Zhuge Liang valued him highly and saw in him a future commander.

The Later Memorial

Before another campaign, a text known as the Later Chu Shi Biao was traditionally attributed to Zhuge Liang.

It contains the line often translated as "to bend myself to the task and exhaust myself until death."

The text's authenticity has long been debated. Some details, including timing around Zhao Yun, raise questions.

Even so, the argument fits Zhuge Liang's situation.

The late emperor had treated Han and the usurping enemy as unable to coexist. Shu could not remain a small court in Chengdu forever. If defense also consumed resources, then active campaigning might still be necessary.

Whether or not every word is Zhuge Liang's, the phrase captured how later generations understood his life.

Chencang Would Not Fall

In late 228, Zhuge Liang attacked Chencang.

The defender Hao Zhao was ready.

Zhuge Liang sent one of Hao Zhao's old acquaintances to persuade him to surrender. Hao Zhao refused. He said he had received Wei's favor and would die defending the city.

Shu used ladders. Wei burned them.

Shu used rams. Wei dropped heavy stones to smash them.

Shu raised high platforms. Wei built inner walls.

Shu dug tunnels. Wei dug cross-tunnels to block them.

For more than twenty days, Chencang held.

Zhang He was sent to relieve the city. He predicted that Zhuge Liang, short of grain deep in enemy territory, would withdraw before he arrived.

He was right.

Wudu, Yinping, and Wei's Failed Attack

The next year, Zhuge Liang sent forces to take Wudu and Yinping.

This was smaller than the earlier campaigns, but it produced real territory. Liu Shan restored Zhuge Liang's chancellor title.

Still, these were border gains. Guanzhong remained out of reach.

Wei then tried its own offensive.

Cao Zhen proposed multiple routes into Hanzhong, with Sima Yi moving along the Han River and other forces entering through mountain roads.

Chen Qun and others warned that the routes were dangerous and transport would be difficult, especially in the rainy season.

Cao Zhen still moved.

Heavy rain fell for weeks. Roads broke. The campaign achieved little and withdrew.

The lesson cut both ways. Shu's northern campaigns were hard. Wei's invasion of Shu was hard too.

Wooden Oxen and Flowing Horses

In 231, Zhuge Liang again campaigned around Qishan.

To move supplies, he used the famous wooden oxen and flowing horses. Their exact form is unknown. The safest understanding is that they were improved transport devices for mountain warfare, not magical self-moving machines.

Cao Zhen was ill, so Cao Rui sent Sima Yi west to command against Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang divided forces to attack Qishan and personally moved toward Shanggui. Guo Huai and Fei Yao tried to cut his rear, but Zhuge Liang defeated them and harvested Wei's wheat.

Sima Yi then narrowed his front, used defensive terrain, and refused easy battle.

Wei officers demanded action. When Sima Yi finally allowed fighting, Wei Yan, Gao Xiang, Wu Ban, and others defeated Wei troops.

But by summer, Zhuge Liang's grain was running out again.

He withdrew.

Sima Yi ordered Zhang He to pursue. Zhang He did not want to, but followed orders. Shu forces ambushed him at Mumen, and Zhang He was killed by arrows.

It was a major loss for Wei.

But killing a veteran general did not open Guanzhong.

Li Yan's Failure

Behind the retreat lay another problem.

Li Yan, who had been entrusted by Liu Bei alongside Zhuge Liang, was responsible for supply.

Heavy rain made transport fail. Rather than admit it, Li Yan sent word in Liu Shan's name ordering Zhuge Liang to withdraw.

When Zhuge Liang returned, Li Yan pretended to be surprised and tried to shift the blame.

Zhuge Liang compared the documents and exposed the contradiction.

Li Yan confessed. Zhuge Liang impeached him, stripped his rank, and sent him away.

From Ma Su to Li Yan, the northern campaigns were damaged by people as much as by terrain.

Zhuge Liang still did not stop. He would spend years preparing one last campaign.

Next, the struggle reaches Wuzhang Plain.