Third, Fourth, and Fifth Expedition
In 249, Jiang Wei launched his third invasion and was defeated.
In 253, Jiang Wei set up a coordinated attack with Zhuge Ke to attack Wei on two fronts: Shu on the west in Nan'an and Shu's ally Eastern Wu on the east at Hefei. Jiang Wei attacked the key border city of Didao as Zhuge Ke launched a massive attack on Hefei. The Wei regent Sima Shi knew the Wu army to be the more serious threat and led the main Wei force to the eastern front, while sending a smaller unit to relieve Didao. The first sign of what would eventually recur, Jiang Wei, while besieging Didao, ran out of food supplies and had to withdraw. Eventually, Sima Shi's forces dealt a crippling defeat to Zhuge Ke.
However, Jiang Wei resumed his attack very soon, and led tens of thousands of Shu soldiers to venture into Wei territory again. He bypassed Shiying (石營) and Dongting (董亭), and laid siege on Nan'an. Chen Tai reinforced Nan'an in time, and Jiang Wei lifted the siege due to logistical consideration. Guo Huai then drove back Jiang Wei's forces out of Wei's domain.
Read more about this topic: Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions
Famous quotes containing the word expedition:
“Writing a novel is not merely going on a shopping expedition across the border to an unreal land: it is hours and years spent in the factories, the streets, the cathedrals of the imagination.”
—Janet Frame (b. 1924)