Campaign for Wudu and Yinping

The Campaign for Wudu and Yinping was a stage of Kong Ming’s northern offensive in which Shu forces captured the two towns after taking Chencang. Kong Ming exploited intelligence about the illness of the Chencang commander, then sent separate forces to occupy Wudu and Yinping. The gains cut off Wei reinforcements and carried the campaign beyond the Qishan hills, drawing Sima Yi into a major confrontation.

Strategic Background

The campaign followed a broader plan to pressure Wei while its attention was divided. Sun Quan had made an alliance with Shu and was expected to attack Wei from the south; Kong Ming used that prospect as part of the strategic setting for his own advance. He sent spies to assess Chencang and learned that its defender, Hao Zhao, was seriously ill. The intelligence turned an opening in the enemy’s command into an immediate opportunity.

Kong Ming ordered Wei Yan and Jiang Wei to prepare to attack Chencang when they saw flames inside the city, giving them three days to get ready. He separately gave secret instructions to Zhang Bao and Guan Xing. The apparent delay concealed his own decision to set out at once with Zhang Bao and Guan Xing, leaving the other commanders to approach according to his signal.

Capture of Chencang

The defenders were demoralized by Hao Zhao’s illness, and pro-Shu supporters inside Chencang set fire to the gates. The resulting fighting met little resistance. When Wei Yan and Jiang Wei arrived, they found that Kong Ming had already captured the city. Hao Zhao died on his sickbed after the city fell and resistance had become hopeless.

The contrasting movements of the forces reveal the campaign’s reliance on timing and controlled information: Wei Yan and Jiang Wei were told to prepare for a later attack, while Kong Ming’s party moved ahead and secured the objective first. Chencang’s fall was therefore both a territorial gain and the hinge for the next advance.

Advance into Wudu and Yinping

After taking Chencang, Kong Ming’s army seized the San Pass, preventing Wei reinforcements from reaching the captured city. From the plains beyond the Qishan hills, he then divided the advance: Jiang Wei was sent to capture Wudu, while Wang Ping was assigned Yinping. The two operations extended Shu control beyond the mountain route and made the new position more difficult for Wei to reinforce.

The captured towns changed the urgency of the conflict. Cao Rui received news not only of Chencang’s fall and Hao Zhao’s death, but also that Kong Ming had crossed the Qishan hills and that Sun Quan had declared himself emperor. Sima Yi advised Cao Rui to focus on Shu, reasoning that the southern threat was connected to the alliance and that Kong Ming’s advance posed the more immediate danger. Cao Rui elevated Sima Yi to the highest command and offered him the imperial seal of authority, which Sima Yi declined to receive through that offer.

Wei’s Counteroffensive and the Campaign’s Significance

In the summer of 229, Kong Ming advanced onto the plains below the Qishan hills as Sima Yi moved to Chang’an to organize Wei’s defense. Sima Yi sent a relief force toward Wudu and Yinping, but it found that Shu had already taken both towns and that Shu forces had trapped it between their groups. The Wei force collapsed; the main mishap reported on the Shu side was Zhang Bao’s fall from his horse and subsequent return to Chengdu to recover.

Sima Yi then sought to exploit Kong Ming’s presumed presence in the towns by sending Zhang He to attack the Shu camp. Kong Ming had anticipated the move, and Zhang He was heavily defeated. With the Wei troops routed, Sima Yi ordered a retreat to base. Kong Ming returned to his own camp with the spoils of the campaign and received an imperial command restoring his military status. Yet victory did not bring the decisive battle he wanted: Sima Yi refused to be drawn into engagement, so Kong Ming ordered a retreat designed to lure Wei into pursuit. The campaign’s gains thus became both a strategic advantage and the setting for the next contest of anticipation between the commanders.