Battle of Xincheng

Battle of Xincheng
Part of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions
Meng Da is slain by the army of Sima Yi
Date 227 – 228 CE Location Xincheng, Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan), China Result Cao Wei victory
Belligerents
Cao Wei	Shu Han
Commanders and leaders
Sima Yi	Meng Da, Zhuge Liang
Strength
15,000	6,000
Casualties and losses
6,000

Battle of Xincheng
Traditional Chinese	新城之戰
Simplified Chinese	新城之战
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Xīnchéng Zhī Zhàn

The Battle of Xincheng referred to two rebellions by Meng Da against the state of Cao Wei in coordination with the rival state of Shu Han from 227 to 228 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The revolts were suppressed by the Cao Wei general Sima Yi in 228.

The battle

Zhuge Liang launched a campaign into Cao Wei. Meng Da, was persuaded to return to the service of Shu Han; furthermore, he was supposed to be striking at Luoyang. Meng Da was planning to coordinate his attacks and quickly destroy Wei, but he was taken by surprise as he did not expect Sima Yi to attack Xincheng without court approval. Besides, Meng Da also failed to take necessary precautions against the betrayal of Shen Dan (申耽), Shen Yi (申儀) and other generals serving under him, who reported the plan to Sima Yi just as he was gathering an army to meet the emperor. Zhuge Liang sent a small expeditionary force in his support, while Sun Quan also dispatched an army from the south. Sima Yi quickly moved on Meng Da and easily crushed his rebellion before either of the allies could come to his aid.^[1]

Modern references

The battle is featured in Koei's video game Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends as the "Battle of Xin Castle". The player can only play on the Cao Wei side as either Cao Pi, Sima Yi or Xu Huang, and must defeat Meng Da to win. If the player is fast enough, he can complete the stage before Shu reinforcements arrive to help Meng Da.

Notes

1. ^ Generals of the South, Rafe de Crespigny(pages 16-17)

References

• Chen Shou. Records of Three Kingdoms.
• Luo Guanzhong. Romance of the Three Kingdoms.