Conquest of Wu by Jin The conquest of Wu by Jin was a military campaign launched by the Jin Dynasty against the state of Eastern Wu in 280 towards the end of the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history . The campaign concluded with the fall of Wu and the reunification of China under the Jin Dynasty . Background . As early as 262 , Cao Wei regent Sima Zhao planned the first outline for the conquest of Wei ' s rival states , Eastern Wu and Shu Han , by eliminating Shu first , then take on Wu three years later . However , the conquest of Shu in the following year severely strained Wei ' s resources and Wei desperately needed time to recover . Compounding the problem , Wei lacked an adequate naval force required for the campaign on Wu . Sima Zhao therefore postponed the planned conquest of Wu and started to consolidate power in Wei first . In 265 , Sima Zhao died and was succeeded by his son , Sima Yan . In the same year , Sima Yan forced the last Wei emperor , Cao Huan , to abdicate , and proclaimed himself Emperor of the Jin Dynasty . By then , only Wu was left of the Three Kingdoms . In comparison with Wei and the subsequent Jin Dynasty , Wu experienced greater problems of its own : the succession from the third Wu emperor , Sun Xiu , was marred with bloodshed and internal conflict . Sun Xiu ' s successor , Sun Hao , was a tyrant who made little effort to prepare for the imminent invasion by the Jin Dynasty . Sun Hao ' s rule was more harsh as compared to the later part of the reign of Sun Quan , Wu ' s founding emperor . This caused a continuous wave of peasant uprisings and military mutinies , which mainly took place in present - day Zhejiang and Guangdong . Not only did Sun Hao refuse to accept advice to strengthen Wu ' s defenses and reduce the burden on its people , he also executed around four dozen high - ranking officials who provided good counsel on governance . As a result , the Wu imperial court had already lost the popular support of the people , and many regional commanders stationed at the border defected to the Jin Dynasty . Prelude . To stabilize the newly conquered state of Shu , as well as showing benevolence toward the people of Wu so that they would defect or surrender to the Jin Dynasty , the surrendered Shu emperor Liu Shan was granted the rank of " Duke of Anle " , and over fifty former subjects of Shu were awarded the titles of marquises . Zhuge Liang ' s grandson , Zhuge Jing ( 諸葛京 ) , also received important appointments in the Jin imperial court . At the same time , Jin sent envoys to Wu to cease hostilities between the two states , in order to buy time for making preparations . Wu ' s emperor Sun Hao , in turn , viewed such actions as a sign of weakness of Jin , and further let down his guard . Jin preparations . Jin preparation for the conquest of Wu begun in 269 , when three places were selected as bases to launch the attack . New assignments were given as follows : On Yang Hu ' s recommendation , Emperor Wu of Jin ( Sima Yan ) appointed Wang Jun as the viceroy of Yi Province , ( 益州 ; covering the Sichuan Basin ) in 272 , and soon after , on Du Yu ' s advice , Emperor Wu promoted Wang Jun to the rank of General of the Uplifting Dragon . Wang Jun was put in charge of building a strong navy for the conquest of Wu . An ambitious general who was already turned 70 , Wang Jun was eager to establish fame by the conquest of Wu , and while he was only an Administrator of Yi Province , he already begun the process . The new ranks sped up the process tremendously by enabling Wang Jun to draft much more men : in comparison to the 500 to 600 workers previously available , every commandery within his control must provide him with 10 , 000 men . As a result , the remaining work of the naval construction project was completed in a year . To make up for their lack of experience of naval warfare in comparison to Wu ' s navy , Wang Jun built many large ships with ram bow s . The largest ship was in excess of 170 metres and could carry around 2 , 000 troops on board . The fortifications on these ships were three stories tall and was claimed to be the largest at the time . It took Wang Jun a total of seven years to build the navy he needed to conquer Wu and the only thing left to do was to train his soldiers and sailors . In October 276 , the preparation was roughly completed and Yang Hu suggested to the emperor to launch the attack . Yang Hu ' s suggestion was initially accepted but then delayed due to Grand Commandant Jia Chong ' s opposition , because Xianbei leaders had rebelled in northwestern China . In July 277 , additional assignments were given in order to prepare for the campaign against Wu : After Yang Hu ' s death , Du Yu succeeded him and was awarded the rank of Senior General Who Conquers the South , taking charge of military affairs in Jing Province from November 278 . Wu preparations . In comparison to the active preparation of its adversary , what the Wu emperor Sun Hao did was nearly nothing . During Wang Jun ' s naval construction , the leftover wooden pieces flowed downstream and were picked up by the Administrator of Jianping ( 建平 , present - day Zigui County , Hubei ) , Wu Yan ( 吾彥 ) . Wu Yan sent the wooden pieces to Sun Hao as evidence of the imminent attack and asked for reinforcements , but the request was ignored , as with similar suggestions from Lu Kang ( son of Lu Xun ) and others . After Lu Kang ' s death , his military command was split among his five sons as follows : The division greatly weakened Wu ' s defenses and three of Lu Kang ' s sons were killed in the battles when Jin conquered Wu . Strategic planning . In 279 , Wang Jun thought that it was time to launch the decisive attack on Wu , and as with similar petitions submitted previously , it was strongly objected by nearly all subjects in the Jin imperial court , with the exception of two , General Who Conquers the South Du Yu and Imperial Secretary Zhang Hua , who strongly supported Wang Jun ' s idea . Furthermore , the two managed to convince Emperor Wu of Jin to agree with them , and the strategy of Jin was basically the one planned by Yang Hu when he was alive . 200 , 000 troops out of the 500 , 000 strong regular army of Jin were deployed for the campaign , and by this time , the Jin navy was also at least equal if not stronger than Wu ' s . Jin strategy . The Jin army did not enjoy numerical superiority because it faced the entire Wu force of 230 , 000 and over 5 , 000 ships that defended the state . However , the morale of Jin was much higher than Wu . Furthermore , the Wu forces was scattered along the several thousand miles long border , and the attacking Jin armies could concentrate their forces to attack the isolated pockets of Wu resistance . Based on this principle , Jin would attack Wu along the Yangtze River in five routes to support the main attack force led by Wang Jun from Sichuan , going downstream along the Yangtze . Wang Hun ( 王渾 ) and Sima Zhou were tasked to tie down the main force of Wu , preventing it from reinforcing the upstream Yangtze River by threatening Wu ' s capital , Jianye ( present - day Nanjing , Jiangsu ) . Wang Rong , Du Yu and Hu Fen ( 胡奮 ) were tasked to take all strongholds of Wu located to the west of Xiakou ( 夏口 ; present - day Wuchang District , Hubei ) to coordinate with the 70 , 000 strong main force led by Wang Jun . After the attacking forces had joined together , they would push toward east along the Yangtze River and the capture of Jianye would be the responsibility of Wang Hun , Sima Zhou and Wang Jun . To better coordinate the attack , Emperor Wu of Jin ordered that Wang Jun would be under Du Yu ' s command after reaching Jianping , and after reaching Jianye , he would be under Wang Hun ' s command . Wu strategy . Since the Wu emperor Sun Hao did not believe that the Jin was capable of taking Wu and the overconfidence in the Yangtze River as the natural defensive barrier , barely anything was done to prepare for the incoming campaign . However , Wu did reinforce its defense by deploying iron awls linked together by iron chains in the Three Gorges to prevent ships from passing , but Sun Hao and his followers were so overconfident about this additional measure that not a single soldier was deployed to guard the region . The campaign . Battles at the upstream of the Yangtze River . Wang Jun ' s navy began its downstream Yangtze River attack in December 279 after being joined by his deputy , Tang Bin ( 唐彬 ) in charge of Badong commandery ( 巴東 , present - day Fengjie County , Chongqing ) . The combined force totaled 70 , 000 . A month later , in January 280 , Du Yu begun his attack on Jiangling from Xiangyang and sent three of his advisors , Fan Xian ( 樊顯 ) , Yin Lin ( 尹林 ) , Deng Gui ( 鄧圭 ) , along with Administrator of Xiangyang , Zhou Qi ( 周奇 ) , westward along the Yangtze River to join Wang Jun , attacking the strongholds of Wu between them from both the east and the west . By February 280 , Wang Jun ' s army had taken Danyang ( 丹楊 , east of present - day Zigui County , Hubei ) from Wu , and captured its Supervisor Sheng Ji ( 盛紀 ) . The Jin fleet under Wang Jun ' s command continued on after taking Danyang and upon reaching Xiling Gorge , they had met obstacles set up by Wu , the iron awls linked together by iron chains in water . However , Wang Jun had already captured most of Wu ' s agents , as well as many prisoners - of - war , and based the information obtained from the captives , the Jin forces already had a detailed knowledge of Wu ' s defenses , knowing exactly where the weakest spots were and where to attack . The Jin navy deployed dozens of rafts ahead of the fleet and when the iron awls struck the rafts , they were stuck . The rafts were full of dummies soaked in oil which were lit , causing the iron chains and awls to melt . After several hours , those man - made obstacles were completely cleared and the Jin fleet continued advancing . By February 3 , 280 , Jin forces had taken Xiling ( 西陵 ; northwest of present - day Yichang , Hubei ) , and two days later , Jingmen and Yidao ( 夷道 ; present - day Yidu , Hubei ) also fell under Jin control . All major Wu commanders , including Liu Xian ( 留憲 ) , Cheng Ju ( 成據 ) , Yu Zhong ( 虞忠 ) , and Lu Yan ( 陸晏 ) were captured and then executed . The victorious Jin fleet continued its offensive against Lexiang ( 樂鄉 ; northeast of present - day Songzi , Hubei ) , defeating the local Wu forces who ventured out of the protection of city walls in an attempt to stop the Jin assault . In the mean time , Du Yu had sent his subordinate Zhou Zhi to cross the Yangtze River with 800 horsemen at night to plant many flags in Mount Ba ( 巴山 ; southwest of present - day Songzi , Hubei ) , appearing to be a much larger force , while laying ambush just outside Lexiang . As the local Wu garrison went out earlier to engage Wang Jun ' s force retreated back to the city after their defeat , Zhou Zhi and his men were able to sneak into the city and capture it . The Commander of Lexiang , Sun Xin ( 孫歆 ) , was captured by Zhou Zhi and sent to Du Yu . Wang Jun , in his report to the Jin imperial court , claimed that Sun Xin was killed in action . In fact , it was Wu ' s naval commander - in - chief , Lu Jing , who was killed when Lexiang fell to the Jin forces . Du Yu ' s army subsequently conquered Jiangling and killed its Commander Wu Yan ( 伍延 ) . Redeployment of Jin forces . On February 28 , 280 , Emperor Wu of Jin strengthened the main force under Wang Jun ' s command by redeploying troops under other commanders : Following Emperor Wu ' s orders , Wang Jun continued his offensive and Wu general Meng Tai ( 孟泰 ) surrendered with his forces guarding Qichun and Zhu ( 邾 ; present day Huanggang , Hubei ) . The next target was also captured without much fight : after Wang Rong ' s force led by Luo Shang ( 羅尚 ) and Liu Qiao ( 劉喬 ) joined Wang Jun and begun their offensive , Wu ' s Administrator of Wuchang , Liu Lang ( 劉朗 ) , lost his will to resist and surrendered without a fight . With the exception of Jianping , which was defended by Wu Yan ( 吾彦 ) , the Administrator of Jianping , all other territories of Wu on the upper Yangtze River had fallen under the Jin Dynasty ' s control . By this time , Grand Commandant Jia Chong , the Jin commander - in - chief of the campaign who had opposed the campaign from the start , had found the opportunity to suggest a conclusion of the campaign . Jia Chong claimed that it was good to withdraw after the continuous victories because if the war continues , it would exhaust the resources of the state and troops remain the south would suffer from epidemics . However , the war progressed much faster and better than Jia Chong had predicted and his suggestion was ignored . Battles midstream and downstream of the Yangtze River . At the midstream and downstream of the Yangtze River , starting in January 280 , Wang Hun ( 王渾 ) conquered Wu ' s territories of Xunyang ( 尋陽 ; southwest of present - day Huangmei County , Hubei ) , Gaowang ( 高望 ; southwest of present - day Pu County 浦縣 ) , and Laixiang ( 賴鄉 ) , capturing Wu general Zhou Xing ( 周興 ) . Sima Zhou took Tuzhong ( 涂中 ) , sending his subordinate , Liu Hong ( 劉弘 ) , to solidify the newly captured territory on the northern shore of the Yangtze River . Meanwhile , Sima Zhou sent Wang Heng ( 王恆 ) to cross the Yangtze River to continue attacking Wu . Wang Heng ' s army captured Wu general Cai Ji ( 蔡機 ) and killed more than 60 , 000 Wu troops in the battle . Surprised with the news of attack , Sun Hao ordered Zhang Ti , Zhuge Jing ( 諸葛靓 ) , Shen Ying ( 沈瑩 ) and Sun Zhen ( 孫震 ) to lead a 30 , 000 strong army to engage the enemy . Zhang Ti decided the only chance for Wu was to immediate venture out to stop the enemy before the morale collapse , and if the enemy ' s advance could be beaten back or at least checked , his force would join the Wu forces in the upstream Yangtze River to strengthen their position . In March 280 , Zhang Ti led his force across the Yangtze and besieged Wang Hun ' s subordinate Zhang Qiao ( 張喬 ) . Zhang Qiao only had 7 , 000 troops and surrendered . Zhuge Jing suspected that the surrender was a trick and asked Zhang Ti to execute Zhang Qiao , but Zhang Ti refused , and instead , accepted Zhang Qiao ' s surrender . As a precaution measure , Zhang Ti did order Zhang Qiao to remain by his side so that Zhang Qiao would not have the chance to escape back to Jin . As the Wu army continued on , they encountered Jin forces led by Zhang Han ( 張翰 ) and Zhou Jun ( 周濬 ) . Shen Ying personally led 5 , 000 crack troops from Danyang to charge into the Jin army ' s formation thrice , but was beaten back with heavy losses . The defeat of the elite force seriously demoralized the rest of the Wu soldiers , and the result was a disorganized retreat . Seizing on the opportunity , Jin generals Xue Sheng ( 薛勝 ) and Jiang Ban ( 蔣班 ) launched a surprise counterattack , defeating the Wu forces and killing over 5 , 800 enemy troops . As the surviving Wu forces fled from the battlefield , the surrendered Zhang Qiao attacked the fleeing Wu soldiers from the opposite direction at Banqiao ( 版橋 ) , inflicting a further 2 , 000 fatalities on the already defeated Wu army . Zhang Ti , Shen Ying , and Sun Zhen were all killed in the decisive battle that shocked Wu . Only Zhuge Jing managed to escape alive back to the Wu capital Jianye . Wang Hun ' s subordinate urged him to press on to attack Jianye immediately , but he refused under the excuse that he was ordered by Emperor Wu of Jin to secure the northern shore of Yangtze River only and wait for Wang Jun . Wang Hun was in fact , taking a more cautious approaching by attempting to join forces with Wang Jun to ensure the final victory , but such prudence cost him the glory of capturing the enemy capital city , the highest honor in the campaign . Wang Jun ' s 80 , 000 strong army , meanwhile , reached Niuzhu ( 牛渚 ) on March 14 , 280 , after leaving Wuchang ( 武昌 , present - day Ezhou , Hubei ) and the Wu emperor Sun Hao ordered Zhang Xiang ( 張象 ) to lead a 10 , 000 strong navy to engage the enemy . However , when both fleets met , the demoralized Wu navy surrendered en masse , including Zhang Xiang himself . Wang Hun ordered Wang Jun to see him so that they could discuss their next move , but Wang Jun answered that his fleet had already passed Wang Hun ' s camp and could not turn back due to the current , and continued on toward Jianye . As Wang Jun ' s forces advanced on to Sanshan ( 三山 ) on March 14 , 280 , just southeast of Jianye , Wu general Tao Jun ( 陶濬 ) organized a 20 , 000 strong army to make a last stand , but nearly all the Wu troops deserted on the very same night , and Tao Jun and his few " die - hard " followers were killed subsequently in their futile struggle against the Jin invaders . Sun Hao adopted a last attempt suggested by his subjects Xue Ying and Hu Chong ( 胡沖 ) by sending letters of surrender to Sima Zhou , Wang Jun and Wang Hun , in a move to stir up internal conflict among the Jin commanders in order to buy time , but such a tactic proved useless . On March 15 , 280 , Sun Hao stripped all clothing on his upper body and tied himself up ( a traditional way of presenting prisoners - of - war to the victors ) and walked to Wang Jun ' s camp to surrender . Prior to that , Sun Hao issued his last imperial decree , asking his people not to be upset with the end of Wu , but prepare themselves to serve the new dynasty . Sun Hao was then taken to the Jin capital Luoyang with his imperial chariot , but was not allowed to ride on it . Instead , he travelled on foot as he was now a prisoner - of - war . After hearing of Sun Hao ' s surrender , the last pocket of Wu resistance in Jianping , led by Administrator Wu Yan ( 吾彥 ) , followed suit even after having successfully defended against all Jin attacks throughout the campaign . Aftermath . The fall of Jianye marked the end of Wu and the Three Kingdoms period , and China was unified again under the Jin Dynasty . The Jin commanders who participated in the campaign were handsomely rewarded , and ironically , Jia Chong , the overall commander who had opposed the campaign received the largest reward , the tax income of 8 , 000 households . Wang Hun was furious upon learning the news of Wang Jun taking Jianye , and angrily proclaimed to his subordinates that he had watched Sun Hao for nearly a hundred days , but Wang Jun took the advantage at last . Wang Hun wrote to the imperial court to complain , claiming that Wang Jun disobeyed orders and embezzled war spoils . Wang Jun also wrote to the imperial court to defend himself , claiming that what Wang Hun had said was slander . However , Wang Hun was much more powerful and influential in the Jin court , thus had gained an upper hand , with his followers suggesting that Wang Jun be jailed . In the end , Emperor Wu of Jin put an end to the conflict by rewarding Wang Jun handsomely . Order of battle . To boost morale , some of the Jin commanders received new ranks , while in contrast , Wu did almost nothing to reinforce its own defense . In fiction . In Luo Guanzhong ' s historical novel " Romance of Three Kingdoms " , the task of building a navy for the Jin Dynasty was credited to Zhong Hui before the fall of Shu , when Zhong recommended to Sima Zhao that constructing a large navy to attack Wu was a diversion to trick Shu into letting down its guard , and when it was time to truly attack Wu after the conquest of Shu , the navy would be ready . In reality , however , the idea of constructing a large navy originated from Wang Jun and Emperor Wu of Jin , and the plan was set into motion only after the fall of Shu . In the novel , the last event before the campaign ended was described to be Zhang Xiang ' s surrender when he led a 10 , 000 strong navy to engage Jin forces . Since the Wu imperial court had not received news of Zhang Xiang ' s surrender yet , Wang Jun ordered Zhang Xiang to return to the Wu capital Jianye to trick the Wu defenders into opening the city gates . Zhang Xiang followed as instructed and Jin forces swiftly conquered Jianye . The Wu emperor Sun Hao surrendered and that marked the end of Wu . In history , however , before Sun Hao ' s surrender , there was one last battle at Sanshan ( 三山 ) , just southeast of Jianye , between Wang Jun ' s army and a smaller force led by Wu general Tao Jun ( 陶濬 ) .