Siege of Chencang The Siege of Chencang was the second Northern Expedition led by Shu - Han ' s , Zhuge Liang , to invade rival state Cao - Wei . The campaign became a siege on a fastness at Chencang from December 228 to early 229 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history . The expedition concluded with Shu - Han retreat . Background . In 228 , after Eastern Wu defeated Cao Wei at the Battle of Shiting , Wei reinforced the east by mobilizing its troops in the west . Shu Chancellor and regent , Zhuge Liang , hoped to use this opportunity to launch an incursion into Wei territory . Before the Chancellor finalized an operation plan , Cao Zhen of Wei had distinctly anticipated Zhuge ' s route of advancement and recommended Hao Zhao to build fortifications for Chencang . The Supreme General , Cao Zhen , assured the young emperor Cao Rui of the defence against probable invasions from Shu . However , Hao Zhao was only assigned 1 , 000 men for his task . The prognosis was made after Zhuge Liang had lost the first expedition earlier that year . The battle . Prelude . After his failure on Mount Qi and Jieting , Zhuge Liang indeed changed his target to Chencang as Cao Zhen reckoned . Thoroughly prepared , the Shu Chancellor brought with him a selection of siege weapons and an expedition force of one hundred thousand men . Although a few officers including Wei Yan recommended an alternate route , Zhuge Liang was determined to follow Jialing Valley , which emerges in the north where the Wei River widens considerably near the city of Chencang . Zhuge Liang planned to capture Chencang as a midpoint for further military actions against the great metropolis Chang ' an . The Shu army reached the fortress - city of Chencang during December 228 , wherein the defense was apparently not completed as Cao Zhen had not sent additional forces to move in . Having completed the encirclement , Zhuge Liang sent Jin Xiang , a personal friend of Hao Zhao , to convince the latter to defect . The first time the two friends spoke , Hao Zhao would hear none of it , saying " The law of Wei is what you practiced ; the nature of me is what you know . I have received so much from my country and I can ' t let down on my family . You ought to say no more , I ' ll only die defending this city . The lobbyist told Zhuge Liang what Hao Zhao had said , and again Zhuge sent Jin Xiang to soften the steadfast defender . " Our armies are enormous while you only have a tiny force , what good is it to perish for a futile effort ? " said Jin Xiang outside of the city - gate . This time , however , Hao Zhao fitted an arrow and replied , " what I said earlier remains solid . As I know you , my arrow doesn ' t . " Upon hearing this , Zhuge commenced the offensive . Siege . The odds were drastically against Hao Zhao — he only had 1 , 000 men at the time , while the Shu army , numbering 100 , 000 , had established three layers of siege . Therefore , the Shu Chancellor aimed to take the fortress directly ; he carried out an escalade tactic through the use of siege ladders , but Hao Zhao countered with fire arrows , burning the platforms and parching the men upon them . While the ladders were still aflame , Zhuge ' s battering rams designed to breach the city - gate had arrived , and Hao Zhao hurriedly chained some great stones and rolled them down , smashing the rams . The quick response and leadership of Hao Zhao shocked Zhuge Liang , as the latter never forejudged such a determined resistance . Zhuge Liang then drew back and rethought on his tactic . Since moats made access to the walls difficult for siege weapons , which needed to be brought up against a wall to be effective , the Chancellor decided to remove the trenches to create more possible attack points . Following Zhuge ' s order , the besiegers started to fill the chasms and prepared their siege towers . With the ditches removed , the siege engines moved upon the castle while foot - soldiers climbed the walls like ants . However , Zhuge Liang was outwitted by Hao Zhao that when the former laid his hand on the entrenchment , the latter had already seen through his intention and started building interior walls inside the original walls . As long as the siege towers could not pass the first walls , the soldiers on top of the towers who managed to overcome the outer walls could not climb the second inner walls . Trapped inside the two gates of walls , those soldiers who descended from the towers became easy target for archery practice . Suffering another defeat , Zhuge Liang adopted an architectural approach by asking his soldiers to dig tunnels that led to the substructure of the fortress . However , his method was actually different to the more common mining tactic , which is to excavate beneath the foundations of the walls , and then deliberately collapsing or exploding the tunnel — it is recorded that the Chancellor wanted to create some underground passages for his armies to enter the city directly in order to catch his opponent off guard . Zhuge Liang ' s tactic is a much perilous approach , because defenders can counter - tunnel to cut into the attackers ' works and topple them prematurely , killing anyone affected by the collapse , and that is just what Hao Zhao did . The struggle had been continuing non - stop for 20 - odd days and nights , with Zhuge Liang straining his tactics to no avail . News came of Wei reinforcements being led by Zhang He was a serious threat to Zhuge Liang , especially when the latter started to face logistic difficulty , so the Shu army retreated . Seeking glory , a Wei general , Wang Shuang , led his cavalry in pursuit of the enemy to the Qinling Mountains , where he fell into an ambush planted by Zhuge Liang and was killed . On the other hand , Zhang He precisely predicted Zhuge Liang would retreat before he even arrived Chenchang , so Zhang He headed Nanzheng , but was not able to catch up with Zhuge Liang . Aftermath . Scoring such a victory , Hao Zhao instantly became a celebrity , and an imperial decree was passed down to grant the victor a title of marquis . Cao Rui also summoned Hao Zhao to the capital of Luoyang , where the young emperor praised his general highly . However , Hao Zhao soon died of illness during his stay in the capital . In the same year of 229 , Zhuge Liang launched his third expedition . This time , he again changed his target , sending Chen Shi to besiege Wudu and Yinping . The Wei general , Guo Huai , ceded the two commanderies to Shu Han , in fear he would be sandwiched by Chen Shi and Zhuge Liang . Modern references . The Siege of Chencang is featured as a playable stage in the fifth installment of Koei ' s video game series " Dynasty Warriors 5 " .