Battle of Dongxing

Part of the wars of the Three Kingdoms period

Date	12th lunar month of 252
Location	Dongxing (東興; southeast of present-day Chaohu City, Anhui)
Result	Wu tactical victory

Belligerents

Cao Wei

Eastern Wu

Commanders and leaders

Sima Zhao
Zhuge Dan
Guanqiu Jian
Wang Chang

Zhuge Ke
Ding Feng

Strength

70,000

40,000

The Battle of Dongxing was fought in the 12th lunar month of 252 between the states of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle concluded with a tactical victory for Wu.

As early as 211, Sun Quan (later emperor of Wu) had already ordered the construction of defensive structures made at Ruxu (濡須; north of Wuwei County, Anhui) for defensive preparations against possible attacks from his rival Cao Cao. In 230 Sun Quan had a dam built at Dongxing to contain the nearby Lake Chao. Sun Quan died in 252 and was succeeded by his son Sun Liang as emperor of Wu. In the 10th lunar month of that year, Wu's Grand Tutor (太傅) Zhuge Ke started construction works at the Dongxing dam, increasing its length such that it joined the hills at either side of the dam, and two castles were built in the middle. Zhuge Ke stationed 1,000 troops in each castle and put Quan Duan (全端) and Liu Lue in charge of them, while he led the rest of the men back.

Wei felt humiliated when Wu began infringing on its territory by doing construction works on the Dongxing dam. Wei general Zhuge Dan proposed to Wei regent Sima Shi a plan to counter Wu, and Sima accepted his idea. In the 11th lunar month, the Wei imperial court commissioned Wang Chang, Guanqiu Jian, Zhuge Dan and Hu Zun (胡遵) to attack Wu from three directions: Wang Chang would attack Jiangling (江陵; present-day Jiangling County, Hubei); Guanqiu Jian would attack Wuchang (武昌; present-day Ezhou, Hubei); Zhuge Dan and Hu Zun would lead 70,000 troops to Dongxing to attack the two castles and damage the dam.

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