Revolt of Tianshui

The Revolt of Tianshui refers to the rebellions that broke out in northwest China in the spring of 228 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Military forces from the state of Shu Han, led by chancellor Zhuge Liang, planned to seize control of Chang'an, a strategic city in the rival state of Cao Wei. The three commanderies of Nan'an, Tianshui, and Anding, were captured by Shu forces, but these territorial gains were later lost after the Battle of Jieting. As mentioned in the biography of Wei general Zhang He in Records of Three Kingdoms, "The commanderies of Nan'an, Tianshui and Anding rebelled and defected to (Zhuge) Liang, (Zhang) He pacified all of them."

Background
At Hanzhong, during a war council meeting, Zhuge Liang proposed a wide left flanking maneuver to seize the upper Wei River valley to capture the city itself. Wei Yan objected to the plan and proposed a strike through a pass in the Qinling Mountains with 10,000 elite troops to take Chang'an by surprise. Zhuge Liang rejected the plan because it was too ambitious and went for a more cautious approach. The objective was to seize Chang'an: Tianshui, Anding, Nan'an, and Mount Qi.

The revolt
In 228, Zhuge Liang declared that he would march through the Xie Gorge to take Mei. He sent Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi as decoys to give the appearance of threatening Mei and to occupy Ji. Cao Zhen led his armies to oppose them. Zhuge Liang personally led the armies to besiege Mount Qi; the ranks were ordered, discipline severe and authority apparent. The three commanderies of Nan'an, Tianshui and Anding all revolted and defected from the Cao Wei side to Zhuge Liang, sending shock waves through Guanzhong. Cao Rui moved to Chang'an to oversee the defense. Cao Zhen secured Mei against Zhao Yun, while a combined cavalry-infantry force of 50,000 under Zhang He went west to oppose Zhuge's main army.

At that moment, Jiang Wei was patrolling the outskirts with his governor Ma Zun. Afraid that Jiang Wei might be colluding with the Shu army, Ma fled secretly at night to Shanggui. When Jiang Wei discovered about that, it was already too late and on returning to Shanggui, his own city refused to open the city gates. As such, Jiang Wei proceeded to meet Zhuge Liang.

There was in fact no battle at Tianshui, only revolt. The area surrounding the city submitted quickly to Shu Han, enabling the army to advance steadily but the Shu army had suffered a setback at Jieting, when Zhang He defeated Ma Su who was sent by Zhuge Liang to handle him. Zhuge Liang gave the order for a retreat back to Shu territory. Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi were also ordered to counter Cao Zhen, but their troop strength were inadequate to that of the enemy. Hence they were defeated at Ji Gorge, but their centre held firm and thus avoided a great defeat. Zhao Yun and his army withdrew. The commanderies that rose in revolt to join Shu were later pacified by Zhang He and returned to Wei control.

In fiction
In chapters 92 and 93 of Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Jiang Wei was one of the reasons Zhuge Liang went on this expedition, and getting Jiang to defect to Shu became a goal after his quick battle with Zhao Yun. Zhuge Liang sent Zhao Yun ahead first, and after a skirmish and some scheming he comes onto the battlefield. During the battle, Jiang Wei's commanding officer Ma Zun suspected him of plotting with the enemy. When Jiang Wei was outside Tianshui, Ma Zun closed the city gates and denied Jiang entry. Jiang Wei had no choice but to defect to Zhuge Liang's side.

Modern references
Starting from the fourth installment in Koei's video game series Dynasty Warriors, there is a playable stage called "Battle of Tian Shui" that is based on the fictional account of the revolt in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. If the player is playing as Jiang Wei, Wei forces will win the battle, but Jiang himself would later join Shu. If the player is playing on the Shu side, he must defeat Jiang Wei to make him defect to Shu.