Hao Zhao is best known for his victory at the siege of Chencang in 229 when he led a successful defence of Chencang against an invasion by a much larger army from Wei's rival state Shu Han.
11 Facts About Hao Zhao
1.
2.
Hao Zhao was from Taiyuan Commandery, which is around present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi.
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Hao Zhao joined the army at a young age and was promoted to a General of a Miscellaneous Title after making achievements in battle.
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Hao Zhao remained in charge of the lands west of the Yellow River, covering parts of present-day Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu.
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Zhuge Liang already knew that Chencang was heavily fortified and difficult to capture, so when he showed up with the Shu army, he was surprised to see that it was so well-defended and was shocked when he heard that Hao Zhao was in charge of defending it.
6.
Hao Zhao had heard of Hao Zhao's reputation as a highly capable general and realised that he could not take Chencang easily.
7.
Zhuge Liang then ordered his troops to surround Chencang and then sent Jin Xiang, who was from the same hometown as Hao Zhao, to persuade him to surrender.
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Zhuge Liang 8.
However, Hao Zhao countered by ordering archers to fire flaming arrows at the siege ladders, setting them aflame and burning the soldiers on them.
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Hao Zhao countered this tactic by ordering his men to build an interior layer of walls behind the exterior walls to prevent the enemy from advancing further in.
10.
Zhuge Liang then thought of getting his troops to dig tunnels leading directly into Chencang, but Hao Zhao was prepared for this again as he ordered his men to dig tunnels in a perpendicular direction to block the enemy.
11.
When Hao Zhao came to the Wei imperial capital Luoyang later, the Wei emperor Cao Rui had a meeting with him.