Zhuge's successor Jiang Wan, believed that it was the Hanzhong's mountainous terrain itself that were to blame for the campaigns failures and attempted to switch the route through the Han river.

In response, the Wei general Guo Huai led his forces to attack the enemy and drove them towards territory controlled by the Qiang tribes.

When Jiang Wei led Shu forces into Liang Province to support the Qiang rebels, Baihuwen and Zhiwudai submitted to him.

As he expected, Jiang Wei did attack Xiahou Ba at the west of the Tao River, but retreated when Guo Huai and his reinforcements showed up.

They expected to Jiang Wei to head west to meet Zhiwudai and combine their forces, while Liao Hua would remain behind to defend the Shu position at Chengzhong Mountain.

If they split their army into two, their attacking power would be greatly reduced, and they might end up in a situation where they were able to neither resist Jiang Wei nor capture Liao Hua's position.

He then instructed Xiahou Ba to lead one detachment to pursue Jiang Wei towards Tazhong (沓中; northwest of present-day Zhugqu County, Gansu), while he led the other group to attack Liao Hua.

After Cao Shuang's death, Sima Yi summoned Xiahou Xuan back to the capital, Luoyang, and replaced him with Guo Huai.

[Sanguozhi 33 1][Zizhi Tongjian 75 2] In autumn, Jiang Wei led Shu forces to attack the Wei-controlled Yong Province, had two fortresses constructed at Qushan (麴山; southeast of present-day Min County, Gansu), and ordered his officers Ju An (句安) and Li Xin (李歆) to guard them.

Chen Tai said: "The fortresses at Qushan may be well-defended, but the roads leading into Shu are difficult to travel, so they will require a sufficient amount of supplies.

"[Zizhi Tongjian 75 3][Sanguozhi 22 1] Guo Huai then ordered Chen Tai, Xu Zhi and Deng Ai to lead Wei forces to attack the fortresses at Qushan and cut off their food and water supplies.

Jiang Wei led his troops from Mount Niutou (牛頭山; west of present-day Zhaohua District, Guangyuan, Sichuan) to reinforce the fortresses.

[Sanguozhi 22 2][Zizhi Tongjian 75 4] After Jiang Wei retreated, Ju An and Li Xin became isolated at the fortresses at Qushan, so they had no choice but to surrender to the enemy.

I believe Jiang Wei must have sent Liao Hua to hinder us so that we are forced to remain here, while he would attack Taocheng (洮城; northeast of present-day Min County, Gansu) from the east."

As he expected, Jiang Wei crossed the river to attack Taocheng, but failed to capture the fortress because Deng Ai had already strengthened its defences.

[Sanguozhi 28 2] In 250, Jiang Wei led Shu forces to attack the Wei-controlled Xiping Commandery (西平郡; around present-day Xining, Qinghai).

[Zizhi Tongjian 76 1] On 16 February 253, Fei Yi was assassinated by Guo Xiu (郭脩), a defector from Wei, during a party on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

[Sanguozhi 44 2][Zizhi Tongjian 76 2] The Wei regent Sima Shi summoned Yu Song (虞松) to seek his opinion on how to deal with the Wu and Shu incursions in the east and west respectively.

[Zizhi Tongjian 76 5][Sanguozhi 22 3] In the meantime, Wang Jing, the Wei-appointed Inspector of Yong Province, reported the Shu invasion to the general Chen Tai.

After Guo Huai died in 255, Chen Tai had succeeded him as General Who Attacks the West (征西將軍) and was now in charge of military affairs in Yong and Liang provinces.

[Sanguozhi 22 5][Zizhi Tongjian 76 6] When Chen Tai and his reinforcements reached Chencang (陳倉; east of present-day Baoji, Shaanxi), Wang Jing had already been defeated by Jiang Wei at Gu Pass (故關) and retreated across the Tao River.

"[b][Zizhi Tongjian 76 8] In the meantime, Chen Tai, who was at Shanggui County (上邽縣; in present-day Tianshui, Gansu), split up his forces and ordered them to advance day and night to quickly capture and defend strategic locations in the area.

[Sanguozhi 22 7] The Wei imperial court appointed Deng Ai as acting General Who Stabilises the West (安西將軍) and ordered him to lead troops to assist Chen Tai in resisting the Shu invasion.

[Zizhi Tongjian 76 9] Wei reinforcements led by Deng Ai, Hu Fen (胡奮) and Wang Mi (王秘) arrived in Shanggui County to join Chen Tai's forces.

Deng Ai and the other officers said that the Shu army's morale was high after defeating Wang Jing, so they should retreat first and hold up in a strategic location, while waiting for an opportunity to strike back.

[Sanguozhi 22 9] Chen Tai, on the other hand, argued that they should launch a swift assault and decisively defeat the Shu army before it could take advantage of its high morale to conquer more Wei territories and garner strong support from the Qiang and Di tribes.

[Sanguozhi 22 10][Zizhi Tongjian 76 10] Chen Tai then led his troops across Gaocheng Ridge (高城嶺; northwest of present-day Weiyuan County, Gansu), travelling stealthily day and night, and arrived at the hills southeast of Didao.

At the hills, Chen Tai ordered his men to light more fires and beat their war drums loudly to signal to the besieged Wei forces in Didao that reinforcements had arrived.

[Zizhi Tongjian 77 3] Deng Ai was promoted to General Who Guards the West (鎮西將軍) and put in charge of overseeing military affairs in the region.

The Shu official Qiao Zhou wrote the "Chou Guo Lun" (仇國論; "Disquisition on Rivalling States"), a satirical piece criticising Jiang Wei for his warmongering behaviour.