The two armies clashed at the north of Longyi County (), with the Wei forces emerging victorious and Zhiwudai's forces retreating. Jiang Wei led Shu forces from Shiying (石營; northwest of present-day Xihe County, Gansu) to Qiangchuan () to rendezvous with Zhiwudai and his retreating forces. He left Liao Hua behind in Chengzhong Mountain () to build a fortress and gather the remaining Qiang forces and keep them as hostages in the fortress. When Guo Huai heard about Jiang Wei's advances, he wanted to divide his forces into two groups to attack the enemy. His officers, however, had a different opinion. 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. They urged Guo Huai to concentrate on advancing westward to attack Jiang Wei and Zhiwudai separately before they could meet up. Guo Huai stood by his initial plan and said, "If we attack Liao Hua, we can catch the enemy off guard. Jiang Wei will then definitely turn back to save Liao Hua. By the time he returns, we would have already defeated Liao Hua. By doing so, we can make Jiang Wei and his men weary from travelling forth and back. If Jiang Wei does not meet the barbarians, the barbarians will retreat on their own. This is the best approach." 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. As Guo Huai foresaw, Jiang Wei did turn back to save Liao Hua and failed to meet up with Zhiwudai. As a reward for his contributions, the Wei government promoted Guo Huai from a village marquis to a Marquis of a Chief District (). Fourth Shu invasion In 249, Guo Huai was promoted to General Who Attacks the West () and put in charge of supervising military operations in Yong and Liang provinces. In the autumn of 249, Jiang Wei led Shu forces on a fourth invasion of Wei and built two fortresses at Qushan (麴山; southeast of present-day Min