Anding is one of the two Wei-held cities Kong Ming captures through an elaborate deception during Shu’s first Northern Expedition. Its importance lies not in a prolonged siege but in its place within a linked operation: Kong Ming draws its governor, Cui Liang, away with a false appeal for aid to Nan’an, then seizes Anding while the city’s defenses are weakened. The episode makes the city a hinge between military geography and political misdirection, and shows how Kong Ming’s plans account for an opponent’s likely betrayal as well as the movements of armies.

Strategic Setting

After the Wei army is defeated and Xiahou Mao retreats to Nan’an, Kong Ming recognizes that capturing the imperial son-in-law would be a significant psychological victory for Shu. Nan’an, however, is not the only objective. The nearby cities of Anding and Tianshui give the Wei forces the ability to reinforce it, so Kong Ming devises a plan to make their governors send troops away from their own cities. The strategy turns distance and communication into vulnerabilities: a supposed urgent request from Nan’an can move a relief force, while the resulting departure leaves its home city open to seizure.

The approach to Anding depends on a fabricated message and staged evidence. A messenger calling himself Pei Xu arrives with a letter purportedly from Xiahou Mao, asking for help. The letter is wet, soiled, and difficult to read, but its apparent origin gives it enough plausibility to start the process. A second visitor then reports that Tianshui has already dispatched troops to aid Nan’an. The report encourages Anding’s governor to act as well, creating the impression that delay would leave his city’s neighbors to bear the danger alone.

The Capture of Anding

Cui Liang sets out from Anding for Nan’an. Kong Ming’s forces make the deception more convincing by lighting brushwood around Nan’an so that flames appear in the distance, as though the city is under attack. Before Cui Liang can reach it, Zhang Bao and Guan Xing ambush him. His retreat does not restore his position: Wei Yan has already captured Anding, and another Shu force intercepts him as he tries to flee onward. Kong Ming is present in his customary Daoist clothes, seated in his carriage, when Cui Liang is taken before him.

Kong Ming treats Cui Liang well and proposes that he cooperate in a further plan. He is to return to Nan’an and persuade its governor, Yang Ling, to seize Xiahou Mao. Cui Liang enters the city under truce, but the conversation with Yang Ling produces a counterplot: rather than help Kong Ming, they intend to claim that Nan’an will surrender and lure Shu troops inside to attack them. Cui Liang returns to Kong Ming with the false assurance that Yang Ling will surrender. Kong Ming nevertheless proceeds with his own design, proposing to enter Nan’an with Wei soldiers who have already surrendered and Shu officers disguised as men from Anding, while sending Zhang Bao and Guan Xing into the city as well.

Deception and Control

Cui Liang’s apparent cooperation does not persuade Kong Ming that he is trustworthy. Kong Ming has already anticipated that Cui Liang may not carry out the proposed joint plan, and prepares the Nan’an operation around that likelihood. The two sides thus act on competing versions of the same deception: Cui Liang and Yang Ling hope to draw Shu troops into a trap, while Kong Ming uses the expected opening to get his forces through the gate and take the city.

At Nan’an, Cui Liang says that he has come from Anding to help. He also signals Yang Ling by shooting an arrow over the wall, warning him that Zhang Bao and Guan Xing are among those arriving. The defenders are prepared to kill the Shu commanders as they enter, but events reverse their plan. Guan Xing kills Yang Ling before he can act, and Zhang Bao strikes down Cui Liang. Guan Xing then sends up a fire signal, allowing the Shu army to enter through the gate. Xiahou Mao escapes toward the south gate, where Wang Ping’s troops capture him.

Aftermath and Significance

With Nan’an and Anding in Shu hands, Kong Ming enters Nan’an and ensures that his troops behave well, reassuring the local people. The city’s capture is therefore presented as more than a change of military control: the conduct of the occupying forces is made part of securing the population’s confidence. The account gives Anding no separate description of its inhabitants or internal life, but its fall is clearly consequential as a territorial opening in the campaign.

The episode also establishes the limits of the deception’s reach. Tianshui has not fallen alongside Anding and Nan’an. Its governor, Ma Zun, had also received the suspicious request for aid, but the officer Jiang Wei recognizes the warning signs: if Nan’an is besieged, he reasons, it is unlikely that two messengers could have escaped, and no one knows the supposed messenger Pei Xu. His analysis prevents Tianshui from sending its troops away and exposes the operation as a trick. Anding’s capture thus marks both the effectiveness of Kong Ming’s plan against Cui Liang and the fact that the same message does not fool every Wei commander.