Battle of Jieting

The Battle of Jieting is a major defeat during Shu’s northern campaign: Ma Su’s rejection of Wang Ping’s advice allows Sima Yi to seize the city and puts the surrounding Shu forces under severe pressure. The episode turns on the difference between knowing military principles from books and judging terrain in practice, and its consequences carry directly from the failed defence at Jieting to the crisis at Xicheng.

Background and deployment

Sima Yi and Zhang He take command of the Wei forces and establish positions to counter the expected Shu advance toward Chang’an. After news arrives that Meng Da has died, Kong Ming recognizes that the balance has shifted. He assigns a defence force to Jieting, a position that must be held against Sima Yi, and Ma Su volunteers for the command. Though Ma Su has read extensively about warfare, he has little experience of actual combat, so Kong Ming appoints Wang Ping to oversee him.

Kong Ming also sends troops to guard important passes and prepares reinforcements in case the defence fails. He moves the main force forward with Jiang Wei commanding the vanguard. The precautions show that Jieting is not an isolated assignment: its loss could expose other positions and disrupt the broader advance.

Ma Su’s decision and the fall of Jieting

At Jieting, Ma Su chooses to place his troops on a hill, believing its height will let him observe the main road. Wang Ping urges him instead to defend the road itself. Ma Su invokes the Sun Zi’s Art of War to dismiss the advice, and insults Wang Ping rather than reconsidering the practical problem. As the enemy approaches, he permits Wang Ping to take a small contingent to protect the road while keeping the main force on the hill. Wang Ping sends Kong Ming an express report describing their separate positions.

Sima Yi advances after learning that the inexperienced Ma Su commands the defence. His army cuts off the hilltop force. Wang Ping tries to help, but the encirclement prevents him from reaching Ma Su. With no water on the hill, the troops become desperate, and men begin to desert. Ma Su eventually leads his remaining soldiers down in an attempt to fight through the encirclement and escape.

Zhang He pursues the retreating force and nearly overwhelms it. Wei Yan brings up a rescue force, but he too is drawn into an ambush; Wang Ping gets him out at the last moment, at the cost of heavy losses. Sima Yi captures Jieting. The failed position therefore produces more than Ma Su’s retreat: it costs the Shu army men and leaves the Wei commander established in the town, able to direct further attacks.

Retreat and the failed counterattack

The retreating commanders reach Lieliu, where they meet Gao Xiang, who has ridden out after hearing that Jieting has fallen. They decide to attack the Wei camp at night and recover the town. The attempt collapses when the Shu troops enter what appears to be an empty town and are taken by surprise. In the meantime, Guo Huai and Cao Zhen advance on Lieliu, intending to frustrate their commander Sima Yi’s power. A fierce battle follows outside the town, and the Shu force suffers further losses.

Wang Ping, Wei Yan, and Ma Su flee toward Yangping Pass, concerned that it too may fall to the enemy. Guo Huai and Cao Zhen reach the gates only to discover that Sima Yi has already occupied Lieliu. From there, Sima Yi lays ambushes and prepares attacks against Kong Ming’s forces. The sequence compounds the original defeat: the failed attempt to retake Jieting exposes the retreating army to another battle, while disagreement among the Wei commanders does not prevent Sima Yi from consolidating his position.

Kong Ming’s response at Xicheng

Kong Ming receives Wang Ping’s map and is dismayed by Ma Su’s decision. News then arrives that both Jieting and Lieliu have fallen. He hurries to Xicheng, where the army’s supplies are stored, with only five thousand men. He is soon told that Sima Yi is approaching with a Wei force of one hundred and fifty thousand.

Kong Ming orders the banners and other visible signs of occupation removed, and has the people hidden and instructed to remain silent. In his customary Daoist robes, accompanied by just two boys, he takes his place on the city wall and plays a lute. When Sima Yi arrives, the open gates and Kong Ming’s composed appearance make him suspect a concealed ambush. He orders the far larger Wei army to turn away, and it soon disappears from view.

The retreat from Jieting thus leads directly to the Empty City Stratagem: the loss of a defended position leaves Kong Ming exposed at Xicheng, where concealment and Sima Yi’s suspicion avert an immediate disaster. Jieting’s defeat is a concrete reversal in the campaign, but its narrative consequence is also to set a failed military judgement against a later act of calculated composure. The episode makes terrain, water, communication, and command experience decisive: Ma Su’s hill cannot be held without water or a defended road, and Kong Ming’s response depends on controlling what the approaching enemy can see.