Wubei Zhi (Vol. 12)

[His] spirit and health were strong; [the Emperor] then comforted him and sent him back to his post.

Lu Xun A brilliant strategist and the Chancellor of Eastern Wu, famous for defeating Liu Bei at the Battle of Yiling. of Wu led an expedition toward Lujiang. The people of Wei believed they should quickly go to its rescue, but Man Chong said:

"Although Lujiang is small, its generals are resilient and its soldiers are elite; its defense is sufficient to withstand a siege for some time. Furthermore, the enemy has abandoned their ships and traveled two hundred li A traditional Chinese unit of distance; 200 li is approximately 80–100 kilometers. to come here. Their rear is empty and their supply lines are cut off. Even if they had not come, we would have wanted to lure them here. For now, we should allow them to continue their advance; I only fear that they will flee before we can catch them." The original text uses circles (○) to highlight this speech, indicating the high value placed on Man Chong's strategic insight by later commentators.

He then organized the army and hurried toward Yangyikou. When the Wu forces heard of this, they fled under the cover of night. At that time, the Wu people made annual plans to invade the north. Chong submitted a memorial to the throne, saying:

"The castle at Hefei borders the river and lake to the south, but is far from Shouchun A primary Wei military headquarters in the Huai River region. to the north. When the enemy comes to lay siege, they will surely use the water to their advantage. When our official troops go to rescue it, they must first defeat the enemy, and only then will the siege be lifted. For the enemy, reaching the city is very easy, but for us, rescuing it is very difficult. However, thirty li to the west of the current site, there is a strategic height that can be relied upon. We should build a new castle there and move the existing troops to defend it firmly. This will draw the enemy onto level ground..."