The first month of the third year of Zhengyuan.
Cao Wei's General Who Guards the South, Wang Ji, led eighty thousand troops against the Wu Kingdom.
For a time, the south trembled in fear.
The Shu Kingdom's officers and soldiers fighting around Gong'an and elsewhere all stopped fighting without prior agreement.
The Shu Kingdom began sending reinforcements toward Baidi City and Yongan and transporting vast quantities of supplies. It ordered General of the Right Yan Yu and Yongan's Military Governor Zong Yu to put their armies in order and prepare to strike at any moment.
Just as the Shu Kingdom dispatched its troops to Yongan, Cao Wei's General Who Guards the West, Deng Ai, began assembling a great army. He ordered Zhuge Xu, Sima Wang, and the others to clear the way and prepare logistical support, then advanced toward Hanzhong with his army.
This instantly sent the Shu Kingdom into a frenzy of squawking chickens and barking dogs.
The Shu Kingdom hastily stopped reinforcing the Yongan region and began redirecting some of its forces toward Hanzhong. Liu Shan appointed General of the Guards Jiang Wei as Grand General and ordered him to Hanzhong to defend against Deng Ai and the others.
That same month, General of Chariots and Grand General Guanqiu Jian returned to Huainan and began assembling his army, arraying it along the front.
Hu Zun in Qingzhou and Wen Qin in Yu Province also began preparing their armies in support of Guanqiu Jian, adopting a posture of imminent attack against the Wu Kingdom.
Now the pressure fell upon the Wu Kingdom.
When Sun 𬘭 heard the news, his face drained of color. He hastily halted his advance and decided to transfer troops from the Jingzhou front to resist Cao Wei's army.
The situation across the realm changed abruptly.