him back to Baidicheng, where he would admit defeat and die shortly afterwards. Defence of Jiangling Throughout the whole course of the Wu-Shu conflict, the Wei military had assembled troops but never mobilised. However, immediately following the success of Lu Xun's battles against Shu, the Wei emperor Cao Pi suddenly launched a three-pronged campaign against Wu after Sun Quan refused to send his eldest son, Sun Deng, as a hostage. Even though Cao Pi's plan was detected by Lu Xun, who ordered Xu Sheng to perform a double-back to return to Wuchang (present-day Ezhou, Hubei) and informed Sun Quan to prepare for war, the Wu forces still faced a dire situation. Their troops were stretched thinly across at least four fronts; on the western front facing Baidicheng, where Liu Bei's declaration of war was still in effect; Nan Commandery (around present-day Jingzhou, Hubei), which was pressed by the Wei generals Zhang He, Xu Huang, Cao Zhen, and Xiahou Shang; at Ruxu (on the eastern side of Lake Chaohu in present-day Anhui), where the Wei general Cao Ren was leading his team to land on Zhongzhou; and at the eastern battlefield on the Yangtze, Dongkou (along the Yangtze near present-day Liyang, Jiangsu), where Zhang Liao and Zang Ba under the command of Cao Xiu defeated Lü Fan's navy. At the time, there was an extreme shortage of military personnel. Furthermore, an outbreak of disease greatly reduced the morale and number of soldiers in Zhu Ran's army, leaving him with only 5,000 men capable to do battles, who were intimidated by the news that the Wu reinforcements led by Sun Sheng (孫盛) were eliminated by Zhang He. At Jiangling County, Xiahou Shang had also built numerous pontoon bridges for his soldiers to cross the shallow waters and attack the castle. With each passing day, the number of Wei troops besieging the castle increased by the thousands. Not knowing how and where the Wei forces were crossing the shallows of the river, the Wu reinforcements under Pan Zhang and Zhuge Jin had no effective way to lift the siege. Surrounded in his castle, Zhu Ran was heavily outnumbered by Cao Zhen, who encircled the fortress with several layers and deployed a variety of siege weapons. Yet Zhu Ran showed no signs of fear, and encouraged his comrades and subordinates to counter the enemy. When Cao Zhen relaxed his guard, Zhu Ran's forces were