 By the end of 188, the imperial court had all but abandoned hope of recovering Liang Province and, for the most part, left the regional defences to their own devices.However, when Wang Guo led a major force east to attack Chencang (陳倉, east of present-day Baoji), a gateway to Chang'an, the court once again appointed Huangfu Song to answer this obvious threat.Huangfu, now General of the Left (), was given 20,000 men; Dong Zhuo, himself commanding another 20,000 men, were to assist Huangfu.