“Sima Yi marched rapidly in eight days to Xincheng. He had Shen Yi, Shen Dan, Li Fu, and Deng Xian plot against Meng Da from within. Meng Da had not been able to do anything and was killed. Now Sima Yi has gone to Changan, when he has marched through the pass with Zhang He.” Zhuge Liang was distressed.
“Meng Da's destruction was certain,” said he. “Such a scheme could not remain secret. Now Sima Yi will try for Jieting and block the one road essential to us.”
So Jieting had to be defended, and Zhuge Liang asked who would go. Ma Su offered himself instantly.
Zhuge Liang urged upon him the importance of his task.
“The place is small, but of very great importance, for its loss would involve the loss of the whole army. You are deeply read in all the rules of strategy, but the defense of this place is difficult, since it has no wall and no natural defenses.”
“I have studied the books of war since I was a boy, and I may say I know a little of the art of war,” Ma Su replied. “Why alone is Jieting so difficult to hold?”
“Because Sima Yi is an exceptional man, and also he has a famous second in Zhang He as leader of the van. I fear you may not be a match for him.”
Ma Su replied, “To say nothing of these two, I would not mind if Cao Rui himself came against me. If I fail, then I beg you to behead my whole family.”
“There is no jesting in war,” said Zhuge Liang.
“I will give a written pledge.”
Zhuge Liang agreed, and a written pledge was given and placed on record.
Zhuge Liang continued, “I shall give you twenty-five thousand veterans and also send an officer of rank to assist you.”
Next he summoned Wang Ping and said to him, “As you are a careful and cautious man, I am giving you a very responsible position. You are to hold Jieting with the utmost tenacity. Camp there in the most commanding position so that the enemy cannot steal by. When your arrangements are complete, draw a plan of them and a map of the local topography and let me see it. All my dispositions have been carefully thought out and are not to be changed. If you can hold this successfully, it will be of the first service in the capture of Changan. So be very, very careful.”
After Ma Su and Wang Ping had gone and Zhuge Liang had reflected for a long time, it occurred to him that there might be some slip between his two leaders, so he called Gao Xiang to him and said, “Northeast of Jieting is a city named Liliu, and near it an unfrequented hill path. There you are to camp and make a stockade. I will give you ten thousand troops for this task; and if Jieting should be threatened, you may go to the rescue.”
After Gao Xiang had left, and as Zhuge Liang thought Gao Xiang was not a match for his opponent Zhang He, he decided there ought to be additional strength on the west in order to make Jieting safe. So he summoned Wei Yan and bade him lead his army to the rear of Jieting and camp there.
But Wei Yan thought this rather a slight, and said, “As leader of the van, I should go first against the enemy; why am I sent to a place where there is nothing to do?” “The leadership of the van is really a second-rate task. Now I am sending you to support Jieting and take post on the most dangerous road to Yangping Pass. You are the chief keeper of the throat of Hanzhong. It is a very responsible post and not at all an idle one. Do not so regard it and spoil my whole plan. Be particularly careful.”
Wei Yan, satisfied now that he was not being slighted, went his way.
Zhuge Liang's mind was at rest, and he called up Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi, to whom he said, “Now that Sima Yi is in command of the army, the whole outlook is different. Each of you will lead a force out to Chi Valley and move about so as to mislead the enemy. Whether you meet and engage them or not, you will certainly cause them uneasiness. I am going to lead the main army through the Xie Valley to Meicheng. If I can capture that, Changan will fall.”
Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi took the orders and went off.
Zhuge Liang appointed Jiang Wei as leader of the van, and they marched to the Xie Valley.
When Ma Su and Wang Ping had reached Jieting and saw what manner of place it was, Ma Su smiled, saying, “Why was the Prime Minister so extremely anxious? How would the Wei armies dare to come to such a hilly place as this?”
Wang Ping replied, “Though they might not dare to come, we should set our camp at this meeting of many roads.”
So Wang Ping ordered his soldiers to fell trees and build a strong stockade as for a permanent stay.
But Ma Su had a different idea.
“What sort of a place is a road to make a camp in? Here is a hill standing solitary and well wooded. It is a heaven-created point of vantage, and we will camp on it.”
“You are wrong, Sir,” replied Wang Ping. “If we camp on the road and build a strong wall, the enemy cannot possibly get past. If we abandon this for the hill, and the troops of Wei come in force, we shall be surrounded, and how then be safe?”
