Belligerents
Background
Zhuge Liang’s first campaign in 228 achieved total surprise — three commanderies defected to Shu and the whole northwest trembled. Everything turned on holding the crossroads at Jieting until Wei’s counterstroke could be blunted, and for that vanguard Zhuge Liang passed over veterans like Wei Yan to promote his cherished aide Ma Su — against the dying Liu Bei’s explicit warning.
Course
Ma Su defied his orders to hold the road by the water and camped on the hilltop instead — by the book, height would give his charge "the force of splitting bamboo." His deputy Wang Ping argued repeatedly, in vain. Zhang He simply surrounded the hill and cut the water paths; the thirst-broken Shu force was routed. Only Wang Ping, beating his drums with a thousand men in a show of composure, made Zhang He fear an ambush, covered the fugitives, and brought his unit home. His foothold gone, Zhuge Liang withdrew everything to Hanzhong.
Outcome & impact
The campaign that came closest to success evaporated, and the three defected commanderies returned to Wei. Zhuge Liang executed Ma Su under military law, weeping as he did, and demoted himself three ranks. Wang Ping’s conduct won him the promotion that made him the future anchor of Hanzhong’s defense.
History vs. the novelHistoryvsNovel
The novel salvages Zhuge Liang’s dignity by appending the empty-fort ruse — an anecdote the annotator Pei Songzhi himself rejected. Even Ma Su’s end is disputed in the records — execution, death in prison, or death after flight — and the novel, of course, chose the most theatrical version.