The Wu king Sun Quan ordered Zhou Fang to lay a trap for the Wei general Cao Xiu by pretending to defect to Wei. Cao Xiu was deceived into leading his troops straight into Wan (皖; present-day Qianshan County, Anhui). Sun Quan then appointed his general Lu Xun as Grand Chief Controller and ordered him to lead an attack on Cao Xiu. On the way to Wan, Cao Xiu fell into an ambush by Wu forces. He was unable to gain the upper hand in battle so he ordered a retreat to Shiting. In the middle of the night, the Wei soldiers started panicking and many of them deserted and abandoned their weapons, armour, and equipment.
