Man Chong
In July or early August, the Wei general Man Chong wanted to lead reinforcements to support Zhang Ying (), who was in charge of defending Xincheng. However, Tian Yu opposed Man Chong's idea, as he thought that Xincheng's defences were adequate, and was worried that the Wu army might turn around to attack the Wei relief force. At that time, many Wei military personnel were on leave, so Man Chong requested for them to be recalled back, and gather them to resist the enemy. The Wei emperor Cao Rui disagreed with Man Chong's view, as he felt that Hefei, Xiangyang, and Mount Qi () were the three most important positions on Wei's eastern, southern and western borders respectively, so they already had sufficient defences. Liu Shao felt that Man Chong should focus on defending instead of attacking, because of the Wu forces' high morale; the Wei court would first send 5,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry to relieve Xincheng, and the troops should be spaced further apart, with more flags, banners, and war drums added, so as to create an impression of a large army. Liu Shao predicted that the Wu forces would retreat upon seeing the arrival of this "large army". The Wei emperor Cao Rui approved Liu Shao's strategy and despatched the suggested relief force.