Chen Tai
Chen Tai opposed Deng Ai's proposal which everyone else had agreed to. Chen Tai reasoned that Jiang Wei's aim was to fight a quick battle because he did not have enough supplies for a prolonged struggle. Wang Jing was supposed to avoid fighting the invading enemy until they had exhausted their supplies, and then counterattack only when reinforcements had arrived. Instead, Wang Jing did exactly what Jiang Wei had hoped and rushed to battle. Had Jiang Wei ridden on his initial victory and continue eastward to take important grain production regions of Wei, he would have had a chance to disrupt Guanzhong, which was truly the real threat. In fact, Jiang Wei might even have had a chance to take both Yong and Liang provinces if he had gone for them, and gathered the support of minorities in the north and northwest. Instead, Jiang Wei had made a grave military blunder in besieging Didao, which would risk exhausting the limited supplies that he had. Attempting to take the city was the worst choice because it would take time to make preparations, while at the meantime, the defenders had their backs against the wall and would fight to the death to defend the city. This would provide an excellent opportunity to repel the invading Shu army because Wei reinforcements enjoyed the geographical advantage of being stationed on high ground in the mountains. Finally, Chen Tai reminded his subordinates that the high morale of the enemy would not last long once their supplies begun to run out, and everyone concurred with Chen Tai's ideas. Chen Tai subsequently divided his force into three armies and pushed towards western Gansu, bypassing Jiang Wei's force, eventually reaching the mountains to the southeast of Didao.