Former Liang
Soon after Zhang Chonghua succeeded his father, Later Zhao forces, under the generals Wang Zhuo () and Ma Qiu, made a surprise attack against Former Liang, seizing Former Liang's territory south of the Yellow River, including the important city of Jincheng (金城, in modern Lanzhou, Gansu). Zhang Chonghua commissioned Xie Ai to lead his army, and Xie was able to defeat Ma and Wang's forces in 346 and again in 347, forcing them to retreat from their original plans to destroy Former Liang, but the land south of the Yellow River could not be recovered.