On the other hand, he also sent his generals Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin to garrison at Jiangxia (江夏) and Miankou (沔口), and they would attack Xiangyang from there.
In July or early August, the Wei general Man Chong wanted to lead reinforcements to support Zhang Ying (張穎), 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.
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.
At that time, many Wu soldiers were ill and Sun Quan decided to withdraw his troops when he learnt that Cao Rui's army was approaching.