By the time that he accompanied Huan Wen in his campaign against Yao Xiang (姚襄) in 356, he had become a governor of two commanderies and the military commander of seven.
While on a campaign, he defeated and captured the rebel general Zhou Cheng (周成), and was subsequently made the Duke of Fengcheng and the governor of Jiang Province (江州, modern Jiangxi and Fujian).
In 378, after a major attack by Former Qin led to the losses of the important cities of Xiangyang (襄陽, in modern Xiangfan, Hubei) and Weixing (魏興, in modern Ankang, Shaanxi), both of which were in his command zone and which he had failed to relieve, Huan Chong offered to resign, but his resignation was not accepted.
In 383, when Former Qin launched another major attack, this time seeking to capture Jiankang and destroy Jin, Huan Chong was concerned about the capital's defenses and therefore sent several thousand elite soldiers to Xie to shore up Jiankang's defenses, which Xie declined, stating that the capital was already well-guarded (which, however, it actually was not).
Upon receiving the soldiers back, Huan Chong lamented that while Xie was an able prime minister, he lacked military talent, making the exclamation, "I am finally going to have to wear barbarian clothes" (meaning that Jin would soon fall to Former Qin, which Huan considered a barbaric regime).