Niu Jin participated in the Battle of Jiangling of 208, during which he volunteered to lead 300 horsemen to attack the enemy, but was only saved by Cao Ren when he got surrounded.
Years later, he participated in the counter-attack against the invading Shu forces in 231 and scored a victory over Zhuge Liang's unit, and pursued him to Mount Qi.
The Yuan Shi Juan states that the incident happened "after the Year of the Horse[1]" and that Niu Jin was poisoned by drinking toxic wine.
A story from unknown origin also states that Niu Jin was killed since he was actually a distant relative of the former emperor; his death date and the accuracy of this statement are difficult to verify.
Niu Jin then regrouped and planned a night attack on Zhou Yu's camp, but in the end he was once again beaten, suffering another great loss.