He successfully fought the Wusun, gained control of the Dingling and made his capital in the lands of the Jiankun who may have been the Yenisei Kirghiz (these last two are on the southern edge of Siberia).

The Chinese commander of the Western Regions began to fear that Zhizhi was planning to build a large empire and launched a preemptive attack.

In 36 BCE, Han generals Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou led a force of 40,000 into battle against the Xiongnu and their Kangju allies.

The crossbowmen rained down on the defenders manning the walls until they fled, then the spearmen drained the moat and started stacking firewood against the palisade.

A Kangju relief force made several attacks on the Han position at night, delaying the assault and allowing the defenders to repair their walls.

During the battle, an infantry unit on the Kangju side used a formation described as having the appearance of fish scales, which has caused speculation that they were Greek Hoplites from the Kingdom of Dayuan.