On the 20th, after receiving the news of the arrival of the imperial army, Poison Sect leader Lan Zhaoyun, who had already led his troops to break through Shaoyang Prefecture's three counties, immediately left the newly appointed Left Protector to command the army of 60,000 and continued besieging Shaoyang Prefecture.
He then led a 50,000-strong army to turn back and head north to the rescue of Baling City.
On the same day, in the north of Dongting Prefecture, the Tianmen Prefecture was finally breached by the 100,000-strong Zhou army's months of fierce attacks on the northern portal of Changling County. Tens of thousands of Zhou troops advanced straight ahead, and as a result, Tianmen Prefecture City fell into danger.
Over one hundred thousand Army of Pacifying Shu was at risk of being trapped behind enemy lines.