Liu Da 劉達

In Chapter 110 of the Romance, Sima Shi dies while leading his troops back to Xuchang; the time is the second month of the 2nd year of Zhengyuan (255). His successor Sima Zhao is appointed General-in-Chief and Overseer of the Masters of Writing by Cao Mao, the ruler of Wei, and takes into his hands all matters great and small, within the court and without. When spies from Western Shu report this, Jiang Wei asks the Later Sovereign for leave to attack Wei while there is an opening, since Sima Zhao has only just taken great power and will not dare leave Luoyang lightly, and the Later Sovereign consents. Romance, Ch. 110 §26–31

When Jiang Wei reaches Hanzhong, Zhang Yi, General-in-Chief Who Conquers the West, urges him not to campaign far afield because the land of Shu is small and its money and grain scarce, but Jiang Wei will not listen, saying that having received the Chancellor's dying charge he must carry on his purpose. When Xiahou Ba proposes going out first to Fuhan with light cavalry and Zhang Yi too urges advancing with the speed of fire, Jiang Wei advances toward Fuhan with 50,000 troops. When the army reaches the Tao River, the frontier garrison reports to Wang Jing, Inspector of Yong Province, and Chen Tai, General Who Conquers the West, and Wang Jing first raises 70,000 cavalry and infantry and comes out to meet them. Jiang Wei sends Zhang Yi and Xiahou Ba off with his plans and himself leads the main army to draw up its formation with its back to the Tao River. Romance, Ch. 110 §31–34

Wang Jing rides out with several of his officers and asks why, when Wei, Wu and Shu already stand divided in three like the legs of a tripod, Shu has invaded again and again; Jiang Wei answers that Sima Shi deposed his sovereign without cause, so that even a neighboring state ought to call him to account, let alone an enemy state. Wang Jing looks round at his four generals Zhang Ming, Hua Yong, Liu Da and Zhu Fang and says that since the Shu army has drawn up with its back to the water, if it is defeated all will drown. Then he tells them that Jiang Wei is swift and brave, so the four of them should fight him, and if he falls back, they should pursue and strike at once. Romance, Ch. 110 §35–36

The four generals split to left and right and ride out to fight Jiang Wei. Jiang Wei fights lightly for a few bouts, then wheels his horse and flees toward his own lines, and Wang Jing drives his men and horses forward in a mass pursuit. As Jiang Wei, fleeing toward the Tao River, nears the water's edge, he shouts to his officers and men that the situation is desperate, whereupon his generals all summon their strength together and turn back to attack, and the Wei army is badly defeated. Romance, Ch. 110 §36

Zhang Yi and Xiahou Ba come round behind the Wei army and attack by two routes, surrounding it in the middle. More than half of the Wei troops die trampling one another, countless others are driven into the Tao River and drowned, over ten thousand heads are taken, and the corpses lie piled for several li. Wang Jing flees to the city of Didao with a hundred horsemen from his defeated troops, closes the gates and holds it. The Romance does not record what became of the four generals, Liu Da among them, in this battle, and Liu Da does not appear again. Romance, Ch. 110 §37