Wang Tao 王韜

In Chapter 109 of the Romance, in the autumn of the 16th year of Yanxi of Shu-Han (253), Jiang Wei raises 200,000 troops, makes Liao Hua and Zhang Yi the vanguards of the left and right and Xiahou Ba his adviser, goes out through Yangping Pass to attack Wei, and sends Xi Zheng to the land of the Qiang to form friendly ties with the Qiang king Midang. On the Wei side, Sima Shi makes Xu Zhi, General Who Supports the State, the vanguard and Sima Zhao the Grand Commander and sends them to Longxi, and the two armies meet at Dongting and draw up their battle lines. Romance, Ch. 109 §1–3

Jiang Wei has iron caltrops scattered on the roads and abatis lined up outside his camp to make it look as though he plans to stay a long time, and Sima Zhao, receiving a report that the Shu army is transporting grain behind Mount Tielong with wooden oxen and gliding horses, has Xu Zhi cut that supply route. Pursuing the Shu troops who abandon the grain and flee, Xu Zhi finds his way blocked by carts and is badly defeated by fire and the pincer attack of Liao Hua and Zhang Yi; fleeing alone, he has his horse brought down by Jiang Wei's spear and is cut to death by the soldiers' blades. When Xiahou Ba leads Shu troops disguised in Wei armor and horses into the Wei camp and carries out a slaughter, Sima Zhao, blocked front and rear, leads his troops up Mount Tielong to hold it. Romance, Ch. 109 §5–11

This mountain has only one path and is steep and rugged on all sides, and the spring on top is barely enough for a hundred men to drink, while Sima Zhao has 6,000 men under him. When Jiang Wei cuts off the approach, men and horses are parched with thirst, and Sima Zhao looks up to Heaven and heaves a long sigh, 'I am to die in this place.' The Registrar Wang Tao says, 'Of old, when Geng Gong was besieged and in dire straits, he bowed to a well and obtained sweet spring water,' and asks why the general does not follow his example. Romance, Ch. 109 §11–12 · 14

Following his words, Sima Zhao goes up to the spring on the summit, bows twice and prays: if it is his fate to die, let the sweet spring run dry, and he will cut his own throat and have all his troops surrender. When he finishes praying that, if his allotted span and fortune are not yet exhausted, Heaven should quickly grant sweet spring water to save the many lives, the spring water gushes up and does not run dry however much is drawn, and thanks to this the men and horses do not die. Romance, Ch. 109 §14

Jiang Wei, regretting that the late Chancellor failed to capture Sima Yi at the Shangfang Valley in days past, says that this time he will take Sima Zhao captive, but Guo Huai and Chen Tai, by means of a feigned surrender, rout the Qiang troops, capture Midang and put him in the lead. When the Wei generals who have come to the Shu camp with Midang strike from behind with their blades, the Shu troops scatter, and Jiang Wei, after fooling Guo Huai by twanging an empty bowstring, catches the arrow Guo Huai shoots and shoots it back to bring him down, and Guo Huai dies when the bleeding will not stop. Sima Zhao comes down the mountain and gives chase but turns back halfway, and after sending the Qiang troops home he returns to Luoyang. In the Romance, this single passage on Mount Tielong is the only place where Wang Tao's name appears. Romance, Ch. 109 §15–24 · 14