In the autumn of 249, the Shu general Jiang Wei led the Shu army to invade Wei's western border. Seeing that Jiang Wei had constructed a fortress at Mount Chu and incited several Qiang tribes to rebel against Wei rule in the neighbouring counties, Chen Tai asked his supervisor, the veteran Wei general Guo Huai, to lead an attack on the fort to cut them off from Jiang Wei's main army. He pointed out that although the fortress at Mount Chu was strong, it was also far from the Shu base and it would be easy to cut off the supply route.
In autumn of 249, the Shu general Jiang Wei launched an invasion of Wei's western border.  He had built a fortress at Mount Chu and encouraged Qiang tribes to rebel against Wei rule in nearby counties. Chen Tai, working for Wei, requested Guo Huai, a veteran general, to attack the fort to cut off Jiang Wei's main army. He believed that although the fort was strong, its location far from Shu's base made it vulnerable to disruption of supply routes.