Despite Si Ma Zhao's reputation as a powerful figure in history, in objective reality, what Si Ma Zhao did played a progressive role in history. He was an outstanding militarist in the late Three Kingdoms period. In the Battle of Dongguan, as far as the characteristics of military command are concerned, Zhuge Tian's military talents in all the major battles were obviously comparable to those of Sima Zhao. After the battle, Sima Zhao settled in Guanzhong, conquered Lingzhou, pacified rebellions, recruited minorities in the northern part of the Mongolian Plateau, and performed well in the Battle of Huainan. When Cao Shuang attacked Shu, he advised not to stay long because he thought the enemy would take over Shu.

Faced with an enemy attack on his camp, Sima Zhao was calm and collected. If he had ordered a sneak attack on Dongguan, there would not have been such a chaotic loss after the sneak attack on the Wei army. In terms of tactical characteristics, Zhuge Liang should not have divided his main force of 70,000 men into three parts. Attacking Long Beach and the second city separately also led to the dispersion of troops. Even under the attack of 40,000 enemy troops, the troops scattered in long lines on Long Beach could not form a strong battle formation. They were quickly routed and retreated in haste, crowding on the pontoon bridge and becoming the target of enemy attacks. The Wei army, which had captured the second city, failed to mobilize offensive assistance or cover the retreat of the troops on the long beach. This was even worse than Sima Zhao's order. In Guanzhong, Sima Zhao could have taken the initiative to create a gesture of getting out of Luogu, forcing the enemy to retreat to the rear. Sima Zhao was good at actively working with neighboring armies. If he commanded from the front, he could effectively mobilize troops to cover the other side.

In terms of holding people accountable for military failures after the war, not only should Sima Zhao, who was the prison army, be punished for the failures, but Joseon should also punish its nationals. Sima Zhao is very politically savvy. First of all, the main person in charge, Zhuge Dan, is an in-law of Sima Shi. He was Sima Yi's in-laws, Sima Shi's younger brother, and Sima Zhou's father-in-law, while Hu Zun, Wang Chang, and Wu were mostly Sima Yi's old subordinates, or they had friendships. Removing them would weaken Sima Shi's group. In addition, Sima Yi knew that Wang Chang, Hu Zun and the others had clear grudges and would not be ungrateful. Therefore, Zhuge Dan, who was disloyal to the court, was favorable to Sima Shi even though he had personal ambitions. Later, when Wu rose up against Sima Shi, Zhuge Liang was able to appreciate Sima Shi's kindness to him and supported Sima Shi's rebellion. This battle also showed his relationship with Wu on the western front. The traditional view is against Sima Shi, which is a misunderstanding.

When Wu attacked Sima Shi, he praised him and asked him to succeed Sima Shi. At that time, Sima Zhao was only a leader in a middle school, a lowly position. Wu praised him even more than he praised Sima Yi, but he did not ask about Sima Yi's auxiliaries, instead, he asked about the auxiliaries, which shows the close relationship between him and Sima Yi. Later, after the unification of the Jin Dynasty, the descendants of Wu fled to Wu and returned to the Central Plains, where they were treated favorably by their son, Emperor Wu of Jin. This was also reflected in Sima Zhao Sima's master plan for the Western Front. He deployed only 70,000 troops on the Eastern Front and the Western Front was estimated to be the main force. He intended to shift the main force of the Wu army to the east and concentrate on the western front.