Battle of Hefei

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Battle of Hefei
Part of the Three Kingdoms period
Date 217 AD Location Hefei, China Result Wei victory
Combatants
Cao Wei	Eastern Wu
Commanders
Zhang Liao	Sun Quan
Strength
500 to 1,000 men	approximately 80,000 men
Casualties
100 to 200 men	1,000 to 2,000 men

Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Yellow Turban Rebellion – Campaign against Dong Zhuo – Jieqiao – Wancheng – Xiapi – Yijing – Guandu – Changban – Red Cliffs – Tong Pass – Hefei – Mount Dingjun – Fancheng – Xiaoting – Southern Campaign – Northern Expeditions (Jieting) – Shiting – (Wuzhang Plains)

The Battle of Hefei (合肥之戰, 217 AD) was a significant event in the Three Kingdoms era of China. The forces of Wu, though significantly larger than the Wei garrison at Hefei, were defeated and pushed back to Wu, effectively lengthening the Three Kingdoms era. If Hefei had fallen to Wu, Sun Quan and the Wu army would have had a clear path straight into the Wei heartland and capital.

Contents 1 Background 2 Prelude 3 The battle 4 Aftermath 5 In fiction 6 Further reading

[edit] Background

Liu Bei, acting on the advice of his advisor Zhuge Liang, entered the Sichuan and through deception and trickery forced the abdication of Liu Zhang, claiming the lands for his own. Cao Cao, the King of Wei, responded to this by advancing with a large army of 120,000 and taking Hanzhong from its ruler, Zhang Lu. Hanzhong was the northern gateway to Sichuan. Most civilians and some soldiers managed to escape from Cao Cao's cavalry and evacuate. Liu Bei feared an attack from Cao Cao, for he had not consolidated himself in Sichuan and they would be lost if they were attacked. Zhuge Liang, however, advised that he send Yi Ji to Sun Quan in Wu. In exchange for Wu attacking Hefei, Yi Ji would offer to return to it the cities of Jiangxia, Changsha, and Guiyang which Liu Bei had borrowed as bases before the Battle of Red Cliff. The hope was that Cao Cao would withdraw troops from Hanzhong in order to protect his heartland. Sun Quan agreed, and he mobilized on Hefei.

[edit] Prelude

Sun Quan advanced north towards Hefei with a massive army. The actual numbers are disputed, but it is assumed that the army was roughly 80,000 men strong. The distinguished generals Gan Ning, Lu Meng, Jiang Qin, Pan Zhang, Zhou Tai, Ling Tong, and Xu Sheng participated in the campaign. Sun Quan, lord of Wu, led the army north. First, they assailed the city of Huan, which was growing grain and sending large amounts of it to Hefei. Without Huan, Hefei would have no steady supply of grain. The governor of Huan, Zhu Guang, sent a request for aid to Hefei which prompted the commander Zhang Liao to personally lead a relief force, but the reinforcements did not arrive in time. Huan fell to Wu, and Sun Quan set his sights on Hefei.

[edit] The battle

There were only three commanders in the city of Hefei at the time: General Zhang Liao, Yue Jin, and Li Dian. The amount of men in the garrison at Hefei is also disputed, but it was definitely somewhere from 500 to 1,000 men. Zhang Liao received orders from Cao Cao that if Sun Quan attacked, he and Li Dian were to sortie against him and Yue Jin was to guard the city. The three commanders formed a plan to swiftly defeat the Wu army. Zhang Liao and Li Dian took a company of men each and placed them in ambush on either side of the Xiaoyao Bridge. Yue Jin took the remainder of the men into the field, leaving only a few in the city. The Wu army arrived, with Lu Meng and Gan Ning leading the charge. The Wu army had to cross the Xiaoshi Bridge (小師橋) in order to engage Yue Jin. Yue Jin clashed with Gan Ning and feigned defeat, leading his troops back towards Hefei. Gan Ning and Lu Meng pursued. Sun Quan and Ling Tong, who held the center, followed up, crossing the bridge. As soon as Sun Quan crossed, Zhang Liao and Li Dian struck. They destroyed a large portion of the Xiaoyao Bridge, cutting the Wu army in half. Both Wei commanders struck towards Sun Quan. Ling Tong did his best to hold Zhang Liao and Li Dian off, but he was hard pressed. Sun Quan, without any other options, fled. He spurred his horse and jumped the ten foot gap in the bridge, escaping certain death. Lu Meng and Gan Ning turned back to try and save the center, but they took extremely heavy losses from Yue Jin's and Li Dian's men. Both commanders fled, skirting the river and heading back to Wu. Ling Tong lost all of his men and was himself badly wounded, but he survived and he too made it back to Wu.

[edit] Aftermath

The Wei victory at Hefei extended the Three Kingdoms period for years. Had Hefei fallen, Sun Quan could have pushed all the way to Xu Chang, the Wei capital, with little resistance, since most of the Wei army was campaigning in Hanzhong. With Wei split, Liu Bei could have pushed north, expelling Cao Cao's forces from the Xiliang province and the major city of Chang'an. Wei would be isolated in the northeastern portion of China, and would most likely have fallen to a significantly strengthened Wu.

This battle also sealed the fame of Zhang Liao. It is said that for years later, parents in Wu would silence misbehaving children by warning them that Zhang Liao would come and get them.

This battle was another example portrayed in the Three Kingdoms period of how a smaller army could defeat a much larger force in battle. Other examples include the Battle of Guandu and the Battle of Chibi.

[edit] In fiction

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Taishi Ci of Wu dies in this battle, though historically he died in 206 due to illness.

[edit] Further reading

Guanzhong, Luo. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms