When Cao's army was besieging Tan County, Zhu Ran of Houqiu sent people to inquire about the news, but the city was surrounded tightly and it was impossible to enter the city to communicate, so the scouts had to report military intelligence.
Zhu Ran was on pins and needles in Houqiu. Sun Quan suffered another major defeat in Shouchun. Without the support of a large army, they were alone in the deep enemy territory and the situation was extremely dangerous.
Upon learning that Lü Meng was trapped again, Zhu Ran suddenly remembered the arrangements made before his departure. Lü Meng ordered him to attack from behind when Cao's army surrounded the city, so as to defeat the enemy from both inside and outside.
He immediately mobilized 3,000 troops and rushed to Tan County. Houqiu was no longer important at this time. Only a battle with one's back to the river could turn the situation around and defeat this Cao army. There would be no troops in Xuzhou that could compete with them.
The Wu army marched at full speed and reached Yishui at midnight. It was nearly the Mid-Autumn Festival, and a bright moon hung in the blue sky. All was quiet. In the distance, they could see a mudflat surrounded by reeds.
Zhu Ran wanted to reach Tan County before dawn. The defenders were least relaxed at daybreak, so he could take the opportunity to attack the camp and set fire outside the city. When Lu Meng heard the noise, he could take advantage of the situation to rush out.
After calculating the distance, he ordered his men to rest for a while. At about four o'clock in the morning, the Wu army crossed the shallows, crossed the river and attacked the city of Tan County.
The battle of the East China Sea shook the Central Plains and made Lu Meng famous. Later, Ling Tong killed several generals of Cao's army and was praised as a hero of Jiangdong. Only Zhu Ran defended Houqiu and achieved nothing.
Among these three people, Lu Meng was the most respected by Sun Quan, and Ling Tong was the most loved by Sun Quan, but in terms of closeness, Zhu Ran was the first.
When Sun Ce was in charge of Jiangdong, Zhu Ran studied with Sun Quan in Wujun, and they became close friends. This time, he was ordered to lead troops to attack Xuzhou with the intention of achieving merit and getting promoted.
Although Sun Quan has been defeated now, as long as Lu Meng can gain a foothold in Xuzhou, he can still contain Cao Ren. All he needs to do is send another large army north to support him and Xuzhou can be taken.
Although the credit for the surprise attack went to Lu Meng, he was surrounded and went to the rescue at the cost of everything, thus turning the situation around.
Zhu Ran's thoughts were flooding along the way, and the more he thought about it, the more excited he became. If a man cannot achieve great things, what difference is there between him and the bright moon and the gentle breeze
Just as he was thinking about how to fight later, a scream suddenly came from the left, followed by several soldiers falling to the ground wailing.
Zhu Ran was shocked and turned his head to look. He saw a flash of fire in the reeds, flaming arrows mixed with a rain of arrows, and the sound of drums suddenly rang out from behind a low hill on the right.
"There is an ambush, form a formation!" Zhu Ran roared, waving his spear.
The Wu army on the flank had already been disrupted by the arrows, and now the fire arrows were shot at them head-on, causing chaos. Before they could react, the arrows fell from the sky.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
The sharp sound of breaking through the air was heart-pounding. The fire arrows fell with long flame tails swaying, and not only the soldiers' armor caught fire, but also the reeds under their feet and beside them were burned.
The Wu army ran around in a panic, dodging arrows, putting out flames, and huddled together. Screams were heard one after another, and some people panicked and lost their way and fell into the mud.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather is dry and most of the reed leaves are dry. They will catch fire when exposed to fire. In an instant, thick smoke billows and fills the sky, completely covering the hazy moonlight.
"Charge forward, follow me!" Seeing the fire behind him, Zhu Ran shouted at his subordinates and rushed forward with all his might.
Ambush troops appeared on a low hill, torches were lit all over the mountain, Cao's army waved flags and shouted, blocking the Wu army's way, and arrows were also shot down from the slope.
The Wu army was trembling with fear and crowded around Zhu Ran, forming a battle array on all sides. In just a short while, more than half of their men and horses had been killed, and many were caught in the reeds and burned to death in the fire.
Zhu Ran tightly grasped his spear, with thick smoke billowing behind him, unable to tell the direction. He gritted his teeth and stared at the people on the slope, and said in a deep voice: "Whoever is blocking the way, dare to fight me!"
A general on the slope laughed and said, "You rat from Jiangdong, you're always sneaking around. Today I'll kill you to avenge my brother."
It turned out that it was Sun Kang who was lying in ambush here. Sima Yi wanted to arrange an ambush, but Sun Kang was eager for revenge, so he volunteered to lead the troops here, wanting to bury Sun Guan with Zhu Ran's head first.
Seeing that the enemy did not come out to fight, Zhu Ran ordered Cao's army to draw their bows and arrows, pointed his spear and shouted: "Only the brave can survive when we meet on a narrow road. Follow me to kill!"
Hiding behind a big tree, I looked up and saw fire all around. I had no idea how many enemy troops there were and my scalp started tingling.
The Wu army beside Zhu Ran were also the elite troops of Jiangdong. Two hundred of them were the warriors under Sun Quan's guard chariot. Now they were surrounded and they all fought to the death and rushed forward bravely.
Zhu Ran was in the middle, urging his horse forward, brandishing his spear to block the arrows, and galloping up the mountain. Tiger warriors guarded his chariots on both sides, and the horse moved like a rolling muddy wave up the hillside.
Although Sun Kang was Sun Guan's younger brother, he had no martial arts skills. He was usually in charge of food and wages in the army. He thought that this ambush was sure to succeed, but he did not expect the Wu army to be so fierce that he risked his life to charge. He panicked and turned his horse to retreat into the formation.
Cao's army was trying its best to form a battle array to resist, but was disrupted by Sun Kang. More than a dozen of Cao's personal soldiers fled backwards, and the central army was in chaos. The Wu army rushed to the front in a blink of an eye.
Most of the soldiers on the two wings were archers. They only had time to fire one round of arrows before they were charged by the cavalry. The central army was in chaos, and many people screamed and fell to the ground.
"How dare you be so rampant, you bastard?" Zhu Ran rode his horse to Sun Kang, roared, and stabbed with his spear.
"Ah—you, don't come over here!" Sun Kang was horrified and roared in despair on his horse.
Zhu Ran urged his horse to catch up and stabbed Sun Kang in the back with a spear. With a scream, he was thrown off his horse and rolled into the reeds beside the road.
"Kill!" Zhu Ran rushed straight to the top of the slope. Seeing that the situation was not good, Cao's army on the mountain fled to both sides.
Zhu Ran led his troops to the top of the mountain in one breath. Cao's army had already scattered. When he looked back, he saw fire all around the mountain and thick smoke billowing into the sky. Only a few people escaped in a panic.
"You bastard!" Zhu Ran roared to the sky.
Among these three thousand soldiers, two thousand were Zhu Zhi's old subordinates who followed him from Jiangdong, and one thousand were new recruits from Huainan. They were all considered private troops given to him by Sun Quan, but they were destroyed in such a confused manner.
A family general counted the number of people and came forward to persuade them: "General, there are only about 300 people left. We are unable to rescue them. I am afraid that Cao's army will come to attack us. It is better to return to Houqiu to protect ourselves first."
With his great hopes dashed, Zhu Ran was somewhat distraught. He led his troops across the river from the north and retreated to Houqiu.
At dawn, they arrived at the city gate and sent someone to knock on the gate, but they saw Cao's army flag flying on the city wall. A general shouted, "You are already dogs that have lost their home. If you are willing to surrender, I will let you enter the city."
Zhu Ran was furious, and he urged his horse to the city and shouted, "You bastard, come down and fight me if you dare!"
The man held the city wall and laughed, "I am an official appointed by the imperial court, how can I fight with rats?"
Zhu Ran pointed his gun at the top of the city wall and shouted, "Who are you?"
"I am Chen Su from Xia Pi!" The man said with a proud smile, "In the past, Sun Quan attacked Guangling by surprise, but was frightened away by dozens of torches set by my father and was defeated before the battle. Today, you are using the same trick again, so I am here to wipe you out. How can we allow rats to run rampant in Xuzhou?"
The Battle of Guangling was the first time that Sun Quan led an army. One hundred thousand soldiers were frightened away by Chen Deng's bluffing, so Sun Ce had to go to Dantu personally to reorganize the troops and avenge the humiliation. He was eventually killed. This is the battle that Sun Quan is most reluctant to mention.
Zhu Ran was extremely angry and rushed to the bridge on his horse. He was shot by arrows from the city wall and had no choice but to retreat to Yilu Mountain with his remaining troops to hide and gather news from Tan County before making any plans.