Sun Quan sailed back to Jiangdong overnight and had no time to return to Jianye. He reorganized his troops at Niuzhu and went straight to Chao County via Ruxu the next morning.
Chaohu Lake connects to Feishui River in the north and Hefei in the south, and to Rushu River in the south and the Yangtze River. By taking this strategic location, the Eastern Wu can attack when advancing and defend when retreating.
At 7 p.m., the Eastern Wu navy marched into Chaohu Lake in a mighty force. Thousands of sails crossed the border, blocking out the sky and the sun. The infantry besieged Chao County, and Cao's army was in inexplicable panic.
After Sun Ce conquered Jiangdong, Cao Cao married Cao Ren's daughter to his fourth brother Sun Kuang, and married Cao Zhang to Sun Fu's daughter, in order to win over Sun Ce through marriage.
Although the two sides had a confrontation after Sun Ce's death, they did not fight each other and envoys from both sides exchanged visits.
Years ago, Cao Zhang got married. The wedding ship of Eastern Wu sailed north from Chaohu Lake. The sound of gongs and drums was deafening and the warships of Eastern Wu arrived soon after
Sun Quan ordered Han Dang to lead his troops to attack Chao County, and the rest of the troops continued to march north and head straight for Hefei.
At this time, Zhang Liao, the defender of Hefei, was sending troops to rescue Lujiang. As soon as the troops set out, the governor Liu Fu sent people to chase them and asked Zhang Liao to withdraw his troops.
Since Sun Quan had broken off relations with Wu and the Wu army in Poyang invaded Lujiang, the navy of Niuzhu would never sit idly by. Distant water cannot put out a nearby fire, so it is better to defend Hefei.
Zhang Liao suddenly came to his senses, left part of his troops to guard Jia Shi to prevent the Wu army from attacking Shouchun, and led his elite troops back to Hefei.
When they were halfway there, Chao County sent people to rescue them. Sun Quan personally led the troops and had already reached Chaohu and was heading towards Hefei.
"Blue-eyed boy is a treacherous villain. I must kill him!" Zhang Liao cursed with gnashing teeth and retreated to Hefei overnight.
There were only 3,000 defenders in Hefei. When Liu Fu learned the news about Wancheng, he transferred 5,000 troops from Shouchun and asked for help from Xiahou Yuan in Xuzhou and Chen Deng in Guangling, but the reinforcements could not arrive in time.
Zhang Liao discussed with his deputy generals Hou Cheng and Zhu Ling: "Sun Quan has betrayed us and attacked Hefei by surprise. It is difficult for a small city to defend. We should take the initiative to meet the enemy."
Zhu Lingyan said: "The Wu army has tens of thousands of troops, advancing by land and sea, and we only have 3,000 defenders. It is better to wait for the reinforcements from Shouchun to arrive before meeting the enemy."
Zhang Liao shook his head and said, "No! If we lose, Shouchun will be in danger and Huainan will be lost! The only way is to go out and meet the enemy first and fight with our backs to the river. Only then can we stop the Wu army and wait for reinforcements."
Hou Cheng clasped his fists and said, "We have received great favors from the Prime Minister, and now is the time to repay him with our lives. If Wenyuan wants to fight, then we will fight."
There were eight strong generals under Lu Bu's command back then, but now there are only two of them left, and their relationship is much closer, so naturally they will advance and retreat together.
Seeing that the two were about to meet the enemy, Zhu Ling was unwilling to fall behind. Zhang Liao was the main general and was highly regarded by Cao Cao, so he clasped his fists and said, "I am willing to obey the general's orders!"
Zhang Liao said, "There is a place called Xiaoyaojin to the south of Hefei. General Zhu is leading his troops to ambush here. If the Wu army launches a surprise attack on Shouchun, they must be in a hurry to advance. Once the Wu army crosses the river, we will cut off Xiaoshi Bridge and divide it into two sections. I will personally kill Sun Quan and end the problem once and for all."
Zhu Ling was shocked: "General, it's too risky to kill Sun Quan!"
Zhang Liao sneered, "The Wu army is coming in force, so we should capture the leader first. The Jiangdong rats are nothing to worry about."
Zhu Ling knew Zhang Liao's ability and decided to ambush him as it was a life-and-death struggle.
Hou Chengyan asked, "Wenyuan is going to use the Xianzhen Camp to attack and kill Sun Quan?"
“That’s right!” Zhang Liao stared towards the south and said in a deep voice: “Gao Shun sacrificed himself generously and entrusted his brothers to me. His will will be passed on by you and me—the will to break through the enemy lines, even if it means death!”
Hou Cheng nodded and said, "It's a pity that Brother Gao is determined to die, otherwise if the three of us joined forces, who in the world could stop us?"
Zhang Liao patted Hou Cheng on the shoulder and said, "In this battle, you will die for your country. If you win, you will be made a marquis and a general, and your name will be passed down to future generations. If you lose, you will be reunited with Fengxian and the others. Life is like this, what else can you regret?"
Zhang Liao deployed his troops overnight. The next day, Sun Quan led his troops out of Chaohu Lake and headed for Hefei. Upon hearing that Zhang Liao had returned to the city, Sun Quan personally led his troops to garrison the city.
Cheng Pu said: "Zhang Liao is a great general and should not be underestimated. It would be better to wait until Chao County is captured and then gather the army to attack again."
Sun Quan said with a smile: "Mr. Cheng has been on the battlefield for a long time and is familiar with the art of war. Don't you know that speed is the essence of war? If we delay until the reinforcements from Shouchun and Guangling arrive, won't all our efforts be wasted?"
Zhou Tai asked for the order, "I am willing to be the vanguard and cut off Zhang Liao's head and present it to you."
"How great is Youping!" Sun Quan was overjoyed and ordered Zhou Tai and Chen Wu to be the vanguard and attack Hefei directly.
Last night, scouts reported that Zhou Yu had already captured Wancheng. Sun Quan was eager to prove himself and naturally did not want to fall behind.
The spies had already reported that there were only 3,000 defenders in Hefei, while he had 30,000 troops, ten times more than Zhang Liao. If he still couldn't take Hefei, how could he have the face to lead the heroes of Jiangdong
Zhou Tai led his troops to Xiaoyaojin and saw a wooden bridge across the river. There were only a thousand Cao soldiers guarding the other side, and they sneered.
Zhu Ling urged his horse to the bridge and shouted, "Who is coming?"
Chen Wu rode out and said, "I am Chen Wu from Jiangdong. Seeing my army coming here, why don't you surrender quickly? Are you trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm?"
Zhu Ling cursed: "You ungrateful bastard from Dongwu. The Prime Minister has treated Sun Quan well many times, why did you send troops to attack?"
Chen Wu was furious and urged his horse to fight. The two fought on the bridge. After more than ten rounds, Zhu Ling could no longer hold out and rode back.
Seeing that Cao's army had only a thousand men, Zhou Tai did not take it seriously. With a single order, the Wu army followed Chen Wu and rushed across the pontoon bridge together. The Cao army only had time to fire a volley of arrows, which was of no avail.
"General Zhou, let's charge into Hefei in one go!" Chen Wu rode his horse and chased Zhu Ling.
Zhou Tai led his troops and followed, and together they led the army to Hefei to attack.
Sun Quan was leading his troops forward in the rear when a scout came to report that he had defeated Cao's vanguard. He was overjoyed.
"Hahaha, Mr. Cheng, what do you think?" Sun Quan looked back at Cheng Pu and said with a proud smile, "Cao Cao's elite troops are all in Nanyang. This is a gift from heaven to Huainan for me!"
He immediately ordered his men to speed up and move forward to meet the enemy. When they arrived at the north of Xiaoyaojin, they found that the wooden bridge had been destroyed.
Sun Quan was furious and said, "Who destroyed the bridge and ruined my..."
Boom boom boom—
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden sound of drums from the woods on the left, and an ambush force rushed out and headed straight for Sun Quan at the bridgehead.
"Hmph, you dare to show off your trivial skills in front of me?" Sun Quan saw that there were only a thousand ambush troops and did not take it seriously. He ordered Cheng Pu to lead the troops to support them.
Cheng Pu stepped forward to stop Hou Cheng. At this moment, he heard the sound of horse hooves behind him. When he turned around, he saw a blue-robed general leading his cavalry coming towards him.
Boom—
The sound of horse hooves was like thunder. Zhang Liao urged his horse forward and raised his sword. He stared at Sun Quan and shouted, "Bi Yan'er, give me your life!"
"Quick, stop him!" Sun Quan was frightened by Zhang Liao's momentum and hurriedly ordered his personal soldiers to step forward to intercept him.
The guard Gu Li roared, stepped forward with a mace, and shouted: "Zhang Liao, stop being so arrogant, I... Uh-"
Before he could finish his words, Zhang Liao rode towards him and swung his sword, beheading him in a single blow.
The Wu army hastily formed a battle array and fired arrows, but they were unable to stop the attack from the Xianzhen Camp. Gu Li was killed, and Zhang Liao had already urged his horse to the front, but several of his personal soldiers were rushed back.
Sun Quan was so shocked that he turned around on his horse. Seeing Zhang Liao coming towards him with murderous intent, he shouted in panic, "You... don't come over here!"