Sun Quan’s Failed Attack on Hefei

Sun Quan’s Failed Attack on Hefei is a two-stage defeat that exposes the danger of acting on confidence without caution. Sun Quan first takes Zhang Liao’s challenge personally and enters battle without waiting for Cheng Pu’s newly arrived troops; later, he commits to a night assault based on a supposed insider’s signal despite an adviser’s warning that the report could be a trap. Zhang Liao’s readiness turns both decisions against the attacker, and Sun Quan ultimately abandons the campaign. The consequences extend beyond the loss at Hefei: Taishi Ci dies from his wounds, and Sun Quan adopts Taishi Ci’s son, Taishi Heng.

The First Assault

The episode follows Zhou Yu’s recovery from his wound and Cheng Pu’s dispatch to assist Sun Quan, who is besieging Hefei without success. Zhang Liao sends a formal challenge after learning that Cheng Pu has arrived. Sun Quan interprets the challenge as a personal insult and decides to fight with his own troops, rather than use the support Cheng Pu has brought. The choice places pride ahead of coordination before the battle has even begun.

When the armies meet, Zhang Liao presses directly toward Sun Quan. Taishi Ci rides to protect him, while another attack on Sun Quan is held off by the officers around him. Taishi Ci’s prolonged struggle with Zhang Liao does not decide the encounter; when Taishi Ci withdraws, Zhang Liao advances and the southern army breaks into disorder. Sun Quan comes close to capture, escaping only because Cheng Pu intervenes in time. Zhang Liao returns to Hefei satisfied with the defense, while Sun Quan retreats and watches the remnants of his army make their way back.

A Second Attack on a False Signal

Sun Quan’s officers remonstrate with him after the defeat and make him promise not to be so rash again. Yet the next opportunity draws him back into the same peril. Taishi Ci reports that Ge Ding, a groom, has a blood brother serving in Zhang Liao’s army. The brother resents Zhang Liao over what he considers an unjust punishment and is willing to kill him; a signal that night would supposedly tell Sun Quan’s troops to enter the city.

Sun Quan welcomes the proposal and gives Taishi Ci five thousand men to act when the signal comes. One adviser cautions that the plan may be a trap, but Sun Quan refuses to heed the warning. The episode thus makes the source of the second attack’s failure plain before it begins: an unverified promise is treated as certain, and the earlier lesson of the first defeat has not restrained Sun Quan’s eagerness to act.

Zhang Liao, by contrast, has ordered his men to remain alert because he expects a night attack. When a fire breaks out and the cry of an uprising is heard, some of his officers believe the city is facing a real revolt. Zhang Liao reasons that the whole city could not have risen at once and identifies the disturbance as a likely enemy scheme. His men search for those responsible, capture Ge Ding and his blood brother, learn the nature of the plot, and execute them.

The Trap Reversed

The sounds of war gongs and drums outside the gate confirm Zhang Liao’s suspicion that the disturbance is part of a larger plan. Rather than merely seal the city, he turns the expected signal against the attackers: he orders a fire beside the main gate, has his men cry out as if a revolt is underway, and opens the gate. The false appearance tells Taishi Ci that the plot has succeeded.

Taishi Ci rushes inside. The defending force responds with bombs and arrows; Taishi Ci is seriously wounded, and half of his men are killed in the attack. The arrival of reinforcements from Sun Quan’s camp saves Taishi Ci and the survivors from the full force of the counterattack. Zhang Liao’s defense succeeds not simply because he anticipates a night assault, but because he recognizes the intended signal and uses the attackers’ confidence in it to make the city gate part of his counterstroke.

Retreat and Aftermath

After the failed assault, Sun Quan and his men have little choice but to abandon the attack and return to their own lands. Taishi Ci later dies of his wounds, and the loss is mourned by all. Sun Quan adopts Taishi Ci’s son, Taishi Heng, joining the military defeat to a lasting personal and familial consequence.

The episode’s paired reversals distinguish command under pressure from rashness. In the first battle, Sun Quan refuses to wait for Cheng Pu and nearly falls into Zhang Liao’s hands; in the second, he disregards an explicit warning and sends Taishi Ci toward a signal Zhang Liao has already anticipated. Zhang Liao repeatedly makes disciplined attention to likely enemy action decisive, while Sun Quan’s confidence in immediate opportunities leaves his forces vulnerable. The outcome is therefore more than a failed siege: the attack on Hefei ends with withdrawal, a grievous loss among Sun Quan’s officers, and a renewed obligation to Taishi Ci’s family.