Zhao Yun's defense at the Han River

Zhao Zilong’s defense at the River Han is a two-part action that rescues Huang Zhong and then repels Cao Cao’s much larger force. First Zhao breaks through the troops surrounding Huang Zhong; then, with Zhang Yi, he makes a guarded camp appear vulnerable and converts the enemy’s advance into a concealed attack. The episode presents Zhao’s courage not as a solitary feat alone, but as the decisive opening for a coordinated defense.

Crisis and rescue

After Cao Cao sends an army of two hundred thousand toward Jiameng Pass, Xuande orders an assault on its camp and supplies to weaken the advance. Huang Zhong leads the attack and overruns the supply camp, but Zhang He strikes back before Huang can burn the provisions. Huang and his men are trapped, and when he fails to return, Zhao Zilong rides out to find him.

Zhao encounters enemy troops and fights through them until he reaches Zhang He’s force surrounding Huang. He breaks through the encirclement, scattering the soldiers and disrupting their formation. Zhang He retreats, allowing Zhao to bring Huang safely back. The rescue turns a potentially isolated attack into the prelude to a broader defense: Zhao returns to a camp that is itself threatened by Cao Cao’s approach.

The camp becomes a trap

Zhang Yi, Zhao’s second-in-command, sees clouds raised by the advancing enemy. The two commanders prepare a surprise rather than meet the larger force in an open advance. Zhao takes his place at the main gate, spear levelled, while Zhang Yi positions archers and crossbowmen out of sight.

Cao Cao advances in person and sees Zhao standing alone. He urges his troops forward, but the sight gives them pause; they halt instead of immediately overwhelming the apparently exposed defender. Zhao uses that moment to give the signal. The concealed archers and crossbowmen fire, and the attack throws the advancing force into confusion. The stand at the gate is therefore both a physical defense and the visible bait in a plan that depends on hidden troops and timing.

Rout and consequences

The volley sends Cao Cao’s soldiers, Cao Cao among them, into retreat as Shu forces press the attack. Many of the Wei soldiers are lost; the supplies are destroyed, and the whole army withdraws toward Nanzheng in disarray. Zhao’s actions thus achieve the immediate objective of rescuing Huang and the larger objective of disrupting Cao Cao’s campaign by depriving his force of its supplies and forcing its retreat.

Xuande praises Zhao for his decisive actions. The victory does not end the fighting: news soon arrives that Cao Cao is advancing again toward the River Han, and command on the next front is shared between Xu Huang and Wang Ping. The episode closes, then, with a clear success but no lasting security. Its compact sequence—rescue, improvised deception, hidden fire, and enemy withdrawal—makes Zhao’s resolve effective because it is joined to Zhang Yi’s preparation and the camp’s defensive position.