Battle of Hefei

The Battle of Hefei is a failed campaign by Sun Quan against a city defended by Zhang Liao, and a sequence in which an aggressive assault gives way to a fatal misreading of an apparent opportunity. Sun Quan’s forces first suffer a near-capture during a direct attack; a subsequent scheme to enter Hefei with help from within is anticipated and reversed by Zhang Liao. The campaign ends in retreat, while Taishi Ci’s death makes the defeat costly beyond the lost opportunity to take the city.

Background and First Assault

Zhou Yu is recovering from a wound when Cheng Pu is sent to assist Sun Quan, who is besieging Hefei without success. Zhang Liao’s formal challenge is taken by Sun Quan as a personal insult. Rather than wait for Cheng Pu and the newly arrived troops to join him, Sun Quan chooses to fight with his own forces, splitting the available strength at a moment when the siege has not produced a breakthrough.

At the encounter, Zhang Liao drives directly toward Sun Quan. Taishi Ci rides to protect him, while another attack on Sun Quan nearly succeeds. The officers around Sun Quan hold off that threat, but Taishi Ci’s prolonged struggle with Zhang Liao does not settle the fighting in Sun Quan’s favor. When Taishi Ci withdraws, Zhang Liao presses forward and the southern army scatters. Sun Quan comes close to capture; only Cheng Pu’s timely intervention prevents Zhang Liao from taking him.

The Insider’s Plan

Zhang Liao returns to Hefei satisfied with its defense. Sun Quan withdraws and watches the defeated remnants of his army make their way back. His officers remonstrate with him, and he promises not to act so rashly again. The admonition sets a clear contrast with what follows: his next attempt to take the city relies not on another open challenge but on a covert plan whose success depends on trusting a signal from within.

Taishi Ci brings Sun Quan intelligence about a groom named Ge Ding. Ge Ding has a blood brother serving in Zhang Liao’s army, and that man resents what he considers unjust punishment. He is willing to kill Zhang Liao and signal once it is done, giving Sun Quan’s troops the cue to rush into the city. Sun Quan is delighted by the prospect and agrees to give Taishi Ci five thousand men for the operation. One adviser warns that the offer could be a trap, but Sun Quan dismisses the concern.

Zhang Liao Turns the Plot

The plan fails first because Zhang Liao expects a night attack. He orders his men to remain alert, explaining to them that an enemy assault is likely. Soon a fire breaks out and cries of an uprising are heard. Some officers take the disturbance as a genuine revolt, but Zhang Liao doubts that the whole city could suddenly have risen. He identifies the apparent unrest as an enemy scheme and sends his men to search for those responsible.

Ge Ding and his blood brother are quickly captured, and the nature of their plot is exposed. They are executed. The noise of war gongs and drums outside the gate then confirms Zhang Liao’s suspicion that the disturbance is part of a larger operation. Instead of simply securing the gate, he turns the attack’s expected signal against its makers: he orders a fire set beside the main gate, with cries of revolt, and has the gate opened to draw Taishi Ci’s force inside.

Seeing the fire and hearing the shouts, Taishi Ci believes the plan has succeeded and rushes into the city. The supposed opening becomes an ambush. The southern troops are driven back by the defenders, and the operation ends with heavy losses. Taishi Ci is seriously wounded; reinforcements from Sun Quan’s camp rescue him and save the surviving soldiers.

Retreat and Consequences

With the assault broken and the losses severe, Sun Quan has no practical option but to abandon the attack and return to his own territory. Hefei remains beyond his reach. The contrast between the two attempts defines the campaign: in the first, Sun Quan’s personal decision to fight without the newly arrived support exposes him to capture; in the second, confidence in an insider’s promise leads his troops into a trap prepared by a commander who has anticipated the night attack.

Taishi Ci dies of his wounds after the retreat, and Sun Quan adopts Taishi’s son, Taishi Heng. His death gives the failed campaign a lasting personal consequence, while the adoption links the aftermath to Sun Quan’s response to the loss. The episode presents Hefei not as a city won by a bold maneuver, but as the site of repeated reversals: a near-capture in open battle, followed by a covert plan whose signal Zhang Liao recognizes and turns around.