合肥之战 / Battle of Hefei (215)

Overview

合肥之战 / Battle of Hefei (215) is the source’s campaign in which 张辽 and 李典 use a small preemptive assault to disrupt 孙权’s much larger force before a failed siege of 合肥, then exploit a vulnerable withdrawal near Xiaoyao Ford.

Current Profile

While 曹操 campaigns against Zhang Lu in 215 CE, Sun Quan attacks Hefei. Cao Cao’s sealed instructions divide the garrison’s roles: Zhang Liao and Li Dian attack, 乐进 holds the city, and Xue Ti stays out of combat. Zhang Liao reads the relief delay and enemy assembly window as reasons to attack immediately rather than absorb the first blow behind the walls.

Zhang Liao and Li Dian reportedly lead eight hundred selected troops into the Wu camp. The action does not destroy the besieging army, but it changes expectations: Wu momentum weakens while the defenders gain confidence. Sun Quan later withdraws after unsuccessful assaults and epidemic pressure; Zhang Liao pursues through the resulting gap, nearly trapping the ruler before 谷利 helps him cross a damaged bridge and 贺齐 receives him.

Key Characteristics

• Asymmetric defense built around timing and morale rather than matching force totals.
• Delayed contingency order that assigns attack, defense, and nonparticipation roles before the crisis.
• Cooperation between Zhang Liao and Li Dian despite reported personal friction.
• Initial shock attack followed by fortress defense rather than continuous open battle.
• Withdrawal vulnerability that turns an unsuccessful siege into a near-capture of the attacking ruler.

Evidence

• Contingency and timing: Hanji 1154 gives Cao Cao’s sealed role assignment and Zhang Liao’s argument for striking before Wu concentration.
• Assault and morale shift: Hanji 1154 reports the eight-hundred-man attack, Zhang Liao’s penetration and return for trapped soldiers, Wu demoralization, and defender confidence.
• Siege and pursuit: Hanji 1154 links the failed siege and epidemic to withdrawal, then follows Zhang Liao’s pursuit and Sun Quan’s bridge escape.

Qualifications

This page records the supplied episode’s campaign synthesis rather than a complete adjudication of all accounts of Hefei or Xiaoyao Ford. Force totals, dialogue, order wording, casualties, illness, exact topography, and the long-term psychological effect on Sun Quan remain source-scoped.

What Changed

• Created a focused page for the 215 battle, distinct from the longer institutional history of late-Han Hefei.

Relationships

• 合肥 - fortified Jiang-Huai base under siege.
• 张辽 - attacking garrison commander and pursuit leader.
• 李典 - co-commander who places the defense above private friction.
• 孙权 - besieging ruler nearly trapped during withdrawal.
• 曹操 - absent commander whose contingency order structures the defense.
• 先制士气震慑 - tactical mechanism by which limited force changes both sides’ expectations.
• 战场信息控制 - broader relationship between action, perception, and battlefield choice.