[Lightscreen]
[Eight hundred men. One objective: Eternal Glory.
Zhang Liao chose a tactical doctrine perfected by his old friend, Guan Yu:
The Spearhead Charge.
Ignore the infantry. Ignore the formations. Find the enemy commander and end the war before breakfast!]
"Wenyuan is truly decisive!" Guan Yu struck his palm in praise.
As generals Guan Yu, could analyze a battlefield and identify the key points, but after analysis, the ability to act without hesitation and execute without wavering was something many armchair commanders simply did not possess.
Just like when he himself slew Yan Liang, the opportunity had been fleeting. Even the slightest hesitation would have changed the entire course of the battle.
The others were equally stirred.
Eight hundred men, truly?
Then they thought of Guan Yu charging into formation to behead Yan Liang, and their hearts surged again.
Was this truly what it meant to be an unmatched fierce general?
[Lightscreen]
[Zhang Liao had already selected his dare-to-die men, so what about Sun Quan?
Sun Quan indeed was not prepared, but the rumors that he personally went to the walls of Hefei to watch the spectacle were clearly exaggerated.
First, Zhang Liao chose the perfect timing.
"At dawn, Liao donned armor, held his halberd, and was the first to ascend and break the enemy formation."
"Dawn" here refers to roughly between 3 to 5 in the morning, just as the sky begins to brighten.
The Records of Pan Zhang also state: "Zhang Liao suddenly arrived, and the generals were unprepared."
So the first advantage was timing, striking when the enemy least expected it.]
"The relief of Baima was also when Wenyuan and I charged together to break the enemy!" Guan Yu spoke with a trace of nostalgia.
"At that time, Cao Cao sent the two of us as the vanguard, with Xu Huang as reinforcement. Wenyuan likewise charged bravely into the enemy ranks, unmatched among ten thousand!"
"But the one who killed Yan Liang was still Second Brother!" Zhang Fei said sourly.
"And at Baima, Yan Liang had elite troops from Hebei properly deployed. Second Brother charged in, took his head, and returned."
"This Zhang Liao at Hefei is launching a surprise attack! And how could Jiangdong private troops compare to the elite soldiers of Hebei?"
Guan Yu laughed and patted Zhang Fei's arm.
"All cannot compare to your fame at Changban Bridge, Yide."
[Lightscreen]
[But what follows in the records shows the sheer difference in troop quality between the two sides.
Zhang Liao and Li Dian led their forces straight into the vanguard. Chen Wu, one of Jiangdong's Tiger Ministers, was slain on the spot, and the Wu front line collapsed into chaos.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Liao followed the routed troops and broke into the central army.
Only when Sun Quan climbed onto a small hill did he realize how few men Zhang Liao actually had, and he immediately ordered an encirclement.
But the difference in troop quality was too great.
Zhang Liao broke out with no one able to stop him.
Even after breaking out, upon hearing that some of his personal guards were still trapped inside, he turned back, fought his way in again, rescued them, and returned to Hefei.
According to Zhang Liao's biography, this battle lasted from dawn until noon.
A small force moved freely within the Wu army, and all the soldiers in Hefei were filled with admiration, while the Wu camp was struck with terror to the core.]
"Such courage!" Guan Yu praised loudly, then slapped his thigh.
"What a pity!"
"A pity that only one Chen Wu was slain!"
The generals all turned to look at him.
General Guan, you cannot compare others to yourself. Eight hundred against one hundred thousand and still killing one of Jiangdong's Tiger Ministers is already outrageous.
Charging into an enemy a hundred times stronger and still returning victorious was almost dreamlike.
Like ants shaking a great tree, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
"Zhang Liao's voice must not have been loud enough," Zhang Fei criticized.
"If he had my voice, causing the front ranks to crash into the central army, Sun Quan might have been trampled to death in the chaos."
Everyone imagined it, then shook their heads.
If the ruler of Jiangdong died like that, it would be far too humiliating.
Still, they all understood one thing clearly.
That was impossible.
Huang Zhong said, "Sun Quan usually keeps a Tiger Guard unit at his side. They are elite veterans, Jiangdong's imperial guards. With them protecting him, Zhang Liao could not easily reach Sun Quan."
Jiang Wan reminded, "But the light screen has been mentioning Xiaoyao Ford."
[From this point on, although the Wu army still surrounded Hefei, none of them had the will to fight.
After more than ten days of going through the motions, Sun Quan hastily withdrew.
As for the pursuit at Xiaoyao Ford, Zhang Liao's biography modestly states only:
"Liao led the army in pursuit and nearly captured Quan."
To understand the full situation, one must look at Wu records.
After besieging Hefei for many days, disease broke out in the Wu camp, further lowering morale.
To prevent another sudden attack from Zhang Liao that might trigger a full camp collapse, Sun Quan made what he believed to be the correct decision:
The main army would withdraw first, while he himself remained behind with over a thousand Tiger Guards and a group of veteran Jiangdong officials as the rear guard.]
"This decision was actually correct," the generals discussed.
"If the army withdrew in the standard front, middle, and rear formation, and Hefei's defenders launched a full sortie, it could easily trigger a camp-wide collapse, causing the rear to crush the entire army into rout."
Then everyone could not help but sigh again.
Jiangdong's soldiers were truly lacking.
Facing a strong enemy, they could not hold themselves together.
Their morale collapsed and could not be restored.
After only a dozen days of siege, they withdrew hastily.
Was this even war?
[Zhang Liao's pursuit arrived in an instant.
He led his troops directly into Sun Quan's face and shattered his confidence on the spot.
At Hefei, Sun Quan could still comfort himself that he had been caught unprepared.
But this time, both sides were facing each other head-on with thousands of troops. What was the result?
Even with Gan Ning, Jiang Qin, and Lü Meng engaging Zhang Liao, Ling Tong was still severely wounded while protecting Sun Quan, and all three hundred of his personal guards were killed in battle.
Jiangdong's elite Tiger Guards fought fearlessly to buy Sun Quan a slim chance of survival.
At the critical moment, the bridge at Xiaoyao Ford collapsed, trapping Sun Quan.
It was only thanks to his attendant Gu Li, who whipped the horse forward desperately, that the horse leapt across the gap carrying Sun Quan to safety.
After finally reaching his command ship, ruler and ministers embraced and wept.
The eight hundred-man assault shattered Wu's morale.
The battle at Xiaoyao Ford crushed the confidence of Wu's leadership.
From then on, Sun Quan attacked Hefei at least four more times, but each time returned without success.
Until his death, he never again laid eyes on Shouchun beyond Hefei.]
The generals fell silent.
Zhang Fei let out a laugh.
"Isn't Zhang Liao just bullying Jiangdong soldiers for being weak?"
"If it were us leading one hundred thousand troops, and Zhang Wenyuan dared to pursue during our retreat, I, Zhang Fei, would take his surname!"
Huang Zhong could not help but feel embarrassed.
He had just said Sun Quan had elite Tiger Guards, yet in the blink of an eye, even Jiangdong's top troops were proven to be mediocre.
"General Huang need not mind," Guan Yu said thoughtfully.
"Wenyuan's bravery is rare in this age."
"Jiangdong's Tiger Ministers have not endured hard battles. They mostly fight mountain tribes and local clans, so naturally they cannot compare to Wenyuan's personal troops."
Huang Zhong cupped his hands without speaking, but inwardly resolved one thing.
He must never allow the Jing Province troops under him to become like Jiangdong's soldiers.
Could fighting mountain tribes even be considered real war?
When facing northern armies like these…
What was that phrase from the light screen again?
A breeding ground of the strong.
If one took pride merely in suppressing mountain tribes, then against such opponents, defeat like Sun Quan's would be inevitable.
This must be remembered as a warning.
[Even today, Xiaoyao Ford has a site called Hidden Boat Cove.
The Essentials of Historical Geography records: "When Zhang Liao resisted Sun Quan, he carved this place to conceal warships."
From this, it can be seen that the broken bridge at Xiaoyao Ford was in fact destroyed by Zhang Liao himself.
This force had already been lying in wait before Sun Quan even arrived.
This was a great general who, even when at a disadvantage, precisely grasped the situation, seized the single opportunity, and achieved a feat that would echo through the ages.
It was not simply that Sun Quan had bad luck.
In this battle, whether in courage or strategy, Jiangdong lost completely.
The Weilue records: "His might shook Jiangdong. For years afterward, in the lands of Wu, when a child refused to stop crying, parents needed only whisper a single name:
'Be quiet… or Zhang Liao will come.'
And the crying would stop instantly"]
[Server Chat Log]
[ The_Executioner : "Sun Quan: 'Why do I hear boss music at 4 AM?'" ]
[ Grandmaster_99 : "Zhang Liao: 'Spawn camping is a legitimate strategy.'" ]
[ Record_Keeper : "Chen Wu has left the chat. (Permanent)" ]
[ Cynical_Sword : "Sun Quan's 'Tiger Guards' are actually just very large housecats." ]
[ Blind_Storyteller_Jin : "Narrator: 'Zhang Liao didn't just break their formation—he broke their souls.'" ]
[ Ghost_of_Xiaoyao_Ford : "Achievement Unlocked: Go to Hell and Back (Literally)." ]