In the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), Sun Quan's second western expedition against Huang zu, not wanting his mother Lady Wu to be critically ill, urgently summoned Zhang Zhao and others, and asked him to die after the incident.
After Lady Wu's death, she was buried with her husband Sun Jian in Qingyangdi outside the Panmen Gate in present-day Suzhou, commonly known as the "Tomb of Sun Wang".
After Sun Quan declared the emperor to establish the state of Wu, he changed Sun Jian's "tomb" to "Mausoleum" and "Gaoling", and posthumously honored his father Sun Jian as Emperor Wulie and his mother Lady Wu as Empress Wulie.
Due to the death of his mother, Sun Quan had to temporarily abandon the attack on Huang Zu, and after capturing some of the people, withdrew his army and returned to Wu County.
In the spring of the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Sun Quan made the third western expedition to Huangzu.
Huang Zu stayed behind in Jiangxia, with Zhang Shuo as the vanguard and Chen as the leader of the fleet to meet Sun Quan.
Before the war, Zhang Shuo led his troops to reconnoiter the riverbank in a large boat, but was discovered by Ling Tong, who was also reconnaissance.
Ling Tong (189–237), courtesy name Gongjie, was a native of Yuhang, Wu Commandery (present-day Yuhang, Zhejiang), son of Ling Cao, and one of the Twelve Tiger Ministers of Jiangbiao.
Ling Tong became famous as a teenager and had the style of a national soldier.
When Gan Ning shot Ling Cao, Ling Tong was only fifteen years old, but his ability was affirmed by everyone, and most people around him praised him.
Ling Cao died in battle for the country, and Sun Quan used this to worship Ling Tong as a sima of another department, and to be a lieutenant of the thief and command the old department on behalf of his father.
In the eleventh year of Jian'an (206), Sun Quan attacked Matun and Baotun (both in present-day Jiayu County, Hubei), where mountain thieves were seized, and Ling Tong accompanied the army to conquest.
Sun Quan first attacked Baotun and then returned to besiege Matun, which was defended by more than 10,000 people, and ordered Ling Tong and the governor Zhang Yi and others to besiege the city and attack on a day.
Before the siege, Ling Tong and the governor Chen Qin gathered to drink.
Chen Qin was a very brutal and vulgar person, bullying the soldiers present with his strength, and punishing alcohol was not in accordance with the rules.
Ling Tong did not like it, and when confronted in the face, Chen Qin scolded Ling Tong and his father Ling Cao.
Ling Tong thought of his father, tearful and silent.
Everyone saw that the atmosphere was awkward, so they scattered and left.
Chen Qin was drunk, still making a fuss while drinking, and insulting Ling Tong on the road.
Ling Tong couldn't bear it anymore and took a knife and slashed Chen Qin, but he didn't expect that in a few days, Chen Qin's life was whimpering.
When it came time to attack Ma Tun, Ling Tong said, "I don't die in battle, and I can't apologize." "Inspire the soldiers to attack with swords and arrows, and wherever they go, the enemy will collapse when they touch them."
The rest of Sun Quan's army took advantage of the victory and marched into the army, defeating the enemy.
After returning from the battle, Ling Tong turned himself in to the Military Justice Department and asked for his crime of killing Chen Qin without permission.
Sun Quan praised him for his bravery in battle, atonement for his sins, and did not pursue him.
When Ling Tong encountered Zhang Shuo, he was in a small boat, and there were only dozens of warriors around him, if he rushed to attack Zhang Shuo's large ship, it was tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg.
He made a clever move, disguised as Zhang Shuo's pawn, and under the cover of night, quietly boarded Zhang Shuo's big ship, suddenly launched a surprise attack, killed Zhang Shuo, and captured all the sailors on board.
Huang Zu blocked the mouth of the river with two long, narrow Mengchong warships wrapped in raw cowhide, and tied the boulders with thick brown ropes as pillars to secure the hull.
There were a thousand men on board, firing crossbows in turn outwards, and the arrows rained down, and Sun Quan's army could not come forward.
As the vanguard, Ling Tong and the partial general Dong Raiders each led a hundred death squads, each wearing two pairs of armor, and took a large boat to break into Huang Zu's Mengchong warship.
Dong Xun drew his knife and cut two brown ropes, and Meng Chong's warship floated across the water, so that Sun Quan's army could advance.
Huang Zu ordered the governor Chen to lead the water army to meet the battle.
Sun Quanbu commanded Lü Meng, the governor of Pingbei, to lead the front, personally decapitated Chen's head and hung it for public display.
Taking advantage of the victory, the generals of the Wu army pursued them simultaneously, approaching Xiakou City (in present-day Hanyang District, Wuhan, Hubei), dispatching all elite troops to attack fiercely, and after the fall, they slaughtered on a large scale.
Huang Zu broke through and fled, and was chased and killed.
The Wu army captured tens of thousands of men and women.
The next day, Sun Quan held a feast to celebrate the victory with the generals.
He personally toasted to Dong Xi and said, "The reason why you were able to hold this celebration banquet today is because of your ability to cut the brown rope with two knives." ”
Before Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu, he made two wooden boxes in advance, intending to hold the heads of Huang Zu and Su Fei.
Su Fei sent someone to ask Gan Ning for help.
Gan Ning said, "Even if Su Fei doesn't say it, how can I forget his kindness to me in the past?" ”
Therefore, at the celebration banquet, Gan Ning stepped down from his seat, crying and kowtowing to Sun Quan, and his head was broken and bleeding, and the blood and tears flowed together.
He described to Sun Quan about Su Fei's kindness to him in the past, saying, "If I hadn't met Su Fei, I would have been dead and could not have served your subordinates. Now, Su Fei's sins should have been executed, but I still specifically begged the general to spare his life. ”
Sun Quan was touched by Gan Ning's words and said, "Now that you have released him, what if he escapes?" ”
Gan Ning said, "Su Fei can avoid the scourge of beheading, and he has received the great favor of your rebirth, and he will not leave, so how could he plan to escape?" If he did run away, I would put him in a wooden box instead of my Ganning head. ”
Sun Quan then granted Su Fei an unforgiving order.
Ling Tong resented Gan Ning for killing his father Ling Cao, and often planned to kill Gan Ning.
Gan Ning was also wary of Ling Tong at every turn and tried to avoid meeting him.
Sun Quan knew of their vendetta and ordered Ling Tong to put the overall situation first and not to seek revenge on Gan Ning.
Despite this, Ling Tong still had a hard time remembering the revenge of killing his father.
And the two are officials of the same dynasty, and it is impossible for them not to have any intersection.
Once, the two met at a banquet at Lu Meng's family, and they met on a narrow road.
Drunk, Ling Tong danced with a knife, intending to get close to Gan Ning and take the opportunity to kill him.
Not to be outdone, Gan Ning said, "I can dance with a double halberd." ”
Lu Meng saw that the situation was not right, and said, "Although you are all good, you are not as skillful as my dance." ”
So he separated them with a sword and a shield, avoiding a fight.
Sun Quan was rewarded, knowing that Ling Tong still remembered the revenge of killing his father, so he asked Gan Ning to lead an army to Banzhou (半州, in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi) to garrison and separate the two.