Text: Knife and Pen (Author's Original Authorization)
Ding Feng was a member of Sun Wu's generals during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, and in the novel, Ding Feng can be said to have witnessed the rise and fall of various forces throughout the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, and can almost be seen in the major battles in which Sun Wu participated. Ding Feng appears in the thirty-eighth episode of the novel and is a warrior recruited by Sun Quan after he took charge of Eastern Wu. Before and after the Battle of Chibi, in the forty-ninth to fifty-first episodes of the novel, Ding Feng and Xu Sheng served together as Zhou Yu's bodyguards, participating in the Battle of Chibi and Sun Wu's campaign to conquer Nan County. In the campaign to conquer Nan County, Ding Feng served as the deputy general of Jiang Qin, the pioneer of Eastern Wu, and at the same time fought against the Cao Wei general Niu Jin, and successfully encircled Niu Jin with a fraudulent defeat. Liu Bei sneaked back to Jingzhou after Nanxu and Lady Sun were married, and Ding Feng and Xu Sheng intercepted them halfway on Zhou Yu's orders, but they were reprimanded by Lady Sun and did not dare to stop them. Before and after Sun Wu designed to capture Jingzhou, that is, the seventy-fifth to seventy-sixth time in the novel, Ding Feng and the other six Eastern Wu generals (Han Dang, Jiang Qin, Zhu Ran, Pan Zhang, Zhou Tai, Xu Sheng, and Ding Feng ranked last) were transferred by Lü Meng to the Jingxiang battlefield to participate in the siege of Guan Yu. At the Battle of Yiling, Ding Feng once again partnered with Xu Sheng and served as Lu Xun's bodyguard and participated in the battle against Shu. Lu Xun burned the camp to defeat the Shu army, and Ding Feng besieged and tried to persuade Fu Tong to surrender the Shu army, but without success.
In the eighty-sixth time of the novel, Cao Pi is angry because Of Wu Shu has once again allied with Wu Shu, and Ding Feng's early partner Xu Sheng has become sun Wu's general, while Ding Feng is still obeying orders before the battle. However, in this battle, Ding Feng, under Xu Sheng's arrangement, raided Cao Pi and shot the Cao Wei general Zhang Liao (later Zhang Liao also died of arrow sores) in the melee, and achieved dazzling results.
The plot of Ding Feng depicted above is basically fictionalized by the novel, and historically, the record of Ding Feng's early activities is very brief, only describing his "less Xiao Yong as a young general, belonging to Gan Ning, Lu Xun, Pan Zhang, and so on." The number follows the conquest, and the battle is often championed. Although the historical record of Ding Feng's early performance is relatively brief, it can be generally seen that Ding Feng often followed the main generals of Eastern Wu in his early years and fought bravely. In the author's opinion, the novel is probably designed for Ding Feng to play such as wrapping around niu jin and shooting Zhang Liao.
Ding Feng's highlight was the defeat of the Wei army at the Battle of Dongxing. In the novel, the background of the Battle of Dongxing is that Cao Wei deceived the Wu lord Sun Quanxin to die, and raised an army to attack, Sun Wu Taifu Zhuge Ke rushed to the aid, and Ding Feng, who was then the general of Sun Wu Pingbei, pointed out that Dongxing was the most important, and when he took the lead in rescue, Zhuge Ke and Ding Feng agreed with Ding Feng's views, so he ordered Ding Feng to lead three thousand sailors to Dongxing. When Ding Feng arrived in Dongxing, when it was in the midst of severe cold and heavy snow, the Wei army was setting up a high meeting in the camp, and Ding Feng ordered his subordinates to take off their armor, remove their helmets, and use the euphorbia with long guns and only short knives to meet the Wei army. When Wei Jun saw that Ding Feng had few soldiers, he acted in this way, and he was even more unimpressed. However, Ding Feng's forces were like a bamboo, and finally the wei army that was light enemies was defeated, and Sun Wu won a complete victory. In this battle, Ding Feng sacrificed himself to charge the front first, killing the Wei generals Han Zong and Huan Jia, and was unstoppable. The above is the wonderful plot of Ding Feng's "Short Soldier in the Snow". Historically, there are also records of the story of "short soldiers in the snow", and the plot depicted in the novel is generally consistent with the historical record.[1]
There are two details, the historical record and the novel depict differently, one is the pre-war situation, the novel focuses on zhuge Ke's overall dispatch, and the historical record shows Ding Feng's unique insight.
According to the "Biography of Ding Feng of the Three Kingdoms", in the face of the Wei army, all the generals of Sun Wu believed that the Wei army was bluffing, and if they heard that Zhuge Ke personally led his troops to meet the battle, they would definitely withdraw after the Wu army landed. However, Ding Feng pointed out that the Wei army must have a plan to come with troops from the country, and it will not return empty-handed, and the Wu army cannot hope that the Wei army will take the initiative to retreat, but will seek fighters to find ways to defeat the Wei army. After the Wu army landed, Ding Feng also pointed out that now the various armies were slow to move, and if the enemy occupied favorable terrain, it would be difficult to win, so Ding Feng alone avoided the marching route of the large army and led three thousand people to march alone. Compared with the pre-war planning of the novel based on Zhuge Ke's unified dispatch, the details recorded in history are more able to show Ding Feng's keen judgment of war as a General Sun Wusu.
Second, history records that although the Wei generals Han Zong and Huan Jia were also killed at the Battle of Dongxing,[2] it is not stated that they were killed by Ding Feng.
Another major thing Ding Feng did in his later years was to assist Sun Xiu in killing Sun Wu's powerful minister Sun Qi, which made sun Wu's political situation in the later period of Sun Wu stable for a period of time. In the later period of Sun Wu, the situation in the dynasty was turbulent, first Zhuge Ke arbitrarily monopolized power, and then was killed by Sun Jun, the emperor of Sun Wu, and after Sun Jun killed Zhuge Ke, he still monopolized the government. After Sun Jun's death, his younger brother Sun Qiang (孙綝) assisted the government, and Sun Qiang was raped, and once deposed the Wu lord Sun Liang and established Sun Xiu as emperor. In the novel, after Sun Xiu succeeded to the throne, he "showed favor to Sun Qi, and defended himself internally", and after consulting with Zhang Bu to get rid of Sun Qi, Zhang Bu recommended Ding Feng to participate together. Ding Feng then advised Sun Xiu not to confront Sun Qiu head-on, but to capture Sun Xiu on the occasion of the assembly of his courtiers. Under the proper planning of Zhang Bu and Ding Feng, Sun Qiang was ambushed, and Sun Wu's regime was stabilized. Historically, Ding Feng did participate in the murder of Sun Qi, and the details of the actions in the novel are also recorded in history.[3]
Ding Feng appeared more frequently in the late Sun Wu period, in addition to the several battles depicted in the novel, in history, Ding Feng also participated in the battle to receive and rescue the Wei generals Wen Qin and Zhuge Zhi to surrender to Wu, and made many military achievements. But overall, Ding Feng's reputation is still not as loud as the early Sun Wu mingjian. In the author's opinion, this is probably because Ding Feng's highlight moment is already the end of the Three Kingdoms, and the famous figures of all parties have withered away, which makes Ding Feng, who has been lonely and nameless before, gradually become prominent. However, When Zhang Bu recommended Ding Feng to Sun Xiu, he pointed out that Ding Feng's shortcomings were that he "could not write a book", and that Ding Feng was "gradually arrogant" in his later years because of his "noble and meritorious service", and he was even more powerless to restore Sun Wu's decline in the Western Mountains.
[1] Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms Ding Fengchuan: "Wei sent Zhuge Zhi and Hu Zun to attack Dongxing, but Zhuge Ke led an army to refuse. All the generals knew: 'The enemy has heard that the enemy is too fu to come, and when he comes ashore, he will flee.' Bong Du said: "Not so." If he moves his territory, and the Si Xu and Luo Bing come in a big way, there will be a rule, is it not vain? If there is no enemy, there is no victory. And he went ashore with the generals Tang Zhi, Lü Zhao, Liu Zan, and so on, all from Shanxi. Feng Said: "Now that the armies are late, if the enemy is on the spot, it will be difficult to fight with them." 'But the armies sent down the road, and the commander marched with three thousand men. When the north wind, Feng Raised Sail for two days, so Xu Tang. It was cold and snowy, and the enemy generals held a high meeting of wine, and when they saw that there were few soldiers in front of them, they said: "The reward of the marquis is today!" 'But to make the soldiers unarmored and short. The enemy thus laughs, not for the equipment. The arsonists were slashed and the enemy's front bunker was destroyed. After waiting for the meeting, the Wei army collapsed. He destroyed general Kou and entered the capital (亭) [township] Hou. ”
[2] Zizhi Tongjian: "In December (Jiaping 4th year), Wang Chang attacked Nan Commandery, Wuqiu Jian went to Wuchang, and Hu Zun and Zhuge Shi led a crowd of 70,000 people to attack Dongxing. Jia Yin, Wu Taifu Ke general 40,000 troops, morning and night, to save Dongxing... When Wu Bing got up, he made a noise and broke through Wei Qiantun and Lü Zhao. The Wei army scattered in shock, scrambling to cross the pontoon bridge, the bridge was broken, throwing itself into the water, and even more so. The former governor Han Zong, Le An Tai Shou Huan Jia, etc. were all absent, and tens of thousands of people died. ”
[3] The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms Ding Fengchuan: "When Sun Xiu ascended the throne, he conspired with Zhang Bu to curse Sun Qi, and Bu Yue said: 'Although Ding Feng cannot write a book, but he is superior to others and can judge major matters.'" Hugh summoned the message: "Qiu Bingguo will do something wrong, and he wants to curse the general." Feng Yue said: "The brotherhood and friendship party is very strong, and the fear of people's hearts is different, and it cannot be controlled, but because of the Lahui, there are his majesty's soldiers to rebuke it." 'Hugh Naqi's plan, because he will ask for a rope, will be cut off with Zhang Bumu left and right. Move the general and protect the left and right capitals. ”