Twelve famous generals of Eastern Wu are recorded in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Book of Wu, generally known as the "Twelve Tiger Ministers of Jiangbiao". One of the characters may not be unfamiliar to many people, that is, Ling Tong. In the view of the editor, Ling Tong is a relatively perfect general in all aspects, and the historical evaluation is "the style of a national soldier". Ling Tong once fought desperately on the battlefield to protect Sun Quan's safe retreat. It also played prominently in many battles. Unfortunately, Ling Tong died young, and there was no chance of more performance. After Ling Tong's death, his two sons were also adopted by Sun Quan to repay Ling Tong's credit. The following small editor will introduce this character.
First of all, a brief introduction to Ling Tong's origin and life deeds. Ling Tong is a native of Jiangdong, a native of Yuhang County, Wu County, and is very close to Fuchun County, where Sun is located. Ling Tong's father, Ling Cao, was a local ranger, and when Sun Ce was ordered by Yuan Shu to cross the river to attack Jiangdong, Ling Cao followed Sun Ce from birth to death, and was appointed as a lieutenant of the Thief School because of the merits of Pingyue Mountain. Later, during the period when Sun Quan led the army, in the eighth year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty (that is, in 203 AD), Sun Quan sent troops to attack Huang Zu, who was placed by Liu Biao, and in this battle, he broke Huang Zu's water army and Pursued Huang Zu, only to be shot by Gan Ning, who was not used by Huang Zu' subordinates.
In the early days of the Jiangdong Clique, it was clear that interests were used to maintain internal ties, or this situation was common to other forces. After Ling Cao's death in battle, Ling Tong continued to be appointed by Sun Quan as a lieutenant of the other sima line to inherit Ling Cao's army. Sun Quan's period of keeping his career and starting a business was a period of great achievements, and Ling Tong also left a lot of handwriting on the merit book. The attacks on Ma, Bao'ertun, the Battle of Chukou, the Battle of Chibi, the Battle of Nan County, the Battle of Anhui City, the capture of the three counties of Jingnan, and the second Battle of Hefei were all represented in important battles, and the specific deeds will be mentioned below.
Ling Tong's last military contribution was the war against Jiangdong Shanyue. The Shanyue forces have always been a headache for Sun Ce, Sun Quan, and even the rulers behind them, and many Shanyue forces not only disobeyed Sun's rule, but repeatedly rebelled. However, in the war with Yamaetsu, the Sun clan often received a large number of troops. Ling Tong was like this, he thought that Shan Yue was fierce and martial, and he could absorb them together. Sun Quan then ordered Ling Tong to requisition and absorb Shanyue, and the required materials could be taken first and played later. Because Ling Tong had good hopes, he basically did not use any means of war, and recruited tens of thousands of soldiers. However, just when Ling Tong wanted to go back to make an errand, he suddenly fell seriously ill and died, leaving Ling Lie and Ling Feng's two sons.
Ling Tong's credit is great, not to mention that in the second "Battle of Hefei", it can almost be said that he saved Sun Quan's life. Whether it is sincere regret or buying bones with thousands of dollars, Sun Quan must make an attitude. As a result, Ling Tong's two orphans were adopted by Sun Quan, who studied and rode horses to cultivate their ability, and treated them like Sun Quan's parents. Ling Lie was given the title of Marquis of Ting by Sun Quan and inherited Ling's army. Later, Ling Lie was convicted and dismissed from office, and Ling Fengxian led the troops. It can be said that the relationship between Sun Quan and Ling Tong can also be regarded as the grand track of the monarch.
As mentioned above, Ling Tong participated in so many battles, but many of them were mentioned in one stroke and were not recorded in too detail, so Xiaobian will not repeat them. The more well-documented ones are the attacks on Ma, Bao'ertun, the "Battle of Koukou" and the Second "Battle of Hefei".
Attack Ma and Bao Ertun
Ma and Bao'ertun were a relatively stubborn enemy of the Jiangdong Clique in the early stages. The mainstream view is that Ma and Bao'ertun are in the Jiangxia area, but this statement has also been questioned. Xiao Bian personally believes that Ma and Bao'ertun should still be a relatively powerful Shanyue force in Jiangdong. During Sun Ce's time, Sun Ce and Tai Shi Ci attacked Ma and Bao Ertun once, but it seems that they did not make much breakthrough. At least during the Sun Quan period, Ma and Bao'ertun still existed.
Ling Tong once followed Sun Quan to attack Ma and Bao'ertun, and Sun Quan successfully attacked Baotun, but the remaining Matun did not fight back, leaving the governor Zhang Yi to continue to besiege Matun. At this time, Ling Tong and DuDu Chen Qin were unhappy. At the wine table, Chen Qin insulted Ling Tong and others, and was bumped by Ling Tong, so he insulted Ling Tong, and the words involved Ling Cao. When it was time to get on the road, Chen Qin insulted Ling Tong again, and Ling Tong killed Chen Qin in anger. By the time it came time to attack Ma Tun, Ling Tong already had the will to die, and personally attacked Ma Tun with arrows, and finally broke Ma Tun. After the triumph, Ling Tong went to Junzheng to collect the guilt, but Sun Quanyuan did not ask. This was probably a battle in which Ling Tong's military talents came to the fore.
"Battle of Tsukiguchi"
Jiangxia Taishou Huangzu was also an old rival of the Sun clan. When Sun Jian was still attached to Yuan Shu, he was shot and killed by Huang Zu; later, both Sun Ce and Sun Quan needed to move west to eliminate Huang Zu before they could expand to Jingzhou or even Yizhou. Sun Ce and Sun Quan also fought against Huang Zu several times. In the thirteenth year of Jian'an (that is, in 208 AD), the "Battle of Qiukou" was the final decisive battle between Sun Quan and Huang Zu.
In this battle, Ling Tong's performance was more active. Ling Tong, as the forward of the Jiangdong water army, often took a boat with his close associate Jian Er and launched a surprise attack on Huang Zu's water army, killing and killing the enemy general Zhang Shuo and capturing the enemy ship. In the "Battle of Qiukou", Lü Meng led an army to defeat Huang Zu's water governor Chen Yu, Ling Tong, Dong Xun and others led elite soldiers to attack the city, Huang Zu fled out of the city, and was pursued and killed by the knight Feng Ze. The Jiangdong clique won a complete victory in the "Battle of Koukou".
The Second "Battle of Hefei"
The second "Battle of Hefei" took place in the twentieth year of Jian'an (that is, 215 AD), which was a relatively famous battle in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, and the nicknames "Zhang Eight Hundred" and "Sun Hundred Thousand" were derived from this battle. At that time, Cao Cao was leading an army to attack Hanzhong, and Sun Quan launched a large army, claiming to be 100,000 to attack Hefei. At that time, the hefei garrison was only 7,000 people, and the situation was very critical. However, the Hefei defenders calmly responded, and Zhang Liao raided the Jiangdong army with eight hundred dead soldiers, thwarting the morale of Jiangdong. Then the isolated city of Hefei lasted for more than ten days under the siege of Sun Quan, and finally Sun Quan decided to withdraw his army.
At the time of retreat, most of the jiangdong clique's army crossed Xiaoyaojin, and only Sun Quan, Gan Ning, Lü Meng, Jiang Qin, Ling Tong, and others remained in xiaoyaojinbei. At this time, Zhang Liao once again killed and ran, posing a huge threat to Sun Quan himself. Ling Tong and others desperately defended Sun Quan to the Xiaoyaojin Bridge, which had been destroyed. Sun Quan approached Gu Li and urged his horse to help Sun Quan cross the bridge, and Ling Tong led three hundred people to delay the time after the break, almost the entire army was destroyed, and he himself was injured, and when Sun Quan escaped from danger, he swam back from the water in armor.
In the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wushu Ling Tong, it is recorded that Ling Tong's death year was forty-nine years old. Although it is regrettable to look at it in this way, it cannot be said that he died young. However, the year of death recorded in the Ling Tong Biography is controversial and most likely wrong. This point is clearly discussed in the "Collection of Romances of the Three Kingdoms".
The Qing Dynasty scholar Chen Jingyun had a more credible judgment on Ling Tong's death year. Ling Tong's father, Ling Cao, died in Jian'an eight years ago, when Ling Tong was fifteen years old. If Ling Tong died at the age of forty-nine, then the time was about the time during the Eastern Wu Chiwu period, which was already in the middle and late stages of Sun Quan's rule over Eastern Wu, and the situation of the Three Kingdoms was also quite stable. The last battle clearly recorded in the "Biography of Ling Tong" was the second "Battle of Hefei", from the last year of Jian'an to the early year of Chiwu, Ling Tong had no reason to leave no record at all. In addition, it is recorded in the "Biography of Luo Tong" that after Ling Tong's death, Luo Tong once inherited Ling Tong's army. Later, Luo Tong participated in the "Battle of Yiling", Cao Pi's three-way attack on Wu, and so on. The time is significantly earlier than the Chiwu period. It can be seen that the record in the "Biography of Ling Tong" is wrong, and ling tong's death year should be more reasonable at the age of twenty-nine.
Reference: "Three Kingdoms Collection"