He also played a significant role in the defence of Hefei during the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford of 214–215 against the forces of Sun Quan.
His uncle, Li Qian (李乾), was an influential man in the region and had thousands of retainers working under him in Chengshi County (乘氏縣; east of present-day Heze, Shandong).
[2] During the Chuping era (190–193) in the reign of Emperor Xian of the Eastern Han dynasty, Li Qian and Li Dian led their followers to assist the warlord Cao Cao in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion and they defeated the rebels at Shouzhang County (壽張縣; south of present-day Dongping County, Shandong).
However, Li Dian gathered his men and told them, "Gao Fan's troops are lightly armoured and they block the water route.
[8] In 204, after the Battle of Ye against Yuan Shang's forces, Cao Cao sent Li Dian and Yue Jin to attack Yuan Shang's cousin and ally, Gao Gan, at Hu Pass (壺關; present-day Huguan County, Shanxi).
Li Dian defeated Guan Cheng (管承) at Changguang County (長廣縣; east of present-day Laiyang, Shandong), and was promoted to General Who Captures Barbarians (捕虜將軍) and made a Marquis of a Chief Village (都亭侯) for his achievements.
When Xiahou Dun wanted to pursue Liu Bei, Li Dian cautioned him, "There must be an ambush because the enemy is retreating for no reason.
[10] Li Dian had over 3,000 families in his clansmen and close followers, all of whom lived in Chengshi County (乘氏縣; east of present-day Heze, Shandong).
Li Dian's clansmen and close followers were then relocated to Ye (鄴; in present-day Handan, Hebei).
Around 214, when Sun Quan led his forces to attack Hefei, Zhang Liao wanted to lead their troops out of the city to resist the enemy.
So he's actually instructing us to take advantage of the situation, when the enemy has just arrived and not fully gathered yet, to attack them and devastate their morale so as to calm our men and strengthen our defences.
Zhang Liao, Li Dian and Yue Jin then worked together and succeeded in defeating and driving away Sun Quan's much larger army.
[19] Li Dian is first introduced as a playable character in the eighth instalment of Koei's Dynasty Warriors video game series.