Ling Tong (pronunciationⓘ) (189–217),[a] courtesy name Gongji, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
Ling Tong was more than just a military serviceman – he received high praise from the scholar-gentry for his gracious demeanour, bonhomie and generosity.
In 203, Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu, the Administrator of Jiangxia Commandery (江夏郡; around present-day Xinzhou District, Wuhan, Hubei).
During the ensuing Battle of Xiakou, Ling Cao sailed alone a distance ahead on a small boat to infiltrate the enemy formation.
Ling Cao was killed in the midst of battle by a stray arrow fired by Huang Zu's subordinate, Gan Ning.
Sun Quan was impressed with Ling Tong's strong determination and pardoned him for insubordination in consideration of his contributions.
[11] In 208, Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu at Jiangxia Commandery (江夏郡; around present-day Xinzhou District, Wuhan, Hubei) again.
[12] Knowing that Zhang Shuo had been slain and that the first line of defence had been broken, Huang Zu scuttled two of his largest mengchongs to block the entrance at the chokepoint of the Mian River, and sent his crossbowmen to station themselves there to fire at any approaching enemy forces.
In addition, Huang Zu had strong men and archers ambushed on top of the cliff next to the river to throw down rocks and flaming debris.
Ling Tong and Dong Xi, along with 100 "commandos", donned two layers of armour each and charged towards the enemy despite the rain of rocks and arrows from the cliff and the fusillade from the vessels.
Furthermore, the destruction of the mengchongs actuated Sun Quan forces' fighting spirit, and they emerged victorious in the next battle, in which Lü Meng defeated Huang Zu's navy while Ling Tong, Dong Xi and others conquered Jiangxia and massacred its population.
[17][18] Ling Tong was left alone to engage the enemy in battle for about ten days under numerical disadvantage, but he managed to triumph against the odds by holding his ground firmly while his comrades were away.
Ling Tong was promoted to Colonel (校尉) for his achievements in the battle[19] Ling Tong later moved east and followed Lü Meng and Gan Ning to attack Cao Cao's garrison at Wan County (皖縣; present-day Qianshan County, Anhui).
In 215, Ling Tong joined Lü Meng in capturing Liu Bei's three commanderies of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang.
Later, they returned to Yiyang to counter an army led by Liu Bei's general Guan Yu, who was advancing south in an attempt to retake the lost commanderies.
[c][20] The territorial dispute was eventually resolved when both Sun Quan and Liu Bei agreed to divide Jing Province between their respective domains along the Xiang River.
[22] Sun Quan's forces suffered heavy losses in the early skirmishes against Zhang Liao and were unable to conquer Hefei.
When Zhang Liao saw that, he immediately led his troops out of Hefei to launch a counterattack and completely took Sun Quan by surprise.
[23] After Sun Quan managed to escape by making his horse jump across the broken bridge and reach the other side of the ford, Ling Tong returned to the battlefield and continued to fight on and slay dozens of enemies.
Sun Quan had launched countless campaigns against them, but to no avail because the Shanyue had been living in the hills for a long time, were familiar with the area, and would go into hiding once they lost a battle.
He proposed that Sun Quan attempt to win the hearts of the Shanyue and assimilate them instead of purely using military force to hamper them.
After he was granted the staff of authority to request materiel from counties when required, he led a unit with flamboyant weapons and armour to begin his grand tactics.
Ling Tong's plan was a great success – tens of thousands of Shanyue men came out from their homes and joined him.
When Ling Tong's sons reached the age of seven or eight, Sun Quan ordered Ge Guang (葛光) to teach them to read and write, and train them in horse-riding every ten days.
During the battle at Nan Commandery, Zhou Yu ordered Gan Ning to attack Yiling (夷陵; around present-day Yichang, Hubei).
He proposed to Zhou Yu that Ling Tong stay behind to keep Cao Ren in check while the rest of the generals go to reinforce Gan Ning.
Ling Tong then fought recklessly in the battle against the bandits after exclaiming that only through death could he cleanse his deep guilt.
Thus, his attack turned out to be a huge success, yet he bound himself and surrendered to the discipline officer after the victorious battle to await his punishment.
In Chapter 67, during a banquet to celebrate their victory over Cao Cao's forces at Wan County, Ling Tong feels jealous when he sees Lü Meng praising Gan Ning so he offers to perform a sword dance and wants to use the opportunity to kill Gan Ning and avenge his father.
As Ling Tong kneels down and weeps, Sun Quan tries to calm him down and repeatedly urges him to stop provoking Gan Ning.