At the ford he spent his last hundred men to buy Sun Quan one leap of a horse, and swam back alone in full armour. Died two years later, aged twenty-nine.
His close troops died to the last man around him; himself he brought back by swimming the ford in full armour.Sanguozhi, Wu shu 10, Biography of Ling Tong
Appears in
Relations
- Sun Quan general & king — Bought the leap at Xiaoyao Ford with his hundred closest men; Sun Quan wept when he came aboard.
- Zhang Liao opponents — The pursuit that fell on the ford's rearguard was Zhang Liao's; Ling Tong held the north bank so the king could cross.
Myth vs record
The story you may know
The novel gives the ford's fight to individual duels — one general slain by Ling Tong, another by Gan Ning.
What the sources say
The sources give something plainer and dearer: his close troops to the last man, the king's escape one horse-length long, and one man swimming back in armour. He was dead of sickness within two years, aged twenty-nine.