Lu County rebellion

The Lu County Rebellion was a rebellion which took place in 209 CE in Lu County (六縣; in present-day Lu'an, Anhui) after the Battle of Red Cliffs in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Chen Lan (陳蘭) and Mei Cheng (梅成), two former subordinates of the warlord Yuan Shu, were the ones who started the rebellion. The warlord Cao Cao, who controlled the Han central government, sent two separate forces to suppress the rebellion: Yu Jin and Zang Ba were to attack Mei Cheng, while Zhang Liao, with Zhang He and Niu Gai (牛蓋) as his deputies, were to attack Chen Lan.

Lu County rebellion
Part of the Red Cliffs campaign
Date 209 CE Location Lu County (六縣; in present-day Lu'an, Anhui) Result Cao Cao victory Rebellion suppressed
Belligerents
Chen Lan Mei Cheng Sun Quan	Cao Cao
Commanders and leaders
Chen Lan Mei Cheng Sun Quan Han Dang	Zhang Liao Yu Jin Zang Ba Zhang He

As soon as the two forces clashed, Mei Cheng pretended to surrender to Yu Jin, and then led his men to join Chen Lan at Mount Tianzhu as soon as Yu Jin and Zang Ba left.^[1] On the other hand, Zhang Liao was worried that Cao Cao's rival, the warlord Sun Quan, would send his general Han Dang with an army to assist Chen Lan. Han Dang was in charge of defending Wancheng (皖城), a major stronghold in Lujiang Commandery at the time, so Zhang Liao sent Zang Ba to attack Wancheng so as to ensure that Han Dang could not move to reinforce the rebels. Zang Ba attacked Wancheng, but Han Dang defended the city well and succeeded in driving Zang Ba back. Later Sun Quan dispatched an army of some 20,000 to 30,000 troops to assist Chen Lan but Zang Ba was able to ambush and drive away the reinforcements sent by Sun Quan.^[2] However, Zang Ba did not stop there as he gave chase at night and attacked in the morning. Many soldiers of Sun Quan could not board their ships, and were forced into the water and drowned. Without the intervention from Sun Quan, Zhang Liao suppressed Chen Lan's rebellion and both he and Mei Chen were killed.^[3]

References

1. (陳蘭、梅成以氐六縣叛，太祖遣于禁、臧霸等討成，遼督張郃、牛蓋等討蘭。成偽降禁，禁還。成遂將其衆就蘭，轉入灊山。灊中有天柱山，高峻二十餘里，道險狹，步徑裁通，蘭等壁其上。遼欲進，諸將曰：「兵少道險，難用深入。」遼曰：「此所謂一與一，勇者得前耳。」遂進到山下安營，攻之，斬蘭、成首，盡虜其衆。太祖論諸將功，曰：「登天山，履峻險，以取蘭、成，盪寇功也。」增邑，假節。) Sanguozhi vol. 17.
2. (權遣數萬人乘船屯舒口，分兵救蘭，聞霸軍在舒，遁還。) Sanguozhi vol. 18.
3. Chapter 58 of the Chronicle of Han [containing Part 8 of the reign of Emperor Xian] quoting San Guo Zhi and Zizhi Tongjian mention Chen Lan beheaded at the end

• Chen, Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
• Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian.