The Three Kingdoms Volume 2 (31 page)

Let us leave for a while the story of the battle on the river and follow Zhou Yu’s troops on the land. Gan Ning, who had taken the spy Cai Zhong with him to Wulin, had penetrated into the recesses of Cao Cao’s camp. Then he slew the spy with one slash of his sword and set fire to the grass. At this signal Lu Meng also put fire to the grass in more than a dozen places to support Gan Ning. They were aided by two other officers who also started a fire and raised a shout. All at once the noise of battle drums was on all sides.

Cao Cao and the faithful Zhang Liao, with a small party of horsemen, fled through the burning forest. They could see no road in front—all seemed on fire. Presently Mao Jie and Wen Ping, with a few more horse-men, joined them. Cao Cao bade the soldiers seek a way through. Zhang Liao pointed out that the only suitable place to escape was through Wulin, so Cao Cao made for it at once.

They had gone but a short distance when they were overtaken by a party of their enemy and a voice cried, “Halt, Cao Cao!” It was Lu Meng, whose ensign soon appeared silhouetted against the fiery background. Cao Cao urged his small party of fugitives forward, bidding Zhang Liao to engage Lu Meng. Soon after, he saw the light of torches in front and from a gorge rushed out another force. The leader cried, “Ling Tong is here!”

Cao Cao was scared—his liver and gall both felt like they were being torn from within. But just then, from his side he saw another troop approach and a voice cried, “Do not be alarmed, my lord! Xu Huang is here to rescue you.”

A confused battle followed and the fugitives managed to break through the enemy forces and flee toward the north. However, soon they saw another troop camped by the side of a hill. Xu Huang went ahead to reconnoiter and found the officers in command were two of their own men who had once been in the service of Yuan Shao. They had 3,000 northern men in their camp. They had seen the sky redden with the flames, but, unaware of the real situation, dared not make any move.

Cao Cao was grateful for this fresh help. Leading a thousand men, he sent these two to clear the road ahead, while the others remained as his guards. He now felt more secure.

The two went forward, but before they had gone ten
li
they heard a shouting and a party of soldiers came out, whose leader shouted: “Gan Ning is here!”

They tried to put up a fight but the fearsome Gan Ning turned out to be more than they could manage. One of them was killed before he could even engage and the other fell in the first bout. Both of them being dead, the soldiers fled to give Cao Cao the bad news. The only hope for Cao Cao at this time was to get assistance from his troops in Hefei.

However, Sun Quan had already barred the road to Hefei. When he saw the fire on the rivers, Sun Quan knew that his men had won the day, so he ordered Lu Xun to raise torches to give the signal. Seeing this, Taishi Ci came to join forces with Lu Xun and together they assaulted Cao Cao, who had to turn toward Yiling. On the road he fell in with Zhang He and ordered him to stay in the rear to protect the retreat. He pressed on as quickly as possible until the fifth watch when, looking back, he found that the glare of fire was some distance away and he felt safer. He asked his men about the name of this place. They told him it was west of Wulin and north of Yidu. Seeing the thickly crowded trees, the steep hills, and narrow passes, he threw up his head and laughed loudly.

“Why do you laugh?” asked the officers.

“I am laughing at none other than Zhou Yu, who is not crafty enough, and Zhuge Liang, who is not clever enough,” said Cao Cao. “If they had only set an ambush here, as I would have done, why, there would be no escape for Cao Cao’s forces.”

He had scarcely finished his words when from both sides came a deafening roll of drums and flames sprang up to the sky. Cao Cao nearly fell off his horse, he was so startled. And from the side dashed forth a troop, with Zhao Yun as the leader, who cried, “By the order of our military advisor, I have long been waiting here for you!”

Cao Cao ordered Xu Huang and Zhang He to engage this new opponent and he himself rode off into the smoke and fire. Zhao Yun did not pursue but only captured his banners, so Cao Cao was able to escape.

The faint light of dawn showed a great black cloud all around, and the southeast wind had not ceased blowing. Suddenly there was a heavy downpour of rain, wetting everyone to the skin, but still Cao Cao maintained his headlong flight, until the hunger of the men made a halt imperative. He told the men to forage in the villages for grain and find means to make a fire. But when these had been found and they began to cook a meal, another troop came along. Once again Cao Cao was terrified but to his great joy, these proved to be his faithful officers Xu Chu and Li Dian escorting his advisors.

As he gave the order to advance again he asked what place lay ahead, and was told that there were two roads, one leading to the highway to South Yiling and the other, a mountain road to North Yiling.

“Which is the shorter way to Nanjun and Jiangling?” asked Cao Cao.

“Take the road to South Yiling and then through Gourd Pass,” was the reply.

So he gave orders to march that way. By the time they reached Gourd Pass the men were almost starving and could march no further; the horses, too, were worn out. Many had fallen by the roadside. A halt was then called. Some of the soldiers still had cooking pans with them and others had taken food by force from villagers. They found some dry spots beside the hills where they could rest and cook. And there they began to prepare a meal, boiling grain and roasting strips of horse-flesh. Then they took off their wet clothes and spread them out to dry. The beasts, too, were unsaddled and turned out to graze.

Seated under some trees in a wood Cao Cao suddenly looked up and laughed loud and long. His companions, remembering the sequel of his last laugh, said, “Just now, sir, you laughed at Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang— which resulted in the arrival of Zhao Yun and the loss of many men for us. Why do you laugh now?”

“I am laughing again at the ignorance of these two. If I were in their place, and conducting their campaign, I should have set an ambush here for us when we were tired. Then, even if we managed to escape, we would suffer severe losses. I am laughing at them for their lack of foresight.”

Even as he spoke there rose a great yell. Thoroughly startled, Cao Cao leaped upon his horse without even putting on his armor. Many of the soldiers failed to catch their horses in their eagerness to flee. In no time fire and smoke sprang up on every side and filled the mouth of the valley. A force was arrayed before them and at the head was Zhang Fei, seated on his steed with his great spear leveled.

“Where do you think you are going, you rebel?” he shouted.

The sight of the terrible warrior sent a chill into them all. Then Xu Chu, mounted on a saddleless horse, rode up to engage him and Zhang Liao and Xu Huang galloped to his aid. The three fought with Zhang Fei and a melee followed. Taking advantage of this, Cao Cao made off at top speed. His officers soon fled after him and Zhang Fei pursued. However, Cao Cao, by dint of hard riding, got away and gradually the pursuers were outdistanced—but many of his officers had received wounds. As they were fleeing some soldiers came up to ask, “There are two roads before us. Which shall we take?”

“Which is the shorter?’ asked Cao Cao.

“The high road is the more level, but it is fifty
li
longer than the path which leads to Huarong. But the nearer way is narrow and dangerous, full of pits and holes.”

Cao Cao sent men up to the top of a hill to reconnoiter. They returned to report that there were several columns of smoke rising from the hills along the path, while the high road seemed quiet.

Then Cao Cao ordered them to lead the way along the narrow pathway.

“Where smoke arises there are surely soldiers,” remarked the officers. “Why do you want to take that way?”

“Don’t you know what the
Book of War
says? Falsehood may be the truth and truth, falsehood. That fellow Zhuge Liang is very sly. He has sent men to make a fire there to prevent us from taking that way and yet he has laid an ambush on the high road waiting for us. I have seen through his trick and I will not fall a victim to his wiles.”

“Your wisdom has no equal, sir,” said the officers.

And the soldiers were sent along the pathway. The men were starving and the horses weary. Some had been scorched by the flames and had to lean on sticks to plod onwards; others were wounded by arrows or spear thrusts and they struggled on with what remained of their strength. All were soaking wet and none were properly clad. Their weapons and banners were in a deplorable state. Few of the horses had saddles or bridles, for in the confusion of pursuit these had been abandoned. In the bitter cold of winter their suffering was indescribable.

Noticing that the leading party had stopped advancing, Cao Cao sent someone to ask the reason for the halt. The man returned and said, “The path is narrow and after the rain in the morning water has collected in the pits so that the horses are bogged down in the mire and cannot move.”

Cao Cao flared up in a rage and said, “Soldiers are supposed to build roads to cut through a hill and construct bridges to cross a stream. Can such a thing as mud stay an army?”

So he ordered the old, weak, and wounded to go to the rear and come on as they could, while the strong and robust were to cut down trees and gather plants and reeds to fill up the holes. And it was to be done without delay, death being the punishment for those who disobeyed.

So the men were compelled to dismount and fell trees and cut bamboo to level the path. Fearing pursuit, Cao Cao ordered three officers to lead a hundred swordsmen to hasten the soldiers and slay any that did not work fast enough.

By then the soldiers were so hungry and exhausted that they fell to the ground. Cao Cao, however, still ordered men and horses to move on and many were trodden to death. Cries of misery were heard the whole length of the way.

“What are you howling for?” raged Cao Cao. “Life or death is fated. Anyone who howls will be put to death.”

One third of his followers had fallen behind, another third filled up the pits and hollows, so that only one third escorted Cao Cao. Eventually they went past the precipitous part of the road and on to moderately level ground. Cao Cao turned to look at his following and saw he had barely three hundred men, none of whom were fully equipped for battle.

But he still urged them to press on, and when the officers told him the horses were exhausted and must rest a while, he replied: “We can rest when we get to Jingzhou.”

So they moved on. They had gone only a few
li
when Cao Cao flourished his whip and broke once again into loud laughter.

“What is there to laugh about?” asked the officers.

“People say Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang are able and crafty but I think they are merely a couple of incompetents. If an ambush had been placed here we would all be prisoners.”

He had not finished this speech when a bomb exploded and 500 men with swords in their hands appeared on both sides and blocked the way. The leader was Guan Yu, holding the famous Blue Dragon sword and be-striding the Red Hare steed. At the sight of him Cao Cao’s men were so scared that their very souls seemed to leave them and they gazed into each others’ faces in panic.

“Since there is no way out,” said Cao Cao, “we must fight to the death.”

“Even if we men are not afraid, the horses are spent,” said the officers. “How can we fight?”

Cheng Yu said, “I have always known that Guan Yu acts proudly to those above him but kindly to those beneath him—he defies the strong, but is gentle with the weak. He discriminates between gratitude and grudge and is always righteous and true. You have shown him kindness, and if you remind him of that we will be able to escape this danger.”

Cao Cao agreed to try. He rode out to the front, bowed to Guan Yu and said, “General, I trust you have been keeping well.”

Guan Yu bowed in return and said, “By the order of our advisor I have been waiting for you for a long time, sir.”

“I am defeated and my situation is desperate. Now I have no way out and I trust you, General, will not forget our old friendship.”

“Though indeed you were kind to me in those days, I have repaid you by slaying two of your most feared enemies and relieving the siege of Baima. As for the business in hand, I cannot allow my personal feelings to outweigh public duty.”

“Do you remember how you slew my six officers at the five passes? The noble man values righteousness. You are well versed in the histories and must recall the story of Yugong Zisi, the ancient archer, and his pursuit of his opponent Zizhuo Ruzi. Yugong was unwilling to harm his opponent when he found him unable to defend himself because of illness.”

Guan Yu was indeed a man with the highest sense of righteousness. He could not forget the great kindness he had received at Cao Cao’s hands and the magnanimity he had shown over what happened at the five passes. Besides, his compassion was roused at the sight of Cao Cao’s panic-stricken men, who were all on the verge of tears. He could not bear to press him hard so he turned his steed and said to his followers, “Spread out.”

Evidently this was meant to let Cao Cao escape. Seeing this, Cao Cao dashed through with his officers, and when Guan Yu turned around they had already passed. He uttered a great shout to the remaining troops of Cao Cao, who jumped off their horses and knelt on the ground crying for mercy. Guan Yu took great pity on them and could not bring himself to harm them. Just then, Zhang Liao rode up and the memory of their friendship melted Guan Yu’s heart. Heaving a long sigh, he allowed all of them to go free.