The Alliance Unravels
“Just a little more! A little more! Keep pushing forward!”
“Hold the line! Drop the logs!”
With Lu Bu fallen, the Anti-Dong Zhuo coalition’s morale soared to the heavens. Yet even that could not make Hulao Pass—an impregnable fortress—easy to breach. No matter how shaken their spirits, Dong Zhuo’s troops, shielded by the massive walls, could still scrape together one last shred of resolve to fight back. Meanwhile, Yuan Shao’s vanguard, rattled by the rumors they had just heard, could not fully commit their high spirits to the assault.
— Kwoong!
Catapults hammered the walls without pause. Crossbowmen atop the siege towers rained arrows down on Dong Zhuo’s soldiers huddled behind the battlements. Dozens of ladders clattered against the stone, and hundreds of men began scrambling upward. Stones and boiling water poured from above, felling soldiers by the score, but siege warfare had always been a matter of filling moats with corpses. With Yuan Shao’s troops absorbing the arrow fire at the front, the other lords could advance one step at a time without bearing the full burden themselves.
— Kwaang!
“Cao Cao, why did you place my soldiers in the vanguard without consulting me?”
“You’re here? Have a seat.”
“Answer me. Why did you let Gongsun Zan go and put my men in the vanguard without a word? Mengde, are you harboring some other intention?”
“Hmm. I wonder who’s really harboring other intentions here.”
“What?”
“You sent spies into Jizhou. You even unleashed the Black Mountain bandits on Mengjin Port… Benchu. What exactly are you planning?”
Yuan Shao’s smile faltered for the first time. It was an expression Cao Cao had not seen since childhood.
“Hah. That unpleasant smile of yours finally cracked? Let’s drop the pretense. What are you really scheming?”
“Mengde, where in the world did you hear such nonsense? I would never—”
“Baigyu. The Black Mountain bandit leader he captured was Yan Liang… You told me he had returned home because of illness, didn’t you?”
“Yan Liang did return home. That is the truth. I cannot fathom why you would trust the word of that ruffian who seized the governorship of Jizhou by force.”
“My friend… You always tilt your head back before you lie. You know that, right?”
“Mengde!”
“Do not overstep, Colonel Yuan. No—Yuan Shao. As Grand General of the Han, I am questioning your unauthorized actions.”
— Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
“So even Cao Mengde has finally seen through that bastard’s filthy intentions!”
“Yuan Shu? What are you doing here…?”
“Bastard, there is nowhere in the Central Plains my ears cannot reach. No matter how much you despise me, I am still the legitimate heir of the Yuan clan.”
Yuan Shu entered Cao Cao’s tent behind Yuan Shao, applauding with a look of satisfaction.
“Your talent for sowing discord is truly first-rate. No one believed it until now. Why hide it so carefully when it was bound to come out anyway… Kahaha! Isn’t that right, Mengde?”
Armed men began filing into the tent one by one, each with a weapon in hand.
“Speak your excuses, bastard. I’ll listen personally.”
“Yuan Shu… You dare—!”
“Kahaha! Yes, that face. I’ve been waiting to see that face! The mask of noble pretension is finally cracking!”
— Kwaang!
Yuan Shao slammed his fist down on the desk inside the tent. Everyone flinched at the sound, but it changed nothing.
“Gongsun Zan is a traitor colluding with Dong Zhuo to topple the Han! As Governor of Bohai, Yuan Shao, I will sever the traitor’s head and restore stability to the Han’s rear!”
“…Rear General, it seems we must detain Yuan Shao until his innocence can be proven. My own troops are committed to the siege at the front. May I borrow some of yours for a while?”
“Khat! Of course. Xu Shao! Select a hundred men and assign them to Cao Cao! Make sure this bastard doesn’t try anything foolish—and if he does, beat him black and blue!”
“Yes, sir!”
—
“That… Brother.”
“What.”
“That boom just now… What exactly was it?”
“Jincheonroe. You saw it once before at Luolong, didn’t you?”
“I know that, but… When exactly did you learn sorcery?”
“Sorcery?”
“Isn’t it sorcery?”
“It’s science.”
Right. This was science. Or perhaps chemistry? Either way, the word did not exist in this era, so it might as well have been sorcery. Watching gunpowder being made in this age would naturally invite talk of alchemy. There was no need to explain it now. Though I had planned to explain it eventually, now was not the time.
“If Yuan Shao comes, you’ll take the vanguard.”
“What?”
“You abandoned the Prince of Bohai, so you can pay for it by fighting at the very front. What, no confidence?”
“It’s not that, but…”
“It’ll be the Pingyuan army soon. Anyone marching on foot from Henei has to pass through here. Set up a fortress and hold them off.”
“…”
“You said you wanted to spread your name far and wide. What, changed your mind?”
“People say Colonel Yuan’s loyalty and filial piety are genuine. Would a man like that really send troops into Jizhou?”
“You never know what’s in a man’s heart until you turn it inside out. Just last year, even Dong Zhuo was praised as the most loyal of the loyal.”
“Brother… No, never mind. I’ll take it.”
“If it looks like it’ll break, run. The final defensive line will be at Bohai.”
“…Understood.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Brother, you still haven’t looked in a mirror, have you?”
“A real man doesn’t need mirrors.”
“…I’ve already written to our teacher. He’ll be arriving at the Prince of Bohai’s residence soon.”
“Suddenly?”
“Brother, are you really not going to see your niece?”
“Hey.”
“It may be presumptuous, but you’re worrying over nothing. Compared to beasts like Dong Zhuo or the disguised ones, you’re more than worthy of being called a gentleman.”
“Liu Bei, that’s really over the line…”
“No matter how chaotic the world has become, why do you insist on staying on the battlefield until you die? It’s not because you want to leave your name in history like me, nor because you want to become emperor and command the realm… And it’s not because you want to live idly in Liaodong either, is it? I’ve read the letters you sent during your time as one of the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden. I’m not some ignorant child anymore.”
“That’s enough.”
“Brother, when was the last time you slept properly?”
I didn’t know. I would think about it later.
“Even if I can’t match you, with our teacher’s help I can protect the Prince of Bohai well enough. Even if the entire Han turns against us, I may not win, but I won’t lose.”
“Liu Xuande. There’s a limit to how much I’ll tolerate even from a sworn sister. Stop talking nonsense and figure out where to build the fortress.”
I was developing Liaodong to use it when I eventually fled to Goguryeo. In the coming hellish chaos, I had to save even my sleeping hours if I wanted to finish in time.
“Brother, trust this sister for just a year… No, even a month. Please rest.”
…I didn’t know.
—
“Urgh… Aaaaargh!”
While the siege raged at Hulao Pass, Lu Bu’s condition—carried on his adjutant’s back and hidden deep within the inner fortress—was far from fine. Thanks to the physician from Jingzhou whose skill reached the heavens, all the metal fragments had been removed from his face, but the thunderous noise and shock had left Lu Bu half-mad, thrashing violently.
“Hey! Bring more poppy juice! If we remove the bandages now, General Lü’s life will be in danger!”
“Yes!”
Even six strong men could barely restrain his pain-maddened body. Only after forcing several spoonfuls of poppy juice down his throat did he finally collapse and fall asleep.
“Huu… I don’t know whose doing it was, but that was an excessively malicious weapon.”
“What do you mean?”
“A weapon forged entirely from the intent to kill. Swords and bows can be melted into plows when there is no war, or used to hunt beasts. This thing exists for no purpose other than embedding metal shards in a man’s body to ensure his death.”
Moreover, the deafening blast had lodged itself in many soldiers’ minds, leaving them unable to sleep. Without proper rest, morale continued to plummet, while the flags of the Anti-Dong Zhuo coalition filling the horizon outside the walls grew steadily in number.
“…When the general wakes, he must be sent to the rear for recovery. Otherwise, he won’t survive.”
“Keuh… First Hua Xiong, now General Lü… Since General Li Meng is nearby, we’ll need to call for reinforcements.”
“Will you not retreat?”
“We have no choice. Those who enter military service have duties to fulfill. Physician, take General Lü and flee to Luoyang. The rest of us have our own work to do.”
