Holding the Line Against Lu Bu's Fury
Hahou Don blocked Lu Bu's halberd with his spear shaft, enduring the onslaught. Lu Bu couldn't pin him down, his earlier wounded shoulder clearly bothering him.
This should do it. Steadying myself on horseback, I drew a standard arrow. The repeating crossbow was too risky with Hahou Don and Lu Bu tangled up like that—if a short arrow veered toward Hahou Don, it would be disastrous. Keeping Lu Bu in check would be enough, I figured.
Ping. Feeling the familiar touch at my fingertips, I nocked and drew the bowstring. The arrow flew straight for Lu Bu's torso. He swatted it away with the heavy blade of his Sky Piercer.
Wasn't that thing just for slicing arrows off Moonlight? I was surprised to see him using it to deflect like that. Still, his predictable shots let Hahou Don keep pace.
"You insolent pup!"
"Hey now, Lu Bu! Where do you think you're going?"
Whenever Lu Bu couldn't stand it anymore and turned toward me, Hahou Don blocked his path. Thanks to that, I managed to pull away from Lu Bu quickly.
After thirty exchanges between Hahou Don and Lu Bu, reinforcements arrived.
"Brother Yuanyuan (Hahou Don)! I've come to help!"
Jo Hong appeared behind me. For a moment, I feared Xiahou Yuan had been hit in the rear, but it was just my worry. The soldiers following Jo Hong explained that Xiahou Yuan was still in command, so Jo Hong had come.
With Jo Hong joining the fray, the balance tipped our way in an instant.
"Invincible under heaven, was it? All talk!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Lu Bu, breathing raggedly, faced off against Hahou Don and Jo Hong. Even his Red Hare, the thousand-li steed, moved more sluggishly than before. Jo Hong swung his spear wide at the flank, coordinating with Hahou Don to restrict his movements. Lu Bu, clearly straining, saw his halberd arcs narrow as he fell into a defensive posture.
With the situation improving, I turned my eyes to the right flank instead of Lu Bu.
The right can't break. We had no reserves left to send. The numerically superior right flank had to hold on its own. Fortunately, they were using the wagons effectively to block the enemy.
"Don't let it break! Hold!"
Jojo's desperate shout pierced the air. I whipped my head to the left flank where the scream came from. With its commanders and generals pulled away, the left was crumbling.
"Damn it!"
Jojo was holding it together by swinging his sword himself, so it hadn't fully collapsed yet. I told Hahou Don and Jo Hong to keep Lu Bu pinned, then headed left.
"Set the wagons ablaze!"
I played my last card. We had to block Dong Zhuo's army even if it meant sacrificing supplies. Hearing me, a few allied soldiers hurled torches onto the most flammable wagons.
"Aaaargh!"
Wagons stuffed with straw and tent cloth burst into flames in seconds. The blaze swallowed one wagon and leaped to the next.
"Hot! It's hot!"
The Dong Zhuo troops, split by the burning wagons, gave us time to rout those trapped between the fire and our lines.
"Now! Charge!"
Jojo raised his sword high, urging the men on. Cut off from support with flames at their backs, the Dong Zhuo soldiers couldn't fight properly. Even the left flank, our last worry, began to gain the upper hand.
"Tch. That idiot Seo Yeong."
Lu Bu shoved Hahou Don and Jo Hong back momentarily and cursed Seo Yeong. He'd been given four thousand men, yet the ambush failed and even drew him in. Of course, Jojo's army had prepared, dooming the surprise attack—but Lu Bu had no way of knowing.
I definitely fought those two generals too long earlier. Even the world's best couldn't handle Zhang Fei and Guan Yu alone, then keep fighting. The shoulder wound grated on his nerves, and Red Hare was visibly spent.
Can't push today. He couldn't break through Hahou Don and Jo Hong in this state. The failure would fall on Seo Yeong anyway, not him. With that thought, Lu Bu wheeled his horse without a second glance.
"That's enough for today. Retreat!"
Lu Bu bellowed the order to the Dong Zhuo forces on the right. Soon, the entire enemy army began pulling back. Jojo's vanguard was the only detachment to claim victory.
As Dong Zhuo's troops withdrew, we immediately began cleanup.
"What now, my lord? Casualties are heavy."
I asked Jojo once the generals gathered. Roughly a thousand dead, another thousand wounded to varying degrees.
"We marched with twenty thousand, yet got played like this. Morale's shot, numbers down—if they hit us again, we'll be wiped out."
Jo In, ragged from juggling command and combat, backed me up. Even generals like Xiahou Yuan couldn't invoke grand justice, and Jojo was no different.
"First, link up with General Bo (Poh Sin)."
We gathered the survivors and moved to join the main body. We loaded what supplies we could onto the intact wagons and dragged them along. The men trudged on, hearing that sticking with the main army was safest. In the dark path, they startled at every little noise.
Jojo's army linked with Poh Sin's main force. The exhausted center had taken heavy losses too. Poh Sin's brother Poh Da had fallen, and three thousand wounded.
"Your brothers tied down Lu Bu, or it'd be worse."
That explained why Lu Bu tired as fast as Hahou Don. He'd faced Guan Yu and Zhang Fei single-handedly, then fought nonstop.
Wei's rear guard had been ambushed too. Commander Wei died in battle, losing most supplies. The vanguard no longer had strength to push to Hulukou Pass.
"I'll talk it over."
Jojo consulted Poh Sin on next steps. Soon after, he returned with the decision.
"Double the night watch tonight. Tomorrow, we head back to Sanyi as fast as possible."
No night march—they lacked the energy. "And we abandon the left-behind supplies."
The stuff ditched en route to rescue the center was out of reach, even just ten li away. Dong Zhuo's men lurked on those paths.
Soldiers, short on tents, crammed three to a spot meant for two. Generals shared tents too. I bunked with Jojo and Jo Hong. No overlapping bodies like the rank-and-file was a mercy, but sleep evaded me.
"Myeong. Hong. You asleep?"
A soft whisper amid the rustling. I replied quietly, not to wake Jo Hong if he slept.
"You called, my lord?"
"Did you call, brother?"
Replies from both sides. Jo Hong was restless too. Confirming we were all awake, Jojo spoke low.
"My poor judgment killed and wounded so many."
The vanguard of twenty thousand had suffered a crushing defeat. Jojo's self-reproach was natural.
"I preached grand causes, but it's just chaos ahead. Fog everywhere—frustrating."
But I couldn't let him wallow. He wouldn't break, but recovery time was precious.
"The world can lose a Jo Hong, but heroes like you? We need them."
Jo Hong beat me to it with words for the history books.
"Thanks, Hong. But how can I deny my stubbornness caused this?"
Even his encouragement drew weakness from Jojo. My turn.
"This isn't the time for self-blame, my lord."
Jo Hong had pumped him up; I'd douse him with cold reality.
"It's a chaotic age. Sacrifices will pile up endlessly—we can't regret each one. Priority is leading the men safely back to Sanyi."
Silence fell. In the dark, Jojo sighed deeply.
"You're right. No time to falter. That way, Generals Poh and Wei's deaths aren't in vain."
Resolve hardened his voice again. Though unseen, his inner fire reignited.
The vanguard planned a six-day retreat. Too slow risked ambushes; too fast left stragglers.
"Haha! Where you running?"
Dong Zhuo's men harried us to Sanyi. Night raids with just ten men drumming and trumpeting kept our jittery troops sleepless. Unable to tell real from fake, soldiers fled into the dark. Deserters over six days were countless—even four hundred from Jojo's ranks.
Drums and horns did this much damage.
Some stragglers lost, some scouts killed—but all gone, no need to split hairs.
Of course, Dong Zhuo didn't just bluff. They appeared sporadically on the retreat path.
"Enemy! Approaching five li north!"
"Form ranks, all units! Just hold position!"
Burned once, the vanguard ran constant scouts—near a tenth of our force. We accepted half deserting.
"You traitors!"
We hurled "traitor" at each other in clashes. When battles started, I gifted arrows to their generals.
"Retreat!"
Our superior numbers barely held. Dong Zhuo pecked at us then withdrew.
"How many this time?"
"Three hundred dead, five hundred wounded."
"Same as always."
Against elite Dong Zhuo troops, we bled steadily. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei tying Lu Bu down minimized it.
Six days later, the vanguard—down to seven thousand—reached Sanyi after hellish trials. Jojo had barely over two thousand left. Of six thousand from Hulukou, over sixty percent vanished. By era standards, it was annihilation.
Lucky or unlucky we're not the only ones wiped?
Poh Sin and Wei's forces fared no better. Twenty thousand dwindled to seven thousand in under a fortnight.
Sanyi's detachments lambasted the bloodied vanguard. Some said it boosted Dong Zhuo's momentum rashly. Others mocked Jojo's eunuch lineage. Tents buzzed with "hot-blooded folly."
"Gonna cut Dong Zhuo's head with those sharp tongues?"
Jojo's face-to-face rebuke silenced open talk. But prefects and magistrates wouldn't shut up for a mere acting colonel. They gossiped behind backs, giving Jojo headaches daily.
"My lord, supplies are running low."
April had enough for winter; one month changed everything. Losses outbound and inbound wrecked us. At this rate, barely scraping summer—and tight.
"Recruitment's impossible now."
Feeding current troops strained us; replacing losses was a pipe dream.
"Any clever ideas?"
Jojo asked over headache tonic.
I had one answer.
"How about Henae?"