Reinforcements
The second clash with Ding Feng.
My sword and Ding Feng's blade whirled across the battlements like dancers locked in a deadly reel, scattering brilliant arcs of light through the air around us.
Like the first, this second bout ended without a victor. We were evenly matched — neither of us could overwhelm the other.
Still, it was enough to drive a good number of the enemy soldiers back off the wall.
Even as I dueled Ding Feng, I cut down climbing enemies whenever an opening presented itself, or sent them tumbling from the ramparts. And once I joined the fray, the morale of our nearby troops surged; the number of enemy soldiers still on the wall dwindled visibly.
"Interfering again, are you."
He seemed more agitated than when I'd first faced him. Fair enough — this was already the second time. Twice now, he'd been on the verge of seizing the initiative only for me to stand in his way.
"What happened to that fire from earlier?"
"Who knows. Life has a way of teaching you that things don't always go as planned."
Listen to this kid, talking like some old man.
He was impatient, yes — but he wasn't reckless. If he'd charged in blinded by ambition, I might have found an opening. As it was, he gave me nothing.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom!
Drums sounded from the Wu lines.
"Well. I should be going."
It sounded like Wu's signal to withdraw.
"Turning tail and running?"
I tried goading him once more, but he didn't so much as flinch.
"Sorry, but I'm a soldier who lives and dies by orders. We'll meet again."
With that, Ding Feng vaulted clean off the wall.
"Wait!"
I leaned out over the battlements and saw him sliding down the ladder, hands gripping either side, moving like water. The man was quick — no question about that.
Horsemen from the Wu ranks rode up to meet him, hauled him into the saddle, and carried him off.
There was no one nearby with a bow, and I'd already spent every last arrow myself. I could only watch him go, frustrated that I had no way to put a shaft in him.
"Open the gates! Let's slaughter every last one of these Wu rats while we've got the chance!"
A thunderous voice roared up from the gatehouse. Zhang Fei, of course — no one else.
He took a portion of our forces out and struck at the rear of the withdrawing Wu army. After so long cooped up on the walls, the chance to fight in the open had him roaring curses at the top of his lungs, the Serpent Spear sweeping in great arcs. Wherever he passed, Wu soldiers went down spraying blood.
"You rats! Come at me like you did before! Don't scurry off like the vermin you are!"
Zhang Fei's momentum was fierce, but from my vantage on the wall, watching everything unfold, I had a different thought.
Hmm. If he pushes any deeper, this could get dangerous.
Farther back, the Wu reserves were moving with perfect coordination — clearly positioning to encircle Zhang Fei's pursuit force and crush it. A maneuver worthy of Lu Xun, no question.
I was about to sound the recall when Zhang Fei sensed it himself. He didn't press any farther, turning back toward the city instead. The instincts of a man steeped in real combat. Not catching Ding Feng still rankled, though.
"Bah. Barely scratched them."
Zhang Fei grumbled as he came back through the gates. I answered him.
"That was more than enough of a result, General. You broke their spirit as well. Well done."
"Right. Either way, looks like we've beaten back this assault too."
We'd taken losses, but we had to take comfort in the fact that Jiangling had held once more.
"Grand Commander. I have no face left to show. All that boasting, and for what."
"Nonsense. The responsibility is mine as Grand Commander. If anything, I'm grateful you carried out such a dangerous operation and came back alive. As long as you're whole, there will be other chances."
Lu Xun offered what comfort he could to the young general who had returned looking somewhat deflated.
Judging that this assault, too, was going to fail, Lu Xun had ordered the withdrawal. Sending a few horses ahead to extract Ding Feng — for fear of losing him — had been the right call.
In the same stroke, he'd positioned the rear guard to spring a trap on any pursuers. But Zhang Fei had caught the scent early and turned back without walking into it.
"When word spreads that we failed to take any credit again, they'll heap more abuse on you, Grand Commander. For a man of your station — Grand Commander of Eastern Wu — to be treated like this again and again…"
Ding Feng looked uncharacteristically gloomy. Part of it was the failed attack, but more than that, he hated watching Lu Xun take the blame so unfairly, time after time.
"Did you think the Grand Commander's seat was a comfortable one? It looks impressive from the outside, but the truth is, it's a post tailor-made for catching every insult that flies."
Lu Xun felt the bitterness himself, but he kept his face easy and tossed the remark off like a joke.
"Still — His Lordship is being too harsh. After everything you've endured…!"
"Ding Feng. Mind your tongue regarding His Lordship. A man who sits that high has a great many things to weigh. His anxieties run just as deep. Do not speak disloyally again."
"…Yes. I'll be more careful."
Lu Xun gently reined in Ding Feng's rising anger.
Ding Feng's position had collapsed when Zhou Yu — who had been something of a patron to him — died suddenly of illness. It was Lu Xun who had sought him out afterward, given him support, and opened the path for him to serve again.
Watching that same Lu Xun suffer Sun Quan's cold treatment felt, to Ding Feng, as if he himself were the one being slighted. He'd tried to be of some use — and been blocked at every turn.
"Stopped by that one again. The woman — Jin Cheong."
The frustration still burned, and Ding Feng couldn't help voicing the regret once more. Lu Xun nodded.
"I heard Commander Zhou held her in high regard. Having faced her myself, I can see why. Come to think of it — you first saw Jin Cheong at the Red Cliffs, didn't you?"
"Yes. That's right. She was still a young girl then. I was even younger."
How long ago had that been? More than ten years already.
Ding Feng was three years her junior, so he'd been little more than a child when they met.
"Commander Zhou tried to recruit her to our side back then. It didn't work out, of course."
"Recruit her?"
That was news even to Lu Xun.
"Yes. I was standing right there. He made a quiet offer — said if she came over to us, she'd be given far greater treatment."
Commander Zhou saw farther ahead than most. Raising Ding Feng from childhood, and this as well…
He and Lü Meng had laid scheme after scheme, and the Shu army had never once taken the bait.
Hah… It's hard going. If only Commander Zhou were still here.
He missed Zhou Yu — the man who had won the great victory at the Red Cliffs, and who had once taken this very city of Jiangling that Lu Xun was now straining every sinew to capture.
And somewhere beneath it all, a quiet regret: that they had chosen war instead of keeping the alliance with Shu intact.
"How is Gou Fu?"
"Thankfully, his life is not in danger. But it will take time before he's fit to fight again."
"Good. That's something, at least."
"Still — that Ding Feng. He's been stopped by you twice now, General. If he wants to try another reckless stunt like this one, he'll have to think twice."
Ding Feng. I'd faced him twice, and he was no easy opponent either time.
Yu Eun called it a solid result just for holding them off. Our own losses had been considerable, but Wu's dead and wounded were greater still, and most of their siege engines were gone.
Even so, Lu Xun showed no sign of withdrawing. And from Xiangfan, word was that the fighting against Cao Cao remained fierce.
When would this war for Jingzhou finally end?
In the days that followed, we held the walls against Lu Xun.
As the defending side, we had the positional advantage — but our opponent was Lu Xun. Time and again we turned him back, yet his command never faltered, and every defense cost us everything we had.
Even while holding the city, Zhang Fei and I found openings to slip outside the walls and launch raids. We struck hard enough to hurt, then pulled back before overreaching — wearing the enemy down by degrees.
In every engagement the exchange ratio favored us, but Lu Xun still held the greater numbers, and the war showed no sign of ending.
Months of grinding combat wore on the officers and the rank and file alike. Honestly, I was worn thin myself.
And every time the strain showed, it was Zhang Fei who stepped forward most boldly. He strode to the front, bellowing and displaying his martial skill, lifting our spirits and crushing theirs.
He might seem like a man who spat rough words without thinking — but he had a gift for killing the enemy's will while giving our own side something to cheer about.
So we endured. We held. And then, at last, the news we had been waiting for arrived.
"General! Reinforcements from Chengdu have arrived!"
"Oh! At last!"
The moment the long-awaited report reached me, I lit up. I had always believed this war could only end once relief forces arrived. And now they were here.
I raced up onto the wall facing Chengdu.
"There they are."
Beyond the walls, an army flew the banners of Shu Han. Each flag I recognized sent a fresh wave of gladness through me.
And among them, one banner stood out.
Father? Father had come as well. And if Father — the man who served closest to Liu Bei's side — was here…
Behind Father's banner, I spotted two others, larger than the rest. The sight of them made my chest swell of its own accord.