The Battle of Changban
"E-enemy! Cao Cao's army is upon us!"
A single cry. That one shout sent a shockwave through Liu Bei's forces. What began at the rearmost ranks spread like wildfire, striking the entire company.
"Cao Cao's army is coming!"
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
The trembling earth and the steadily approaching thunder of hooves made it plain that the cry was no false alarm.
"It can't be… C-Cao Cao's army already?"
Dismay washed over Liu Bei's face. Had he been too optimistic about the speed of Cao Cao's advance?
A soldier pointed toward the rear and shouted.
"It's Cao Cao's army!"
Dust rose at the back of the column, and people could be seen scattering in every direction in utter panic. Through that chaos, cavalry came charging in. There was no mistaking them—Cao Cao's men. The light cavalry, built for pure mobility, moved with terrifying swiftness.
"How can this be? Cao Cao has already chased us this far!"
Liu Bei clenched his teeth and drew his twin swords.
"My lord, you must flee at once!"
Xu Shu drew the sword at his hip as he cried out. He had hoped never to need the blade—but there was no choice now.
Liu Bei's small force, the throng of commoners, and Cao Cao's cavalry all tangled together into one vast chaos.
Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Jin Do, and the rest seized their weapons and crashed headlong into Cao Cao's troops.
Liu Bei and Xu Shu swung their swords as well, meeting the cavalry that pressed in upon them.
"I've got you at last, Liu Bei, you dog! Take my spear!"
A mounted officer came thundering at Liu Bei, spear whirling.
"My lord!"
Clang!
Xu Shu stepped into Liu Bei's path and knocked the spear aside with his sword. The officer shouted.
"Xu Shu! Stand aside and stop interfering! And you, Liu Bei—surrender quietly to Chancellor Cao and have done with it. Yield, and your life will be spared."
Xu Shu recognized him and called out.
"General Wen Ping. So you, too, have gone over to Cao Cao?"
"Only Chancellor Cao can bring order to this chaos under Heaven. Cease your resistance and surrender! That is the path that serves the realm."
"General Wen Ping!"
Liu Bei's voice rose, veins standing out in his neck.
"Were you not originally a vassal of Lord Liu Biao? How long has it been since he passed, that you already change masters? If Lord Liu of Jingzhou knew of this from beneath the earth, he would weep!"
Liu Bei's scathing cry made Wen Ping flinch. He had sworn his loyalty to Cao Cao—yet the devotion he had long given Liu Biao had been genuine as well. He could not help but hesitate.
"Come—use this opening and run!"
I shouted as I loosed arrows into the surging Cao Cao troops, dropping them one after another. Just as planned, I was near the carriage carrying Xu Shu's mother.
The driver had panicked under the cavalry's assault, but once my bow kept the enemy from closing in, he recovered his wits and whipped the carriage into a gallop.
I fired a few more shafts and covered the rear.
If there was any mercy in it, it was this: not many enemies were making for the carriage itself. But what I saw amid that hellscape was far worse than I had imagined.
The sight of commoners and soldiers lying broken on the ground nearly made me dizzy—yet I gathered my wits and kept pace behind the carriage.
Father and General Zhao Yun will have to hold up their end…
I had entrusted Father with the escort of Liu Bei's family, including his two daughters. As for General Zhao Yun—if history held true, he would save Lady Gan and Adou.
"Cheong!"
"Father!"
Fortunately, I found him before long. Behind him I could see the carriage he had protected, and a handful of cavalry. It was the carriage carrying Liu Bei's two daughters.
"You're unhurt."
"Are you wounded?"
Neither of us had taken any injury.
"What of my lord?"
"His lordship has already withdrawn to the rear. General Zhang Fei went with him—he will be all right."
Thank heaven. But what of General Zhao Yun?
"Waaaaah!"
A roar of battle cries rose from behind us.
I turned. A single general was driving off Cao Cao's men with a few cavalry at his side, coming our way. White armor, white cloak—Zhao Yun, without a doubt.
I nocked an arrow and sniped one of the Cao Cao soldiers still clinging to his trail.
Whiiish!
"Gah—!"
The arrow sailed over Zhao Yun's shoulder and punched through the enemy's throat. There were not many left on his heels.
Liu Bei's soldiers and the commoners had all scattered in every direction—that was why. Even now, small skirmishes would still be flaring up all across the field.
"General! Thank heaven you're safe."
"General Jin Do—and Miss Jin as well. Are either of you hurt?"
Just as I had expected, Zhao Yun had Lady Gan and Adou with him.
"Quickly—take the lady and the young master."
Lady Gan was riding double with one of the cavalrymen; Zhao Yun himself held Adou in his arms. We would transfer them to a carriage at once and follow after Liu Bei.
Then I caught a glimpse of the sword at Zhao Yun's back. It was one he had not carried before. Characters were inscribed on the scabbard:
— The Blue Steel Blade
Hmm. So even in this world, Zhao Yun had claimed the Qinggang sword.
"Make haste. We follow my lord at once."
At Jin Do's command, a little over ten soldiers began to run, shielding the carriages. Anxiety was plain on every face—Cao Cao's army could be on us at any moment.
"General—Cao Cao's men!"
Sure enough, a soldier pointed to the rear.
This time it was no small band. A cavalry force that must have numbered in the hundreds. Traveling with carriages, we would be overtaken in no time. The soldiers' faces went ashen.
It was Zhao Yun who stepped forward. Dropping back to the rearmost position, he said,
"I will buy you time. Use it to get as far as you can."
With that single sentence he wheeled his horse and shot like an arrow toward the enemy swarming in like a nest of hornets.
"Ah! General Zhao Yun!"
Even here, was Zhao Yun bound to the fate of fighting alone on a single horse?
My mind was made up. I would not leave him and run.
"I will join him. Father—I entrust my lord's family to you."
With those words I pulled the reins and swung my horse around. The world spun half a turn. Ahead of me, Zhao Yun was charging full tilt into the enemy ranks.
Hooves struck the earth. The two quivers I had hung at either hip jolted and rattled.
"Wait! Hold on—I'm coming with you!"
"I'll be back soon. Don't worry too much."
Leaving Father's shout behind me, I raced desperately after Zhao Yun. My horse's speed climbed until it hit its peak, and the wind slammed into my face like a gale.
And ahead, closer and closer, came the figure of Zhao Yun—holding a single long spear against an entire cavalry force.
I was throwing myself into a scene that might already have rewritten history.
I drew an arrow and yanked the bowstring taut. The string thrummed and sang against my ear.
"Damn it. You lot—escort the carriages and get clear of this place. The carriages must be protected at all costs."
Jin Do gave the order and made to pursue his daughter.
"General! Enemies approaching from that side as well!"
On the diagonal—roughly twenty riders closing in. They seemed to have broken off from the main force and were heading this way.
Of all times…
Jin Do felt the world go dark before his eyes. His daughter was out there. But if he abandoned this post, the carriages would fall into enemy hands without fail. He had no choice. He made his decision.
"There's nothing for it… We escort the carriages and withdraw."
He would guard the rear of the carriages and fall back. With those two's martial skill, they would not go down easily—he told himself that, and prayed. Please. Please let them come through unharmed.
And so Jin Do set about holding off the approaching enemy as he retreated.
Meanwhile, the hundreds of cavalry sweeping the Dangyang plain with such confidence found themselves utterly confounded by a mere two riders. Those two, of course, were Zhao Yun and Jin Cheong—and their martial prowess made the difference in numbers seem almost irrelevant.
Zhao Yun's skill could be defined simply.
Fast. And strong.
With every sweep of his spear, a soldier hit the dirt. An enemy closing from the side to thrust found his throat pierced a beat sooner by Zhao Yun's spear.
Before the body even struck the ground, Zhao Yun swung the spear in a great arc and smashed the head of another coming from the opposite side.
"Aaagh!"
A death-scream, and a helmet went flying. The force of the blow was so great that the horse beneath the man staggered and collapsed. Rider and mount tumbled across the earth, kicking up thick clouds of dust.
As if he were scything grass, wherever Zhao Yun passed the cavalry scattered and a path opened wide.
And hard on his heels came Jin Cheong. Her performance could be summed up in a single phrase:
Unity of rider and horse.
Still slight of build, she put her small frame and flexibility to full use—dodging enemy attacks from every angle even while mounted, loosing arrows in all directions.
A cavalryman closed to point-blank range and thrust his spear; she plastered herself against her horse's flank and let the blow pass over. Still hanging at the horse's side, she fired. The arrow whistled out and punched clean through his chest.
Then she twisted back around and drove a shaft into the head of the horse trying to latch onto her from behind.
"Hiiih!"
The horse went down at full gallop with a crash, and two or three riders behind it tangled and toppled in a chain of screams.
With a quiver hung at each hip, she could shoot from far more angles with ease—and she could scatter still further the enemies Zhao Yun had already broken apart ahead of her.
She turned again and loosed two arrows at once. Two enemies fell almost simultaneously.
But there were simply too many. Beyond Zhao Yun carving a path in front, all she could see were the black mass of enemy heads charging in.
"Take this!"
A soldier who had somehow drawn near brought his blade straight down at her head.
Thwack!
In her haste she raised the bow and blocked with the stave. She avoided his next strike by throwing herself backward in the saddle—and from that reclined position, she loosed an arrow.
"Ugh!"
She put it through his throat—but the bow's durability had reached its limit. It cracked and splintered apart.
"Tch."
She clicked her tongue once and closed her hand on the hilt of her longsword.
With a shing, the drawn blade traced a crescent arc and knocked an enemy spear aside at a slant. In the instant the soldier's stance broke, her sword cut through his wrist.
He clutched the stump, face contorted. Even with a sword in hand, she continued to shake off pursuit with ruthless efficiency.
Zhao Yun, toppling enemy after enemy, kept glancing back at Jin Cheong close behind him.
Her martial skill has grown far sharper in the meantime.
Her first battle—at Bowang Slope—had been a year ago, had it not? Even then, the prowess she had shown at so young an age had startled him more than a little. Now she had grown beyond even that. And she was still a young girl who had not finished growing.
The brief admiration passed. Zhao Yun finished assessing the situation and shouted.
"We break out the opposite way and rejoin our forces!"
They had bought enough time. Now they only needed to get clear.
He swung his horse the other way, and Jin Cheong followed at once. The enemy line that had been split in two briefly curved into a crescent.
"After them! Don't let them escape!"
Cao Cao's men tried desperately to form an encirclement—but the two of them forced their way through the net and broke free.
Hah… Did we make it?
Zhao Yun and I both managed to get out without serious harm. From the look of things, Father and the carriages had gotten clear as well.
Of course, Cao Cao's army was still chasing our heels with everything they had. But a little farther, and surely…
How long did we ride? In the distance, a river flowing at its ease came into view—and the scene I had imagined took shape in the flesh.
"Hahahaha! Zhao Yun, Jin Cheong—you've both done well. I heard the tale from General Jin Do. Leave this place to me and fall back!"
The hearty laugh and the bold voice belonged to none other than Zhang Fei.
"Then we leave it to you."
Zhao Yun and I were both thoroughly spent, so we entrusted our rear to Zhang Fei. Looking toward Changban Bridge, I could see our own forces scattered here and there.
I asked a nearby ally and learned that Jin Do and the two carriages had already passed through safely.
Hah… thank goodness.
Looking back, I saw a handful of cavalry riding back and forth with bundles of straw and brush tied to their horses' tails. They meant to raise dust and make it seem as though ambush troops were hidden here.
I had been about to head into the woods—but before I knew it, I had turned my horse and was riding back toward Changban Bridge. I was curious about my lord and the rest of our forces, yes—but more than that, there was a scene I wanted to witness.
From just ahead came a roar like thunder, the very shout I had been waiting for.