The Battle of Bowang Slope (1)
Bowang Slope.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Battle of Bowang Slope is Zhuge Liang’s debut as a commander. But the situation I now found myself in was still before Zhuge Liang had joined Liu Bei’s army — that is, it was unfolding according to the historical record rather than the novel.
Which meant the command of the Battle of Bowang Slope would fall to Liu Bei, just as history recorded. The year was 207, which differed from the actual historical date, but it matched the world I had once sketched out while writing, so it didn’t feel particularly jarring. (The real Battle of Bowang Slope is said to have taken place in 202 or 203.)
With Liu Bei’s permission, I joined the battle as an ordinary cavalry soldier.
“My lord. It is time to put the plan into motion.”
At Xu Shu’s suggestion, Liu Bei turned to look at Zhao Yun, one of his closest generals.
“Indeed. Zhao Yun, receive your orders.”
“Yes!”
“As we discussed, take the advance force and prepare to meet the enemy.”
“I accept your command!”
Receiving Liu Bei’s order, Zhao Yun led the vanguard forward at the head of the column.
“And Liu Feng, Guan Ping. The two of you will establish a camp here.”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
The two young officers moved at once on Liu Bei’s command. Before long, soldiers were bustling about, raising wooden palisades, and a camp took shape with surprising speed. They also carried out a series of additional tasks that had been arranged before the march.
Liu Bei watched them for a while, then issued his next order at a leisurely pace.
“Xu Shu. Remain here and take command of the rear guard, and oversee the rest of the operation. I will lead the center army with Jin Do.”
“Yes!”
Leaving Xu Shu in the rear, Liu Bei and Jin Do led the center army along the path Zhao Yun had taken. Naturally, I stuck close to Jin Do’s side and followed Liu Bei.
“Cheong.”
“Yes, Father.”
“If you ever find yourself in real danger, don’t look back — run for Xinye. Once the true fighting starts, I may not be able to look after you.”
“Yes. Don’t worry about me.”
“Good…”
Having said that, Jin Do set aside the role of father and returned to that of captain of the elite guards. The worry had not entirely left his face, but he looked more than equal to his duty.
“My lord, that is Bowang Slope.”
Following Jin Do’s gesture, I looked out at a line of hills in the distance. With a mountain on one side and a forest on the other, the road running through the middle was Bowang Slope.
Zhao Yun, who had gone ahead, would already have his men hidden somewhere out there.
“Then our force will ambush them from here.”
At Liu Bei’s command, the elite guards and the troops under his direct command concealed themselves along one side of the road. All that remained was to move according to the plan.
“General Yu Jin. Where are we now?”
The one-eyed general Xiahou Dun asked, and his deputy Yu Jin answered.
“General. That is Bowang Slope ahead. Xinye is not far now.”
“Good. The day I present Liu Bei’s head to the Chancellor is not far off either.”
Xiahou Dun was already drunk on the dream of great merit. On Chancellor Cao Cao’s orders, he had brought tens of thousands of troops this far. Liu Bei, with a mere few thousand men, would soon be forced to his knees.
Yu Jin, however, urged caution.
“General. Liu Bei is not a man to be taken lightly. He will certainly have some countermeasure prepared.”
“I know that. I know.”
“Looking at this terrain, he has almost certainly hidden ambush troops or is plotting something else.”
Xiahou Dun surveyed the ground around them. Forest to the left, mountain to the right — terrain perfectly suited for concealing an ambush.
“But we can hardly refuse to advance, can we? If you want to catch a tiger, you have to enter the tiger’s den.”
“That is true, but…”
“I will take the van. You take the center army and follow. If the enemy’s ambush strikes our flanks, you will reinforce. Li Dian will lead the rear guard and move as the situation demands.”
“Yes…”
Yu Jin was still uneasy, but he could not refuse to move the army as Xiahou Dun ordered.
Xiahou Dun took the lead, and Yu Jin brought the center army up behind him.
This time, I’ll catch that big-eared bastard with my own hands.
Then it happened. From directly behind him came a roar of battle cries and a sudden uproar.
“Enemy general — face Zhao Yun’s spear!”
“General, it’s an ambush! The enemy from the roadside—”
Before his aide could finish, Xiahou Dun spun his horse around with sharp speed.
“Follow me! A rabble like that is nothing once we drive them off!”
An ambush force couldn’t amount to much. That thought fanned the flames of his competitive pride. He charged furiously toward Zhao Yun, who had struck into the flank of the column. Soldiers who had recovered their composure at the sight of Xiahou Dun’s valor followed close behind.
“Do you not know Xiahou Dun, you green boy!”
With a shout, he thrust his spear.
Clang!
Zhao Yun raised his own spear and turned the blow aside. Spear met spear, and a fierce exchange erupted.
It had been a sudden assault, but the numbers were not great, and Xiahou Dun’s men held their formation calmly as they met the attack.
Meanwhile, Yu Jin brought the center army into the fray. Zhao Yun’s force shrank back still further.
“Fall back!”
Zhao Yun, who had been holding off Xiahou Dun’s assault, shouted the order. He and his unit began to flee as if they could no longer stand their ground.
“Cowards! Don’t run — fight!”
Xiahou Dun, his blood up, pursued them with taunts, but Zhao Yun only showed his heels. Then Yu Jin came galloping up in haste and restrained him.
“General Xiahou Dun! Wait a moment, please.”
“What is it now, Yu Jin?”
“The way they fight once and then flee looks like a lure. We should hold back and approach with caution.”
Xiahou Dun frowned. He had meant to sweep the enemy away while his men’s spirits were high, and now he felt obstructed.
“If more ambush troops come, we crush them the same way we just did. How do you expect to win glory if you keep dawdling like this?”
“But—”
“We pursue at once. The moment the enemy appears, we wipe them out.”
At Xiahou Dun’s command, the soldiers resumed their advance. Yu Jin had no choice but to spur his horse and follow.
Whizz!
Then came the sound of something cutting the wind — and an arrow punched clean through the throat of a cavalryman riding beside him.
“Enemy!”
A cry thick with shock rang out, and a rain of arrows followed hard upon it.
“General — it’s another ambush!”
The attack was fiercer than the first, and the soldiers stirred with unease.
“My lord. The enemy is approaching.”
“Good. Zhao Yun has done well.”
Jin Do, watching the field, reported to Liu Bei. Zhao Yun was drawing the enemy toward them.
“Ready the bows. Attack on my signal.”
Liu Bei gave the order, and the archers prepared their bows. I, too, took the bow I always carried on my shoulder and nocked an arrow. It was the first time I had drawn a bow since coming to this world, yet the feel of it in my hands was as familiar as if I had done it hundreds or thousands of times.
Thud-thud-thud-thud! Xiahou Dun’s army drew steadily closer.
A great host was still a great host. The earth itself seemed to tremble with their movement.
“Loose!”
The command fell, and drawn bowstrings snapped free.
Whish! An arrow drove clean through a cavalryman’s throat.
Then the archers’ shafts flew like the wind, hammering the tip of Xiahou Dun’s advance.
“General — it is an ambush after all.”
“Insolent bastards.”
Yu Jin gritted his teeth as he spoke. Xiahou Dun, however, showed little sign of alarm. He even gave a short laugh.
“I expected something of this sort.”
“For now, we should advance with caution—”
“Sacrifice is part of any battle. The enemy is few. If we charge, we can cut them all down.”
The attack was somewhat fiercer than the first ambush, but the number of falling arrows was not large. That gave Xiahou Dun confidence.
Before Yu Jin could stop him, Xiahou Dun brandished his spear, directed his men, and charged in.
Liu Bei’s troops burst from the forest to attack, and Zhao Yun’s fleeing force wheeled about and struck as well.
Soon the two armies were locked together in a single melee. At first, Liu Bei’s side, having sprung the ambush, seemed slightly ahead — but Xiahou Dun’s valor and the sheer weight of his numbers gradually tipped the initiative toward his army.
Again and again, a soldier of Liu Bei’s fell under a cluster of spears.
“Retreat. Fall back.”
In the end, Liu Bei withdrew his force.
“Cowards! Running again? After them — kill them all!”
Xiahou Dun’s army, spirits soaring, gave chase. Yet even in flight, Liu Bei’s men slipped out of Bowang Slope like an ebbing tide.
“General. The enemy is entering their camp.”
“Very well. Halt the pursuit for now.”
The sun was already sinking beyond the western hills. Liu Bei’s camp, ringed with wooden palisades, did not look easy to take at a stroke.
“Form ranks here and examine the enemy’s camp!”
“Yes!”
“My lord, the enemy’s assault is stronger than expected. It would be best to return to Xinye and rebuild our defenses.”
“Agreed. Set up scarecrows inside the camp. Deceive their eyes, and under cover of darkness we withdraw to Xinye.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Liu Bei and Xu Shu spoke with grave faces.
Soldiers moved in a flurry, planting spear-bearing scarecrows throughout the camp and setting a few campfires and torches among them.
“Slip away quietly while we have the chance.”
Jin Do relayed the order, and Liu Bei’s army began to file out through the far side of the camp.
Liu Bei and Xu Shu exchanged a glance. No one noticed the quiet smile that passed between them.
Xiahou Dun’s army came storming in, flushed with triumph, a little while later.