Reunion
"Xiaowei Jin. How do you see this coming fight?"
"This fight, my lord?"
Guan Yu, riding beside me toward Jiangling, put the question to me. For all the dignified image he cut, he was a proud man by nature—yet ever since he had let Cao Cao slip away at the Red Cliffs, that pride had softened, if only a little.
"I believe that once General Guan Yu's might is brought to bear, the city will fall. You are, after all, the Guan Yu of the realm. The enemy will tense at the mere sound of your name."
"Haha. Flattery."
He said it dismissively, but he looked quietly pleased all the same.
"Very well. I mean to avenge that last failure."
Hmm. A touch of the old arrogance is creeping back. Still, a little confidence before a battle never hurt anyone.
Jiangling, I recalled, would one day be the territory Guan Yu governed—and the place where his downfall would begin.
Turning that thought over, I arrived at the southern face of Jiangling, where a fierce battle was already underway. There I found a familiar face waiting.
The general commanding the Wu forces outside the walls, locked in a grinding siege, was none other than Ling Tong. He still wore the red headscarf and war-robe I remembered from the Red Cliffs.
"I am Ling Tong. It is an honor to meet the renowned General Guan Yu. And… Duwei Jin has come as well."
"I am Guan Yu. I have brought reinforcements. And this child has since been promoted to Xiaowei—you may address her as such."
"Ah, I see. Congratulations on your promotion."
"Thank you, General Ling Tong. I'm glad we get to fight together again. I've come to lend you my strength."
"Yes. I am glad as well…"
Ling Tong had greeted Guan Yu without a hitch, but when his eyes found me he stumbled slightly over his words. He recovered quickly enough, and we turned to the state of the campaign.
"The most urgent matter is Gan Ning. He set out to take Yiling and has instead been surrounded by the enemy. Just a short while ago, Grand Commander Zhou Yu and the other generals rode for Yiling to relieve him. I have been left with the charge of holding this main camp for ten days."
After sketching the situation, Ling Tong and Guan Yu held a brief council and settled the disposition of their forces. Guan Yu would take his own troops and cut the northern road out of Jiangling—blocking Cao Ren's escape north while also intercepting any enemy reinforcements. That was the aim.
"Then leave the northern approaches of Jiangling to this Guan Yunchang."
Guan Yu departed, but I remained at Ling Tong's side for a time to help him. From him I heard a concise account of the fighting against Cao Ren so far.
Zhou Yu had brought a great host and invested Jiangling, yet the defenders had not yielded easily. First Cao Ren's subordinate Niu Jin had led several hundred men out of the city to skirmish. When Niu Jin found himself surrounded, Cao Ren himself had ridden out with a handful of troops, fought with astonishing ferocity, broken the encirclement, rescued Niu Jin, and withdrawn back into the city.
After that, Gan Ning had taken a detached force to seize nearby Yiling. He took the fortress—only to discover it was a trap. Cao Hong and the rest of the enemy army closed around him without a gap, and he was now in desperate straits. Zhou Yu, Lü Meng, Cheng Pu, and the others had therefore led the main strength of the army to extract Gan Ning from the snare.
Ling Tong, left to hold the camp with the main force gone, was clearly feeling the pressure. Even so, he had pledged to hold for ten days, and the weight of that promise sat heavy on him.
"I'm worried to hear General Gan Ning is surrounded."
Gan Ning and I had fought on the same ship at the Red Cliffs; I could not help but be concerned. In the true history he did not die here—but the unexpected could always happen. On a battlefield, a single misstep could kill anyone.
"That bastard Gan Ning. Getting himself surrounded like a fool."
Ling Tong grumbled and cursed Gan Ning's name, yet there was an edge of anxiety under the words. He still clearly disliked the man—but I could also see the worry of a comrade. Had it been otherwise, he would never have come to our aid at the Red Cliffs.
In any case, I joined Ling Tong's camp with the small force under my command.
Jiangling boasted high, stout walls, and the man holding them was Cao Ren, famed for his skill in defense. Needless to say, the enemy had no intention of surrendering the city lightly.
Inside Jiangling, in the council chamber, Cao Ren, Niu Jin, Zhu Ling, and the others were deliberating.
"General Cao Ren. I have scouted the situation outside. Enemy reinforcements arrived a short while ago. It appears Liu Bei's forces have joined them."
"What? Who is their commander?"
"Guan Yu."
"Guan Yu…"
At that name, Cao Ren's face tightened; he rubbed his jaw. He had sent Zhou Yu, Lü Meng, and the other principal officers off to Yiling and thought he had bought himself a breathing space—only for reinforcements to arrive almost at once. And not just any reinforcements: Guan Yu, the famous warrior.
"Niu Jin. What is the enemy doing now?"
The officer reporting to Cao Ren was Niu Jin—a different man from the Yu Jin renowned among the Five Elite Generals, a mere namesake.
"Guan Yu's troops have left Ling Tong's camp and are circling north by a roundabout road."
"Hmph. So he means to cut the northern road after all."
"Yes, that seems to be it. It will take them some time to complete the circuit."
Cao Ren's mind worked quickly. The arrival of a fighter like Guan Yu was ill news—but there would be a gap. He meant to exploit it.
"Good. Leave the city to Zhu Ling. We ride out at once."
"Ride out, my lord?"
His subordinate Zhu Ling asked from beside him.
"Yes. While Guan Yu is away, Niu Jin and I will strike hard and fast and be back before they know it. Right now that green boy Ling Tong is the only commander left out there. We seize this chance and put the fear of us into them."
"Yes, my lord!"
"And Zhu Ling—hold the walls. If the enemy pursues us when we fall back to Jiangling, greet them with a rain of arrows and teach them a sharp lesson."
Niu Jin and Zhu Ling clasped their fists in salute.
"Yes! We will prepare at once."
"Yes! This time we will show those dogs what we are made of."
I stood with Ling Tong before the walls of Jiangling, talking. I watched his profile as I spoke; he stood ramrod-straight, eyes fixed on the city alone.
He never looked away—simply stared Jiangling down with a stubborn intensity that carried the true mettle of a general.
"How do you think the enemy will move? I've heard their commander Cao Ren is a brave man."
"Yes. I saw him fight here myself. When Niu Jin was surrounded by our men, Cao Ren burst out of the city, broke the encirclement, rescued him, and fled back inside. He is certainly brave. He may sortie again at any moment."
Ling Tong spoke with the reluctant admiration of a man who had faced a worthy foe.
"Mm. He might even choose this very moment to strike."
"This moment?"
"Yes. Our army has the city ringed, but the cordon has grown thin. And General Guan Yu is circling north to cut the road. If their commander is any good at intelligence work, he will see this as his chance."
Ling Tong considered that for a moment, then nodded.
"You may be right. We should prepare, just in case."
"Yes. I'll go and set my own men ready as well."
That was when it happened.
"General Ling Tong! The gates are opening—the enemy is coming out!"
"What?!"
I looked where the soldier pointed. Through the wide-flung gates of Jiangling, enemy troops were pouring forth in a flood.
"Speak of the tiger and he appears…"
"All hands—prepare for battle!"
In an instant the situation turned critical. I ordered my own troops to ready themselves and swung up into the saddle.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Even as I did, the ground began to shake, and the enemy closed in.
"I am Cao Ren, General Who Pacifies the South! Where is the general called Ling Tong? If you are no coward, come out and face me!"
At the head of the charge, Cao Ren spurred his horse forward and taunted Ling Tong by name.
"So you are Cao Ren. Today this Ling Tong will cut the breath from your throat. All forces—charge!"
At Ling Tong's command the Wu army surged forward, and he himself rode out with his spear whirling to meet Cao Ren head-on. Three hundred elite troops in matching red headscarves and war-robes thundered after him. In moments the ground before Jiangling became a tangled melee of both armies.
Ling Tong's personal guard were well-drilled veterans, but Cao Ren had already proven his courage in the earlier fighting, and his men's spirits were high. Cao Ren and Ling Tong locked spears and traded blow for blow. Cao Ren was famed for his valor—yet Ling Tong showed no sign of yielding.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Their weapons rang together more than a dozen times. The contest was evenly matched, tiger against dragon.
"General! I will join you!"
An enemy officer lunged in from the side, aiming to overwhelm Ling Tong. Was that Cao Ren's subordinate Niu Jin?
If this went on, Ling Tong's flank would be exposed. Without a second thought I spurred my horse hard to his aid.
"Hold! I will be the one to face you!"
I shouted first to check him. Fortunately, I drew Niu Jin's attention away before he could strike Ling Tong's side.
"And what are you supposed to be, you insolent little brat? This elder Niu Jin will teach you a lesson!"
I gave him no answer—only drove my horse at him and swung my spear. My spear and Niu Jin's crescent blade flashed together in the air, and the curtain rose on the battle for Nanjun.