Battle of Bowang Slope (2)
The scout who had surveyed Liu Bei's camp returned to report to Xiahou Dun.
"General. The enemy appears to be abandoning their camp and fleeing."
"What? Fleeing?"
"Yes. Our scouts have confirmed it. Liu Bei's camp is filled with nothing but scarecrows and bonfires—no soldiers in sight."
"So that Liu Bei dog means to slip out the back door."
Xiahou Dun's expression settled into one of grim understanding.
"We take the camp first. Follow me."
Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin immediately led their troops and hurried toward Liu Bei's camp.
"Indeed—nothing but scarecrows and torches as far as the eye can see."
"That big-eared bastard is using a trick so transparent a child could see through it. As if I'd fall for something so obvious."
"General, we should occupy the camp and seize their supplies first…"
Yu Jin advised from beside him, worried that Xiahou Dun might charge off again.
"Fine. General Yu Jin, secure this position. I'll pursue Liu Bei myself."
"The night is late. It would be wiser to rest the men. Advancing again tomorrow would not be too late."
"They can't have gone far. By now Liu Bei will be complacent, thinking we've fallen for his ruse. Striking now is the best course."
Drunk on consecutive months of victory, Xiahou Dun could no longer hear Yu Jin's words. He hastily drove his soldiers out through the rear of the camp and gave chase to Liu Bei.
Yu Jin sighed and began occupying the camp. Still, fully securing this position would tip the coming battles in their favor.
Meanwhile, Xiahou Dun—having already declared victory in his mind—was spurring his horse hard. Just one more step. Then he would take with his own hands the Liu Bei whom the Chancellor had regarded as a thorn in his side…
But his sweet dream began to shatter beneath a thunderous roar.
"You one-eyed bastard! This old man Zhang Fei has been waiting without a wink of sleep! Now I'll take that head of yours!"
"General! Enemy to the left!"
A band of soldiers came charging. At their head was Zhang Fei, whirling his Serpent Spear. Until that moment Xiahou Dun still had room to spare—
"Ambush again? I'm sick of this. Scatter those flies at once."
Then a shout rose from the opposite side as well.
"Guan Yunchang is here! Whoever wants their head to fall, step forward!"
From the right, Guan Yu came charging with the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Caught in a pincer from both sides, Xiahou Dun still refused to yield.
But the assault of the two mighty generals was more terrifying than anything he had imagined.
Every time the Green Dragon Crescent Blade carved through the air in a flash of cold light, a head went flying. No man survived a second exchange. In Guan Yu's wake, countless ownerless heads tumbled across the ground.
Unlike Guan Yu, Zhang Fei—armed with a thrusting weapon—impaled enemy soldiers at a speed the eye could scarcely follow. Along the path he had taken, men collapsed without even knowing what had pierced them.
"Stand and fight! Don't lose heart! This is their last desperate thrashing!"
But then—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A sound of air being torn, and the soldiers at the front began falling one by one. Every one of them had an arrow buried in his body.
"Charge! Take Xiahou Dun!"
Liu Bei and Zhao Yun, whom they had thought were fleeing, wheeled about and slammed into Xiahou Dun's army from behind.
"Damn it. We've been had."
By the time he realized it, it was already too late. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun—the three peerless generals who represented Liu Bei's army—struck Xiahou Dun's forces from three sides.
And they were joined by fine warriors like Jin Do and Liao Hua, while a single mounted archer picked off soldiers one by one with deadly accuracy.
"Fall back for now. We withdraw to the camp Yu Jin is holding."
No matter how brave Xiahou Dun was, no matter how many men he had, once caught so completely in an ambush there was no way to hold. At least the retreat path had not yet been cut off, so he judged that if he could just reach Yu Jin's camp, they would be all right.
"You bastard! You've come this far—shouldn't you at least trade a few blows with this Zhang Fei? Where do you think you're going? Lost one eye and now you're deaf too?!"
"That—that bastard…"
The taunt from behind made Xiahou Dun grind his teeth. From his position it was a deeply humiliating and enraging insult, but enough sense remained that he did not commit the folly of charging back in.
The enemy was not so numerous that he couldn't break free and return the way he had come.
"Oh! That's right. Yes, yes—my mistake. Since you've only got one eye left, I'll fight you with just one arm. How's that? Fair enough for a leftover warrior like you, isn't it? Come on! Come at me!"
Zhang Fei was now mocking him in a tone as if soothing a child.
Xiahou Dun's face flushed red and purple as if it would burst at any moment, but he did not stop spurring his horse.
Just a little farther—just a little more and the camp will appear.
But that, too, was a trap. In the distance, a camp blazed a furious red.
Yu Jin was occupying the camp Liu Bei had abandoned and checking that nothing was amiss.
He ordered the soldiers to collect the discarded weapons and supplies. He also considered troop placement, sentry posts, sleeping arrangements, and the rest.
But the more he thought, the more uneasy he felt.
They could have held out longer. Why abandon the camp and leave? Are they planning to hole up in Xinye?
Then one of his subordinates approached.
"General Yu Jin, you need to see this."
"What is it?"
"We examined the grain piles the enemy left in the storehouse—it's not grain. It's stacks of straw soaked in oil."
"What?!"
Yu Jin's eyes flew wide and a chill ran down his spine. No one soaks oil into a precious grain storehouse unless they plan a fire attack.
"Inform General Xiahou Dun of this at once. We must get out of here immediately. It's an enemy trap."
"Yes, sir!"
But before the messenger could even mount his horse, the disaster struck.
"Fire arrows!"
Suddenly a rain of fire arrows came pouring in from outside the camp. What they could not know was that these fire arrows were being loosed by Liu Feng and Guan Ping, who had set up this very camp.
Because the camp had already been stocked with highly flammable straw bales, scarecrows, and oil, the fire caught in an instant and roared into a blazing inferno.
"So it was a trap after all."
Yu Jin ground his teeth, but there was no time for regret.
"Get word to the General as fast as possible and request reinforcements from Li Dian of the rear guard. Then get us out of here at once."
Whoosh!
"Gah!"
An arrow whistled past Yu Jin's ear and buried itself in a scarecrow behind him. A few more arrows followed, and the scarecrow was engulfed in flames. Fire arrows rained down like a storm across the entire camp, not just where Yu Jin stood.
In moments the camp had become a pit of fire, and more and more of Yu Jin's soldiers were being swallowed by the flames. Even Yu Jin himself could barely keep his wits about him in the heat.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Then it came. With a rumble of hooves, Xiahou Dun arrived at a gallop leading his routed troops. Seeing the burned-out camp, he could not hide the look of utter dismay on his face.
"General Yu Jin! What in the world—"
"We've fallen completely into the enemy's snare. We must leave this place and join up with Li Dian's rear force."
"Damn it…"
They barely managed to break free of the camp, but Liu Bei's army was pursuing from the rear, while Liu Feng and Guan Ping attacked from both flanks.
The operation was a complete success. The historical records did mention that Liu Bei had repelled Xiahou Dun's army with an ambush, but imagining it and seeing it with one's own eyes were as different as heaven and earth.
I kept spurring my horse and loosing arrows.
It goes without saying that whether in the world of the Three Kingdoms or in my previous life, this was the first time I had ever killed a person—the first time I had personally ended a life.
There was a certain heaviness in my heart, but I was calmer than I expected. Was this also the power of possession? Well, I had written a novel about a girl general who leapt onto the battlefield and showed her valor, after all.
"The enemy flees! Pursue them!"
Liu Bei waved his twin swords and gave chase to the fleeing Xiahou Dun army. Where the enemy's morale had completely broken, our own forces were soaring.
Our troops followed the routed enemy, pressing the attack and sometimes taking prisoners. Some, falling behind in the flight, threw down their weapons and surrendered. I kept loosing arrows as well.
"My lord, a new enemy force has joined from the rear."
At those words, Liu Bei raised a hand and halted the army's advance.
That would be Li Dian from the rear guard. In the end, Li Dian's unit, which had been held back, had come to rescue their comrades in crisis.
"Enough. Our gains are sufficient. We return to Xinye."
With a fresh force appearing, Liu Bei swiftly ordered the withdrawal. Li Dian's unit was fresh and undamaged, and more importantly, they had considerable numbers. There was no need to engage them head-on and accept casualties on our side.
"All forces, withdraw."
The soldiers who had been charging so eagerly moments before fell back in good order under their commanders' direction all the way to Xinye.
The enemy, having already taken a crushing blow to their main force, chose to fall back rather than press forward.
"The enemy has fully withdrawn. There is no sign they will attack again."
"Good. Well done. Go and rest."
Receiving the messenger's report in Xinye, the generals breathed sighs of relief. Some, like Zhang Fei, even expressed a kind of regret—if they'd come again, we could have smashed them even harder.
With the bulk of his forces already broken and morale at rock bottom, Xiahou Dun would hardly dare to attack again.
The generals received rewards according to their merit. And as for me…
"At such a young age, and as a woman no less—the martial skill you have shown is truly admirable."
Liu Bei's praise.
And my father expressed more relief that I was unharmed than pride that I had earned merit.
In any case, my historic first battle had ended in success, so the starting point I had been given upon arriving in this world seemed a very good one.
The road ahead would be long and hard, but for now I just had to run.
This Battle of Bowang Slope was nothing more than a prologue. Well then—how shall I write the next chapter?