Comfort
“Charge! Push all the way to Luocheng!”
“Waaah!”
Morale soaring, our forces advanced.
“All units, retreat! Fall back to Luocheng!”
Zhang Ren and the other generals of Liu Zhang’s army began pulling their troops back. Our side, of course, did not miss the opening and pressed the pursuit hard.
“This won’t do. I’ll hold them—everyone else, return to Luocheng!”
With those words Zhang Ren stayed behind at the rearguard with a handful of men, buying time.
“Enemy general Zhang Ren! Come face this Huang Hansheng once more!”
“Not a chance!”
Huang Zhong swung his great blade and charged.
Clang!
Steel met steel. Zhang Ren’s brow twitched.
“Damn it… so he was only pretending to give ground…!”
“I may have grown old, but I’m not so weak that the likes of you can push me around.”
While Huang Zhong pinned Zhang Ren down, I led our troops in a headlong rush toward Luocheng.
Liu Zhang’s army poured into the city like an ebbing tide.
“Follow the enemy inside the walls!”
The gates of Luocheng had not yet been repaired and could not be shut; the defenders were caught between two impossible choices. Our forces seized the moment and stormed the gate.
A few spearmen tried to bar the way, but nothing could stop the charge. I was first through, driving my spear through several enemy soldiers and dropping them where they stood. Our men flooded in behind me in a roaring tide.
After months of siege, we finally set foot inside Luocheng.
Inside the city, Liu Xun was paralyzed by confusion, able neither to advance nor retreat. The remaining garrison was thin, and neither his ability nor his experience was equal to a sudden crisis. Within expected bounds he had performed adequately; improvisation was simply beyond him.
“The north gate—what of the enemy at the north gate?”
“They still have not attacked, my lord. They are only beating drums.”
“Damn it… a ruse?”
The Liu Bei force at the north gate was in truth only a diversion, never intended to assault. A small detachment had been sent racing around to raise dust and hammer drums, feigning an attack simply to throw Luocheng into chaos. Liu Xun realized it too late. Worse news arrived on its heels.
“General! Liu Bei’s army is pouring through the south gate!”
“Th-the south gate still isn’t repaired… Stop them! We have to stop them!”
Having squandered precious time on the diversion, he could only flounder more desperately by the moment.
Once inside Luocheng I saw clear signs that the defenses themselves had been carefully prepared. Antler obstacles and other barriers stood ready at intervals, proof that they had planned for a breach of the gates.
Yet the counterattack proved far weaker than expected. We seized the gate area and the walls without meeting any truly fierce resistance. Months of attrition under Pang Tong’s command had already drained them; Xu Shu’s stratagem had driven the final nail home.
“Enemy general, come! This Deng Xian will face you!”
As if making a last desperate stand, Deng Xian charged me with his spear.
“Come, then!”
We had exchanged only a few blows when Leng Bao also came at me. Two against one?
But Wei Yan arrived at precisely the right moment.
“Your head is mine!”
I left Leng Bao to Wei Yan and focused on Deng Xian. He seemed determined to kill me and somehow reverse the tide, yet his skill was nowhere near enough. My spear took him in the shoulder; he tumbled from his horse and was taken alive. Almost in the same instant Wei Yan struck off Leng Bao’s head.
Liu Gui, Liu Xun, and the rest were captured one after another. The remaining soldiers of Liu Zhang’s army chose surrender.
Outside the walls, Zhang Ren—still locked in combat with Huang Zhong—was finally defeated, bound with rope, and brought in as well.
“Lieutenant Jin. Victory is ours! Luocheng has fallen!”
Xu Shu cheered as he looked at me.
“But how did you manage to execute the plan so quickly?”
Only later did I learn the full story. From the rear, Xu Shu had realized that taking Luocheng would be no simple task and had already been preparing a stratagem of his own: feign trouble in the rear, pretend to retreat, draw the enemy out, then envelop and destroy them with ambush troops. The ambush positions and the deception were already in place when, by pure coincidence, Pang Tong was thrown from his horse and injured. Xu Shu had never anticipated that particular twist—so the operation succeeded in a strange direction at a strange moment.
The small force at the north gate had likewise been part of the plan. Liu Feng and Fa Zheng had taken only a light detachment, slipped around to the north, and raised nothing more than drums and dust. Startled, Liu Xun had never managed proper command.
Luocheng had fallen. The siege that might have dragged on a year had ended far sooner.
Controlling the surrendered officers and soldiers of Liu Zhang’s army, caring for the civilians, and treating the wounded turned the city into instant chaos. Even so, exhaustion and confusion could not extinguish the buoyant energy that victory had kindled among our own ranks.
Yet the knowledge that I had failed to keep Pang Tong completely unharmed weighed heavily on me. I hurried back outside the walls to the camp where he had been carried.
“Military Advisor Pang!”
I flung aside the tent flap and stepped in. He lay on a bed at one side; beside him sat Gan Yong, perfectly composed.
Pang Tong’s eyes were closed; he made no response. Gan Yong sat upright and quiet in a manner wholly unlike his usual self.
“Lieutenant Jin, you’ve come?”
“Yes, Lord Gan Yong. But Military Advisor Pang…?”
Please. Please let it not be…
“He just fell asleep. Don’t worry. He has been properly treated; they say his life is in no danger. The fall from the horse gave him quite a shock, and the fatigue of these past months has piled up as well.”
“Haaah…”
At those words I finally let out the breath I had been holding. The tension drained so suddenly I nearly sank to the ground.
“Thank goodness… truly…”
“Indeed. And largely thanks to you. No—entirely thanks to you.”
“Then I’ll head back. Please look after Military Advisor Pang.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To Luocheng. There’s a great deal still to do…”
“No. Don’t go just yet. Sit. Forget the work for a moment and rest.”
“His Lordship is already there. The prisoners must be managed, the people’s hearts—”
Gan Yong spoke again, calm and steady.
“Lieutenant Jin. Seyoung. Busy is busy, but come sit first.”
A little awkwardly, I took the chair beside him.
“When Military Advisor Pang briefly woke, he could not remember what had happened. So I told him: he lives because of you. Then the memory returned, and he said he must apologize to you—for running wild on his own. That is what he said.”
“…”
“Men twice your age all end up in your debt. Military Advisor Pang, General Huo Jun, General Zhao Yun, Military Advisor Xu, Military Advisor Zhuge, even His Lordship himself. It is fortunate you are here. Today you did not merely save Military Advisor Pang—you saved the entire army. I offer you my thanks.”
“Ah—no, I only…”
Gan Yong bowed his head; I waved the gratitude away.
“That aside—are you not tired?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, are you not exhausted? Think of everything you have done these past days.”
“Ah…”
Only then did I feel the fatigue crushing my whole body. The endless running under extreme tension throughout the siege, the fighting I had just finished—everything rose in sequence.
“It… it is hard…”
A faint smile touched Gan Yong’s face.
“I thought as much. For all my idle looks, I have followed His Lordship across the realm and eaten decades’ worth of cold rice. You looked after the people at Gaimeng Pass; you looked after General Huo Jun. Lately you have been racing about guarding Military Advisor Pang. And just now you stormed Luocheng and then ran straight here, did you not?”
“It was my duty…”
“Working hard is fine, but at least keep an eye on your own condition while you do it. If you keep working without even knowing whether you are tired, you will collapse. When it is hard, say so. I spend my days loafing, so it feels odd coming from me, but—hahaha!”
His half-joking comfort drew a small smile from me as well.
“Rest here without a single thought. His Lordship will understand. He is that sort of man.”
“Yes.”
He handed me a cup of freshly steeped, steaming tea. I wrapped both hands around it. My body was bone-weary, yet the gentle warmth flowed up through my palms.
I took a sip and said, half teasing,
“You seem unusually serious today. You’re always sprawled at some angle.”
“Hmph. Even I can be serious when the moment calls for it.”
“Military Advisor Pang will be all right, won’t he?”
“He will. He’ll wake after a good sleep. Be sure to collect that thank-you. If he doesn’t offer it, grab him by the collar and wring it out of him. Haha.”
“Hahaha. Yes.”
Trading light banter with Gan Yong, I soothed my exhausted body.
A day passed after the fall of Luocheng. Pang Tong continued to receive treatment, and efforts to stabilize the hearts of the city’s people went on without pause.
And I was promoted.
Is hereby bestowed the title of
Considering her meritorious service thus far, even this appointment comes late.
“My deepest thanks.”
From Xiaowei to general. Gan Yong, ever the one to lift the mood, led the cheers, and soon everyone was clapping and offering congratulations.
We reorganized the troops inside Luocheng, took the surrounding villages and strongpoints one by one, and steadily prepared the advance on Chengdu. Word arrived that the supporting armies under Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun would soon reach Chengdu as well.
Then one more piece of news came—from Huo Jun.
“General Huo Jun of Gaimeng Pass has sent a messenger.”