Liao Is Coming! Liao Is Coming! (The Battle of Hefei)
"Zhang Liao is coming!"
The cry rose from the soldiers at the front like a scream. It was no mere shout. To the men of Wu who had already witnessed Zhang Liao's ferocity with their own eyes, it was a lash of command that drove a single emotion straight into their bones.
Terror.
"Zhang Liao is coming…?"
"Zhang Liao…?"
The battlefield was chaos, yet those two syllables cut through everything with perfect clarity.
As more and more soldiers began murmuring Zhang Liao's name, Lu Meng felt a sharp spike of unease. Even allowing for the fact that Wu's expeditionary force — cobbled together from a confederation of local clans — never boasted particularly high morale, this was excessive.
He shook his head, banishing the thought, and fixed his attention on the fight before him.
Pointless fretting. This is a battle we couldn't lose even if we tried — not with these numbers.
The enemy was vastly outnumbered. Lu Meng's mind raced as he drove a wedge into that disparity.
"Orders. Couriers — miss not a single word. Relay them exactly and at once."
"Yes, sir!"
In moments he had shaped a plan and issued his commands.
"Chen Wu holds the front and checks the enemy first. Song Qian stays with His Lordship — if the situation turns critical, escort him back. Summon Pan Zhang and Gan Ning from the rear. Ling Tong takes his troops and forms a second defensive line. He Qi commands the left wing, Xu Sheng the right — both charge and shatter the enemy's flanks, then encircle Zhang Liao's force. And as a precaution, tell Jiang Qin at Xiaoyaojin to keep his defenses airtight!"
"Yes, sir!"
Watching the couriers spur their horses in every direction, Lu Meng ran the plan through again. While Chen Wu, Pan Zhang, Ling Tong, and the rest pinned Zhang Liao's assault column in the center, He Qi and Xu Sheng would close from both sides and crush them. With such overwhelming numbers, a clean encirclement might even take Zhang Liao alive.
His head insisted this was the best plan available under the circumstances. His gut, however, kept twisting with a dark premonition.
What was the source of that dread? One answer lay some distance away. The other was right beside him.
His lord, Sun Quan, had stubbornly refused to leave the front. Lately the man seemed determined to fight in person — a headache Lu Meng could have done without. Still, with Chen Wu and Song Qian present, it ought to be manageable for now.
But the soldiers around him — their eyes held neither valor nor fighting spirit. Only anxiety, flickering and raw. That was the real problem.
"Steady your hearts and face the enemy! They are few! This is our chance to smash that general's arrogance flat!"
Even his encouragement did little for their color. They kept glancing backward at the dust rising ahead, as if any moment they might break and run.
Morale. One of the decisive factors in any battle. Superior conditions meant nothing if the men's spirit was already on the floor.
Lu Meng and his officers tried to rally them. It was not going well.
"I am Zhang Liao!"
"Waaaaah!"
Where Sun Quan's army scraped the bottom of its courage, Zhang Liao's force — especially the assault column he led in person — soared so high it seemed ready to pierce the sky. They had already tasted their commander's valor and their own breakthrough power in the earlier clash, and that memory burned hot.
Every time Zhang Liao bellowed his name, the answering roar of his men climbed higher still.
Then they slammed into Chen Wu's unit. From the first collision alone, the difference in momentum was absolute.
That breakthrough force tore through Wu's ranks like paper. Zhang Liao swept his great blade in wide arcs, cutting down everyone who stood in his path. Each flash of cold steel sent a Wu soldier spraying blood; those caught under the horses' hooves screamed and tumbled across the dirt. The assault troops charging behind him dropped Wu men in swathes.
"Where is Sun Quan? Come out! Zhang Liao is here!"
Zhang Liao's eyes found Sun Quan's command banner. He had seen it up close during the previous attack; it was already familiar. That astonishing breakthrough had nearly reached Sun Quan himself. The situation was so desperate that the lord of Wu had taken up a bow and was fighting in person.
His archery was excellent — every shaft he loosed dropped an enemy soldier. But it was nowhere near enough to stop Zhang Liao, who came on like a single enraged beast.
"Song Qian! I'll hold him — get His Lordship out of here!"
Chen Wu spurred forward with his spear raised, shouting as he went.
"My lord, you must flee at once. I will escort you."
"What nonsense is that? If I, their lord, run, how am I supposed to face my men afterward?"
Song Qian urged retreat. Sun Quan dug in his heels and drew another arrow.
Remember Father's courage. Remember Brother's. I have to surpass them both.
Sun Jian or Sun Ce would have finished a general like this long ago. With that obsession clenched in his chest, he drew the bowstring. Another arrow punched into an enemy soldier's breast.
But obsession alone could not reverse the tide. Jaw locked, Sun Quan kept shooting.
"I am Chen Wu! Enemy general Zhang Liao — take my spear!"
"I've no business with the likes of you. Send out Sun Quan!"
"Boast while you can. Today I take your head."
Chen Wu met Zhang Liao head-on with real courage. He was brave enough in his own right — yet after only a few exchanges of spear and blade, the certainty settled hard: he was no match for this man.
Still, his lord stood directly behind him. Retreat was not an option. Each clash left his wrists numb and ringing. At last Zhang Liao's blow unhorsed him.
"General Chen Wu!"
The moment he fell, the tremor running through the ranks deepened. One man turned and fled; several more around him followed. The collapse of Wu's formation accelerated.
"My lord! It's over — you must get out of here now!"
"Damn it…"
As his army disintegrated at terrifying speed, even Sun Quan had no choice. He wheeled his horse about.
"Where is Sun Quan?! Come fight me!"
Zhang Liao's roar carried clearly even as they fled.
"Song Qian! I'll hold this ground — take His Lordship and fall back!"
Pan Zhang came charging up from the rear. He sent Sun Quan and Song Qian past him, then drew his sword — and the blade did not point at Zhang Liao's men. It pointed at his own.
Shhk! Shhk-shhk!
Two strokes. Two fleeing Wu soldiers crumpled, blood pouring from them.
"Anyone who runs dies on my sword! Choose — die by my hand, or face the enemy!"
Pan Zhang's iron shout checked the stampede mid-stride. He swept the blade through empty air.
"One more step backward and I will not spare you!"
The deserters turned around and faced Zhang Liao's force again.
Gan Ning arrived from behind as well.
"Pipes and drums — now! If we put our backs into it, these bastards ain't unbeatable!"
He loosed arrows as he bellowed at the military band. Drums thundered and flutes shrilled, clawing at the shattered morale, trying to scrape it back together.
Pan Zhang and Gan Ning's arrival stopped the front from collapsing entirely — but the situation remained grim.
Hell. I didn't think it'd get this bad.
Gan Ning's mouth tasted bitter. Looking this pathetic with these numbers was a humiliation he could barely swallow. Then a courier reached him.
"General Gan Ning. Message from General Lu Meng. He says he's changing the plan."
"Yeah? What's he want?"
A short distance from the melee, a formation of men in red held their ranks in good order.
Ling Tong was dressing his elite troops, building the next defensive line.
"They're nearly through."
"That enemy general, Zhang Liao — he must be formidable. To punch through a force of that size…"
The voices carried tension, but what underlay them was not fear. It was excitement.
In the unit Ling Tong had forged with such care, fear was an emotion that would not be tolerated. They were swelling instead with the prospect of distinguishing themselves against a hard enemy.
Sun Quan had withdrawn under Song Qian's escort, yet Zhang Liao's momentum showed no sign of flagging. On Lu Meng's orders, Ling Tong meant to stop the Wei assault right here.
The young general — red headscarf neat, red battle coat immaculate — let his mind drift for a moment to the past.
General Jin Cheong told me once: if you ever meet a man named Zhang Liao on the field, take special care.
There was no room now for care or caution. Sun Quan was directly behind him. If the lord of Wu fell, Eastern Wu itself would teeter. He had to hold this ground.
Ling Tong looked over the men dressed in the same red as himself.
"Listen well. The enemy is running wild — but all of it ends the moment we cut down their core: Zhang Liao. So we kill Zhang Liao. The instant they charge this way, we countercharge and take his head."
"Yes, sir!"
And then they saw it: the Wei assault column, having torn the allied ranks apart, racing straight toward them through a cloud of dust. Exactly as expected, Zhang Liao rode at its head. This was the chance to claim that man's head.
"I am Zhang Liao!"
"Kill Zhang Liao!"
Zhang Liao's assault column and Ling Tong's elite force collided head-on.