Duel
Several hundred light cavalry moved in silence along a narrow mountain path. Their commander was Liu Feng, the adopted son of Liu Bei.
Liu Feng roamed the mountain trails of Hanzhong, searching for targets his unit might strike.
Chaos and disruption using the rugged terrain—that was the purpose, and it was also his specialty. Following Liu Bei, he had already carried out multiple successful surprise attacks.
The Hanzhong campaign was no different. He had repeatedly threaded the tangled mountain paths, spotting the Wei army’s weak points and striking them. The damage to the enemy was never decisive, but the operations were perfectly suited to sapping their morale and keeping their nerves stretched taut.
There. That’s the one this time.
Like a predator eyeing its prey, he had been lying low in the mountains when he spotted a promising target.
At his command, several hundred light horsemen shot forward like arrows. He had no doubt they would succeed again.
But they say a long tail gets caught. This time he had stabbed the wrong place—and worse, he failed to realize it at once.
Once more he had come down along the mountain, driven a single thrust into the flank of a small Wei detachment, and was about to pull out. As if they had been waiting for exactly that, a body of cavalry came thundering straight at him.
At their center a young general with a yellow beard twitched his whiskers and shouted at Liu Feng.
“Liu Feng, you bastard! I’ve been waiting for you. My name is Cao Zhang. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“...!”
Cao Cao’s second son, nicknamed the Yellow-Bearded Cavalier for his yellow whiskers. A fierce warrior skilled in arms, strong enough to beat wild beasts to death with his bare hands.
He leveled his spear at Liu Feng.
“As sons of our respective lords, let’s have a go.”
“I’ll pass.”
Liu Feng snorted once and tried to pull his men back. He was no greenhorn who would charge headlong into an enemy that had clearly been lying in wait. When a raid failed, the sensible thing was to preserve the force intact and withdraw.
And of course Cao Zhang had no intention of letting him go. He was already charging in, spear whirling.
“Do you mean to smear Liu Bei’s face with mud? Or go fetch that big-eared old man himself! He’ll have to come clean up after his worthless son!”
“Tch.”
Liu Feng scowled and raised his own spear to block.
Clang!
A single ringing note of steel tore through the air. More followed in rapid succession as the two cavalry forces slammed together, and in an instant a battlefield took shape.
Cao Zhang pressed in close, raining blows without pause, so that Liu Feng could not easily break free. More than that, his pride would not allow him to ignore the insults aimed at his father Liu Bei.
Since it’s come to this, the only way is to finish him off quickly and get out.
Clang! Clang!
Yet as the fight wore on, Liu Feng began to feel the strain. Coming down the mountain he had felt like the predator; facing Cao Zhang, that position flipped in a heartbeat.
His resolve to run the man through in a single thrust withered after only a few exchanges. The longer the bout continued, the more he struggled simply to parry, let alone finish his opponent.
Liu Feng was no weakling, but Cao Zhang’s martial skill was of an entirely different order. And their duel was already nearing its end.
Clang!
Liu Feng barely turned aside one savage blow and gasped for breath. He no longer had the strength or spirit left to meet the next.
He twisted his body just enough to avoid the spear blade that came seeking his throat—yet not completely. In the end he had to give up his shoulder.
“Ugh…!”
A shock like fire slamming into his shoulder made him drop his spear.
“Prepare yourself!”
Watching the spear fly straight for his face, Liu Feng squeezed his eyes shut.
Father, I’m sorry…
Clang!
What appeared before his eyes was not inevitable death. When he opened them again, a mounted general stood blocking his path—a general he knew well.
The one and only female general under heaven. She was turning aside every claw of the savage beast called Cao Zhang.
“Lord Liu Feng. We will take care of you.”
Another young officer spoke to him then—Yu Eun, the lieutenant known to serve under Jin Cheong.
Several of her soldiers carried Liu Feng to the rear. For him it was a blow to his pride to withdraw like this, but he was already wounded too badly to continue fighting; this was no time for pride.
Over his shoulder he looked back at Jin Cheong. She was bravely matching Cao Zhang, yet he could not rest easy.
That man is no ordinary opponent. General Jin—please stay safe.
Together with Yu Eun I was leading my own cavalry, relying on the mountain terrain to wage guerrilla war.
I was far from the only general using mobility and small forces for surprise attacks. Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, Pang De, Liu Feng—many others skilled at commanding cavalry were doing the same.
Early on the tactic had paid off handsomely. But the man we faced was none other than Cao Cao himself.
The Wei army’s movements gradually began to adapt to our raids. Even when we struck under cover of darkness, the panicked flailing of the early days had largely vanished.
Hidden in the mountains, surveying the ground, I spotted a body of enemy horsemen.
In the opening stages of the war I would have hit them like lightning and pulled out at once. Now I decided to watch first.
After taking this many hits, the enemy may well be setting something up.
While I held my breath and waited, a cavalry force burst from the forest on the far side and drove into the Wei left flank.
That was Liu Feng’s unit.
No—it’s still too soon…!
Of course the wish in my heart could never reach him. Still, he might harass them just enough and get clear, so I decided to keep watching. Or rather, I was about to.
Among the Wei ranks a man in conspicuously splendid armor with a yellow beard caught my eye.
That’s Cao Zhang!
The moment I confirmed who it was, I ordered the advance without a second thought. Yu Eun and the rest of my cavalry pounded down the mountain path at a breathless gallop.
Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, or Pang De I would not have worried about. Liu Feng was different. Regrettably, he was no match for Cao Zhang.
What I saw when I came down the trail was Liu Feng already hard-pressed against Cao Zhang. I drove my horse with everything I had.
I watched Cao Zhang knock Liu Feng’s spear away and drive his own through the shoulder, clear as day. And in the instant before the end, I managed to knock Cao Zhang’s spear aside.
While Yu Eun took charge of the wounded Liu Feng, I charged straight at Cao Zhang.
Kang! Kaang!
Our spears crossed twice, then a brief lull.
“You jumped in right before I finished off Liu Bei’s boy.”
“A pity for you. I’ll be your opponent.”
“You’re a woman? Then you must be the female general Jin Cheong.”
“No need for long talk! Son of Cao Cao!”
I had not planned to drag the fight out this way, but with Liu Feng already hurt I decided the man’s arrogance needed a good hard knock.
I spurred forward once, aiming for his shoulder—the same place he had just struck Liu Feng.
He casually turned my blow aside and answered at once with a counter. Our spear points sought each other’s lives more than a dozen times.
“You live up to the reputation. Far more satisfying to fight than the likes of Liu Feng.”
It felt odd to say it myself, but my skill was several cuts above Liu Feng’s. We had never crossed blades, yet from everything I had seen in battle I was certain of it.
After taking a few of his spear strokes, though, I could feel that his skill was half a step or more ahead of mine.
I had cut down a few officers of vice-general rank before, but this was the first time I had truly faced a fierce general of the first rank. Matching spears with him, I met a kind of tension I had never felt before.
“So you do have the skill to come out boldly with a spear. A bit of a waste, but as warriors on the field we ought to settle it. Even if you lose, don’t take it too hard.”
“Anytime.”
Now that it had come to this, my own stubbornness flared. Was there any opponent I could not beat if I fought to the death?
Thinking that, I charged his spear again. Yet the more our weapons met, the clearer it became that pure spear technique alone would never break him.
Clang!
“Ugh!”
I swallowed a groan and blocked his blade with the shaft of my spear. He laid his point flat, then whipped it sideways along my shaft—and the path of that stroke ran straight through the right hand gripping my spear.
If I stayed as I was my right hand would be sliced open, so I released the shaft and dodged the blade.
Seizing the opening, his spear flew at my face; I barely twisted clear.
His attacks never stopped. This time they targeted my left hand. Same pattern as before, yet I still flinched and had to dodge, and the moment my stance broke his blows rained down.
Threatening strikes that gave no hint where they would come from next.
I can’t win with spear work alone!
I decided to trust instinct rather than eyes or experience, and to ignore any light wounds I took.
I worked my horse freely, closing and opening the distance again and again, slipping, deflecting, and blocking every attack. His eyes widened a fraction.
I ducked low under a thrust aimed at my shoulder. Now!
I surged straight in and drove my spear at Cao Zhang’s heart—at the same instant his spear grazed over my shoulder.
Clang!
“Ugh!?”
This time he was the one startled. Startled was all; I had not landed a meaningful hit. I blocked the counter that came at once and opened the distance again.
I reset my stance and steadied my breathing.
“Hooo.”
Cao Zhang wiped the surprise from his face just as quickly and set his features harder.
“Fine horsemanship. Are you by chance from the northern barbarians?”
“Spare the idle talk and focus on the fight.”
It was hopeless. In strength and technique my spear work still fell short of his. That did not mean I was ready to give up.
“I nearly got caught. I’ll throw every means I have against you.”
Well said. I would throw every means I had as well.
“Then here I come again!”
He had been startled only once; he still looked composed as he ground in once more. Between us, brighter flashes and sparks erupted than before.
His claim of using every means had not been empty—he pressed me with even greater power and skill. But that was exactly what I was counting on.
Ting!
“Ugh!”
At last the spear left my hand and flew high into the air. Instantly I wheeled my horse, showing him my back, and raced away. Or rather, I pretended to flee.
“Where do you think you’re running! We finish this!”
While I rode I pulled the bow and arrows I had hung from the saddle.
“No cheap tricks!”
He closed hard, shouting. The instant before his spear could pierce my back, I lay flat along the horse’s rump and drew the bowstring taut. Creak!
Almost at the same moment the spear whistled past just above my face. His face, upside down and filled with shock, filled my vision.
“Ugh!?”
Still lying back, I loosed the string.
“Not a chance!”
Even then his astonishing reflexes let him dodge the arrow. But I had not drawn only one.
A second arrow left the string,
“Urgh! You…!”
and this time he could not fully evade; he took the shot in the shoulder. Upside down I watched him spill blood from the wound and tumble from his horse. Success!
I sat up, twisted the reins, and reversed direction. Cao Zhang still lay on the ground, groaning, unable to rise. The chance to finish him!
“Charge! Protect His Highness!”
But the situation did not unfold as I intended. A fresh unit that had just joined the fight came straight at me.
“Tiger and Leopard Cavalry?”
And not ordinary troops—the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Moving as one, they immediately ringed Cao Zhang.
This time I drew three arrows.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three shafts flew in succession and the three leading Tiger and Leopard riders toppled one after another. Yet like the elite horsemen they were, they vaulted or swerved around the fallen and came grinding straight at me.
I drew the sword at my waist and charged the foremost of them.
Clang!
I knocked his spear aside; as the horses crossed, my blade took his neck. Another Tiger and Leopard rider, mortally wounded, tumbled to the ground.
Then the rest came on like a flood, and I began to thrust and cut among them.
“Protect the general!”
From the rear Yu Eun arrived at exactly the right moment with his men, covering my flanks and back.
“Enough! We take His Highness and withdraw!”
The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had no intention of a prolonged fight; once Cao Zhang’s safety was secured they began to pull back.
“We’re pulling out as well.”
My original purpose had been to rescue Liu Feng, so I ordered my own unit to fall back.