The Mysterious Black Shadow at Beishan
It was the dead of night.
Cao Cao sat in his tent, scowling over a map. He had marched a great army into Hanzhong with every confidence — and yet the unfavorable tide of battle showed no sign of turning. He had prepared for every contingency and never once let his guard down, which only made the bitterness cut deeper.
Liu Bei, you dog. Even here you mean to trip me up?
Liu Bei was using the harsh terrain to nibble away at every strategic point, holding each one with iron resolve. Giving up Mount Dingjun at the outset had cost more than Cao Cao had ever expected.
"Your Majesty, King of Wei! Disaster! Beishan — Beishan is on fire!"
"What!"
Beishan was the critical depot where the Wei army stored its grain and supplies. If the provisions burned, Wei's soldiers would have no choice but to fight with empty, clenched bellies.
"Send word to Cao Zhen and Guo Huai at once — they are to relieve Beishan!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The messenger scrambled out in a panic. Cao Cao himself seized his sword and helmet and strode from the tent.
"Xu Chu!"
"Here!"
"I am going to the high ground at once. Escort me. I need to see the battlefield for myself."
"Yes, my lord!"
"Hah… hah…"
Huang Zhong was holding off Wei troops that came surging at him like a flood.
Under cover of night he had stormed into Beishan with fine momentum and set the grain warehouses ablaze — so far, so good. But grain was the lifeblood of any army. The moment Wei's soldiers saw the fire at their supply depot, they swarmed toward it like moths to a flame.
The numbers were more than Huang Zhong's raiding party could handle alone.
"Come on, then! I am Huang Hansheng — and I will die here if I must! All of you, come at me!"
Huang Zhong fought with the fury of a man half his age. His great blade cut down every enemy who closed on him — but one by one, his men began to fall beneath the enemy's assault.
So this is the end…
His remaining soldiers were spent, and so was he. He was steeling himself for one last stand — to cut down even one more enemy before he died — when a familiar voice reached his ears.
"General Huang! General Huang! Where are you!"
It was Zhao Yun. When Huang Zhong failed to return by the appointed hour, Zhao Yun had ridden out with several dozen light cavalry to save him.
"Ah! General Zhao! I am here!"
"General Huang!"
Zhao Yun charged fearlessly toward the sound of Huang Zhong's voice. His spear work bordered on the divine; every Wei soldier who rushed him went down scattering blood.
"Thank heaven I wasn't too late!"
"Well met. I was in rather a tight spot just now."
"Then let us withdraw together."
Joining forces with Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun began cutting a path back toward the main camp, turning to meet the Wei troops that still poured in like a torrent.
Wei was not idle either. Acting on Cao Cao's orders, Cao Zhen, Guo Huai, and their forces came crashing in from several directions at once, tightening the pressure.
Yet Zhao Yun, riding at the very front, showed not the slightest hint of intimidation. This was the same Zhao Yun who had broken through Wei's ranks at Changban with only Jin Cheong at his side. He put the swift mobility of his lightly armored cavalry to full use — striking, then falling back, then striking again — and tore through the Wei lines at will.
Wherever Zhao Yun charged, the Wei troops scattered without mercy; whenever they tried to surround and pin him, he slipped free with dazzling speed. Unit after unit of Wei soldiers gathered, and still none of them could hold him.
If we could just pin that Zhao Yun down…!
Cao Zhen and Guo Huai had no intention of simply standing still and taking the beating. With their grain stores already badly damaged, returning empty-handed would be an insult their pride as warriors could not bear.
"General Guo! We must have our men rush Zhao Yun all at once!"
"Agreed!"
The two generals meant to encircle Zhao Yun with overwhelming numbers and pin him in place. Huang Zhong was already exhausted — if they could just take Zhao Yun, the rest would follow.
"Waaaah!"
But just as the two of them were about to charge Zhao Yun, a fresh column of horsemen burst onto the field. At their head rode a single general, long spear whirling.
For an instant it seemed as though a second Zhao Yun had appeared. The newcomer's spear work was so dazzling that the Wei ranks split apart in moments, and the rider joined Zhao Yun's side.
"General Zhao Yun! I've come to reinforce you!"
"Ah! Jin Cheong!"
Jin Cheong's unexpected arrival reduced Cao Zhen and Guo Huai's carefully laid plan to foam on the water.
Jin Cheong leveled her spear and charged straight at Guo Huai.
Damn it!
Clang!
Before Guo Huai could even revise his strategy, he was forced to catch Jin Cheong's spear. A single parry, and already his hands were numb.
If only generals like Xu Huang or Zhang He were here for a fight like this…
Guo Huai had never been the sort of commander who led from the front with a spear. Before he could take more than a few of her thrusts, he was already wheeling his horse and scrambling to get clear.
"Surround them and take them! We still have far greater numbers!"
True to his nature as a shrewd commander, Guo Huai read the overall board and made the right call — but when has war ever been decided by reading the board alone?
Before Guo Huai's troops could even finish forming their encirclement, Jin Cheong had already torn open one face of the net.
And when Zhao Yun drove Cao Zhen back as well, nothing remained to stop Shu's breakthrough.
"This reminds me of Changban, General Zhao Yun!"
"It does. I was just thinking the same thing."
Jin Cheong and Zhao Yun rode side by side at the very tip of the army. With two peerless warriors personally carving the path on either flank, the Wei troops had no means of stopping them.
I will not be outdone by these young ones!
Watching the two generals fight with such ferocity, Huang Zhong felt the hot blood of his youth surge up in him once more.
"I am Huang Hansheng — and I am not dead yet!"
His strength restored, Huang Zhong spurred his horse forward and took the lead alongside the other two.
"General Huang!"
"General Jin and I will take the flanks. General Huang, hold the center!"
"Good! We ride for the main camp just like this!"
Three of Shu's greatest champions became the spearpoint itself, carving straight through the enemy.
Riding at the head of our left flank, cutting down enemy after enemy as we broke the encirclement, I suddenly felt the view open wide before me.
"We're through! Fall back to the main camp at once! Just a little more!"
At my shout, the soldiers behind me raised a cheer. The enemy had scattered, and I thought only the road home remained — when the sound of hooves thundered in.
Thud-thud! Thud-thud!
"General! A new force has appeared on the left!"
"…!"
Out of the darkness lit only by moonlight, a company of cavalry emerged. Fresh enemies? I scanned them quickly. Their numbers were not great, but every one of them was mounted — if they drove into our flank, they would be a serious nuisance.
"Watch the flanks for an enemy charge!"
But they did not strike our side. They simply kept riding straight ahead.
Then a single general at their head peeled off toward the edge of their formation. The darkness hid his face, but the armor and helmet glittering splendidly in the moonlight marked him as a commander of high rank.
What is he playing at?
He drew something from his saddle and leveled it at me.
A bow?
I needed no further thought. Having loosed more arrows from horseback than I could count, I felt it by pure instinct — that general was looking straight at me and drawing his string.
Whish!
I flattened myself against my horse's neck. The arrow hissed past over my head.
He's targeting me?
Had he struck our flank, he would have been a real problem — yet for some reason, this general seemed intent on me alone.
So our force and the unidentified company simply ran on parallel courses, the only sound the thunder of hooves filling my ears.
He nocked another arrow and loosed again.
Whish!
This time I clung hard against my horse's flank and let the shaft fly past. Even at a full gallop, his shooting was quite skilled. A solid mounted archer, no question —
Competent, but not a master.
In the moment he reached for another arrow, I righted myself in the saddle and used the rebound to hurl the spear I was holding straight at him.
The black shadow twisted desperately and barely dodged. An unlucky cavalryman behind him took my spear instead and tumbled from his horse — and in that same instant I drew my own bow, nocked an arrow, and took aim.
The black shadow and I faced each other and drew almost as one. But I was a half-beat faster.
Thwip!
The familiar whistle of air past my ear. The familiar tremor in my hand. And at the end of that familiar sequence, the two words that always followed: a hit.
Ghk!
Even through the roar of the battlefield, I thought I heard him grunt.
I had aimed for his throat, but the arrow struck his bow instead — close, but not quite. Even so, it was enough to stop that mysterious company cold.
Whether he had injured his wrist or not, the black shadow clutched at it and began to slow. His cavalry matched his pace and eased off as well.
And so the black shadow — who had come for reasons I still could not fathom — drew away from me into the dark.
What in heaven's name are they doing!
Watching the battle from the hilltop, Cao Cao fretted with mounting frustration. The enemy numbered a few hundred at most. By sheer numbers, Wei should have crushed them easily.
But the three generals at their head made that numerical advantage meaningless.
He had already received word that the enemy commanders who appeared at Beishan were Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun, so it was simple enough to deduce that two of the three leading the charge were those very men.
Then who is the third?
"Your Majesty! Fresh report — a certain Jin Cheong has joined Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun and is breaking free of the field!"
An officer approached and answered the question for him.
So that one is the female general they call Jin Cheong?
Even at a distance, Cao Cao felt it by instinct — the commander riding at the head of the left flank was Jin Cheong.
Had I known she was such a figure, I should have recruited her long ago. Should I have tried to win over her father, Jin Do, first?
While Cao Cao turned that thought over, the three generals finished splitting Wei's encirclement wide open and pressed forward.
Damn it! Are we simply going to let them go!
Just then, a company of cavalry approached the enemy's left flank.
Yes! Strike their side — just like that!
But contrary to his hopes, the horsemen did not hit the flank. They simply ran parallel to the enemy force.
What are they doing!
After riding straight for a time, the cavalry suddenly slowed and simply… let the enemy go. An incomprehensible maneuver. It looked as though there might have been a brief exchange of arrows, but he could not be sure.
And so the Shu force, having completely broken free of Wei's encirclement, returned safely to their main camp —
leaving Wei's supplies with a devastating loss.