Cao Cao's Southern Expedition
Xuchang. Cao Cao.
Xuchang — the new capital of the Han that Cao Cao had established after Dong Zhuo set fire to Luoyang.
The great hall of Xuchang was vast beyond any comparison with the modest government offices of Xinye. The throng of civil and military officials gathered within it likewise dwarfed anything Liu Bei's faction could muster.
Among them, a civil official in immaculate court robes stepped forward. He bowed his head respectfully toward the man seated at the center and spoke.
"Chancellor. This humble servant would offer his counsel. The time has come to strike the south. Now is the perfect moment to seize Jingzhou."
His name was Cheng Yu — a man of imposing stature, eight chi and three cun tall, roughly six feet, and gifted with the mind of a first-rate strategist. A talent of the age.
There was only one man in the realm before whom such a figure would lower his head and call himself a humble servant.
Cao Cao.
Chancellor of the Han. The man who held the Son of Heaven and commanded the world. The absolute power of the age.
His appearance was unremarkable, and set beside the towering Cheng Yu he looked almost slight. Yet when he opened his mouth, a voice of unmistakable authority rolled forth.
"Cheng Yu. Very well. Tell me why we must strike the south now."
"Yes, Chancellor. Our armies have pacified Hebei and steadily stockpiled troops and supplies. The soldiers' fatigue has eased, and their morale is high. With Your Excellency's prestige shaking the realm, this is the most opportune moment."
Cao Cao snorted.
"You did not step forward for so thin a reason as that, I trust. Speak your true mind."
"Yes. I shall."
Cheng Yu clasped his hands once more and continued.
"Liu Biao, Inspector of Jingzhou, has of late been in poor health — they say he may not last the day."
"I have heard that news as well. He is of an age for it. And?"
"Indecisive though he may be, he has governed Jingzhou for many years, and his administrative ability cannot be dismissed. His presence alone has kept the province stable. His sons, however, are sorely lacking in talent."
"You mean Liu Qi and Liu Zong."
"Precisely. Liu Biao has yet to settle the succession cleanly. The eldest is Liu Qi, yet in the contest for the heirship he appears to be losing ground to his younger brother Liu Zong. Word is that the Cai clan, the great power of Jingzhou, is backing Liu Zong. In short, with Liu Biao hovering between life and death, the province is riven with internal anxiety. Civil strife could break out at any moment."
"Those fools. They know full well what became of the Yuan clan of Hebei, and still they cannot set their house in order."
Cao Cao snorted again, and the corners of his ministers' mouths twitched upward. Cheng Yu pressed on.
"There is a second reason. Huang Zu of Jiangxia has at last been slain by Sun Quan. Huang Zu had held Jiangxia against three generations of the Sun family's assaults. His death has left one flank of Jingzhou's defenses unstable."
"So Sun Quan has finally avenged his father. I doubt he will stop there."
"Indeed. And word has come that Liu Qi has been appointed the new commander of the defense and has departed for Jiangxia. He is said to have volunteered for the post himself — yet a man with no real experience leading troops taking command of the defenses only underscores how precarious his position has become."
Cao Cao nodded.
"True enough. To firm up his claim as heir, he would have been wiser to remain in Xiangyang, the heart of Jingzhou, under the present circumstances."
"Exactly so. Jingzhou may look calm on the surface, but it rests on foundations that could collapse at any hour."
"And so you say now is the time to strike Jingzhou? Would it not be just as well to leave them be and watch the Liu Qi and Liu Zong factions tear each other apart?"
Cao Cao spoke less from curiosity than as a test, waiting to see what answer would come.
"I shall explain that point as well. It is because of Liu Bei."
"Liu Bei…"
At the mention of that name, Cao Cao's eyes — which until a moment before had held a languid light — flickered with a sudden keenness. The atmosphere shifted entirely from the one that had attended talk of Liu Qi, Liu Zong, or Huang Zu.
"Liu Bei's forces are small, yet he has gathered considerable popular support in Jingzhou. He is a wolf that keeps its claws sheathed. The moment Liu Biao dies, he will stir to claim the province. Of course the Cai and Kuai clans, the old masters of Jingzhou, will not sit idle either. Strike while they are at one another's throats, and Your Excellency may take Jingzhou with far greater ease."
"Cheng Yu — in your judgment, will Liu Bei draw his sword the instant Liu Biao dies and try to seize Jingzhou?"
"I would put it at even odds."
Cao Cao fell silent for a moment. His gaze was fixed ahead, but his mind was turning over the man called Liu Bei.
"Your thinking largely matches my own — save for one point. Liu Bei is not the sort to lunge the moment Liu Biao dies."
"If the Chancellor would instruct me, I shall receive it gratefully."
"Liu Bei — that man will never, no matter how hungry he is, snatch at the meal set before him. First he straightens his cap and robes, takes the measure of the room, gauges the eyes upon him — and only then does he lift his chopsticks. That is the kind of man he is."
Cao Cao spoke as he recalled their first meeting. Liu Bei had been exactly that sort of man. Where Cao Cao himself moved boldly the moment a goal appeared, Liu Bei hid his true intent, held perfectly still, waited for his chance — and then, in a single breath, struck.
"I thank the Chancellor for his instruction. Even so, that now is the time to strike Jingzhou remains beyond doubt. Should time pass and Liu Bei take Jingzhou into his hands, the trouble will only grow. If he joins forces with Sun Quan, they will become a power we cannot ignore."
Cao Cao agreed with that assessment. Liu Biao and Sun Quan had been long-standing enemies; the chance of their joining hands was nearly nil. Liu Bei was another matter entirely.
"I have decided. From this moment, the southern expedition begins. The objective is Jingzhou."
At Cao Cao's resolve, the civil and military officials swallowed hard and hung on his every word.
"Cao Ren!"
"Yes!"
Cao Ren — kinsman of Cao Cao and a general renowned for his valor — stepped forward and bowed at the waist.
"I appoint you vanguard commander of the southern expedition. Take a force ahead and assault Xinye."
"Yes!"
"And Yu Jin. I appoint you Cao Ren's deputy. Assist him and strike Xinye."
There was a reason Cao Cao named Yu Jin as deputy. Yu Jin had once attacked Xinye alongside Xiahou Dun and suffered defeat. At the time he had urged caution upon Xiahou Dun, only for the latter to ignore him, charge in rashly, and meet with a crushing reverse.
Cao Cao was ordering Yu Jin to draw on that experience and support Cao Ren. He did not say so outright, yet Yu Jin understood his lord's intent perfectly.
"Yes, Chancellor. I receive your command."
Cao Cao continued issuing orders to each general — to gather the scattered forces from every region and advance on Jingzhou. He further announced that he himself would lead the imperial guard and take the field in person.
Cao Ren's army pushed out first. Then the troops dispersed across the Central Plains and Hebei began streaming south toward Wan, the city north of Xinye.
The great southern expedition had begun.
With Huang Zu dead, Liu Qi, eldest son of Liu Biao, set out to take over the defense of Jiangxia in his place. That, however, was only the pretext. In truth he was fleeing the Cai clan — the opposing faction — for fear of what harm they might do him.
Liu Qi had once enjoyed Liu Biao's favor, but the slanders of Lady Cai, the second wife, had steadily eroded his father's trust. Stripped of his place in the succession and now sensing a threat to his very life, he had at last sought out Zhuge Liang for counsel.
Zhuge Liang advised him that remaining where he was would only invite disaster, and that he would do better to go elsewhere. Liu Qi took that advice and departed for Jiangxia.
Unsettling though the affair was, it caused no great stir within Xinye — not until the funeral notice arrived.
"Lord Liu Biao, Inspector of Jingzhou, has passed away from illness."
The death of Jingzhou's master was news enough to haul even the indolently reclining Gan Yong to his feet.
"Ah, ah. So Inspector Liu has finally…"
Even he could not remain sprawled at a funeral announcement. They had steeled themselves after hearing of Liu Biao's critical condition, yet Liu Bei and all the rest could not hide their grief.
Only a few days later, a still more shocking report arrived.
"Cao Cao's great army is marching south. Judging by their route of advance, they are unmistakably aiming for Jingzhou."
And the scale of the force was nothing like Xiahou Dun's tens of thousands from before — it was said to number in the hundreds of thousands. The room fell silent as if every tongue had been struck dumb. Not calm — every face wore the look of people who had known this day would come.
When Xiahou Dun invaded, opinions had flown thick and fast — drive them back, hold the walls, and so on. Now every head seemed frozen; mouths hung open or were clamped shut tight.
The first to show any visible movement was Gan Yong. He heaved himself up with a stiff, creaking stretch and spoke.
"Aigoo. That Chancellor Cao — he simply will not let this body of mine lie in peace. He must be coming because he cannot stand the sight of me at my ease. Ugh. My shoulders."
He pounded his shoulders with his fists. Liu Bei gave a short laugh and tossed him a jest.
"Then why not go as an envoy and propose, 'I need a good long sleep, so please come some other time'?"
"This servant would love nothing better — if only Chancellor Cao were not the cold-blooded sort he is. If I went, he would snarl, 'I'll lay you down so you never rise again!'"
Gan Yong put on a mock imitation of Cao Cao's manner and rattled on. A few snorts of laughter broke the ice among the frozen assembly. Warmth returning, people began to offer their views. Once on his feet, Gan Yong did not lie back down again.
Looking at him this way, Gan Yong seemed almost a living gauge of crisis for Liu Bei's army.
"My lord — what shall we do now?"
"First we must request reinforcements from Young Master Liu Qi in Jiangxia."
"We should also seek Young Master Liu Zong's cooperation. However poor their relations, this is the hour to join forces."
By rights Liu Qi, as Liu Biao's eldest, should have been master of Jingzhou. Through the machinations of the Cai clan, the true power of the province, that place was now held by the second son, Liu Zong.
Liu Bei was on good terms with Liu Qi and could count on his aid; Liu Zong, the consensus ran, would be far more doubtful.
And so, piecing together intelligence on Cao Cao's army, they held council after council in Xinye.
"Cao Cao's main force has reached Wan. The vanguard under Cao Ren is advancing south. They will arrive at Xinye before long."
"Xinye sits at the northernmost edge — it cannot be helped. For now, Military Advisor Zhuge will devise a means to check Cao Ren's army."
They were still laying plans to stop Cao Cao when a piece of news none of them had expected struck like a thunderbolt.
"A messenger has just arrived from Young Master Liu Zong. Liu Zong of Jingzhou has surrendered to Cao Cao."
"What — surrendered! Without so much as a single battle!"
It was the first time since arriving here that anyone had heard Liu Bei raise his voice in fury. His face flushed crimson; his beard trembled. Even Gan Yong, with no thought of a joke, sat with his mouth hanging open.
After no word at all from Liu Zong, the blow had fallen from a clear sky. Every face in the room went pale.
"Bring that messenger here!"
"Yes."
The messenger was a man named Song Zhong — a scholar of some repute, reduced here to the pitiful role of trembling under Liu Bei's rebuke.
"How could you let matters reach this pass and only now come to tell us!"
Clang!
With a roar Liu Bei drew his sword and leveled it at Song Zhong. The wretched man collapsed where he stood, shaking uncontrollably. He had come only as a messenger; the injustice of it must have stung.
"Even if I took your head this instant, my rage would not be spent — yet to kill you under such circumstances would itself be a disgrace!"
Liu Bei dismissed Song Zhong, and the man fled the chamber almost at a run.
If Liu Zong had surrendered, the rear was no longer safe either.
"With things as they are, we should strike Liu Zong instead."
The proposal was to attack Liu Zong and take Jingzhou — but Liu Bei refused.
"Inspector Liu once entrusted his orphaned sons to me. How could I betray that trust? I would have no face to meet him in the afterlife."
It was a reply worthy of Liu Bei, who valued the hearts of the people above all else. Practical considerations weighed as well: Cao Cao's great army had already reached Wan. To spend time swallowing Jingzhou now would only create a graver problem.
They would lose popular support — and worse, if they found themselves caught between Liu Zong's forces and Cao Cao's in a pincer, it would be the end.
In the end the consensus settled on abandoning this place and withdrawing to Jiangling.
"My lord! Urgent report!"
Yet another urgent dispatch arrived. Faces around the room wore the look of people who had long since lost count of how many such reports had come — past surprise, though the mood remained grim.
"The advance force of Cao Ren and Yu Jin is marching on this place! They will soon cross Bowang Slope. Enemy strength is in the tens of thousands."
That Cao Ren's troops were coming had already been known through scouts; the news itself was no shock. How to stop them, however, was another matter entirely. The fire attack and ambush at Bowang Slope had already been used once — they would not work again.
"Kongming. Now it is your turn. I hear you have already drawn up a plan centered on Xinye?"
"Yes. The scheme is already prepared. Let us chill the enemy commander's blood in this very city of Xinye — and then take our leave."
Xu Shu smiled faintly. My eyes lit up.
At last — I would see Zhuge Liang's brilliance with my own eyes.