Cao Song (2)
Bandits had risen in Qingzhou and Xuzhou at the same time. Combined, they formed a horde numbering in the hundreds of thousands — yet of late, the mere sight of one particular commander's army sent them scrambling for their lives.
Cao Cao Mengde.
The bandits still camped around Jibei in Yanzhou had begun scurrying away the moment word spread that she was approaching with her army — a far cry from the days when they had plundered Qingzhou and Xuzhou with swaggering confidence.
"C-Cao Cao!"
"Run! Run for your lives—!"
At first, the bandits had scoffed at the news that some strange woman was leading a punitive expedition against them. They assumed that Cao Cao, faced with their overwhelming numbers, would sooner or later lose her nerve and hole up in a city. Instead, she showed not a flicker of fear at their scale and smashed them in open battle.
Though "battle" was a generous word for it. The moment her elite cavalry struck their rear, the bandits lost all stomach for fighting, threw down their weapons, and ran.
What good had numbers ever done them? The instant their momentum broke, fear took hold, and they fled just like the helpless commoners they had preyed upon.
Their armament was pitiful — rusted old swords looted from who knew where, or, failing that, farm implements: hoes and sickles still stained with the grime of their hands. Armor was a pipe dream unless luck happened to drop a set in their laps, and without plunder they could barely clothe themselves; they looked every bit as wretched as they fought.
As for battle experience, theirs amounted to nothing more than one-sided brutality against defenseless civilians. Never properly rallied, incapable of forming ranks, armed with hoes and sickles — for all their numbers, the horde was nothing but a disorderly rabble.
The courage to stake one's only life on war could not be conjured out of nothing. That kind of resolve was never forged without long years of training.
"Where do you think you're running!"
Behind the fleeing bandits, a woman with slate-blue hair pressed hard on horseback. With the fluid ease of flowing water she swung the massive saber in her hand, and each swing sent a head spinning loose, its owner's face still frozen in astonishment.
Having taken a dozen-odd heads, the woman — Xiahou Dun — bellowed to the soldiers under her command.
"Sweep 'em all away! Anyone who surrenders, leave 'em be—!"
WAAAAAAH──!!
At Xiahou Dun's cry, Cao Cao's elite cavalry raised a war shout and spurred to greater speed. Their charge had all the ferocity of tigers and leopards loosed from their cages, and the bandits could do nothing but flatten themselves against the earth and beg for their lives.
The bandits pouring out of Qingzhou into Yanzhou, unable to stand against Cao Cao, fled and fled until, in the end, every last one of them surrendered near Jibei.
When word came that the bandits throughout the Jibei region had all laid down their arms, Cao Cao gave a small nod. Her silver eyes, gleaming like white gold, turned toward Xiahou Dun.
"Well done, Yuanrang."
"It was hardly worth mentioning."
Xiahou Dun, just back from handing the prisoners off to another officer, gave a shrug. At her offhand manner, Cao Cao replied evenly.
"All the same, no labor should go unrewarded. There will be honors for you when we return."
"Oho. Now that's something to look forward to."
Xiahou Dun laughed once, then studied Cao Cao.
"So, Mengde. What now?"
"...Hmm."
Cao Cao looked pensive at the question. After a moment's thought, she asked:
"Yuanrang. How many of our soldiers are tied up escorting the prisoners right now?"
"Ah, that?"
Xiahou Dun wrinkled her brow and slowly dredged the figure from memory.
"There were simply too many who surrendered. Most of our troops are stuck with them."
Counting the bandits together with their families and dependents, the total easily ran to several hundred thousand. With a captive population that enormous, a large share of the army had inevitably been diverted to guard duty.
Hearing the report, Cao Cao hummed thoughtfully.
"That is a little troublesome."
"Why? What's wrong?"
Xiahou Dun asked, puzzlement plain on her face. Were there still bandits lurking somewhere nearby, whetting their blades in hiding?
If so, then yes — it would be a problem, just as Cao Cao said. The prisoners had surrendered meekly enough, but the moment they saw the soldiers waver under an outside attack, they would turn wolf again in a heartbeat. Should they be rethinking how the prisoners were handled, even now?
As if she could see every one of Xiahou Dun's worries, Cao Cao shook her head.
"No, it's nothing of the sort."
"It's not?"
At the echo, Cao Cao turned her head toward a single point on the horizon.
"Xuzhou."
"..."
"We've crushed the bandits of Qingzhou — so shouldn't we set our course for Xuzhou next?"
"Is there some reason we absolutely have to?"
Xiahou Dun made no effort to hide her doubts at the plan. The man who had led the Xuzhou bandits was one Que Xuan, a fellow so drunk on delusions of grandeur that he had proclaimed himself Son of Heaven while plundering the countryside around Xiapi. The Inspector of Xuzhou, Tao Qian, had seemed to be on the warmest of terms with him — the two of them pillaging the populace hand in glove — until one day Tao Qian invited Que Xuan to a banquet and abruptly had him killed. Robbed of their chieftain, the Xuzhou bandits had scattered to the four winds or been swallowed whole into Tao Qian's camp.
"Marching on Xuzhou at this point would win us nothing and only put everyone on their guard. And if things went badly, we could end up trading blows with Tao Qian's army."
At Xiahou Dun's objection, Cao Cao gave a faint smile.
"I've already thought that through, so don't worry."
"Hmm... well, if you say so."
At Cao Cao's confident answer, Xiahou Dun hummed and nodded. Watching her, Cao Cao added:
"And what do you mean, nothing to gain?"
"...?"
"A daughter grown and established in her station ought now to bring her parents home and repay them with filial devotion, no?"
"Ahh."
Xiahou Dun nodded, everything falling into place. In any era, blood bound people together more tightly than anything else. That was why Zilian and Zixiao — Cao Hong and Cao Ren — followed her, and why Yuanrang and Miaocai — Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan — pledged her their loyalty. Hadn't she survived even the affair of beating to death the uncle of one of the Ten Attendants, all thanks to her family's name?
"Now that I've thinned their numbers this much, the magnates and governors of Qingzhou will handle the rest on their own."
By all accounts, the court-appointed Inspector of Qingzhou, upon hearing that the bandits had risen, did nothing but stage shamanic rites and sacrificial offerings until worry made him ill, and he wasted away and died. Jiao He, was it? Such a hopeless creature that, ironically, he was one official Cao Cao actually remembered. Though even he would be forgotten before long.
Cao Cao gathered her thoughts and spoke.
"Yuanrang. Select the elite soldiers, even if it stretches us thin."
"And what if the prisoners act up because of it?"
When Xiahou Dun voiced her concern, Cao Cao declared without a moment's hesitation.
"Leave the prisoners to Zixiao."
If trouble did break out, Cao Ren was more than capable of putting it down. After all, with their own families' lives hanging in the balance the instant they caused trouble, would the prisoners really rise up just because their escort was a little thin?
"I've no intention of doing anything to Xuzhou for now, so we move quickly."
Bandits were, as a breed, greedy creatures who lost all reason at the sight of wealth. And Tao Qian, having killed Que Xuan, had taken those very bandits under his own banner. Would men like that leave alone a family famed throughout the realm for its riches? It would be more trustworthy to leave a fish in the keeping of a cat.
Turning her horse's head, Cao Cao gently stroked the letter tucked inside her breast. Just as when she had been appointed Governor of Yanzhou, a familiar face had appeared scarcely after the Emperor's envoy took his leave.
……
Liu Bei Xuande.
For reasons she could never quite name, every encounter with this woman left Cao Cao feeling as though something were lodged in her chest — a vague, unquiet discomfort.
'Truly, you are impossible to read. Why is it that you always insist on playing the errand-runner?'
'As I mentioned before, it is to repay the debt I owe the General-in-Chief.'
Still a woman whose depths could not be sounded.
Brushing the question aside with practiced ease, Liu Bei had handed over the letter and added, 'The General-in-Chief says no reply is necessary, and asks that you move with all possible haste.'
With that, Liu Bei paid her respects, withdrew, and returned to Luoyang.
Cao Cao stared for a long while at the spot where Liu Bei had stood, then unfolded the letter right there.
────Cao Cao. Did the imperial edict reach you safely?
As the letter opened, slightly scrawled handwriting greeted her eyes. Improved since last time, though still crooked — and at the sight, a smile tugged at the corners of Cao Cao's mouth. The writing ran on down the page.
I have much I wish to say, but I will forgo the pleasantries and come straight to the point.
I understand your family remains in Xuzhou. How would it be, this once, to seize the opportunity and bring them home again?
It was phrased as an invitation. Cao Cao wondered what this was suddenly about, read on — and understood why Jeong Reung had sent such a letter.
I hear that of late Tao Qian, the Inspector of Xuzhou, has been joining hands with the bandits running rampant across his province to plunder its people.
Bandits, as a rule, have eyes only for wealth, and seeing how rich your family is, they are certain to make their move without a thought for what comes after.
That is what truly weighs on my mind.
The phrasing was stiff, yet warmth and tenderness seeped through every line.
I will take my own measures with the Inspector of Xuzhou, so all you need do is go and bring your family home.
...I say this only in case it needs saying, but I trust you will not cause trouble in Xuzhou.
That brusque tone in the final lines was unmistakably the General-in-Chief. For all his gruffness, there was something quietly endearing about the man.
Xiahou Dun had worried they might end up crossing swords with Tao Qian's army. Cao Cao had answered that she'd planned ahead — but in truth, it had all been a bluff. She simply believed that the General-in-Chief had already taken his measures with Tao Qian, exactly as the letter said. Cao Cao had moved her army on nothing more than her trust in him.
Having recalled the letter's contents without dropping a single word, Cao Cao let a smile curve her lips.
"...He really is a strange one."
Xiahou Dun eyed her with open suspicion.