I Am Cao Cao's Spear
The next morning.
“Don’t hold back on the provisions. Prepare generous side dishes, load them with plenty of meat, and salt everything heavily.”
Cao Cao had come to the mess hall and ordered the soldiers and supply officers to spare nothing from the stores.
Only a few days earlier he had commanded them to be frugal with those same supplies, so the men looked bewildered even as they obeyed.
“Let’s see… this rice is perfectly cooked, isn’t it?”
Cao Cao peered into the steaming cauldron, ladled out a portion with the large spoon, and tasted it. Then he handed the spoon to me and gestured for me to try some as well.
“It seems well prepared.”
“Then we should distribute it to the troops. A soldier must eat a hearty breakfast.”
At Cao Cao’s command, the cooks packed the wooden rice containers tightly and began handing them out to the men.
The unexpected abundance left the soldiers devouring their portions without restraint. Cao Cao watched them with a faint smirk, then issued another order to the officers.
“Make dinner even more generous.”
“Yes, Inspector of Yan Province!”
After giving his instructions, Cao Cao strolled through the camp with a relaxed expression. I observed him for a moment before asking cautiously.
“Uncle.”
“What is it?”
“Are you not preparing for the massive enemy force that will arrive in three days?”
“Of course I am. Isn’t that why I’m filling the men’s bellies?”
“Would it not be better to address them in advance? If you gave a speech, the soldiers would eat with greater enthusiasm and prepare for battle with real motivation.”
In this era, raising morale usually meant either a commander in ornate armor delivering an inspiring speech or providing a good meal—just as Cao Cao was doing now.
He had already handled the food. The next logical step would be to boost their fighting spirit with words.
Instead, Cao Cao looked at me with a bitter smile and slowly shook his head.
“Wenlie, you occasionally say things that sound reasonable, yet you fail to consider the consequences.”
“Consequences…?”
“If you tell them about the enemy while they’re eating, every last soldier will get indigestion and lose their appetite.”
“Ah…”
“Besides, such speeches must be given right before battle. Have you considered that announcing it too early might cause some to hear the enemy’s numbers, lose heart, and desert?”
“My apologies. I hadn’t thought that far.”
It seemed that even with my future knowledge, I had underestimated the people of this ruthless age where only the strong survived.
“Well, there have been generals who did exactly what you suggested,” Cao Cao continued. “One man spent days fighting alongside his troops until their hands and feet were black with grime. He ate the same food, slept in the same quarters, and declared that in the coming great battle he would stand shoulder to shoulder with the lowest soldier and fight without fear.”
“!”
“It happened during the campaign against the Yellow Turbans. I thought he was making a fool of himself, but surprisingly he fought well. I criticized it as behavior unbecoming of a commander, though.”
The person who had done that against the Yellow Turbans… could it have been Liu…?
“My lord, so this is where you were.”
“Cheng Yu, what is it?”
“I have urgent news. Let us speak inside.”
I had wanted to ask whether the general Cao Cao mentioned had unusually large ears and long arms, but the situation shifted again.
“My lord, Gongsun Zan’s forces have reached Xiapi faster than anticipated.”
“What? The distance from You Province to here is enormous. How could they have arrived already?”
Cao Ren asked in astonishment while Cao Hong counted on his fingers, calculating the distance between You Province and Xu Province.
“My lord, at this rate we may be surrounded tomorrow rather than in two days. If Gongsun Zan from the north has moved this quickly, then Yuan Shu advancing from the southern plains will surely arrive soon as well, will he not?”
Cheng Yu broke into a cold sweat as he reported on the enemy forces approaching faster than expected.
“Then shouldn’t we simply form our battle lines one day earlier?”
“My lord, your tactics and the soldiers of Yan Province may be the finest in the Central Plains, but the enemy outnumbers us five to one.”
“Precisely. That is why I need you, Cheng Yu, to prepare a formation that can secure victory.”
Cao Cao would never retreat. Cheng Yu bit his lip, then laid out his battle plan before his lord.
“In that case, to counter the northern cavalry, we too must deploy our iron horsemen. Since the enemy will be exhausted from their long march, we will need a general with superior mobility who can outmaneuver them.”
“For that we have Miaocai.”
Cao Cao pointed at Xiahou Yuan. The master of mobile warfare bowed silently and stepped forward.
“Those northern bumpkins are nothing. I will handle them.”
“However, given the enemy’s numbers, please have Cao Ren support him.”
“Cao Ren is solid and steady, while Xiahou Yuan is swift. Their combination should work perfectly.”
Cheng Yu continued offering detailed deployments, assigning each commander their opponent.
“As for Yuan Shu, although his army advances across the plains, intelligence indicates most are infantry. We should first block them firmly, then strike their flank with a small cavalry force.”
“That duty should fall to Zilian. Can you manage it?”
“What true man would think of defeat before facing the enemy? I will personally take Yuan Shu’s head.”
“Finally, while Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shu have us surrounded, Tao Qian’s troops holed up inside the city may attempt to sally out when they see an opening. To prevent that…”
“I understand. Then I will personally stand before Xiaopei and pin down that old fox Tao Qian. In any case, the moment that coward sees me he’ll be too terrified to come out.”
Cao Cao had decided to face Xiaopei directly from the front.
Thus, Cao Hong would handle Yuan Shu’s army from the south, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Ren would confront Gongsun Zan’s forces from the north, and Cao Cao himself would command the center while I guarded him.
Just as Cheng Yu had predicted, the enemy reinforcements arrived even sooner than expected.
Only then did Cao Cao turn to the soldiers he had fed generously that morning and shout.
“Listen well! We came to conquer Xiaopei, yet these northern bumpkins dare to stand against us?”
At the news of approaching reinforcements the troops began to murmur, but Cao Cao stood before them and roared with vigor.
“There is nothing to fear! With me here, who would dare oppose our army?”
Cao Cao pointed at Xiaopei and declared to the men.
“Smash them in a single assault! Let us feast heartily again this evening. And when this battle ends, I shall return to Yan Province and reward you with more than twice the usual bounty!”
At that moment every soldier raised spear and sword, letting out a tremendous battle cry. The ground itself seemed to tremble with their ferocity.
Indeed, this was Cao Cao. He did not bind his men through virtue and loyalty; he ruled them with authority and rewards. Either way, their morale had soared without question.
Thus the main body of Cao Cao’s eight thousand troops formed up before Xiaopei, while Tao Qian’s Xu Province army nocked arrows and prepared to meet us.
“Tao Qian, you old raccoon! You plotted against my father and younger brothers, stole our family’s wealth, and thought you could get away with it?”
A portly old man twice as wide as the soldiers beside him appeared on the watchtower. Unlike the others, he wore heavy armor and sported a long flowing beard. This had to be Tao Qian.
“You bastard Cao Cao! I have heard how you coveted Xu Province, invaded my territory, and captured countless refugees!”
“Ah, that? Since you seized our family’s property, I simply took all the people of Xu Province to Yan Province in return.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
“Yet even that is not enough. Open the gates at once and hand over the Inspector of Xu Province’s seal. Do so and I may spare your life.”
“Shut your mouth, you wretch! I will kill you, march on Yan Province, and reclaim the people of Xu!”
“Reclaim the people? Are you pretending to be some benevolent ruler now, you old raccoon?”
Cao Cao had a bow brought to him, then fired an arrow that pierced the Xu Province signboard hanging above the wall. Tao Qian flinched and hastily retreated. Cao Cao laughed scornfully and handed the bow to a nearby adjutant.
At that moment a tremendous roar erupted from behind us. Cheng Yu came running with a report.
“My lord, Yuan Shu’s army has arrived and will soon clash with Cao Hong’s forces. We risk being surrounded.”
When Cheng Yu spoke urgently, Cao Cao took up his spear and pondered for a moment.
“Wenlie.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Catch.”
“Huh?!”
Cao Cao suddenly hurled his spear at me. I snatched it out of the air in a panic. We were on horseback—what was he thinking, throwing a spear without warning? I barely managed to keep from dropping it and falling off my mount.
“Wenlie, I am giving you one thousand of our cavalry. Go and support Cao Hong.”
“What?”
“My lord, we only have fifteen hundred cavalry here. You are giving one thousand of them to Lord Cao Xiu?”
“Cheng Yu, stop making a fuss. Tao Qian will not come out of the city anyway, so the exact number of horsemen does not matter. We are not planning to charge the walls on horseback, are we?”
So that was why he had given me his own spear and assigned me the cavalry.
“Wenlie, take that spear and fight to your heart’s content.”
“Yes, Uncle!”
“It is my spear, so you must return it stained with an enemy commander’s blood. Understood?”
Receiving Cao Cao’s order, I led the thousand horsemen and galloped off to aid Cao Hong.
Being entrusted with the commander-in-chief’s personal weapon and given command of a cavalry unit meant I was now being treated as a full general in my own right.
Therefore I had to fight. From this moment on, I was Cao Cao’s spear.