Blue Heaven, Yellow River
“There’s no need to push yourself. This is simply pursuing routed troops who’ve lost their supplies, morale, and commanders. Those who need rest should rest.”
“No. I will go!”
“Ziyeol, you truly...”
To be honest, crushing fatigue was crashing over me. I had fought a desperate defensive battle for three full days, then ridden out myself to face an enemy general in single combat. After winning, I still had to gather the wounded from the field army. Any ordinary man would be exhausted. Truthfully, I wanted nothing more than to go straight home, wrap my arms around my wives’ full, soft bodies, and sleep until I couldn’t sleep anymore.
But I had to move. To open the great Battle of Guandu and not witness its end? That was intolerable.
I immediately prepared my spear and readied myself for the final pursuit.
“This fellow… now that he’s become a father, how can his temperament still be so reckless?”
That’s right. The births must have finished by now. I hadn’t received any letter, but I was certain they had all delivered safely.
“Ziyeol, you are now a father.”
“I’ve already taken three enemy generals today. Just let me claim one more.”
“I thought you would take a concubine for every enemy general you captured, but it seems that isn’t the plan.”
Ah, that can wait until after the child-rearing is done.
And so the Cao army scraped together every last ounce of their souls, gathered the final five thousand soldiers still fit to fight, and marched out of Guandu Fortress. Five thousand chasing one hundred thousand. Could such a thing even be possible? Could five thousand encircle and annihilate ten times their number? It sounded absurd, yet it was entirely possible. Why? The Yuan army had already lost ten generals: Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Zhang He, Gao Lan, Chunyu Qiong, Han Xun, Yuan Tan, Han Juja, Su Yuanjin, and Ye Wihuang.
Moreover, they had lost all their elite cavalry, every sort of weapon and armor. From an initial force of one hundred and fifty thousand, a full third had melted away. With their supplies burned and their fighting spirit gone, these demoralized foot soldiers were trudging along to cross the Yellow River. We were the death squad chasing after them to cut off Yuan Shao’s final breath. Not only were all our generals still alive, but through the surrendered Zhang He, Gao Lan, and Xu You we knew every movement they would make.
“My lord, the enemy is preparing to cross the river ten li ahead.”
“Perfect timing. Shall we go greet our old friend?”
Cao Cao drew his sword himself and galloped at the head of the column. From the top of the gorge he shouted down at the vast army crossing the Yellow River.
“Benchu! Where do you think you’re going? Cao Aman still has unfinished business, so I’ve chased you all the way here!”
He deliberately called himself “Aman” as he leveled his sword at the Yuan army. That once-mighty host of one hundred thousand was now nothing more than experience points waiting to be harvested.
“Are you prepared to commit the madness of five thousand charging ten times their number?”
“Yes, my lord!!!!!!”
The generals roared in unison, their voices thundering with power. Then the five thousand cavalry thundered down the slope behind Cao Cao, charging straight at the one hundred thousand Yuan soldiers beside the Yellow River.
If hell existed on earth, this was it. With their backs to the Yellow River, tens of thousands of men fell. Beneath the blue sky the ground turned scarlet, staining the Yellow River itself crimson.
“Grand General, you must retreat!”
“Grand General, board the boat at once!”
“Grand General! Grand General!”
Guo Tu, Shen Pei, and the other advisors supported Yuan Shao and begged him to withdraw, but he stared at Cao Cao’s cavalry with a vacant, broken expression.
“Where… just where did it all go wrong…”
Darkness swallowed Yuan Shao’s vision. Past fifty years of age, tears finally welled in his eyes. Born into the illustrious Yuan family of Runan yet the son of a concubine, he had yielded everything to his worthless half-brother. Scorned by both the Qingliu and Zhuoliu factions, he had silently tempered body and mind. He had performed the full three-year mourning for his true father and stepmother—something the legitimate heir had never done—thus teaching the clan the meaning of filial piety as a concubine’s son. He had endured endless slander about his birth, raised his sword to punish the realm’s enemies, gathered the realm’s famous scholars to share learning, and resisted the traitor Dong Zhuo who sought to depose the emperor. As leader of the coalition he had gathered the warlords in loyal service to the Han.
Having secured Hebei beneath his feet, he had built the strongest power in the land and driven the traitor Cao Cao—who controlled the emperor and manipulated the court—back with more than twice as many troops, all the way to the brink of destruction. Yet he had continually failed to take that one last step. Because of that single missed step, he had been pushed all the way here!
“The heavens… have the heavens abandoned me!”
Lost in despair, Yuan Shao cried his resentment toward the vast blue sky—the changtian.
“Father!!!”
His son seized his hand. It was Yuan Shang, his most beloved third son, who looked exactly like he had in his youth. Though barely of age, the boy possessed far greater military talent and spirit than his two useless older brothers.
“Father, it is not over! If you, the Grand General, cross the Yellow River safely and regroup in Hebei, we can rise again.”
“U-um!”
“Before that, this son will hold back those mere five thousand pursuers! Please board the boat at once!”
“Y-yes! It is not over… This Yuan Benchu will not end like this!”
Though Guo Tu, Shen Pei, and Feng Ji had shouted at him, only his cherished son Yuan Shang’s words managed to bring Yuan Shao back to his senses.
“Retreat immediately! We have many boats prepared—board them now!”
“Yes, Grand General!”
While Yuan Shao withdrew they needed to buy time.
Shing— Yuan Shang drew his sword, glared at the oncoming Cao army to cover his father’s escape, and mounted his horse.
“It will not end like this! It cannot!”
The third son, who had inherited his father’s fiery nature, charged forward at the head of his guards.
“Hm?”
The Yuan army I had thought was collapsing suddenly began moving with purpose, showing signs of organized resistance.
“Oh? This is interesting.”
“It looks like someone is rallying the demoralized troops and getting them moving again. So they still have a general capable of that?”
Xiahou Dun, fighting beside me, gripped his spear tightly as he watched the ominous shift and shouted.
“Ziyeol, Zisu and Zihua have already pushed ahead with the vanguard to strike the enemy. What will you do?”
At Xiahou Dun’s question I scanned the battlefield. Dian Wei roared like a tiger as he slaughtered tens of thousands. Zhang Liao raised his blood-drenched Blue Dragon Blade, carving the name “Zhang Liao” forever into the heart of Hebei. Xu Huang blocked the retreat route with mechanical precision. Xu Chu crushed enemies with overwhelming power so they could never rise again. Man Chong displayed martial might unbelievable for a civil official, fighting with ferocious valor. Each man performed his role and shattered the enemy line by line.
In that case, I would aim for something greater.
“The one rallying this rotting Yuan army while Yuan Shao flees must possess real military talent, don’t you think?”
“So you’re going after him?”
“Of course. I’ll find him and kill him.”
My spear still hungered for blood, and I had promised Cao Cao one more general.
“Everyone prepare! We’re driving deeper into their lines!”
These men had followed me across countless deadly battlefields. Many had already died in this war. They were exhausted beyond measure, yet they would squeeze out one final burst of strength.
“You all know me. I reward generously. Anyone who survives this war will receive three times the normal bounty without exception! So survive until the very end!”
Even though I always chose the most dangerous battlefields, those who lived through them received more than twice the rewards of any other army. When I shouted those words, fire blazed again in my soldiers’ eyes. They became a massive inferno and charged.
That flame spread across the entire battlefield. In this desperate situation we struck the enemy faster than anyone else, and the Yuan troops were once again seized by terror. Even now I could see officers trying to rally broken formations. In the center someone held Yuan Shao’s grand standard high, maintaining the line even as they retreated.
The commander was there.
Slaaash—
I carved a path with raw power. Sure enough, a general in unmistakably magnificent armor stood before me.
“!”
“Grand Commander, you must escape!”
Grand Commander? In the Yuan army that title belonged to a truly important figure. Covered in blood, I roared.
“Cao Ziyeol has come to take your lives!”
“Ugh?! Y-you—!”
The enemy general drew his sword to block me.
Clang— Clang—
After two exchanges I could tell he had courage, but it was reckless bravery.
Crunch!
“Ugh!”
I smashed his flank with the spear shaft, then drove the point straight through his chest. Even as he vomited blood, the enemy general glared at me with hatred.
“You’ve taken their general?”
“Cao… Cao Ziyeol… In the end… failing to eliminate you was my fatal mistake…”
Leaving those final words, the general toppled from his horse.
I had caught someone important. Once he fell, the Yuan army broke completely. Men threw themselves into the Yellow River or were cut down before they could reach the boats.
Amid mountains of corpses, Cao Cao raised his blood-soaked sword toward the blue sky. Every soldier in the Cao army cheered for victory until their throats nearly burst.
“Zisu! Zisu, you rascal!”
“I’m not badly hurt. I’m truly fine.”
“You’re injured?”
I ran to Cao Ang and found him frowning, clutching his side.
“Zisu, what happened?”
“Damn it. I charged all the way to their boats, but someone blocked me. He said he was Yuan Shao’s son.”
“Even so, for you to…”
“He looked younger than us, yet he fought like a little tiger.”
When the military doctors hurriedly removed his armor, the external wounds were fortunately not deep. It seemed only his ribs were slightly damaged.
“Next time we meet, I will capture that fellow myself.”
“Still, it’s fortunate it wasn’t worse. We had already won the battle. If something had happened…”
Still, a crushing victory was a crushing victory. Cao Cao came running anxiously, and upon confirming his son was safe he breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“I am sorry, Father.”
“Foolish boy. If anything had gone wrong, that Benchu would have boasted that he won the battle of sons.”
With deep concern on his face, Cao Cao ordered the doctors to escort him back immediately.
“Ziyeol.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“You managed to claim a fourth general even in that chaos. Do you know who you killed?”
“I do not. He seemed to be directing the army with unusual skill, so I struck him down at once.”
“The man you killed was Ju Shou—Yuan Shao’s chief strategist and the Grand Commander of Hebei.”
“!”
“Wen Chou, Yuan Tan, Han Xun, Ju Shou… You said you had four sons, yet you ended up taking four generals.”
I would probably receive four hundred gold as reward.
“Good. Now let us all return. In my forty-five years of life, I truly want to announce to the world a victory as great as this.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
Thus the great Battle of Guandu ended in overwhelming, complete victory.
Everyone returned to the capital in high spirits. Even the wounded sang from the carts, and the generals were as excited as if they might fly away after eight months of brutal warfare. I felt the same.
“Pardon me for a moment.”
“Ah, Junyi.”
I needed to build a close relationship with Zhang He, who had surrendered to our side.
“Let us consider what happened on the battlefield a fair contest of skill. Now that we are comrades, I look forward to fighting beside you.”
“Mm. I shall do the same. However, there is something I wish to ask.”
“Speak freely.”
“Is the Cao general known as the Heavenly Steed of Chohyeon here?”
“…That nickname belongs to me.”
It had been a long time since I had heard that title.
At that moment Zhang He nodded and studied me carefully.
“Indeed. It seems my eyes did not deceive me.”
“What is this about?”
“When I marched to this battlefield, an old friend asked a favor of me—to protect a certain family.”
“Hmm?”
“Since Marshal Cao’s army and his kinsmen were coming, I wondered.”
Zhang He drew a silk-wrapped letter from his breast and offered it to me.
As calamus sprouts thick beside the pond, the moonlight waxes full,
Yet the day the fragrant herb you gave me catches fire has never come.
When tears overflow my eyes, when shall I repay the joy you granted me?
— Zhen Fu
When I opened it, those were the verses written inside.
It was clearly from Zhen Fu. She must be doing well.
“If what I heard is true, you gave a great sum of money so the Zhongshan Zhen family—having lost both its eldest and second sons—could survive. You even ordered their protection despite belonging to different factions. Is that correct?”
“It was when I was very young, but yes… such a connection exists. Afterward I became another man’s husband.”
“Yet that family says that aside from their eldest daughter becoming the Grand General’s daughter-in-law, they still have not repaid the favor and continue to wait.”
“…”
“My own family lives alongside the Zhongshan Zhen clan.”
“What? Then Junyi, your family also…”
“Do not worry. No matter how furious the Grand General becomes, he would not dare wipe out our house.”
Was it truly safe for Zhang He’s family to live beside the Zhongshan Zhen clan? It felt like the slightest spark could set everything ablaze.
“Our family is a powerful clan of Hejian Commandery in Jizhou, and my wife is from the Cui family of Qinghe in Jizhou.”
Zhang He’s background was far more impressive than I had imagined. I had heard he was the only one of the Five Tiger Generals from a powerful clan, but his wife’s family was the Qinghe Cui clan tied to Cui Yan’s faction, he himself came from the Hejian magnates, and they lived right next door to the Zhongshan Zhen family.
“The friend you spoke of is Xu You, correct?”
“Mm.”
“So Xu You entrusted the Zhen family to the one friend he could trust with his life… Indeed!”
With backing like this, they should have some breathing room. At the very least, the Zhen family now had the Qinghe Cui clan and the Hejian Zhang clan behind them. If Yuan Shao attacked in a rage, it would no longer be Yuan Shang versus the Yuan Tan faction—it would be all of Hebei against the Yuan family.
“Truly, the connection formed by a single sprig of fragrant herb has reached this far.”
“You seem to possess considerable fortune with women.”
Now that we were on the same side, Zhang He’s usual icy demeanor had thawed into something more human; he spoke in blunt, straightforward bursts.
“Well, that is all in the future. Right now the priority is to see my wives who have given birth. For the time being I intend to rest deeply while caring for my newborn children.”
Thus we returned to the capital in glorious triumph.
As expected, the entire family welcomed me with open arms. They had all delivered safely and embraced me. I held every one of them, cradled my crying children, and was finally able to rest peacefully at home.
In the battle between the blue heavens and the yellow river, the heavens had prevailed.
Now, at last, I could truly rest.