The Most Important Thing After the Battle

Cao Cao’s main army of fifty thousand departed from Xuchang.

Of course, that was not the full extent of our strength. Another fifteen thousand troops were marching on Wancheng from Yan Province as well.

I could feel it more clearly with each passing day: every time Cao Cao took personal command, the scale of the campaign grew larger.

If we continued conquering territory and expanding our power at this pace, we would be able to move armies measured in the tens of thousands without difficulty when the time came to crush Lu Bu or Yuan Shu’s forces.

“My lord, the enemy is likely encamped somewhere in the Mount Song region,” Cheng Yu reported.

Cao Cao nodded.

“A single day’s march from Mount Song to Wancheng, yes? Then if we sweep them clean there, we can occupy the empty city without any trouble at all.”

Wancheng sat in northern Jing Province, close enough to Yanzhou and Luoyang to feel like our backyard, yet near enough to Liu Biao’s power centers of Xinye, Fancheng, and Xiangyang to serve as a true buffer zone. The enemy could strike from any direction; we could only advance along one.

In the distant future, Guan Yu’s campaign that began in southern Jing Province would have turned Wancheng into a springboard from which he could freely threaten both Luoyang and Xuchang—had Eastern Wu not stabbed him in the back before he could seize it. For the state of Wei, that had been heaven-sent luck. Of course, that was the original history. I had no intention of letting events reach that point.

“The vanguard will be led by Dian Wei and Ziye. Once we see how their assault develops, Zisu and Zhongkang will follow as the second wave.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Dian Wei and I would form the vanguard, with Xu Chu and Cao Ang serving as the second wave. Cao Cao himself would command the main body. In addition to my five hundred personal troops, I was given two thousand cavalry and four thousand infantry drawn from the main army.

Somehow, without realizing it, I had reached the point where I could move an army of this size. I might not yet be a full general capable of commanding more than ten thousand men, but as vanguard commander I intended to rampage to my heart’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠content.

The enemy force visible ahead numbered roughly thirty thousand. Most were former troops of Zhang Ji that had been reorganized from Dong Zhuo’s remnants in Chang’an, reinforced by soldiers sent from Jing Province.

In other words, we had to demonstrate overwhelming power if we wanted to tilt every future battle in our favor.

“General Dian, I wish you good fortune!”

“Of course! Hiyah!”

Dian Wei and I split to the left and right, charging the enemy lines from both flanks. Countless arrows were already flying toward us the moment our army began its assault.

“Shields above your heads! Keep advancing! Anyone who falls behind will look like a porcupine!”

We spurred our horses faster, racing ahead of the arrow storm. Shafts whistled overhead. The infantry behind us ran desperately, iron shields raised high in hopes of staying alive.

“Major Yue! Major Li! We charge straight through!”

“Yes, Commandant of Cavalry!”

My two deputy commanders, Yue Jin and Li Dian, gripped their spears and galloped beside me. We slammed into the enemy infantry who had formed a wall of shields and spears.

The horse Cao Cao had given me was magnificent. It cleared the high shields and levelled spears in a single leap and came crashing down among the infantry behind them.

A tremendous roar like an explosion rang out. I swung my spear at anything that moved.

Yue Jin and Li Dian, having forced their way through the shield wall right behind me, spun their spears like demons and slaughtered the defenders without mercy. The sensation of cutting flesh was exquisite; the feeling of thrusting even better. My body felt so light I could have flown. At that moment I truly believed I could declare myself a peerless warrior and sweep the entire enemy army from the field.

The hundred elite guards of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry who had trained with me, together with the two thousand horsemen led by Yue Jin and Li Dian, had already turned the first defensive line of Zhang Xiu’s army into a wasteland. Our infantry poured into the gap to finish the work.

“Cavalry dies the moment their feet stop! Keep pushing!”

I drove them harder than in any previous battle, and the soldiers matched my pace, mercilessly butchering the first defensive line. It was not enough to simply kill the men in front of us. When I looked toward the enemy’s main camp where their vanguard commander should be, I saw a general clutching a command baton with an anxious expression.

He wore the distinctive Xiliang-style armor padded with beast hides and possessed an imposing physique, yet he kept fidgeting, clearly on edge.

“Commandant of Cavalry!”

I reflexively stabbed an enemy rushing at me from behind and shouted, “I’m listening! Speak!”

“Commandant Xu’s cavalry on the right flank charged first. They are driving straight for the main camp.”

The second wave had not even deployed yet, and the enemy was already collapsing against mere vanguard cavalry? After their archers failed to check our advance and the first shield wall crumbled, Zhang Xiu’s army had been pierced far too easily.

“Commandant, look there!”

Doom-doom-doom—doom-doom-doom—doom-doom-doom—

While Yue Jin, Li Dian, and I were still smashing through enemy infantry with unstoppable momentum, the enemy’s war drums suddenly thundered. Their infantry began retreating at speed. Dust clouds rose from their main camp.

“Looks like their vanguard is moving.”

“I expected it, but they’re faster than I thought.”

This was only the second time an enemy had committed their vanguard from the very first clash—the first had been during the Yuan Shu campaign. It proved just how superior Cao Cao’s army was compared to the other warlords.

“Interesting. What sort of man is their vanguard general?”

“I see a flag with the character ‘Hu.’ Wait… why would they use the word for barbarian tribes…”

“That’s him!”

The enemy vanguard flew a banner emblazoned with ‘Hu.’ The general I had spoken of—Hu Che’er—had finally shown himself.

“Commandant of Cavalry, our right wing is charging the enemy vanguard.”

As expected of Dian Wei. Even though I had warned him beforehand, he had simply smashed his way into the enemy vanguard through sheer personal valor.

“We must capture the general commanding their vanguard! Take him and this battle ends!”

At that moment—

Bwoo—bwoo—bwooooooo—

“Commandant, that is the signal horn for our second wave!”

“As expected, Uncle understands. The moment the enemy vanguard appears, it must be seized immediately.”

The instant Dian Wei and I, as vanguard, broke their defensive line and located the enemy commander, Cao Cao had immediately ordered Xu Chu and Cao Ang to advance as the second wave.

With another ten thousand men now joining the fight, the enemy would only shrink back further. We had begun with fifty thousand against thirty thousand; now Xiahou Yuan and Cao Anmin were bringing fifteen thousand more.

“Ride this momentum! Link up with the second wave and shatter their vanguard!”

“Yes, Commandant of Cavalry!”

Yue Jin and Li Dian understood the situation perfectly and charged alongside me. By then Dian Wei had already reached the enemy vanguard. He swung his enormous double iron halberds and sent the officer carrying their banner flying with a single blow.

I watched the mounted officer’s body literally come apart in a spray of blood.

Dian Wei had reached them. He now stood in direct combat with the enemy general who commanded the vanguard. Charging into the heart of the enemy formation with only a handful of cavalry to hunt down a single commander was reckless beyond measure—yet that very recklessness was what made his strength so terrifying.

I galloped toward him with Yue Jin and Li Dian to provide support. Just then, Dian Wei’s iron halberd sank into the enemy general’s side.

“Got h—!”

In that instant dozens, then hundreds of enemy soldiers swarmed around Dian Wei. While he urgently wrenched his halberds ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠free and fought off the cavalry, the wounded enemy general turned his horse in the chaos.

“Yue Jin! Bow! The bow!! Hurry!!!”

My deputy quickly handed me the bow he carried on his back. I nocked an arrow. I would have only one chance. If I missed now, the opportunity would never return.

Amid the screams of enemy soldiers and the ceaseless clang of weapons, I focused with everything I had and drew the string.

The arrow flew true. It punched straight through the back of the fleeing, wounded general’s neck. He swayed in the saddle, then toppled from his horse. At that exact moment the entire enemy vanguard formation shuddered violently.

“Yes!”

“Commandant of Cavalry, look! Commandant Xu has broken through!”

“Wait… that man is… he’s impaling the fallen enemy general’s corpse…”

Both Yue Jin and Li Dian stared in shock. Even I wondered what on earth he was doing in the middle of a battlefield.

In that frantic melee, Dian Wei had driven one of his iron halberds through the corpse lying on the ground and forcibly lifted it. He skewered the several-hundred-catty body like meat on a spit, slung it across his horse, drew his sword, and kept fighting.

Seeing that he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was determined to secure not merely the head but the entire corpse even in that chaos, I knew I had to reach him at once.

“Leave this sector to the second wave! We’re linking up with Commandant Xu!”

“Yes, Commandant of Cavalry!”

General Dian, I know you’re brave, but your enthusiasm is excessive!

I galloped to Dian Wei’s position, helped him finish dealing with the enemy vanguard, and finally forced the opposing army to retreat.

As the sun set we were able to conclude the first day’s fighting—bringing the enemy general’s corpse with us.

“My lord, this fellow is Hu Che’er… the one who could carry an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eight-hundred-catty load and run eighty li!”

You got the order backwards, you oaf.

“Hahaha! So that’s why you fought through so many of their vanguard troops just to capture him?”

“I wanted to present the enemy general to you with my own hands, my lord.”

“Good. Very well done.”

In truth I had delivered the killing shot, but I decided to let Dian Wei take the credit. In the original history Dian Wei had died at Hu Che’er’s hands; now the outcome was completely reversed.

“So the man who could run eighty li with eight hundred catties on his back has been killed by our Dian Wei. I wonder if Zhang Xiu has any other generals left worth sending out?”

“My lord, with their vanguard’s main commander defeated, we can now conduct ordinary attrition warfare. The enemy will exhaust themselves on their own.”

“Correct. They will retreat into Wancheng.”

“This… if we’re lucky we might finish the campaign before Xiahou Yuan and Cao Anmin even arrive. But then it wouldn’t be any fun, would it?”

Even if it isn’t fun, Uncle Mengde, you should still end this with a swift, decisive strike.

“Today I shall reward the vanguard and the spearhead handsomely. Open the wine barrels. Drink your fill and rest well.”

Cao Cao never stinted on rewards when the mood took him.

***

The next day’s battle was fought by Xu Chu and Cao Ang so they could earn merit. After spending the day that way, Dian Wei and I—having eaten, drunk, and rested heavily—took the field once more.

Just as Military Advisor Cheng Yu had proposed, having already captured Hu Che’er, the linchpin of their vanguard, we refrained from committing our own vanguard unit again. We simply used the first and second wave troops to wage a war of attrition.

The enemy’s numbers visibly dwindled. Before long even Zhang Xiu’s banner disappeared from sight. Soon afterward an envoy arrived.

“Minister of Works, I am Jia Xu, currently serving as Right Commandant of Wancheng. My courtesy name is Wenhua.”

A middle-aged scholar in his early fifties, his face etched with the marks of many years, had come as the enemy’s envoy. This was Jia Xu.

“Jia Xu… I seem to recall that the strategist who once incited Li Jue and Guo Si to murder Minister of Education Wang Yun and drive out Lu Bu was named Jia Xu. Was that you?”

“It is an honor that the Han Minister of Works remembers an obscure scholar such as myself.”

“Hahaha. Very well. What brings you here? Speak. I will listen.”

Cao Cao examined the Administrator’s seal and the letter of surrender with evident interest.

“This is… certainly cause for celebration, yet the surrender comes almost too easily. As I understand it, you were acting as the spearhead for Jing Province.”

“Minister of Works, Liu Biao, Governor of Jing Province, is both foolish and disloyal. He dared to threaten Administrator Zhang while your army stood before us. He ordered us to block your forces; otherwise he would cut off all supplies to Wancheng and starve every last citizen to death. We fought only because we wished to survive.”

“Oh? So pointing your blades at me was not your true intention?”

“Correct. We acted only to avoid starvation, yet we cannot possibly oppose the Minister of Works’ army. Therefore we surrender.”

“Hahahahaha! Shouldn’t you have tested that by actually clashing once?”

Cao Cao seemed quite satisfied that the enemy had chosen to surrender and open the gates of their own accord.

Now was the time for me to step forward.

“Uncle, your nephew Ziye has an earnest petition.”

“Speak.”

“I cannot trust the letter of surrender this man has brought!”

“!?”

Jia Xu flinched and stared at me. I pointed directly at him.

“In war, if one has no will to fight, one surrenders before battle begins. To surrender in the middle of fighting is frequently a ruse meant to buy time for future schemes. If they truly fought only because Liu Biao threatened them, why did they not inform us of that fact before the first clash?”

When I finished, Military Advisor Cheng Yu immediately stepped forward.

“Upon reflection, what Lord Ziye says is correct.”

Master Cheng Yu, excellent assist.

“Hmm… then what do you propose?”

At Cao Cao’s question I glared at Jia Xu. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead; his eyes darted left and right.

“Since he came as an envoy of surrender, keep him in camp as a hostage for now. I will take five hundred personal troops and go directly to Wancheng to verify whether this surrender is genuine.”

“You would go to that dangerous place yourself? If this is a false surrender as you claim, five hundred men will not be nearly enough.”

“In that case, you may tie the limbs of this fake envoy to a saddle and tear him apart.”

Jia Xu flinched again and broke into an even heavier sweat.

“Hmm. Sending you alone worries me. Zisu, you should—”

“No! I will go alone.”

Aigoo, Uncle. Why are you trying to send Cao Ang with me?

“If I go, I can discern Administrator Zhang Xiu’s true intentions using both my status as your blood relative and my rank as Commandant of Cavalry. But if Zisu accompanies me, he could easily be taken hostage.”

“Hmm. Very well. I will add another five hundred men from my personal guard. Take one thousand troops with you.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

Thus Jia Xu was detained as a hostage in Cao Cao’s camp, and Hu Che’er was already dead.

Now I would reach Wancheng first, test Zhang Xiu’s sincerity, and inside those walls… I would have to change history once again.