Battle of Sishui Pass (1)
The local governors each reacted in their own way.
Zhang Miao, Governor of Chenliu, and Zhang Chao, Governor of Guangling, who valued chivalric honor, declared they would follow the great cause of the Coalition Army and gave their full support. In contrast, Liu Dai, Inspector of Yan Province, and Yuan Yi, Governor of Shanyang, who clung to status and tradition, showed their displeasure to the very end.
Would the Coalition Army fall apart before it even reached Sishui Pass?
Yuan Shao had to rack her brains and sort out a situation that had briefly raced toward catastrophe.
"I'm sorry, because of me..."
"We should have suppressed their arrogance once before marching. This is not your fault, Sister."
The white-haired beauty with strikingly long ears blushed and bowed her head.
I answered her with a shrug.
"Next time, you don't need to defend me so unreasonably. As the local governors and elders said, I'm just a militia leader from a backwater village, a Cadet Imperial Clan Member whose line fell into ruin long ago."
"You, Sister, led the Volunteer Army and fought with the single-minded purpose of saving the nation. I could not stand by in silence while mere men who idled in luxury in Luoyang, waiting for the calamity of the Yellow Turbans to pass, insulted you."
It wasn't simply to defend Liu Bei.
It was because I could not ignore the injustice unfolding before my eyes.
Should've split that son of a bitch's skull with an axe blade.
The moment I spat the curse and those bloodthirsty words, Liu Bei turned pale with alarm and waved her hands frantically.
"Th-thank you... you're the first person, Crown Prince, who has ever stepped forward for me like this."
"I'll step forward next time too."
After the military council had broken down, I strolled through the encampment for a while with Liu Bei, who would no doubt have sunk into gloom, and we chatted lightly.
I'd worried she might look dispirited, but it seemed my concern was groundless. Liu Bei quickly shook off her melancholy and smiled brightly as usual.
"To repay your grace and trust, I shall serve the Crown Prince... no, the Alliance Leader, with all my strength. Though I may not look it, I am confident in close-quarters combat. The volunteers from Zhuo Prefecture, though few in number, boast unparalleled courage and valor."
"I'll be counting on it. The day to show your true worth, Sister, will come soon."
Sister.
At that form of address, the white-haired beauty let a small smile slip.
Her cheeks, white as newly fallen snowflakes, took on a rosy hue. And Liu Bei's full lips moved, as if she had something on the tip of her tongue.
"Ah...!"
"Ah, my apologies. My hand moved without thinking."
"I'm, um... I'm fine. It's not that I dislike it... it just, how to say... startled me a little, perhaps..."
"..."
It was like watching a rabbit twitch its big ears back and forth.
Faced with that pure, innocent sight, I had absentmindedly stroked Liu Bei's hair.
At the sudden touch, Liu Bei's eyes rounded wide and she reacted with surprise. The contact might have looked like an intimate act between man and woman, so she must have been even more flustered.
"Sister...!"
"Sister Xuande! We heard there was uproar in the camp!"
At that moment,
a cool-headed beauty with long black hair and a lively girl with light-purple hair tied up came running in a rush the instant they heard the news.
Guan Yu. Zhang Fei.
They were Liu Bei's Sworn Sisters.
"I'm fine, nothing happened. The Crown Prince shielded me."
"Is that so...? Phew, that's a real relief."
Naturally, they had been visibly startled.
Liu Bei wore an affectionate smile as she calmed her sisters, who must have been badly alarmed. I gazed blankly for a moment at the beauty's profile with her faint smile, then stepped aside for the sworn sisters.
* * *
I would lead the vanguard and advance on Sishui Pass.
I conveyed the plan to all the local governors as Alliance Leader of the Coalition Army.
The local governors, who had briefly withdrawn to their own camps, immediately swarmed back. They came to lodge their protests, demanding to know why such a momentous decision was made arbitrarily.
"I shall personally lead the great army and sally forth. For now, the local governors are to await in the rear. When the battle intensifies, I will dispatch runners with separate orders."
The preliminary battle would be handled by the great army of the south.
I took the position that I would fight the preliminary battle alone against Dong Zhuo's army stationed at Sishui Pass. Then the local governors who had been about to protest vigorously showed signs of relief, saying, 'Well, if the Alliance Leader personally takes the field...' and 'If the southern army acts alone, we'll not stand in your way.'
They must have worried they'd be used as arrow fodder.
That was why they sighed in relief upon hearing the military order.
"While I am away, the Deputy Alliance Leader will assume command of the main camp."
"I shall carry out the Alliance Leader's orders."
If forty thousand troops sallied forth at once, a void would open in the main camp. To prepare for a sudden raid by Dong Zhuo's forces, I ordered Yuan Shao, the Deputy Alliance Leader, to defend the main camp alongside her officers.
I also issued roles to the other local governors.
In particular, I gave strict and repeated instructions to Zhang Miao, Governor of Chenliu, and Zhang Chao, Governor of Guangling, to supply provisions to the Sishui Pass battlefront without disruption. Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao would never commit the foolish treachery Yuan Shu had schemed in the original history, but this was to prepare for any unforeseen event.
"General Who Displays Martial Might."
"Give your command, Alliance Leader."
"Should Dong Zhuo's reinforcements arrive at Sishui Pass, I will summon the forces of the General Who Displays Martial Might."
"I shall make every preparation alongside my subordinate officers."
I also delivered orders to Cao Cao, General Who Displays Martial Might.
Reinforcements.
When the signal came, she was to join immediately.
Cao Cao's force, hastily recruited in Pei Kingdom, numbered only ten thousand. Though she had far fewer troops than the other governors, her subordinate officers were each nearly a One-Man Army.
"Tomorrow, we shall declare war on the traitors at Sishui Pass and simultaneously do battle to retake Luoyang. The preliminary battle to gauge the enemy's strength will be carried out solely by the southern army, but bear in mind that once a full-scale engagement with Dong Zhuo's forces breaks out, all local governors will unite and fight as one!"
The quiet night was over.
Now, beginning tomorrow, the violent storm would strike.
For the traitors who had murdered the Han Dynasty's Emperor and Empress Dowager, only a wretched end awaited. When Liu Seong-hwi first raised his wine cup, the local governors to left and right followed suit and raised theirs.
"Long Live Han!"
"Bring the hammer of justice down upon the traitor Dong Zhuo!"
The time had come to pass judgment on the arch-traitor of the age.
Even Liu Dai, Inspector of Yan Province, and Yuan Yi, Governor of Shanyang, who had been defiant in the council, showed they would join in the great cause of suppressing the traitors and restoring Luoyang. Only Yuan Shu, the Rear General, harbored resentment toward Liu Seong-hwi, who had given him no role whatsoever.
The anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition Army, encamped in Yingchuan Prefecture, began its advance.
When the urgent report arrived that the Guandong Coalition Army was on the move, Dong Zhuo's forces in Luoyang were thrown into commotion.
* * *
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
Heavy percussive sounds rang out like thunder.
At the same time, countless blue military banners fluttered, displaying their majesty.
Forty thousand.
The great army of the south revealed itself.
Numerous Siege Engines were deployed then and there, as if to shatter the walls of Sishui Pass, which boasted the reputation of an Iron Fortress. Everything was mobilized to threaten the gateway to Luoyang—Battering-Ram Carts to pound the gates, Siege Towers to assault the battlements, and Cloud Ladders to scale the walls.
'For siege engines used back when the Yellow Turban Rebellion was suppressed, their condition is excellent. It must've taken considerable effort to transport siege weapons all the way from Hebei and Guandong.'
The siege engines deployed on the front line were all those mobilized for the assault on Julu City, the final stronghold of the Yellow Turban forces.
They'd brought the siege engines back out after years of rusting.
Excellent recycling.
For old relics that had been treated like nuisances, their condition was excellent.
Skilled engineers must have set to work reassembling and repairing the siege engines.
"Infantry forward!"
Sishui Pass.
Above the pass known as an Impregnable fortress, Dong Zhuo's army banners fluttered.
Commander Hua Xiong would arrive on the battlefield leading the Imperial Guard, the Han Dynasty's strongest elite guard. Liu Seong-hwi, commanding the battle line at the forefront, briefly stationed Sun Jian's army in the rear in preparation for Hua Xiong's all-out offensive.
"All catapults have completed deployment."
"Fire."
All catapults facing off against Sishui Pass finished loading.
At that, Liu Seong-hwi ordered the attack without hesitation.
"Attack!"
"Now! Break down Sishui Pass!"
Numerous soldiers pulled the ropes, stretching the catapult arms to maximum tension. The moment they released the ropes, the catapult arms shot forth heavy boulders with a sharp whoosh.
More than ten catapults opened fire.
Soon the heavy boulders traced threatening parabolic arcs and crashed down atop the walls of Sishui Pass.
CRASH—!!
BOOM—CRACK-CRACK-CRASH—!!!
The roar echoed.
And as the walls shook, the soldiers' screams spread outward.
"Archers and Crossbowmen, hold your current positions. The moment Dong Zhuo's cavalry open the gate and sally forth, we'll turn them all into pincushions. Spearmen and shieldbearers, hold the line as well."
Liu Seong-hwi gave the order, raising his great bow high.
Then the catapults, reloaded with boulders, once more directed their malice at the walls of Sishui Pass.