If you can't win, just flip the board
If you can't win, just flip the board
"What's this about, all of a sudden? We're in the thick of it right now."
A summons from Zhang Rang of the Three Regular Attendants, arranged in haste.
He'd asked Ding Yuan to come as quickly as possible, in secrecy. Reluctant though he was, Ding Yuan had no choice but to leave Hulao Pass and return to Luoyang.
So it was that Ding Yuan, annoyed and pressed for time, entered Zhang Rang's private residence.
Before him sat Zhang Rang and the other two Regular Attendants, their expressions grave. The only escort he had brought was Lü Bu.
"Welcome. I apologize for summoning you so abruptly, but the matter is of the utmost importance."
"Is there something more important than holding Hulao Pass right now? Very well... let's hear how great this matter is."
Fighting was at a bloody pitch while Zhang Rang idled here in Luoyang. Naturally, Ding Yuan resented being called away.
Despite his displeasure, Zhang Rang smiled calmly and gestured lightly.
"Sit down and compose yourself. It will more than meet your expectations, I assure you."
"Mm..."
Ding Yuan took his seat, still scowling.
Steaming tea was poured into the cup before him, and Zhang Rang took a sip from his own, already prepared.
"I have been receiving reports from the front. The situation is not as favorable as anticipated, I hear."
"It is not. Only yesterday the enemy nearly broke through the pass. If not for Lü Bu here, it could have been a disaster."
Even now, Ding Yuan never missed a chance to praise his adopted daughter. Zhang Rang, well accustomed to this by now, let the remark pass.
"Indeed, you are all shouldering a heavy burden. Your efforts for the state will be remembered. However..."
With those words, Zhang Rang set down his empty cup.
His expression cooled, and he put a question to Ding Yuan in an even tone.
"General-in-Chief. As things stand, can we win?"
"..."
Ding Yuan fell silent for a moment before the weight of the question. Zhang Rang pressed him gently.
"There is no need for polite evasion here. Speak frankly. Can we prevail in this war? Or will we be defeated in the end?"
"... Sigh."
Zhang Rang was asking for the truth, not a pleasant lie. Ding Yuan let out a heavy breath and answered in a dispassionate voice.
"To be honest with you, Hulao Pass will not fall immediately, not with the current momentum. But in the end... we will lose."
"Mm..."
Already, the enemy's forces outnumbered their own two to one. Nor was the skill of Yuan Shu's direct subordinates—Ji Ling, Xu Rong, and Sun Jian—anything ordinary.
Taking a broad view of the battlefield, the enemy sustained the siege by dispersing their own strength against strong points while gnawing relentlessly at weak spots, letting damage accumulate.
As a result, the defenders' casualties were stacking up day by day, and morale was sinking with each passing hour.
The sole remaining hope was that the enemy's provisions and supplies would run dry, yet since the war began, no such thing had ever been observed.
Considering the abundance of the enemy's home bases—Ji Province, Yan Province, and Nanyang Commandery in northern Jing Province—the realistic assessment was that barring a special disruption, that possibility barely existed.
"Then... how much longer can we hold out?"
"If we focus solely on stalling, a few months at most. But as I said, it will end in defeat regardless."
"I see... as expected."
Ding Yuan was confirming what they already half-knew. Zhang Rang exhaled softly and glanced sideways at Duan Gui, nodding.
At that, a single black case was placed upon the table. Zhang Rang looked back at Ding Yuan and spoke in a quiet voice.
"As it happens... I have a scheme regarding that matter. The reason I called you here is to put it into motion."
"A scheme? What is it?"
Ding Yuan's attention sharpened instantly at the suggestion of a plan. But before going into specifics, Zhang Rang stroked the lid of the case in front of him, almost tenderly.
"As you know, though we also have an emperor at hand, the truth is that most of the lords of the realm still lean toward the Deposed Emperor on the other side rather than toward us. Even among those who haven't joined this Coalition, plenty surely think the same."
"That is... true. But what of it, now? Are you saying they can be made to move for our sake?"
Yes, many were hedging between the two Son of Heaven figures, but compelling them into action with the power currently at our disposal was nearly impossible.
Their faction's legitimacy was indeed weaker, as Zhang Rang noted, and more fundamentally, lords with their own agendas had no wish to wade into a fight between whales and suffer damage.
Especially now: one could safely assume almost no one was foolish enough to step into a losing side and plunge with it into the abyss.
"Of course, that won't happen. But... in the present situation, we can at least make use of them. Even if we cannot compel them to help us directly, we can certainly trip up our enemy by their means."
"What do you mean?"
Ding Yuan looked puzzled. Zhang Rang paused a beat, then slowly opened the lid of the case.
And then—
"! Th-... that is...?"
Ding Yuan's expression flooded with sharp surprise.
Zhang Rang reached into the case with a calm smile and withdrew the object inside.
Heavy and substantial, about the size of a palm. Carved from jade that gave off an unearthly luster, with one corner repaired in gold.
Ding Yuan recognized it instantly, and so did Lü Bu at his side.
"Th-the Imperial Seal?"
"Indeed. The very Imperial Heirloom Seal made by that First Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the treasure of the Han Imperial House. We managed to recover it after no small effort, lost as it was during He Jin's rebellion."
From what he had heard, the seal had been discovered at the bottom of a well in a remote corner of the Imperial Palace, with a dead palace maid.
Ding Yuan's face, without his quite realizing it, took on a reverent cast at the sight of the legendary object. He asked carefully,
"What do you intend to do with it?"
"What else? Use it to proclaim Her Majesty the Emperor's will throughout the realm—and strike the traitors of this so-called Coalition from behind."
The Imperial Seal was priceless as a treasure, but far beyond that, it carried an authority that could not be ignored as the very symbol of the imperial mandate.
Used here, it could stir up lords across the provinces and shake the Coalition to its core.
"We shall combine the Emperor's decrees with substantial raises in the lords' ranks and offices. That should be enough to rouse even those who have so far stood idle with their arms folded. Even if they send no reinforcements, they'll start attacking their neighbors' territories."
"I see... If that happens, those accursed bastards will have no choice but to turn tail and flee."
"Precisely. To realize this, I need you to move some troops. Organize riders and an escort so the Imperial Envoys can get out of here safely."
"Understood. I'll mobilize the garrison placed here in Luoyang at once."
No matter how formidable the enemy's momentum might be, if their home regions came under attack from neighboring lords, their strength would be badly sapped. In some scenarios, they would have no choice but to retreat.
Slip the leashes of the surrounding wolves to catch a tiger. That was the scheme Zhang Rang had devised, and everyone else in the room, starting with Ding Yuan, agreed.
Everyone, except one.
'... Is this really all right?'
Lü Bu had observed in silence from the side.
She knew little of politics and was no genius, but as a general, she could sense by instinct that something about this was off.
To control soldiers, you must keep your subordinate commanders in check. To bend those commanders effectively, you must strictly separate the permissible from the forbidden according to iron discipline.
Grant your officers excessive "freedom"—in other words, excessive power—and trouble, large or small, is bound to follow.
In that light, elevating the ranks and authority of various lords to solve their crisis—even if she couldn't pinpoint the exact mechanism—struck her as a course that would inevitably lead to some catastrophe.
And yet, despite her misgivings, Lü Bu never opened her mouth.
Her own head, unfortunately, lacked the skill to articulate those fears in a coherent, reasoned fashion.
So she only watched, her worries unspoken, as they laid their ominous plan and set it into motion.
Dozens of decrees, transcribed with the so-called "Imperial Will" and stamped with the Imperial Heirloom Seal, were dispatched swiftly from Luoyang, each carried by ready envoys with an escort force.
"Then I shall return to Hulao Pass at once. Should an opening present itself, I'll see the enemy annihilated to the utmost."
"I leave it to you. We'll await tidings of victory, General."
Having arrived with resentment, Ding Yuan now prepared to depart for Hulao Pass with a light smile. It felt like spotting a bright light inside a dark, blind cave. He meant to hurry back and fulfill his duty.
"General!!!!"
But—
"Hm? Aren't you Zang Ba? What brings you this far—?"
Zang Ba practically tumbled from his horse, covered in blood. Gasping, he looked at Ding Yuan and Lü Bu.
"Th-there's been a disaster, General! Hulao Pass... Hulao Pass is..."
"Hulao Pass is...?"
"What in—what's happened at Hulao Pass!?!"
A single thought flashed simultaneously through Ding Yuan's and Lü Bu's minds. Their faces hardened on the spot.
Zhang Rang, watching from behind, went corpse-pale in an instant.
And then, as if to fulfill their most dreadful expectations, Zang Ba's mouth produced the worst possible news, soaked in grief.
"*Hic*... Hulao Pass... has fallen, General!"
"...!"
"... What?"