The Battle of Ma'an Mountain (3)
The next day, the Shu army set out for the Wu camp at the head of fifty thousand elite troops.
Despite the earnest dissuasion of those around him, Liu Bei once again took his place at the very front of the host.
"I will take Lu Xun's head and lay it before Yunzhang's spirit tablet."
Ever since he had learned that the seizure of Jing Province had been a scheme born in Lu Xun's mind, Liu Bei had become monomaniacally obsessed with killing the man. Faced with that stubborn resolve, Feng Xi had no choice but to remain behind and command the main camp.
Guan Xing and Zhang Bao shadowed Liu Bei like twin guardians. Looking upon the stout figures flanking him, Liu Bei was seized for a moment by a wave of longing—he was remembering how Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had once stood watch over him.
…Those two are gone now.
They had sworn in the Peach Garden to die on the same day, in the same hour—yet only Liu Bei still lived. When word of Guan Yu's death reached him he had wept tears of blood; when he heard that Zhang Fei had been assassinated, it felt as though his very entrails had been torn asunder.
Had my brothers not stood at my side, I would have drifted across the realm like duckweed upon the water and died forgotten.
Zhuge Liang and the other ministers had given him much, yet in the days of his deepest poverty it had always been those two who remained. Watch me, my brothers. Liu Bei fixed his gaze forward, eyes burning with resolve.
Opposite him, Lu Xun himself rode out at the head of the Wu host. The formations the two armies had arrayed were utterly unlike: Shu deployed the Young Goose formation, while Wu settled into a tightly packed defensive square. For the first time, Liu Bei and Lu Xun looked upon each other's faces.
"I greet the Emperor of Han."
Lu Xun offered a courteous bow. Liu Bei's brow furrowed.
"So you are the one called Lu Xun, Grand Commander of Eastern Wu?"
"I am. Lu Xun, Grand Commander of Wu."
Liu Bei studied the man's appearance. His skin was pale as white jade, yet he was older than expected.
"To appoint a mere child like you Grand Commander—does Wu truly lack for talent?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty. His Highness bestowed the office of Grand Commander upon an obscure nobody such as myself. I can only strive with all my strength to repay that boundless grace."
Lu Xun answered the provocation with unruffled calm—and in the same breath struck Liu Bei's rawest nerve.
"Was it not to a mere child that General Guan Yu, famed throughout the realm as a peerless warrior, lost Jing Province?"
Guan Yu had been generous toward his inferiors, yet toward the scholar-gentry his pride could be overbearing. An obscure scion of a local clan like Lu Xun had been perfectly placed to exploit that complacency.
Believing Lu Xun a mere successor to Lü Meng, Guan Yu had grown careless; Jing Province had fallen, and in the end he himself had been captured and slain by Wu.
"…You dare!"
Hearing his sworn brother's name from the mouth of his bitterest enemy twisted Liu Bei's face into a mask of fury. Veins stood out on his forehead as he roared to the generals around him.
"Who will bring me that cur's head?!"
"I will!"
Guan Xing, whose hatred for the man who had engineered his father's death burned no less fiercely than Liu Bei's, spurred forward. Brandishing the Green Dragon Crescent Blade—his father's heirloom, recovered from Pan Zhang—he bellowed:
"I'll take your head just as I took the others'—!!"
"Hmph! A green boy daring to threaten my neck?!"
From the Wu ranks Han Dang burst forth, the bold spirit of a veteran of a hundred battles blazing around him.
"An old fossil like you has no business standing in my way!!"
"Don't get cocky, whelp!"
Hooves thundered as the two champions charged; both armies answered with a roar and surged forward. Guan Xing ground his teeth and swept the crescent blade; Han Dang thrust his spear to meet it.
With a savage whistle of parting air the weapons crashed together. Sparks flew as iron rang on iron. For a time the duel hung in balance—block, thrust, counter—yet the advantage slowly tilted toward Guan Xing. It was only natural.
Han Dang was nearly seventy; against a young general in the prime of his strength, the disparity in power was inevitable. That the old warrior could even contend with such vitality was itself remarkable.
A blow freighted with the full eighty-two catties of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade smashed down. Han Dang raised his spear to catch it, and his arms trembled violently.
I've grown old after all.
A dull ache shot through his wrists; the years made themselves known. …And yet that is precisely why young talent must rise to bring a new wind.
Guan Xing slapped the spear aside and twisted the blade's path with raw force, aiming for Han Dang's throat. The veteran twisted his torso at the last instant; the edge still left a bloody crease across his cheek.
…Truly the son of Guan Yu.
Compared with his own sons, this youth was a full-grown tiger.
"This will not do!"
Han Dang wheeled his mount and fled.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Guan Xing pursued hot on his heels. Seeing their champion retreat, the Wu soldiers who had been locked with the Shu vanguard began to break and run one after another.
"Fall back! Fall back!!"
Lu Xun himself quietly turned his horse and withdrew; the troops guarding him scattered in panic. The solid defensive square that had seemed so impregnable crumbled like a sandcastle. The routed Wu host did not flee toward the fortresses they had so carefully built; instead they poured into Ma'an Mountain.
Catching sight of Lu Xun vanishing over the ridgeline, Liu Bei exploded with rage.
"After him! Do not let Lu Xun escape!!"
Fleeing into the mountains rather than the hard-won fortifications—My earlier caution was wasted. He really is nothing but a white-faced scholar who has only ever read books! The passive defense and the instantaneous collapse of the formation convinced Liu Bei that Lu Xun was a coward.
"You must not, Your Majesty!"
Cheng Ji frantically barred the emperor's path just as Liu Bei prepared to charge after the fleeing enemy.
"The enemy line collapsed far too easily. This is surely a cunning Wu stratagem meant to lure our army and strike at Your Majesty's person!"
A general skilled in both letters and arms, Cheng Ji had sensed something amiss. They had won several pitched battles against Wu already, yet this retreat felt utterly alien. …The armies of Eastern Wu would never withdraw so readily.
"First we should seize their camp and—"
"What nonsense is this?!"
Blinded by the thirst for Lu Xun's blood, Liu Bei would hear none of it.
"If we take Lu Xun we can end this campaign with the least possible sacrifice! Why is a general of Shu Han so timid?!"
He shouted down the very man who sought to restrain him—a far cry from the gentle sovereign who had always cherished the common people as his own children.
"Both the Army Advisor and the General Who Pacifies the North begged Your Majesty not to pursue the enemy commander."
Uncowed, Cheng Ji pressed his counsel. Ma Liang and Huang Quan, who had insisted that Lu Xun was weaving some snare, had ultimately failed to sway the emperor's iron will. In its place they had extracted a solemn promise: since the Son of Heaven's personal pursuit of an enemy general placed the entire army in peril, he must never ride in the van.
Whether from the ferocity of his grudge against Lu Xun alone, Liu Bei was more violently agitated than he had ever been even when his other sworn enemies, Pan Zhang and Ma Zhong, still served in the Wu ranks.
Because the loss of Jing Province was General Guan Yu's great failure, His Majesty vents his wrath upon Lu Xun?
Cheng Ji guessed at the emperor's heart and continued to block the pursuit.
"Then at the very least, Your Majesty, do not place yourself in the van."
"General Cheng Ji speaks wisely."
"Leave the vanguard to other officers; Your Majesty should command from the center."
When even Guan Xing and Zhang Bao joined the earnest entreaty, Liu Bei at last relented.
"…Very well."
As the emperor yielded and drew back, two officers stepped forward to lead the chase.
"We will take the van and hunt Lu Xun down!"
They were Fu Tong and Wu Ban. Both were confident they could capture the Wu commander. Because the terrain of Ba-Shu yielded few warhorses, most of the Shu soldiers were infantry; on open ground their lack of mobility would have been a severe handicap in a pursuit. But these were hardy veterans forged for highland warfare—that was Shu's true strength.
"On level ground we might lag, but in the mountains we will never trail the Wu army!"
"After them! Once they have fled into the hills they are rats in a jar!"
Wu Ban and Fu Tong led the pursuit; Liu Bei's center followed close behind.
"…I have a bad feeling. I will stay with His Majesty—you ride to General Feng Xi and report this."
"Yes, sir!"
Having dispatched his lieutenant with the message, Cheng Ji spurred after Liu Bei.
The monsoon rains of two days earlier had left the ground a sucking mire that hampered every step. Squishing mud filled the ears, yet the soldiers doggedly chased the Wu army. Dense stands of trees and uneven hillsides could not deter the men of Shu.
"Lu Xun has only a handful of men around him! Take him at once!!"
Barely a few dozen riders still clustered about the Wu commander. Shu troops closed the distance through swirling clouds of dust.
"Your Majesty! You are pressing too deep!"
Cheng Ji, following from the rear, shouted in alarm. Liu Bei had already outstripped the center of his own army and could no longer hear the general's voice.
Deep within Ma'an Mountain the Wu forces reached a gorge flanked by sheer cliffs. Lu Xun, still attended by only a few dozen horsemen, rode unhurriedly into the defile. Wu Ban and Fu Tong pursued without hesitation.
"The enemy might rain rocks upon us from above!"
"We are watching the heights carefully enough!!"
Liu Bei never once thought of slackening his reins; he plunged into the gorge without pause. Cheng Ji had no choice but to race after him—
Then a deep, ominous rumble stabbed at every ear.
"…Hm?"
Shadows thickened beneath their feet; an instinctive chill raced down every spine. Uneasy soldiers lifted their eyes. Someone screamed, the cry tearing raw from a throat:
"Th-the cliffs are collapsing!!"
In the instant the horrified troops tried to fling themselves backward—
With a deafening roar the brink of the steep cliffs gave way and thundered down upon the Shu army trapped in the gorge.