Downfall (2)
Near Xiapi Castle flowed the Sishui River. Uniquely, some of its tributaries cut right through the heart of the castle itself. The terrain where Xiapi was built was lower than the surrounding land, making it easy for the river to pass through, and its builders had channeled water into the fortress so they could always supply it without interruption. From ancient times, people had debated how to conquer this strangely structured stronghold.
Most agreed on one particularly effective method, though some called it inhuman—too cruel by half. Flooding the castle. By piling up makeshift earthen walls where the river entered, they could induce a deluge. It wouldn't submerge the entire wall, but an enormous volume of water was inevitable inside.
Shooooaaaaah—!!
Water surged into the castle at ferocious speed. New streams branched left and right, and the flood pouring inward began overflowing the castle's internal channels. This was no mere rain overflow. Lü Bu's generals, rushing in belatedly, trembled with fists clenched as water rose to their ankles.
"Too late..."
While they'd dithered, the enemy had breached the dam and released the flood. With the rainy season's downpours collected, the volume rushing down the river was beyond imagination.
"Damn it, at this rate, even the walls could get washed away...?"
"No way the walls themselves... Right? They have to hold...!"
Tension gripped every general. If the walls crumbled, the enemy would pour through the breach. But how to repair them now, with water already battering the stone? And worse...
"Hey, Songxian. Isn't the water rising even more?"
"...It's up to our ankles already?"
The muddy torrent crept higher. The generals dashed with soldiers toward the channel's start, only to gape at the waterways beneath the walls.
"Damn it, more holes!"
"Hey! Grab something to block it!!"
"Shields—even shields to plug the flow!!"
The rectangular channels were eroding in real time under the torrent. The fierce current forced wider breaches, as if demanding more room. Gurgle, gurgle. With each passing moment, walls crumbled further, frothing white as the water accelerated inward.
Clang—thud!
The straight rush now sprayed everywhere. Soldiers near the channels got faces splashed by the churning waves.
"Uh, uh, the wall over there—?!"
Kabooooom—!!
A massive explosion rocked the walls. Chen Gong and the generals scrambled atop them, spotting siege engines lined up in Cao Cao's distant camp.
"Damn it, catapults!"
"Lady Chen, danger!"
Zhang Liao yanked Chen Gong's waist, pulling her down. Cao Cao's boulders pelted the crumbling channel walls left and right. Thud, thud. The stones funneled more water inward, loosening bricks in the torrent and accelerating the flow.
Rumble rumble.
"Ahh...!"
Chen Gong despaired. "If only we'd sortied sooner...!"
They could have stopped the catapult assembly. The enemy must have brought them leisurely. They could have prevented the channel collapse—cavalry sweeping away the dam-builders. If only Lü Bu had advanced.
If only he hadn't dawdled because of Diaochan. They could have averted this disaster long ago.
"Ahh...!!"
Chen Gong tore at her hair. Where had it all gone wrong? Because of Diaochan? Or because she was a woman?
"Uwaaaah!!"
Her scream pierced the sky. Ignoring her anguish, the water roared through the channel, surpassing ankles to lap at knees. And then.
Swoosh.
A sky thick with clouds. Cruelly, white snowflakes began drifting down. It was winter.
"Xiapi is now a hell on earth. The water at our feet will freeze into thin ice."
Cao Cao's army celebrated the channel-collapse ploy's success. The breach was too wide for flooding to matter anymore, but the walls had crumbled prettily—just enough to clamber over like a small hill of bricks. All that remained was scaling them to claim Lü Bu's head.
Yet Cao Cao couldn't squander troops recklessly here.
"Guo Jia. Are Lü Bu's forces our only foes?"
"No. There's Hebei, and Nanyang too."
"Exactly. Those loathsome Yuan brothers still draw breath. In the east, some fool calls himself the Tiger of Jiangdong, and with warlords scattered everywhere, we can't afford bloodshed here."
Was it overconfidence from virtual victory over Lü Bu? Cao Cao chose to conserve strength.
"How to win without lifting a finger? Xun You, your thoughts?"
"Shower them with arrows and stones until they surrender or charge out in rage. Tedious, but bloodless victory is best."
Xun You calmly drew a bamboo slip.
"But this would tire our soldiers' arms in midwinter. Let our strategists suffer a little hand cramp, and our best archers loose a few arrows—easy enough."
"Let's see."
Cao Cao unfolded the paper Xun You offered. A satisfied smile spread across her face.
"I know whose handiwork this is."
She held it to the sun. "To the loyal soul who brings the traitor's Lü Bu's head: gold and office! Kuh, a plan only I could devise!"
"Indeed, only you, my lord. As he said..."
Xun You recited her own scheme verbatim.
"Most generals will hesitate to betray Lü Bu. But seeing fine goods stirs the heart. Post a bounty on the great criminal Lü Bu. A massive one. Enough to make them think, 'Worth betraying for?'—even his family might trade his head for life, rank, and riches."
"Thousands in gold to buy elite lives—a bargain! Haha, I've indebted countless souls."
"A ploy you could've devised yourself, my lord."
"True, but I thank you for delivering it so swiftly. Copy this letter at once and shoot it in! Tempt Lü Bu's men with gold nuggets!"
Whish.
A barrage of arrows arced toward the breached walls, tiny papers tied to their fletchings. Cao Cao even drew her own bow.
"Haha, this is fun. Winter blues lifted—my nagging worries gone."
"Hebei troubles?"
"Yes."
She kept loosing. "Gongsun Zan buckling faster than expected against Yuan Shao? Holed up behind grander walls than Xiapi, holding a siege."
"Like Lü Bu."
"Aye. Both mighty, yet rotting inside instead of fighting on open ground."
Cao Cao's face darkened. "As we win here, Yuan Shao will take Gongsun Zan."
"We'll claim Lü Bu first. Gongsun Zan chilled Yuan Shao plenty—he'll hold half a year more."
"True. What a man... Wait, wasn't Liu Bei his deputy before Xuzhou?"
Cao Cao stroked her chin, gazing north. "Send Liu Bei to aid him?"
"He'd go? He'll plant his ass in Xuzhou, claiming the people need him."
"Even fleeing, he won't seek Gongsun Zan. Finds paths to survival like no other."
"Exactly the problem."
Whish.
"No matter what, he'll survive to trip me up big. Liu Bei, Liu Bei..."
Cao Cao pouted grumpily. "Yuan Shao's headache enough—why add Liu Bei?"
Whish.
"Bah, whatever. Hey! More arrows! Need to send more letters inside!"
"Lü Bu the traitor—gold to whoever brings his head!"
The message spread. Lü Bu himself read it.
"You bastards! Carrying this on you?! Plotting betrayal?!"
"N-no, never!"
"Absolutely not! How could we?!"
"We just brought it to report enemy arrows!"
"Y-you...!!"
Lü Bu leveled his halberd at them. "I'd sever your heads now, but mercy this once! Drag them to the execution ground—fifty lashes!!"
"F-fifty...?!"
Even burly men fainted at ten. "General!!!"
The three were hauled off, wailing. Lü Bu snorted, about to shred the paper, then glanced around.
"Where's Lady Chen?"
"In seclusion."
"Hmph."
He grabbed a wine jar. "Woman after all. Stubborn. What? Rites of lord and vassal? Can't see her as a man? Half a wit and she struts..."
Crushing the paper, he stormed home, ignoring Lady Lü outside, arms wide to Diaochan by the wall.
"Chan!"
"......!!"
She startled. White powder filled her palm from a paper packet. Lü Bu's heart sank.
"Wh-what's that?"
"......My medicine."
She slowly opened her hand. Suspiciously pure white—not quite medicine.
"You scared me bursting in. May I take it now?"
"Y-yeah."
Lü Bu couldn't step closer. Felt like she'd already tried poisoning him. But.
Sniff.
Diaochan dumped every grain into her mouth. Only then did he approach, relieved.
"Sorry. Thought you might be scheming..."
"General Lü. As if. From our first meeting, my heart's unchanged."
She melted into his arms. "My feelings for you remain. Always."
"Yes...!"
Embraced, Diaochan merely licked white residue from her lips. "From the start, that was all I thought."