Finding a Way to Survive (2)
Even the toughest warriors often find themselves utterly helpless against superior strategy and tactics.
"Haha, is that all you've got? No matter how many of you come at me, you can't beat me!"
"...Hah, it's been a whole shichen and you're still coming to die? Don't these guys value their lives?!"
"Hah, hah, damn it, just one shichen break!"
"W-water...! Damn it, get out of the way...! Move!"
"Kuh-euk."
A one-man army who can take on ten thousand? Even such a general is human—thirsty, hungry, exhausted. Throw endless waves of soldiers at them in rotation, and they'll fall eventually. If individual martial prowess alone decided battles, this land wouldn't be Han but Chu. Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang wouldn't even be "Liu the rascal," Han Xin would be King Xiang's plaything paying dearly for betrayal, and Zhang Liang... well, they called him a sage, so he'd probably have fled to some mountain.
Why bring this up? Because news of defeat reached Jingzhou for the man people feared as the reincarnation of King Xiang of Chu.
"Lü Bu lost."
I received bamboo slips from Sun Uk after quite a while. She detailed everything from the betrayal in Lü Bu's army to Cao Cao's forces driving them back.
"Lü Bu seized several counties in Chenliu and Puyang. In this process, internal traitors Chen Gong and Zhang Miao joined him, and many who harbored grudges against Cao Cao rose in rebellion."
"They must've thought it was the trend at the time," Sima Yi said, sitting beside me as she scanned the letter's contents.
"Exactly. The common folk don't care who's on top as long as they're left alone, but local gentry and clan heads play by different rules."
The clans of Yan Province must have inwardly feared Cao Cao. Afraid that the brutality she unleashed on Xu Province's people might come for them too—especially those who'd long gossiped about her eunuch lineage.
"They got scared early and sought a way out. Makes sense; Lü Bu's reliable in raw power—he's the strongest in the world for that."
"But he lost, didn't he?"
"That's hindsight, my dear. What if Lü Bu had linked up with Chen Gong here and taken all of Yan Province? Cao Cao would've lost her base and become a wandering vagrant army."
Cao Cao barely held her land. Those she'd left in the rear—who hadn't joined the Xu Province massacre—fought tooth and nail against Lü Bu's assault. Sun Uk held the line.
"I didn't know she had it in her for military supplies. Never imagined Sun Uk could handle that well."
"Not Teacher Xun You—you mean your acquaintance."
"Yeah."
Sun Uk mentioned protecting herself and two others from Lü Bu's attack too, but they weren't people I needed to know about. Sun Uk defended Cao Cao's home base. From the secure Yingchuan Commandery she guarded, Cao Cao kindled the spark for a counterattack against Lü Bu. And Lü Bu fell.
Lü Bu's and Cao Cao's forces clashed in full battle once; Lü Bu's army shattered against Cao Cao's. The ringleaders all fled, and Cao Cao was now pacifying the whole of Yan Province that Lü Bu had torn open.
"Maybe Lü Bu just isn't that great at fighting? Aside from duels, he hardly ever wins."
"Unlike general-on-general fights, this was army against army. Yi, what do you think was Lü Bu's army's fatal flaw?"
"......The soldiers."
Sima Yi calmly pointed out details in the slips.
"The clans and gentry started the rebellion, but the frontline troops didn't truly follow them against Cao Cao."
"Right. They fought because Lü Bu loomed behind with a blade, but once he lost and Cao Cao returned, heads would roll without mercy. The clans might fight to the death since they betrayed her, but regular soldiers? Nah."
Whatever else, Cao Cao trained her troops thoroughly. Many counties surrendered to Lü Bu's might, but he couldn't instantly turn Yan Province's soldiers into his own.
"Cao Cao returning too fast was the issue. Sun Uk holding that foothold for her was another factor. And one more: Yan Province's clans betrayed, but the soldiers didn't. That's Lü Bu's downfall."
"So what will Lü Bu do now? Assuming he survived."
If Lü Bu lived, he'd latch onto somewhere else as a guest general, leeching off them.
"......Won't he go to Yuan Shu in Shouchun? They fought together against Dong Zhuo, but Yuan Shu wouldn't care."
"That'd give wings to Yuan Shu's army. But I doubt it. Both are greedy; Yuan Shu won't raise a tiger to devour him."
"Right? ...He won't come to Jingzhou, will he?"
That scared me. Defeated from Yan Province, heading south to Jingzhou means passing Xinye. A routed Lü Bu army might rampage, looting Suyeon Academy and everything.
"If he shows up later, I'll beg Aunt Cai never to let Lü Bu in."
"Yeah. Letting him in would turn eyes from Chang'an to Jingzhou. If he pushes through Wan to the Yangtze..."
"He'd have to come right here to Xinye again."
To reach Liu Biao's Yangyang from the Central Plains by land, you must pass Xinye. Any force would camp here briefly, and the crops we've nurtured at Suyeon Academy and the Cai family estates would be seized as "supplies."
"Yi. Doesn't it piss you off imagining the fields we cultivated taken by those trying to steal our land?"
"It does. After years of effort, someone else swoops in and gobbles it up? I'd be furious. ...Really furious."
Something chilling flashed in Sima Yi's smile.
"Exactly. All my hard work, then others come and devour it whole? Yeah, that'd make me mad."
"......Yi, don't you hoard your favorite snacks and savor them later?"
"Sure do."
"Guard them well."
"Of course. What's mine, I never let go. Heh heh heh. Oh, Teacher, looks like there's more on the back."
"Ah."
Sima Yi reached under the slips I held. Sun Uk had sent two stacked together.
"More content on the back, huh. Let's see. Lü Bu's whereabouts..."
"......Xu Province's Liu Bei? What's this mean?"
"......."
Lü Bu heads to Liu Bei in Xu Province for refuge.
"Who's Liu Bei?"
Liu Hyun-deok! Liu Hyun-deok! Liu Hyun-deok! Liu Hyun-deok! Liu Hyun-deok!
In Xu Province, cheers for Liu Hyun-deok—Liu Bei—never ceased from the people.
Why? Because Liu Bei drove out Cao Cao.
Liu Bei had come as reinforcements to Xu Province, and when he proposed peace to Cao Cao, she withdrew her army immediately. Of course, everyone knows now it was because of Lü Bu. But Xu Province's people couldn't forget that thrill: Liu Bei breaking the siege at the north gate and entering the city; Liu Bei riding out the south gate into the enemy camp to propose peace; Cao Cao's army retreating.
"As expected, Liu Hyun-deok's a hero!"
"Damn it, I believed in him!"
"Xu Province's light!"
Liu Bei's name spread wide from Xuzhou City. Without him pushing himself, the mood formed naturally.
Why?
"Hey, heard the news? Governor Tao Qian's handing Xuzhou governorship to Liu Bei."
"Really? The court's recognizing him?"
"Nah, just passing the seal."
"What? Possible?"
"In these times? What's impossible? What's coming from Chang'an any different from Cao Cao? Better helped by the guy who saved us."
Tao Qian himself was trying to give Xuzhou to Liu Bei, begging since the day he arrived.
"So Xuzhou's governor becomes Liu Hyun-deok?"
"No! Wait, I heard Liu Bei refused the post."
"Why? Heading back north?"
"Nah! Said he couldn't accept it. Don't know why."
Tao Qian offering the Xuzhou governor seal. Liu Bei steadfastly refusing. The story spread everywhere in Xuzhou City, making many beat their chests.
"No, Brother! Why refuse? I'll go get it for you!"
"Yide, calm down. ...But Brother, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Xuzhou's half destroyed, but half remains. We protect its people."
"Exactly! Taking the governor seal is protecting them, Brother. Who else stops Cao Cao's reinvasion?"
Liu Bei's brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, urged the silently tree-gazing Liu Bei repeatedly to accept the seal.
"...It goes against righteousness."
"No, Brother!"
"Damn. The old man's on his last legs—what's the problem?"
"That's precisely the problem."
Liu Bei just stared at the gaunt, withered tree.
"Xuzhou will be a hotbed of war for a while. We've wandered nearly a decade, but snatching it up now? No. Easy come, easy go."
"Then don't lose it? Leave here? Back to Beiping?"
"Brother, Gong Sun Zan..."
Guan Yu trailed off, glancing at Zhao Yun. Her presence among the sworn brothers showed how close she'd grown to them.
"Lord Liu Bei, I'm not belittling you. But if you return north, your lord will surely send you to your death."
"......."
Liu Bei said nothing.
"Argh, Brother! You're driving me crazy!"
"...Trust Brother. Truth be told, I don't like it either. No official court appointment—what kind of office is this?"
"Everyone does it—why not us? I'm losing it. Others take the easy path, why must we—"
"Walking the righteous path is the path to victory."
Liu Bei calmly reached up.
"That's our way."
Rustle.
A leaf fell from the barren old tree onto Liu Bei's hand. A withered, twisted leaf.
And then.
"Milord! Disaster! Governor Tao Qian!!"
"......."
Liu Bei clenched the leaf.
Tao Qian, dead. Liu Bei, accepting Tao Qian's dying wish and taking over as Xuzhou governor.