A Chance to Ride the Battlefield Once More
Once again, the court reshuffled its appointments.
"Your Majesty, your servant has grown old and frail. The court has found its footing, and I would withdraw."
"You have stood by Us since We were held in Chang'an. You have been the pillar of this court since the late emperor's day. How can you speak of leaving?"
"Your Majesty, the time to step aside has come. As my successor in the post of Grand Minister of Agriculture, I recommend Central Commander of the Army Han Hao, who lately submitted a memorial on the improved garrison-farm system."
Grand Minister of Agriculture Sisun Xu was stepping down, and his successor would be Cao Cao's man to the last. In any ordinary case one ought to have stopped it. But when a minister openly named his own replacement and reported the choice to the Son of Heaven, opposing him would mean—
"Your Majesty, your servant Liu Bei, Left General and concurrently Colonel Director of Retainers, begs leave to speak."
These days the emperor's eyes rested on Liu Bei in an entirely different way. While Cao Cao quietly filled the court with none but his own faction and then looked the other way, Liu Bei—imperial kin who still walked the straight path—was the one man who could truly be trusted.
"Your Majesty, while posts throughout the court keep changing hands, the Censorate remains, yet there is no Grand Censor, and Deputy Imperial Censor Zhang Qian labors on alone beneath the burden."
"Th-that is so."
"What is more, Zhang Qian's martial gift and his talent for command are far too precious to be shut inside the single office of Deputy Imperial Censor. I beg that he be attached to my Left General's establishment, so that he may serve the realm with still greater zeal."
Liu Bei named me outright, before Cao Cao and the emperor both. It was as good as a public declaration: Zhang Qian is my man. Even if I marched out on campaign, the nail was driven home—I belonged to the Left General's Office, where Liu Bei sat.
If Cao Cao meant to go on occupying the inner administration, then Liu Bei was announcing that he would pull his people out into the field. At that, Cao Cao let out a thin, scoffing laugh.
After the session I asked Liu Bei, "Was this Zijing's idea?"
"And mine as well. I thought long and hard over the fight with Yuan Shu. I want you at my side, doing a strategist's work."
"Imperial Uncle, while I am gone the inner court may fill still further with the Minister of Works' men."
"I have weighed that. I mean to station my people around Xudu and Yanzhou, and have us all take part in putting down the traitors across the realm."
What he said carried a great deal beneath the surface. A straight political fight inside the court could not be won by weight of faction, so he would simply go out, grow his strength in the field, and ring Cao Cao's strongholds. That was the course he had chosen. Loyal to Han, granted the title of Imperial Uncle by the emperor—and yet he would not cling to the emperor's side. He would build his power from a distance.
Liu Bei was still Liu Bei, wasn't he? Something was turning in his mind. He had clearly taken counsel from Lu Su and the others before he decided.
"Urgent report! Urgent report! The army of General Who Establishes Might Xiahou Dun, sent to suppress Lu Bu in southern Yuzhou, has been utterly defeated!"
A go stone clattered across the board.
I had been playing a game with Liu Bei when the report arrived. Cao Cao had meant to strike Lu Bu with his own strength alone. He had previously sent Yue Jin to Xiahou Dun with thirty thousand men, and they had been routed.
"Lu Bu is Lu Bu, after all. The Minister of Works will have no face left to him."
"He is certain to call for us. He will propose we join forces and strike Lu Bu together."
I wanted to know what Liu Bei made of Lu Bu in this moment. There had been no knife in the back over Xuzhou. Lu Bu had never called him younger brother. They had fought a single small clash without a proper battle, and Liu Bei had even given the man supplies and sent him on his way.
"A fierce general the like of which this age of chaos will not see again. His brutality is past describing. When he takes up his halberd and charges the front, it is hard to find anyone who can stand against him."
"If we drive him back and take him alive, what will you do?"
"It would have to be left to the judgment of military law, would it not?"
"I wonder whether anyone would take him in. He entered the service of Ding Yuan, Inspector of Bingzhou, and cut Ding Yuan down. When he became the adopted son of the traitor Dong Zhuo, he cut Dong Zhuo down as well."
"Heh. Do you think I mean to take him in?"
Of course not. If he had even entertained the thought, I had been ready to drag him back from it.
A short while later a man arrived from the Minister of Works' office.
"Left General, the Minister of Works commands your urgent attendance at a council of war."
"Hm. Let us go."
I rose with Liu Bei, and we made for the Minister of Works' office.
Cao Cao sat with his arms folded, sunk in thought over the situation before him. Anyone could see it. What he had meant to settle cleanly had come crashing down, and it was burning him up inside.
"Xuande, I meant to pacify two commanderies of Yuzhou so that you might hold the post of Inspector of Yuzhou in full. And it has come to this."
"Not at all, Minister. Victory and defeat are the ordinary business of arms. Strike again, and we can win."
"Heh heh heh. Just so. And so, next time, I wish to go with you, Xuande."
"Together, you say?"
"I will raise the army myself. This body, the Minister of Works, and you, Xuande, the Left General, will suppress Lu Bu side by side."
Cao Cao was proposing that he and Liu Bei strike Lu Bu together, and of course the offer had to be accepted. Just now, a combination of Cao Cao's army and Liu Bei's would be hard-pressed to find an equal anywhere.
"I fear a man of my meager talent for command would only burden the Minister's army."
"Ha ha ha! What talk is that? After I sent General Who Establishes Might Xiahou Dun and watched him routed, it was your army I needed."
Cao Cao was quick to review a defeat. He had lost tens of thousands beneath Xiahou Dun's banner, yet without a flicker of fuss he explained at once why they had lost.
"My army and my generals are like a shield of steel, masterful in grand strategy and encirclement. But I lack the sharp spear to pierce it. Lu Bu is a dangerous spear, and I have come to see that what meets him is not a shield, but a greater spear."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Cao Cao smiled and nodded, and Liu Bei agreed to go. On the way back Liu Bei muttered under his breath.
"Yunchang will be sore about this again. His own hands must be itching to take the field."
"If the Commander of the Tiger-Brave Imperial Guards does not remain at his post, His Majesty's worries at court will only grow."
Guan Yu could not step forward, bound as he was by the nature of his office. This time, however, just as Liu Bei had announced before the court, I could.
"You are deputy to the Left General. We can think about a field appointment in due course. For now, let us prepare this suppression."
"Yes. It has been a long time since I last went out."
"But tell me—what did the Minister mean just now? Why he needs us, specifically."
"It is simple. He has no assault vanguard who can fight Lu Bu on even terms."
"Mm?"
"Under the Minister there are brilliant strategists in plenty, and famous generals superb at carrying out an operation. What he does not have is a headlong warrior who mounts a horse, takes up a spear, and drives deep into the enemy line."
Thinking it over, Cao Cao's present situation was exactly that. Yuan Shao had Yan Liang and Wen Chou, men who would charge in alone. Liu Bei had Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Lu Bu and Sun Ce led the charge themselves. And Cao Cao? The Xiahou brothers and the Cao brothers were solid commanders, not vanguards you threw at the front. Dian Wei and Xu Chu were household guards. Beyond that, well...
In baseball terms, he had no sure cleanup hitter. All he had were players slapping singles by the basketful—or, at the other extreme, nothing but all-or-nothing frauds hunting one big fly. And this was not the hour for a Zhang Liao, a lease on Guan Yu, or a Zhang He.
"We'll have to see it through, whatever else. The Yuzhou lands Lu Bu holds have been sticking in my throat as it is."
"I will make my preparations as well."
I ought to tell my wives ahead of time that I would be away from home for a good while.
The third year of Jian'an.
The allied armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei, a hundred thousand strong, set out on the expedition to Runan.
From Cao Cao's side came Army Counselor-General Xun You and Guo Jia, Military Advisor to the Minister of Works, as counselors, with Xu Chu, Dian Wei, Xiahou Dun, Li Dian, and Yue Jin—and Xu Huang, at last taking the field. From Liu Bei's side came Military Advisor Lu Su and Tian Yu, Consultant Zhang Fei, Colonel Zhang He, and Jian Yong, Hao Zhao, and Wang Ling among the rest. And I was there as well.
"Li Tong. Make your report."
Li Tong came staggering up, a mass of wounds, his armor soaked in blood. He had been the veteran commander entrusted with the defense of Runan, yet in trying to rescue Xiahou Dun after the defeat by Lu Bu, he too had lost a great many men.
"I am ashamed."
"Ashamed of what? Tell me everything you have."
At Cao Cao's easy answer, armor and all, Li Tong bit his lip and made his report.
"This subordinate held Runan Commandery while throwing every effort behind the suppression of Lu Bu, whose power had reached Yiyang and Anfeng. But after our defeat at Yiyang, Lu Bu turned about and invaded Runan. I kept the commandery seat with everything I had, yet several cities fell into his hands."
"The vanguard?"
"Lu Bu moves in person, and eight generals under him each lead forces of anywhere from five thousand to nearly ten thousand."
"Lu Bu has an army of that size? It is only three commanderies, is it not?"
"Chen Gong, under him, seems to have carried out a large-scale conscription across Yangzhou and northern Jing, and they appear to be drawing on the army of Yuan Shu, crushed at Shouchun."
At Li Tong's report Cao Cao clutched his head.
"Chen Gong... the further this goes, the more that man gives me a headache."
"The forces of Lu Bu and Chen Gong have taken three cities of Runan—Anyang, Xinxi, and Baoxin—and they are aiming at Xincai, north of Baoxin."
Xincai, he said, was where the routed Xiahou Dun had formed ranks once more and was holding out.
"Lu Bu will be there, without a doubt. I will lead the army and face him myself."
When Cao Cao stepped forward with such confidence, Liu Bei glanced sidelong at me.
"If it truly is Lu Bu leading the main assault on Xincai, then the Minister would indeed be taking the greater enemy..."
Lu Bu loved a charge, insisted on standing in the van no matter what, and on open ground he was an absolute brute. The odds that he was at Xincai were high. But something felt off. By the situation, Lu Bu pushing up to strike the remaining city of Xincai made sense—yet Anyang and Xinxi, the other counties he held, were open ground as well, and there was no telling how he would move.
"Minister, then General Liu and I will strike Anyang."
"Oh?"
Lu Su stepped forward without hesitation.
"North of Anyang County lies Xinyang, and due northwest from Xinyang one reaches Xudu in Yingchuan Commandery. The western road must be stopped up as well. We will go."
That side was critically important too. Which left Xinxi...
"I will take it."
"Oho! The Deputy Imperial Censor leads an army for the first time in a long while, and already he is restless. You mean to step forward yourself?"
It was an empty distinction in its way, but after Minister of Works Cao Cao and Left General Liu Bei, I, the Deputy Imperial Censor, stood third in rank.
"I have come to the field, so I will fight as a general. Once the army is organized, I will make for Xinxi."
"Good. I look forward to Baijin's exploits!"
Leaving behind Cao Cao's smile—the smile of a man well pleased to put a hired blade to use—I prepared to depart for Xinxi County. And Liu Bei assigned me a force at once.
"Baijin, the men who were in Yuzhou have recommended a great many talents this time."
Gathered around him were men whose martial bearing was obvious at a glance. One among them caught my eye in particular: a mustached general of seven chi and eight cun, with a high-bridged nose and wide, fierce eyes.
"This humble one is Chen Dao, courtesy name Shuzhi. I served as Army Major under Colonel Zhang, and now I have the honor of meeting the Left General, Inspector of Yuzhou."
"Heh. A fine warrior, by the look of you. You shall take command of my personal guard."
"The honor is mine, Left General."
Captain of the guard retinue had been Zhang He's post, or Zhao Yun's. To hand a man his personal guard at the very first meeting? Then those two—
"Baijin, take Zilong and Junyi with you to Xinxi."
"Will you be all right? Two fine vanguard generals at once?"
"I have Yide. I'll be fine. Besides, it has been a long time since you last took the field, hasn't it?"
Liu Bei gave me fifteen thousand soldiers, together with Zhao Yun, Zhang He, Wang Ling, and Hao Zhao, and sent me to Xinxi. He had handed me generals to be used properly, and I meant to make full use of them.
"Come. We march!"
And so, after a long while, I stood on a battlefield with Zhao Yun and Zhang He beside me.
"Baoxin, Xinxi, and Anyang are all open country. With cavalry, one can cover the ground in a single stretch."
I already knew the lay of the land, and when I told the generals as much they all nodded from horseback.
"They say it is some two hundred and fifty li from Baoxin to Xinxi. If things go wrong, Lu Bu could wheel this way."
"Deputy Imperial Censor, I shall go wherever you bid me and fight. Give your orders freely, and do not trouble yourself."
Zhao Yun nodded with a gentle smile, and there was nothing in the world left to fear.
"You are no longer master of a merchant house, but a senior minister of the court and a deputy commander come to the field. I will follow your plans faithfully."
Zhang He, too, met me again after a long time and stood ready, solid as stone. And so, with Xinxi County before us, we seized a hill and made camp.
"We camp here! Pitch the tents and deploy the army!"
South of Xinxi County the Qingshui River flowed, and the land was rich in water. First we camped on the hill and raised tents enough for fifteen thousand soldiers to sleep in. Then, with Xinxi County lying far off before me, I gave the order.
"Tonight, build the fires high and eat your fill! An army on the eve of battle ought to eat until it is steady!"
"Deputy Imperial Censor—you mean to light fires in full view of the enemy?"
"We are announcing that we have come. The enemy will see it as well, and they may well be on us from tomorrow."
Hao Zhao looked bewildered, then studied the ground and nodded.
"I see. The hill is not especially high, yet the ground lets us use the advantage of height and draw the enemy in on purpose. You mean to post the archers and crossbowmen along the forward edge?"
"Junyi and Zilong will hold the front."
"Understood. I can see how you mean to array the army."
Hao Zhao deployed the troops together with Wang Ling, and I looked over the ground around us. To encircle this place they would need thirty to forty thousand at the least. Lu Bu's army was said to number sixty or seventy thousand, so they would not stack the whole of it here in the open. Which meant they would not be thinking of a ring on the plain. It would be a straight drive out of Xinxi—whether we were broken, or whether we held.
Zhang He and Zhao Yun raised palisades in front and sowed caltrops, preparing the forward line with care. Hao Zhao and Wang Ling, once the camp was set, lifted the banners high. And as I had ordered, on the first day we fed the soldiers their fill, and I went among the ranks encouraging them.
The next day, as the banners of Han caught the sunlight and streamed with solemn majesty, an army stirred in Xinxi.
"Deputy Imperial Censor! The enemy is coming in force!"
"The numbers aren't that great. What bold fool is coming straight at us...?"
Enemy cavalry, charging in a straight line. Banners streamed in the wind, and on them the name Lu was written the color of blood.
"Lu Bu—it is Lu Bu's banner! Lu Bu is here!"
He had not gone up to Xincai to seize the seat of Runan, nor swung through Anyang to strike Yingchuan. Lu Bu was in Xinxi, dead center, where I was. And without the slightest hesitation he found our camp and charged.
"Deputy Imperial Censor!"
Steel whispered from the scabbard. There was nothing more to see.
"All forces, prepare to intercept!"
Lu Bu, from the very first bout? Even so—we would fight.