Chapter 367: A Heart as Ambitious as Yours — None Can Compare

Cao Cao understood everything almost instantly.

After all, Dong Zhuo’s army’s stratagem was far too straightforward and simple — Cao Cao could even determine right now that the intelligence about Dong Zhuo’s forces pulling back this time was probably genuine, which was why they were repeating the old trick… because this battle was clearly imitating the earlier ambush on Sun Jian when Jia Xu and Lü Bu feigned retreat. It was just that he, Cao Mengde, along with Liu Xuande and the two Zhangs, were all too desperate for Luoyang, and so they easily fell for such a simple baiting tactic.

But returning to the matter at hand, none of that mattered now. The real problem was that our General of Valiant Might had just personally given the order to burn the city gate!

Fires blazed everywhere in the city, battle cries rang out in waves, yet the true killing stroke hidden within the flames and shouts was the arrows shooting out from the dark shadows, and the faint sound of hoofbeats drifting in.

Thus, seeing Wei Zi fall dead before his eyes, Cao Cao had no time to dwell on it and could only wheel his horse around… No matter what, wherever he was headed, he first had to find Xiahou Yuan, Yue Jin, and Cao Hong, and then try to link up with Liu Bei and Yu Jin. Otherwise, relying solely on himself, Cao Mengde, and a mere two thousand troops, he would not be able to escape even if he tried.

Yet he was still a moment too late.

Although it was the dead of night, although it was within the city, Bronze Camel Avenue — the broad thoroughfare that had once symbolized the majesty of the Han — became a natural charging ground for cavalry… Thousands of Guanxi horsemen needed no formation, no need to identify the enemy’s position; their commanders did not even need to issue orders. They simply had to speed up and charge straight down the broad and straight Bronze Camel Avenue!

And so, Cao Mengde had just turned around in disarray and returned to his troops, before he even had time to organize a defense or call for reinforcements, the Guanxi cavalry behind him had already charged in.

Now, this General of Valiant Might himself perhaps knew how to use cavalry and how to defend against cavalry from when he followed Gongsun Xun in the campaign against the Yellow Turbans. But in the dark of night, beside the flames, the raw recruits he had raised from Chenliu and Pei had no idea of the power of a cavalry charge on open ground, much less how to deal with it!

In truth, these men were already dazed and at a loss from the sudden attack — under such circumstances, how could one even speak of forming ranks to resist?

The cavalry swept in with a roar. The two thousand men Cao Mengde had with him, their formation loose and caught off guard by the sudden enemy, collapsed almost instantly! Cao Cao came to his senses and bellowed orders, but whether it was already too late or not, no one was listening anymore… Every subordinate was fleeing for his life. Yet the outcome of these men turning their backs to the cavalry needed little thought — these thousand-odd Guanxi horsemen, like ducks being herded, simply began hacking and chasing with ease along this great avenue that had already seen who knew how much blood.

By the time the momentum of this charge eased, the ambushers inside the Southern Palace had also cast aside their bows, drawn blades, and charged out, clearly following behind the cavalry to wipe out every last man of Cao’s army on this great avenue.

Cao Cao’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets in fury, but some Guanxi horsemen, seeing clearly by the firelight, had already spotted this important figure wearing a great scarlet cloak and a he-coronet, and they took the initiative to attack… In such a predicament, though Cao Mengde’s heart felt as if it were being twisted by a blade, he could only take a few dozen mounted personal guards, bend low, turn, and flee.

But they had fled in panic for barely a hundred paces when suddenly, a personal guard beside him lost his horse’s footing — it tripped directly over a corpse, sending both man and horse crashing to the ground. Cao Cao, unable to dodge in time, was thrown straight from his horse as well!

In the dark of night, with pursuers hard on their heels, the surrounding personal guards all turned pale, but could only grit their teeth, turn back to block the pursuers, and hope that Cao Cao could get up on his own.

Yet what these guards, throwing themselves into the fray without regard for their lives, did not know was that, between the firelight and the dark night, Cao Cao’s heart, as he lay fallen on the ground, had already turned to ice… For no other reason than that when he fell, his entire right arm had slammed directly into the ground, instantly losing all sensation, and then a searing pain in his right ribs became unbearable.

In other words, Cao Mengde had broken his arm!

It took Cao Cao a long time to ease the pain in his ribs, and he expended great effort just to sit up. Turning his head, he discovered that his personal guards had already been cut down by the superbly skilled Guanxi horsemen until only half remained, and despair filled his heart to the utmost.

In all honesty, in that instant, Cao Mengde even entertained the thought of giving up resistance entirely and sitting on the ground to await death.

“Where is Lord Cao?” But just at that moment, a short-statured officer suddenly burst out from the Three Excellencies’ Residence on the south side of Bronze Camel Avenue leading a troop of men — it was none other than Yue Jin, who had earlier separated from Cao Cao.

“Is that Lord Cao of yours the short, monkey-like fellow in the red cloak? I’ve already killed him!” Amid the chaotic melee, a Guanxi officer heard the voice, caught sight of Yue Jin, and stood in his stirrups, pointing from afar with a dripping spear and jeering. “Now I’ll come kill you, you monkey!”

Yue Jin flew into a rage at these words and, heedless of all else, simply hefted a ring-pommel saber and led his men charging straight into the cavalry formation.

And although Yue Wenqian’s unit was not large in number, they were mostly fierce and skilled fighters. Before this, Dong Zhuo’s cavalry, though holding every advantage, had already lost the momentum of their charge, and at this moment it was merely a chaotic melee. Thus, when a fresh force of Cao’s army suddenly burst in from the flank leading their troops, they caught this pursuing Guanxi cavalry completely off guard.

Of course, in the final analysis, it still came down to Yue Wenqian’s ferocity and prowess. Though short in stature, he was instead like a fish in water in this kind of chaotic fight. Leading several dozen armored warriors charging at the front, amid the swirling battle, he hacked at riders above and slashed at horse legs below. In mere moments, he had led his men to kill over a dozen riders and over a dozen warhorses, and had rescued countless of Cao Cao’s guards and routed soldiers!

And what was most staggering was that every time Yue Wenqian killed a man, he would sternly shout, “Where is Lord Cao?” and every time he rescued a man, he would also raise his voice and shout, “Where is Lord Cao?” — causing everyone on the battlefield to look sideways, every man of Cao’s army to be roused, and every man of Dong’s army to quake with fear… Every soul was struck with awe!

Now, that officer of Dong Zhuo’s army who had earlier mocked Yue Jin’s stature sat high on his horse looking down. Although in the chaotic night battle he could not clearly see how the other man displayed such divine might, cutting down cavalry like slicing melons, there was one thing he did glimpse clearly… It must be understood that a ring-pommel saber is much like a straight sword — using it to cut men is one thing, but hacking horse legs consumes it greatly. Thus, Yue Jin could only abandon his blade after a few strokes and demand a new ring-pommel saber from the guards behind him… And this officer, watching the other man fight his way into the formation, counted clearly: in that brief span of time, this short Cao army officer had already changed blades five or six times in succession!

And so, as Yue Jin, drenched in blood, fought his way closer and closer, this Dong Zhuo army officer simply could not hold his nerve and actually turned his horse and fled!

The officer is the courage of the army. Once this man fled, the surrounding Dong Zhuo troops also scattered in flight — or rather, temporarily retreated. Yue Jin naturally did not pursue, but hurriedly followed the guards’ directions to find Cao Cao.

By this time, however, Cao Cao had already been rescued by someone else.

It turned out that Cao Hong, upon entering the city, had been ordered to suppress and clear the government offices and bureaus north of Bronze Camel Street. But this man had always been greedy for wealth… Ever since the war began, his business with the Heanli Trading Company had been cut off, and later, to fund Cao Cao’s raising of troops, he had even emptied his family fortune, so he was particularly fixated on valuables and treasures… Halfway there, it occurred to him that the Southern Palace was forbidden ground. Although Dong Zhuo had already ransacked it when relocating, the chances of finding valuables and treasures there were still far greater than in these government offices. So he acted on his own authority and led his troops straight toward the Southern Palace.

Thus, when battle suddenly erupted, he and Yue Jin arrived at this spot almost one after the other. And Cao Zilian was not much of a fighter — while Yue Jin was displaying his divine might over there, he simply took the opportunity to search for the fallen Cao Cao. Not only did he find him, he even helped Cao Cao temporarily bind his arm with a broken spear shaft and lifted him onto his own warhorse.

With Cao Hong protecting Cao Cao, Yue Jin personally led troops to cover the rear, gathering scattered defeated soldiers along the way as they fought while retreating eastward. After they had gone a short distance, sure enough, Xiahou Yuan also came head-on leading his men to find Cao Cao. The three commanders gathered together and took a rough count — only seven or eight hundred men remained… The rest were not necessarily all dead; rather, eight or nine out of ten had been scattered in one charge by that cavalry force and were now being slaughtered in the streets and alleys, serving, in a sense, as the main force “covering the rear.”

Of course, this was no time for sentiment or grief. Cao Cao conferred briefly with his three most trusted commanders and immediately decided on the direction of retreat — the Hao Gate had been burned, so their only hope now was that Yu Jin and Liu Bei could break through the Zhongdong Gate.

And so, with Xiahou Yuan clearing the path, Yue Jin covering the rear, and Cao Hong personally tending to Cao Cao, a miserable seven or eight hundred men immediately fled in panic along the base of the city wall toward the Zhongdong Gate to find Liu Bei. As for the many interceptions and pursuits by large and small units of Xiliang troops they encountered along the way, they naturally relied entirely on Xiahou Yuan and Yue Jin fighting to the death just to barely break free.

However, as the saying goes, adversity reveals true feelings. What most surprised and moved Cao Cao was that Liu Bei had not fled on his own. Not only that, but Liu Xuande, while stubbornly defending the gate, had also sent Zhang Fei leading all the cavalry in his army along Luoyang’s eastern wall to meet Cao Cao… Zhang Fei’s ferocity and the sense of security he inspired were beyond question, so the latter half of the journey became considerably easier.

But perhaps precisely because this peerless tiger of a general, Zhang Fei, had left, by the time Cao Cao linked up with Liu Bei at the Zhongdong Gate, the latter had also suffered grievous losses and was left with only a thousand-odd men as well. Fortunately, Yu Jin’s three thousand troops outside the city were all intact. He came out to receive the two commanders, Cao and Liu, immediately took over the task of covering the rear, and then had the two of them withdraw first toward Yanshi.

That night’s crushing defeat had truly broken bones and torn sinews. Cao Cao was in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking, and Liu Bei’s face was deathly pale. The two of them fled until daybreak, and only when they saw the city of Yanshi ahead did they finally draw a breath of relief.

“After last night’s defeat, we’ve lost the greater part of our troops. When we return to Chenggao, I fear we’ll struggle to hold our ground, and we’ll have no strength to accomplish anything.” Seeing the city before him, his arm bound with a broken spear shaft, his face covered in soot and blood, Cao Cao finally spoke bitterly from horseback, though it was unclear to whom he was speaking. “Therefore, I intend to go raise troops again… Wenqian, go back to Dongjun to recruit; Miaocai and Zilian, return to our hometown — Zilian, go home yourself to raise troops, and Miaocai, go find Zixiao. That lad has several thousand men under him and is currently hovering near the Sishui River. Yuanrang and I will make a trip to Yangzhou. The Danyang troops are indeed fierce fighters — the fact that Xuande’s forces far outperformed mine this time is no empty claim.”

The other commanders all hurriedly agreed, but Liu Bei alone remained silent.

“Brother Xuande, do not worry.” Seeing this, Cao Cao forced himself to rally and said, “You saved my life last night — am I the kind of man who receives kindness and does not repay it? On this recruiting mission, I will certainly do my utmost to aid you. We’ll split the Danyang troops we raise, half each, and I will make sure to compensate your losses somewhat…”

Equally bedraggled, Liu Bei sighed and spoke with a mournful tone: “Brother Mengde, how could I be calculating such things? I am only thinking that we are now at a critical moment in the campaign against Dong Zhuo, and for you and me to suffer such a great defeat — first, I fear it will affect the overall campaign against Dong; second, by the time you and I return from raising troops, I am afraid we will have missed many important events… When I came on this campaign against Dong, I originally felt that a true man should take the lead for all under Heaven, and so I was full of ambition. I never expected to be routed so wretchedly and instead become a laughingstock.”

Liu Bei had always been one to conceal his emotions, never showing joy or anger on his face. For him to voice such sentiments today showed he had reached the extreme of shame and sorrow. And Cao Cao, who had always been a man of rich emotion, upon hearing these words and recalling all that had happened in last night’s battle, felt grief welling up from within, almost aggrieved to the point of tears.

However, the surrounding officers and soldiers were all utterly dejected. As the Regional Commander, a lament like Liu Bei’s was already the limit — any further display of grief would likely affect morale.

At this thought, Cao Cao forced a smile and said to Liu Bei with a laugh: “Brother Xuande, do not worry. As long as you and I both survive, and all our commanders remain by our side, we can always rally and recover. As for the overall campaign against Dong, I imagine Benchu, Wenqi, and Yuan Gonglu are each still in their positions. One minor defeat for you and me will not affect the greater situation.”

Liu Bei could only manage a strained, hollow laugh.

Yet just at that moment, a commotion stirred atop the walls of Yanshi ahead — clearly, the sight of the returning troops had caused some alarm.

At the same time, Xiahou Yuan, who was at the very front, spoke up to smooth things over: “You two need not lament any further. Up ahead, Yuanrang is coming out of the city to meet us. Let us enter the city and rest briefly, then we can discuss other matters.”

“Indeed!” Cao Cao, glimpsing from afar the city gates opening and troops with banners emerging to greet them, also breathed a sigh of relief and then forcefully rallied his spirits. “This time Heaven has not seen fit to take me, Cao Mengde — there will surely be good fortune in the future!”

The words had barely left his mouth when, from Cao Cao himself to Liu Bei beside him, from Xiahou Yuan clearing the path ahead to Zhang Fei, who had been silent all along, from the utterly exhausted Yue Jin to Cao Hong, who was still lost in his own thoughts — nearly every face changed color… It turned out that the troops pouring out of Yanshi, just a few hundred paces ahead, to “greet” them were far too numerous, and all of them were cavalry!

It must be understood that Cao and Liu had earlier left only Xiahou Dun with a thousand-odd men to hold Yanshi, and they were short on cavalry to begin with, so no matter what, the city should not have been able to produce such a formation.

Of course, they soon saw Xiahou Dun himself with their own eyes… only he was bound and pushed to the front of the troops!

“All my old friends, have you been well since we last parted?” Beneath the great banner bearing the character ‘Xu,’ halted just a few dozen paces away, Xu Rong — the overall commander of Dong Zhuo’s forces on the Yingchuan front and a General of the Household — inclined his body slightly from horseback with considerable courtesy.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei exchanged a glance, then looked back at the thousand-odd remnant soldiers behind them and their utterly exhausted officers. Each felt his heart turn cold — first, an old acquaintance from Luoyang, Lü Bu, had utterly crushed Wang Kuang of Henei, driving the latter to “hang himself”; now had their turn come to be finished off by another old acquaintance?

And just as the two men looked at each other speechlessly, neither able to muster even a shred of fighting spirit, Zhang Fei, who had barely spoken all this time, rode out alone and cupped his hands in salute from afar: “General Xu, I have long admired your great name!”

“General Zhang,” Xu Rong, upon seeing who it was, first retreated several paces and had a squad of iron-clad riders advance, and only then continued with a smile, “your great name has likewise thundered in my ears these past days… I never imagined that after we parted beneath the walls of Guangzong that day, we would meet again under such circumstances.”

Zhang Fei shook his head repeatedly at the sight: “General Xu, why be so cautious? I can see you have a full five thousand elite cavalry. Setting aside whether I could cut you down or not, even if by luck I did, what use would it be? On open ground in broad daylight, if five thousand cavalry charged, we remnant, defeated troops would be ground to dust in an instant, would we not?”

“Are the tales of a man who can oppose ten thousand mere empty words?” Xu Rong shook his head again and again. “Better to be cautious.”

“General Xu!” Zhang Fei, having no patience for idle talk, simply cupped his hands and spoke bluntly. “General Cao is an old friend of General of the Guards, Brother Xuande is the younger brother of General of the Guards, and you are a former subordinate of General of the Guards… Could you not, on this account, grant us a path to survival?”

Xu Rong gave an awkward, embarrassed laugh: “In a decisive battle between opposing armies, General of the Guards is magnanimous — how could he blame me for something like this?”

“Brother Bojin!” Hearing these words, Liu Bei’s heart stirred, and he hurriedly spurred his horse forward, bowing from the saddle in salute. “Can you still not see the current situation? My brother has cut off your connection to Chang’an at Hongnong. Now, if Dong Zhuo wants to send a message here, he has to go through Wu Pass, detour around Nanyang in a great circle. And Niu Fu, I hear, is an incompetent man… In other words, as a general commanding an entire front, you are effectively under no one’s control anymore… That being the case, why not, in consideration of our old friendship from our days in Luoyang, let us go?”

"Well said!" Cao Cao also hastily spurred his horse forward, steadying himself with his arm as he earnestly tried to persuade him. "Brother Bojin, we all got along so well back in Luoyang, calling each other brothers... Today, can you truly bear to watch us die here? Besides, times change, and no one knows what the future holds. If you can let Yuanrang and the rest of us off today, the two of us will surely repay you generously in the future!"

Xu Rong grew increasingly embarrassed.

"General Xu!" Zhang Fei had finally lost his patience. "Others may not know your thoughts, but I know what troubles you. Yet when a true man lives in this world, does he not seek only to act with forthright satisfaction? If I were you, I would either release Xiahou Yuanrang along with us immediately, or give the order to seize us and kill us all cleanly right here. Why waver left and right in indecision? What good does this dithering do you?"

Xu Rong finally shook his head helplessly: "Since when have I wanted any good... I only hope that Generals Cao and Liu will take today's lesson to heart, and perhaps remember that the great affairs of this realm are not yet their turn to meddle in!"

These words were baffling, carrying a somewhat condescending air... But under such circumstances, whatever Xu Bojin said, Cao Cao and Liu Bei could only listen. In fact, even Zhang Fei had now fallen silent.

And after speaking these words, Xu Rong ultimately gestured with his chin toward an officer beside him. This officer resembled Xu Rong in appearance, though much younger, clearly a kinsman of Xu Bojin's. Having received the signal, the man came before the troops, slashed apart the binding ropes on Xiahou Dun with one stroke of his blade, and allowed the latter to flee in disarray back toward the broken formation opposite.

Cao and Liu understood clearly in their hearts that they had once again escaped death by a hair's breadth. Together they forced themselves to perform a grand salute toward Xu Rong, then prepared to lie flat on their horses and ride around the city to leave.

"Do not go to Chenggao!" Xu Rong suddenly spoke up again to warn them. "You do not yet know, do you? Just as you were advancing all along the way, scouts reported signs that Yuan Benchu was withdrawing his troops from Chenggao... Of the three who set this ambush, Li Meng and I are about to lead our troops west, but Duan Wei will still remain garrisoned in Luoyang. That man may well seize the chance to pursue eastward. If Chenggao has no troops to hold it, you will likely be caught by General Duan's cavalry... So for your best consideration, you might send someone to Gongxian to summon the troops there and go together to Goushi, then turn toward Yingchuan, which I have just evacuated, to avoid his sharp edge. That would be safest."

Cao Cao and Liu Bei changed color once more, then thanked him profusely and without the slightest hesitation turned on the spot toward Goushi to the south. Throughout, there was no hint of doubt in their manner.

After all, first, since Xu Rong had already let them go, there was no need for him to deceive them further; second, Yuan Shao's erratic movements had long been evident, and the rifts among the warlords had already appeared. With their intelligence, they had in fact long been prepared for this.

Leaving aside how Xu Rong allowed these old acquaintances to lead their remnant defeated troops in flight toward Goushi, then himself slowly led his troops toward Luoyang — let us speak only of how Cao and Liu arrived in Goushi in utter disarray, already exhausted to their very limit, only to be dealt another great fright head-on... For no other reason than this: within the county seat of Goushi, the southeastern gateway from Luoyang to Yingchuan, banners were also fluttering and armor gleaming — there were clearly troops garrisoned there!

However, this turned out to be yet another false alarm — as it happened, the one in the city was a former friend from among the allied warlords against Dong Zhuo: Sun Jian, Sun Wentai.

As for why Sun Jian was here, it was, in fact, admirable!

It must be said, although that day he had been nearly annihilated by Jia Xu, Lu Bu, and the various Henan commanders of Dong Zhuo's army, Sun Wentai was after all the Fierce Tiger of Jiangdong — thwarted but not discouraged, tenacious and unyielding, and moreover possessed of a sincere heart devoted to his country. So, having painstakingly gathered his remnant troops and conscripted a few thousand more soldiers in Nanyang, upon hearing that Xu Rong had withdrawn and Luoyang lay exposed, he had personally led his troops in pursuit again. Only today, in broad daylight, had he just crossed Huanyuan Pass and entered Goushi City. Unexpectedly, instead of encountering an attack by Dong Zhuo's forces, he instead met the defeated troops of Cao and Liu.

The three old friends who had once drunk wine and sung songs together during the campaign against the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan now met again, each in his own wretched state, each sighing with rue.

———————I am the dividing line of "Releasing Cao and Liu in Righteousness"———————

"In the last month of the first year of Chuping, Cao Cao and Liu Bei advanced together on Luoyang and were ambushed by Duan Wei, Li Meng, and Xu Rong. It was fortunate that Rong, on account of old acquaintance, allowed them to escape with their lives. They then fled in disarray into Goushi, where they met Sun Jian arriving from the south with his lone army. After a brief rest, they were about to advance on Luoyang again when they first heard that Yuan Shao had abandoned Cao and Liu and was driving the other warlords eastward, and then that Yuan Shu had cut off Sun Jian's army provisions in the south. The three generals sighed deeply. When Cao and Liu were about to travel south to recruit troops, and Jian also wished to go personally to Luyang to take leave of Yuan Shu, they were moved by emotion and together set out wine to see each other off at the foot of Mount Goushi. After three rounds of wine, recalling the days when they had sung and danced together by the Wei River, they agreed to compose songs. Cao, shedding tears, intoned: 'Our armies join but our wills do not align, we hesitate and march in disarray like wild geese. Profit and power make men contend, and in the aftermath they turn to slaughter one another... Of the Guandong warlords, numbering several tens of routes, only two can be entrusted with life and death!' Jian and Bei sighed together, and thereupon they made a joint sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, swearing a blood oath to entrust their wives and children to one another. The oath sworn, each stumbled away to go his separate path." — From the Dianlüe, annotated by Pei Songzhi of Yan

PS: Thanks to the book friend and great patron Zhong Kui, for the forty-fourth Meng!

(End of Chapter)