Chapter 502: To Go Out, Not to Enter; To Depart, Not to Return (Continued)

The first day of the tenth month, the opening day of the final season of the sixth year of Jian'an.

In the afternoon, as the north wind gradually rose with a mournful sigh and the sky darkened to the point of rain, Sun Ce and his followers, fleeing south along the Yellow Marsh, finally met the long-delayed pursuing troops of Taishi Ci at the confluence of the Qing River and the Yellow Marsh!

This was not absurd at all — they truly waited for them. A group of fleeing soldiers, with great hardship, waited for their pursuers.

It must be said that on his southward flight, Sun Bofu had learned that the pontoon bridge previously guarded by Li Jin had already been seized by Taishi Ci, plunging both sides into a dilemma.

The situation at that moment was this: Sun Ce was on the inner side of the Qing River, and Taishi Ci was on the outer side.

Among them, Taishi Ci's forces held an absolute advantage in numbers and combat strength... Although Taishi Ziyi had, in order to maintain the encirclement, detached nearly a full ten thousand troops along the river to stand guard and set up defenses, by the time he reached the pontoon bridge at the southern end of the encirclement, he still had over ten thousand troops, complete with both cavalry and infantry. Such a configuration, compared to Sun Ce's army, which also had ten thousand troops — including three thousand armored soldiers led by Sun Ce's trusted and beloved general Dong Xi — was of course absolutely superior. For Sun Ce's army was by now utterly exhausted and terrified, while Taishi Ci had come as the hunter.

However, the battlefield must account for terrain and weather. At this very moment, the Qing River — famous throughout the realm because of Qinghe Commandery downstream — became the delicate balance point between the two.

Sun Ce naturally dared not cross the river. Had he dared, no matter where he crossed, Taishi Ci could strike him mid-crossing and easily end the battle. Correspondingly, Taishi Ziyi also found it somewhat difficult to cross the river... because one thing was abundantly clear: likely due to Sun Ce's own towering prestige among these ten thousand sons of Jiangdong, his troops, though weary and terrified, were far from losing their discipline and combat effectiveness.

In other words, Taishi Ci also had to worry about being struck mid-crossing by Sun Ce's army, which carried the dangerous momentum of troops heading home; he also had to consider whether his own crossing would provoke Sun Ce's army to split up and flee across the river on their own; he also had to consider whether important figures like Sun Ce might exploit the chaos to escape; he also had to consider whether Han Dang and Cheng Yu — two grand figures who had no need for further military merit — might snatch the credit from him...

To put it plainly, although the disparity in strength between the two sides was obvious, the war had reached a point where Sun Ce's strategic objective was extremely low: he simply wanted as many of his men to survive as possible. From Taishi Ci's perspective, however, he needed to achieve a complete and total victory!

Heaven have mercy — he went to Liaodong to recruit troops once, and when he returned, everything was gone!

Never mind that Zhao Yun had previously become a theater general on the merit of pacifying Liang — Zhao Zilong's conduct in Yecheng was beyond reproach, and he had a very good relationship with Taishi Ziyi. The crux of the matter was that even Zhang Liao, that tyrant of cuju, had managed to pile up a heap of enemy chieftain heads in his tent and was clearly going to be enfeoffed as a marquis after the war... Was he, Taishi Ci, to be ranked beneath a man like that?

A true man born into this world, witnessing heaven and earth turning upside down, naturally feels his heart surge with fervor, wishing to raise a three-foot blade and perform deeds unmatched through the ages, and incidentally earn a marquisate or something of the sort. How could he muddle through and fall behind others?

Therefore, the best and only way to resolve this battle was for him, with his own single command, to independently and completely devour Sun Ce's entire army, and then independently capture or slay the two names on the list within this army — Dong Xi and Sun Ce!

Thus, under precisely this kind of asymmetrical mindset, after the two sides had faced off for a while, especially with the sky growing overcast and rain seeming imminent, and considering the issue of cavalry combat capability, it was ultimately Taishi Ci, who had more room to maneuver, who chose to advance proactively!

He divided his command into two. The bulk of the infantry, roughly six or seven thousand, was handed to his deputies Zhu Ling and Huangfu Jianshou, with orders to proceed directly to the outer side of the junction between the Yellow Marsh and the Qing River where Sun Ce's army was encamped, to set up formations and keep watch, strictly preventing them from exploiting any chance to flee. Taishi Ziyi himself, meanwhile, took nearly all the mounted troops, about four to five thousand, crossed the river at the pontoon bridge a bit farther away, spent a long time fully preparing, and then hurriedly advanced at speed toward Sun Ce's army.

Contrary to all expectations, Sun Ce's army remained completely immobile throughout, neither proactively striking mid-crossing nor seizing the chance to cross the river and fight a desperate decisive battle against the Yan army infantry on the opposite bank. Instead, they quietly waited until Taishi Ci's forces had fully prepared and arrived with several thousand cavalry.

The reason was very simple — it was about to rain!

"It's about to rain." Sun Ce gazed at the clouds overhead, which were gradually thickening to the point of dripping water, and for once let out a long breath. "Since yesterday we knew it would rain, and at last we have waited for it... Yuandai!"

Dong Xi hurriedly bowed his head to receive orders.

"Today it all depends on you." Amid the rumbling of horse hooves, Sun Ce lowered his head, pressed the other man's arm, and spoke earnestly. "Unless absolutely necessary, we cannot retreat into the marsh to hide. We don't know the paths, and once the troops enter, they will scatter — we simply won't be able to rally them. The plan now is this: use your three thousand armored soldiers to hold off the enemy cavalry as much as possible. The moment the rain falls, the Yan army's cavalry won't be so formidable. If the rain then grows heavier, perhaps we can even exploit the chaos to defeat them and make off with the entire army."

"This subordinate understands." Dong Xi's eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, but his spirit did not diminish upon hearing this. He immediately shook his armor and raised his voice in reply. "Didn't Taishi Ci also come rushing over precisely because he knew it would rain? In their scramble for merit, they have left us a sliver of hope. And I, your humble general, having received your great favor, will not retreat a single step!"

Sun Ce was momentarily overcome with emotion at these words, but then nodded repeatedly: "In that case, you lead the armored soldiers to hold the vanguard. I will take the remaining troops and hold the main army. We must return alive!"

"The situation is perilous. It is enough if you, General, return alive!" Dong Yuandai answered bluntly. "This humble general is not worth mentioning!"

With these words, this valiant general from Kuaiji did not wait for Sun Ce's reply, but turned directly and departed, heading to the vanguard to meet the enemy.

The sky grew ever more overcast, seeming almost ready to drip water. Yet, contrary to expectations, Taishi Ci, who had previously spent so long fussing at the pontoon bridge, once again wasted the precious window for cavalry deployment, and actually resorted to the routine of exchanging words before the battle lines.

"I have often heard rumors in Yecheng that Sun Bofu is known as the Little Overlord of Jiangdong, possessing a valor that ten thousand men cannot match." Taishi Ci rested his long halberd across his horse before him and called out his challenge from afar. Behind him, a host of light cavalry was arrayed in tight, strict order, with dense banners massed at the rear. "I, unworthy as I am, have also received praise from the Empress Dowager and Lord Yan, and might perhaps be mentioned in the same breath as the Little Overlord... I wonder if Sun Bofu would have the refined interest to come before the lines for a conversation?!"

Taishi Ci's voice was clear and resonant, his bearing heroic. Once these words were spoken, Dong Yuandai naturally had to pass them to the rear... Of course, it was essentially just stalling for time. Dong Xi, though a rough man, was no fool.

When his personal guards relayed the message back, for an instant, Sun Ce truly felt the urge to go forward and exchange words, or even engage in a duel before the lines. Given his temperament, he feared neither the Heavenly King nor the Old Master himself. Crucially, it could also stall for a great deal of time. If he truly managed to drag things out until the rain poured down, then the matter would actually be resolved.

But on second thought, aside from his own utter exhaustion at this moment, the key issue was that the entire army relied solely on his personal prestige to hold together. If he rashly left his main formation, the enemy cavalry might circle around to the rear and charge, and then disaster would strike.

Thus, his guardsman simply turned back to the front lines alone, and instead gave Dong Xi a few words of caution.

Dong Xi understood. He slowly mounted his horse and rode out before the formation, speaking on behalf of his general: "My general holds the hereditary Han noble title of Marquis of Wucheng, and is appointed General Who Smashes the Caitiffs, serving as a Han minister in the same court as your master, the General of the Right, Lord Zhao... A mere underling like you — what qualifications do you have to face my lord directly? And if you wish to discuss martial prowess, I, Dong Xi of Kuaiji, am here and willing to receive your instruction!"

Taishi Ci let out a scoff upon hearing this. He first glanced back at his own ranks, then looked up again at the dark clouds in the sky, and without answering a single word, simply reined in his horse and returned to his formation.

Seeing this, Dong Xi paid it no mind, assuming only that someone had reminded the other man about the rain issue. So he too reined in his horse and returned to the formation, then took his position at the center of the vanguard and ordered the three thousand armored soldiers serving as the front line to be on alert.

And those three thousand armored soldiers of Kuaiji, though utterly exhausted — having only managed to briefly rest while arrayed west of Neihuang City around dawn and during the morning of this day, after two full days and nights — still, urged on by their general who hailed from their own native region, roused themselves for the moment and prepared to meet the enemy.

On the other side, within visible range, after Taishi Ci returned to his formation, the light cavalry behind him split into two, parting like waves toward both wings, seemingly preparing, as anticipated, to circle around and launch a flank assault... However, as the light cavalry parted to clear the way and Taishi Ci rode a full two hundred paces deep into the military formation, Dong Yuandai and the Kuaiji armored soldiers in the front ranks could only feel momentarily bewildered.

For after the light cavalry parted, what appeared before them was a cavalry unit that was neither strange nor ordinary — something that could be called unusual, yet absolutely not commonplace.

Their numbers were not large, roughly four to five hundred riders. Their ranks were distinct and clear. Every man wore heavy armor, cowhide gloves, and riding boots, and also donned ferocious-looking face masks. All were mounted on tall, large horses, and they carried no bows and arrows, but each man held a steel lance one and a half to six zhang in length!

And the lances were somewhat odd too, for the lance heads were exceptionally long and exceptionally broad, resembling steel cavalry pikes more than anything else!

Up to this point, though it was startling, it still fell within the bounds of understanding. They were, after all, merely a group of exceptionally elite armored cavalry — and who under heaven did not know of the reputation of the Yecheng armored cavalry? Although a great battle was raging at the front, it was only natural to leave a few hundred of the old core troops to guard the home base.

For instance, there had been rumors before that some of the Volunteer Followers under Lord Yan who lacked significant political capital — that is, those who had risen through archery and horsemanship — upon reaching a certain age, if unwilling to take up local posts like County Commandant, could also choose to remain and continue serving as cavalry, participating in the defense of the Bronze Sparrow Terrace. However, at that point, they would only enjoy the treatment of Volunteer Followers but could no longer occupy a slot within the three thousand official Volunteer Follower establishment.

Presumably, these were those very men.

But returning to the matter at hand, the real problem — or rather, what left Dong Yuandai and the others stupefied — was that each of these four to five hundred armored cavalry actually had a full set of horse armor!

Horse armor itself was nothing new, but four to five hundred sets of horse armor, combined with tall, large horses, heavily armored riders, and such long steel lances, was undoubtedly a new thing — and a new thing sufficient to make the legs of any battle-hardened veteran tremble.

And almost in an instant, Sun Ce, who was also staring blankly at this scene from afar in the main army, understood why Taishi Ci, who was supposedly more pressed for time, had delayed so long at the crossing and was now speaking so much nonsense.

It was not that Taishi Ci was too frivolous, but that he had been spending time preparing this thing!

Earlier at the crossing, he must have been donning armor; just now, while exchanging words, he must have been forming ranks!

As the light cavalry on the left and right cleared the path, Taishi Ci also took his position before the horse-armored cavalry. And as a peal of winter thunder rolled across the sky, Taishi Ziyi hesitated no longer. He raised his halberd directly forward and ordered the charge!

Horse armor is called "full barding"; man armor is called "armored cavalry." The name of these five hundred riders should rightly be Fully Barded Armored Cavalry. And once the five hundred Fully Barded Armored Cavalry received the order, they immediately set into motion. Though their acceleration was exceedingly slow, as the utterly intimidating mass was set in motion by the warhorses, the horse hooves rolling across the ground were just like winter thunder rolling across the sky!

At the same time, the two thousand light cavalry split left and right, directly fanning out along both wings. Together with the Fully Barded Armored Cavalry in the center, they resembled an iron hawk spreading its wings and swooping straight forward!

Sun Bofu, far to the rear, was dumbstruck. And Dong Yuandai, who bore the brunt, in his haste had no time at all to pay attention to any light cavalry. He could only follow the most basic method of defending against cavalry, ordering the entire army to hold steady and sending the crossbowmen and archers forward to shoot at the Fully Barded Armored Cavalry approaching head-on...

Arrows fell like rain into the armored cavalry formation rumbling directly ahead, now less than a hundred paces away, but had not the slightest effect! Instead, they served to alert this unit... In fact, it was only after being struck by arrows that the Fully Barded Armored Cavalry in the front ranks raised their astonishingly long steel pikes one after another!

The crossbowmen and archers immediately despaired. Almost to a man, without waiting for orders, they hastily retreated back into the formation!

And the armored soldiers in the front ranks were by now utterly transfixed, for this sensation of being impervious to blades and arrows, combined with irresistible sharpness, was simply too terrifying! Not to mention the sheer impact force of this pure mass! They could almost imagine... even if, by some one-in-ten-thousand chance, the armored soldier formation behind them could truly withstand such a unit, they, as the front ranks, were destined to be ground into mincemeat by this force!

Thus, almost tailing behind those crossbowmen and archers who had hastily entered the formation, before even making contact with the enemy riders, the Kuaiji armored soldiers in the front ranks simply turned and fled, which in turn triggered a wavering throughout the entire army.

Dong Yuandai, standing beneath the vanguard banner, flew into a towering rage and immediately prepared to draw his blade and kill someone to regain control of the situation. But by this time, the Yan army's Fully Barded Armored Cavalry had already rolled into the formation, and just as everyone had imagined, in an instant, they crushed everything before them into utter chaos!

The vanguard's military formation collapsed in an instant!

If one had to use a phrase to describe the scene before them, it would probably be "sweeping aside all before them," would it not?

Not only that, but as Dong Xi looked around, he saw that the Yan army's light cavalry on the left and right had already timely inserted themselves into the gap between his armored soldiers and the main army. And behind the Fully Barded Armored Cavalry, over a thousand riders on inferior horses, strangely armed only with a single ring-pommeled saber, followed in their wake, mopping up the battlefield.

The coordination of these three left not a single path of survival for the vanguard!

"Commandant, the situation is hopeless. You still have a horse — you're faster than them. Turn and flee at once!" By this point, even Dong Xi's personal guards had begun urging Dong Yuandai to escape.

As a raindrop fell onto the tip of his nose, Dong Xi sighed at these words. Instead, he dismounted directly, and helped one of his personal guards — a terrified man, the youngest among them, a lad from his hometown of Yuyao — onto the warhorse. With a single lash of the whip, he sent the man away.

The remaining personal guards were all stunned.

"I have received great favor from General Sun. Stationed here to face the enemy, how could I possibly abandon my post?" Dong Xi turned back and faced them calmly. "He is the youngest — let him go!"

Having spoken, Dong Xi said no more. He stood tall beneath his own banner, drew his blade, and faced the onrushing armored cavalry.

The thirty or forty personal guards exchanged glances. Some covered their faces and fled, but the vast majority, like Dong Xi, drew their blades and stood their ground. And as the charging armored cavalry arrived in an instant, a few guards at the very front — whether out of loyalty or to shake off their terror — let out a great roar and hurled themselves forward with all their might.

Yet it was utterly useless. Before they could even thrust a blade or spear, they were swept up by the long weapons of the armored cavalry or by the warhorses themselves, then hurled back into the formation beneath the banner.

Pitifully, Dong Yuandai himself did not even have time to kill a single man before he was easily knocked to the ground by his own subordinates, and then immediately trampled into pulp.

Sun Bofu watched from afar. With his own eyes, he saw the three thousand armored soldiers he took such pride in crushed into the earth in a single clash, while the ten thousand troops around him were, in that same instant, so terrified that the entire army scattered in rout. In his desolation, amid the raindrops just beginning to fall, he fled in wretched disarray into the Huangze marshes — he did not wish to die yet, and he had far too many reasons that he could not die!

In truth, beyond what that muddle-headed fool Li Jin, bent on death, saw as a warlord's path that could not be lightly abandoned, Sun Ce had a more direct and perfectly natural reason... Back then, when his father died, he himself had become a stray dog. If he were to die now, his second brother Sun Quan was only fourteen, and the entire household of women and children — would they not be left to the mercy of others?

In the process of unifying Wu Commandery and Kuaiji, he had no idea how many blood feuds he had incurred with how many people!

He, Sun Bofu, was not merely a regional warlord — he was the head of a family, responsible for the lives of his kin! The day he persuaded Cao Ang to turn back, it was faintly for this reason; today, fleeing in such wretchedness, it was even more so for this reason!

The rain began to patter down. Taishi Ci watched from a distance as Sun Ce's great banner toppled, and then saw no fewer than several thousand men flee in disarray into the Huangze marshes. For a moment, fury consumed him!

Yet fury aside, Taishi Ziyi dared not be negligent. While ordering his cavalry to swiftly finish the mopping-up, he also sent word to the opposite bank, preparing to set up an outer cordon to block escape... At the same time, he urgently sought to confirm the whereabouts of Sun Ce and Dong Xi, clearly steeling himself to personally enter the marshes and search for Sun Bofu.

But that, it seemed, would have to wait until tomorrow.

Sun Ce also knew that the Yan army could not possibly pursue into the marshes tonight. He knew even better that in this situation, having too many men around him would do him no good. So once he entered the Huangze marshes, he quickly used the intensifying winter rain and his own outstanding physical condition to shake off most of his followers, then hid himself in a fairly secluded thicket of withered yellow reeds!

And there, in the winter rain, he took out the dry rations he carried and hastily replenished his strength!

Sun Ce, who could never be called pampered — who had instead followed his father in moving from place to place since childhood and had endured much hardship because of it — understood very clearly in his heart that he did not know the paths or geography of the marshes. Now, with the sky dark and the earth dim, if he moved in panic, he would only lose his way in the rainy night. He might well step into a pit of rotting mud and be smothered alive by the mire, for all he knew!

The only strategy was to conserve and replenish his strength as much as possible now, endure the night, and tomorrow, in daylight, when visibility improved, seek a path and leave.

And yet, as the winter rain fell steadily, Sun Bofu, having forced down some food, now truly caught his breath — but he could not fall asleep in time. He could only sit among the reeds and earnestly ponder the current situation.

Yet though the greater picture in the Central Plains and Jiangnan after this battle was already exceptionally clear, Sun Bofu found it impossible to think it through — because he could not stop dwelling on those five hundred Yan armored cavalry who had just swept aside all opposition.

In all honesty, horse armor was by no means unfamiliar to Sun Ce. His father, Sun Jian, as a warrior of the most distinctive character in this age, had essentially tramped across more than half the realm. From the jungles of Jingnan to the hills of Kuaiji, from the deserts of Xiliang to the steppes beyond the northern frontier — in terms of battlefield adaptability and breadth of experience in tactics and equipment alone, Sun Wentai was absolutely without peer in the land!

This was also one of the fundamental reasons the Jiangdong Fierce Tiger had once stood firm in the world.

Thus, Sun Bofu was by no means lacking in knowledge of cavalry. But the more he understood these things, the more his heart chilled as he hid among the reeds...

First, horse armor is not easily forged. To form such cavalry, you must first have a large-scale forging and smelting base. Such bases exist in Qingzhou, in Hedong, and in the Three Adjuncts. Now, it is said that a very large iron office has been specially built in Youzhou, and there also seems to be a very famous Pingguo Iron Office in Liaodong. Of course, Nanyang also has one, and it was once the finest and largest iron office in the land — a starved camel is still bigger than a horse, after all.

So, without a doubt, this kind of horse armor and full equipment can be forged in Hebei, and can also be forged in the Central Plains — but not in Jiangdong, and even less so on the steppes.

Second, you need excellent warhorses — and a great many excellent warhorses — because a warhorse capable of bearing horse armor plus a fully equipped heavy cavalryman is far too rare. Even if you have them, the wear and tear is extremely heavy... On this point, there is truly no solution. In all the realm, only Gongsun Xun and the Xianbei people on the steppes can manage it. South of the Yellow River, don't even think about it.

Finally — money!

One must understand that such a cavalry force, even when excellent warhorses, riders, horse armor, and rider armor are all in place, does not simply take shape so easily. It requires training, maintenance, and upkeep... Sun Bofu knew with perfect clarity in his heart: for these five hundred cavalry to appear before his eyes today, behind them there must be at least an additional thousand or more pack horses and accompanying civilian laborers, specifically tasked with transporting equipment and supplies — and, quite possibly, before battle, helping these five hundred riders don their armor and handing up their steel lances.

At this thought, Sun Ce, his entire body soaked by the rain, tilted his head back among the reeds and let out a scornful laugh. In that moment, he suddenly understood why Taishi Ci had been so slow to complete the encirclement — and understood even more clearly what those thousand light infantry armed only with ring-pommel blades had been about today.

But after the laughter came despair and silence.

Such a formed unit of armored heavy cavalry was fearsome, to be sure, but not invincible. High-quality foot-drawn crossbows and waist-drawn crossbows, formed into ranks, could absolutely break them. Even the soldiers of Dong Xi's unit, who had been swept away in a single charge today — had their morale been a little better, had they been well-fed and well-watered, and had they formed ranks with sufficiently long pikes, the enemy might not have dared to truly charge so recklessly.

As for rain and snow, rivers, hills, forests, encampments and ramparts, chevaux-de-frise, and all the other natural and man-made factors that inherently restrict cavalry — there is even less need to elaborate.

In fact, by Sun Ce's estimation, the money and provisions needed to maintain such a force of five hundred armored cavalry — which could be so easily wiped out — would be enough to support fifteen hundred of the renowned Yexia armored riders, or three thousand ordinary sturdy light cavalry, or four thousand elite heavy infantry, or even five thousand blade-and-shield light infantry or five thousand crossbowmen and archers...

But what of it?

Did the Yan army lack elite armored riders, or light cavalry? Did they lack ordinary heavy infantry, light infantry, or crossbowmen and archers?

The Yan army had all of these — and yet they still had surplus strength. That was why they had put together this force of five hundred armored cavalry, invincible only under specific conditions. And today, they had reaped the value they deserved... At eighteen, he himself had led a remnant force of broken soldiers and defeated generals to carve out a foothold of two commanderies right under the nose of the realm's most ambitious warlord, Liu Bei. Facing the even stronger Liu Bei, he had often traded victories and defeats, so much so that in his heart he had fancied that with a hundred thousand troops he could rampage across the realm. But today, leading what was probably the greatest force within his power — a full ten thousand troops, including three thousand armored soldiers — he had been scattered in a single clash by a mere five hundred cavalry!

And Dong Xi — that hero of Kuaiji, who as a man of Kuaiji had always looked down on the Zhu father and son, and who only when Sun Ce himself marched into Kuaiji had personally led his followers to Gaoting Pavilion to welcome him. The two had met, and in that one meeting had settled the bond of lord and vassal, entrusting their innermost hearts to each other — and today, he was simply gone, just like that...

In that instant, Sun Bofu suddenly wanted to weep. Only, the rain kept falling, lashing against his face, so that no one could tell whether he truly wept or not!

The early winter rain continued to patter on without cease. Sun Ce, perhaps from sheer exhaustion, actually managed to fall asleep in the rain — and dreamed without pause the entire night.

He dreamed that he had won this battle, taken Yecheng, and in one breath seized three years' worth of the Yan army's stored grain, wealth, and armaments — then set it all ablaze in one mighty blaze that shook the realm. Then, using Gongsun Xun's mother, wives, concubines, children, and key ministers as hostages, he forced the Yan army, its morale in chaos, to negotiate peace with the allied forces of the Central Plains.

Next, as both sides slowly withdrew, he dispatched Dong Xi overnight to Guandu to see his sworn father Cao Cao. Using the argument of Gaozu and Xiang Yu at Gaixia, he persuaded the other man to tear up the treaty, and together they attacked Gongsun Xun from both sides — his army's morale unsteady and with no reinforcements — and surrounded him at Baima.

And this Lord of Yan, like Xiang Yu, declared himself too ashamed to face the elders of Hebei, and then cut his own throat at Baima.

Thereupon, Hebei fractured entirely. Gongsun Zan held the Three Adjuncts, Gongsun Yue held Liang and Bing, Gongsun Ding held Jizhou, Gongsun Ping held Youzhou — internal strife unending, they would never again pose a threat.

And after the war, Cao Cao restored the Central Plains, Liu Bei seized the Two Huai region, and the two immediately went to war again. Sun Ce himself struck from behind Liu Bei, taking all of Jiangnan and the Two Huai, forcing his own uncle Liu Xuande to flee wretchedly to Liu Biao. Then he prepared to continue north, to attack his sworn father and achieve hegemony over the realm — only for disaster to strike at home, as he was surrounded and killed by his own second brother, Sun Quan, back in his home of Wu Commandery.

After death, his soul fled into the Yellow Springs, where he met his father. His father berated him fiercely, demanding to know why he had not heeded his dying words and had insisted on raising troops? And why he had not taken his father as a warning — why, just like his father in his youth, had he seen only martial matters, acting with such harshness and killing the innocent without cause?

Sun Ce was just about to answer, to say that he simply would not accept it, when he suddenly stumbled — his entire body went ice-cold — and he awoke with a start.

It turned out that although the rain continued without cease, the sky had already brightened fully. And at the same time, the reed thicket beneath Sun Bofu's feet had become a reed marsh — a night of rain, and the water level of the great marsh had gradually risen, until it had flooded all the way here!

Sun Ce had dreamed long dreams all night, had been drenched by rain all night, and his feet had likely been soaking for a good part of the night. For a moment, his head ached unbearably, and he felt quite dizzy. Yet knowing he could not stay long, he forced himself to rise.

He first loosened up his limbs, warming himself slightly. Then he forced down the last of his dry rations with the rain, and discarded his armor and steel helmet — items that would surely hinder movement in the marsh and expose his identity. Only a pair of finely made, sturdy cowhide boots, after pouring out the accumulated water, were put back on, along with an indispensable ring-pommel blade tied at his waist. Then he hastily set off.

The rain did not stop, but the basic light and shadows could still be discerned. Sun Ce found his bearings and hurried toward the southwest, planning to cross the great marsh, escape from the western side of the Huangze where there was no fighting, and stealthily make his way south to return home.

Yet along the way, Sun Bofu was not without trouble.

First, after a night of rain — just as that reed thicket had become a reed marsh — the paths in the marsh, though visible to the eye and seemingly passable, would often give way the moment he stepped on them, plunging his foot into a mud hole, forcing him to find another way... When necessary, Sun Bofu even had to enter the water and swim in the freezing early winter, because for him, with his excellent skill in the water, deep water was absolutely safer than mud holes!

Sun Bofu knew all too well: those rotting mud pits, already softened by a night of rain, were the deadliest places in the early winter marsh. One step might seem perfectly firm, but the next step, your entire thigh would vanish. By the time you tried to pull back, even the way you came was hard to find.

Second, he had to avoid both pursuers and routed soldiers... At first, it was only routed soldiers he had to avoid. But by late morning, the Yan army, guided by many local fishermen, entered the marsh in large numbers and light equipment to search. At that point, it became far more dangerous — he knew exactly how much his head was worth.

And it was at this time that Sun Bofu heard, from the soldiers' calls for surrender, that all seven armies of this campaign had indeed been completely annihilated!

Li Jin, Yue Jin, and Gao Gan had died in battle;

Huang Zhong had led his own unit and the remnants of Yue Jin's unit to surrender;

Zhang Chao and Cao Hong had committed suicide.

Adding Dong Xi, who had died in battle, it seemed that he alone — the one with the highest price on his head — had yet to be captured or killed. No wonder there was such a commotion.

Yet even so, Sun Bofu, relying on his excellent swimming and stamina, pressed on southwest without pause, gradually shaking off most of the pursuers and routed soldiers.

By the afternoon, as the rain began to ease, he actually caught a distant glimpse of land to the southwest — a sight that filled him with both shock and wild joy.

By this time, however, Sun Bofu was nearly spent, and he had no dry provisions left to replenish himself. The more exhausted and headache-ridden he became, the more often he lost his way in the marsh; at times, he even felt the land over there was growing farther and farther away.

But whatever the case, it seemed Heaven never bars all paths. In his exhaustion and confusion, Sun Ce unexpectedly came face to face with two fishermen wearing bamboo hats — from a distance, one large and one small, clearly out to catch fish after the rain.

Sun Bofu, crouching behind the reeds, thought for a moment, and his heart surged with both great joy and great relief. The joy was because fishermen meant the land truly was not far; the relief was because this was southwest of Huangze — though still under Neihuang’s jurisdiction, it was separated by a vast twenty-li marsh and could not possibly have anything to do with the battlefield. The fishermen catching fish here likely had no idea what had happened near Neihuang city the day before and the day before that, so there was probably no need for worry.

And so, steeling himself, he stepped forward and called out directly to them.

The two figures, one large and one small, turned around — it was unmistakably an old man and a girl of only seven or eight. The old man carried a fish basket; clearly the family’s laborer had gone off with the army, and the old man, while looking after his granddaughter, had taken advantage of the farming lull after the rain to catch fish and improve their meals.

“Old sir!” Sun Ce, realizing the situation in his heart, immediately asked, “I am a county soldier from Neihuang. By the county magistrate’s order, I took a boat down the Qinghe to deliver a message to Liyang. On the way, it rained and the water rose; the boat drifted into the marsh and ran aground. Now I cannot even find the path and have instead sunk into the mud… Which way ahead leads directly ashore?”

The grandfather and granddaughter shrank back for a moment, but in the end, after a silence, the old man reluctantly pointed in a direction behind him.

Sun Ce looked where he pointed and saw that the direction still had two branching paths. He frowned and asked again, and the old man, still in alarm, pointed out one of the two branches with certainty.

At this, Sun Ce had no time to think further and immediately dashed forward. But after only a few dozen paces, it dawned on him — he had indeed been addled by the rain. His accent was so different; the moment he opened his mouth, he had already given himself away. And the old man, by not speaking, had clearly realized this as well. So there was no need to wonder — the path the old man pointed to was surely a dead end flooded by the rain! Even worse, the Yan army might arrive at any moment!

So he hurriedly turned back, and with a surge of inexplicable rage, without hesitation drew his blade and cut down the old man, who had spread his arms to shield his granddaughter. He then raised his blade again, ready to kill the girl… Yet, looking at the girl’s terrified, weeping face, Sun Ce, his head splitting with pain, suddenly thought of his own little sister of a similar age — and in the end, he could not bear to do it!

Moreover, Sun Ce turned back and saw the old man’s corpse on the ground, blood seeping into the muddy water. For a moment, he recalled his father’s melancholy over certain matters in those years, and the special teachings his father had given him because of it. Shame flooded his heart all the more, yet at the same time, he felt it was only right, that he should not indulge in such womanly mercy.

In his panic, Sun Bofu heaved a long sigh. In the end, he left the weeping girl behind, sheathed his blade, turned, and fled hastily down the other path.

But he had not gone far when suddenly, horn calls sounded nearby. Then, the faint sound of the girl weeping behind him ceased. Knowing in his heart that the pursuers were likely upon him, Sun Ce ran even more desperately — when suddenly his foot slipped, and half his body sank into the mire!

The sounds behind him drew closer and closer… Knowing he had reached the most perilous moment, Sun Ce had no time to think. He simply clenched his teeth and struggled forward through the mud, now waist-deep, determined to force his way across this quagmire to escape the pursuers behind him.

But at such a speed, how could he possibly make it in time? Not to mention, after barely a few dozen paces through the mire, he was nearly completely spent.

After an indeterminate time, just as Sun Bofu was dizzy and blurred of vision, nearly at his limit, the band of pursuers caught up from behind. And the man leading them, covered in mud yet seething with fury, was none other than Taishi Ci.

Sun Ce turned his head back. For an instant, he thought of surrendering — surrender would cut off the path of a warlord, but it would be the most responsible choice for his family. Yet, after he mustered the last shred of his strength to turn around in the mire, he saw the girl, wearing an ill-fitting straw rain cape, being carried in the arms of a man dressed like a local village clerk. At that sight, Sun Ce found himself unable to speak. He only faced them in silence.

For this deed, I deserve to die here! What need is there for more words?!

In that instant, a strange thought welled up in Sun Bofu’s heart — yet it was a thought that brought him extreme ease and release.

After all, struggling in the mire of this chaotic age was simply too exhausting.

Taishi Ci stared coldly at Sun Ce, who had stopped and turned his head a few dozen paces away. He drew from his back the longbow wrapped in oilpaper, bent the bow, nocked an arrow, and loosed it — at such a distance, it struck only the other’s shoulder!

Sun Ce let out a muffled grunt, but still made no further sign.

Having done such a deed, I deserve this punishment!

What need is there to think further?

And soon, as the dozen or so Yan army soldiers and local village clerks who had come with Taishi Ci all drew their bows and loosed arrow after arrow at Sun Ce, Sun Bofu was struck again and again, shot dead on the spot in the rotten mud pit of Neihuang Marsh.

He was, at that time, twenty-two years old.

—————I am the dividing line that was once twenty-two—————

“Sun Ce was in Wu, and he took Qin Song as his honored guest, paying him respect as his chief strategist. He then gathered civil and military officials to discuss how the realm was not yet at peace and must be settled by force of arms. At the time, Lu Ji of Wu Commandery, still young, sat at the far end of the seats and loudly declared from a distance: ‘In former times, Guan Yiwu served as chancellor to Duke Huan of Qi, bringing the feudal lords together nine times and rectifying all under Heaven, without using war chariots. Confucius said: “If those far away do not submit, cultivate civil virtue to draw them here.” Now those who speak disregard the art of winning men through morality and embrace, esteeming only martial force — I, Ji, am privately uneasy at this.’ Ce’s expression changed; he smiled and asked those beside him. Qin Song replied: ‘This son of the Lu clan knows of the late General Polu’s affairs, and knows that you, General, do not kill young boys sitting at your table out of jealousy, and therefore he dares to speak recklessly.’ Ce laughed again, then expelled Lu Ji from the gathering, and the discussion of blades and war did not cease.” — Old Book of Yan, Volume 63, Biography 13

“At the end of Han, when Sun Ce died, the Benevolent Emperor was serving at the front as a common soldier. Hearing of it at Guandu, he sighed: ‘Judging by my grandmother’s words, Sun Ce was a little hegemon-king — how did he end up dying in a mud pit?’ Zhuge Liang, sixteen at the time and usually a man of few words, heard this and replied with a solemn expression: ‘In former times, Xiang Ji commanded a mighty host, straddling provinces and holding lands; his undertakings were grand, yet in the end he was defeated at Gaixia and died at Dongcheng, his clan burned to ashes, a laughingstock for a thousand ages — all because he did not act with righteousness, but lorded over the masses and abused those beneath him. Yet even as a hegemon-king, he still did not kill the old farmer. As for this so-called little hegemon-king — his father killed another man’s son at his table, and the son, in dire straits, killed another’s grandfather. Now dying in a mud pit — is this not precisely fitting to his name?’ The Benevolent Emperor rose from his seat to apologize.” — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Admonitions

PS: Sending heads for Mid-Autumn Festival. Wishing everyone a happy Mid-Autumn, may all go as you wish, may your whole family be reunited, and may you grow tired of mooncakes!

(End of chapter)