When Cao reached the north shore, he sank his rafts. His commanders who had heard of his escape were already on shore to assist as he landed. The leather cuirass of Xu Chu's heavy armor was studded with arrows. The commanders escorted Cao Cao to a bivouac, where they prostrated themselves and expressed concern for Cao. But he only laughed and said, "That little rebel nearly got me today!" "Somebody lured the rebels away with animals," Xu Chu added, "or they would have done their utmost to get across." Cao Cao asked who the man was, and someone replied, "Ding Fei, prefect of Weinan."
Shortly afterward, Ding Fei appeared before the prime minister. Cao Cao thanked him and said, "They would have caught me except for your excellent trick." Cao then appointed him a commandant for military standards.13 Ding Fei said, "They may be gone for now, but they'll return tomorrow. We'll need a good defense." "I am ready for them," Cao Cao said. He called on his commanders to split up and picket the corridor along the river to make a temporary barrier. Behind the pickets, battle banners served as decoys while troops were deployed outside in case of attack. Cao's men also dug trenches along the bank and covered them with reeds and brush, hoping to entice the rebels to land there.
Meanwhile, Ma Chao had met with Han Sui, to whom he said, "We almost caught Cao Cao! But some commander in a display of courage bore him back to the boat. I wonder who it was." "They say," Han Sui responded, "that Cao Cao has placed around him a select guard of superb warriors known as the Tiger Guard, led by the Valiant Cavalier generals Dian Wei and Xu Chu. Since Dian Wei is dead, it must have been Xu Chu who rescued him. He has extraordinary strength and courage and has been dubbed the Mad Tiger. Not a man to risk opposing." "A name long known to me, too," replied Ma Chao. "Cao Cao has crossed the river," Han Sui went on, "and means to surprise us from behind. We must attack before he can fortify, or we'll never clear him out." "My own preference, uncle," Ma Chao said, "would be to deploy on the north shore of the Wei and keep them from crossing it." "Worthy nephew," Han Sui answered, "you guard the camp while I advance along the riverbank to fight Cao Cao. What do you say?" "Let Pang De take the van for you," was the reply. And so Han Sui and Pang De took fifty thousand to Weinan. Cao Cao told his commanders to lure them on from both sides of the picketed shore road. Pang De struck first with one thousand armored cavalry. They crashed down into the covered pits before their hoots and cries had faded from the air.
Pang De, however, with a mighty lunge succeeded in getting back to flat ground where he smote Cao's men as he marched forward to break the encirclement. He turned back to save Han Sui but was blocked by Cao Ren's field captain, Cao Yong. Pang De felled him with a sword stroke and seized his horse. Mounted, Pang De pulled Han Sui from danger, cutting a bloody swath, and fled to the southeast. Behind him, Cao Cao's troops were catching up, but Ma Chao came to his aid and sent them reeling back, so that the better part of the western army was saved. The battle lasted until dark. Surveying the toll, Ma Chao found that he had lost commanders Cheng Yin and Zhang Heng, as well as more than two hundred men in the pits.
Ma Chao and Han Sui took counsel. "Delay," Ma Chao said, "will enable Cao Cao to establish permanent fortifications north of the river. We have to raid their camps with a small cavalry force tonight." "We'd better divide our forces so we can assist each other," Han Sui replied. Ma Chao accordingly took the forward army and put Pang De and Ma Dai in command of the rear, preparing to march that night.
Cao Cao gathered his troops and positioned himself north of the River Wei. He told his commanders, "The rebels will attack our bivouacs as we have not yet built forts. Hide troops all around but leave the core area vacant. A bombard will signal the moment to come out; we will capture them on the first onslaught." The command was carried out.
That night Ma Chao did not come himself, however. He sent Commander Cheng Yi ahead with thirty mounted scouts. Seeing no one, Cheng Yi went straight to the center of the camps. Cao Cao's men saw the western riders and sprang their ambush, only to find a mere thirty horsemen in their trap. Cheng Yi fell to Xiahou Yuan. But Ma Chao then came on from behind, together with the armies of Pang De and Ma Dai, and stormed the scene in a murderous assault. Indeed:
Though Cao had laid an ambush for the foe,
Their able leaders were striving to excel.
How would this crucial engagement turn out?14
Read on.
59
Xu Chu Strips Down and Duels with Ma Chao;
Cao Cao's Doctored Letter Turns Ma Chao Against Han Sui
Both armies fought fiercely, their formations deteriorating, until recalled at dawn. By then Ma Chao had the mouth of the Wei and was dispatching troops steadily to harass Cao Cao front and rear.
Cao Cao linked his boats and rafts, making three bridges to the southern shore; Cao Ren built camps on both sides of the river and made a barrier out of his freight wagons Ma Chao, intent on stopping Cao Cao from establishing a fortified position, provided his men with sheaves of hay and other kindling. Then Chao and Han Sui carried the fight to the enemy camps where they set bonfires with the piles of straw, forcing the northerners to flee as the wagon train and floating bridges went up in flames. The triumphant westerners now held the River Wei. Cao Cao, unable to fortify his positions, was apprehensive. Xun You advised using soil, so Cao Cao assigned thirty thousand men to carry mud from the river to make a defensive wall. But Ma Chao had Pang De and Ma Dai harass the workers with small cohorts of five hundred. On top of that, the mud did not solidify and the walls kept collapsing. Cao Cao was at his wits' end.
It was the end of the ninth month (a.d. 211) and bitterly cold. Dense clouds covered the sky day after day. Cao Cao brooded in his tent, wondering what to do. An attendant reported: "An old man is here to see Your Excellency to speak of tactics." The visitor admitted to Cao Cao's presence was a man of great age, thin and angular like a crane, craggy and austere like a pine tree. He turned out to be Lou Zibo from Jingzhao, a recluse, who dwelt in the Zhongnan Mountains and had the Taoist name Hermit Who Dreams of Plum Blossoms. Cao Cao treated him as an honored guest.
"Your Excellency," Zibo said, "has long been trying to fortify both sides of the River Wei. Is this not the ideal moment?" "The earth is too sandy," Cao Cao replied. "What I build doesn't hold up. Perhaps a retired man of learning like yourself would have some useful advice?" "What surprises me," responded the visitor, " is that a master of military operations like yourself is not taking the climate into account. It's been overcast for days on end. With the first gales from the north, everything will freeze. After that happens have your men move the earth and wet it down. By dawn the walls can be completed. Cao Cao saw his point. Lou Zibo then left, declining Cao's offer of a rich reward.
That night the north wind blew. Cao Cao ordered every soldier to bring up mud and wet it. Having no pots or jars, they carried water in watertight silk pouches, pouring it on the wall as they built. By dawn the water and sand had frozen and the walls had firmed.
Spies informed Ma Chao, who came and gazed at the finished structure, which he thought could be nothing less than the result of divine action. The next day he gathered his army and advanced to the rolling of his drums. Cao Cao rode out of the camp, attended only by Xu Chu. Flourishing his whip, he shouted, "Cao Cao comes, alone. Let Ma Chao come forth and answer for himself." Spear held high, Ma Chao rode out. Cao Cao said, "You were too confident that we couldn't build this wall. I have built it in a single night. Why have you not surrendered yet?" Angered, Ma Chao started for Cao, but suspecting the guard behind him was Xu Chu—monstrous, wide-staring eyes, blade in hand, set to charge—he flourished his whip again and cried, "Where is that Tiger Lord of yours?" Xu Chu raised his sword and shouted, "Xu Chu of Qiao." His eyes emitted a supernatural light. His fighting spirit was palpable. Ma Chao froze, then turned his horse and retired. Cao Cao, too, led Xu Chu back to camp. Both armies watched, dumbfounded.
Cao Cao said to his commanders, "Even the rebel can see that Xu Chu is a Tiger Lord." From then on the name stuck to Xu
Chu. "Tomorrow," Xu Chu vowed, "I will capture him." "He's a splendid warrior," Cao Cao warned. "Don't take chances." "I shall fight to the death," Xu Chu declared and had a letter sent in the name of the Tiger Lord challenging Ma Chao to single combat. The letter angered Ma Chao, who said, "He dares express such contempt for me?" He swore to kill the "Mad Tiger" the next day.
On the morrow the opposing armies deployed. Ma Chao placed Pang De on his left, Ma Dai on his right; Han Sui held down the center. Ma Chao, spear high, rode swiftly to the front of his line and cried, "Let's have the Mad Tiger!" Cao Cao, beneath his banners, turned to his commanders and was saying, "Ma Chao is another Lü Bu!" when Xu Chu rode out to battle, his blade dancing. The warriors closed and fought a hundred bouts, but neither could prevail. Each got a fresh horse and returned to the combat. Another hundred clashes produced no victor. Xu Chu's blood was up. He dashed back to his lines and stripped off helmet and armor, revealing muscles that stood out all over his body. Sword in hand, he remounted and came for Ma Chao once again. The armies watched, breathless.
After another thirty passages, Xu Chu swung a mighty blow in a burst of energy; but Ma Chao ducked, then charged, leveling his spear at Xu Chu's heart. Xu Chu threw down his sword to clasp the oncoming spear under his arm. The two riders struggled for the spear. Xu Chu, the more powerful, roared and snapped the shaft in two, leaving them each with a fragment with which they belabored one another. Cao Cao, fearing for Xu Chu, ordered Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong into the battle. Pang De and Ma Dai on Ma Chao's side signaled mailclad horsemen from either wing to join the fray. In the murderous melee that followed, Cao Cao's troops became disorganized. Xu Chu took two arrows in his arm, and Cao's panicked commanders withdrew into camp. Ma Chao fought his way to the riverside. Half his troops fallen, Cao Cao ordered the camp sealed. No one could go out.
Ma Chao returned to the mouth of the Wei and said to Han Sui, "I've never seen such a vicious fighter. Mad Tiger, indeed!" Cao Cao, however, judged Ma Chao vulnerable to trickery and secretly ordered Xu Huang and Zhu Ling to cross the Yellow River slightly above its angle and fortify the west bank for a two-fronted attack. Several days later Cao Cao observed Ma Chao from the wall approach his front outworks with a few hundred riders and there race back and forth. After watching him for a long time, Cao Cao threw his headgear to the ground and cried, "This Ma must die! Or I shall have no burying place!" Xihou Yuan answered hotly, "I will crush the Ma rebels or die here in the attempt." So saying, he led his thousand men into the field, and Cao Cao, unable to stop him yet fearing for his life, hastily mounted to support him.
Ma Chao, seeing the enemy in the field again, switched his van and rear squadrons and deployed in a single file. As Xiahou Yuan arrived, Ma Chao engaged his force directly. Ma Chao, surrounded by the turmoil of battle, spotted Cao Cao in the distance and went at him, shaking off Xiahou Yuan. Frightened, Cao Cao wheeled and fled. His order of battle began falling apart. Ma Chao gave hot pursuit but pulled back to camp on the stunning news that Cao Cao's men had fortified the west bank. Ma Chao consulted with Han Sui. "They saw their opening and crossed to the west bank," Chao said. "They have us, van and rear. What to do?" Lieutenant Commander Li Kan said, "Offer them a piece of our land, and let each side withdraw. Let us get through the winter, and we'll think of something else when spring comes." "Good advice," Han Sui said. "Take it."
Ma Chao hesitated. But the other commanders, Yang Qiu and Hou Xuan, urged him to seek peace. And so Han Sui sent Yang Qiu to Cao Cao with an offer of territory. Cao Cao said to the envoy, "You may return to your camp. I will send my answer tomorrow." Yang Qiu departed. Jia Xu entered Cao Cao's tent and said, "What is Your Excellency's decision?" "What's your view?" Cao Cao replied. "In warfare," Jia Xu said, "there can never be too much trickery. Agree to it now and later we can find a way to turn them against each other. If Han Sui and Ma Chao become suspicious of each other, we won't have much trouble destroying them." Cao Cao clapped his hands with satisfaction and said, "Great thinkers think alike! Your plans accord perfectly with my own thinking."
Cao Cao returned the following answer: "Give us time to pull back and we will return the west bank." Accordingly, Cao Cao had his pontoon bridges set up as an indication of his intention to recross the river and withdraw. On receiving this note, Ma Chao said to Han Sui, "Although Cao Cao has agreed to a peace, he is too treacherous to read clearly. Unless we are prepared, we could fall into his hands. Let's rotate our forces. Today you take Cao Cao, uncle, and I'll take Xu Huang; tomorrow we'll switch. Our separate defense should foil any tricks they try." Ma Chao and Han Sui proceeded accordingly.
A courier soon apprised Cao Cao of these tactics. "Now we will succeed," Cao said privately to Jia Xu. Then he asked the runner, "Whom will I be facing tomorrow?" "Han Sui," was the reply. The next day Cao Cao rode out of camp, a lone rider conspicuous in the midst of his accompanying lieutenants. Han Sui's soldiers, few of whom had ever seen Cao Cao, stared at him. Cao Cao cried: "You'd like a look at Lord Cao? I'm only human; I haven't got four eyes or two mouths—I'm just full of ideas, a bit smarter, that's all!' Han Sui's men blanched. Cao sent a message:" His Excellency earnestly requests a meeting with General Han. "
Han Sui appeared and, seeing Cao Cao completely unarmed, put off his own gear and rode forth alone. As the horses touched heads, their masters reined in and began talking "General," Cao Cao said, "your father and I were cited as filial and honest in the same year, and he was ever like an uncle to me. You and I, moreover, have both served the Emperor. The years have slipped by. How old are you now, General?" "Forty," was his reply "Those days in the capital," Cao Cao went on, "that was our springtide, our youth. Who would have expected the middle years to come so soon! If only the world were at peace if we could have the pleasure of one another's company . . ." And Cao Cao continued making small talk about the past, never alluding to the military situation. After two hours they parted, Cao laughing heartily, and returned to their respective camps.
As soon as the incident was reported to Ma Chao, he hurried to Han Sui and demanded, "What was Cao Cao talking about today?" "Nothing—the old days in the capital," was Han Sui's reply. "Why did you say nothing about the fighting?" Ma Chao demanded. "He didn't mention it," answered Han Sui, "how could I?" But suspicion had been planted. Ma Chao withdrew without another word.
* * *
* * *
In camp Cao Cao asked his adviser Jia Xu, "Did you know the purpose of my conversation with Han Sui?" "It was an ingenious one," Jia Xu responded, "but not enough to divide your enemies. I know a way, however, to engender hatred between them." "Yes?" Cao Cao inquired. "A brawny brute like Ma Chao," Jia Xu went on, "knows nothing of intrigue. Your Excellency, write Han Sui in your own hand, something vague in content, smearing or scratching out words and writing over others in the important parts. Send it to Han Sui, sealed, but make sure Ma Chao knows so that he'll be certain to ask to see the letter. The alterations will make him suspect that Han Sui has doctored it to keep him from discovering some secret activity. This will confirm his suspicions about the conversation on horseback—suspicions that will breed confusion between them. Furthermore, if we can quietly create friction between him and Han Sui's commanders, Ma Chao will be as good as dead." "An excellent plan!" Cao Cao said and wrote Han Sui as Jia Xu had advised, conspicuously sending a number of his followers to bear the envelope.1
As expected, Ma Chao soon learned of the letter and went directly to Han Sui, demanding to see it. When Han Sui handed him the letter, Ma Chao, noting the deletions and changes, asked, "Why are these passages all blotted out?" "That's how it came," Han Sui replied. "I don't know why." "Why would he send a rough draft?" Ma Chao continued. "Uncle, you must have changed something so that I wouldn't find out certain details." "He must have sealed the draft by mistake," Han Sui countered. "I'm not convinced," Ma Chao said. "Cao Cao is far too meticulous for that. You and I, uncle, have joined to fight that traitor. Why are you double-crossing me?" "If you do not trust me," replie
d Han Sui, "then let me lure Cao Cao into conversation again tomorrow; you can race out and kill him with a spear stroke." "That would show your sincerity, uncle," was Ma Chao's reply. So it was agreed.
Next day Han Sui led five commanders—Hou Xuan, Li Kan, Liang Xing, Ma Wan, and Yang Qiu—onto the field. Ma Chao was concealed in the shadows of the opening of the formation. Han Sui sent a man to Cao Cao's camp. "General Han Sui," he called out, "requests that the prime minister come forth and continue the talk." Cao Cao had Cao Hong lead a few score horsemen out to answer Han Sui. Cao Hong rode to within a few feet of Han Sui, bent forward over his horse, and said, "His Excellency was most gratified by your words last night. Let there be no slipup." He then rode back to his line. Ma Chao overheard and flew into a rage. Raising his spear, he forged ahead and struck at Han Sui. The five commanders intervened and tried to get Ma Chao back to camp. "Worthy nephew," Han Sui cried, "you must not doubt me. I bear you no malice." But Ma Chao, having lost all confidence in Han Sui, left in a vengeful mood.
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