The Three Kingdoms: The Sacred Oath

by Luo Guanzhong

  Sun Ce was inclined to carry out these orders and he called a council to discuss the matter at hand. But Zhang Zhao opposed this course. He said, “Although recently defeated, Yuan Shu still has many men and ample supplies. He is not to be treated lightly. You had better write to Cao to persuade him to lead an expedition to the south and we will support him. If our two armies join forces Yuan Shu will certainly be defeated. If, by the remotest chance, we lose, we have Cao to come to our rescue.” This plan was adopted and a messenger was sent to lay it before Cao Cao.

  Back in the capital Cao Cao’s first thought was to dedicate sacrifices to his lost warrior Dian Wei. He conferred rank upon his son and took him into his own house to be cared for.

  Presently Sun Ce’s messenger arrived with the letter from his master and next came a report that Yuan Shu, being short of food, had raided Chenliu. Cao Cao thought the moment opportune, so he issued orders for the expedition south, leaving Cao Ren to hold the city. The force consisted of 170,000 horse and foot soldiers, with wagons of food to the number of over a thousand. Messages were sent to summon Sun Ce, Liu Bei, and Lu Bu to launch a joint attack.

  When the army reached Yuzhou, Liu Bei was already there to welcome Cao Cao and was called into his tent. After the usual salutations Liu Bei produced two heads.

  “Whose are these?” asked Cao Cao in surprise.

  “The heads of Han Xian and Yang Feng.”

  “How did this happen?’

  “They were sent by Lu Bu to station in two cities in Shandong but they allowed their soldiers to plunder the people and bitter complaints arose. So I invited them to a banquet during which my brothers slew them when I gave the signal by dropping a cup. All their men gave in at once. I must apologize for my fault.”

  “You have removed an evil, which is a grand service: why talk of a fault?”

  And he praised Liu Bei for what he had done.

  When the joint army reached the borders of Xuzhou, Lu Bu came to meet them. Cao Cao spoke graciously to him and conferred upon him the title of General of the Left Division, promising to confirm his governership of Xuzhou as soon as he returned to the capital. Lu Bu was very pleased.

  Then the three armies were made into one force, Cao Cao being in the center and the other two on the wings. Xiahou Dun and Yue Jin were van leaders.

  On Yuan Shu’s side a major officer named Qiao Sui was appointed van leader with 50,000 men. The armies met in the confines of Shouchun. The two van leaders rode out and opened battle. Qiao Sui fell in the third bout and his men fled into the city. Then came news that Sun Ce’s fleet was near and would attack on the west while the three land corps of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Lu Bu attacked on the three other sides—the city was in a perilous state.

  At this juncture Yuan Shu summoned his advisors for immediate consultation. Yang Da-jiang said, “Shouchun has suffered from flood or drought for several years and the people are on the verge of famine. Now the war adds to their distress and anger, and resistance would be uncertain. I think it would be better not to fight, but to hold on till the besiegers are conquered by lack of supplies. Your Majesty can move over to the other side of the river with your palace guards so as to be ready for the harvest season and to avoid open confrontation with the enemy.”

  Yuan Shu took his advice. Leaving four officers with a large army to guard the city, he ordered a general move to the other side of the Huai River. Not only the army went over but all the accumulated wealth of the Yuan family, gold and silver, jewels and precious stones, were shipped across the water.

  Cao Cao’s army of 100,000 men needed daily a vast quantity of food, and as the country around had been famine-stricken for several years nothing could be got there. So he tried to hasten the military operations and capture the city. On the other hand, the defenders knew the value of delay and simply held on. After a month’s vigorous siege the fall of the city seemed as far off as it was at first and supplies were very short. Letters were sent to Sun Ce who sent 100,000 measures of grain, but it was still not enough to feed the empty stomachs of the men. When the usual distribution became impossible, Wang Hou, head of the granaries, went to see Cao Cao, asking what was to be done.

  “Serve out with a smaller measure,” said Cao Cao. “That will save us for a time.”

  “But if the soldiers complain, what then?”

  “I know what to do.”

  As ordered, Wang Hou issued grain in short measures. Cao Cao secretly sent people to find out how the men reacted to this. When he found that complaints were general and that they blamed him for fooling them, he sent a secret summons to Wang Hou. When he came Cao Cao said, “I want to borrow something from you to pacify the soldiers. You must not refuse.”

  “What do you want, sir?”

  “I want to borrow your head and expose it before the soldiers.”

  “But I have done nothing wrong?” exclaimed the terrified man.

  “I know that, but if I do not put you to death there will be a mutiny. After you are gone your wife and children will be in my care. So you need not grieve on their account.”

  Wang Hou was about to protest further but just then at a signal from Cao Cao, the executioners hustled him out and he was beheaded. His head was exposed on a tall pole and a notice said that in accordance with military law Wang Hou had been put to death for embezzlement and the deliberate use of a short measure in issuing grain.

  This appeased the discontent. Next followed a general order threatening death to the various commanders if the city was not taken within three days. Cao Cao in person went up to the very walls to superintend the work of filling up the moat. The defenders kept up constant showers of stones and arrows. Two inferior officers, who left their positions in fear, were slain by Cao Cao himself. Then he dismounted and joined in piling earth into the moat, thus inspiring his officers and men to exert themselves so that work progressed steadily and no one dared to be a laggard. The army became invincible and the defenders of the city could not withstand their onslaught. In a very short time the walls were scaled, the gates battered in, and the besiegers were in possession. The officers of the garrison were captured alive and were executed in the market place. All the paraphernalia of the illegitimate imperial state was burned and the whole city wrecked.

  When the question of crossing the river in pursuit of Yuan Shu came up Xun Yu opposed it and said: “The country has suffered from poor crops for years and we will be unable to get grain. An advance will weary the army, harm the people, and possibly end in disaster. I advise a return to the capital to wait till the spring wheat has been harvested and we have plenty of supplies.”

  Cao Cao hesitated, but before he had made up his mind there came an urgent message for help from the capital which said that Zhang Xiu, with the support of Liu Biao, was ravaging the country all around and that there was rebellion in a number of places. Cao Hong, who had been entrusted with the defense of the region, could not cope with it and had been worsted already in several battles.

  Cao Cao at once wrote to Sun Ce asking him to deploy decoy troops across the river so as to prevent any move on the part of Liu Biao, while he returned immediately to the capital to deal with Zhang Xiu. Before departure he directed Liu Bei to camp at Xiaopei again and made him a sworn brother of Lu Bu’s so that they might live in peace and aid each other.

  When Lu Bu had left for Xuzhou Cao Cao said to Liu Bei, “I am leaving you at Xiaopei for a special purpose, which is to plan ‘a pit for the tiger.’ Take advice only from Chen Deng and his father and there can be no mishap. I will come to your assistance when needed.”

  So Cao Cao marched back to the capital, where he heard that the two rebels Li Jue and Guo Si had been slain by two men called Duan Wei and Wu Xi, who presented their heads before him. Besides, Duan Wei had also brought Li Jue’s whole clan to the capital. Cao Cao ordered all of them to be put to death at various gates and their heads exposed. This harsh punishment, however, met with approval from the people, who clapped in joy.

&nb
sp; In the Emperor’s palace a large number of officials were assembled at a peace banquet. Both Duan Wei and Wu Xi were rewarded with titles and sent to guard the old capital Chang’an. They thanked the Emperor in gratitude and marched away.

  Then Cao Cao sent in a memorial stating that Zhang Xiu was in rebellion and proposing an expedition to destroy him. The Emperor himself went in his chariot to see Cao Cao off when he started on the journey in summer, the fourth month of the third year of the period Jian An. Xun Yu, Cao Cao’s chief advisor, was left in military command of the capital.

  The army marched away. Before long they passed through a wheat district and noticed that the crop was ready for harvesting. However, the peasants had fled from fear as the army approached and the wheat remained uncut. Cao Cao made it known to all the villagers and officials in the region that he was sent on the expedition by command of the Emperor to capture a rebel and save the people, and although he could not avoid moving his army in the harvest season he would put to death whoever trampled down the wheat. He assured the people that the military law was very severe and the people should have no fear of damage. The people were so pleased that they lined the road and bowed in gratitude. When the soldiers passed wheat fields they dismounted and pushed aside the stalks so that none was trampled down.

  One day, when Cao Cao was riding through the fields, a turtledove suddenly flew up, startling his horse so that it swerved into the standing wheat field and a large patch was trampled down. Cao Cao at once called the officer in charge of military discipline and asked him to announce the sentence for his crime of trampling down the wheat.

  “How can I deal with your crime?” asked the officer.

  “I made the rule and I have broken it. How else can I convince others?”

  He laid hold of the sword by his side as if to take his own life. All hastened to prevent him. Then Guo Jia said, “In the ancient book of Spring and Autumn, it says, ‘No law is to be applied to the lord of all.’ You are the supreme leader of a mighty army and must not harm yourself.”

  Cao Cao pondered for a long time. At last he said, “Since there exists such a practice I may escape the death penalty.”

  Then with his sword he cut off his hair and threw it down on the ground. “I cut off my hair in place of my head,” he said.

  Then he sent a man to exhibit the hair to the whole army with the words, “The prime minister, having trodden down some wheat, ought to have been beheaded by the terms of the order; but here is his hair cut off as an attack on the head.”

  This deed was a stimulus to discipline all through the army so that not a man dared to be disobedient. A poet wrote:

  A myriad soldiers march along and all are brave and bold,

  And their myriad inclinations by one leader are controlled.

  That crafty leader shore his locks when forfeit was his head,

  Oh full of schemes wert thou, Cao Cao, as every one has said.

  On hearing of the approach of Cao Cao and his army, Zhang Xiu wrote to Liu Biao for help. Then he led his men out of the city under the command of two officers named Lei Xu and Zhang Xian. When the deployment was complete Zhang Xiu took his position in front and pointing at Cao Cao he railed: “You shameless hypocrite! You are no different from a beast!”

  This put Cao Cao in a rage and he sent out Xu Chu to give battle. Zhang Xian came to meet him but fell in the third bout. His soldiers fled and were pursued to the very walls of Nanyang, only managing to get inside just before the pursuit closed in. The city was then closely besieged. Seeing that the moat was very wide and deep and an approach to the wall would be difficult, they began to fill up the ditch with earth. Then with sand bags, brushwood, and bundles of grass they built a great mound near the wall so that they could look over into the city.

  Cao Cao rode around the city carefully, inspecting the defense in the city. Three days later he issued an order to make a mound of earth and brushwood at the northwest angle, as he would mount the walls at that point. However, little did he know that he was observed from within the city by Jia Xu, who went to his chief and said, “I know what Cao Cao intends to do and I can defeat him by turning his trick on himself.”

  Even amongst the strongest there is one who excels;

  Someone sees through your trick, as crafty as you he is.

  What countermove Jia Xu had in mind will be told in the next chapter.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Jia Xu Engineers a Great Victory

  Xiahou Dun Loses An Eye

  At the close of the last chapter it was told that Jia Xu had guessed Cao Cao’s intention and had also devised a counter-move. He said to his master, “I saw Cao Cao very carefully reconnoitering the city and he certainly noticed that the southeast corner of the wall had been lately restored with mud bricks, which look quite new and that the abatis is badly out of repair. He will try to force an entrance there. But to fool us he is making a feint attack at the northwest point. He is piling up straw and making ostentatious preparations there in order to cajole us into withdrawing from the real point of attack and to defend the northwest. His men will scale the walls in the dark and try to enter at the southeast.”

  “Suppose your hunch is correct, what must we do?” asked Zhang Xiu.

  “This is easy. You issue an order for our best and bravest soldiers to have a hearty meal, take only the lightest equipment, and conceal themselves in the houses near the southeast corner. Then disguise the towns-people as soldiers and send them to pretend to defend the northwest. Tonight we will let the enemy climb up the walls and enter the city and, once they are inside, give the signal and the concealed soldiers will rush out upon them. We may even capture Cao Cao himself.”

  The stratagem appealed very much to Zhang Xiu and he decided to adopt it. Soon scouts reported to Cao Cao that the defenders of the city had moved to the northwest, where noisy preparations for defense were going on. The opposite corner was left undefended.

  “They have fallen into my trap,” said Cao Cao gleefully.

  He told his men to secretly prepare shovels and hooks and all the gear needed for scaling the walls, and at the same time kept up the attack on the northwest corner all day.

  But at the second watch they dispatched the veterans to the opposite corner, where they climbed the wall, broke up the abatis and got into the city, apparently without disturbing any of the guards. There was no sign of life anywhere as they entered. But just as they were leaving the wall, suddenly a bomb exploded and they found themselves in an ambush. They turned to retreat, but Zhang Xiu immediately fell on the rear. Cao Cao’s men were totally defeated and fled out of the gate into the country. Zhang Xiu kept up the pursuit till daybreak, when he withdrew into the city again.

  Cao Cao then rallied his army and mustered his men. He had lost 50,000 men and much baggage, while two of his captains , Lu Qian and Yue Jin, were wounded.

  Cao Cao being thus worsted, Zhang Xiu wrote to Liu Biao to urge him to cut off his retreat so that he might be utterly destroyed.

  Liu Biao was beginning to prepare an army for this purpose when a scout came to say that Sun Ce had encamped at the mouth of the river. His advisor Kuai Liang proposed that the expedition depart immediately, arguing that Sun Ce’s move was part of Cao Cao’s strategy to pose an appearance of threat so as to discourage them from pursuing him.

  “Cao Cao would certainly come to our harm if he were allowed to escape this time,” concluded Kuai Liang.

  Therefore Liu Biao moved out with his army to camp at Anzhong to block Cao Cao’s way of retreat, leaving Huang Zu behind to hold firmly the point of vantage. Zhang Xiu, having been informed of his ally’s movement, went with Jia Xu to smite Cao Cao once more.

  In the meantime Cao Cao’s army, marching at a slow pace, had arrived at the Yu River. Suddenly he uttered a great cry, and when his officers asked him the reason, he replied, “I remember that it was here, only a year ago, that I lost my great warrior Dian Wei. I cannot hold back my tears.”

  Therefor
e he gave orders to halt while he administered a solemn memorial service to lament over his lost hero. At the ceremony he himself burned incense and wailed and bowed. The army was much affected by his devotion. After that he offered sacrifices to his deceased nephew and his eldest son, as well as all his lost soldiers—and even his steed, which had been killed by an arrow.

  The next day a messenger sent by Xun Yu came from the capital with the news that Liu Biao had gone to Zhang Xiu’s assistance and was camped at Anzhong, thereby cutting his road of retreat. In his letter to his advisor Cao Cao stated: “I have been marching only a short distance each day and of course knew of the pursuit. But my plans are laid and, as I get near Anzhong, my enemy will be broken. You need not have any fears.”

  Then he hastened his march till he came close to where Liu Biao had taken up position. Zhang Xiu still followed. During the night, Cao Cao ordered his men to open a secret way through a pass, where he laid an ambush.

  With the first light of dawn the two armies of Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu met. As Cao Cao’s force looked small, they thought he had escaped so they boldly advanced into the pass to smite him. All at once the ambushed soldiers rushed out and both the attackers’ forces were badly mauled. The fighting ended, Cao Cao’s men left the pass and encamped.

  Meanwhile, the two defeated leaders collected together their beaten men and held a conference.

  “How come we fell for his wicked ruse?” said Liu Biao in disbelief.

  “We will try to get him again,” replied his colleague.

  And so they joined forces at Anzhong.

  But at that time Xun Yu discovered through his spies that Yuan Shao was preparing an attack on the capital, so he at once wrote to Cao Cao who, much disturbed by this news, set out homeward at once. When Zhang Xiu heard this through his scouts he wanted to follow the retreating army. Jia Xu strongly opposed the idea and said it would surely lead to a defeat. However, Liu Biao was also of the opinion that it was wrong to lose such a chance and so finally pursuit was decided upon.