Chapter 29: The Battle of Qishan Pass
Here is the translation:
Moreover, Guo Si led his troops to attack Xiakou Pass for nearly half a month, but until today, Xiakou Pass still belonged to Liu Bei. This made Dong Zhuo extremely angry, and he wrote a letter to Guo Si saying that with an army of 100,000, you have been attacking Xiakou Pass for five days and still haven't taken it down. What are you eating? Guo Si had no choice but to say that the defenders of the pass, Ji Yi and Huo E, were using unconventional tactics, and Xiakou Pass was now like a copper wall and iron fortress after Liu Bei's repairs. If they wanted to take Xiakou Pass, they would have to add 50,000 to 100,000 more troops.
Dong Zhuo saw that both fronts were still unable to break through, so he ordered his famous general Zhang Liao to lead an army of 50,000 to reinforce Guo Si at Xishui Pass. Zhang Liao (169-222 AD), also known as Wen Yuan, was from Yanmen, Mai County (now Shuozhou, Shanxi). He was a renowned general of the Three Kingdoms period and one of Cao Wei's "Five Elite Generals" along with Yue Jin, Yu Jin, Zhang He, and Xu Huang. He had previously served under Ding Yuan, Dong Zhuo, and Lü Bu.
Zhang Liao followed Cao Cao on his conquests, accumulating many merits. He fought alongside Guan Yu to lift the siege of Baima, defeated Chen Gong in Donghai, attacked Yuan Shang in Handan, and killed the Wuhuan chieftain, Kebineng, at Liucheng. He also pacified the bandits Mei Cheng and Chen Lan.
After Cao Cao's defeat at Red Cliffs, Zhang Liao was left to defend Heifei along with Li Dian, Yue Jin, and others. They successfully repelled Sun Quan's army of 100,000, and Zhang Liao's reputation shook the Jiangdong region. In the third year of Huangchu (222 AD), Zhang Liao fell ill and died in Jiangdu, posthumously titled "Gong Hou". He was 54 years old.
It can be said that Zhang Liao was a famous general, but Dong Zhuo did not recognize his talent. It wasn't until the previous battle at Yangping Pass, where many of Dong Zhuo's veteran generals were killed or wounded, that Zhang Liao had the opportunity to lead troops on his own. When Zhang Liao received Dong Zhuo's order, he didn't dare delay and immediately led his army to rush to Xiakou Pass.
At this time, Dong Zhuo was also feeling frustrated. He had led an army of 400,000 to attack Xiangyang, but until now, they hadn't even touched the city walls. Although they had taken down several arrow towers built by Xu Huang, they were useless because the outside was made of cement and the inside was wood. As soon as Dong Zhuo's army took down an arrow tower, the soldiers would retreat through the iron bridge above and burn down the tower. In the end, many of Dong Zhuo's soldiers were burned to death.
The defense layout of Xiakou Pass was similar to that of Xiangyang. Until recently, Guo Si had only managed to take down a few arrow towers on the outskirts of Xiakou Pass because Ji Yi didn't dare build too many due to the limited number of troops in Xiakou Pass. This would have given Guo Si opportunities to attack and break through.
However, this was something that Dong Zhuo did not know.
On this day, Ji Yi was sitting in the main hall with Huo E by his side when a scout came to report: "General, it's not good! Today, Dong Zhuo has sent General Zhang Liao to lead an army of 50,000 to reinforce Guo Si's troops attacking Xiakou Pass. Zhang Liao's reinforcements are only 100 li away!"
Huo E was shocked when he heard this, but Ji Yi remained calm and composed, not changing his expression. He took the command token and threw it at the scout, ordering him to go and gather more information.
Huoguo saw that Ji Yi was so anxious and slightly relieved, saying: "General, as the commander of Qishan Pass, the current situation is very critical for Qishan Pass. You should immediately write a letter to Han Xingwang and ask for reinforcements!"
The translation is:
After Ji Yi nodded in agreement, he ordered the flag officer to go out and instruct the Chess Pavilion to bring all the civilians from outside the city into the city to live, and to dismantle their houses. He also ordered each camp to guard the city tightly. He then sent a flag to the market to buy earthen jars at official prices, with one jar placed on each battlement. He ordered the soldiers to build ten furnaces on the city wall. He also ordered the manufacture of 10,000 toilets, which were filled with human excrement. He took 10,000 thick bamboo sticks and 100,000 thin bamboo sticks, as well as over 10,000 pounds of cotton and rags, to make a type of fire lance. On one hand, he ordered the closure of the city gate and the removal of steel from the warehouse, which was forged into iron hooks in the shape of a net. He also took out several thousand buckets of poison from the warehouse, mixed it with human excrement, and placed it in pots on the city wall to boil. The plan was to pour the boiling excrement down when Dong Zhuo's army arrived at the foot of the city wall. If Dong Zhuo's soldiers were splashed with this excrement, they would immediately rot to death. At night, he spread out iron hooks on top of the city gate to prevent Dong Zhuo's soldiers from climbing up. After finishing these preparations, Ji Yi personally drafted an urgent letter and sent it to Chengdu overnight, requesting Han Xing Wang to send more troops to rescue Qi Mountain Pass. Ji Yi was worried that if the reinforcements were late, they would lose Qi Mountain Pass, which would make it difficult to defend Yizhou. He couldn't rest easy, so he drafted two more urgent letters, one sent to Li Yu's army and the other to Zong Yuan, who was stationed in Zitong, asking them to send troops to assist. After sending out these messengers, Ji Yi personally led his three armies to guard the city day and night.
Two flowers bloomed, each on a branch. In the book, Ji Yi and Huo Go were preparing to defend the city. Meanwhile, Zhang Liao led his troops, rolling in continuously, and arrived at the border of Qishan Pass. Guo Si personally went twenty miles to welcome him, set up camp and merged with Zhang Liao's army. Ji Yi watched from the city wall as Zhang Liao deployed his troops, indeed different from Guo Si, and felt that he had met a formidable enemy, knowing that Zhang Liao was fierce.
Only to see Zhang Liao's troops filling the sky with strange fog and rising yellow sand everywhere. The sound of the fierce wind blowing in the killing intent, and seeing the 50,000 soldiers' morale surge high. Unlike Guo Si's army, which was generally gloomy and lifeless. Again, Zhang Liao's soldiers were all adorned with goose feather arrows, horse necks with layered tassels. The flags and banners were mixed up, making it hard to distinguish between red, white, blue, and yellow; the weapons were scattered everywhere, making it difficult to tell apart swords, spears, and halberds. Truly, the rolling dust rose from the ground, and the surging killing intent covered the sky.
"Brother, this battle is not easy! Now we can only hold out at the Qi Mountain Pass and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out. Our 16 arrow towers on the outer perimeter have been cleared by Guo Zhan. Although our losses were small in the battle of the outer arrow towers, and we inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy, we still lost nearly three thousand soldiers. Now we only have six arrow towers left before the Qi Mountain Pass, which can form a horn-shaped formation with the city walls. They will respond to each other from afar, but after all, the enemy has three times our numbers. Everything depends on General Li winning at the Lower Bian City, and then we can turn the situation around. Now we can only do our best not to drag down the battle of Lower Bian!"
Huang Gai nodded and said, "Now that we have dispersed Dong Zhuo's 150,000 troops at Xiapi Pass, there are still 350,000 Dong Zhuo troops left in Xuchang. With 100,000 defenders in Xuchang and 50,000 troops from Yangping Pass who can respond at any time, plus the 100,000 troops led by the Grand Marshal to reinforce us, we have a total of 250,000 troops in Xuchang. Although Dong Zhuo's army has 100,000 more troops than us, the gap between us has narrowed significantly, and we've done our best!"
Two men were discussing countermeasures on Mount Qi, talking about the current situation of the war, but they did not know that Li Yu would take a different approach and open two battlefields to annihilate Dong Zhuo's army with 30 million soldiers. This bold move was unexpected by Ji Yi and Huo Ge, let alone Liu Bei in Chengdu and Dong Zhuo who was trapped in Xiangyang City by Xu Huang's ambushes and arrow towers.
The soldiers on the city wall were all veteran soldiers who had survived a hundred battles, and none of them were afraid when they saw Dong Zhuo's army. Some wanted to take advantage of Dong Zhuo's army being newly arrived from afar and go out to attack them. Ju Yi said: "At this time, their morale is high, we should just defend firmly and delay for time, either wait for the rescue troops to arrive or wait for the great general to defeat Dong Zhuo below. If either of these happens, Guishan Pass will be won!" At that time, all the generals followed orders and defended, waiting specifically for the rescue troops!
Here is the translation:
Moreover, Dong Zhuo's army was mostly from Xiliang. Guo Si brought Zhang Liao to a cowhide tent and had him sit down. Zhang Liao asked Guo Si, "General Guo, who is guarding this Ji Mountain Pass that it's so hard to attack?" Guo Si shook his head and said, "The commander of Ji Mountain Pass is Ji Yi. I underestimated him, he's extremely skilled in using troops." Zhang Liao said, "Oh! I've heard of him too, originally a general under Yuan Shao, but now he's surrendered to Liu Bei. It seems like another surrendered minister, why would Liu Bei value him so much?" Guo Si said, "Ah, this man is a loyal and good general from Yizhou. He was recommended by Li Yu to replace Zhao Yun as the commander of Ji Mountain Pass! His deputy, Huo Xu, is also a good general!" Zhang Liao saw that Guo Si's morale was low and his troops were not in high spirits, so he cupped his hands and said, "General, don't be like this. Today we'll just pass it by, tomorrow I'll go meet Ji Yi." At the time, he immediately passed down orders for the whole army to cook their meals. At the third watch, Zhang Liao was afraid that Ji Yi would come to raid the camp, so he ordered the whole army to strengthen their vigilance! But Ji Yi didn't come, actually Huo Xu wanted to come, but Ji Yi saw that Zhang Liao's troops were in high spirits and his heart also added a bit of caution towards Zhang Liao, so he didn't agree with Huo Xu's suggestion. Luckily he didn't agree, if he did, Huo Xu would have gone and wouldn't have returned! The next day was clear, Zhang Liao personally led 5,000 troops, along with General Guo Si, out of the camp. Dong Zhuo's soldiers blew their horns and beat their war drums, killing their way to the city gate. Ji Yi ordered Huo Xu, "Please guard the city carefully, I'll go meet Zhang Liao." At the time, he went down from the city wall, holding his spear, mounted his horse, opened the city gate, lowered the drawbridge, and a cannon sounded. With one horse and one spear, he appeared in front of the army formation. He looked up and saw that Zhang Liao was over 1.8 meters tall, with two strands of whiskers floating on his chest, a pair of eyes shining brightly, holding a large knife that was not inferior to Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade, sitting on a war horse that was one in ten thousand, truly having the aura of a hero! It could be said that he was a hero reborn!
Zhang Liao saw a lone rider emerge from the gate of Qishan Pass and shouted, "Could it be that you are General Ji Yi?" Ji Yi replied, "Indeed! I am Ji Yi, the commander of Qishan Pass!" Zhang Liao took a look at Ji Yi and saw that he wore a crimson helmet with a large red tassel on top, and his body was clad in linked iron armor. His quiver was full of arrows like stars, and his bow case contained bows as curved as the moon. He truly had the air of a hero, unmatched in the world; his talent stood out among others, and he was a true hero!
Here is the translation:
Zhang Liao thought to himself, "Indeed, Yi Province has many heroes, and this person is no exception. Just by looking at the layout of the six arrow towers in front of Qi Mountain Pass, I can tell that he is a skilled military strategist." Zhang Liao then spoke up, saying, "General Ji! My lord, Dong Zhuo, is the Grand Marshal of the Han Dynasty, and he has led an army of 50,000 to take over Yi Province. This Qi Mountain Pass is our first target. I have heard that you are a brave warrior, so I have come to persuade you to surrender to my lord. If you do, you will be rewarded with high office and wealth." Ji was furious at Zhang Liao's words and shouted, "Who are you? How dare you speak such nonsense! Report your name at once!" Zhang Liao replied, "I am none other than Zhang Liao, the Eastern Conquering General under Dong Zhuo's command. I have come to take over Qi Mountain Pass with an army of 50,000." Ji shouted back, "How dare you! The Han Dynasty owes its existence to my lord, Liu Bei, who has fought bravely against the Yellow Turbans and was rewarded with the title of King of Han. He is a just and fair ruler, and his kindness extends far and wide. You are nothing but a rebel, leading an army without a just cause, invading our borders, and exhausting our troops. What kind of logic is this?" Zhang Liao retorted, "You are mistaken, General! The world belongs to whoever has the most virtue. Your lord, Liu Bei, is cruel and unjust, killing his own generals and harming innocent people. That's why my lord, Dong Zhuo, has risen up with a righteous army to save the people from suffering. You should surrender now and follow the will of heaven, or else you will lose your title and your city will be destroyed." Ji was enraged at Zhang Liao's words and shouted, "You insolent slave! How dare you speak such nonsense! My lord, Li Yu, is still alive, and he has led a great army to defeat our enemies. You are the one who should retreat now, or else I will strike you down with my spear!" Ji charged at Zhang Liao with his spear, but Zhang Liao parried it with his sword and counterattacked. The two fought for several rounds, but Zhang Liao was a superior warrior, on the same level as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun. Ji was no match for him and could only last for about ten rounds before retreating in defeat. As he turned to flee, Zhang Liao chased after him, but Ji shouted to his comrade, Huo Jie, who was on the city wall, "Quickly release the arrows!" The arrow towers released a hail of arrows, forcing Zhang Liao to retreat. Ji entered the city and immediately told Huo Jie, "This Zhang Liao is indeed a formidable opponent, brave and unbeatable. We must be careful not to underestimate him."
Here is the translation:
Zhang Liao saw that he couldn't catch up to Ji Yi, so he had no choice but to retreat and return to camp. Meanwhile, Zhang Liao gathered his troops and returned to camp, where General Guo Si asked him, "Just now, I saw that Ji Yi was fleeing alone on horseback. Why didn't you pursue him? Wouldn't it be easy to capture the Qi Mountain Pass?" Zhang Liao knew that Guo Si suspected him, so he replied, "Ji Yi dared to come out alone, so there must be an ambush. Besides, he shot arrows at me, so what's the point of chasing him?"
Guo Si listened to Zhang Liao's response and stroked his beard, saying, "Your words make sense. But with today's defeat, I think Ji Yi won't dare come out of the pass again!" After a night passed, on the next day, Zhang Liao went to the city wall to challenge Ji Yi to battle. Ji Yi saw Zhang Liao coming and immediately hung up the "免战牌" (a sign indicating that he would not engage in battle). No matter how much Zhang Liao taunted him, Ji Yi refused to come out.
For three days, Guo Si grew anxious and ordered Zhang Liao to personally oversee the construction of a cloud ladder. In less than three days, the cloud ladder was completed, and Zhang Liao came to report to Guo Si. Guo Si immediately ordered Zhang Liao to lead 20,000 elite soldiers as the vanguard, while he himself led 50,000 troops as the rear guard.
As they approached the Qi Mountain Pass, Ji Yi's six arrow towers on the outside of the pass shot arrows at them. Zhang Liao saw this and personally led his army forward, ordering them to raise their shields to block the arrows from the towers. Zhang Liao's tactics were different from Guo Si's; while Guo Si attacked each tower one by one, Zhang Liao focused on a single point. He didn't try to capture the six arrow towers outside the pass but instead aimed to seize the Qi Mountain Pass and let Guo Si's army deal with the towers later.
Many of Zhang Liao's soldiers were killed by the arrows, but he led his troops forward, and soon they reached the moat below the city wall. Zhang Liao ordered his soldiers to lower the cloud ladder into the water, creating a makeshift bridge for the troops to cross. The cloud ladder was then pulled up against the city wall, and 20,000 soldiers climbed up.
Just as they were about to reach the top of the wall, there was no response from the defenders. Zhang Liao wondered if Ji Yi had fled, but just as he thought this, a cannon fired from above, and a wave of filth poured down, knocking the soldiers off the cloud ladder. The defenders pulled the cloud ladder up onto the city wall.
Zhang Liao was shocked and saw that Guo Si's army was also being attacked by the six arrow towers and couldn't come to his aid. With rocks and stones falling from above, Zhang Liao realized that his own losses would be severe if he didn't retreat quickly. He immediately ordered his troops to withdraw.
As they retreated, Ji Yi had already set up an ambush with 10,000 cavalrymen under the command of Huo Jie. Ji Yi had instructed Huo Jie not to engage in close combat and to retreat as soon as they drove Zhang Liao's army out of range of the arrow towers.
Huo Jie led his troops in a fierce attack, and Zhang Liao saw that he was surrounded by the arrow towers in front and pursued by cavalry from behind. He personally took up his sword and fought off the enemy, but Huo Jie ignored him and continued to attack. In no time at all, Zhang Liao's army suffered heavy casualties, with over half of his soldiers killed or wounded.
Guo Si saw that Zhang Liao was in trouble but didn't come to his aid; instead, he retreated back to camp. Zhang Liao fought bravely, and finally, his remaining 5,000 soldiers broke through the range of the arrow towers. Huo Jie's cavalry pursued them for a while before retreating.
Zhang Liao returned to Guo Si's tent, furious, but Guo Si didn't give him a chance to speak. As soon as Zhang Liao arrived, Guo Si asked him, "I saw that your army was about to climb the city wall today, but then those soldiers fell off and died. What happened?" Zhang Liao replied angrily, "It's because Ji Yi used a poisonous substance called '腊汁' (a kind of sticky liquid) that kills anyone who comes into contact with it."
Guo Si was shocked and immediately ordered his troops to retreat 10 miles and set up camp.
Here is the translation:
Ji Yi saw Guo Huai retreat ten miles and immediately ordered his soldiers to take the head of the small Fan who had fallen dead. He gave orders on the city wall, opening up the cloud ladders and smashing them to pieces. It was a good opportunity to scald and boil the dung, but it's not worth mentioning.
Guo Huai discussed with Zhang Liao in his camp: "During the day, they climbed the city wall and threw out dung, making it difficult to avoid. At night, those arrow towers will lose some of their effectiveness. What do you think?" The plan was already set.
At dusk, Zhang Liao led two million soldiers to break through the blockade of the arrow towers. Strangely, the six arrow towers did not shoot any arrows and let Zhang Liao pass! Zhang Liao led his army with cloud ladders and arrived at the riverbank. He ordered his soldiers to climb up together.
Zhang Liao was overjoyed in the darkness, thinking: "This time we must take Ji Mountain Pass!" But before he could calm down from his excitement, a cannon sounded on the city wall, and suddenly lanterns and torches lit up the night like daylight. The heads of the small Fan were thrown down from the city wall.
Zhang Liao saw this and tears flowed from his eyes. He thought: "These soldiers have followed me for so long, how could they be killed by him tonight? Why?" At this time, the six arrow towers lit up like daytime, and Zhang Liao realized he had fallen into a trap. He immediately ordered his army to retreat and personally covered the rear.
Although Ji Yi did not send Hou Ge with cavalry to pursue, Zhang Liao's vanguard lost its command. Many soldiers were killed or injured by arrows, stones, and hot water from the arrow towers. Zhang Liao saw this and could only order his army to speed up their retreat.
Guo Huai also led his army to come and resolve the situation! After a fierce battle of two or three hours, Zhang Liao finally managed to kill his way back. At that time, less than 3,000 soldiers were left out of the original 20,000. In this one battle, Zhang Liao lost 17,000 soldiers!
Zhang Liao told Guo Si about the situation they encountered during this attack, but Guo Si didn't understand either. They had to wait until dawn to observe the city wall of Qishan Pass from a distance before realizing that there were bamboo poles supporting silk nets on top of the city wall, with inverted hooks hanging from the nets, which were flat and suspended in mid-air. The soldiers who climbed up the city wall couldn't see clearly in the dark and all got caught in the net, so they were all killed. Guo Si sighed at this sight, while Zhang Liao burst into tears upon seeing this scene. Guo Si had to persuade him repeatedly before he returned to the camp.
Guo Si and Zhang Liao thought to themselves that they had been attacking the Qi Mountain Pass for nearly twenty days, but had not succeeded, and instead many soldiers were injured, which was very frustrating.
Just then, reinforcements arrived at Guishan Pass! Who was it? The two generals Guan Yu and Zhang Ren, Gao Shun led 80,000 troops to come and wanted to follow Li Yu's plan to annihilate the 100,000 soldiers of Guo Si.
