Chapter 8: The Great Battle with Lü Bu
As mentioned earlier, Liu Biao followed the suggestion of Jing Liang and colluded with Dong Zhuo to attack Yangping Pass in Yizhou. Xu Huan defended it desperately while waiting for reinforcements. Liu Bei ordered Guan Yu as the commander-in-chief and Guo Jia as the military strategist to lead an army of 160,000 soldiers to rescue Yangping Pass. On another front, Liu Bei personally wrote a letter to Li Yu informing him of the situation in Yizhou. Li Yu was anxious to immediately persuade Sun Jian and Liu Bei to stop fighting and make peace. However, both Sun Jian and Liu Biao refused to accept Li Yu's mediation and Liu Biao even refused to stop fighting. Li Yu became enraged and held his halberd in hand, while Zhang Ren, Wu Anguo, Cheng Yuanzhi, and Deng Mao had also made preparations. At this moment, with just one order from Li Yu, the lives of Liu Biao and Sun Jian would be at stake.
Here is the translation:
Li Yu saw that all the generals under his command were standing up and clapping, so he said: "You all sit down, this is a matter of national importance, it's not something you can decide! Everything will be decided by me!" Zhang Ren, Wu Anguo, Cheng Yuanzhi, and Deng Mao, the four generals, had no choice but to return to their seats. However, at this time, the atmosphere in the tent was tense, as if there were gunpowder in the air. After all, Li Yu had already informed them that something had changed in Yizhou, and Dong Zhuo was leading an army of 300,000 to attack Yangping Pass fiercely. The King of Hanxing had no choice but to send two generals, Guan Yu and Gongsun Zan, to lead an army of 160,000 to support Yangping Pass. It could be said that all the soldiers in Yizhou were already eager to return home.
Li Yu was furious in his heart, thinking to himself: "I advised you two families not to fight each other, for the sake of the Han dynasty's prosperity! But neither of you listened, so it's even better this way. I have a plan, and everything will be decided by heaven."
Liu Biao asked: "What is your plan, General?"
Sun Jian replied directly: "Whether we fight or make peace, it's all up to the Han dynasty's fate!"
Li Yu saw that the two leaders were speaking in this manner, so he burst out laughing and said: "Bring me my halberd!" The soldiers on either side replied: "Yes, sir!" Li Yu ordered them to plant his halberd 150 steps outside the tent. The two soldiers didn't dare to delay, took the halberd from Li Yu's hand, and ran to plant it outside the tent. Because the halberd was heavy, they were panting when they returned.
When the two soldiers reported back to Li Yu that everything was ready, he finally sat down in his seat.
Liu Yu said, "Now the governor of Jingzhou and General Sun Jian can drink and chat first. We'll discuss this matter later!" After all, Liu Yu didn't have as much confidence as Lü Bu, although he also had the ability to shoot accurately from a hundred paces. If this matter could be resolved without resorting to violence, Liu Yu would rather not take the risk! Sun Jian and Liu Biao, the two commanders-in-chief, could only pretend to get along with Liu Yu on the surface while harboring different intentions in their hearts.
At this time, Li Yu's wife, Wang Xue, rushed into the main account and said: "Husband is not good! Sun Jian's Jiangdong army is in front and Liu Biao's Jingzhou army is behind, both are in our military camp, forming a pincer movement against us! There is a tendency to start a war! Husband, you should prepare early!" Sun Jian, who had contact with Li Yu, said: "Wife, don't talk nonsense, I have already ordered Han Xing to drink and feast before the account! It will not be like this!" Liu Biao also hastened to explain himself, saying: "Yes! Brother-in-law, I also told Jingliang military advisor to drink and feast at your place before leaving the city!" Wang Xue smiled coldly and said: "This is your business!" Li Yu saw this and slammed his seat, angrily shouting: "Zhang Ren, Wu Anguo, Cheng Yuanzhi, Deng Mao! Four generals, listen to orders!" Zhang Ren, Wu Anguo, Cheng Yuanzhi, and Deng Mao immediately stood up from their seats and responded: "We are here!" Li Yu, still angry, ordered: "Zhang Ren, return to the front army and prepare for battle! Cheng Yuanzhi, return to the left wing army and prepare to launch a surprise attack on the Jiangdong army! I will give one order, you two will lead the entire army to attack!" Zhang Ren and Cheng Yuanzhi dared not delay and immediately returned to their troops! Li Yu continued to order: "Wu Anguo, return to the rear account, Deng Mao, return to the right wing, prepare to fight against the Jingzhou army team! Just wait for my one order, prepare to start a war with the Jingzhou army team!" Wu Anguo and Deng Mao stood up, obeyed orders, and returned to their camps to prepare! Li Yu continued: "Tian Feng, listen to orders!" Tian Feng stood up and said: "I am here!" Li Yu said: "Immediately write three letters, one sent to the Jiangdong army, telling them that if they dare to make a move, I will kill Sun Wentai first! One sent to the Jingzhou army, telling them that if they dare to start a war, Liu Biao's head will be left in our army! One sent by a brave general, riding a fast horse out of the right wing, straight to Xia Mengguan, to Zhang Yide, telling him to prepare 200,000 soldiers and horses, I want to take Jingzhou first, then attack Jiangdong!" Tian Feng saw Li Yu's determination and replied: "I will follow the great general's orders!" Moreover, Li Yu issued an order, which shocked Sun Jian and Liu Biao. He ordered his men to forcibly disarm Liu Biao, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, and Sun Jian! This was telling them not to be arrogant! Arrogance would lead to their downfall today! And Tian Feng did not hesitate, saying that he would write the three letters immediately in front of Sun Jian and Liu Biao!
Here is the translation:
Now it's Liu Biao and Sun Jian's turn to be stunned. They didn't expect Li Yu to react like this, but instead of intimidating him, they ended up provoking him. Li Yu's current attitude makes it clear that he has no intention of negotiating a truce between the two sides. This is clearly a declaration of war!
The two commanders of the Jingzhou army and the Jiangdong army are stunned. They didn't expect Li Yu to be so overbearing, daring to resist their armies with his 50,000 troops. This is a huge mismatch in military strength! What's more, Li Yu even sent someone to tell both sides that if they dare to start fighting first, he will execute the commanders of both armies as a warning. This is blatant intimidation!
Li Yu's image is no longer that of a majestic and powerful commander-in-chief. Words like "sly", "coward", "thug", and "rascal" are now fitting descriptions of him. What's more, he even had Liu Biao and Cai Mao's weapons taken away, although they weren't bound. This is almost as good as being imprisoned!
Liu Biao saw this and immediately smiled slyly, saying: "Han Xing, what's going on? This is too much!" Li Yu retorted with a single sentence that left Liu Biao speechless: "You think I won't scold you? You're really loyal, aren't you? You collaborated with Dong Zhuo, the traitor of the Han dynasty, and attacked Yangping Pass. I know you won't admit it! Do you think I'm an idiot? I came all the way here for your sake, and this is how you treat me? Did you even offer me a cup of tea?"
Liu Biao was stunned, and Li Yu continued: "I'll have my wife tell the archers to prepare for battle. You can watch from the sidelines!" Wang Xue smiled and said: "This performance isn't bad. I'll go prepare the archers." She turned around and walked out.
Everyone in the main tent couldn't help but laugh, including Liu Biao, Cai Mao, Sun Jian, and even Tian Feng. Li Yu glared at them and said: "You're all laughing now, but soon you'll be crying. I'll have you all stewed with pork and noodles!" (If you were really by my side, I think I would make jokes like this with you too! After all, you used to bully me a lot in the past, and I've gotten used to it!)
The five people were stunned again, and Li Yu's words made them feel like they were being called pigs. Even Tian Feng was affected this time, but he didn't dare get angry because Jian Yong had told him earlier that Li Yu was afraid of his wife Wang Xue, and every time he got scolded by her, he would find someone to vent his anger on. It seemed that Tian Feng was also a target for Li Yu's venting.
Tian Feng could only lower his head and continue writing letters, trying to stifle his laughter. After a while, three letters were written, and Sun Jian and Liu Biao, fearing that Li Yu would really kill them, each wrote a letter to their respective commanders, ordering them to retreat. Li Yu had someone deliver the letters to both sides.
(Note: The translation is quite long, so I'll stop here for now. If you'd like me to continue translating the rest of the text, please let me know!)
Sun Jian's army on the east of the river, led by Han Dang and Huang Gai, retreated ten miles after seeing Li Yu's letter to show their sincerity. The military advisor of Jingzhou, Jing Liang, knowing this, hastily retreated back into the city!
The atmosphere finally improved slightly, Sun Jian and Liu Biao's anger subsided a bit, Li Yu also smiled, and continued to return to the commander's seat to drink! Liu Biao and Sun Jian had no choice but to sit down together.
Li Yu saw that the timing was almost right, and if he delayed any further, today would pass just like this. He then turned to Liu Bei and Sun Jian and said: "I originally intended to advise reconciliation, but I didn't expect your two armies to be so rude earlier. For the sake of Han's prosperity, please forgive me!" Sun Jian and Liu Bei hastily replied: "It was our subordinates who were ignorant, which enraged the General!" and other similar words! The atmosphere only completely turned around then, but Sun Jian and Liu Bei still felt uneasy in their hearts, after all, Li Yu's earlier outburst had frightened them! Li Yu continued to say: "Let's get back to the topic. My Sky-Painting Halberd is standing outside the gate, 150 steps away from the central army. If I shoot an arrow and hit the small branch of the halberd, you two will stop fighting. If I don't hit it, each of you will return to your camp and prepare for battle. I won't interfere with this matter, and I'll take my troops back to Yi Province. But if there's anyone who doesn't follow my words, I'll join forces to resist them." Liu Bei thought to himself: "The halberd is 150 steps away, how can he possibly hit it? Moreover, I'll agree for now. When he misses, that's when I'll fight. Just like the military strategist of Jing Province said, one move will take Jiangdong!" As soon as Liu Bei thought of this, he agreed to it. Sun Jian was currently at a disadvantage and had no choice but to agree. Li Yu made both sides sit down again and each drink a cup of wine. After finishing the wine, Li Yu ordered his attendants to bring over his bow and arrow. Sun Jian secretly prayed: "If my Sun family can rise in Jiangdong, I only hope that Li Yu's arrow will hit the halberd!" Liu Bei didn't believe at all that Li Yu had this skill, so he continued drinking wine and eating meat! In fact, Li Yu himself wasn't entirely confident either. He had secretly practiced a few times over the past few days and had a success rate of over 70%. Due to the urgent situation of Dong Zhuo's army attacking Yangping Pass in Yi Province, Li Yu had no choice but to take this risk!
Only to see Li Yu roll up his sleeves, take over the precious bow and arrow sent by the left and right guards! Slowly opening the bow and placing the arrow, slowly drawing the full bow, with eyes fixed on the small branch of Fang Tian's halberd, shouting loudly: "Come on, little treasure!" It is: The bow opens like an autumn moon moving across the sky, the arrow goes like a shooting star falling to the ground. One arrow hits the small branch of the halberd. The officers and soldiers above and below the account, all cheered in unison. Later generations have poems praising him, saying: "The divine shot of the Han Dynasty is rare in the world, once at the gate of the chariot, he single-handedly resolved the crisis. At sunset, he actually surpassed Hou Yi, the number one archer, and wanted to win over You Ji. The tiger's tendon vibrated with the bow opening, the eagle's wings flew with the arrow arriving. The leopard's tail shook through the halberd, a hundred million soldiers took off their armor."
When Li Yu shot the middle of the painting, he burst out laughing and said, "I'm beautiful! I'm beautiful!" As he walked, he threw his bow to the ground and sang. He walked in front of Sun Jian and Liu Biao. Holding their hands, he said, "This is heaven's order for you two families to stop fighting!" Tian Feng saw that the timing was ripe and ordered the soldiers to bring wine, saying, "Celebrate the great general's divine arrow! This will make Sun and Liu stop fighting and make peace!" Li Yu, Liu Biao, and Sun Jian each drank a large cup of wine. Sun Jian secretly felt ashamed and thanked Li Yu. Liu Biao saw that the cooked duck had flown away and was silent for a moment before saying to Li Yu, "The general's words are not to be disobeyed; but now that Jingzhou has won, how can we convince the people of Jingzhou? Sun Jian has attacked several cities, and it's hard to explain this to the military and civilians of Jingzhou!" Li Yu saw this and said, "This is easy! I'll take responsibility myself. Let Wen Tai return to you, and I'll also send some military grain and grass as compensation." Sun Jian could only nod in agreement when he heard Li Yu say this. Liu Biao also had no choice but to stop fighting when he saw Sun Jian agree. The two families wrote a treaty of alliance in front of Li Yu. Actually, Li Yu let Sun Jian spit out the meat that was already in his mouth because he was afraid that Sun Jian would become too powerful! The three of them drank wine and chatted for several rounds. Liu Biao's military advisor, Jingliang, repeatedly sent people to ask Liu Biao to return. Liu Biao could only use this as an excuse to bid farewell to Li Yu. After Liu Biao left, Li Yu said to Sun Jian, "If it weren't for me, Wen Tai would be in danger!" Sun Jian thanked Li Yu and returned alone to his own army, preparing to retreat back to Jiangdong.
The next day, the three armies dispersed. Liu Biao led his troops back to Xiangyang, fearing that others would recover their lost territory. Sun Jian led his troops back to Jiangdong! Li Yu took advantage of the situation and ordered Zhang Ren to lead 10,000 soldiers as the vanguard, Wu Anguo to lead 10,000 soldiers as the left wing, Cheng Yuanzhi to lead 10,000 soldiers as the right wing, Deng Mao to lead 10,000 soldiers as the rear army, Li Yu himself led his wife Wang Xue and General Tian Feng with 10,000 soldiers as the central army, hastening back to Yizhou. At the same time, he sent someone to deliver a message to the Hanxing Palace in Chengdu, telling Liu Bei that he was already on his way back, while ordering three generals Zhang Fei to repeatedly enter and exit the Xiaomang Pass, creating the illusion of continuous reinforcements at the Xiaomang Pass, confusing Liu Biao and not allowing him to make any rash moves in Jingzhou.
On the other hand, after General Guan Yu led his troops to reinforce Yangping Gate, Xu Huan's pressure was greatly reduced. However, Dong Zhuo became frantic and feared that Li Jue would lead his army back to reinforce Yangping Gate. Day and night, he ordered Guo Si and Li Ru to launch a fierce attack on Yangping Gate in batches. Dong Zhuo was determined to retake Yangping Gate before Li Jue's troops arrived.
On the other side, Xu Huang ordered his soldiers to defend against the attacks of Dong Zhuo's army led by Guo Si and Li Jue day and night. After a long time, even if they were exhausted, they would still have to hold on until Guan Yu arrived with reinforcements, allowing the soldiers to take turns resting. Yan Yan, the old general, could also take over from Xu Huang. Dong Zhuo's allied forces had been stuck at Yangping Pass for nearly half a month, unable to advance even half a step.
Dong Zhuo flew into a rage and ignored the advice of his son-in-law, Li Ru. He ordered Lü Bu to lead troops in challenging the enemy at Yangping Gate while continuing to order Guo Si and Li Jue to launch a fierce attack! Dong Zhuo's plan was quite clever, as Lü Bu's challenge had a significant impact on the morale of the Shu army. This allowed Guo Si and Li Jue's attack to achieve some success, with several near-misses in breaching the north city gate, but were ultimately repelled by Xu Huang and Yan Yan's desperate defense.
Half a month of fighting, the corpses piled up like mountains under Yangping Pass, emitting waves of stench. Many, many were from Dong Zhuo's side, and only a small part were soldiers from Liu Bei's Yizhou army! Xu Huan and Yan Yan defended day and night on the city tower, ordering soldiers to boil water, chop down trees, and dig up stones, preparing for a long-term battle! Meanwhile, Guo Jia ordered Fa Zheng to lead the medical team in an emergency rescue operation for the wounded!
Guan Yu and Guo Jia discussed: "Although Yangping Pass is still in our hands, the current loss of our army is extremely severe. Although it's not as big as Dong Zhuo's army, nearly 40,000 out of 50,000 soldiers from Yizhou have been lost! If this continues, how can we hold on to Yangping Pass with Dong Zhuo's numerous troops? If Yangping Pass falls, then Zitong will be in danger too! Zitong is the last barrier for the capital of Chengdu, the Han Emperor Xian!"
Guo Jia said, "Lü Bu is exceptionally brave and fierce. If we fight him head-on and are at a disadvantage, Yangping Gate will surely be lost! Now our army has only one plan that can be implemented, but it's quite dangerous!"
"Please ask the military advisor what plan he has in mind?"
"We still have 170,000 troops. Let General Yan Yan lead 20,000 soldiers to guard Yangping Pass, and let General Xu Huang lead 20,000 cavalrymen to attack Guo Si's camp at midnight. The commander-in-chief will lead 30,000 cavalrymen to attack Li Kui's camp! When Lü Bu comes to reinforce the commander-in-chief and General Gongming, you can lead your troops back. I will personally lead 100,000 soldiers to build a tower at Yangping Pass to shoot arrows at the enemy's formation! This will boost the morale of our army! However, remember that when you encounter Lü Bu, you must retreat. If either of you fails, Yangping Pass will be in danger!"
"Ha! You're worrying too much about military affairs. Now that I've received the king's order, I'll definitely view death as a return home! What's there to fear from Lü Bu? If we show fear before those three families' slaves, won't it damage our army's prestige?"
Guo Jia saw Guan Gong say so, had to take out an object. Someone said what object, Han Xing Wang Liu Bei gave Guo Jia a secret edict. Guo Jia was also helpless, he knew that Guan Gong looked down on the heroes of the world, although he also knew that Lü Bu was brave, but Guan Er Ye was a pure Han character with iron bones. Under helplessness, he asked for this secret edict in front of Han Xing Wang Liu Bei before going out to battle. Guo Jia said: "The secret edict of the Han Xing King is here, General Guan Gong listen to the order!"
"Upon hearing this, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei immediately dismounted their horses and bowed to receive the order. Guo Jia read out Liu Bei's secret edict: 'Now that Yangping Pass is in danger, I am extremely worried about my two brothers. I fear that you may suffer a loss, at this critical juncture of life and death, my two brothers must follow the orders of Imperial Chancellor Guo Jia! If you do not obey, I, Xuan De, will never see you again even if it means losing the entire world! I value Zhang Fei as much as the entire world, I would rather lose the world than lose my two brothers!"
Lord Guan and Lord Guan the Second heard Liu Bei's secret decree, which was written in this way: "Tears flowed across his face. Indeed, Liu Bei wrote a good letter. He did not use imperial orders to force Lord Guan the Second to follow Guo Jia's command, but rather used fraternal affection and brotherly love to persuade Lord Guan to cherish his life and listen to Guo Jia's suggestion! And yet, Lord Guan valued loyalty above all else; how could he not heed this reasoning? Lord Guan covered his face with his hand and said to Guo Jia: "Everything will be decided by filial piety!"
This is Guo Jia's helpless request for a secret order, and General Guan led a midnight raid on the enemy camp!
My heart belongs to you, it has never changed. If you cherish me, you should return early!
