The Long March

  The Long March

  Han calendar, Zhongping first year, July 20th.

  The morning sun had not yet risen, and the dark red clouds, moistened by dew, floated vaguely over the eastern plain. The cool air occasionally carried a few bird calls. The mountains were still submerged in the accumulating dawn sunlight, their outlines blurry, but like enormous creatures yawning, only needing a gentle breeze to reveal their startling forms.

  A moment later, the deep red sun burst out a ray of light in the fog, reflecting the peaks of the distant mountains in its own brilliance.

  Boom! A heavy drumbeat came from the depths of the plain, striking everyone's heart. Before long, another drumbeat sounded, and the earth seemed to be trembling slightly. The rhythm of the drumbeats grew faster and faster, slowly merging into a single line. Suddenly, the drumbeats stopped. On the horizon, a cloud of dust rose, followed by wave after wave of drumbeats, sometimes high, sometimes low, from slow to fast, increasingly urgent, finally stopping abruptly at the critical moment.

  After a moment of silence, boom, a dull yet thrilling sound came from afar. After another moment of silence, boom, another sound came from the direction where dust was rising. Gradually, these booming sounds grew faster and faster, and from the dust, a massive army emerged. In the glory of the rising sun, they marched from east to west.

  The formation was rectangular, with one hundred people in each row and one hundred fifty rows deep. Whether it was each row or each column, they all presented a straight line. The fifteen thousand-man formation was commanded by war drums on all four sides. Following the heavy drumbeats, not a single step deviated. Each step seemed to tread on the hearts of the spectators, producing an intense shockwave.

  Then the sound of horseshoes echoed, and 1,500 cavalrymen emerged from the dust on both sides, quickly gathering on the left and right wings of the infantry phalanx. Finally, the carts pulled by mules, carrying a train loaded with grain and fodder, as well as dismantled siege engines, followed by 2,000 soldiers slowly came out from behind the phalanx. In just an instant, the army of 20,000 was assembled.

  On the high mound in the west, Lu Zhi wore a dark-colored robe and nodded with satisfaction to the Lu Zhi standing behind him: "Zi Yu, this is the elite army personally selected by General Ben for you. Three thousand cavalry, fifteen thousand infantry, plus two thousand logistics soldiers carrying grain and siege equipment, a total of twenty thousand men. Today, I will hand over these twenty thousand soldiers to you, led by you, to attack Xiayang!

  Gao Fei wore a helmet and armor, his left hand resting on the hilt of a long sword hanging at his waist. His gaze swept over the two thousand robust troops below the high embankment, his heart filled with joy. A faint smile appeared on his face as he bowed to Lu Zhi in gratitude: "With these two thousand elite soldiers given by Your Excellency, we will surely conquer Xiangyang!"

  "Zi Yu, don't be too confident. The lower Quyang is not comparable to Guangzong. That place is the lair of the bandits, with strict defense and Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao are both brave and good at fighting. Everything must be done with extra caution." Lu Zhi said with a sideways glance at Gao Fei, who was young and vigorous but also full of self-confidence, expressing his deep concern.

  "Don't worry, General. I will absolutely not disappoint your expectations of me. If the lower Quyang is really easy to defend and hard to attack, I will wait for your reinforcements to arrive." Gao Fei comforted Lu Zhi after seeing his concerns.

  Lu Zhi nodded and said, "The hour of Chen has passed, you should also set off."

  "I will take my leave now!"

  Gao Fei descended from the high slope, mounted his horse, and slowly said in his heart: "Finally, I can lead the army alone. In the battle of Xiayang, I must make a name for myself!"

  "Let's go!"

  With a loud order from Gao Fei, the army began to move, with cavalry in front and infantry behind, heading north along the official road to Xiaquyang.

  Gao led the vanguard of cavalry, Lu Xun was in charge of managing the logistics troops transporting grain and fodder, Liu Bei, Zhou Cang, and Guan Yu were responsible for the infantry, while he himself led Zhang Fei and the cavalry at the front.

  It wasn't long after the hour of Chen that the sun broke through the clouds, shining its scorching rays onto the earth. Every soldier marching was sweating profusely. By noon, Gao Fei couldn't take it anymore. He reached out to touch his armor, which felt slightly hot, and wiped the sweat from his face. "This damn weather!" he exclaimed. "Pass down the order: the entire army will halt its advance and rest in the shade by the side of the road. Set up stoves and cook lunch!"

  "Halt!"

  "Halt... halt..."

  At the sound of the order, the soldiers behind him passed it down like a telephone, and in ancient times when information was not developed, this was a very effective way to pass orders.

  Gao Fei rode his horse to a nearby forest off the road, dismounted, and took off his armor. His clothes were soaked with sweat. He licked his dry lips and beckoned Zhang Fei over.

  "Sir, you called me?" Zhang Fei rode up on his horse, dismounted and asked with a fist in hand.

  Gao Tzu nodded and glanced at the soldiers who were suffering from the heat, then said to Zhang Fei: "Brother Yide, please trouble you to call all of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhou Cang, Guan Yu, Lu Su and others to come to the front army, I have something to instruct!"

  Zhang Fei grunted in agreement and mounted his horse, then went off to summon the men.

  Gaofei sat on the ground with a thud, taking off his helmet and looking around in dismay. He saw the desolate and dry fields and muttered to himself: "The Yellow Turban Rebellion dealt a heavy blow to the Eastern Han court, although it was quickly suppressed. However, from then on, the Eastern Han court was basically in name only. After that, there were countless rebellions everywhere. I must get a foothold before Dong Zhuo's chaos arrives, gather brave generals, recruit wise scholars, and secretly develop my strength to prepare for the struggle among the heroes."

  Under the shade of a tree, Guan Yu arrived first, dismounted his horse, and bowed to Gao Fei, saying: "Greetings, sir!"

  Gao Fei waved his hand and smiled: "Yun Chang brother, since there are no outsiders here, why be so polite?"

  "Now that you are the commander of the great army, if I were to address you as brother or friend, wouldn't that be too impolite?" Guan Yu said with a bow.

  Gao Fei saw Guan Yu's response was very cold, thinking that along the way Guan Yu and Zhang Fei followed behind him, but didn't have the previous intimacy. He also didn't know what Liu Bei said to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei last night, he just smiled lightly and said: "Elder brother Yun Chang, sit down, it will take them a while to arrive."

  "Alright!" Guan Yu responded, then sat down on the ground about a meter away from Gao Fei. He narrowed his phoenix eyes into a line, it was unclear whether he was awake or asleep, giving off a dazed feeling.

  Gao Fei took a glance at Guan Yu, carefully sizing up this saint of unparalleled loyalty and righteousness. In his heart, apart from feeling admiration, he also thought of recruiting him to his side. He let out a soft sigh, not speaking a word, as he slowly thought to himself: "I wonder what kind of charisma Big Ears has, that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei would follow him so devotedly. It seems that if I want to win over Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, I really must start with Liu Bei."

  Before long, people arrived one after another. After everyone had arrived, Gao Fei signaled them to sit down and slowly said: "This damn weather is really too hot. From Guangzong to Xiayang, it's at most a seven or eight days' journey. My intention is to rest during the day and march at night, avoiding this scorching heat. What do you all think?"

  Everyone's face was covered with sweat, and their clothes were also soaked with sweat. When they heard Gao Fei's proposal, no one opposed it, and everyone replied in unison: "The end will only follow the orders of the adults!"

  "Gao Fei said: 'It's settled then. Rest during the day and march at night. Go inform the soldiers to find a cool place to hide from the heat, and go pass on the orders.'"

  "Promise!"

  Just as everyone had taken two steps forward, Gao Fei shouted: "Zhou Cang, Guan Yu, you stay behind!"

  Zhou Cang and Guan Yu turned around and came before Gao Feng, cupping their hands in salute: "What orders does the general have?"

  Gao Feng said: "You two were originally Yellow Turbans, and you must be quite familiar with Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao. I'd like to know more about these two people."

  "Sir, Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao are brothers of Zhang Jue, but they are quite different from him. While Zhang Jue is weak and powerless, Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao are both highly skilled in martial arts and are top generals in the Yellow Turban Army."

  "Are Zhang Liao and Zhang Bao really as powerful as you say? Or are they just boasting, exaggerating their own abilities?" Gao Fei asked skeptically.

  "Sir, Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao are indeed highly skilled in martial arts. Their swordsmanship and archery skills are exquisite, not something that ordinary people can match. You may not believe in their magical powers, but these martial arts skills are absolutely not something to be bragged about."

  Gao Fei saw Guan Hai nodding and asked: "How about me?"

  Both of them looked stunned, with awkward expressions on their faces.

  Zhou Cang said: "I have never compared before, I don't know who is higher or lower."

  Gao Fei thought for a moment about the Three Kingdoms heroes he had played with before. Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao's martial arts were both above 85, indeed belonging to the middle to upper level, and should be on the same level as Zhou Cang and Guan Yu. He waved his hand and said lightly: "Now you are officers of the Han army, so you should have the demeanor of an officer. Before, you were Yellow Turban bandits, but now you're not. Do you understand what I mean?"

  "Understood, sir!" said Guan Yu and Zhou Cang in unison.

  Gao Fei grunted and said, "Alright, go down!"

  "Sir, we bid you farewell!"

  Guan Yu and Zhou Cang left, he leaned against the tree root, fantasizing in his mind: "I can fight with Zhang Fei for more than 50 moves, if I have to divide by combat value, my combat value should be above 95, right?"

  After the order was given, Gaofei's 20,000-strong army set out at dawn and dusk, resting during the day and moving at night, avoiding the hot weather, which greatly increased the soldiers' mobility. Repeating this for several days, they unknowingly approached Xiayang, only fifty miles away.

  July 26th, night.

  Gao Fei led the army to set up camp on a hillside fifty miles outside of Xiayang, and also sent out over ten scouts scattered around the camp to deal with any sudden situations.