Chapter 129: Cao Cao Strikes
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Two days after Cao Hong stationed his troops in Zhang County, he finally learned of the bandit army’s movements from a group of refugees. They had come from Shouzhang County, one hundred and fifty li east of Zhang. Some were members of Shouzhang’s great clans, for they had brought not only their families but also a great deal of property.
From one of the great clans of Shouzhang, Cao Hong learned that Dongping Kingdom, which had originally been controlled by the local aristocratic families, had once again fallen into chaos. Liu Dai and Bao Xin had been driven back, drawing the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou and Xuzhou into the region. At the same time, the Black Mountain bandits, eager to join forces with the Yellow Turbans, had descended upon the area.
Ten days earlier, Liu Dai and Bao Xin, who had been stationed in Wuyan County of Dongping, suffered another defeat. Wuyan fell, and the two men were forced to withdraw westward toward Shouzhang County. When the great clans of Shouzhang saw Liu Dai and Bao Xin’s army, they realized that the main force of the bandits was drawing near. These were not the small bands of thieves they could once withstand. Having witnessed Wuyan’s fate, the clans decided to abandon the city and flee.
When they entered Zhang County, they happened to encounter Cao Xiu on patrol. Upon learning that Cao Xiu’s troops had come from Dong Commandery, they were overjoyed and immediately went to pay their respects to Commander Cao Hong, hoping that he would allow them to settle in Dong Commandery.
Cao Hong was delighted by the news. At last, he knew where the bandit army’s main force was headed, and he had also learned of Liu Dai and Bao Xin’s current situation. It seemed that Governor Liu was having a miserable time, retreating at every turn.
He comforted the great clans who had fled Shouzhang, telling them that the small bands of bandits west of Zhang County had all been wiped out and that they could safely enter Dong Commandery. He then dispatched fifty Tiger and Leopard Cavalrymen to hurry back along the route they had come and deliver the news to Cao Cao. Since he did not know which route Cao Cao’s army was taking, this was the only course available to him.
After arranging everything, Cao Hong withdrew his troops from Zhang County and established a camp thirty li to the west. He did not wish to station his men too close to the enemy. He also sent halberdiers out on patrol, partly to see whether Cao Cao’s army had arrived and partly to guard against a sudden attack by a small band of raiders.
Three days later, scouts reported that they had seen troops bearing Cao banners traveling along the main road. Cao Hong immediately mounted his horse and rode out with the scouts to meet them. They had barely left the camp and reached the road before the time it took to eat a meal when Cao Hong caught sight of Cao Cao’s army.
Banners blotted out the sun, and the army’s ranks were magnificent. At the very front rode the superbly equipped Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Leading them was Cao Chun, Cao Ren’s younger brother.
At a glance, Cao Hong saw that Cao Chun’s cultivation had advanced greatly. He had already reached the same Spirit Refining and Returning to Emptiness realm as Cao Hong himself—the pinnacle of martial achievement.
When Cao Chun saw Cao Hong, he urged his horse forward and said with a smile, “Yesterday, our scouts told us that your camp was nearby, Zilian. Elder Brother deliberately slowed the army’s march so that we could join you.”
Cao Hong smiled. “Zihe, it seems your cultivation has advanced considerably.”
Cao Chun laughed heartily. “I owe it all to your advice about drawing upon the strengths of many different schools, Zilian.”
Cao Hong immediately remembered the incident at the tavern in Xiangyi, when he had encountered the sinister Xu Deng and his disciple Wulan. A single wine cup thrown by Wulan had nearly cost Shi A his life. Since then, Shi A had trained with extraordinary diligence. Although he remained in the Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation realm, his techniques had become far more ruthless, and his swordsmanship increasingly fierce.
The army did not stop. Cao Hong rode alongside Cao Chun and said with a smile, “With talent like yours, Zihe, advancement was only a matter of time.”
“Zilian! I have missed you terribly!”
Cao Cao’s familiar voice came from behind. Cao Hong turned and saw Cao Cao riding out from the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, escorted by Dian Wei and Liao Hua. Cao Hong clasped his hands in salute.
“Elder Brother!”
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Cao Cao smiled. “When I received your message a few days ago, I slowed the army’s march. I also sent Tiger and Leopard Cavalrymen to gather back the messengers you had dispatched along the various roads. These cavalrymen are my treasures. I cannot afford to lose even one of them!”
Cao Hong smiled. “Although we have fought day after day, fortunately, not one of the fifty Tiger and Leopard Cavalrymen was lost.”
Cao Cao rode up beside him and patted him on the shoulder. “Along the way, I saw the corpses of many unruly bandits. I presume they were men you had no time to dispose of. In some places, corpses covered more than ten li of road. It seems you pursued and slaughtered them for more than ten li, so one can imagine how fierce those battles must have been.
“Later, I questioned the Tiger and Leopard Cavalrymen who brought me your message. Only then did I learn that you still had more than two thousand soldiers under your command, while not a single laborer had been lost. You had fought and won all along the road, yet suffered fewer than a thousand casualties. You have certainly given your elder brother a pleasant surprise, Zilian.”
Cao Hong replied modestly, “That was all thanks to the bravery of the men.”
Cao Cao burst out laughing. “Brave soldiers without a capable general are merely men being sent to their deaths.”
He continued, “This time, I have brought one thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalrymen and ten thousand halberdiers. Miaocai, Yuanrang, Zixiao, Wenqian, and Zixu each command two thousand of them. I have also brought thirty thousand laborers under Boda’s command. Adding your two thousand soldiers and five thousand laborers, we have nearly fifty thousand men.
“We are greatly outnumbered by the bandits, but I am confident that we will win.”
Cao Hong said, “Elder Brother is right. They are nothing more than a rabble.”
Then a thought occurred to him. Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Le Jin, and Wei Zi each commanded ten thousand men, while Ren Jun had been given command of the laborers. What troops, then, did Cao Cao command himself?
He asked, “Elder Brother, your personal guards—”
Cao Cao smiled. “They naturally remained behind in Dongwuyang. This time, I brought only Evil Lai and Yuan Jian with me.”
Cao Hong froze for a moment. Seeing Cao Cao smiling meaningfully at him, he suddenly understood.
He himself had been given sole command of an army as the vanguard. Cao Cao, meanwhile, had not taken direct command of any troops, clearly intending to supervise Cao Hong’s soldiers personally. After all, once the laborers were included, Cao Hong commanded seven thousand men. With all the other generals standing behind Cao Cao, such an arrangement might appear to favor one side over another and damage morale. That was why Cao Cao had made the hint.
What a thoroughly watertight man!
Cao Hong immediately said, “My camp lies just ahead. Now that I have fulfilled my duty as the vanguard, all the officers and soldiers under my command should naturally await your orders, Elder Brother.”
Cao Cao laughed heartily and patted Cao Hong on the back. “You have worked hard, worthy brother! But how could a fierce general like you be left without troops? Later, I shall assign two hundred strong soldiers as your personal guard. Once the army is reorganized, we will immediately march for Shouzhang County!”
Cao Hong replied, “Understood!”
In his heart, he was naturally thinking of the two hundred soldiers from the Recruitment Camp.
Then another matter occurred to him, and he asked, “But, Elder Brother, Governor Liu—”
Cao Cao winked at him with a smile. “The Administrator of Yanzhou has already submitted a memorial to the imperial court. Liu Gongshan was ineffective in suppressing the bandits and is no longer governor.”
Cao Hong had originally intended to say that Liu Dai was still alive. But Cao Cao’s words made it clear that Liu Dai’s survival or death no longer mattered. On a battlefield, circumstances truly changed from moment to moment. At times, political developments affected military affairs—as in the present case, when the Administrator of Yanzhou’s decision allowed Cao Cao to advance on Shouzhang ahead of schedule. At other times, military affairs reshaped politics, as when the Han court granted governors military authority after the Yellow Turban Rebellion and restored the office of provincial governor.
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After marching for some time, the army reached Cao Hong’s camp. Cao Ang immediately came out to pay his respects to his father, while Liu Ye went to greet his lord.
Cao Hong sent Pan Zhang to pay his respects to Cao Cao and place himself under his command. He also informed Cao Cao that his personal guard unit was now under Cao Cao’s orders. Cao Hong himself took the two hundred soldiers from Shi A’s Recruitment Camp and positioned them behind the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry but ahead of the halberdiers, marching with the army toward Shouzhang County.
Shouzhang County lay one hundred and eighty li from Cao Hong’s camp. Under the Han system, one li was roughly four hundred meters, making one hundred and eighty li equivalent to about seventy-two kilometers in later times. By carriage, the journey would take only half an hour, but on foot it required an entire day. Moreover, this was an army on the march: it had to maintain formation while also accommodating the laborers carrying supplies. The journey therefore took a full day and night.
Cao Cao’s army established a camp halfway there. The next day, they set out at the fifth watch and did not approach the borders of Shouzhang until nearly noon. As soon as they entered the county, the scouts discovered numerous corpses, footprints, discarded weapons, and wheel tracks. The area had clearly seen a battle. Since all the dead appeared to be common civilians, the bandits had probably been slaughtering the poor.
Upon seeing these traces, Cao Cao did not order the army to halt. Instead, he accelerated the march toward Shouzhang. Before long, they encountered a large band of raiders flying banners marked with the character Yu. There was no need to ask who they were: this was the main force of Yu Du, the Black Mountain bandit leader.
Cao Cao had no intention of forming ranks. He immediately ordered the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to charge. Cao Hong’s Recruitment Camp followed, and behind them came the halberdiers. Only one thousand men were left behind to protect the laborers.
The land outside Shouzhang was flat and open. On such terrain, one thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalrymen unleashed tremendous power. As they charged, they fired a volley from their hand crossbows, and the bandits at the front fell in rows. Then the riders lowered their four-point-two-meter horse lances and drove them savagely into the enemy formation. Their impact tore open a clearing twenty-four feet wide, while the foremost bandits were skewered together like beads on a string.
Cao Hong had never fought alongside so many Tiger and Leopard Cavalrymen before. He was momentarily stunned. By the time he followed behind them, there were no enemies left for him to kill.
He quickly recovered, however, when he saw the bandits sweeping in from both wings and rushing into the cavalry formation. Cao Hong immediately led the Recruitment Camp against the enemy’s right wing. Some of the halberdiers behind him followed into the attack, while the others struck at the left wing, checking the bandits’ attempt to encircle the cavalry.
Freed from concern about their rear, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry charged relentlessly into the heart of the enemy.
This time, they faced a vast number of opponents in a direct clash. At the very first contact, Cao Hong unleashed his full strength. He wielded a horse lance in one hand and a treasured sword in the other, cutting his way into the enemy ranks and hacking at the bandits before him. Most of these men wore yellow scarves around their heads and were equipped with long halberds and lamellar armor.
They were evidently the elite of the Black Mountain army. They possessed government-style weapons and armor, and they were far stronger than the small bands of disorderly raiders Cao Hong had previously encountered, half of whom had been too starved to muster any strength.
Even so, they were still incapable of halting the assault of the Recruitment Camp. The recruits fought in pairs, and every stroke of their Soul-Severing Blades drew blood. After a furious bout of hacking, they checked the momentum of the enemy’s right wing.
The halberdiers who arrived behind them immediately joined the counterattack. For a time, the bandits were driven back step by step, leaving corpses strewn across the field.
Yet before Cao Hong, who fought at the very front, the enemy still stretched thick and endless. He had no idea how many more bandits were rushing toward him.