Chapter Fifty-Five: The First Victory

Cao Hong led the Right Guard Battalion to charge first toward Hulao Pass. In the center were Cao Cao, accompanied by Liao Hua and Dian Wei with one hundred elite guards. Cao Chun’s Left Guard Battalion brought up the rear. When they were still a hundred paces from the gate, the doors began to open, creaking on their iron-bound hinges. At that very moment, Cao Hong shouted, “Captain Guo is here to claim Yang Ding’s head!”

The soldiers behind him echoed as one, “Captain Guo has come to take Yang Ding’s head!”

In an instant, the same cries echoed throughout Hulao Pass. Cao Hong was the first to enter; he nodded to the soldiers who had opened the gate and then rushed into a nearby tent. This all happened in less than five minutes. Inside the tent were ten soldiers, most of whom were just waking. Cao Hong stepped forward, and with a single sweep of his nameless sword, slit the throat of a Xiliang soldier.

Following behind, Pan Zhang dispatched another with his ring-hilted blade. With them was a squad of five led by a corporal; they too dispatched their foes without difficulty. At once, Cao Hong’s men, organized into squads, darted into tents throughout the camp, reaping the lives of the Xiliang soldiers.

Soon after, the troops of Cao Cao and Cao Chun poured through the gates, following suit. In moments, Yang Ding’s camp was thrown into chaos. Soldiers from the unassailed rear camps stumbled out in confusion, fleeing westward through Hulao Pass, their will to fight utterly broken.

Some ran while shrieking, “Guo Si is here! Guo Si has come to kill us!”

Others, when faced with the blades of Cao’s men, cried, “I’m not one of Yang Ding’s men!” hoping for mercy, but were nonetheless cut down.

So did the camp fall into mayhem. The greatest terror of a night assault lies not in the enemy’s might, but in the confusion and panic it sows among their ranks, making effective resistance impossible.

Half an hour later, Hulao Pass was in utter disarray. Yang Ding’s soldiers trampled each other in frantic flight, were cut down by Cao’s men, or, when blocked by their own comrades, turned their blades on them. Only a few loyal followers of Yang Ding offered any resistance, but their efforts were as futile as a mantis trying to stop a chariot—for by then, Yue Jin had led a thousand soldiers into the pass.

Unlike the five-hundred-man guard battalions that split into squads, Yue Jin divided his force into twenty detachments of fifty men each, sending them in all directions to hunt down clusters of fleeing Xiliang soldiers.

As a cup of tea’s time passed, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan, and Wei Zi entered the pass one after another. Xiahou Dun surveyed the battlefield and, following Yue Jin’s example, split his force into twenty groups of fifty, targeting those officers who tried to organize resistance.

Cao Ren, upon arrival, ordered his thousand men to seize the western gate, blocking any escape. He then split his force in two, forming a flying wedge to encircle the fleeing enemy. Xiahou Yuan divided his men into five groups of two hundred, each led by a captain—one group began dismantling the gate, while the other four flanked the enemy, two groups and four hundred men on each side.

As for Wei Zi, he let ten centurions each lead a hundred men in ten columns, killing enemies and tearing down enemy tents as they advanced, while also securing the enemy’s granaries.

Cao Hong, having been the first to storm into the pass, encountered some resistance after the initial slaughter, but none could stand against his nameless sword. His men, fired with a savage fury after witnessing the massacre of refugees, cut their way forward without pause. Cao Hong lost track of how long he fought—he only knew that the tide of enemies thinned, their resistance waned, and soon their only response was to cower on the ground, waiting for death. The enemy’s morale had utterly collapsed.

At some point, the shouts of Cao’s army changed.

“Spare those who lay down their arms!” grew louder, replacing the earlier cry of “Captain Guo has come to take Yang Ding’s head.” As dawn broke, Hulao Pass was completely taken. The massive, iron-clad wooden gates had been torn down by Xiahou Yuan’s men. A once-mighty fortress, defended by fifteen thousand Xiliang soldiers, had fallen.

Now, aside from countless corpses, only a scattering of surrendered soldiers remained within the pass. Cao Hong sent Pan Zhang to call for their assembly and to count the casualties among his own right battalion, while he went in search of Cao Cao.

Cao Cao stood before the western gate of Hulao Pass with Xun You and a nearly forty-year-old scholar. When Cao Hong approached, Cao Cao greeted him with a smile, “Zilian! Come, come and meet Supervisor Zheng! It was the Supervisor who opened the gate for us.”

The scholar saluted Cao Hong and said, “I saw you, General, from the ramparts, the first to charge in and slaughter a tent full of Xiliang soldiers in an instant—your robe dyed with blood! Such valor! Such satisfaction!”

Cao Hong returned the salute. “Your Excellency overpraises me. Without your opening the gate for our surprise attack, our losses would have been heavy, and such a victory would have been hard to achieve.” In his heart, he felt great admiration for this man—a scholar bold enough to play the traitor within the enemy camp, displaying both courage and cunning. He wondered whether this was a figure of historical renown.

He then said, “I am Cao Hong of Peiguo, styled Zilian. May I know your esteemed name, Supervisor?”

The scholar replied, “I am Zheng Tai of Yiyang in Henan, styled Gongye.”

Xun You, standing by, laughed. “The villain Dong Zhuo planned to lead his army out of the pass in a thunderous assault to sweep aside the allied forces of the east, but it was Gongye’s silver tongue that dissuaded him!”

Cao Cao started at these words. “Had Dong Zhuo left the pass, with our forces so disunited, we would have been in grave peril!”

Hearing this, Cao Hong’s admiration grew. Yet, try as he might, he could not recall such a man in the chronicles of history—one who, stationed in Luoyang, could see through the strengths and weaknesses of the eastern coalition, persuade Dong Zhuo to remain behind the pass, and then receive the Cao army at Hulao. Such intelligence and daring were rare indeed; in the entire Cao Cao faction, perhaps only Cao Cao himself might match it.

Zheng Tai smiled modestly. “It was only a matter of clever talk. Now, Gongda, since I have led the General of Martial Valor into the pass, though none may know it, with Yang Ding so roundly defeated, I cannot shirk my responsibility as Supervisor. Thus, I have decided to resign my office and will not return to Luoyang.”

Cao Cao was overjoyed. “Gongye, why not remain with my army? Help me devise strategies, and I will treat you as an honored guest!”

Zheng Tai shook his head with a smile. “I have already decided to head south and join General Yuan Gonglu. I beg your pardon, General.”

Cao Cao smiled. “No matter, no matter. We all serve the court.”

Cao Hong, listening, could not help but sigh inwardly. Even after the anti-Dong Zhuo manifesto had been issued, and Hulao Pass captured, this Zheng Tai would still rather join Yuan Shu than serve Cao Cao. It seemed that, though Cao Cao’s reputation had grown since the alliance, it still lagged behind that of Yuan Shu or Yuan Shao. As for strength—one glance was enough to see the disparity.

At this, Xun You said, “I still wish to return to Luoyang and observe for a while, to see if there remains an opportunity to strike at Dong Zhuo—perhaps to cut him off at the root.”

Cao Cao laughed. “Then I wish you both a safe journey! If you require funds for the road, just say the word.”

His words were utterly sincere, showing not the least coldness for their refusal to serve him. Truly, this is the mark of a man destined for greatness, Cao Hong thought.