Han Ji

After the first month of the lunar calendar, Ye City began to stir. Carriages and horses passed by the official road outside the city gates every day, transporting grain and troops from various camps to Ye City.

Jian Yong has returned from Youzhou. He spent three months surveying fields in Ji County and re-compiling the household registration books for all the counties in Youzhou. He has lost weight, but his tongue is still as fluent as ever.

The very night he returned, he went into the governor's office and went through the grain inventory books of the Ye City Ever-Normal Granary, and calculated the grain consumption of the army's expedition.

"With 50,000 soldiers, assuming two meals a day and one liter of rice per meal, they would need 3,000 shi of grain a day. Add in horse feed, and they would need at least 4,000 shi of grain a day." Jian Yong opened the account book and pushed it in front of Liu Bei. "The Changping Granary in Ye City currently has 160,000 shi of grain in storage, which is enough to support 50,000 troops for two months, but if there is more, we will have to transfer grain from various counties."

Liu Bei asked, "What about transshipment along the way?"

Jian Yong drew a line on the back of the account book: "It's less than four hundred li from Yecheng to Huguan, passing through Handan and Xiangguo in between. Both of these places have granaries with stored grain, so we can set up transfer stations there. We've been repairing the official road in Jizhou for the past six months, which makes it much easier for grain carts to travel."

Liu Bei nodded.

Over the next few days, the troops began to assemble. Zhang Fei checked the roster of all the infantry battalions outside the city and selected 20,000 men, dividing them into the vanguard, left wing, and right wing.

His camp was outside the north gate of Ye City, with tents stretching out in a row and rows of hearths dug into the ground. Every morning and evening, the smoke from the cooking fires would rise and smoke half the sky.

Zhang Fei stayed in the camp and refused to leave. He ordered all the siege equipment to be brought out for inspection: battering rams, ladders, catapults—checking for cracks in the wood and looseness in the iron sheaths, examining each piece one by one.

When a soldier was pushing a cart, the wooden wheel got stuck. Zhang Fei kicked the wheel, straightening the axle, and then squatted down to touch the wheel hub.

"This wheel is still usable. Replace the axle. Inspect the other vehicles involved in the accident as well."

Zhao Yun assembled his cavalry on the other side of the north gate. Of the eight thousand cavalrymen he had brought back from Youzhou, he selected five thousand and had each horse's horseshoes inspected. Any horse with loose or thin horseshoes was not to be ridden.

The cavalrymen squatted under the horses' bellies, using hoof knives to trim the hooves, and then fitting new horseshoes on, making a clanging sound all day long.

The horse manure in the stable was piled up like a mountain. Zhao Yun had people take the manure out of the city to compost, and the compost would be used for spring plowing.

Zhang He's Jizhou camp assembled south of the city. Some of his five thousand men were local soldiers from Jizhou, whose homes were in the nearby counties. Zhang He gave these soldiers a day off to go home and visit their families, and they all returned to their posts the next morning, not one missing.

Guan Yu, stationed in Youzhou, managed to spare some time to come to Ye City. He spoke privately with Liu Bei for half an hour. The two sat in the study, and Guan Yu said a few important words.

"Qian Zhao's men are keeping a close eye on the Wuhuan. Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang are stockpiling grain and expanding their troops in Lingzhi City, but they can't really march south yet. Tadun's idea is to have the Yuan brothers occupy the three commanderies of Liaoxi for him as a buffer. I've discussed it with Qian Zhao, and we'll leave Zhao Yun's two thousand cavalrymen in Ji County in Youzhou, with scouts stationed outside Lingzhi City. If the Wuhuan really make a move, we'll know in advance."

Liu Bei said, "Good. After you return to Youzhou, defense is more important than offense. Our campaign against Gao Gan will take at least a month, or at most three months. During these three months, the northern border must not be disturbed."

"Don't worry, brother."

As he was leaving, Guan Yu turned back. "That scoundrel Gao Gan should have been killed back in Ye City."

Liu Bei didn't reply, but simply patted Guan Yu on the shoulder.

Before setting off, Jia Xu spread out the topographical map that Qian Zhao had recently sent on the table, examining every mountain ridge and stream around Huguan Pass over and over again. Qian Zhao's special operations battalion had already returned from Bingzhou, bringing back the latest defense intelligence on Huguan Pass.

Huguan City is built between two mountains, with only one wall visible on the front. Gao Gan added a layer to the wall, and the newly laid blue bricks are a different color from the old ones, which is noticeable.

Stones were piled up in the city gate, the moat was full of water, and a thin layer of ice had formed on its surface. Several more crossbow racks had been added to the city walls, and the number of defenders, judging from the density of the crenellations, was more than three thousand.

Jia Xu summoned Qian Zhao for questioning. Qian Zhao had just returned from Bingzhou, still dressed in civilian clothes, her face flushed from the wind.

"Where's Xiaolu?"

"Yes. There is a narrow path on the west side of Huguan Pass, used by herb gatherers. It is so narrow that only one person can pass at a time, and horses cannot pass through. It takes about thirty li to go around to the back of the pass via this path. There is a terrace on the hillside behind the pass, and you can see the grain and hay piles of the high-ranking officials on the terrace."

Jia Xu inquired again in detail about the direction of the path, the terrain, and whether there were any guards stationed there. Qian Zhao answered each question in detail.

After the military council, Jia Xu said to Liu Bei, "We should launch a feigned attack from the front to attract Gao Gan's attention, while a flanking force takes a roundabout route to outflank him. This route will catch him completely off guard."

In early February, the spring chill lingered. The willows lining the official road had not yet sprouted, their branches stretching dryly into the air. The wheat in the fields had just turned green, a pale green that looked from afar like a layer of blue mist floating on the ground.

The army set off from Ye City. Zhang Fei led the vanguard, with five thousand infantrymen carrying spears along the official road, the spear tips gleaming white in the sunlight. Behind them followed the siege battering rams, ladders, and catapults, their wooden wheels creaking and groaning on the frozen ground.

The central army was Liu Bei's main force, with its banner at the head, embroidered with the character "Liu" on a black background, the red characters fluttering in the north wind. Liu Bei rode on a jade-white horse, his blue robe covered by armor plates that were polished to a gleaming shine.

Zhao Yun led his cavalry in two columns, running parallel on either side of the official road. Their hooves trampled some wheat seedlings on the field ridges. Zhao Yun ordered his men to go from village to village with money bags, compensating for the damaged seedlings. Villagers squatted by the fields counting their coins; one looked up and called out, "Thank you, General!"

Zhang He's Jizhou garrison was at the rear, escorting the grain. One grain cart after another stretched for several miles along the official road from Ye City to Handan.

Jian Yong stood at the north gate of Ye City seeing him off, still holding an account book in his hand. The clerks next to him were all shivering from the cold, but he, wearing a thick coat, didn't shiver much.

Along the way, they encountered many people who had fled from Bingzhou. An old man with two grandsons was squatting by the roadside. When he saw the army coming, he knelt down and kowtowed. The old man said he was a farmer from near Huguan. After Gao Gan rebelled, his land was confiscated, his grain was looted, and most of the villagers fled.

Liu Bei dismounted and helped the old man up. He had his personal guards give him two bags of dry rations and told him to head towards Ye City, where there was a camp for refugees that provided food, lodging, and land.

The old man took the bag of dry rations, his lips trembling as he tried to say something but couldn't. His two grandsons hid behind him, peeking out half their faces to watch the armored man on horseback.

The army continued its march. After passing Handan, the official road narrowed. To the west, the Taihang Mountains gradually rose from the horizon, their ridges dark and imposing, while the lower slopes remained shrouded in mist.

When they set up camp that night, Jia Xu and Liu Bei sat facing each other in the main tent. The wind was strong outside, causing the tent cloth to billow and deflate.

"Huguan is not far away. Less than a hundred li."

"The high-ranking officials must know by now that we're already on our way."

"He will hold out to the death. Huguan is his only way out." Jia Xu adjusted the wick of the lamp, and the flame flickered. "Holding Huguan is holding the gates of Bingzhou. He is waiting for reinforcements from the Wuhuan."

But those who have been recruited are keeping watch beyond the Great Wall; as soon as the Wuhuan cavalry marches south, we'll know. Ma Chao in Guanzhong can also block their escape route north.

Liu Bei drew a circle on the table with his finger: "Don't give him a chance to escape."