Han Ji

The wind blew in from the north, carrying the smells of blood and burning. There were still sporadic fighting in the city, but the overall situation was settled.

Lu Zhi came up.

"Zhang Liang ran away?" he asked.

"They've run away," Liu Bei said. "Heading north, towards Guangzong."

"As expected." Lu Zhi also steadied himself against the battlements. "What do you think?"

"Zhang Jiao will come," Liu Bei said. "Either he'll attack Ying Tao, or we'll go find him."

Do you think he'll come?

"Yes," Liu Bei said. "Zhang Liang is his younger brother. His brother lost a city and his soldiers; he has to avenge him. Otherwise, what will the people below think?"

Lu Zhi smiled: "You understand."

"The students are dull-witted."

"Not dull-witted." Lu Zhi patted him on the shoulder. "You see things very clearly; your vision extends beyond just generals."

Liu Bei did not respond.

Lu Zhi said nothing more. He looked outside the city for a while, then said, "Rest for three days. After three days, head north."

"Go attack Guangzong?"

"Otherwise what?" Lu Zhi turned around. "Once Zhang Jiao is ready and his 100,000-strong army comes, this city will still fall."

He descended the city wall and entered the city.

The corpses were still being collected in the streets. The government soldiers' corpses were set aside, and the Yellow Turbans' corpses were set aside. The common people began to come out, peeking through the cracks in their doors to see the dead and the blood.

Liu Bei walked to the county government office, where Zhang Fei was waiting for him.

"Big brother, dinner is ready."

"Where did the food come from?"

"Meat porridge, and the meat that was captured."

Liu Bei nodded and followed them inside. The porridge did contain meat, but not much—only two or three pieces in each person's bowl. He ate very slowly, chewing each piece of meat for a long time.

After he finished eating, he went to see the wounded soldiers.

The wounded soldiers' camp reeked of blood, pus, and medicine. Some were groaning, some were crying, and some had already stopped making a sound. The medics were busy; they ran out of gauze and tore up clean clothes to use.

Liu Bei looked at each soldier one by one, and saw a young man with a broken leg. The army doctor said it couldn't be saved and had to be amputated. The soldier didn't cry, but said, "General, if you amputate my leg, how can I fight?"

No one answered.

Liu Bei walked over and squatted down: "We can't fight, but we can live."

The soldier looked at him for a long time, then nodded: "That's the cut."

The medic took action. Liu Bei pressed down on the soldier's shoulder; the soldier, biting a wooden stick, stared wide-eyed, his eyes bloodshot. The saw made a dull sound, like sawing wet wood.

After the sawing was finished, the soldier fainted.

Liu Bei stood up, his hands trembling. He clenched his fists, walked out of the tent, and into the courtyard, panting heavily.

Zhang Fei followed, saying, "Brother..."

"It's nothing," Liu Bei said. "I'm just a little tired."

"Go get some sleep."

"I can't sleep." Liu Bei looked up at the sky. It was dark, and the stars were coming out. "Walk with me for a bit."

The two walked through the city. Reaching the west gate, they found it repaired, the new door panels unpainted. At the south gate, repairs were underway on the city wall, laborers carrying stones up. Reaching the east gate, it was quieter; the guards were changing shifts.

Finally, we returned to the North Gate.

The garrison said that some civilians had fled in the afternoon, heading north, possibly to find Zhang Jiao. They asked if they should stop them, and Liu Bei said there was no need.

"Let them go," he said. "It'll be good for Zhang Jiao to know what the city is like now."

"He'll be furious," Zhang Fei said.

"It would be better if you were angry to death," Liu Bei said. "When people are angry, they make mistakes."

They stood on the city wall until midnight.

Three days later, a scout reported that Zhang Jiao had personally led an army of 100,000 south from Guangzong, intending to recapture Yingtao.

Lu Zhi convened a military meeting.

"I didn't expect Zhang Jiao to make such a decision so quickly," he said. "Yingtao City is exhausted from the continuous battles; we can't let Zhang Jiao pull the battlefield back to Yingtao."

"What should we do then?" a general asked.

Lu Zhi looked at Liu Bei, "Xuande, you lead the cavalry to harass them along the way and slow down their march. Remember, do not engage in direct combat; strike once and then retreat."

"This subordinate obeys."

Liu Bei led 3,000 cavalry to attack.

Zhang Jiao's army marched south, their banners obscuring the sky.

One hundred thousand Yellow Turbans, stretched out in long columns, marched across the plains like a yellow torrent. The vanguard was cavalry, about five thousand strong; the central army was infantry, carrying siege ladders and battering rams; the rear guard was the supply train, with oxcarts and horse-drawn carts stretching for miles.

Liu Bei stood on a distant earthen slope and observed.

"Their formation is loose, and their lines are disconnected." His eyes were sore from looking at it. "We can attack their supply train."

"Brother, I'll lead the men!" Zhang Fei volunteered.

"No," Liu Bei shook his head. "Zhang Jiao is cautious in his military tactics; his supply train will certainly be heavily guarded. We should attack the vanguard."

"Brother, the vanguard is cavalry, they're not easy to fight," Guan Yu said.

"We're targeting the cavalry," Liu Bei said with a slight smile. "Once we take out his cavalry, he'll be blind and deaf."

"Big brother, how do we fight?"

"Feign defeat to lure the enemy."

Liu Bei selected a thousand cavalrymen and personally led them straight towards the vanguard of the Yellow Turbans.

When they were three miles away, the Yellow Turban cavalry spotted them and formed ranks to meet them.

The leader was a young general who wielded a long halberd. Seeing that Liu Bei's forces were few, he sneered, "Oh! Here come those who are coming to their deaths!"

Liu Bei did not answer, but led his army in a charge.

The two armies clashed, and Liu Bei's troops feigned defeat, fighting and retreating. The Yellow Turban cavalry pursued them, gradually disengaging from their main force.

They chased for ten miles until they reached a low-lying area.

Liu Bei suddenly reined in his horse and turned around: "Kill!"

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei each led a thousand cavalrymen from both sides of the depression to attack from three sides.

The Yellow Turban cavalry were thrown into chaos. The young general tried to resist, but Zhang Fei pierced his chest with a spear and threw him off his horse.

Within half an hour, of the five thousand Yellow Turban cavalry, three thousand were annihilated, and the rest scattered.

Liu Bei did not linger and immediately withdrew.

When Zhang Jiao's central army arrived, they only saw corpses scattered all over the ground.

"Liu—Bei—!" Zhang Jiao gritted his teeth in the chariot, "I swear to kill you!"

He divided his forces into 20,000 to pursue and kill Liu Bei.

But Liu Bei didn't engage in battle at all, instead using the speed of his cavalry to roam the plains. The Yellow Turban pursuers were exhausted from running for their lives, but couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.

As night fell, Liu Bei's troops camped in a deserted village.

"Today we beheaded three thousand, but suffered over a hundred casualties ourselves," Jian Yong reported. "We've made a huge profit."

"Zhang Jiao must be so angry he can't sleep right now," Zhang Fei grinned.

"We must not underestimate the enemy," Liu Bei said. "Zhang Jiao's army of 100,000 has suffered only a few thousand casualties, which is not a major blow. He will surely adjust his tactics tomorrow."

"How to adjust it?"

"Divide our forces and encircle them." Liu Bei drew a diagram on the ground. "He will send multiple detachments to squeeze our operational space from different directions, forcing us into a decisive battle."

"What should we do then?"

"Use flanking maneuvers." Liu Bei's finger passed through a gap in the map. "Before he can encircle us, slip out, circle around to his rear, and harass his supplies."

"Brother, that was too dangerous," Guan Yu frowned.

"Only by taking risks can we achieve results." Liu Bei looked up. "Zhang Jiao never expected that we would dare to venture so deep into his territory."

That night, Liu Bei led three thousand cavalrymen to quietly leave the camp and make a detour to the northeast.

They hid during the day and went out at night to avoid the Yellow Turban scouts.

Three days later, they arrived at a point thirty miles behind Zhang Jiao's army.

The supply train was setting up camp, with about 5,000 guards, mostly the elderly and infirm.

"Attack at midnight," Liu Bei ordered. "Guan Yu, attack the left; Yi De, attack the right; I will stay in the center. Remember, only burn the supplies, and then leave."

"Why not just kill them all?" Zhang Fei asked, puzzled.

"Killing people too slowly will waste time," Liu Bei said. "The more time we waste, the more dangerous it may become for us."

"Brother has a long-term vision," Guan Yu nodded.