The Three Kingdoms Volume 2 (47 page)

Cao Cao threw aside his plan for the expedition to the south when he learned that Chang’an was lost. He at once ordered Cao Hong and Xu Huang, with 10,000 men under their command, to replace the defeated prefect in defending Tong Pass. They were told to hold Tong Pass at all cost for at least ten days, or they would pay for its loss with their heads. After ten days the pass would be no concern of theirs, for Cao Cao would be there with the main army.

Cao Ren warned him that Cao Hong was hot-tempered and might bungle things. So Cao Ren was ordered to follow them with the supplies.

The two officers made all haste to the pass and took over the command from Zhong Yao. They confined themselves to defense and would not venture out. Ma Chao appeared every day and reviled the three generations of Cao Cao’s family, which enraged Cao Hong, who would have led his men out to fight had not his colleague restrained him.

“Ma Chao only wishes to provoke you to go out,” said Xu Huang. “Remember our orders and do not fight now. Our lord surely has some master plan.”

But the advice was hard to follow, for Ma Chao’s men took turns in cursing Cao Cao day and night. And Xu Huang tried his best to prevent his colleague from taking any rash action.

Thus it continued till the ninth day. Then the defenders saw that their enemies had turned all their horses loose and were resting on the grass, many even sleeping as if quite fatigued. So Cao Hong ordered his attendants to get ready his horse and, at the head of 3,000 men, he dashed down to catch the besiegers unprepared. They at once fled, leaving their steeds and throwing aside their weapons. Unable to resist temptation, Cao Hong pursued them.

At this time Xu Huang was checking cartloads of grain and forage; but when he heard what his impulsive colleague had done, he hastily got his men together and went to his rescue. He shouted to Cao Hong to return.

Suddenly a great shouting arose near him and out dashed Ma Dai to attack. Both Cao Hong and Xu Huang turned to flee, but the drums rolled and two bodies of men, led by Ma Chao and Pang De, came out from behind the hills. Then a battle began—but the Xiliang force was too strong for them and most of their men were lost. Cao Hong and his colleague managed to break through and made for the pass. Their enemies came in close pursuit and they had to abandon the pass and flee for their lives. Pang De followed them over the pass, where he was met by Cao Ren, who rescued the defeated men. Pang De returned to the pass with Ma Chao.

Cao Hong hastened to see his master to give him the evil tidings.

“I asked you to hold for ten days, why did you lose the pass on the ninth?” questioned Cao Cao.

“Those men from Xiliang hurled every sort of insult at us,” replied Cao Hong. “And when I saw them look unprepared I took the opportunity to rout them, but I fell victim to their trick.”

“You are young and impetuous. But, Xu Huang, you ought to know better.”

“He would not listen, though I told him many times. And when he went out that day I was taking in stores in another part of the pass. I hastened after him but it was too late.”

Cao Cao was infuriated and ordered Cao Hong to be put to death, but the other officers begged that he might be pardoned. Cao Hong pleaded guilty and finally he was allowed to go unpunished.

Cao Cao advanced to Tong Pass. On arriving he took Cao Ren’s advice of establishing a strong defensive position first before attacking. So trees were felled and a strong stockade was built with three camps. Cao Cao himself occupied the center one.

Soon after, Cao Cao and all his officers in a body rushed to attack the pass. On the way they ran against the Xiliang men. Both sides halted and formed their battle arrays. This done, Cao Cao rode to the central standard, from where he looked at his opponents.

He saw before him a body of fine soldiers, everyone with the bearing of a hero. And the commander, Ma Chao, was of an especially impressive appearance. He had a fair complexion, rouge-red lips, a slender waist, and broad shoulders; his voice was resonant and his strength fierce. He was wearing a white battle robe and silver armor, gripping a long spear as he sat there on his charger. On his two sides were Pang De and Ma Dai.

Cao Cao, admiring him secretly in his heart, urged forward his steed and addressed Ma Chao: “You are descended from a notable general of the Hans. Why do you rebel?”

Ma Chao ground his teeth and cursed Cao Cao vehemently for his betrayal of the Emperor and the court, and above all, for his murder of his father and brothers. “The same sky shall not cover us both, for I will take you captive and sink my teeth in your living flesh!”

With this he set his spear and rode straight at Cao Cao to slay him. He was met by Yu Jin, who rushed forth behind his master, and the two were engaged in battle. After some half score of bouts Yu Jin had to flee. Zhang He, however, took his place and these two exchanged a score of passes. Then Zhang He, too, ran away. Next to challenge was Li Tong. Ma Chao’s martial prowess was now at its height and he made short work of his new opponent, who was thrust down from his horse after a few bouts. At this victory Ma Chao raised his spear to beckon the men behind him to press forward and they swarmed onward, overwhelming their enemies like a flood. Ma Chao and his two aides, with a hundred or so cavalrymen, rode right into the enemy’s center to capture Cao Cao.

They came close. Cao Cao, escaping amid his fleeing men, heard the shout of Xiliang soldiers: “That’s Cao Cao in the red robe!” So he hastily cast away his red robe. Soon after, however, he heard another shout: “That’s he with the long beard!” At once he took his sword and cut short his beard. Yet again some soldiers recognized him and told Ma Chao that Cao Cao had now clipped his beard, and so the cry changed to, “That’s Cao Cao with the short beard!” Hearing this, Cao Cao wrapped the corner of a flag about his neck and jowl and fled.

Panic seized upon the soldiers at Tong Pass;

Frightened, Cao Cao flung off his brocade dress,
And sawed his beard short with a sword.

The fame of Ma Chao rose high to the sky.

As he was fleeing for safety Cao Cao again heard the sound of hoofs and on looking round he found, to his terror, none other than Ma Chao himself coming quite close. His followers were panic-stricken and all fled for their own lives, leaving Cao Cao alone to face his enemy.

“Halt, Cao Cao!” shouted Ma Chao sternly as he drew even nearer.

The whip dropped from Cao Cao’s nerveless hand as he heard his enemy coming closer and closer. But just as Ma Chao leveled his spear for a thrust, Cao Cao slipped behind a tree and Ma Chao’s spear struck the trunk. He quickly pulled out his spear but the delay gave the fugitive an advantage, although it did not quite free him from pursuit, for Ma Chao was soon again galloping on his trail. At this moment an officer suddenly emerged from behind a slope, who cried, “Do not hurt my lord!”

This was Cao Hong and he whirled his sword at Ma Chao, thus making it possible for Cao Cao to escape. Cao Hong fought Ma Chao for about fifty bouts, when he began to grow weary and his strokes faltered. Luckily for him, Xiahou Yuan appeared with several score others to his rescue and Ma Chao found it prudent to retire as he was greatly outnumbered by his opponents. Xiahou Yuan, too, retreated.

At last Cao Cao returned to his camp. Thanks to Cao Ren, who maintained a firm defense in the camps, the loss of his men had not been too great.

As he sat in his tent Cao Cao said with a sigh, “Had I not spared Cao Hong the other day I would have died at the hands of Ma Chao today.” So he called in his rescuer and rewarded him well. Then he gathered his worsted men and strengthened the camp, deepening the moat and raising the ramparts. Ma Chao came daily to challenge his opponents to combat and to abuse them, but, by the order of Cao Cao, none of his men was to venture out on pain of execution.

“Our enemies use long spears,” said the officers. “We should meet them with bows and crossbows.”

“They may have long spears,” replied Cao Cao, “but battle or no battle depends on my decision. How can they thrust at us if we do not go out? All you have to do is ignore them and they will speedily withdraw.”

The officers wondered. They said to one another, “Our lord used to go foremost in the fight—why has he become so weak after this defeat by Ma Chao?”

Several days later spies reported that Ma Chao had been reinforced by 20,000 Qiang tribesmen. To the surprise of his officers, Cao Cao accepted the news gleefully and they asked him why he was so pleased.

Cao Cao replied, “Wait till I have defeated them and I will explain it to you.”

Three days later there was another report of further reinforcements for Ma Chao, and Cao Cao not only rejoiced but even gave a banquet to celebrate. His officers laughed at him in secret.

Cao Cao said, “You gentlemen laugh because I cannot destroy Ma Chao. Well then, can any one of you propose a plan?”

Xu Huang rose and said, “Sir, you have your entire army here and the enemy forces, too, are all posted on Tong Pass. This means that no soldiers are guarding the west side of the river. If you can get a troop to secretly cross the river and hold the ferry you will be ready to cut off their retreat. When this is done, you can attack them from the north side of the river so that they cannot get reinforcements and must fail.”

“Your proposal is just what I think,” said Cao Cao.

So Xu Huang and another officer were placed at the head of 4,000 men to march to the west of the river and hide in the valleys. They were to wait till Cao Cao crossed the river to the north, so that they could strike simultaneously.

Then he ordered Cao Hong to prepare boats and rafts at the ferry, while Cao Ren was left to defend the camps. He himself led the force to cross the Wei River.

When Ma Chao heard of this new move by his enemy he at once understood its purpose. “Instead of attacking this pass, Cao Cao is now preparing rafts to cross to the north side of the river, which means he is attempting to cut off my line of retreat. I must lead a troop to hold the north bank, to prevent him from crossing the river there. If he is held back, his food supply will run short within twenty days and that will result in a mutiny. Then I will attack him from the southern bank.”

Here Han Sui had an even better plan. Quoting the military maxim “Striking when troops were half over the river,” he suggested that they should attack from the south bank when Cao Cao’s army was in the middle of crossing, and his men would perish in the river.

“You are perfectly right, uncle,” replied Ma Chao. And he sent spies to find out exactly when Cao Cao’s men were going to ford the river.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao’s preparations were complete and he divided his army into three parties to move ahead to cross the Wei River. They reached the ferry at the first sign of dawn and the veterans were sent over first to establish a camp. Cao Cao, with his hand on his sword and surrounded by a hundred trusted officers and men, took up position on the south bank to watch the crossing.

Very soon sentinels shouted, “There comes the white-robed general!” All recognized him to be Ma Chao. Terrified, they made a rush to get into the boats and the riverbank became a scene of shouting men struggling to embark. Cao Cao still sat watching and did not stir. Pointing with his sword, he ordered his men to cease their confusion. Meanwhile, noise of the men and horses of the approaching army grew louder and louder. Suddenly an officer jumped ashore from one of the boats and shouted to Cao Cao: “The rebels are close! Get into a boat, sir.”

“What does it matter?” replied Cao Cao to the speaker, who was Xu Chu. Glancing back, he saw, however, that Ma Chao was only about a hundred paces from him. Xu Chu laid hold of Cao Cao and dragged him into a boat that had already pushed off and was ten feet from the bank, but Xu Chu took Cao Cao on his back and leaped onboard. The boat was small and in danger of being overturned, so Xu Chu drew his sword to chop away at the hands clinging to the side and the victims fell back into the water.

The boat went downstream, with Xu Chu standing in the prow, poling as hard as he could. His master crouched out of sight at his feet.

Seeing that the boat was already in midstream drifting down with the current, Ma Chao took his bow and began to shoot. He also ordered his brave officers to go along the river and shoot. A shower of arrows soon fell about the boat. Xu Chu, fearing Cao Cao would be wounded, shielded him with a saddle which he held in his left hand. Ma Chao was an excellent archer and with every arrow a victim fell in the boat. In a short while scores of them were hit and tumbled overboard, leaving the boat out of control and whirling in the swift current. Xu Chu straddled over the tiller and tried to guide the boat while he poled with one hand and held the protecting saddle over Cao Cao’s head with the other.

At that moment the magistrate of Weinan, named Ding Fei, who from a hilltop saw how dangerous the situation was for Cao Cao, drove out from his camp all the cattle and horses. In no time the hillside became a scene of loose animals. This was too much for the Xiliang soldiers, who were born herdsmen. At sight of the beasts, they left the river and ran off to secure them, forgetting all about the pursuit of their enemy.

And so Cao Cao escaped. As soon as he reached the northern shore the boat was scuttled. When the other officers learned that their master had been in peril on the river they hastened to his aid, but by the time they came he was already safe onshore. Xu Chu’s heavy armor was stuck full of arrows. The officers escorted Cao Cao back to the camp where, kneeling on the ground, they hoped that he had not suffered seriously.