The Three Kingdoms Volume 2 (82 page)

Cao Ren understood that he had fallen into a trap, so he hurriedly led a troop to rush back to Xiangyang. He got to within a short distance of the city when he saw before him an embroidered banner waving in the wind, and out came the great warrior with his sword, ready to strike. Cao Ren, trembling with fear, dared not put up a struggle, but turned toward Xiangyang. Guan Yu did not pursue.

Shortly after, Xiahou Cun came. At the sight of the powerful warrior he angrily came forward to fight him, only to be slain in the first encounter. His colleague Zhai Yuan fled, but Guan Ping swiftly caught up with him and slew him. Then the pursuit was continued, and the losses on Cao Ren’s side were very heavy. Many were drowned in the Xiang River. The battle ended with Cao Ren retreating back to Fancheng and Guan Yu in possession of Xiangyang.
*

After the victory, Guan Yu went into the city, where he calmed the people and rewarded his men. However, one of his officers, called Wang Fu, warned him of possible danger in Jingzhou. “You have obtained this city very easily,” he said, “but the task is not ended. Although Cao Ren’s men have been beaten and their courage broken, there is still the danger from Wu. Lu Meng is at Lukou, and he has long cherished the desire to lay hands on Jingzhou. If he takes advantage of your absence to attack the city, what is to be done?”

“I have been thinking of this myself,” replied Guan Yu. “You go and attend to this matter. Find some high points on the river bank, about twenty or thirty
li
apart, and set up alarm beacons. Assign fifty men to guard each one. If you spot the men of Wu crossing the river, raise a flame by night and a smoke by day. I will go and smite them myself.”

Wang Fu replied, “Fu Shi-ren and Mi Fang are holding the two strategic points. I am afraid they may not do their best. You should appoint someone else to supervise the whole area of Jingzhou.”

“There is no need for anxiety—I have put Pan Jun in charge.”

“Pan Jun is jealous and greedy, not a suitable man for the task. I think it is better to replace him with Zhao Lei, now of the commissariat. He is loyal and honest, a much more desirable man for the post.”

“I know Pan Jun very well, but I have delegated him for that duty and cannot change now. Zhao Lei is taking care of the food supplies, which are also very important. I don’t think you need be too anxious. Just get along with those beacons for me.”

Wang Fu unhappily took his leave. Guan Yu then told his adopted son to prepare ships to cross the river and attack Fancheng, where Cao Ren had retreated after the defeat.

Now Cao Ren said to Man Chong, “Neglecting your advice, I lost my men, my two officers, and the city of Xiangyang. What am I to do now?”

“Guan Yu is too brave and skillful for us to treat lightly. We’d better remain on the defensive,” replied Man Chong.

Just about this time came the tidings that Guan Yu was crossing the river to attack them again. Cao Ren was greatly alarmed. Man Chong maintained his policy of defense, but this was contradicted by one of the officers, who was all for going out to meet the enemy.

“I ask for a few thousand men,” he said, “and I will meet the enemy on the Xiang River.”

Man Chong tried to dissuade him from going but the officer became angry. He shouted, “You civil officials always talk about defense. But will defense drive off the enemy? Don’t you know what the
Art of War
says: ‘Attack while your enemy is halfway crossing a river.’ Now Guan Yu is doing exactly that, so why not attack him? It will be quite another matter if you let him reach the walls and get near the moat.”

As a result of this argument he was given 2,000 men, whom he led to the riverbank ready to do battle. And there he found Guan Yu already deployed. As the embroidered banners were unfurled, Guan Yu rode out. The officer was about to ride forth and engage in battle when his men, panic-stricken at the sight of Guan Yu’s fierce countenance, started to flee. In vain he tried to call them back. Guan Yu came on with a rush and Cao Ren’s men again lost the day. Many were slain, and the remainder ran into Fancheng. Cao Ren dispatched a letter to his master to plead for help.

The messenger went to see Cao Cao and tell him that Guan Yu had occupied Xiangyang and was also besieging Fancheng.

Cao Cao pointed to one of his officers and said, “You can go and lift the siege at Fancheng.”

The man at once stepped out. It was Yu Jin.

“Let me have an officer to lead the vanguard,” he said.

“Who would like to volunteer?” asked Cao Cao, looking around.

“I would,” cried a man. “I will offer my meager services, for what they are worth. And I will capture this fellow Guan Yu and bring him before your standard.”

North Wei had dispatched another troop,

Ere East Wu sent out a single man to help.

The name of the bold volunteer will be told in the next chapter.

*
An ancient book about the earliest rulers of China.

*
Xiao He (?–193
B.C.
) was prime minister of the first emperor of Han Dynasty.

†
Cao Shen (?–190
B.C.
) was prime minister, after Xiao He, of the first emperor of Han Dynasty.

*
Here is a confusion in the book. According to Chapter
Fifty-One
, Guan Yu seized Xiangyang from Xiahou Dun after the Battle of the Red Cliffand there is no mention of the place ever being re-taken by Cao Ren.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

Pang De Takes His Coffin on a Campaign

Guan Yu Drowns Seven Enemy Forces

T
he
bold officer who pledged to make an end of Guan Yu was Pang De. Cao Cao was very glad that he’d volunteered. “Guan Yu enjoys a high reputation in the whole country. So far he has not met his rival, but now he is going to meet you and he will find his match.”

So he conferred on Yu Jin the title of General–Conqueror of the South and on Pang De, General–Conqueror of the West and Leader of the Vanguard, and commanded them to lead seven forces to leave for Fancheng.

These seven forces were composed of sturdy fighters from the north. Before setting out two of their officers, named Dong Heng and Dong Chao, led their colleagues to pay their respects to the commander, Yu Jin. At the interview, Dong Heng said: “General, you are leading seven forces to lift the siege of Fancheng and you expect to win the war. But is it wise to place Pang De in command of the van?”

“Why?” asked Yu Jin, surprised.

“As you know, he was once under the command of Ma Chao and only surrendered to our lord because there was no alternative. Now his former chief is given high honor in Shu, one of the Five Tiger Generals, and his own brother is an officer there, too. To send him as leader of the van is like trying to extinguish a fire with oil. Why not ask the Prince of Wei to replace him with another?”

Without further delay Yu Jin went to see Cao Cao and laid before him the objections to Pang De’s appointment. Cao Cao, seeing the truth of this, summoned Pang De and told him to yield his seal as Leader of the Vanguard.

“Why do you reject my service, my lord? I was just about to do my best for you.”

“Well, I did not distrust you at first, but Ma Chao is now in Shu and your brother too, both in the service of Liu Bei. Even if I myself have no doubts, all the other leaders are against you.”

Pang De took off his headdress and bowed his head with such force that blood streamed down his cheeks.

“Since I surrendered to you, my lord, I have been a recipient of great kindness from you, for which I would undergo any sufferings to show my gratitude. Pray trust me. Although my brother is in Shu, he and I are not even on speaking terms. When my brother and I were at home together his wife was a wicked woman and I slew her, pretending I was drunk. My brother has never forgiven me, and he hates me so intensely that he swears never to see me again, so we are enemies. As for my old master, Ma Chao, he is bold but not clever, so he had to seek shelter in Shu, a defeated and dejected man. Now he serves his own master, and I serve mine. Our old friendship is over. How could I ever think of another after your kindness to me?”

Cao Cao helped him to his feet and soothed him, saying, “I have always known what a noble man you are, and what I said just now was to relieve the fears of the others. Now you can strive to win fame, and if you do not disappoint me I will treat you well.”

Pang De bowed again to thank him. When he returned to his house, he ordered some workmen to make him a coffin. After it was finished he invited all his relatives and friends to a banquet, and the coffin was set out in the reception room for all to see. His guests were aghast. They asked him why he should put out such an inauspicious object on the eve of an expedition. Holding a drink in his hand, Pang De said, “The Prince of Wei has been very generous to me, and I vow to repay him with my life. I’m about to go and fight this Guan Yu. If I can’t kill him, he will kill me—even if he doesn’t kill me, I will kill myself, and so I have prepared this coffin to show that I won’t break my vow.”

The terrible pledge saddened the guests, and they fell to sighing. Then he sent for his wife and son, the latter whom he commended to her care.

“I have been appointed leader of the van of this expedition, and my duty binds me to die on the battlefield. If I die, our son is in your special care. The child is born with unusual looks, and when he grows up he shall avenge his father.”

Both mother and son wept bitterly as they bid him farewell. Then the army set out, and the coffin was carried along. Pang De told his officers to place his body in there if he was killed by Guan Yu.

“And if I slay him,” he added, “I’ll bring his head back in this coffin as an offering to our prince.”

All his five hundred subordinate officers said in unison, “You are so loyal and brave, General—we must certainly follow you to the end.”

The vanguard then marched away. Someone told this to Cao Cao, who was very pleased, saying he had no anxiety with such an officer leading his men.

But Jia Xu said, “I am rather worried, though. Pang De is driven by too reckless a passion to fight to the death with Guan Yu.”

Cao Cao also became anxious for his general’s safety, and he hastily sent Pang De a warning message, which said: “Guan Yu is brave as well as resourceful. You must be most cautious in combating with him. Conquer him if you can—but remain on the defensive if you cannot.”

“Why does our prince extol this Guan Yu so?” said Pang De to his colleagues when he heard this new command. “But I think I’ll be able to destroy his reputation of thirty years.”

“The command of the prince is to be obeyed,” admonished Yu Jin.

Pang De hastened to Fancheng in all the pomp and panoply of war, with gongs clanging and drums rolling as the army marched.

Guan Yu was sitting in his tent when his spies came to inform him of the approach of the enemy from the north, seven divisions in all, of bold fighting men. They also told him that the vanguard leader, Pang De, who had brought along a coffin, had sworn in impudent language to fight to the death with him.

Rage took hold of Guan Yu. His face changed color and his beard shook as he roared, “There is never a fighting man in all the country but trembled with fear at hearing my name. How dare this fellow disdain me?”

So he ordered Guan Ping to attack the city while he went out to slay the impudent boaster.