After the execution of Ma Teng and the others, Cao Cao resolved to begin the southern campaign. Suddenly he received a report that Liu Bei was training troops and gathering weapons for an attempt on the Riverlands. Cao Cao was shocked. "If Liu Bei takes the western river region, he will have flown full-fledged beyond our reach." At these words someone stepped forward saying, "I know how to foil the Liu Bei-Sun Quan alliance so that both the Southland and the Riverlands will end up in Your Excellency's hands." Indeed:
Even as calamity befell the bold spirits of the west,
It threatened the southern heroes, too.
Who had a stratagem to offer?
Read on.
58
Ma Chao Avenges His Father in the Field;
Cao Ah Man Throws Down His Coat and Cuts Off His Beard
The man who stepped forward to advise Cao Cao was Chen Qun (Zhangwen), an imperial censor in charge of petitions. "Do you have a sound plan, Zhangwen?" Cao Cao asked. He replied, "Liu Bei and Sun Quan depend on each other like lips and teeth. But Liu Bei's desire to seize the Riverlands offers Your Excellency a splendid opportunity: order your chief generals to join the armies now at Hefei for a direct strike on the south. Sun Quan will seek Liu Bei's help; but a Liu Bei bent on taking the west will care little about helping his eastern ally. And Sun Quan, without Bei's help, should offer little resistance, Your Excellency. Once you have the Southland, Jingzhou will fall with a roll of the drums. From there we can conquer the west at our leisure—and make the realm our own at last!" "Chen Qun speaks my thoughts!" Cao Cao exclaimed. He called up three hundred thousand troops for the campaign and ordered Zhang Liao at Hefei to prepare the necessary supplies.
Swift spies informed Sun Quan, who called his commanders together. His senior adviser Zhang Zhao said, "Have Lu Su write at once to Xuande, asking his help against Cao Cao. Xuande should agree, as he owes Lu Su a great deal. Moreover, Xuande is our son-in-law, honor-bound not to refuse. His help will keep our land safe." Sun Quan accepted the proposal, and Lu Su accordingly sent a letter.
After quartering the messenger at a guesthouse, Xuande sent to Nanjun for Kongming. Kongming returned to Jingzhou to advise Xuande on the Southland's request; he said, "There's no need for them or for us to mobilize. I'll see to it that Cao Cao never turns his eyes southward again." He then wrote Lu Su: "You may sleep in peace. If the northerners make the slightest move, the imperial uncle has the perfect plan for driving them back." With this reply Kongming sent the envoy home.
Xuande asked Kongming, "Master, what plan do you have for keeping three hundred thousand troops, plus the army at Hefei, from advancing en masse?" "Cao constantly worries about the Xiliang troops," Kongming replied. "He has killed Ma Teng; Teng's son, Chao, now commands that army and burns for revenge on the traitor. My lord, write a letter opening relations with Ma Chao. If he will march on the north, what freedom will Cao have left for a southern campaign?" Highly satisfied with this advice, Xuande sent a trusted courier off to Xiliang.1
In Xiliang, Ma Chao dreamed that tigers had attacked him when he fell in the snow. Waking in panic, he gathered his commanders and advisers to consider the meaning of the omen. "An evil sign!" a follower said. Everyone turned to Pang De (Lingming), one of the Ma's trusted commandants. "Speak your thoughts," Ma Chao said. "To meet tigers in the snow," Pang De responded, "is a dire dream portent. Can it be that the old general, Ma Teng, has met with some mishap in the capital?" Even as he spoke, a warrior scrambled in and flung himself to the ground, weeping. "Uncle and both cousins are dead," he cried. It was Ma Dai. "Uncle Teng," Ma Dai continued, "planned with Imperial Officer Huang Kui to kill Cao; but, alas, the scheme got out and all were executed publicly. Your brothers Tie and Xiu also met their doom. Only I, disguised as a merchant, managed to escape." At this news Ma Chao collapsed in tears and had to be helped to his feet. Ma Chao ground his teeth in hatred for Cao. At that moment Liu Xuande's envoy arrived with the letter from Jingzhou. Ma Chao read it:
My thoughts dwell on the misfortune that has befallen the house of Han. Because the traitor Cao has usurped power and wronged the sovereign, the common people are in misery. In the past your honored father and I received a secret decree on which we swore to punish the traitor. Now your honored father has been murdered by Cao; it is a crime that must be avenged. If you will lead your forces against Cao from the west, I shall check him to the south with my Jingzhou army. Then the renegade can be apprehended, the rebel party eliminated, your father avenged, and the house of Han restored. This letter tells but a fraction of my thoughts. I await your response anxiously.2
Brushing aside his tears, Ma Chao wrote a response to Xuande's letter and sent it back to Jingzhou with the envoy; he then mustered his army. Chao was about to march east when Han Sui, governor of Xiliang, called for him. Ma Chao went to Han Sui's residence and was shown a letter from Cao Cao that said, "If you will deliver Ma Chao to the capital, I will have you enfeoffed at once as lord of Xiliang." Ma Chao flung himself to the ground and said, "Uncle, I beg you, deliver me and my cousin, Dai, to Xuchang and spare yourself the ordeals of war." Han Sui raised Ma Chao to his feet. "Your father and I were sworn brothers," he said. "Could I harm his son? Take the field and I shall give you every support." Ma Chao thanked Han Sui profoundly. Han Sui had Cao Cao's messenger put to death. He then detailed eight companies to march east under his personal command. The eight commanders—Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Li Kan, Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, Cheng Yi, Ma Wan, and Yang Qiu—joined Pang De and Ma Dai, who were under Ma Chao's command. All told, two hundred thousand western troops marched on Chang'an.3
The governor of Chang'an, Zhong Yao, sped the news to Cao Cao, then drew his forces up to repel the enemy, deploying them on open ground.4 The vanguard of the Xiliang troops under Ma Dai, numbering fifteen thousand, moved across the land like a flood tide, covering the hills and filling the valleys. When Governor Zhong Yao rode forth to answer the invaders, Ma Dai brought his fine sword into play. But moments later the governor fled in defeat as Dai raised his sword and pursued him. Ma Chao and Han Sui arrived with the main armies and surrounded Chang'an. Zhong Yao ascended the wall, from there to direct the city's defense.
Once the site of the capital of the Western Han, Chang'an had formidable walls and moats, which saved it from succumbing at once to Ma Chao's assault. After the city had withstood a continuous siege for ten days, Pang De advised: "Inside, the soil is hard and the water too saline for drinking. They have no firewood, either. The siege has reduced army and inhabitants to hunger. Let us pull back for a time to see what happens. I think Chang'an will fall into our hands." "An ingenious plan!" exclaimed Ma Chao and sent his command banner around to each field army ordering a retreat, while he personally guarded the rear. The various commands gradually withdrew.
The next day Governor Zhong Yao mounted the wall and viewed the evacuated field skeptically. Only when his scouts reported that the invaders were indeed far off did he relax enough to allow the inhabitants and soldiers out of the city to find fuel and water, and to open the main gates to traffic. On the fifth day the return of Ma Chao's forces was reported, and everyone flocked back into the walls, which Zhong Yao sealed and guarded once again.
Now, Zhong Yao's younger brother Jin was defending the west gate, and it was somewhere near there during the third watch that fire broke out.5 When Zhong Jin rushed to the scene, a man rode hard toward him from the wall, sword bared, shouting, "Pang De is here!" Before Zhong Jin could defend himself, Pang De had cut him down, dispersed his guard, and broken open the entrance. Ma Chao and Han Sui entered with their forces, and the governor abandoned the city by the east gate. Ma Chao and Han Sui took possession of Chang'an and rewarded their armies. Governor Zhong Yao retreated to Tong Pass and informed Cao Cao of what had occurred.6
The loss of Chang'an put an end to all discussion of a southern campaign. Cao Cao summoned generals Cao Hong and Xu Huang and instructed them: "Take a force of ten thousand and help Zhong Yao hold Tong Pass. If in the ne
xt ten days the pass is lost, both of you will be executed. After ten days your responsibility ends. I will bring up the main army." The two generals sped to the pass with their orders. Cao Ren, however, raised an objection: "Cao Hong is unstable. He could ruin everything." Cao Cao said, "You deliver the supplies, then, and reinforce the front."
Cao Hong and Xu Huang reached the pass and helped Zhong Yao guard the cross-points but did not show themselves to the enemy. Ma Chao led his troops below the pass and loudly defamed Cao Cao, his father, and his grandfather. Outraged, Cao Hong wanted to descend and fight, but Xu Huang said, "He only wants to provoke you. Do not engage him. When His Excellency arrives with the main army, he will have a master plan." Ma Chao's troops hurled up their taunts day and night, but Xu Huang managed to restrain Cao Hong. On the ninth day they saw from the height that the western soldiers had freed their horses and were lounging on the grass. Most were sleeping on the ground, exhausted. Cao Hong called for horses and detailed three thousand to go down from the pass and slaughter the enemy. The western soldiers fled, abandoning weapons and horses, and Cao Hong tracked them.
Xu Huang, who had been tending the grain supplies at the pass, was shocked to hear that Cao Hong had gone down to fight. He lit out after him to call him back. But shouts to the rear brought him up short. Ma Dai accosted him for battle. Cao Hong and Xu Huang tried desperately to escape. But at the signal of pounding sticks two more armies cut them off: to the left, Ma Chao; to the right, Pang De. A frenzied clash ensued. Cao Hong could not hold his ground. Half his men were lost before he broke through the enemy lines and bolted for the pass. The Xiliang troops gave chase, and Hong fled, abandoning the pass. Pang De plunged on through and saw that Cao Ren had rescued Cao Hong. At that moment Ma Chao arrived and took the pass with Pang De.
Cao Hong rushed back to Cao Cao. "You had a limit of ten days," Cao said, "and yet you lost the pass on the ninth." "The western soldiers abused us so foully that when their discipline looked lax, I seized the chance, little expecting a trap," Hong explained. "You are young and unstable," Cao Cao responded. "But, Xu Huang, you should have known better." "I did all I could to stop him," Xu Huang said. "That day I was above the pass inspecting the grain wagons. Before I knew what was happening, our young commander here had gone down to fight. I was afraid something would go wrong and raced after him—but too late." Cao Cao, in great anger, called for Cao Hong's execution. On his commanders' appeal, however, the order was suspended. Cao Hong acknowledged his offense and withdrew.
Cao Cao marched straight to Tong Pass. Cao Ren said, "Camp before you attack." Cao Cao ordered barricades built with felled trees and sited three camps: on the left, Cao Ren's; on the right, Xiahou Yuan's; in the center, his own. The next day Cao Cao led the men and officers of the three camps en masse in a charge on the crosspoints. When they confronted the Xiliang army, each side assumed formation. Cao Cao rode out below his banners to observe the enemy: all of them brave and hardy warriors, veritable heroes. He also noted Ma Chao: a visage as light as if coated with powder; lips as red as if daubed with Vermillion; narrow-waisted, broad-shouldered, with a powerful voice and vigorous physique; clad in white battle gown and helmet.7
Gripping a long spear, Ma Chao, flanked by Pang De and Ma Dai, sat poised on his horse in front of his line. Cao Cao pondered the scene with admiration, then he rode toward Ma Chao and said, "You are descended from a renowned general of the Han. Why do you rebel?" Grimacing, Ma Chao replied, "Thief! Traitor who wrongs our Emperor! Execution would be too light. Murderer of my father and my brothers! We two are 'enemies who cannot share one sky.' If I catch you alive, I'll chew your flesh!" So saying, he held his spear high and charged.
From behind Cao Cao, Yu Jin emerged and engaged Ma Chao but retired defeated after eight or nine clashes. Zhang He suffered the same fate after some twenty clashes. Li Tong came out. Ma Chao, flaunting his powers, took him on and, in only a few bouts, dropped him with a thrust of his spear. Then the Xiliang troops, beckoned by a wave of Ma Chao's spear, came up in full career and did bloody work with Cao Cao's troops, whose commanders broke before the fierce onslaught of the western army. Ma Chao, Pang De, and Ma Dai plunged into the center camp to capture Cao Cao. In the confusion Cao Cao heard the westerners cry, "Cao's in the red battle gown!" No sooner had Cao Cao stripped off the garment8 than he heard another cry, "Cao Cao—with a long beard!" In panic Cao Cao cut his beard with his knife. Someone informed Ma Chao, who spread the word that Cao Cao now had short whiskers. Hearing this, Cao Cao tore off a corner of his banner and wound it round his neck. A poet of later times wrote of the rout at Tong Pass:9
For Cao Cao, dire defeat and frantic flight:
He shed his gorgeous surcoat for disguise
And hacked his beard, driven by his fright,
While Ma Chao's fame was mounting to the skies.
Fleeing, Cao Cao turned to confront the rider closing in—Ma Chao! Cao panicked. His commanders bolted, leaving Cao Cao to fend for himself. Ma Chao cried harshly, "Stand your ground!" The whip fell from Cao's trembling hand. Moments later Ma Chao, overtaking him, thrust with his spear. Cao Cao ducked behind a tree. The point stuck fast in the trunk. As Ma Chao struggled with it, Cao moved off. Ma Chao raced for him but, rounding a hill, found a warrior who shouted to him, "Stand back from my lord! Cao Hong here!" His sword whirling, Hong confronted Ma Chao, enabling Cao Cao to get away. Hong and Chao fought forty or fifty bouts until gradually Hong's swordplay became confused and his energy flagged. When Xiahou Yuan arrived with several dozen horsemen, Ma Chao turned and rode back, fearing foul play. Xiahou Yuan did not give chase.
On returning to camp Cao Cao found few losses, thanks to Cao Ren's determined defense. Cao Cao entered his command tent and said, "Had I not spared Cao Hong, I would have died at Ma Chao's hands." He summoned Cao Hong and rewarded him handsomely. He then collected the defeated troops, mounted vigilant defense over the camps, and adopted a strictly defensive posture.10
Every day Ma Chao came before the camps to revile Cao Cao and hurl battle taunts. Cao banned all response and ordered any unauthorized move punished by death. The commanders said, "All the westerners wield long spears. We should hit back with our archers and crossbowmen!" "To fight or not to fight," Cao Cao replied, "rests with me, not with the rebels. Can those long spears reach us here? Keep to the walls, gentlemen, and watch; they will retire of their own accord." But the commanders grumbled among themselves, "His Excellency has always taken the van. Maybe Ma Chao's victory has shaken his confidence."
Several days later a spy reported, "Ma Chao has added twenty thousand fresh troops, men from the Qiang tribes." The news delighted Cao Cao. His commanders said, "What does this mean? Ma Chao is reinforced, and Your Excellency is delighted?" "I'll explain it to you when I have defeated them," Cao Cao retorted. Three days later Cao Cao learned that the pass had been reinforced a second time. Cao again expressed satisfaction and held a congratulatory banquet in his tent. His commanders snickered. Cao Cao challenged them: "Do you think I have no plan for destroying Ma Chao? What do you propose?" Xu Huang came forward and said, "Your Excellency has ample troops here. The rebels, too, are concentrated at the pass, leaving the western side of the river vulnerable. We could make things pretty difficult for them if we sent one company secretly across Cattail Shoal and cut off their retreat while Your Excellency struck the rebel troops from the north before they could be aided." "Exactly my thought," Cao Cao said.
Cao Cao sent Xu Huang and Zhu Ling with four thousand picked troops to cross to the western side of the Yellow River11 and set ambushes in the terrain. Cao told them to wait until he too had crossed the Yellow River for a joint attack. As assigned, Xu Huang and Zhu Ling crossed with four thousand, while Cao Hong readied rafts at Cattail Shoal. Cao Ren guarded the camps. Cao Cao prepared to lead his men north across the Wei River.
Spies informed Ma Chao, who said, "Instead of attacking Tong Pass, Cao Cao is making rafts to cross the river. He means to interdict us. I shall take a company
upstream along the west bank and block his crossing. Within twenty days his supplies on the east side will give out. When his men begin protesting, I'll drop back south along the river and take him." Han Sui said, "Is that really necessary? Don't you know the rule of military science, 'Strike while they're halfway across'? Wait for Cao Cao's men to get halfway over, then strike from the southern shore. They'll all perish in the river." "Good advice indeed, uncle," said Ma Chao and sent spies to discover the time of Cao Cao's crossing.
Cao Cao completed his deployment into three armies and advanced to the river. His men reached the juncture of the rivers at sunrise.12 First, Cao sent a select team over to the northern shore to break ground for camps. Then, with one hundred personal guards, Cao sat on the south shore, hand on sword, watching the troops embark. Suddenly a report came: "A general in white behind us!" It had to be Ma Chao. The men made for the boats, shouting furiously as they clambered aboard. But Cao Cao, hand firmly on his sword, did not budge, intent on calming the uproar.
The battle cries of the enemy and the wild whinnying of their horses preceded the onslaught. A commander leaped ashore and shouted, "It's the rebels! Get in this boat, Your Excellency." Cao Cao turned to Xu Chu; the words "Who cares?" were still in his mouth when he spotted Ma Chao barely one hundred paces away. Xu Chu dragged Cao Cao toward the boat, but it had moved some ten spans from shore. Xu Chu put Cao on his back and vaulted in. Cao's guards jumped into the water and clutched the gunwales, causing the little craft to tip. Xu Chu hacked wildly at their hands, slicing many off into the water. The boat then shot downriver, Xu Chu in the stern working a pole to punt it. Cao Cao crouched at his feet.
Ma Chao came to the river's edge and watched Cao's boat pulling away. He hefted his bow and fitted an arrow to the string, shouting to his mounted commanders who out-raced the boat and raked it with bolts. Xu Chu held up his saddle to shield Cao Cao, but Ma Chao's shots took their toll: one after another the oarsmen toppled into the water. On board dozens lay wounded. The boat began to swerve and spin in the swift stream. In a burst of energy Xu Chu wrapped his legs around the tiller and guided the boat, poling with one arm and using the other to protect Cao Cao with his saddle. Meanwhile, from a hill to the south, Ding Fei, prefect of Weinan county, had been watching Ma Chao gaining on Cao Cao. Ding Fei urgently ordered all oxen and horses in his care driven into the open country, causing the Xiliang troops to lose all heart for pursuing Cao as they chased the herds, hoping to catch a prize for themselves. Thus Cao Cao finally escaped.
Three Kingdoms Page 75