Three Kingdoms

by Luo Guanzhong (Moss Roberts trans. )

  Before departing, Pang De said to his commanders, "I will fight Guan to the finish. If he kills me, put my body in this coffin. If I kill him, I will use it to carry his head back to the king." His five hundred commanders answered in unison, "General, we will spare no effort in supporting one so loyal and brave." After that, Pang De led the advance.

  Someone reported the incident to Cao Cao, who said, "Pang De is loyal and brave; we have nothing to fear." But the adviser Jia Xu said, "Pang De is counting on raw physical courage for his battle. But I have my doubts." Cao Cao agreed and had a warning communicated to Pang De: "Lord Guan has a full measure of wit and courage. Do not underestimate him. If you can take him, take him; if not, defend with caution." Pang De acknowledged the command and said to his commanders, "Why does His Highness place such emphasis on Guan? I predict that this time I will put an end to his reputation of thirty years." To this boast Yu Jin responded, "What the king of Wei wishes we must obey." Pang De urged his army on to Fan; and there to the sound of gongs and the beat of drums he flaunted his martial powers.

  Meanwhile, Lord Guan had received a surveillance report in his command tent: "Cao Cao has sent Yu Jin in command of seven detachments of picked troops. Pang De, the vanguard, has brought a coffin with him and defiantly vows to fight you to the finish, General. They're some thirty li from here." At these words Lord Guan's face darkened and his fine curly beard quivered. Wrathfully he cried, "Heroes of the realm cower at the sound of my name. How dare this punk scorn me! Guan Ping, you attack Fan. I myself will dispatch this skunk to vent my outrage." But Guan Ping replied, "Father, does mighty Mount Tai challenge a common stone? Let me engage Pang De." "Try one turn," Lord Guan replied. "I will follow and relieve you." Guan Ping left the tent, armed himself, and rode off with his men to meet Pang De.

  The oppposing lines formed. Above the northern camp flew a black flag inscribed "Pang De of Nan'an." Pang De had a black battle gown and silvery armor, a steel sword, and a white horse. Thus he stood before his line, five hundred warriors close behind. Several foot soldiers appeared bearing the coffin. Guan Ping denounced Pang De: "Traitor! Villain!" Pang De turned to his men and asked, "Who is that?" "Guan's adopted son," was the reply. Pang De called over to him: "I hold the mandate of the king of Wei to take your father's head. Scabby urchin, you're not worth the killing. Call out your father." Guan Ping dashed forth swinging his blade. Pang De leveled his own and they closed. The combat raged for thirty clashes; then the fighters broke and rested. Neither had prevailed.

  Lord Guan was furious at the news from the field. He sent Liao Hua to attack Fan and went himself to deal with Pang De. Guan Ping met his father and described his battle with Pang De. Lord Guan rushed out, sword leveled, and hurled his challenge at De. "Yunchang is here!" he cried. "Come quickly—and die!" To the beat of drums Pang De emerged. "I hold the king of Wei's command to take your head. If you doubt it, the coffin stands ready. If you fear death, dismount and surrender." Lord Guan hurled back his curses: "What can a low-down nobody do to me? What a shame to waste my dragon blade on a rodent like you." Racing forward, blade dancing, Lord Guan made for Pang De. De met him, making circles with his sword. The two warriors clashed more than one hundred times, but their energies seemed only to redouble. On both sides the armies watched, transfixed. Finally, the northern army of Wei, fearing for Pang De, sounded the recall gongs. And Guan Ping, concerned for his father who was no longer young, also rang the gong; the two generals returned to their lines.

  Back at camp, Pang De said to his followers, "Lord Guan is reputed to be a great hero. Today I am convinced." At that moment Yu Jin entered and said to him, "I heard that you had fought over a hundred bouts with Lord Guan but could not get the better of him. Why not pull the army back for a while and avoid the enemy?" Pang De replied hotly, "You are the king of Wei's chief general. Don't be chicken-hearted! Tomorrow I will fight Guan to the finish. As for pulling back—never!" Yu Jin could not object further, and returned to his camp.

  Back at his camp, Lord Guan said to his son, "Pang De is a past master of swordsmanship. Truly my equal." Guan Ping replied, "You know the saying, 'The newborn calf has no fear of tigers. ' Even if you kill him, Father, he's no more than a run-of-the-mill Qiang warrior. And what if something goes wrong? What a way to show respect for our weighty charge from Uncle Xuande!" Lord Guan replied, "There is no other way to settle the score. My mind is made up. The matter is closed."

  The following day Lord Guan rode forth, and Pang De met him. The armies deployed into lines as the opposing generals came out. No time was wasted on words. They joined battle at once. After some fifty clashes Pang De drew his horse around and fled, letting his sword drag behind him. Lord Guan pursued closely, followed by Guan Ping, who feared some mishap. "Scoundrel!" cried Lord Guan, cursing. "You think that old trick will scare me!" In fact, Pang De's "trailing-sword trick" was only a pretense. He had actually hooked the weapon onto his saddle and stealthily drawn his bow; then fitting an arrow, he made his shot. The acute Guan Ping had spotted Pang De's maneuver and shouted, "Villain! No sneak shot!" But even as Lord Guan watched, the bow hummed and the shaft struck his left arm. Riding alongside, Guan Ping saw his father safely back to camp. Pang De, stabbing the air with his weapon, started to give chase when the gongs in his own camp sounded furiously. Fearing trouble in his rear ranks, Pang De rode back.

  What had happened was this: Yu Jin had seen Pang De's arrow hit Lord Guan and rang the gongs of retreat to prevent Pang De from achieving merit that would eclipse his own reputation. Riding back, Pang De demanded, "Why were the gongs sounded?" Yu Jin replied, "The king of Wei warned us, Lord Guan is a master of strategy and combat. Although he was hit, I was afraid of deception." "If you had not recalled us, I would have killed the man by now," retorted Pang De. "You know, 'A swift course, an easy fall. ' Let's plan this more carefully," was the explanation, and Pang De, never realizing Yu Jin's true motive, had to resign himself to his frustration.1

  Lord Guan returned to camp and had the arrow removed from his arm. It had not penetrated far, luckily for him, and the wound was treated with medicine for injuries from weapons. With intense hatred Lord Guan said to his commanders, "I will avenge this wound." The commanders answered, "Rest a few days first, General, before fighting again." But the next day when Pang De came and delivered his challenge, Lord Guan wanted to go forth. The commanders pleaded with him not to go. Pang De had his men hurl abuse at Lord Guan. Guan Ping kept the points of access closed, however, and ordered all commanders to report nothing to his father.

  Pang De issued challenges for more than ten days; but when no one responded, he said to Yu Jin, "It seems that the wound is having its effect. He cannot act. This is our chance to storm their positions with our seven armies and relieve the siege at Fan." But again, fearing Pang De's success, Yu Jin reiterated the king of Wei's insistence on caution and would not accede to Pang De's pleas for military action. Instead, Yu Jin shifted the armies over to the approaches to the hills and established new positions some ten li north of Fan. Yu Jin took his army to cut off the main road and had Pang De station his forces at the rear of the gorge, thus preventing him from winning any victories.

  Guan Ping was overjoyed to see that his father's wound had closed. Suddenly he learned that Yu Jin had shifted his seven armies north of Fan. Unable to decide what they were planning, he went to inform his father. Lord Guan rode with a few companions to a high knoll to observe the city. He saw that the flags on the walls were disorderly and the soldiers slovenly. He noted that troops were deployed in a ravine ten li north of the city and that the waters of the River Xiang were unusually swift. After looking over the terrain for some time, he summoned a local guide and asked, "What do they call that ravine north of Fan?" "Zengkou, 'Open Net Stream," ' was the reply. Lord Guan said with satisfaction, "Then Yu Jin is mine!" "How do you know that?" his officers asked. "Once a fish enters the mouth of the net," Lord Guan answered, "how long can it live?"2 The commanders looked skeptical. Lord Guan
returned to his camp.

  It was autumn, the eighth month (a. d. 219). Heavy rainstorms struck and lasted for several days. Lord Guan ordered his men to prepare rafts, poles for punting, and the like. Guan Ping asked him, "We will confront them on land; why do we need these things?" "You wouldn't understand," Lord Guan replied. "Yu Jin has not positioned his forces on broad and open ground but has concentrated them by the narrow point called Open Net Stream. Now the seasonal rains have been coming down for days; the Xiang is bound to overflow. I have already had several points dammed. When the flood crests, we'll take to our boats. Then we'll release the waters and turn the troops around Fan and Open Net into fishes and turtles." Guan Ping expressed admiration for his father's strategy.

  The forces of Wei kept to their positions at Open Net as the rains continued unabated. Army Inspector Cheng He came to Yu Jin and said, "It's low ground here at the mouth of the stream where the army is stationed. The elevations are too far from our main camps. The rains have made the troops miserable. The latest news is that the men of Jingzhou have moved to higher ground and are preparing rafts for combat at the mouth of the River Han. Now—before the waters rise and endanger our army—now is the time to plan for them." Yu Jin rebuked the speaker sharply, saying, "A nobody like you wants to disturb the army? The next man to complain dies." Humiliated, Cheng He withdrew and went to Pang De, who said, "I agree with you. If General Yu won't move the men tomorrow, I will." They worked out a plan.

  During that night of fierce wind and heavy rain Pang De, sitting in his tent, heard the restless movements of ten thousand horses and the ground-shaking roll of war drums. Alarmed, he went outside and rode off to look. From all sides, floodwaters were rushing in; the seven armies, thrown into panic flight, had already lost untold numbers in the tide. On level ground the water reached a depth of more than ten spans. Yu Jin, Pang De, and the commanders climbed to safe heights. By dawn Lord Guan and his commanders, waving flags and beating drums, were bearing down in large ships. Yu Jin saw no way out and, with barely fifty or sixty men around him, declared his willingness to surrender. Lord Guan ordered Yu Jin and his men to strip off their armor and took them on board under guard. He then went for Pang De.

  At this time Pang De, Dong Heng, Dong Chao, and Cheng He were standing on an embankment with five hundred foot soldiers; none had armor. At Lord Guan's approach, Pang De went boldly to meet him. Lord Guan had his boats ring the group; then his archers went to work, killing the greater part of the northern troops. Dong Heng and Dong Chao pleaded with Pang De: "More than half our men are gone. We are trapped here. Surrender is our only hope." But Pang De, enraged, replied, "As a beneficiary of the king's favor, I will never bow to another," and cut down the two men with his own blade. He cried sternly, "Whoever else urges surrender will follow them!" This stand roused his troops, and they battled the enemy from dawn to midday with redoubled vigor.

  Lord Guan urged his own forces to strike harder; they poured stones and arrows down on the enemy. Pang De ordered his men into close combat with short swords. Turning to Cheng He, he said, "You know the saying, 'Not even death can make the brave general look for an easy out or try to survive at the cost of his integrity. ' This is the day I will die. And I want all of you to fight to the death."

  Cheng He advanced as ordered. A single arrow from Lord Guan dropped him into the river. The rest of the soldiers surrendered. Pang De alone fought on. He came upon a few dozen Jingzhou soldiers guiding a small craft near his embankment. Pang De shouted and sprang to the deck. At once his whirling sword claimed ten men. The rest jumped into the water. Pang De, his sword in one hand, the boat's rudder in the other, tried to escape to Fan. But a large raft hit his boat, overturning it and dumping him into the river. The commander of the raft—Zhou Cang—leaped into the water and captured Pang De. Zhou Cang was used to the water, and his many years in Jingzhou had made him all the more adept. In addition, he had great physical strength; thus, he captured Pang De. The seven armies under Yu Jin's command perished; the others, who saw no way out, surrendered. A poet of later times has left these lines:

  Battle drums beat hard throughout the night

  As Lord Guan sent a flood across their flats.

  Inspired tactics forced the foe's defeat:

  Immortal now, the name the heartland feared.

  Lord Guan returned to his high vantage point, entered his tent, and seated himself. A throng of armed guards hustled Yu Jin into his presence. Jin threw himself to the ground, begging piteously for his life. "How dared you resist me?" Lord Guan said. "I acted on orders," Yu Jin answered. "It was not my own doing. Have mercy, Your Lordship, and I will repay you with lifelong devotion." Fondling his beard, Lord Guan laughed. "Killing you would be like killing a dog or a pig," he said at last. "Why dirty a good axe?" He ordered Yu Jin sent back to jail in Jingzhou, adding, "I'll deal with you when I return." And thus he disposed of Yu Jin.

  Lord Guan then ordered Pang De brought before him. Pang De stared Lord Guan full in the face, rage in his glare, and refused to kneel. "Your elder brother is now in Hanzhong," Lord Guan said. "And your former lord, Ma Chao, is a chief general in the Riverlands. Why not surrender to me?" "I'll die under the knife first," was Pang De's angry retort, and curses poured from his lips. In a fury Lord Guan barked the order for execution to the axemen, and Pang De stretched forth his neck, eager for the blow. Afterward Lord Guan, touched by Pang De's spirit, had him buried properly. Then, while the flood waters were still high, Lord Guan and his men took to their war-boats and began the attack on Fan.3

  Around the besieged city white breakers surged against the horizon, and the increasing pressure of the water undermined the city walls. The entire population worked relentlessly with earth and brick but could not shore them up. Fear-stricken, the northern military leaders rushed to Cao Ren. "The crisis is past relieving," they said. "Let us flee tonight by boat before the enemy arrives. We can save ourselves even if we lose the city." Cao Ren agreed and was about to order the withdrawal, when Man Chong objected. "It is a mistake," he said. "Among these mountains the floods come on in a flash, but never remain for long. They are sure to recede within ten days. Before attacking, Lord Guan sent auxiliary commanders on to Jiaxia, which shows that he cannot advance at will for fear we will ambush him from behind. If we abandon the city of Fan today, nothing south of the Yellow River will remain in the possession of the dynasty. I urge you, General, to maintain the defense of this point, the outer shield of our security."

  Clasping his hands before his chest, Cao Ren expressed appreciation. "If not for your advice, Man Chong," he said, "everything might have been ruined."4 Ren rode his white horse up to the wall and swore before his commanders: "The king of Wei has mandated me to defend this city, and I will execute anyone who speaks of deserting it." The commanders responded by vowing to hold the city to the death. Well pleased, Cao Ren placed several hundred archers and crossbowmen on the wall. Day and night the soldiers mounted strict guard, never slackening for a moment, while the old and young worked at carrying earth to fortify the walls. Within ten days the waters had begun to recede.

  Lord Guan's capture of General Yu Jin made him a power feared throughout the realm. Unexpectedly Guan's second son, Xing, came to see his father at the camp. Lord Guan ordered him to go to Chengdu and present the king of Hanzhong with a list of the accomplishments of his officers and requests for promotion. Guan Xing bade his father good-bye and headed for the capital of the Riverlands.

  Next, Lord Guan sent half his army against Jiaxia while he led the other half in a four-sided assault on Fan. That day Lord Guan went himself to the north gate of the city. Astride his horse, he flourished a whip and issued a challenge: "The time to surrender has long passed, you rats!" At that very moment, from his watchtower Cao Ren noticed that Lord Guan was wearing only his breastplate and that from the side his green battle gown was exposed. Ren hurriedly summoned five hundred bowmen to let fly at him together. Lord Guan swung his horse swiftly around, but a bolt caught
his right arm, and he dropped from his horse. Indeed:

  Amid the flood, the seven armies quailed;

  From the wall, a single shot—a leader felled.

  Would Lord Guan survive?5

  Read on.

  75

  Hua Tuo Scrapes the Poison from Lord Guan's Bone;

  Lü Meng Sends Mariners Across the River in Disguise

  The moment he saw Lord Guan fall, Cao Ren and his men came charging out of the city for the kill. But Guan Ping fought the northerners off and brought his father safely back to camp. There the arrow was removed from his right arm. The arrowhead, however, had been poisoned; ulceration had reached the bone, and the arm, greenish and swollen, would not move. Guan Ping hastily convened the commanders and said, "If my father loses his arm, he will never fight again. It will be best to go back to Jiangling and take care of it." He then went with the commanders to see their leader. "What have you come for?" Lord Guan asked. "In view of Your Lordship's wound," they replied, "we are afraid the shock of battle could be bad for you. Our consensus is for all to return to Jiangling with you for treatment."

  Lord Guan responded angrily, "Fan is within our grasp, and once we have it, we can reach Cao's capital at Xuchang by forced march. Then we can flush out the traitor, destroy him, and secure the house of Han. I cannot ruin this enterprise for the sake of a minor wound. Don't sap the morale of the troops." Guan Ping and the rest retired silently.