Guan Yu found himself at a standstill on the road to Jingzhou with the army of Wu in front and the men of Wei coming up behind. What was to be done? He discussed the situation with Zhao Lei, who proposed sending someone to accuse Lu Meng of betraying the former alliance.
Zhao Lei said, “When Lu Meng was at Lukou he had written to you, promising to join hands with you in the destruction of Cao Cao. Now he has fought for the enemy. This is a betrayal of our alliance. Let us halt here for the time being and send someone with your letter to reproach him. Let us await his response.”
So the letter was written and sent.
Meanwhile, by Lu Meng’s command, special protection was given to the families of all the officers who went on the expedition with Guan Yu, and they were supplied with all they needed. Even the ailing members of their households were treated by physicians, free of charge. Grateful for this kindness they made no attempt to disrupt the new rule. When Guan Yu’s envoy came, the messenger was welcomed into the city by Lu Meng himself and well treated.
When he had read the letter, Lu Meng said to the bearer, “You must understand the different circumstances. When I formed a league with General Guan it was my personal desire. Now I am acting on my master’s orders and cannot do as I wish. Please return and explain this well to your general.”
The bearer of the letter was entertained at a banquet and escorted to repose at the guesthouse, where the families of the officers all came for news of their dear ones. They also brought him letters or messages for the officers, assuring them of their safety and wellbeing. When he left the city, Lu Meng himself went to see him off.
On his return, the messenger told Guan Yu what Lu Meng had said and told him that his family, as well as those of the officers and men, were all safe and well cared for. This, however, did not please Guan Yu at all, for he saw in this merely a wicked scheme to gain favor and popularity.
“The villain! If I cannot slay him while I live, I will, after I am dead. My hate will not go unappeased.”
He roughly dismissed the messenger, who went out and was at once surrounded by those whose families were in the city, eager to hear news of them. And when he gave them the letters and messages and told them that Lu Meng had treated their families very well, there was great rejoicing among the men in the camp, and with it departed their desire to fight.
Guan Yu led the army to attack Jingzhou, but day after day many of the men deserted and ran away to the very city they were meant to be attacking. So Guan Yu’s bitterness and anger increased daily, and he advanced in angry haste. One day there was a great shouting ahead and he found his way blocked.
“Why not surrender, Yun-chang?” said the leader of this body, Jiang Qin by name.
“I am a general of the Hans. Do you think I will ever surrender to a rebel?” roared Guan Yu.
So saying he whipped his horse forward and raised his sword to strike. However, after only three bouts Jiang Qin fled as if in defeat. Guan Yu followed for about twenty li when amid loud shouting there suddenly appeared Han Dang from a gully on his left and Zhou Tai from another on his right. At this moment Jiang Qin also wheeled round to fight, so that Guan Yu was opposed by three forces all at once. Unable to withstand these, he retreated.
Before he had gone very far he saw standing on a slope to the south a thick crowd of people and flapping in the wind a white banner bearing the words, NATIVES OF JINGZHOU. At the sight of Guan Yu and his army, the crowd began to call out, “Surrender quickly, natives of Jingzhou!” Guan Yu, seized with another fit of fury, wanted to rush in and slay these agitators, but just then two other cohorts appeared led by Ding Feng and Xu Sheng to support the original three forces. The five bodies of men raised a ruckus of shouting and drum beating that seemed to shake the very earth. Like the kernel of a nut, Guan Yu was entirely surrounded.
This was not all. As the battle drew on the number of his followers diminished each moment. He fought on till dusk, and looking about him he saw all the hills crowded with Jingzhou folk and heard them calling brother to brother, son to father, or father to son, till his soldiers’ hearts melted. One by one they ran to their relatives, heedless of their general’s prohibition. Presently he had but three hundred left, but with them he kept up the battle till midnight. Then there was another shouting from the east. Luckily it was his son Guan Ping and the faithful Liao Hua that had come to his rescue.
“The soldiers have no heart to fight,” said Guan Ping. “We must find some place to camp till help can arrive. There is Maicheng, small but sufficient to encamp our men.”
Guan Yu consented, and the exhausted army hurried there as quickly as they could.
The small force was divided among the four gates for defense. Here Guan Yu discussed the situation with his men. Zhao Lei proposed seeking assistance from the nearby city of Shangyong, which was guarded by Liu Feng, Liu Bei’s adopted son, and Meng Da. There, they could recover from their present difficulty and wait until the army came from their homeland.
But even as they were discussing this the army of Wu came up and laid siege to the small city.
“Who will break through to get help from Shangyong?” asked Guan Yu.
“I will,” volunteered Liao Hua.
“And I will escort you past the danger zone,” said Guan Ping.
Guan Yu wrote a letter, which Liao Hua concealed next to his skin, and after a full meal, he rode out of the gate. Ding Feng at once tried to stop him, but Guan Ping fought vigorously and drove him away. So Liao Hua was able to break through the siege, and Guan Ping returned to the city. Then they barred the gates and did not venture out again.
Now let us turn to Liu Feng and Meng Da in Shangyong. After capturing the city the two had remained to guard it, and the former prefect, Sun Dan by name, had surrendered. Liu Feng had been created an assistant general, with Meng Da to aid him. When they heard of Guan Yu’s defeat, they sought counsel with each other. Then Liao Hua came and he was admitted into the city.
Liao Hua said, “General Guan is besieged in Maicheng. As help from the west will be a long time in coming, I have been sent to beg you for assistance. I earnestly hope you will set out with your troops to Maicheng as quickly as possible, for any delay will be fatal to the general.”
Liu Feng replied: “Sir, go and rest awhile till we can decide.”
So Liao Hua went to the guesthouse, where he waited anxiously for them to lend help while the two leaders talked over the matter.
Liu Feng said, “My uncle is in a quandry—what is to be done?”
“Wu is very powerful,” replied his colleague. “Now they have control over the whole region, save this small crumb of a place, Maicheng. What is worse, Cao Cao is close by with about half a million men. We have no hope to stand against the two mighty armies with our meager force of mountain people. We must be careful.”
“I know all this. But Guan Yu is my uncle, and I can’t bear to sit still and not try to save him.”
“So you hold him as an uncle!” said Meng Da with a sneer. “Yet I don’t think he holds you much as a nephew. I hear he was annoyed when the Prince of Hanzhong first adopted you. And after your father acquired his new status and was going to nominate his heir, I was told he consulted Zhuge Liang, who said the affair was one to be decided within the family and declined to advise. Then the prince sent someone to ask Guan Yu for advice. Did he name you? Not at all. He was opposed to you on the grounds that you were a son by adoption and could have no place in the succession. Furthermore, he urged the prince to send you here to this distant mountain city lest you might cause trouble. This is common knowledge, and I’m surprised that you are ignorant of it. Yet today you make such a big deal out of his being your uncle and are even willing to run a great risk to support him.”
“Granted that what you say is true, still what reply can we give?”
“Simply say that this city is only recently taken and quite unsettled, so you dare not move lest it be lost.”
Liu Feng took his colleague’s
view, sent for the messenger and told him so. Liao Hua was greatly shocked to hear this. He threw himself on the ground and bowed his head, imploring them to help.
“If so, the general will die,” he cried.
“Even if we go, how can a cup of water extinguish a wagon load of blazing firewood?” said Meng Da. “Hasten back and await patiently for help from the west.”
Liao Hua renewed his entreaty with a flood of tears but the two were unmoved. They simply rose, shook out their sleeves, and went inside. Knowing that his efforts were futile, Liao Hua thought the only way out was to get help from the prince. So, cursing bitterly at the two heartless men, he rode out of the city to embark on a journey toward Chengdu.
At Maicheng Guan Yu looked anxiously, but vainly, for the coming of the expected aid. He was in a sorry plight. His men numbered but a few hundred, many of them wounded. And there was no grain.
Then someone came to the foot of the city wall and, calling out to the men on the wall not to shoot, said he had a message for the commander. It was Zhuge Jin and he was allowed to enter. When he had saluted his host and taken tea, he began his persuasive speech.
“I have come at the command of my master to exhort you to take a wise course. From of old it has always been recognized that ‘A true hero must bow to circumstances.’ The nine districts of Jingzhou that you once ruled have come under another, with the exception of this single city. But with no food within nor help from without, it will fall at any moment. Therefore, general, why not take my advice and join your fortunes with my master? You will be restored to the governorship of this region and reunited with your family. I entreat you to reflect upon this.”
Guan Yu replied seriously, “I am but a common soldier of Jieliang, yet my lord has treated me as his own ‘hands and feet’ (brother). I will never betray him for an enemy country. If the city falls, so ends my life. Jade may be shattered, but its whiteness remains; bamboo may be burned, but its joints* cannot be destroyed. My body may perish, but my fame will live through history. Say no more, but leave the city quickly. I will fight Sun Quan to death.”
“My master desires that his house and yours may be united by a marriage bond so that you can assist each other to destroy Cao Cao and restore the Hans. He means no harm. Why do you persist in this wrong course?”
He had hardly finished this speech than Guan Ping drew his sword to slay him. But his father checked him.
“Remember his brother is in Shu, helping your uncle. If you hurt him you will injure their brotherly affection.”
He then ordered his men to lead Zhuge Jin away. Crimson with shame, he left the city. When he saw his master he told him of Guan Yu’s obduracy and rejection of all persuasion.
“He is indeed a loyal servant!” said Sun Quan in admiration. “Then what is to be done?”
“Let us make a divination according to the Book of Changes,” said Lu Fan.
So lots were cast, which were interpreted to mean that the enemy would flee to a distance.
Sun Quan asked Lu Meng, “If he escapes to a distant land, how are you going to capture him?”
“The divination exactly fits in with my scheme,” he replied. “Even though Guan Yu had wings to soar to the skies he could not fly out of my net.”
The dragon in a puddle is the sport of shrimps,
The phoenix in a cage is mocked by small birds.
What scheme Lu Meng would employ will be revealed in the next chapter.
Footnotes
* A general in West Han, famous for his highly disciplined army.
* In Chinese the character for a bamboo joint is jie, which is a homonym for “rectitude.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Guan Yu’s Ghost Visits Jade Spring Mountain
Cao Cao Is Possessed in Luoyang
At the end of the last chapter Sun Quan asked Lu Meng for a plan to capture Guan Yu. To his question Lu Meng replied, “As he has very few men left, Guan Yu will not venture to escape via the high road but seek the risky path to the north of Maicheng. Therefore we can lay an ambush about twenty li north of the city. When he comes, do not stop him, but only harass his rear. Thus his men will be disheartened and he will be forced to turn toward Linju. Set another ambush in the hills there, and we will capture him. For the present, we can attack the city vigorously on all sides but leave the north gate open for him to escape.”
Before carrying out this plan, Sun Quan asked Lu Fan to consult the diviners again. Presently the diviner announced that the enemy would flee toward the northwest, but would be caught before midnight.
So Zhu Ran was assigned the task of placing the ambush at the first position with 5,000 veterans while Pan Zhang, with five hundred men, was to lie in wait near Linju.
Back in Maicheng, Guan Yu mustered his fighting men. All told, there were only a little more than three hundred foot and horse soldiers. And there was no food or forage left. That night men of Wu came to the city walls and called to their friends inside by name, and many of these climbed over the wall and deserted, reducing the small force still further. There was no sign of the rescue force, so anxiously awaited. Guan Yu, at the end of his resources, turned to Wang Fu in deep remorse: “How much I regret I did not heed your warning! Now we are in such a crisis! What is to be done?”
Wang Fu replied in tears, “Even if the ablest strategist of old should come to life again he would be helpless in this case.”
Zhao Lei said, “The rescue force is still not here. It must be that Liu Feng and Meng Da have purposely withheld help. Let us abandon this isolated place and escape to Shu. We can return with a new army to recover the region.”
“I think so, too,” agreed Guan Yu.
Then he ascended the walls and surveyed the country. Noting that there were but few enemy soldiers outside the north gate, he called in some of the local inhabitants and inquired about the nature of the country on that side.
They replied, “There are all hilly paths in that direction, but they lead to Shu.”
“We will go that way tonight,” said Guan Yu.
But Wang Fu suggested taking the main road, pointing out that they would surely fall into an ambush if they went by the pathways.
“There may be an ambush, but what do I fear?” said the old warrior.
Orders were given to ready the soldiers for the night sortie.
“At least be very careful, general,” implored Wang Fu, weeping bitterly. “With my hundred men I will defend this city to the very last. Even if the city falls, we will never surrender. We will be expecting your speedy rescue.”
Guan Yu also wept. Then leaving Zhou Cang to guard the city with Wang Fu, he rode out with Guan Ping, Zhao Lei, and a weak force of some two hundred men from the north gate. Guan Yu, his great sword ready to hand, took the lead. About the first watch, a distance of twenty li lay between them and the city. There they saw a deep cleft in the hills, from which echoed the sound of drums and gongs and the shouting of many men.
Soon there appeared a large force with Zhu Ran at its head. He came dashing forward, and summoned Guan Yu to surrender to save his life. But Guan Yu whipped his steed to a gallop and bore down on the leader with anger in his eyes. Zhu Ran ran away. Guan Yu followed him but soon there came the loud boom of a large drum, and out sprang the hidden men from all sides. Guan Yu dared not engage such a number, and fled in the direction of Linju. Then Zhu Ran came up from behind and attacked the fleeing soldiers, so that Guan Yu’s forces gradually diminished.
Still he struggled on. A little farther drums rolled again, and torches lit up all round. This was Pan Zhang’s ambush, and he appeared flourishing his sword. Guan Yu whirled his blade and went to meet him, but Pan Zhang ran away after a couple of bouts. However, Guan Yu dared not linger to fight but sought refuge among the mountains. Guan Ping came up from behind and told his father the sad news that the loyal Zhao Lei had been killed. Guan Yu was overcome with grief. Then he told his son to protect the rear while he forced his way in front.
With only a dozen men in his following he reached Jueshi, a place banked on both sides by hills overgrown with trees and brambles. At the foot of these hills lay a thick mass of reeds and decayed leaves. It was then the close of the fifth watch. Presently the small party stumbled into another ambush, and the enemy thrust forth hooks and long ropes. Entangled in these, Guan Yu’s horse fell, throwing him reeling out of the saddle, and he was swiftly taken prisoner. Guan Ping, hearing of his father’s capture, flew to his rescue, but the two Wu forces came up and surrounded him on all sides. Alone, he fought them all to the last of his strength, then he, too, was captured. So father and son were both captives.
With great joy Sun Quan heard of the success of his plans the next morning. He assembled all his officers in his tent to await the arrival of the prisoners. Before long, Ma Zhong, who had actually caught Guan Yu, came hustling his prisoner before him.
“I had long admired you for your great virtue,” said Sun Quan to Guan Yu, “so I offered you an alliance through marriage. Why did you refuse? You always regarded yourself invincible—how come you are my prisoner today? Are you going to submit to me now?”
Guan Yu answered, cursing indignantly at his enemy: “You blue-eyed brat! You red-bearded rat! I pledged in the Peach Garden with my sworn brothers to uphold the Hans. Do you think I will ever associate with a rebel like you? I am beguiled into your vile schemes, and I am ready to die. There is no need to waste time with words.”
“He is a real hero, and I do admire him,” said Sun Quan to his officials. “I will treat him well and endeavor to win him over. What do you say to this?”
One of them objected, “Remember how Cao Cao tried in vain to win him to his side. When Cao Cao held him he treated him lavishly. He made him a marquis; entertained him every three days with a small banquet and every five days with a big banquet; gave him gold and silver as presents. But in spite of all this, he failed to retain him at his side. Eventually he broke through his passes, slew his officers, and went away. Today Cao Cao is in such dread of him that he almost moved the capital to avoid him. Now he is in your power, destroy him at once, or you will be sorry. Evil will come if you spare him.”
The Three Kingdoms, Volume 3: Welcome the Tiger: The Epic Chinese Tale of Loyalty and War in a Dynamic New Translation Page 4