NOVPUBGuan Yu had called each of his subordinate generals one by one to give them instructions; he then ordered Zhou Cang to have his five hundred School Sabre Bearers ready, waiting for the enemy to charge up so they could rise and attack as a group, and then capture them alive as Guo Jia had suggested.
"What a pity," Guo Jia lamented, looking around the military camp. When he had chosen the location for camping and fortification, he had picked a wide and flat area to avoid ambushes, yet such terrain also made it difficult to ambush others.
"What’s the matter?" In a rare gesture, Guan Yu filled a cup of wine for Guo Jia who had no choice but to drink it down. Then, the wine cup and wine jug were taken away by Guan Yu, and replaced with a teapot and tea cup, accompanied by a few pieces of pastries.
Guo Jia helplessly picked up the tea cup and began to imagine the taste of wine. Guan Yu would always offer him a cup before battle; after this cup, he wouldn’t see any wine until the fight was finished. This was Guan Yu’s rule: you could be given the special privilege to drink alcohol in the military camp, but you absolutely could not let it cause mistakes.
"The enemy is also shrewd. We can give up on plans to encircle and destroy them right away, they won’t come in deep. Move the archers and bed crossbows, inflict as much damage as we can. This place is too flat, it has its advantages and disadvantages," sighed Guo Jia, directly pointing out the serious issue with the terrain.
"Indeed, we should not get entangled then. Let’s move the crossbowmen and bed crossbows to strike them into confusion the moment they appear. The enemy will surely retreat," Guan Yu also realized that his choice of location for camping and fortification was too flat. Even though the view was extensive, so was the enemy’s, and considering their cautious nature, they were unlikely to overlook any doubt, seeing through his arrangements was highly possible.
"That’s the only option now. They’ve come too quickly; we didn’t have time to set up, and if we were to leave the camp now, with this level of flatness, unless we go to that mountainous area, we would have to be very far away to have an effective ambush," Guo Jia sighed. "It’s better to confront the enemy outside than to do so."
"Let’s do that then. Directly move the archers to the front camp to prepare, with cavalry lying in ambush on both flanks. The first volley from the crossbows should kill as many as possible, then the cavalry hidden on both sides of the camp should charge out; capture if possible, kill if necessary, but definitely don’t pursue for long if not feasible," Guan Yu, as a decisive person, immediately made the decision.
Meanwhile, Zhang Liao silently finished the little remaining dry food, counted his numbers, and waited for nightfall.
[I’ll have to discuss this with Fengxian after returning.] Zhang Liao swallowed down the dry food with water, thinking to himself, compared to Yuan Shao, he now admired Liu Bei even more. Although Liu Bei seemed foolish, his benevolence brought Zhang Liao much comfort, [Perhaps Liu Bei could truly create a land of purity through his benevolence.]
Zhang Liao poured the little water he had left on his face, the cold sensation helping him to calm down. It was not the time to ponder these matters; he had to defeat Guan Yu before him first.
By the time Guan Yu was preparing meals, the archers were already set up on the edges of the camp, and the bed crossbows were almost completely in place. Unlike the usual double-layered military camp as tall as a person, this time the camp was only half a person tall but packed densely with no gaps, and the crossbowmen and bed crossbows lay crouched behind those dense fences unseen from the front.
Guan Yu had Zhou Cang carry the Great Sword and lead the School Sabre Bearers to sit in the midst of the camp eating barbecue with the soldiers, then arranged for Jiang Gong and others to be positioned by the camp walls.
Thus even if a nocturnal raid was intense and the crossbowmen did not repel the enemy as expected, the School Sabre Bearers within the army, as well as Guan Yu himself sitting in the central position under the auspices of sharing weal and woe, could instantly stabilize the situation and counterattack.
"How is Yuan Shao?" Guan Yu glanced at Pei Yuanshao and asked. Compared to Zhou Cang, Pei Yuanshao, that fellow, was sharp-eared and observant. He was now carefully listening with an inverted bowl placed on the ground.
"Not yet..." Pei Yuanshao shook his head, but soon his eyes snapped open and a trace of joy spread across his face, "Here they come, here they come, just as the military advisor said, probably a little over a thousand cavalry!"
"This was what Fengxiao said," Guan Yu boasted. Although he often belittled scholars, it depended on who they were. At least, he had never looked down upon a few civil officials he had worked with before, whether it was Chen Xi, Guo Jia, or Liu Ye who had been transferred away. Guan Yu greatly respected them. It was the pedantic scholars he disliked, not the truly capable sages.
"Go, inform Jiang Gong to prepare," Guan Yu ordered Pei Yuanshao.
For his Yellow Turban subordinates, Guan Yu, out of respect for Guan Hai’s loyalty, had not treated them poorly, and most of the Yellow Turban commanders were battle-hardened. Although their strategic vision might not match those of notable generals, commanding seven or eight hundred men in battle was within their rich experience.
Add to that the fact that these Yellow Turban commanders possessed decent martial arts skills. Filling the roles of garrison commander and sima was well within their capabilities, and thus, many of Mount Tai’s mid- and lower-level military officers came from the ranks of Qingzhou’s minor canal commanders.
At the break of dawn, Zhang Liao began to wrap the horses’ hooves and started moving slowly towards Guan Yu’s direction. The pace wasn’t fast, but it was nearly silent.
Approaching a mile away from Guan Yu’s camp, Zhang Liao could already smell the aroma of meat and wine. Although Guan Yu had only given each soldier a bowl of wine, the consumption of alcohol for nearly ten thousand men was not a small amount. Naturally, the scent of wine wafted everywhere.
[No outposts. Seems like the enemy has let their guard down.] A smile naturally formed on Zhang Liao’s face as he sniffed the tantalizing smell, not to mention that Zhang Liao had a soft spot for Liu Bei’s side. Even if he had the intention of defecting to Liu Bei, he wouldn’t hold back at this moment.
As the distance closed, Zhang Liao could hear the shouting in the camp across, as well as the grunts from wrestling. Secretly delighted, he whispered to his soldiers, "Mount up, prepare to attack."
Zhang Liao mounted his horse, and his officers, their faces fierce, also leapt onto their steeds and without any attempt at stealth, galloped towards Guan Yu’s camp. Covering the short mile, the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry reached their target almost in an instant.
Just as he neared Guan Yu’s camp, something prompted Zhang Liao to cast another glance at the camp walls. That glance drenched his armor with cold sweat—what reflected the faint light if not crossbows?
"Turn around!" shouted Zhang Liao, while he himself strenuously released his inner Qi. In the glow of the firelight, his face was extraordinarily fierce. At the same time, numerous crossbow arrows and bow arrows mixed with bed crossbow bolts, as long as spears, shot towards Zhang Liao and his troops.
In an instant, horses reared and men fell. As Guo Jia had predicted, hardly anything was off. To ensure his troops wouldn’t get dispersed in the night raid, Zhang Liao had kept his men close together, and under such intense arrow fire, this tight formation endured devastating damage. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)
