051. Cao Cao on the Run

“Hahaha! Ziyu has taken Hefei with thousands of men—Heaven has not forsaken me! Heaven has not forsaken me!”

By the western marshes of the Fei River, Chancellor Cao, upon hearing that Cao Xin had occupied Hefei and gathered the remnants of his forces, threw back his head and laughed three times, sweeping away the dejection that had weighed on him.

Generals Yue Jin, Xu Chu, and the others also allowed themselves relieved smiles. Over the past half month in Huainan, they had been pursued and harried more than ten times by the troops of Lü Bu and Yuan Shu. Their force of over a thousand had been whittled down to barely four hundred. Wandering the mountains for over ten days, their clothing was in tatters, and they had slept in the open and dined on wind and dew—worse off than even the mountain bandits.

Now that Cao Xin had brought his soldiers to Huainan and seized Hefei, with him and the Langya Cavalry present, everyone could finally catch their breath and rest properly.

Suddenly, a scout burst forth on horseback with a piercing cry, “Chancellor! General Zhang Xun, under Yuan Shu, is leading three thousand men after us—Chancellor, you must flee!”

With those words, the scout toppled from his horse. Five feathered arrows were lodged in his back—there was no hope of survival.

Cao Cao removed his cloak and laid it over the scout’s corpse. He mounted his horse and ordered his remaining troops to move quickly. Yet with only four hundred men left—mostly infantry and barely twenty warhorses—escape would not be swift.

“Kill!”

From all directions, a large force of Yuan’s soldiers converged, numbering about three thousand. The central banner bore the character “Zhang”—the army of Zhang Xun, one of Yuan Shu’s two great generals.

“Chancellor, quickly!”

“Zhongkang, take the Chancellor and go! I’ll cover the rear!” Yue Jin reined in his horse and shouted.

“Wenqian, take care!” Xu Chu bellowed, taking a dozen cavalry with him to protect the Chancellor as they rushed towards the eastern bank of the Fei River.

“Hurry, cross the river!” Cao Cao urged, whipping his horse. If only they could reach the far side—they would be in Hefei, and with Cao Xin present, Yuan’s men could surely be beaten back.

But Yue Jin’s force was too small. Four hundred could not possibly hold back three thousand. After only a short struggle, Zhang Xun’s lieutenants Ji Ling and Lei Bo led several hundred cavalry charging toward the Chancellor.

“Chancellor, go! I’ll stay and hold them!” Xu Chu, with five or six horsemen, turned his mount to charge the enemy cavalry.

“Zhongkang, take care!” Cao Cao spurred his horse forward at a gallop.

Xu Chu held off more than a hundred of Yuan’s cavalry, but there were simply too many. The main force could not be stopped.

“The Emperor has decreed: whoever captures Cao Cao will be promoted three ranks, rewarded with ten bushels of pearls, and ten beauties!” Ji Ling, bypassing Xu Chu, swung his double-edged halberd and pressed the pursuit.

“Kill!” The cavalry, spurred by greed, whipped their steeds with renewed vigor, all vying to be the first to seize Cao Cao.

As the chase continued, the dozen or so Cao cavalry ahead suddenly split up, fleeing in all directions. Since the Chancellor was dressed as an ordinary soldier, it was impossible to tell which one was actually him.

“The one in the tall hat is Cao Cao—kill him!” Lei Bo shouted, waving his blade.

Cao Cao immediately ducked his head and flung off his cap.

“The one with the beard is Cao Cao—kill him!” Ji Ling yelled.

Cao Cao drew his sword and slashed off his beard.

“The one who smells of smoke is Cao Cao—kill him!”

...

Cao Cao, out of options, kept his mouth shut and lashed his horse, charging toward the arched bridge over the Fei River.

“Cao the Traitor is mine! No one steal him from me!” Lei Bo roared, brandishing his blade.

“Cao the Traitor’s head is mine for the taking!” Ji Ling bellowed as well.

Cao Cao glanced back: Lei Bo and Ji Ling were nearly upon him, their horses only three or four feet behind, each vying to claim his head—even sparring with each other on horseback.

Ji Ling, the more skilled, surged ahead and swung his blade at Cao Cao. Heart pounding with terror, Cao Cao hurled his sword backward, aiming for Ji Ling’s horse.

Ji Ling parried with his blade, but his steed was startled and its pace slowed.

Lei Bo laughed and overtook Ji Ling.

Cao Cao clung to his horse’s neck, lamenting that his fate was sealed. Suddenly, he heard hoofbeats ahead—hooves striking with a crisp, metallic ring, like iron against stone. He had only ever heard such hooves from the Langya Cavalry.

Looking up, he saw a mighty general: wielding a great iron spear, clad in battered silver armor, a red cloak flowing behind, his frame broad and powerful—a tiger’s body and ape’s arms, a wolf’s waist and a bear’s belly. It was his sixth younger brother, Cao Ziyu.

“Ziyu, save me!” Cao Cao cried hoarsely.

“No one can save you, Cao the Traitor—prepare to die!” Lei Bo’s blade came crashing down.

Cao Xin was just riding up when he heard Cao Xiu shout, “Uncle Sixth, look! There's a battle over there!”

Following the river, Cao Xin saw a group of Yuan’s cavalry besieging a handful of Cao’s riders. One among them fought with astonishing ferocity, wielding a broad-bladed sword in both hands and leaving corpses in his wake—it could only be Xu Chu, the Chancellor’s loyal bodyguard.

“Rescue them!” Cao Xin urged, spurring his horse.

“Brother Sixth, that looks like the Chancellor!” Cao Chun said, pointing at a ragged, disheveled Cao soldier chased by Yuan’s cavalry. Only as they reached the bridge did they realize the man was short, with a dark face, half a beard, and tattered clothes—it was indeed Cao Cao.

“Chancellor, Cao Xin is here!” Cao Xin roared, leading the Langya Cavalry thundering onto the bridge. Just as they arrived, Lei Bo caught up with Cao Cao, blade raised to strike.

“Stop!” Cao Xin shouted, leaping from his horse and hurling his iron spear.

Lei Bo, startled by the furious shout, looked up just in time to see the spear flying toward him. Heart seized with terror, he tried to block it with his blade.

But the spear pierced him through, carrying his body back and pinning him at an angle in the bridge. Lei Bo twitched once, then hung limp.

Ji Ling gasped, reining in his horse, staring as the man tumbled and rolled near the embedded spear.

“You—you must be Cao Xin?” Ji Ling stammered.

Cao Xin yanked the spear free with a snarl. “Surrender, or die!”

“Arrogant fool!”

Ji Ling charged, swinging his halberd. With a few swift exchanges—three was all it took—Cao Xin ran him through on horseback.

“Kill!” Yuan’s cavalry, incensed at the loss of their generals, surged forward.

“Charge!” Zhang Baiji, Cao Chun, and the Langya Cavalry stormed across the bridge. Cao Xin shook the blood from his spear, mounted up, and returned to the bridgehead.

“Ziyu! Ziyu! At last you’ve come!” Cao Cao grabbed him, shaking him with emotion, tears in his eyes—for death had been a mere hair’s breadth away.

“Haha, Chancellor, you can’t blame me for this. When I wanted to come with you, you wouldn’t allow it. Had I been there, I’d never have let you sink to such a state,” Cao Xin joked, removing his red cloak to drape over Cao Cao's battered shoulders.

The Chancellor gave a sigh, shaking his head. “I do not know how I could have been so utterly defeated. Perhaps it is Heaven’s will.”

“Haha, Chancellor, fear not. With me here, all will be well. Rest here for a moment while I go rescue Xu Zhongkang.”

“Yes, and Wenqian too—Ziyu, go quickly!” the Chancellor urged.

Cao Xin left Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, and other cavalry to guard the Chancellor, then led over a hundred Langya riders to the far bank.

“Zi He, when did you leave Nanyang?” Cao Cao, stroking the remains of his beard, asked as he watched Cao Xin’s retreating form.

Cao Chun rode up. “Chancellor, eleven days ago, Strategist Xun sent a messenger to Xinye, telling Brother Sixth that you had suffered defeat and needed aid. On the morning of the tenth, he and I led over a thousand cavalry to Yangzhou. Five days ago, we rescued Wenlie at Liu’an, and three days ago we took Hefei, sending scouts everywhere to search for your whereabouts.”

Cao Chun, knowing the Chancellor’s cautious nature, explained in detail—every encounter, every battle, the enemy’s strength, all laid out clearly.

“Zi He, you and Ziyu have worked hard,” the Chancellor said with feeling.

“Heh, it wasn’t hard. Fighting alongside Brother Sixth is exhilarating—we’re always outnumbered but never outmatched, always victorious and unstoppable!” Cao Chun laughed.

The Chancellor’s eye twitched.

Soon, Cao Xin returned to the bridge with the Langya Cavalry, bringing back the wounded Xu Chu, the gravely injured Yue Jin, and seven or eight other wounded men. The rest of Cao’s soldiers had perished across the river.

“This is my failure,” Cao Cao said, sighing as he looked upon the unconscious Yue Jin. “Ziyu, when we reach Hefei, see that the healers tend to Wenqian, Zhongkang, and all the wounded.”

“Yes, Chancellor!”

As everyone mounted up, Cao Xin suddenly remembered someone. “Chancellor, I heard Guo Fengxiao fled with you. Where is he?”

At this, Cao Cao stiffened atop his horse, then buried his face in his arms and wept bitterly. “Fengxiao, oh my Fengxiao! I would rather have lost an army of a hundred thousand than lost Fengxiao!”

Cao Xin’s heart sank. “Chancellor, is Guo Fengxiao dead?”

Cao Cao shook his head, wiping his eyes. “That night, Lü Bu led a cavalry raid on the main camp. Fengxiao and I boarded a boat to cross the Fei River. He’d had a few drinks that evening, and as we embarked he slipped and fell in. The river was wild, the waves high—Fengxiao’s chances are slim.”

Cao Xin frowned deeply. Guo Jia was weak and ill; falling into a raging river, his odds of survival were poor. It seemed that debt of twenty thousand strings of coin would never be repaid.