The Battle of Dingjunshan 4

Zhang He was retreating. Judging by the way he glared at us, I thought he might fight desperately, but he was more composed than expected.

However, we couldn’t just let him go so easily.

The Wei army had been pushed back even by our reinforcements sent at the cost of Xiahou Yuan’s life. There was no way they could hold out with their leadership and some troops having withdrawn.

Our advance, which had faltered due to the reinforcements, began to gain momentum again. Though I was starting to feel fatigue build up, there was still enough strength to break through.

And enough power left to take down the enemy general blocking my way.

“I suppose there’s no point in asking you to surrender?”

Bi Yao. The renowned veteran general of Wei stood firmly in front of me, as if determined not to let me pass.

Bi Yao remained silent. I let out a deep sigh and aimed my spear.

“You’ll die.”

“I’ve been prepared for that since I stepped onto the battlefield.”

Bi Yao had already realized the gap between us. I paid my respects to his loyalty in coming out to stop me despite knowing I was a stronger opponent than him.

But I couldn’t grant his wish. I lowered my spear. Bi Yao’s eyes trembled at my action of not fighting.

“Shall I take care of him?”

“No, there’s no need.”

I stopped Gou Bo who was about to step forward and slightly turned my horse’s head. It was to pass by Bi Yao and go in the direction Zhang He had disappeared.

“There’s someone else to deal with you.”

Bi Yao tried to follow me as I was about to pass him, but he had no choice but to stop.

“Where do you think you’re going? You’ll play with me.”

The world-renowned Zhangba Serpent Halberd was pointed at him.

“Zhang Fei…”

“If you die by my hand, you won’t be lonely on your way to the underworld. I’ll send plenty of companions with you.”

I exchanged a glance with my father and lightly brushed past Bi Yao.

Though it was a pursuit unit composed only of cavalry, considering the time since Zhang He had left, catching up wouldn’t be so easy.

However, I was at ease. Even Gou Bo didn’t point out my calmness or say we should increase our speed.

Because they knew. The reason why my most trusted general, among my subordinates, wasn’t here.

§

Not far from Zhumagu. Zhang He had stopped at a passage to cross the Han River.

It wasn’t by choice. Even thinking of the soldiers he had left behind, Zhang He couldn’t stop. So Zhang He’s halt was clearly forced. And indeed it was.

A group blocking the road as if waiting for Zhang He. Above their heads, fully armed and forming a wall with shields, the flag of Liu (劉) fluttered.

It was Liu Bei’s army.

Though their numbers were only between 1,000 to 2,000, their goal wasn’t to annihilate the retreating Wei army but to tie them down here.

Moreover, they weren’t fatigued. No matter how numerous, it wouldn’t be easy for the Wei troops, who had escaped in haste after fierce battle, to break through them.

While the Wei army, well aware of this fact, was sunk in gloom, a general presumed to be the leader of Liu Bei’s forces spoke.

“Surrender. Then you will be treated properly as prisoners.”

His voice was dry, as if it didn’t matter whether they surrendered or not.

From the start, he didn’t have even the slightest expectation that the Wei army would meekly surrender.

His lord, Zhang Ran, had said so, and Wang Ping himself had expected as much.

“Haha, when did I, Zhang Jun Ye, ever hear such words of surrender from nameless small fry?”

It was a lamentable situation.

In his youth he was called one of the Four Stalwarts of Hebei, and now he was counted among the Five Elite Generals of Cao Wei.

Though he had days of defeat, he always minimized losses, and traveling the world, he had seized victory and glory on all sorts of battlefields.

Who could have imagined this would be his end?

“Unknown Shu general.”

However, even if he were to die, he would die in a manner befitting the name Zhang He.

“If you don’t want to die, step aside.”

“It is you who have chosen punishment.”

Wang Ping drew his sword.

“We will block you. It’s not a difficult task.”

Zhang He too gripped his sword hilt, preparing for the final battle.

“I will take the vanguard and break through. I’ll create an opening somehow, so you, Guo Baizhi, lead the army and escape.”

“But, General!”

“Their target is me, so if I try to escape they’ll attack recklessly even at the cost of their lives, but if I stay behind they’ll be less focused on stopping you all.”

Guo Hui bit his lip until it bled at Zhang He’s resolve to sacrifice himself as a scapegoat to allow the allied forces to escape. He had never felt so powerless before.

As Guo Hui hesitated, Zhang He scolded him.

“Do you still not understand what’s important!”

Cao Cao is coming. However, if Hanzhong completely falls into Liu Bei’s hands before he arrives, even if Cao Cao’s army is stronger, they’ll be blocked by the Qinling Mountains and end up like a dog chasing chickens only to look up at the roof.

For them who had already failed to stop Liu Bei, their final role was to prevent Liu Bei from crossing the Han River and swallowing Hanzhong before Cao Cao arrived.

Zhang He handed his seal of office to Guo Hui and said firmly:

“This is a military order.”

As Guo Hui received the seal with trembling hands, Zhang He kicked his horse’s belly with a somewhat relaxed expression.

“The General Who Steadies the West is wise, he will be able to fill the vacant position. Follow him.”

“…Yes.”

Zhang He exhaled a long breath. He had done all he could. Now he would leave everything to heaven.

“Let’s go!!”

True to his words, Zhang He leapt towards the Liu Bei army’s formation ahead of everyone else.

Kwang!

The collision between horse and shield impacted both sides strongly. Though the Liu Bei army’s defensive line crumbled, unable to withstand the bombardment of heavy mass, second and third walls were stacked in layers under Wang Ping’s command.

“Get out of my way!!”

Zhang He was a strategist. But that absolutely did not mean his martial prowess was mediocre.

He was a vanguard leading cavalry, and he did not hesitate to use himself as the most excellent horse to realize the plans he had devised.

Fighting spirit. Zhang He’s battle, prepared for the end of his life, befitted those two words.

If his opponent hadn’t been Wang Ping, he would have broken through the encirclement by now without needing to sacrifice his life.

However, his opponent was not some nameless small fry as Zhang He had said.

Even illiterate, he was Shu’s strongest shield in the late period who had incinerated Wei’s great army while leading Shu in absolute inferiority. It was Wang Ping.

“Baizhi!!”

At Zhang He’s call, close to a scream, Guo Hui tightly shut his eyes.

“…We’re going! This is the path the General has opened for us! We will break through no matter what!!”

The first charge led by Zhang He rushing at Liu Bei’s army.

And the second charge led by Guo Hui stabbed at the weak point Zhang He had created.

Seeing the precarious encirclement, Wang Ping narrowed his eyes and said:

“Let them go. Open a path and surround Zhang He. Lieutenant Ma, please guard our rear. If they abandon Zhang He and choose to flee, you may pursue and attack.”

“Alright!”

From the start, they hadn’t blocked the retreat path with the intention of annihilating them all.

Wang Ping recalled the order Zhang Ran had given him as he glared at Zhang He.

Zhang He’s martial prowess as he cut down Liu Bei’s soldiers like an evil spirit even after falling from his horse made one doubt if he was really a strategist.

Moreover, the soldiers following Zhang He were also burning with resolute will to die with their commander.

Just as Wang Ping was considering whether he should personally step in, cavalry appeared from the other side.

“She’s here.”

It was Zhang Ran’s arrival.

§

Knowing I had arrived, the soldiers withdrew from Zhang He and briefly halted the fight. The number of Wei soldiers remaining by Zhang He’s side seemed less than a hundred. Still, thousands must have retreated.

‘He stayed behind as bait.’

With my arrival, Zhang He’s judgment proved correct in the end. Realizing this, Zhang He had a bittersweet expression.

“No need to drag this out. Attack without stopping.”

Only in martial arts novels is encirclement attacked criticized as cowardly; in war, encirclement attack is an excellent tactic.

Moreover, I had no intention of watching more of my innocent soldiers die or get injured.

I quickly dealt with the Wei troops exhausted from successive battles using elite forces like Gou Bo and my personal guards. Though Zhang He resisted desperately trying to block me, he was already at his limit.

The reason he had been able to last until the end was because I too had consumed considerable stamina, but now that was also nearing its end.

Puhwak!

Unable to block my sword in the end, blood burst from Zhang He’s body. Blood drops dripped along the blade of my sword that had deeply cut through his body.

Zhang He staggered backwards, then immediately collapsed to his knees.

Looking up at the sky where dawn was breaking, Zhang He muttered as if regretful:

“I roamed freely, saying Hebei and the Central Plains were too small. It was a long journey from Liaodong over there to here in Hanzhong. But looking back, it was no more than a fleeting moment.”

After leaving these words, Zhang He looked straight at me and said:

“I have no regrets. Only, I had vowed to surely repay you and your father for the humiliation, but being unable to keep that vow is my sole regret.”

“That bastard…!”

“Enough, Xiaoxing. Zhang He, is that all you have to say?”

Zhang He smiled bitterly. With a pained laugh as if squeezing his lungs, Zhang He said:

“Though it’s shameful, may I make one request?”

“Speak.”

“I’m about to die anyway. Let me face Chang’an. My lord will be there.”

A fox dies with its head towards its den.

They say a fox turns its head towards the hill where its den was when it dies. Then for Zhang He, his hometown was not Jizhou where he was born and raised, but by the side of the man who recognized him, Cao Cao.

“General, there’s no need for you to do it yourself. I’ll do it.”

“Though an enemy, he is one worthy of respect. I struck him down with my own hands, so it’s only right that I watch over his final moments.”

I personally raised Zhang He’s body and turned it towards the north where Chang’an would be. Zhang He’s eyes, which had been dimly clouded, suddenly cleared and took in the scenery in that direction.

Zhang He slowly lowered his eyelids and calmly murmured:

“Now it is done. Take my head.”

“…I will give you a proper burial.”

I swing down my sword.

In the breaking dawn light, fresh blood scattered.

§

Regarding the Battle of Dingjunshan, though the Emperor prioritized Xiahou Yuan as he was the Governor, in his heart he feared Zhang He and took Xiahou Yuan lightly. Later, when Huang Zhong killed Xiahou Yuan, the Emperor said:

“Though I aimed for Xiahou Yuan because of his high position, what use is it to capture this man when we should catch the true leader?”

This was merely to prevent his generals from becoming careless in preparation for Cao Cao’s southward advance, but it wasn’t without sincerity. While he was regretting this, Zhang Ran appeared holding Zhang He’s head, and the Emperor ran out barefoot, crying out with joy:

“My Guo Jia has returned!”

• • From the Chronicle of Emperor Liu in the Continued Book of Han