The Rapidly Changing Situation

It rained. It was a downpour that lasted for over ten days.

The sky poured an endless torrent onto the ground as if it would swallow the world, as if a hole had been punctured.

The Han River flowing between Xiangyang and Fancheng swelled in the blink of an eye and then overflowed, engulfing Fancheng.

The flood was so great that Fancheng became a sea of water, to the extent that the term “submerged” would be appropriate.

Fancheng, swallowed by the overflow of the Han River, was completely submerged except for the highly built city walls, and a farce was unfolding where thousands of troops and horses were depending on just a few boards of high ground.

Was this what the battle of Chenyang between Han and Wei was like in the past? It was a scene reminiscent of the old past where only three boards remained unsubmerged in Chenyang, which was immersed in the Zhejiang River.

If this was the case for Fancheng, the surrounding area was no better. Not only the area near Fancheng where Guan Yu had deployed his siege, but even the camps of Wang Shuang and Yu Jin, which were much further to the rear, were all within the flood’s area of influence.

They barely managed to save their lives by climbing up hills, but all the military supplies they had brought, including rations, were completely lost, and as they had made no preparations for flooding, they could only stamp their feet helplessly on the high ground.

In contrast to the Wei army showing human powerlessness before nature, Guan Yu was one who overcame nature through human effort.

He commanded his troops as nimbly as if he had known about this flood in advance. In fact, he did know, although he hadn’t fully trusted it.

Standing on a boat and calmly observing the surroundings despite the flood, Guan Yu exclaimed in admiration:

“Huh… it really happened as she said.”

Although Guan Yu was feigning calmness, he was inwardly greatly shocked. Cold sweat was running down his back.

He had only thought there was a possibility.

He had waited because the conditions were good enough to hold out until then. Even that was with a half-feeling of going along with it.

Guan Yu had maintained the standoff with an attitude of “it would be good if it happens, but no big deal if it doesn’t.”

But, for real, a downpour heavy enough to completely submerge the area had fallen.

It’s preposterous. It’s unbelievable.

Anyone can predict that it will rain during the rainy season. It’s also natural for the water level of rivers to rise because of it.

However, it’s impossible to predict the exact timing, exact location, and exact rainfall. No one could have predicted that the seasonal rain would submerge the city.

Not Cao Cao, not Zhuge Liang, and not even Guan Yu himself.

However, Zhang Ran had done it.

‘Is it true? Was Ran’er really born with the fortune of a phoenix?’

As they say, a name carries destiny.

As per the name given by Zhang Fei, was his daughter really given the mission to end the chaotic era and bring peace?

Guan Yu stroked his long beard, his pride, as he organized his thoughts. Whether Zhang Ran was really a phoenix born as a human or not wasn’t the immediate important issue.

The question of how she knew can be considered after dealing with the situation that has already occurred.

“The enemy has fallen into combat inability. Accept those who surrender, and shoot to kill those who don’t.”

The subsequent battle was at a level that was embarrassing to even call a battle. They couldn’t even resist properly on the narrow hilltop where they could barely move.

And finally, Yu Jin, representing the Governor of Nanyang Commandery Fu Fang, the Administrator of Jingzhou Hu Xiu, the General Who Guards Xiangyang Wang Shuang, and others all surrendered to Guan Yu.

The 30,000 elite troops including the seven armies led by Yu Jin, and the officials of Jingzhou dispatched by Cao Cao, all fell to Guan Yu at once. With this single defeat, Guan Yu succeeded in seizing the public authority of Jingzhou.

Huaxia zhendong (The Chinese world trembles).

It was a moment when the whole world trembled at Guan Yu’s unprecedented divine might.

§

Ye City was in an uproar.

Although they hadn’t been optimistic, they had thought Jingzhou was relatively safe, but a catastrophe that changed everything overnight had occurred.

Yu Jin, who had led the large army that had been barely scraped together, surrendered his entire army without even fighting a proper battle, and Fancheng, submerged in water, now couldn’t even communicate properly.

Although communication had been difficult since Wang Shuang’s defeat, it had still been maintained somehow, but now even that was cut off.

“Wenchun has… surrendered…”

Cao Cao muttered dejectedly, as if he couldn’t believe it.

Who was Yu Jin?

Excluding relatives like Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan, he was by far the brave general Cao Cao trusted most and who always repaid that trust with loyalty.

That’s why Cao Cao had entrusted him with seven armies. It was hard to imagine even in dreams that such a Yu Jin would surrender without even fighting.

“Ugh, my head…!”

But this was no dream. When he realized that this was clearly something happening in reality, Cao Cao was struck with a headache as if his head was about to split.

“King of Wei!”

“King of Wei! Are you alright!”

“Call the royal physician!”

When Cao Cao, struck by his chronic migraine, grabbed his head and staggered, his officials cried out urgently.

However, Cao Cao waved his arm widely to silence them and gritted his teeth as he endured the throbbing headache. This moment was crucial. It was an inflection point that would greatly twist the flow of the era. He couldn’t let it pass in vain just because of a headache.

Cao Cao spoke, growling like a wounded beast in pain:

“Don’t discuss me, discuss moving the capital.”

At Cao Cao’s command, as sudden as a thunderbolt, the mouths of his subjects closed.

Moving the capital! Relocating the capital was never a light matter. Of course, the current capital Luoyang was capital in name only, and the actual capital was Ye City, the capital of Cao Wei.

However, whether to keep Luoyang as the nominal capital or not was a crucial issue of justification and display of power.

Silence fell over the hall full of officials. Just as Cao Cao, frowning, was about to snap irritably, someone stepped forward before him.

“Is it Zitong?”

“Yes. General Who Guards the Army Zhang Ji reports to the King of Wei.”

“Speak.”

“Moving the capital is too hasty a decision. General Yu Jin didn’t even fight and lose, yet we’re moving the capital out of premature fear of Guan Yu’s military power? The great affairs of the state should not be carried out lightly.”

At Zhang Ji’s words, Cao Cao fell into contemplation. His headache had somewhat blurred with deep thought. So Cao Cao, now able to think a bit more coolly, asked again:

“Guan Yu is a man worth ten thousand recognized even by Guo Jia. And I heard that behind him is also Pang De, who was the general of Feng Xiao and Ma Chao. Do you still say so?”

“The General Who Pacifies the South is a general no less than Guan Yu. If we call Xu Huang and have him check Guan Yu together with Governor Zhen Yi, they can hold out at Fancheng along with Pang Tong.”

“Pang De and Pang Tong will send support, what about them?”

It’s not just those two. For Cao Cao to rescue Fancheng, he would eventually have to pull troops from other fronts.

Liu Bei is not one to just sit and watch the gaps created by this. Liu Bei, striking up from Hanzhong, will create another catastrophe while stirring up Guanzhong.

However, Zhang Ji’s answer was without hesitation:

“All these problems will be solved if we bring in Sun Quan.”

“Sun Quan?”

“Yes. We make Sun Quan attack Jingzhou. This will suppress Liu Bei’s remaining forces in Jingzhou, and our forces that were blocking Sun Quan will be freed, resolving all difficulties.”

“…Indeed.”

The next question was whether Sun Quan would really attack Liu Bei, who had been their ally.

And the answer to that question came from Sima Yi’s mouth:

“Sun Quan will definitely attack Liu Bei. The half-hearted attack on Hefei was to divert Liu Bei’s attention and accumulate strength, and the marriage proposal to Guan Yu was to build justification. They have already been preparing to attack Jingzhou, so if a small trigger occurs, they will gladly raise their army.”

The rejection of the marriage proposal was also usable as justification, but it wasn’t enough to completely block the criticism of betraying an alliance.

However, if even a tiny justification is added, Sun Quan will immediately order an attack on Jingzhou. In fact, he immediately resorted to force when Guan Yu unilaterally took the rations from Xiangkou to feed his prisoners.

“Good. I’ll leave the support for Fancheng to General Zhang. Military Advisor Sima will be responsible for persuading Sun Quan.”

The actions of Zhang Ji and Sima Yi were immediate.

Military orders written in Cao Cao’s name were delivered to Xu Huang and Zhen Yi, and a new support force was formed by scraping together as much manpower as could possibly be extracted.

Sima Yi also arrived at Sun Quan’s in the shortest possible time, changing horses along the way, and proposed a joint front in Jingzhou to Sun Quan. Sun Quan followed Sima Yi’s intention without a moment’s hesitation.

Lu Meng, who received military authority from Sun Quan, moved secretly. Lu Meng’s mind was full of plans on how to attack Jingzhou.

Before the disease completely ate away his body, Lu Meng was burning his remaining lifespan to leave Jingzhou as his legacy.

There was another person as busy as Lu Meng. Xu Huang, who received the military order written by Cao Cao from Zhang Ji, sighed deeply.

No matter how urgent the situation in Fancheng was, Xu Huang was skeptical about advancing.

In a situation where Fancheng’s forces should be considered virtually meaningless, the army Xu Huang possessed was not only small in number but also mostly composed of new recruits who hadn’t been properly trained.

No matter how skilled a general Xu Huang was, the tactics he could employ with such soldiers were limited. While it might not matter for an average general, against Guan Yu, they would just become a good source of military achievements.

“But an order is an order.”

The Art of War states that if defeat is expected, a general has the right to refuse battle, but this time the order came from none other than Cao Cao.

As it’s not an order to fight but to prevent Guan Yu from concentrating on the siege of Fancheng, it’s not entirely impossible.

However, not long after, Xu Huang lamented and regretted his decision to follow the military order.

Zhang Ran had begun to march from Shangyong.