Battle of Luoyang

“Cao Pi and Sun Quan’s movements are faster than expected.”

The one speaking with a worried expression was a man named Li Zhao.

He was the elder brother of Li Su who worked under Zhuge Liang, and was recognized for his talent along with him as one of the Li Three Dragons. Especially known for his literary talent, he was also the one who wrote the Manifesto of the King of Hanzhong.

Because literary talent is often needed even during war, and due to Li Zhao’s own considerable ability, he was selected as one of Liu Bei’s attendants for this war.

After receiving reports confirming Cao Pi and Sun Quan along with their movements, he spoke thus.

“There are hills nearby. They are surely trying to preemptively occupy the high ground of the hills.”

“Since Zhong Yao is familiar with the surrounding geography, isn’t he trying to secure advantageous terrain?”

Shang Cong also expressed the same opinion as Li Zhao’s concern.

Certainly. Occupying high ground is very important in wartime. This rule has continued for a long time, with high ground recognized as an important military stronghold even in modern times.

“The Art of War says in Military Contest, ‘Therefore in employing troops, do not advance uphill against the enemy.’ We must prevent them from entering the high ground.”

Gu yong bing zhi fa, gao ling wu xiang.

Therefore in employing troops, do not advance uphill against the enemy.

The difficulty of attacking an enemy on high ground is a universal matter regardless of era. Li Zhao and Shang Cong’s worries had a valid point.

“Do you think His Majesty and the Grand Commander don’t know what we’re worried about?”

A gentle tone with a calm voice. It was Wu Yi, the owner of a voice that puts people at ease.

He raised a small rebuttal to Li Zhao and Shang Cong’s concerns.

“Then how…”

“From my view, aren’t you two cautious about our current forces being divided? Isn’t that so?”

Wu Yi looked gently towards the head seat where Liu Bei and Pang Tong were sitting and asked softly.

“The Governor of Guanzhong is right. Right now, our General of the Right, General Who Conquers the North, and Inspector of Wudang are still separated from us. The troops they lead amount to 30,000, so it cannot be taken lightly.”

As Liu Bei supported Wu Yi’s hand and explained the reason for caution, Pang Tong added further explanation.

“Currently, the Wei army’s strength is estimated at 100,000. With Sun Quan’s troops said to be in the tens of thousands, their forces are about twice ours now.”

Though we also have a large force of nearly 110,000, Wei also scraped together troops desperately.

This was despite forcing them to disperse their troops by harassing Wei from both Bingzhou and Jingzhou to prevent them from concentrating forces here.

On top of this, they opened Wei territory to bring in Sun Quan, so the enemy numbers were overwhelming us.

‘This war is a gamble where we’ve staked everything on our country. Liu Bei and Pang Tong can’t help but be cautious about entering battle.’

But is that enough?

In the end, we’re the ones pressed for time.

This area near Luoyang is enemy territory, and we’re no better off than Wei in terms of supplies. Though water transport via the Luo River is possible, considering that the goods transported by that water route are supplied from Yizhou, it’s not something to take lightly.

‘Tricks don’t work in front of a large army. Is even Pang Tong preparing for a full-scale battle?’

Thinking that way, waiting for our forces to join up was the correct move. Pang Tong would surely know that if we use shallow tricks, we might allow a counterattack from the enemy who has utilized the advantage of numbers.

A plain with no particularly useful natural or artificial environment. There are hills, but their height is not very significant.

It was an honest battlefield unsuitable for fire attacks, and where ambushes and surprise attacks would obviously be detected. Moreover, the enemy knows this place better than we do. Zhong Yao, who revived Luoyang, would surely know even places we haven’t discovered.

The problem is not limited to battlefield conditions. Those accompanying Cao Pi are no ordinary figures either. With people like Zhong Yao, Xin Pi, and Wei Jin, even Pang Tong would be reluctant to easily employ strategies.

‘In exchange for giving up the hilly area, we gain time to regroup with our following troops and organize our battle lines. A standard exchange of giving up one thing to gain another. With the variable of Sun Quan’s appearance, the position is to step back for now and observe the situation.’

It was similar to how I had chosen a passive path, overlaying the situation of the Battle of Yiling onto the present.

But now is different from Yiling. The people here, the enemy, the number of troops, the battlefield, everything is different.

‘I’m finally realizing that now.’

Pang Tong’s current safety-first approach became a mirror for me.

‘We have to fight. Now is the right time. While we reorganize our troops, the enemy is also reorganizing theirs. As I’ve kept thinking, if a complete alliance system takes root between them, the war is likely to drag on. If that happens, it will be difficult to reverse the situation.’

While I was lost in thought, the military council continued.

I let the jumbled voices of Pang Tong, Li Zhao, Shang Cong, Wu Yi and others in one ear and out the other. Then finally, as if a conclusion had been reached in the discussion, only Pang Tong’s voice pierced my ears.

“So they will prioritize securing the hills, and it seems best for us to withdraw the army for now and safely join with our following troops.”

“No.”

I cut off Pang Tong’s proposal to Liu Bei and opposed it head-on.

“We must fight.”

The first words I uttered after keeping silent during the military council were a denial of the judgment people had reached after back-and-forth discussion.

Still, perhaps due to what had been built up until now, their reaction was closer to puzzlement than hostility. Pang Tong, who had been pushing for the conclusion just reached, asked as a representative:

“For what reason does the General of the Guards argue that we must fight?”

“Our army has moved prioritizing speed until now, not to avoid the enemy but to draw them into battle. Sun Quan is tired from coming a long way, and Cao Pi must be inadequately prepared from rushing out. If we don’t seize this opportunity, when else should we? Our army should not take a defensive stance now but must attack. We pursued a quick battle, so we must conclude with a quick victory.”

As if to make up for having held back my words until now, I poured out a lengthy speech.

Liu Bei asked after hearing my argument for engaging in battle:

“Then are you saying we should wage a battle of contention over the hills?”

“No. Let them have the hills. Let them preemptively occupy the high ground and think they are in an advantageous position.”

“Give up the hills and then fight? Are you trying to draw out their carelessness? But isn’t that too reckless? If we’re going to give up the hills, it seems better to follow the Grand Commander’s words and withdraw for a while to reorganize our troops before fighting.”

Though saying he didn’t understand well, Liu Bei supported Pang Tong’s argument and spoke as if admonishing me.

“We should give up the hills, but act as if we didn’t want to give them up. We should advance quickly as if our army also tried to preemptively occupy the hills, but they were slightly faster and we had no choice but to lose them.”

“If you intend to give up the hills, yet advance quickly towards them? Not only will that separate us further from our currently detached forces, but our troops’ stamina will also fall… Could it be…”

Liu Bei stopped mid-sentence while rebutting my explanation and made an astonished expression. Immediately after, Liu Bei asked with a slightly trembling voice:

“Could it be that you’re trying to divide their forces through our following troops?”

As expected of Liu Bei with his abundant battlefield experience, he immediately realized what I was trying to scheme.

Make it look like we’re racing to see who will occupy the hills first, naturally leaving our following troops behind.

Let them preemptively occupy the hills by a narrow margin. Though not a victory in battle, the thought that they’ve outmaneuvered us once and secured the advantageous high ground will instill in them a belief that they have the upper hand.

“If success makes people complacent, they will believe in their superiority and try to gain one more advantage.”

They will think our stamina consumption is similar since we also marched quickly to try to occupy the high ground.

In such a situation, with our following troops separated from the main force, if they attack to cut them off, it becomes possible to occupy our rear and encircle us. Using the hills advantageous for defense as an anvil, and the troops occupying our rear as a hammer, they can attempt encirclement and annihilation.

‘Especially since this place is between the Luo River and Yi River, encirclement is easy if they just occupy the front and rear. They surely know this move that can completely destroy us with one victory.’

And their special circumstances lend more plausibility to my judgment.

Though they are allies, they were fighting each other with swords crossed until recently.

Sun Quan has joined with significantly fewer troops than Wei in clear Wei territory, not neutral ground. Wei alone can’t stop us right now, so they’ve joined forces to avoid handing over Luoyang to us, but there must be inner anxiety.

‘They’ll want to quickly finish the war and return.’

And the fact that it’s now the busy farming season is also fueling their impatience.

Though we’ve consumed a lot of supplies, Wei and Wu who fought the great Huainan War consumed far more than us.

In such a situation, they’ve entered this war again less than a year later, so an even greater burden must have been placed on the people to solve the problem of military provisions.

‘If they ruin this busy farming season and there happens to be a bad harvest, what they’ll worry about is not us but peasant uprisings.’

“They will surely try to strike our following troops. And if they realize that those 30,000 troops are not one but again divided into two, even more so.”

“The troops closer to our main force now are… your father’s troops. It’s too reckless. How, how could I send Yide into such danger?”

Liu Bei, who had already lost his brother Guan Yu, showed great agitation.

In the past, Liu Bei had deployed his two brothers to dangerous battlefields, but wasn’t that because Liu Bei had confidence that his two brothers, who were peerless, would never die?

Now that that confidence has been shattered, Liu Bei was showing strong aversion to the strategy of placing his only remaining brother in the most dangerous place.

To such a Liu Bei, I spoke with utmost sincerity and trust:

“You asked how I could send Father into danger. If I may be so bold, that question is mistaken. It is because he is Father that we can trust and entrust this to him.”