Battle of Luoyang 2

In the deep of night. Though they were said to be marching at high speed to join the main force as quickly as possible, at this hour it was natural for everyone except the night watchmen to be asleep.

And Zhang Fei was no exception. Rather, as the army commander, he was getting regular sleep to manage his physical condition.

While he was fast asleep, suddenly someone entered, pulling back the curtain of his tent. It was Zhang Yin, who served as Zhang Fei’s lieutenant.

“General, wake up! A messenger has come from the main force!”

“Hmm… a messenger, you say?”

Calling him a messenger rather than an imperial envoy delivering the Emperor’s orders meant it was an urgent matter and they would skip the formalities.

Zhang Fei’s mind snapped awake and he quickly sat up in bed.

“Quickly, bring him in.”

Zhang Yin went outside and returned with the messenger. Seeing the messenger’s face, Zhang Fei sensed that he had brought a matter more serious and important than expected.

“Yuanbi (Bu Guang’s courtesy name), if you’ve come in person, it must be no small matter.”

As Zhang Fei remembered him, Bu Guang had served Liu Bei for a long time. His ability was also recognized, and he had even served as Governor of Badong Commandery. This time he participated in the war as a Separate Commander managing Liu Bei’s personal main force.

In other words, they had sent a commander-level person as a messenger.

“Speak quickly. Coming in the middle of the night like this means it’s urgent, but it’s also to avoid surrounding eyes as much as possible, right? Has His Majesty chosen to make his move?”

Though Luoyang was not far from Han territory, it was still Wei’s backyard. Wei scouts were constantly moving about, following the Han army’s movements.

Han was also mobilizing scouts rather than just moving straightforwardly without any measures, so they caught or killed quite a few of them, but it was impossible to deal with all the reconnaissance troops.

In the dark of night, they could avoid the eyes of scouts a little more, so Bu Guang had come to see Zhang Fei at this late hour.

Such effort meant the importance of the news Bu Guang brought was high.

Inwardly admiring Zhang Fei, who quickly analyzed the situation despite having just woken up and likely still feeling sleepy, Bu Guang took a letter from his bosom.

“This is a letter from His Majesty. Please read it first, and when you finish, I will add further explanation.”

“Alright.”

Zhang Fei unfolded the letter he received from Bu Guang. Whether because it was written on thin paper for easy disposal if necessary, or because it was a letter written by Emperor Liu Bei, Zhang Fei’s hand movements were extremely careful.

Though it wasn’t very long, Zhang Fei read through it attentively as if chewing each character one by one.

The letter ended with wishes for good fortune in battle along with worried encouragement as a brother rather than an emperor. After reading every last character without missing any, Zhang Fei folded the letter again and held it to the oil lamp. The thin paper instantly caught fire and disappeared.

Zhang Fei closed his eyes for a moment as if organizing his thoughts, then half-opened them and said to Bu Guang:

“There’s no need to send a reply. You will come with me.”

Zhang Fei indirectly ordered Zhang Yin to provide a tent for Bu Guang to stay in, effectively dismissing him.

“General? Don’t you have anything else to ask me?”

There are limits to the information that can be conveyed in writing. Though Chinese characters are ideograms and can contain a lot of information in few characters, they are still confined to the framework of text.

Bu Guang had been anticipating questions about situations not included in the letter.

“No. That will do.”

Bu Guang wasn’t wrong. The letter lacked space to include all the details of the main force’s situation and the process of choosing such a strategy.

However, that was enough for Zhang Fei.

‘You’ve learned well.’

Intentionally exposing weaknesses to induce the enemy’s movements, then using that in reverse to strike back and achieve victory.

That was what Zhang Fei had taught his daughter in the past during the Battle of Tanggu where he defeated Zhang He.

Though there was only a fragmentary phrase saying Zhang Ran had proposed it, the process leading to the result naturally unfolded in Zhang Fei’s mind.

“Such an unfilial daughter. To place this old father in such a dangerous position. Really…”

While complaining like that, a smile tinged with strange satisfaction was on Zhang Fei’s face.

‘If a daughter trusts her father, it’s the father’s duty to live up to that trust.’

Our army continued to advance. It was the result of my opinion being accepted.

And that meant I had been appointed as the de facto overall commander for this battle that would determine the course of this war.

‘Supreme commander leading an army of 100,000.’

I thought I had long since graduated from such pressure, but with the unit size changing, the sense of responsibility weighing heavily on my mind was also on a different level.

‘They say you become numb when the numbers get extremely large. Is it because I’m actually among them rather than just looking at figures?’

But getting too caught up in the tension given by such responsibility would ruin even what should have succeeded. I kept repeating meditation and deep breathing to maintain my composure.

While I was once again cultivating my mind and body under a weight I had never felt before, the soldiers’ footsteps steadily moved forward.

As we moved as if prioritizing securing the hills over joining with our following troops, Wei also increased their speed as if they were in a hurry.

They didn’t need to be in such a rush since they were closer than us anyway. Perhaps they became vigilant seeing us hurry.

Anyway, the result was as we had hoped. Just as our army arrived right in front of the hills, they succeeded in preemptively occupying the hills by a narrow margin.

“The first button has been successfully fastened.”

Looking at the Wei and Wu flags fluttering on top of the hills, I muttered softly.

Countless people densely filling the hilltops. Between the Luo River and Yi River, a massive crowd of hundreds of thousands had gathered in this narrow land.

Is there really such a thing as the clouds of war? The breath exhaled by hundreds of thousands of humans carrying weapons to kill people must be the clouds heralding battle.

‘Still, they won’t move right away. They must be tired from hurrying to secure the hills.’

Since they had made a move, it was now our turn to make the next move.

I turned around to look behind. Though not yet visible, I felt as if I could see Father who would be following.

The last news received from Father was that he had just crossed the Luo River. Then Father should be arriving at a suitable point by now.

At a point separate from us, yet where the enemy might be tempted to strike.

I turned my gaze back to the front, imagining where Father might be.

‘The hills are low.’

“General of the Guards, preparations for the camp are complete.”

The campsite prepared beside the hills was a sloppy form made only with tents and deer antlers without even a wooden fence, but the enemy wouldn’t be able to make a night attack anyway. The high ground that was difficult to hide became an adverse condition this time.

“Still, don’t forget to place night watchmen well.”

“Of course.”

With that, Jiang Wei immediately went back to finish the final preparations for camping.

‘The decisive battle is tomorrow, then.’

The summer night breeze was unusually cold.

That night passed uneventfully as expected.

As the sun rose again and day began to break, though the sun was peeking out shyly, the surroundings were still hazy. The river mist created by the Luo River and Yi River was especially thick today.

Though most would think a situation with poor visibility would be disadvantageous to our army rather than the enemy, I smiled gladly instead.

“Even the heavens are helping us.”

It was the optimal situation for them to move troops to the rear without being detected by us.

Though the enemy would also have the same disadvantage of difficulty confirming our movements, from their perspective the advantages would feel greater than the disadvantages.

“Baiyue. Do you feel it?”

“What do you mean?”

“The flow of the battlefield. The enemy is moving.”

Though unseen, it can be felt.

Beyond that mist, the enemy’s movements to attack Father, defeat him, and occupy our rear.

When was it? Ah yes, it’s a similar sense to during the Battle for Hanzhong.

The path of the battlefield I saw when Yang Xiu was clumsily preparing to retreat.

A new sense of seeing an imaginary path that shouldn’t be visible. It was a reverse vision as if the brain was projecting in front of the eyes rather than the eyes seeing.

“I must go to His Majesty.”

Though it was still early, Liu Bei was already awake. As soon as I came to see him, he nodded as if sensing something.

“So the time has finally come.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please give orders to the army.”

Prepare the army for the full-scale battle that will soon begin.

“The mist will clear before long, I suppose.”

“That’s right.”

“Unlike sea fog, river mist doesn’t last long. By the time the mist clears, the battle in the rear will also be in full swing. And then…”

“It will be our turn.”

As Pang Tong said, as the sun moved step by step towards the top of the sky, the mist gradually began to clear.

It was the moment announcing the full-scale opening of the battle that would determine the master of the world.