Biting and Being Bitten 2

Cao Biao had excellent intuition.

This applied not just to how to fight in battle, but also to what position he should take and what his current standing was.

The reason even that Cao Cao was cautious when dealing with Cao Biao was largely due to Cao Biao’s conduct following such intuition.

And Cao Biao didn’t just have intuition. He had the determination to march 100 li in a day if he deemed it necessary.

Cao Biao’s decisiveness in rushing 100 li to stop Sun Quan before the damage from the defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs grew larger stemmed from such intuition and judgment.

Because Cao Biao possessed mobility comparable to Sima Yi or Zhang Ran, even if only momentarily, Sima Yi had assigned him the role of cutting off Guan Yu’s retreat by taking the long way around.

And Cao Biao had perfectly followed the picture Sima Yi had drawn. At least until now.

‘But something subtly bothers me. Was there a mistake?’

Cao Biao clearly sensed something that vaguely stimulated his nerves.

Guan Yu had abandoned Wancheng and rushed north, and Liao Hua in Fancheng was busy increasing scouts, unable to grasp the situation. There shouldn’t be any gaps.

Upon realizing that Guan Yu had started crossing the Zhin Ling Mountains, Sima Yi had also ordered Xu Huang and Cao Biao to respond.

Xu Huang was to keep troops stationed at Wuguan as is, but release Shangyong and return to Wancheng. Cao Biao was to move north towards Luoyang following Sima Yi.

To follow Sima Yi’s orders, Cao Biao had to hurry. The current distance between Cao Biao and Sima Yi was about 250 li (about 105km), and considering that the average marching distance for infantry is about 30 li, this meant they were 8 days apart.

To shorten the time to join up with Sima Yi, it was right to move as soon as possible.

‘Still, leaving it like this just doesn’t feel right.’

In the end, just before leaving Xinye Castle, Cao Biao called his lieutenant Yun Lu.

“Xiao Lu, you stay in Xinye.”

Although Yun Lu had a separate courtesy name, Cao Biao called him Xiao Lu to distinguish him from Yun Li, who was his close friend and subordinate. It was also due to his personality of liking to give nicknames.

Cao Biao, who even gave himself the nickname Noukou (奴寇 = bandit), treated his subordinates casually. Making them follow him emotionally. That was Cao Biao’s own style of leadership.

Cao Biao’s aspect as the leader of a force, recognized and treated well by both Cao Cao and Liu Bei, seemed to be somewhere in between the two.

Cao Cao, who highly valued this characteristic of Cao Biao, entrusted him with the fierce wolf-like Qingzhou troops, and Cao Biao released the Qingzhou troops as they had agreed with Cao Cao.

Because Cao Biao had the power to make people follow him, despite the sudden order, Yun Lu shrugged his shoulders and answered without hesitation:

“Alright. How many soldiers will you give me?”

“I can’t give you many. If I leave a chunk of troops here, the Wolf-Gazer will get angry.”

“Please refrain from calling the Governor of Henan ‘Wolf-Gazer’. It’s not the time of the former emperor anymore, you might really get in trouble.”

“I know when and where to do it. Anyway, I’ll give you about 3,000 troops. That should be enough to operate scouts, right?”

“Leave it to me. If anything happens, I’ll let you know right away.”

“Good. The Shu bastards probably can’t empty Fancheng either, so nothing big should happen.”

Only after entrusting the rear to this reliable adjutant who properly fulfilled his role no matter what task he was given, did Cao Biao leave Xinye Castle.

He told Yun Lu nothing would happen, but Cao Biao’s prediction was wrong.

Almost simultaneously as Cao Biao’s main force was leaving Xinye Castle, an army was also leaving a castle elsewhere.

However, they weren’t openly going out by opening the castle gates. Rather, the opposite. It was so careful and secretive that the expression “fleeing in the night” might be fitting, and they slipped out by water route taking advantage of the night.

The army that left Fancheng, deceiving the eyes of Wei scouts who must be observing Fancheng’s movements, rushed like the wind using the momentary gap while the enemy wasn’t noticing.

They even employed the seemingly reckless move of separating infantry and cavalry. It was a maneuver determined to strike the enemy’s rear while they were unprepared, even at the risk of danger.

If Cao Biao hadn’t left Yun Lu behind, and if Yun Lu hadn’t been diligently sending out scouts even at night.

That plan would have comfortably led to success and thrown Cao Biao’s army into chaos.

The distance from Fancheng to Xinye is barely even 150 li. If cavalry ride with determination, it’s a distance they could catch up to in a day with room to spare.

Moreover, Zhang Ran’s cavalry not only wrapped themselves in night shadows, but covered themselves with river mist while following the Yu River.

Because of this, it was when they had almost reached Zhuoyang County that the scouts sent by Yun Lu discovered them.

Zhuoyang County means it’s really just a stone’s throw from Xinye. Even if they grasped the situation and sent a messenger, it was at a level where it was hard to guarantee which side would be faster.

Fortunately for the Wei army, although the scouts sent by Yun Lu confirmed their presence before the enemy arrived at Xinye Castle, the timing was extremely close.

Yun Lu spared even the time to write a letter, and sent out a messenger with orders to deliver verbally.

And the Nanling Army, realizing they had been detected, also abandoned their stealth so far and began to increase speed.

After racing to see who would reach Cao Biao first, the one who stood before Cao Biao first was the messenger sent by Yun Lu.

The messenger, who had driven his horse without resting for even a moment in extreme tension and pressure, completed his role by burning his last sense of mission even with a face that looked like he might vomit at any moment.

Fragmentary words and sentences poured out of the messenger’s mouth.

The enemy is coming. It’s cavalry. The number exceeds ten thousand. And, they were wearing gold-embroidered clothes with Nanling engraved.

The Nanling Army is coming!

After shouting as if squeezing out his soul, the messenger fainted and collapsed.

Cao Biao couldn’t even properly catch the messenger as he fell, and muttered while frozen in place:

“The Nanling Army…!”

That name.

It was now a name engraved in Wei as terror.

The blue phoenix pecks at tigers and leopards. Its tireless legs gallop through the nine provinces (靑鸞彫虎豹  足循九州).

A song had even emerged referring to the Nanling Army that had defeated Wei’s elite cavalry, the Tiger Leopard Cavalry, and roamed all over the world like their own backyard through Hanzhong, Jingbei, Guanzhong, Hedong, and Xingnan.

This was it.

The identity of the sense of crisis that had been chilling the back of Cao Biao’s neck all this time.

Cao Biao had no choice.

Ask for help from Xu Huang or Sima Yi? Before that, they would already encounter the Nanling Army and the outcome would be decided, win or lose.

Then avoid battle? That disappeared from the options even before being a dereliction of duty, at the point where the Nanling Army had passed Xinye Castle and was approaching right up to Cao Biao’s army. Because infantry that hadn’t even properly formed a battle formation would be nothing but prey for elite cavalry.

There’s no choice but to face them and fight.

‘Don’t be intimidated by the name of the Nanling Army. It’s a fight we can sufficiently handle.’

How the Nanling Army said to be in Xiagu had come all the way here was an incomprehensible mystery even to Cao Biao, but looking at it coolly, it meant they had run all that long distance without rest.

Isn’t attacking a tired enemy considered a basic of tactics by both Sun Tzu and Wu Zi?

On top of that, Cao Biao had more troops. It seems they came with only cavalry leaving infantry behind due to impatience, I’ll teach them how arrogant that was.

“The whole army, form a defensive formation! Place the ballistas in front, with archers behind. This is a major cavalry battle!”

Zhuge Liang’s Eight Formations Diagram.

Zhang Ran’s Six Flower Battle Formation.

Would Wei have sat idle after personally experiencing their danger? They actively adopted advanced military tactics.

Wu, which is infantry-focused, seems to be trying to develop their own defensive tactics based on the Eight Formations Diagram rather than the Six Flower Formation, but Wei, with sufficient cavalry forces, embraced the Six Flower Battle Formation as is.

Cao Biao’s ambition to inflict the shame of defeat using the formation he had developed soon dissipated into foam before the approaching dust cloud.

The messenger had certainly arrived faster than the Nanling Army. However, whether that was significantly faster was a separate issue.

If they arrived with less than a day’s distance between them, it’s essentially no different from confirming with the naked eye.

Before Cao Biao’s army, which had been stretched out in a column for marching, could complete the defensive formation of the Six Flower Battle Formation, the Nanling Army cavalry and elite cavalry trained by Wei Yan pounced on Cao Biao’s army.

That sight was truly like a pack of wolves rushing at a flock of sheep.

§

In the 3rd year of Zhangwu (224 AD). When Guan Yu was in danger due to Sima Yi’s scheme, Zhang Ran reached Fancheng from Xiagu in a month, and covered a hundred li overnight to pass Xinye Castle. At this time, she prevented Cao Biao from knowing she had come, and taking advantage of the gap as they lifted the encirclement and moved, she launched a surprise attack, which Cao Biao could not withstand.

It is said that Zhang Ran’s momentum when attacking Cao Biao was like when Xiang Yu returned to Pengcheng to attack Gaozu, and like when Guangwu Emperor wiped out Wang Mang’s army at Kunyang. From this, we can know how intense her might was.

The Art of War says, “Those who excel in warfare avoid sharp momentum and attack the enemy who has relaxed on the return journey; this is managing morale.” Therefore, those who dismiss Zhang Ran’s defeat of Cao Biao as luck are those who do not understand the art of war.

《From the Biography of Zhang Ran in the Continued Book of Han》