Story of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 5
Story of the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 5
Many Heroes Answered the Call of Cao Cao
Three Brothers Fought Luu Bu
That night Chen Gong wanted to kill Cao Cao after he realized that
Cao Cao was not a good man. Then he thought, "I followed him here
in the name of serving the country. Now if I kill him I will be the
traitor." So he took the horse and left for Dongjun. Cao Cao woke
up and didn't find Chen Gong. He thought, "He didn't like my
behavior and left. I can't stay here for long." Cao Cao left for
Chenliu right away and did not stop on the road any more. When he
arrived in Chenliu, he met his father and told him what happened.
Cao Cao urged his father to use their money to set up an army.
His father said, "We don't have enough money for that. I know a
man named Wei Hong. He is a millionaire, and he likes to support
just causes. If we can get his help that will be enough."
Cao Cao invited Wei Hong to a banquet. Cao Cao said, "The Han
Emperor has no power now. Dong Zhuo betrayed the Emperor and is
making the people suffer. I want to do something for the country,
but I don't have any resources. I heard that you are a very generous
man, so I would ask you for help." Wei Hong said, "I have wanted to
do something for the country for a long time. But I haven't had any
opportunities. I will donate all my money to help your cause." Cao
Cao therefore was able to set up an army. He sent a call for arms to
all the provinces, and many people responded.
A man named Yue Jin, from Yangping, came. Another man named Li Dian,
from Julu, also came. There were two brothers, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou
Yuan, each brought a thousand men. The Xiaohou brothers were relatives
of Cao Cao (Cao's family name was originally Xiaohou). Xiahou Dun
liked to play with spears and sticks when he was a child. He learned
martial arts from a master when he was fourteen. Once he killed a man
who insulted his master. He was hiding in the countryside when he
heard from Cao Cao. Two of Cao Cao's brothers, Cao Ren and Cao Hong,
also gathered a few thousand men and came to join him. Both Cao Ren
and Cao Hong were very good at the skills of riding horse and using
weapons.
Yuan Shao received the message from Cao Cao. He brought his army of
thirty thousand and came to join Cao Cao. Cao Cao wrote a declaration,
which stated,
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Cao Cao and ... etc hereby declares: Dong Zhuo betrayed the
country and the Emperor. He committed murder, rape, and
countless other crimes. We are following the Emperor's secret
order, to clean the Capital, remove the evil, and restore
justice. The day this declaration arrives, you must immediately
follow this order and bring your army to join the campaign to
remove Dong Zhuo.
There were seventeen armies who responded to the call. First army,
was led by General Yuan Shu. Second, by Governor of Ji Province,
Han Bi. Third, by Governor of Yu Province, Kong You. Fourth, by
Governor of Yan Province, Liu Dai. Fifth, by Governor of Henei Wang
Kuang. Sixth, by Governor of Chenliu, Zhang Miao. Seventh, by
Governor of Dongjun Qiao Mao. Eighth, by Governor of Shanyang, Yuan
Yi. Ninth, by Minister of Jibai, Bao Xin. Tenth, by Governor of
Beihai, Kong Rong. Eleventh, by Governor of Guangling, Zhang Chao.
Twelfth, by Governor of Xu Province (Xuzhou), Tao Qian. Thirteenth,
by Governor of Xiliang, Ma Teng. Fourteenth, by Governor of Beiping,
Gongsun Zan. Fifteenth, by Governor of Shangdang, Zhang Yang. Sixteenth,
by Governor of Changsha, Duke of Wucheng, Sun Jian. Seventeenth, by
Governor of Bohai, Duke of Qixiang, Yuan Shao. The larger armies had
more than thirty thousand men, the smaller ones had about ten thousand.
They all marched toward Luoyang.
Gongsun Zan, the Governor of Beiping, led fifteen thousand soldiers.
They were passing by Pingyuan in De Province, when they saw a few
horses came to greet them. They were led by Liu Bei. Gongsun Zan
asked, "My dear brother, why are you here?" Liu Bei said, "Thanks for
your recommendation last time, I am now mayor of Pingyuan. Please come
in town and spend the night here." Gongsun Zan pointed to Guan Yu and
Zhang Fei and asked, "Who are they?" Liu Bei said, "These are my
brothers." Gongsun Zan said, "They were the heroes in putting down the
Yellow Turbans?" Liu Bei said, "That's them." Gongsun Zan asked, "What
are their ranks now?" Liu Bei said, "No rank." Gongsun Zan sighed,
"What a waste. Now there is a huge army gathering to remove Dong Zhuo.
Why don't you all come with me and make a contribution." Liu Bei said,
"Certainly." Zhang Fei said, "If you allowed me to kill him that year
we would have saved all this trouble." Guan Yu said, "It's no use to
say it now."
Liu Bei brothers and their men followed the army of Gongsun Zan and
arrived at Cao Cao's place. Other armies were arriving everyday. They
all camped outside the city. The camps extended for a hundred miles.
The leaders held a meeting to discuss the strategy. Governor Wang Kuang
said, "We must first choose a chairman who will be the ultimate leader
of all armies." Cao Cao said, "Yuan Shao is the appropriate man for
this." All others agreed. Yuan Shao said, "Alright. If you want me to
lead this, then all of you must follow my orders." All replied, "Yes."
Yuan Shao said, "My brother Yuan Shu will be in charge of logistics.
He must make sure that all armies are well supplied. We need a good
fighter to be our forward to march directly to Sishui Pass. The rest
should each take up their positions as support."
Governor of Changsha, Sun Jian, said, "I want to be the forward." Yuan
Shao said, "Sun Jian is very brave. He is more than enough for this
job." Sun Jian then led his army marching toward Sishui Pass. The
report that several armies were converging on the Capital Luoyang
reached Dong Zhuo when he was dining. He was scared, and asked for
advices from his generals. Luu Bu said, "Father please don't worry.
I don't put these people in my eyes. I will bring our army out and
behead all those who rebelled." Dong Zhuo said, "As long as I have my
son Luu Bu, there is nothing to worry about." Before he could finish
his sentence, another man shouted, "There is even no need for him. I
will take care of it." Dong Zhuo looked down the hall, and saw a man
seven feet tall, with a tiger's body, lion's head, and arms stronger
than a gorilla. His name was Hua Xong, from west China. Dong Zhuo
immediately promoted him, gave him fifty thousand cavaliers and
generals Li Su, Hu Zhen, and Zhao Qin. They were sent off to Sishui
Pass.
Among the armies converging on Luoyang, there was one led by Minister
of Jibei, Bao Xin. He did not want Sun Jian, who was to spearhead the
attack, to win the first victory. So he secretly sent his brother
Bao Zhong with three thousand man who took a small trail and reached
Sishui Pass ahead of Sun Jian. Hua Xiong led five hundred armored
cavaliers flew down the pass. Before Bao Zhong was able to react, Hua
Xiong's knife already chopped off his head. Many of Bao Zhong's men
were captured. Hua Xiong sent the head to Dong Zhuo, and Dong promoted
him another rank.
Sun Jian arrived at Sishui Pass. He had four good generals with him:
Cheng Pu, who used a pure-iron spear; Huang Gai, who used an iron whip;
Han Dang, who used a knife; and Zu Mao, who used a pair of knives. Sun
Jian's army set up the formation under the pass, when Hua Xiong ordered
Hu Zhen to lead five thousand men to charge down. Cheng Pu wielding his
spear went up and intercepted Hu Zhen. In a few rounds Cheng Pu stabbed
Hu Zhen at his throat and killed him. Sun Jian ordered his army to
charge. They were met with arrows and stones from the pass. Sun Jian
had to stop attack and camped the army at Liangdongtun.
While Sun Jian was winning the battle at Sishui Pass, an advisor for
Yuan Shu who was in charge of logistics, said to Yuan Shu, "Sun Jian
is like a tiger from south China. If he takes Luoyang and kills Dong
Zhuo, it's like we replace a wolf with a tiger. If we hold back the
supplies, then his army will be defeated." Yuan Shu therefore held
back supplies. Sun Jian's army ran out of food and had very low morale.
Spies reported this to the defenders of the pass. Li Su said to Hua
Xiong, "This is a good time to give them a night attack. I will go
around and attack them from behind, and you can attack from the front.
We will defeat them tonight." They ordered the soldiers to have a big
meal. The night was clear and had a bright moon. It was midnight when
they reached Sun Jian's camp. Hua Xiong charged into the camp. Sun
Jian woke up and hurried onto his horse, and ran directly into Hua
Xiong. They fought for a few rounds, when Li Su's army started a fire
from the back of the camp. Sun Jian's army was in complete chaos.
Only General Zu Mao was able to follow Sun Jian, and helped him to
fight a way out. As they were fleeing, Hua Xiong tightly followed
them. Sun Jian shot two arrows at Hua Xiong. Hua Xiong ducked both.
Sun Jian tried to shoot a third one. He pulled it too hard and broke
the bow. Zu Mao said, "The red hat you are wearing is easy to recognize.
Give it to me." Sun Jian took off the hat and changed helmets with Zu
Mao, and they separated. Hua Xiong followed the red hat, and Sun Jian
was able to escape. Zu Mao eventually hung the red hat on top of a
pillar, and hid in the trees. Hua Xiong and the soldiers saw the hat
from afar. They did not dare to get close. So they encircled the hat
and shot arrows at it. Zu Mao charged out from the trees, and
went for Hua Xiong. Hua Xiong killed Zu Mao with a single stroke
of his knife. The battle did not stop until daybreak.
Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang were all able to escape and found
Sun Jian. They gathered the remaining army and set up camps. Sun Jian
mourned over the loss of Zu Mao. He sent the news of defeat to Yuan
Shao. Yuan Shao was surprised. He called all the leaders to his camp
for a meeting. Yuan Shao said, "The other day the brother of General
Bao disobeyed order and went ahead on his own, and led to his death
and loss of a lot of troops. Today Sun Jian was again defeated by Hua
Xiong. What do we do now?" Nobody answered. Yuan Shao looked around,
and he saw three men stood behind Gongsun Zan. They all seemed to be
amused by this scene. Yuan Shao said, "Governor Gongsun, who are the
guys behind you?" Gongsun Zan pointed to Liu Bei and said, "This is my
roommate when I was in school. He is mayor of Pingyuan, Liu Bei." Cao
Cao asked, "The Liu Bei who defeated the Yellow Turbans?" Gongsun Zan
said, "Yes." And he introduced Liu Bei to everyone and told them his
background. Yuan Shao said, "Since you are a relative of the Emperor,
please sit down." And seated Liu Bei at the end. Yuan Shao explained,
"This is because you are the relative of the Emperor. Otherwise by
your rank you shouldn't sit." Guan Yu and Zhang Fei stood behind Liu
Bei.
At this time report came that Hua Xiong had left the pass and came to
the front of Yuan Shao's camp. Yuan Shao said, "Who can beat him?"
One of Yuan Shao's generals, Yu She, answered, "I can." And he went
out. The report immediately came back, "Yu She was killed in three
rounds." Governor Han Bi said, "I have a good fighter, General Pan
Feng. He can kill Hua Xiong." Yuan Shao gave the order to Pan Feng.
In a moment the report came back, "Pan Feng was killed also." Yuan
Shao said, "If only one of my generals, either Yan Liang or Wen
Chou, were here." Guan Yu shouted "I will chop off Huan Xiong's head
and bring it here." Yuan Shao asked who it was. Gongsun Zan said,
"Liu Bei's brother Guan Yu." Yuan Shao asked his rank. Gongsun Zan
said, "He is serving under Mayor Liu Bei. No rank." Yuan Shu said,
"This must be a joke. We have hundreds of generals here, and this guy
with no rank talks this nonsense. Get him out of here." Cao Cao said,
"Wait. He must have something to back up his talk. Why don't we give
him a chance." Yuan Shao said, "It will be a laughing stock if we
send a man with no rank to fight Hua Xiong." Cao Cao said, "They
won't know that he has no rank." Guan Yu said, "If I don't win, I ask
to be beheaded." Cao Cao asked to warm some wine to send Guan Yu off.
Guan Yu said, "Leave the wine there. I'll be back." And took his
knife and jumped on the horse. There were continuous drum beats and
cheers from the two armies. Everyone in the camp was wondering how
it was going. Before Yuan Shao was able to send someone to see what
was happening, Guan Yu returned with Hua Xiong's head. He returned
to the camp and dropped the head on the ground -- and the wine was
still warm.
Zhang Fei shouted, "Why don't we take the pass and capture Dong Zhuo
now!" Yuan Shu angrily replied, "Who do you think you are? The
Ministers here haven't said anything yet. This is no place for a
servant of a little mayor to give orders. Get out of here!" Cao Cao
said, "Those who win battles should be rewarded, why should ranks
matter?" Yuan Shu said, "If you think that mayor is so important, I
leave." Cao Cao said, "Please don't hurt our cause for a small
argument." They all returned to their own camps. Cao Cao sent wines
and meat to Liu Bei brothers as rewards.
Hua Xiong's troops retreated to the pass. Li Su sent a letter to
Dong Zhuo asking for reinforcement. Dong Zhuo asked Li Ru and Luu Bu
for advice. Li Ru said, "Yuan Shao is the head of this rebellion.
His uncle Yuan Huai is the teacher of the Emperor. I am afraid he
will be the inside collaborator. We need to deal with him first."
Dong Zhuo ordered troops to Yuan Huai's home, and killed everyone
in his family, old and young, and hung Yuan Huai's head at the gate
of the city. Dong Zhuo then ordered Li Jue and Guo Si with fifty
thousand troops to defend Sishui Pass. They were ordered not to go
out to fight, but to hold on to the pass. Dong Zhuo himself took Li
Ru, Luu Bu, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji, and one hundred fifty thousand
troops to Hulao Pass. Hulao Pass is thirty miles from Luoyang. Dong
Zhuo himself stayed on the pass, and ordered Luu Bu with thirty
thousand men to camp in front of the pass.
Yuan Shao received the reports from scouts. He held a meeting with
the other leaders. Cao Cao said, "Dong Zhuo went to Hulao Pass. His
intention is to divide us from the middle. We need to divide half of
our army to counter him." Yuan Shao sent Wang Kuang, Qiao Mao, Bao
Xin, Yuan Yi, Kong Rong, Zhang Yang, Tao Qian and Gongsun Zan eight
armies Hulao Pass. Cao Cao was in charge of the connection between
the armies. Governor Wang Kuang arrived at Hulao Pass first. Luu Bu
led three thousand armored cavaliers to meet him. Wang Kuang's army
established a formation. Luu Bu's army formed a formation on the
other side. Luu Bu was riding the "thousand mile horse". Wang Kuang
ordered General Fang Yue to challenge Luu Bu. He was killed by Luu
Bu in five rounds. Luu Bu ordered his army to charge. Wang Kuang's
army scattered and fled. Luu Bu rode in and out of Wang Kuang's army
like no man's land. Fortunately Qiao Mao and Yuan Yi two armies soon
arrived and saved Wang Kuang. Luu Bu went back to his camp. The three
armies all lost some men. They camped twenty miles out from the pass.
Later the other five armies arrived.
Next day, Luu Bu came again. All eight armies went out and set up
formations on the hill. Governor Zhang Yang's general, Mu Shun, went
out to challenge Luu Bu. Luu Bu killed him in one stroke. Governor
Kong Rong's general Wu Anguo, who used an iron hammer, went out. Luu
Bu fought with him for a dozen rounds, before he sliced off We Anguo's
hand and the hammer dropped to the ground. Everyone was stunned.
Gongsun Zan went out to challenge Luu Bu. Just a few rounds, Gongsun
Zan was not able to keep up. He turned around and tried to escape back
to his own army. Luu Bu chased him. Luu Bu's horse was much faster. As
he was approaching Gongsun Zan, Luu Bu was about to strike at Gongsun
Zan, Zhang Fei's spear came from the side. Zhang Fei yelled, "Watch out,
Zhang Fei is here!" Luu Bu gave up Gongsun Zan, and turned to Zhang Fei.
They fought fifty rounds without results. Guan Yu weld his eighty-two
pound knife and joined in the fight. They fought another thirty rounds,
still could not bring down each other. Liu Bei pulled out his swords,
and also joined in the fight. The three brothers fought Luu Bu, like
a rotating lamp. The armies on both sides were mesmerized by this scene.
Luu Bu finally was tired. He forced Liu Bei to back a few steps, and
squeezed through the opening and fled towards his army. The three
brothers chased after him. The eight armies followed them and charged
Luu Bu's army. Luu Bu and his troops retreated towards the pass.
The three brothers chased to under the pass. Zhang Fei saw a big blue
umbrella on the pass. Zhang Fei said, "This must be Dong Zhuo. Let's
capture him. That's worth thousand times more than Luu Bu." And he turned
towards the pass. What happened afterwards? Wait until the
next chapter.