Story of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 7
Story of the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 7
Yuan Shao Battled Gongsun Zan at River Pan
Sun Jian Attacked Liu Biao across Yangtze
Sun Jian was surrounded by Liu Biao's troops. His three generals,
Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang, fought hard to open a crack and
protected Sun Jian escaped. By the time Sun Jian reached south
China, more than half of his troops were gone. This left a deep
hatred between Sun Jian and Liu Biao.
At this time Yuan Shao was at Henei. His large army needed more
supply than was available locally. So the Governor of Ji Province,
Han Bi, sent supplies to Yuan Shao regularly. An advisor, Feng Ji,
said to Yuan Shao, "We should not depend on other people supplying
us. Ji Province is a very rich place. Why don't you have any plans
to take it." Yuan Shao said, "I will listen to your suggestion."
Feng Ji said, "We can ask Gongsun Zan to join an invasion of Ji
Province with us. We promise to divide it in half with him. Han Bi
will be stupid enough to ask you for help when Gongsun Zan invades.
That will give us a perfect excuse to take over." Yuan Shao was
elated. He immediately sent a letter to Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan
was glad that Yuan Shao was going to divide Ji Province with him. He
marched his army toward Ji Province. Meanwhile, Yuan Shao sent a
message to Han Bi and told him that Gongsun Zan was coming. Han Bi
asked advices from his two advisors, Xu Chen and Xin Ping. Xu Chen
said, "Gongsun Zan has a great army. He also has the help of Liu Bei
brothers. It is very difficult to resist their invasion. There is
another man who has a bigger army and better generals, and can
certainly stop Gongsun Zan. That is Yuan Shao. If you invite Yuan
Shao to assist your governorship, we won't be afraid of Gongsun Zan."
Han Bi sent for Yuan Shao. His senior deputy Geng Wu wanted to stop
him. He said, "Yuan Shao's army has no root. They depend on us like
an infant depends on milk. If the milk stops, the infant dies. If
we allow Yuan Shao to come here, it will be like letting a tiger into
a herd of lambs." Han Bi said, "I formerly worked under Yuan Shao. He
is far more capable than I am. There is no need for jealousy." Geng Wu
sighed, "This is the end of Ji." More than thirty officers resigned
and left. Geng Wu and another officer Guan Chun stayed outside the
city and waited for Yuan Shao. A few days later Yuan Shao arrived.
Geng Wu and Guan Chun tried to assassinate Yuan Shao, but were killed
by Yuan Shao's generals, Yan Liang and Wen Chou. Yuan Shao gave Han
Bi a position of General, but ordered his own people, Tian Feng, Zu
Shou, Xu You, and Feng Ji, to be in charge of the affairs of the
Governorship, thus effectively removing all powers of Han Bi. Han Bi
regretted, but couldn't do anything. He left his family, and went
alone to Chenliu, to work under Governor of Chenliu, Zhang Miao.
Gongsun Zan heard that Yuan Shao had taken Ji Province. He sent his
brother Gongsun Yue to Yuan Shao and asked to divide it. Yuan Shao
said, "Let your brother come and talk to me himself." Gongsun Yue had
to return. On his way back, he was ambushed by someone claiming to
be sent by Dong Zhuo, and was killed. Some of his convoy escaped and
returned to report to Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan was furious. He
brought all of his army and marched toward Ji Province.
Yuan Shao led his army out to meet Gongsun Zan. The two armies met on
the banks of River Pan: Yuan Shao was at the east end of the bridge,
Gongsun Zan at the west end of the bridge. Gongsun Zan rode his horse
onto the bridge, and shouted, "Yuan Shao, how can you betray me?" Yuan
Shao rode to the other end of the bridge, and said to Gongsun Zan,
"Han Bi has willingly yielded the governorship to me. It is a matter
that does not concern you." Gongsun Zan said, "I mistook you as an
honest person, and voted for you as the chairman of our alliance. Now
you committed this truly shameless act, how can you face all the people
who once fought for you?" Yuan Shao angrily ordered, "Someone catch
him for me." His general, Wen Chou, charged onto the bridge. Gongsun
Zan fought with Wen Chou for a dozen rounds. Gongsun Zan could not
withstand and rode back to his troops. Wen Chou chased him. Gongsun
Zan's four generals came to rescue. In a single stroke Wen Chou killed
one of them with the spear, and the other three turned around and fled.
Wen Chou chased Gongsun Zan through the whole formation of the army.
Gongsun Zan fled towards a valley. His helmet fell to the ground,
and he lost his bow and arrows. Suddenly the horse tripped and threw
Gongsun Zan on the ground. Wen Chou pricked his spear toward Gongsun
Zan. Just at that moment, a young knight appeared on the hill. He
held a spear and rode on a horse, and charged directly to Wen Chou.
Gongsun Zan climbed up the hill and watched him fight with Wen Chou.
The two fought for over fifty rounds, before Gongsun Zan's people
arrived. That forced Wen Chou to leave. The youngster did not chase
him. Gongsun Zan asked his name, he said, "I am from Changshan. My
name is Zhao Yun. I am an officer under Yuan Shao. Because he has no
intention of serving the country, I decided to leave him." Gongsun
Zan was very glad. He and Zhao Yun went back to the camp and prepared
for battle.
Next day, Gongsun Zan divided his cavaliers into two columns. He had
five thousand horses, all of them white. Gongsun Zan once had fought
with the Qiang people (western nomads). He chose white horses to
spearhead his army, nicknamed "the army of white horses." The Qiang
people fled as soon as they saw white horses. Therefore Gongsun Zan
kept many white horses in his army. Yuan Shao also divided his army
into two, one was led by Yan Liang and the other by Wen Chou. He
then ordered Qu Yi to lead twenty thousand infantry in the middle.
All of them would prepare bows and arrows. Gongsun Zan did not trust
Zhao Yun, who just defected from Yuang Shao, so he let him stay in the
back. He ordered a general, Yan Gang, to lead the charge. Gongsun Zan
himself stood on the bridge. Qu Yi ordered his men to stay under cover,
and wait for the signal to shoot. Yan Gang led the charge and and
headed toward Qu Yi. Qu Yi waited until Yan Gang's men were close. Then
he gave the signal, and all of the sudden thousands of arrows were shot
at Yan Gang's troops. Yan Gang turned and tried to flee, but was killed
by Qu Yi. The two flanks of Gongsun Zan's army tried to come to rescue
but were stopped by the arrows from Yan Liang and Wen Chou's troops.
Yuan Shao's army charged to the bridge. Qu Yi led the charge and was the
first on the bridge. He chopped off the general's flag of Gongsun Zan's
army. Gongsun Zan ran down the bridge and fled. Qu Yi charged through
the bridge, and camed upon Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun killed Qu Yi in one stroke.
Zhao Yun then rode up and down through Yuan Shao's army, as if riding
in a no man's land. Gongsun Zan took this opportunity and turned his
army around to attack. Yuan Shao's army was defeated.
At first Yuan Shao stayed behind. He sent soldiers to the front to
report the progress of the battle. He heard that Qu Yi was winning. So
he did not prepare for battle. He and his advisor Tian Feng and a few
hundred guards rode on horses and watched the battle. He sat on the
horse and laughed, "Gongsun Zan is an idiot." Suddenly he saw Zhao Yun
came like a storm. Before the guards could shoot the arrows, Zhao Yun
already killed several of them. Gongsun Zan's army was following behind.
Tian Feng hurriedly said, "You can hide in the wall." Yuan Shao threw
his helmet on the ground and said, "A man does not hide. He fights."
The guards fought hard and Zhao Yun could not break in. Yuan Shao's
reinforcement soon arrived, Yan Liang also came to help and attacked from
behind Gongsun Zan's troops. Zhao Yun escorted Gongsun Zan and retreated
back to the bridge. Yuan Shao ordered his troops to charge again and
they rushed onto the bridge. Many of Gongsun Zan's troops fell to the
river and drowned. Yuan Shao was the first to cross the bridge. They
pushed Gongsun Zan's army back for several miles. Suddenly another army
arrived. It was led by three men, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. They
had heard that Gongsun Zan was fighting with Yuan Shao, so they came to
help. At once the three of them went after Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao was
scared to death. He dropped his knife, and fled back across the bridge
as quickly as he could. Gongsun Zan collected his army and returned to
camp. He thanked the three brothers for help, and then introduced them
with Zhao Yun. Liu Bei loved him.
Yuan Shao lost a battle, and refused to fight again. The two armies
held each other at the two sides of the river for over a month. Dong
Zhuo received the report. Li Ru said, "Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan are
both very powerful. If we reconcile them in the name of the Emperor
they will be very grateful to us. We will win over their support."
Dong Zhuo therefore sent two ministers to Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan.
They both agreed to the mediation. Gongsun Zan returned his army. He
recommended Liu Bei to be the Governor of Pingyuan. Liu Bei went to
see Zhao Yun before he left Gongsun Zan's army. Zhao Yun said, "I
mistook Gongsun Zan for a good man. Now from what I see, he is the
same as Yuan Shao." Liu Bei said, "Please endure for awhile. We will
meet again."
Yuan Shu heard that Yuan Shao took Ji Province. He asked for a thousand
horses. Yuan Shao refused. The two brothers therefore turned into
enemies. Yuan Shu then asked Liu Biao of Jing Province for two hundred
thousand rations of food. Liu Biao also refused. Yuan Shu then sent a
letter to Sun Jian and asked him to attack Liu Biao. The letter said,
-
Liu Biao blocked you on your way home last time. It was the
idea from my brother Yuan Shao. Now Yuan Shao and Liu Biao
are discussing a plan to take south China. You can attack Liu
Biao while I attack Yuan Shao. Then we divide the Provinces
of Jing and Ji between us.
Sun Jian said, "This is time to revenge Liu Biao." He held a meeting
with generals Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang. Cheng Pu said, "Yuan
Shu is not to be trusted." Sun Jian said, "I want to the revenge
regardless Yuan Shu helps or not." He sent Huang Gai to Yangtze River
and prepare battleships and supplies. Spies reported back to Liu Biao.
He asked for advices from his advisors. Kuai Liang said, "Don't worry.
We can let Huang Zu and his army of Jiangxia to try to stop Sun Jian.
The army of Jing-Xiang will be behind as support. We are not afraid of
Sun Jian."
Sun Jian had four sons, all of them by his wife Wu. The eldest son is
Sun Ce, second Sun Quan, third Sun Xiang, youngest Sun Kuang. Wu's
younger sister is the second wife of Sun Jian, had a son and a daughter:
the son is Sun Lang, and the daughter is Sun Ren. Sun Jian also adopted
a son, called Sun Shao. He also had a younger brother, called Sun Jing.
Before Sun Jian left, Sun Jing led all the children to see him off. Sun
Jing said, "The Emperor is under the control of Dong Zhuo. The country
is in chaos. China is divided by warlords. Only south China is relatively
peaceful. To revenge a small incident and start a war, it is not the
right thing. Please brother think about it carefully." Sun Jian said,
"I will take the whole China. How can I forgive what Liu Biao did to me?"
Sun Ce said, "If father insists to go, I would like to go with you."
Sun Jian agreed. They all boarded the ships and headed for Fan City.
Huang Zu ordered soldiers waiting at the river bank. When Sun Jian's
ships arrived, they shot arrows at the ships. Sun Jian ordered his
troops to stay in the ships, and drove back and forth. This continued
for three days, Sun Jian's ships approached the bank for dozens of
times. Huang Zu's army continued shooting arrows, until they used up
all their arrows. Sun Jian on the other hand collected about a hundred
thousand arrows from the ships. Next day Sun Jian had the wind behind
them. He ordered the soldiers to shoot arrows to the bank. Huang Zu
could not hold on and retreated. Sun Jian's army landed easily. Cheng
Pu and Huang Gai took the two flanks and Han Dang attacked in the middle.
Huang Zu was forced to abandon Fan City, and retreated to Deng City.
Sun Jian ordered Huang Gai to look after the boats. He himself led the
army on the assault. Huang Zu set up formation in the wilderness.
Sun Jian also set up formation. Sun Ce stood beside his father. Huang
Zu ordered his general Zhang Hu forward to challenge. Han Dang answered
and fought with Zhang Hu. They fought for about thirty rounds. Huang
Zu's other general, Cheng Sheng, came to help. Sun Ce saw him coming.
He aimed an arrow at him, and shot him off the horse. Zhang Hu was
startled by this, and it gave Han Dang a change. Han Dang chopped off
half of his head. Cheng Pu rode his horse and charged toward Huang Zu.
Huang Zu threw off his armor and left his horse, hid among the soldiers
and fled. Sun Jian's army chased the enemy to the bank of Han River.
Sun Jian ordered Huang Gai to drive the boats to Han River.
Huang Zu returned to Liu Biao and reported his defeat. Liu Biao asked
Kuai Liang for advice. Kuai Liang said, "Our morale is low after a
defeat. The best strategy now is to hold our position and avoid battle.
At the same time we can secretly send for help from Yuan Shao." Cai
Mao said, "This is a bad idea. The enemy is pressing us so close, how
can we sit here and not fight? I will lead an attack on the enemy,
and finish them." Liu Biao agreed. Cai Mao led ten thousand men out
of the city, and set up formation at Mount Jian. Sun Jian was chasing
the defeated Huang Zu's army, and met Cai Mao's army. Sun Jian said,
"This is Liu Biao's brother in law. Anyone can capture him for me?"
Cheng Pu charged forward and fought with Cai Mao. It lasted for only
a few rounds, before Cai Mao gave up and fled. Sun Jian ordered the
troops to attack. It turned into a slaughter. Cai Mao escaped into
Xiangyang. Kuai Liang argued that Cai Mao's recklessness had led to
defeat, and therefore he should be executed. Liu Biao just married
Cai Mao's sister, so he did not want to punish him.
Sun Jian surrounded Xiangyang, and attacked the city every day. One
day, a strong wind snapped the flag pole at the central camp. Han
Dang said, "This is bad omen. We ought to go back now." Sun Jian said,
"We've won every battle so far. It will be only days to take Xiangyang.
We can't go back just because the flag pole broke." He urged the troops
to fight on. Kuai Liang told Liu Biao, "Last night I looked at the
stars and saw a general's star fell. It corresponds to Sun Jian. You
can immediately send for help from Yuan Shao." Liu Biao wrote a letter.
He asked who would break out and Luu Gong answered. Kuai Liang said,
"I have a plan for you. I'll give you five hundred cavaliers. They
will all be good shooters. As soon as you break out, head directly
to Mount Jian. If the enemy don't pursue you, you go to Yuan Shao and
ask for help. If they go after you, you divide your men: a hundred
men go to the top of the mountain and prepare stones; another hundred
men hide in the trees and prepare bows and arrows. You lead the rest
to meet the pursuers. Don't flee too fast. Lead the pursuers around
for awhile, then lead them to the place of ambush. If you can win,
signal with continuous crackers, we will come out and attack." In the
evening, they quietly opened the east gate and went out. Sun Jian was
in his camp when he heard sounds of yelling. He went out with about
thirty guards to see what happened. A soldier reported that someone
had broken out of the city and gone to Mount Jian. Sun Jian did not
notify the rest. He led the guards and headed toward Mount Jian. Luu
Gong had set up the ambush site. Sun Jian's horse was faster than the
others'. He rode ahead and was alone when he met Luu Gong. Luu Gong
fought with Sun Jian for one round and disappeared in the trees. Sun
Jian looked around and couldn't find Luu Gong. Just as he was going
to go up the mountain, stones and arrows came down on him and killed
him.
Luu Gong killed all of the guards that followed, and sent the signal.
Huang Zu, Kuai Liang, and Cai Mao came out of the city and attacked.
Sun Jian's army was in total disarray. Huang Gai on the river heard
the sound of battle. He led his troops to join the battle, and met
Huang Zu. Huang Gai captured Huang Zu in two rounds. Cheng Pu escorted
Sun Ce, was looking for a way to escape, when Luu Gong came his way.
Cheng Pu killed Luu Gong in a few rounds. The battle continued till
dawn. In the morning Liu Biao returned to the city. When Sun Ce arrived
at Han River, he learned that his father had died, and the body was
taken by Liu Biao's army. Sun Ce said, "I will not return home until
I get my father's body back." An officer Huan Jia said, "I was a friend
of Liu Biao. I will go to him and ask for the body." Sun Ce sent him.
Huan Jie went to Xiangyang and asked Liu Biao for Sun Jian's body.
Liu Biao said, "I have prepared him a coffin. I'll return the body if
you return Huang Zu. We will make peace. Don't ever come back again."
Kuai Liang said, "Stop. I can eliminate that entire army of south China.
--- Please execute Huan Jie first. Then I'll tell you my plans." Did
Huan Jie live to return? Wait for the
next chapter.