Zhao Yun slays five generals;
Zhuge Liang takes three cities through stratagem.

Now Zhuge Liang, whose courtesy name was Kongming, brought his soldiers forward to Mian County. As he passed Ma Chao’s tomb, he ordered his brother Ma Dai to hang mourning cloth and personally offered sacrifices there. After the rites, he returned to camp to discuss an advance. A scouting horseman then reported:

“Emperor of Wei, Cao Rui, has sent his son-in-law, Xiahou Mao, transferring troops from all the routes of Guanzhong to come and block the enemy.”

Wei Yan entered the front tent and presented a plan. “Xiahou Mao is a pampered noble scion, timid and poor in judgment,” he said. “If I can have five thousand elite troops, I can take the road out through Baozhong, go east along the Qinling, and by Ziwu Valley swing north. In no more than ten days, we can arrive at Chang’an. If word reaches Xiahou Mao that I am coming, he will abandon the city and flee through the western gate. Since I came this way from the east, the Chancellor can drive out troops and horses and strike hard through Xiagu Valley. In this way, Xianyang and everything west of it can be settled in one move.”

Zhuge Liang smiled. “This is no all-sided plan. You underrate the men of the Central Plains, saying there are no worthy men there. If you let someone suggest this and we move through a secluded mountain pass, five thousand men might be cut down and our spirit of the charge broken. It must not be used.”

Wei Yan added, “If the Chancellor advances by the great road, he will pull out all the Guanzhong troops to meet us on that route, and then the conflict will drag on. How then can we reach the Central Plains?”

Zhuge Liang answered, “I am advancing along the broad, level road from the upper Long plateau under regulation, and moving as ordered. Why should we fail?” He did not use Wei Yan’s plan. Wei Yan felt chagrined. Zhuge Liang sent Zhao Yun forward.

Meanwhile Xiahou Mao gathered troops from many routes at Chang’an. Among them came Han De, a major general of Xiliang, who was excellent at wielding a mountain-splitting axe and whose courage no ten thousand men could match. He brought eighty thousand Qiang soldiers from western paths and appeared before Xiahou Mao. When Xiahou Mao saw him, he rewarded him heavily and set him as the vanguard. Han De had four sons, all highly skilled in martial arts and equally gifted at bow and horse: Han Ying, Han Yao, Han Qiong, and Han Qi.

Han De came with his four sons and the eighty thousand Xiliang troops, taking the way to Fengming Mountain, where he met the Shu soldiers. The two formations faced each other. Han De mounted and placed his four sons on both flanks. Han De bellowed in scorn, “You traitor to the state, how dare you violate our borders!”

Zhao Yun flew into a rage, raised his spear, and spurred his horse, engaging Han De in single combat. Han Ying charged first on horseback. Before three exchanges, Zhao Yun thrust him through with one spear thrust and killed him under the horse. Seeing this, Han Yao spurred forward and swung a saber at the field. Zhao Yun summoned his old tiger vigor and steeled himself; Yao could not stand against him.

Han Qiong next charged with a raised Fangtian halberd. Zhao Yun did not yield, and his spear work never wavered. Then Han Qi, seeing his two elder brothers fail against Zhao Yun, also spurred out with two day-and-moon blades raised, and closed in to surround him. In the center, Zhao Yun alone fought three generals. After some time, Zhao Yun’s spear caught Han Qi and sent him from the saddle. A flank officer of Han’s army rushed out in haste to save him, and Zhao Yun pulled his spear and moved on. Han Qiong set down his halberd and shot three arrows in quick succession; all were knocked aside by Zhao Yun’s spear.

Han Qiong then grew furious, raised his Fangtian halberd again, and spurred ahead. Zhao Yun shot him in the face and he fell from his horse and died. Han Yao raised a precious saber and tried to chop Zhao Yun down. Zhao Yun dropped his spear, sidestepped the blade, captured Han Yao alive and brought him back through the lines, then mounted again and seized a spear to kill his way through the formation.

Han De saw all four sons lost to Zhao Yun and said his heart and guts were torn apart. He withdrew into the ranks. The Xiliang troops, who had long known Zhao Yun’s name, now seeing his old prowess alive before their eyes, dared not engage. Wherever Zhao Yun’s horse reached, ranks gave way. On his own he fought in and out through the lines with one spear, as if riding through an empty field.

Later, people praised him in a poem:

Once more I recall Zhao Zilong of Changshan; at seventy he still built rare deeds. Alone he cuts down four generals in the charge, as when he rescued the lord at Dangyang.

When Deng Zhi saw Zhao Yun’s overwhelming victory, he led Shu troops to strike in support. The Xiliang soldiers were badly beaten and ran. Han De had been nearly captured by Zhao Yun, and escaped only by casting off his armor and fleeing on foot. Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi then withdrew and pulled their men back to camp.

Deng bowed and said, “General, your age is seventy, yet your bravery remains as before. Today to behead four generals before the lines is a rarity in the world.”

Zhao Yun said, “The Chancellor, because he thinks I am old, does not seek to employ me. So I offer this only in token of myself.” He then ordered a messenger to untie Han Yao and send a dispatch about the victory to Zhuge Liang.

Afterward Han De returned with his broken army to report to Xiahou Mao and wept over his losses. Xiahou Mao, after gathering his forces himself, marched to meet Zhao Yun. When scouts reported to the Shu camp that Xiahou Mao was approaching, Zhao Yun took up his spear, mounted with more than a thousand men, and formed ranks before Fengming Mountain. That day Xiahou Mao wore a gilded helmet, sat on a white horse, held a great cleaver in hand, and stood beneath a gate-banner.

He saw Zhao Yun leaping from horse to horse and racing from side to side; Xiahou Mao wanted to fight him himself. Han De said, “I am the one who lost my four sons. How can I not return the blood for blood?” He mounted with a giant mountain-splitting axe, heading straight for Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun gathered his fury and thrust forward with his spear. Before three exchanges, he skewered Han De in the chest and killed him beneath his horse, then wheeled to charge toward Xiahou Mao. Xiahou Mao hurriedly dodged back into his own line. Deng Zhi drove men in to kill from close range, and the Wei troops bent another line and withdrew more than ten li below the mountain.

That night Xiahou Mao conferred with his commanders and said, “Long have I heard of Zhao Yun, never having seen him; today, though old, the hero still lives. I now believe the event at Dangyang truly happened. Since there is none to meet him here, what are we to do?”

Army Adviser Cheng Wu, a son of Cheng Yu, advised, “I judge that Zhao Yun has courage but not stratagem and thus need not trouble us. Tomorrow, when the commander advances troops again, he should deploy both lines to the left and right. The commander can feign retreat at first, drawing Zhao Yun toward an ambush. Then he can climb the slope, command cavalry on all sides, and overlap to encircle him. Zhao Yun can then be captured.”

Xiahou Mao accepted this and sent Dongxi with thirty thousand to lie in wait on the left and Xue Ze with another thirty thousand to lie in wait on the right. The ambush was set.

The next day Xiahou Mao rallied drums, banners, and standards and marched out again. Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi rode out to meet him. On horseback Deng warned him, “Last night the Wei troops were beaten and fled; they have returned today, so there must be deceit. Guard yourself, old general.”

Zhao Yun replied, “How can this milk-toothed boy mean anything? Today I will surely capture him!” He leapt from his horse and rushed out. Wei general Pan Sui came out to face him. They fought less than three passes, and then Pan Sui turned and rode away. Zhao Yun pursued, and eight Wei commanders came together from the line. Xiahou Mao slipped away ahead; the eight generals came running in turn. Zhao Yun used the moment to press the kill and Deng Zhi pushed reinforcements forward.

Zhao Yun rode deep into dangerous ground, then heard a great roar of cries from all four sides. Deng Zhi urgently pulled back troops and withdrew. Left was Dongxi, right was Xue Ze, and both streams of soldiers closed in. Deng Zhi had too few men to rescue him. Zhao Yun was trapped in the center of the field, pushing east and west, while the Wei lines grew thicker and tighter.

Zhao Yun had only a little over a thousand men with him. He cut down enemies down to the foot of the slope and saw Xiahou Mao on the mountain directing three armies. He signaled east, then west, right and left, but found no gap. He then drew his men and tried to climb the mountain.

From midmorning until the hour of the rooster, heavy logs and stone-throwers struck down from above, and he could not gain the slope. From the hour of the Dragon he fought until the hour of the Rooster and could not break free. He dismounted at last and sat briefly in his armor, waiting for moonlight before fighting again.

When the moon had only just risen, firelight suddenly blazed in all directions, drums thundered, and arrows and stones fell like rain. Wei troops came on, all crying, “Zhao Yun, surrender now!” He leapt onto his horse to meet them. Encircling cavalry drew ever closer on all sides. Arbalests and bows shot from every direction with terrible speed; men and horses could not move forward. Zhao Yun looked to the sky and sighed, “I refuse to bow to old age, yet I am to die here!”

At that moment a great outcry rose from the northeast corner and the Wei troops began to break and scatter. A mass of troops came thundering in, led by a tall officer with an eight-foot steel spear, a severed head hanging beneath his horse’s neck. Zhao Yun recognized him as Zhang Bao.

Zhang Bao spoke: “The Chancellor fears the old general may fail; he sent me with five thousand troops to aid you. When I heard you were trapped, I cut a way through, and at once I have killed Wei commander Xue Ze. I can show his head here.”

Zhao Yun was very glad and fought his way out through the northwest corner with Zhang Bao. The Wei soldiers dropped spears and ran. Another group burst in from outside, led by a general carrying a crescent-green-dragon blade and dragging a severed head in his hands. Zhao Yun saw that he was Guan Xing.

Guan Xing said, “At the Chancellor’s command, fearing that the old general might fail, I brought five thousand troops to aid this rescue. As I came onto the field I met Wei commander Dongxi, and I cut him down. His head is hanging here. The Chancellor will arrive soon after.”

Zhao Yun said, “Both of you have already done extraordinary merit. Will you not seize Xiahou Mao today and settle the matter?”

Hearing this, Zhang Bao drew his men away to pursue his part. Guan Xing said, “I too go for merit,” and went with his men. Zhao Yun turned to his side: “Those two are like sons and nephews to me, and yet they still rush forward to make merit; but I, a senior general of the state and old court servant, should I not do no less than these younger men? I will stake my old life to repay my lord’s grace!”

He then led men in a three-route attack that night and broke one of the Wei lines. Deng Zhi came in support. The field was strewn with corpses, and blood ran like a river. Xiahou Mao was a man without strategy and, being young, untried in war. Seeing the army in collapse, he took more than a hundred picked men from his tent and fled toward Nan’an Commandery. The rest of the army, seeing no commander, all ran in all directions. When Guan Xing and Zhang Bao heard Xiahou Mao had gone toward Nan’an, they rode through the night to pursue.

Xiahou Mao entered the city and ordered the gates tightly shut, then drove the troops to defend. Guan Xing and Zhang Bao arrived and laid siege to it; Zhao Yun came soon after. It was a three-sided attack. Some time later Deng Zhi also arrived with men. For ten days they besieged and attacked without taking it.

A report then came that the Chancellor had left the rear army at Mianyang, stationed the left army at Yangping, stationed the right army at Shicheng, and had brought up the central force himself. Zhao Yun, Deng Zhi, Guan Xing, and Zhang Bao all came to bow before Zhuge Liang and report that several days of attack had not broken the city. Zhuge Liang rode in a light cart to the city’s edge, walked around it once, then returned and sat up in his pavilion. All the commanders stood around to hear orders.

Zhuge Liang said, “This commandery has deep moats and steep walls; it is not easy to take. Our real task is not this city. If you all keep attacking, then if Wei troops break out and head for Hanzhong, our army will be in danger.”

Deng Zhi said, “Xiahou Mao is Wei’s son-in-law. To capture this one man is equal to beheading a hundred generals. Since we are trapped here, can we simply abandon him?”

Zhuge Liang said, “I have a plan already. This is west of Tianshui commandery, bordering Anding Commandery to the north. Who are the two administrators?” A scout answered, “The Tianshui administrator is Ma Zun; the Anding administrator is Cui Liang.”

Zhuge Liang was delighted, then called Wei Yan and gave him instructions; then he also called Guan Xing and Zhang Bao and gave them instructions; then he summoned two trusted officers and gave each instructions as well. He sent them all off with orders.

Zhuge Liang himself remained outside Nan’an and had the army stack brushwood under the city wall, saying they were preparing to burn the city. The Wei soldiers heard and laughed without fear.

Meanwhile, in An Ding, commander Cui Liang heard that Shu troops were surrounding Nan’an and had trapped Xiahou Mao. He was in great panic. He rallied roughly four thousand men to defend the city. Soon he saw a man coming from due south, saying he had urgent confidential news. Cui Liang called him in.

The man said, “I am Pei Xu, an intimate officer under commander Xiahou. By order of the commander, I have come to request help from the two commanderies of Tianshui and An Ding. Nan’an is in urgent danger; each day they light fires on the walls as a signal and rely only on aid from both commanderies, but none has arrived. So I have slipped out through the encirclement to bring this warning. If you can raise troops in the night and offer forceful outside support, then when the commander sees reinforcements from both commanderies, he will open the gate to receive them.”

Cui Liang asked, “Do you have the commander’s orders?” Pei Xu took out the written command from where it was pasted under his flesh; it was wet with sweat. He read just a portion and urgently ordered his men to change horses, then left the city and rode toward Tianshui.

Two days later a courier arrived again: “The Tianshui commander has already raised troops to rescue Nan’an and has ordered An Ding to join.” Cui Liang consulted his officials. Many said, “If we do not go, losing Nan’an and surrendering Xiahou Mao will be our two commanderies’ fault. We must go.” Cui Liang at once rallied troops and left the city, leaving civil officers to hold it.

Cui Liang drove his men toward the road to Nan’an. From afar there was firelight in the sky and he spurred men onward through the night. With fifty li still before Nan’an, he suddenly heard loud cries from front and rear. A scout rode in: “Guan Xing blocks the road in front; Zhang Bao is striking from behind!” The soldiers of An Ding scattered in panic.

Greatly alarmed, Cui Liang led a hundred of his men onto a side path and fought his way back to survive, returning at speed to An Ding. As soon as they reached the city ditch, arrows flew in a wild rain from above. A Shu officer on the wall, Wei Yan, shouted, “The city has already been taken. Why do you not surrender now?”

It was indeed Wei Yan, masquerading as An Ding troops, who had worked through the night and opened the gate. Shu soldiers poured in and thus took An Ding.

Cui Liang fled in confusion back toward Tianshui. He had not gone far when a full troop array deployed before him. Beneath a great banner sat a man in black silk headcloth, feather fan, robe and crane-cape, calmly seated in a cart. Cui Liang recognized him as Zhuge Liang and turned his horse back in haste, attempting to flee. Guan Xing and Zhang Bao pressed in on two converging fronts, only calling, “Surrender at once!”

Surrounded on all sides and seeing no way out, Cui Liang surrendered and returned with the main camp. Zhuge Liang treated him as an honored guest.

Zhuge Liang asked, “What is your relation with Yangling of Nan’an?”

Cui Liang answered, “This man is Yang Ling, younger kinsman of Yang Fu. He is close to your neighboring commandery.”

Zhuge Liang said, “I now need you to enter the city and ask whether Yang Ling can capture Xiahou Mao.”

Cui Liang said, “If the Chancellor wishes, I can retreat the armies a short distance and make room for me to enter the city and speak with him.”

Zhuge Liang agreed and ordered all four sides of the army to pull back twenty li to camp.

Single-hearted, Cui Liang arrived at the city wall and called for the gate to be opened. Inside, after formal greetings with Yang Ling, he quietly explained the matter. Yang Ling said, “We have all received great grace from the Wei ruler. How could we betray it? Let us turn the ruse against itself.” He then led Cui Liang to Xiahou Mao and explained everything in detail.

Xiahou Mao asked, “What plan should be used?”

Yang Ling replied, “If I alone offer the gate, luring the Shu troops in, we can kill them in the city.”

Cui Liang followed that plan back to Zhuge Liang and reported, “Yang Ling says he will offer the gate to bring in the Shu army, and then kill them within the city, but his own warriors are few and he dares not move too quickly.”

Zhuge Liang said, “This is easy enough. You now have over a hundred surrendered men. We can hide in them the trusted Shu officers disguised as An Ding soldiers and bring them inside. They will lie in wait beneath Xiahou Mao’s estate. But inside we will secretly coordinate with Yang Ling: at midnight, you open the gates, and while we move inside, I will join with you and capture him.”

Cui Liang thought it over: if he brought no Shu officer in, Zhuge Liang might suspect; if he brought them in and then killed them inside, he could also light the signal fire and lure Zhuge Liang in to be killed. He therefore agreed.

Zhuge Liang added, “I send trusted Guan Xing and Zhang Bao to go with you first. Have them forceful as rescue troops and enter the city so Xiahou Mao feels steadied. But once the fire signal is raised, I will enter myself to take him.”

At dusk, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao received Zhuge Liang’s secret instructions, donned armor, mounted and carried weapons, and mingled into An Ding soldiers. They followed Cui Liang back to the gate of Nan’an. Yang Ling stood on the wall on a suspended board, bracing his chest against a rail, and asked, “From where are these troops?”

Cui Liang answered, “The Tianshui relief force has arrived.”

Cui Liang first fired a signal arrow into the city; tied to it was a secret note reading, “Zhuge Liang has already sent two generals to lie in wait inside the city, for joint work from within and without. Do not make the slightest noise, lest our design be leaked. Let them enter the yamen first; examine the matter there.”

Yang Ling showed the note to Xiahou Mao, explaining it fully. Xiahou Mao said, “Since Zhuge Liang has fallen for it, have one hundred ax-and-hammer men lie in wait in the estate. If the two generals arrive with Governor Cui and dismount, close the gate and kill them. At the same time, raise the signal fire on the wall and lure Zhuge Liang inside. Then the ambush can all come out and seize him.”

When preparations were complete, Yang Ling returned to the wall and reported, “Since these are relief troops from An Ding, they may be admitted.” Guan Xing went first with Cui Liang, with Zhang Bao behind.

Yang Ling descended and came to the gate to receive them. As the two were near, Guan Xing raised his sword and cut Yang Ling down at the horse’s feet. Cui Liang was startled and immediately wheeled his horse to flee. At the bridge called Diao, Zhang Bao shouted, “You wretch, do not run! You were hiding this trick—how could you think to deceive the Chancellor?” and thrust a spear into Cui Liang, killing him.

Guan Xing had already reached the city and raised the signal fire. Shu soldiers from all sides poured in. Xiahou Mao, caught off guard, opened the south gate and tried to force his way out with all his strength. A troop met him from the front; its leading general was Wang Ping. With only one clash of horses, Wang Ping fought hand-to-hand and took Xiahou Mao alive, still mounted. The rest were all killed.

Zhuge Liang entered Nan’an, proclaimed peace to the soldiers and citizens, and harmed no one, not even an ear of grain. Each commander offered his own account of merit. Zhuge Liang had Xiahou Mao placed in confinement in a cart.

Deng Zhi asked, “How did the Chancellor know Cui Liang was deceitful from the beginning?”

Zhuge Liang replied, “I already knew this man had no intention of surrender, so I intentionally led him in. He was determined to report everything to Xiahou Mao and to proceed with the counter-plot. In such a situation, I understood his deceit and still sent the two generals along, to steady his mind. If he had truly meant sincere loyalty, he would surely block this at once. If he joyfully lets us go together, he may suspect no design. In his mind he figured our two generals would enter and kill him before we moved; meanwhile he would have my army on borrowed ground and feel at ease to press on. I have already secretly told those two generals to act beneath the gate. The city will have no preparation. When my army comes right behind, they will be struck unawares.”

Zhuge Liang continued, “It was Cui Liang I deceived by sending a trusted man to impersonate Wei officer Pei Xu. I had also gone to draw in the Tianshui commandery, and I still have not arrived there, and I do not know why. We should now take advantage and seize it.” He then ordered Wu Yi to hold Nan’an, Liu Yan to hold An Ding, and sent Wei Yan’s force out to take Tianshui Commandery.

That said, in Tianshui, the commander Ma Zun heard that Xiahou Mao was trapped in Nan’an. He assembled civil and military officials to discuss it. The audit clerk Liang Xu, the clerk Yin Shang, the recorder Liang Qian, and others said, “Xiahou Mao is the Wei ruler’s son-in-law, a branch of the imperial tree. If there is any lapse, we cannot hide from the crime. How can we sit still as a governor while this is so?”

Ma Zun was still hesitating when suddenly an aide from Xiahou arrived: Pei Xu from within the command. He entered the hall and delivered an official document: “The commander seeks troops from both Tianshui and An Ding and has ordered immediate aid through the night.” After giving the document, he left in haste.

The next day another horseman arrived with the same report: “An Ding’s troops have already gone first and ordered your governor to hurry and join.” As Ma Zun was preparing to mobilize, a man came in from outside shouting, “Governor Ma, you have fallen into Zhuge Liang’s plan!”

The man was Jiang Wei of Gansu. “My family name is Jiang, personal name Wei, courtesy name Boyue,” the officer later introduced. His father, Jiong, had once been an administrative clerk in Tianshui Commandery and had died in state turmoil among the Qiang. Since youth Jiang Wei studied widely in books and mastered military strategy and martial arts; no discipline was beyond him. Filial to his mother, he was respected by the people, and later became a General of the Central Army and served with local troops.

That day Jiang Wei said to Ma Zun, “I have heard that Zhuge Liang has beaten Xiahou Mao and that he is now trapped at Nan’an with no route for supply; how could a man truly break through a heavy encirclement and then return out? Moreover, Pei Xu is an officer without any established rank. I have never seen him. Besides, there is no official document with the report from An Ding. From this I judge this person is not a Shu general posing as a Wei officer. He has lured the governor outside; once he sees the city without preparation, he has likely hidden troops nearby and intends to seize Tianshui through the opening.”

Ma Zun suddenly understood. “Without Boyue’s words, we would have fallen for this wicked plan.”

Jiang Wei answered calmly, “Governor, do not worry. I have a plan that can capture Zhuge Liang and lift the danger at Nan’an.”

Then was sung:

Strategy and maneuver meet another master hand, In intellectual combat he finds another unexpected opponent.

How this turned out will be told in the next chapter.