The day that Guan Yu offered a sacrifice to his standard in preparation for the campaign, he was resting in his tent when suddenly there dashed in a completely black boar, huge as a bullock. It came straight at him and bit his foot. He angrily drew his sword and killed the creature, and it squealed with the sound of tearing cloth. Guan Yu awoke in shock. The attack had been a dream but he could feel a gnawing pain in his left foot.
The dream perplexed him, and he could not explain it. He sent for his adopted son, Guan Ping, and related it to him. Guan Ping suggested a favorable interpretation, saying that the boar was something of a royal beast, like the dragon; and that having the dragon at his feet meant a rise in status for him. Then he told the dream to his subordinates, some interpreting it as auspicious and some the reverse.
“Well, I’m nearly sixty,” said Guan Yu. “There is nothing to regret, even if it means I’m going to die.”
Just about that time another envoy came with an edict from the Prince of Hanzhong, creating him Chief General, with honorable insignia of rank and control over the nine districts in Jingzhou. When the officers congratulated him on his new honors they did not forget the dream.
This cleared Guan Yu of any perplexing doubts. Soon he departed with his army along the highroad to Xiangyang.
At Fancheng, Cao Ren was startled when he heard that the great warrior was coming himself to seize his city, and was inclined to take a defensive posture. But his second in command, Zhai Yuan, did not support this policy: “The Prince of Wei has ordered you, General, to act in concert with Wu to take Jingzhou. Now Guan Yu’s coming like this is to walk to his own death—certainly we have no reason to avoid a conflict.”
However, the newly-sent advisor, Man Chong, urged caution. “I know Guan Yu is both brave and resourceful. He is not to be treated lightly. I think firm defense is our best policy.”
His proposal was scoffed at by another officer called Xiahou Cun. “This is the talk of a pedant. Don’t you know the plain truth that when the flood approaches, bank up to keep it out; when enemies come, meet them on the battlefield? Our opponents are exhausted after their journey, while we are fully rested. We are sure to win a victory.”
Cao Ren was persuaded by this argument. He placed Man Chong in defense of the city while he went outside to counter Guan Yu. When he learned of the coming of his enemy, Guan Yu called to his side Guan Ping and Liao Hua, to whom he gave certain orders. Then the two armies met, and Liao Hua rode out to challenge. Zhai Yuan accepted—but soon after the combat began, Liao Hua turned to leave the field as if beaten. Zhai Yuan went after him. The Jingzhou men retreated twenty li or so.
The following day, when the Jingzhou soldiers came again and offered battle, Xiahou Cun and Zhai Yuan both went out. The maneuver of the preceding day was repeated, and Cao Ren’s men pursued their enemy for another twenty li. But suddenly there was a loud shouting behind them, mingled with the rolling of drums and blowing of horns. Cao Ren hastily called upon his men to return. But as they did so, Guan Ping and Liao Hua turned and followed on their heels, throwing them into confusion.
Cao Ren understood that he had fallen into a trap, so he hurriedly led a troop to rush back to Xiangyang. He got to within a short distance of the city when he saw before him an embroidered banner waving in the wind, and out came the great warrior with his sword, ready to strike. Cao Ren, trembling with fear, dared not put up a struggle, but turned toward Xiangyang. Guan Yu did not pursue.
Shortly after, Xiahou Cun came. At the sight of the powerful warrior he angrily came forward to fight him, only to be slain in the first encounter. His colleague Zhai Yuan fled, but Guan Ping swiftly caught up with him and slew him. Then the pursuit was continued, and the losses on Cao Ren’s side were very heavy. Many were drowned in the Xiang River. The battle ended with Cao Ren retreating back to Fancheng and Guan Yu in possession of Xiangyang.*
After the victory, Guan Yu went into the city, where he calmed the people and rewarded his men. However, one of his officers, called Wang Fu, warned him of possible danger in Jingzhou. “You have obtained this city very easily,” he said, “but the task is not ended. Although Cao Ren’s men have been beaten and their courage broken, there is still the danger from Wu. Lu Meng is at Lukou, and he has long cherished the desire to lay hands on Jingzhou. If he takes advantage of your absence to attack the city, what is to be done?”
“I have been thinking of this myself,” replied Guan Yu. “You go and attend to this matter. Find some high points on the river bank, about twenty or thirty li apart, and set up alarm beacons. Assign fifty men to guard each one. If you spot the men of Wu crossing the river, raise a flame by night and a smoke by day. I will go and smite them myself.”
Wang Fu replied, “Fu Shi-ren and Mi Fang are holding the two strategic points. I am afraid they may not do their best. You should appoint someone else to supervise the whole area of Jingzhou.”
“There is no need for anxiety—I have put Pan Jun in charge.”
“Pan Jun is jealous and greedy, not a suitable man for the task. I think it is better to replace him with Zhao Lei, now of the commissariat. He is loyal and honest, a much more desirable man for the post.”
“I know Pan Jun very well, but I have delegated him for that duty and cannot change now. Zhao Lei is taking care of the food supplies, which are also very important. I don’t think you need be too anxious. Just get along with those beacons for me.”
Wang Fu unhappily took his leave. Guan Yu then told his adopted son to prepare ships to cross the river and attack Fancheng, where Cao Ren had retreated after the defeat.
Now Cao Ren said to Man Chong, “Neglecting your advice, I lost my men, my two officers, and the city of Xiangyang. What am I to do now?”
“Guan Yu is too brave and skillful for us to treat lightly. We’d better remain on the defensive,” replied Man Chong.
Just about this time came the tidings that Guan Yu was crossing the river to attack them again. Cao Ren was greatly alarmed. Man Chong maintained his policy of defense, but this was contradicted by one of the officers, who was all for going out to meet the enemy.
“I ask for a few thousand men,” he said, “and I will meet the enemy on the Xiang River.”
Man Chong tried to dissuade him from going but the officer became angry. He shouted, “You civil officials always talk about defense. But will defense drive off the enemy? Don’t you know what the Art of War says: ‘Attack while your enemy is halfway crossing a river.’ Now Guan Yu is doing exactly that, so why not attack him? It will be quite another matter if you let him reach the walls and get near the moat.”
As a result of this argument he was given 2,000 men, whom he led to the riverbank ready to do battle. And there he found Guan Yu already deployed. As the embroidered banners were unfurled, Guan Yu rode out. The officer was about to ride forth and engage in battle when his men, panic-stricken at the sight of Guan Yu’s fierce countenance, started to flee. In vain he tried to call them back. Guan Yu came on with a rush and Cao Ren’s men again lost the day. Many were slain, and the remainder ran into Fancheng. Cao Ren dispatched a letter to his master to plead for help.
The messenger went to see Cao Cao and tell him that Guan Yu had occupied Xiangyang and was also besieging Fancheng.
Cao Cao pointed to one of his officers and said, “You can go and lift the siege at Fancheng.”
The man at once stepped out. It was Yu Jin.
“Let me have an officer to lead the vanguard,” he said.
“Who would like to volunteer?” asked Cao Cao, looking around.
“I would,” cried a man. “I will offer my meager services, for what they are worth. And I will capture this fellow Guan Yu and bring him before your standard.”
North Wei had dispatched another troop,
Ere East Wu sent out a single man to help.
The name of the bold volunteer will be told in the next chapter.
Footnotes
* An ancient book about the earliest rulers of China.
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* Xiao He (?–193 B.C.) was prime minister of the first emperor of Han Dynasty.
† Cao Shen (?–190 B.C.) was prime minister, after Xiao He, of the first emperor of Han Dynasty.
* Here is a confusion in the book. According to Chapter Fifty-One, Guan Yu seized Xiangyang from Xiahou Dun after the Battle of the Red Cliffand there is no mention of the place ever being re-taken by Cao Ren.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
Pang De Takes His Coffin on a Campaign
Guan Yu Drowns Seven Enemy Forces
The bold officer who pledged to make an end of Guan Yu was Pang De. Cao Cao was very glad that he’d volunteered. “Guan Yu enjoys a high reputation in the whole country. So far he has not met his rival, but now he is going to meet you and he will find his match.”
So he conferred on Yu Jin the title of General–Conqueror of the South and on Pang De, General–Conqueror of the West and Leader of the Vanguard, and commanded them to lead seven forces to leave for Fancheng.
These seven forces were composed of sturdy fighters from the north. Before setting out two of their officers, named Dong Heng and Dong Chao, led their colleagues to pay their respects to the commander, Yu Jin. At the interview, Dong Heng said: “General, you are leading seven forces to lift the siege of Fancheng and you expect to win the war. But is it wise to place Pang De in command of the van?”
“Why?” asked Yu Jin, surprised.
“As you know, he was once under the command of Ma Chao and only surrendered to our lord because there was no alternative. Now his former chief is given high honor in Shu, one of the Five Tiger Generals, and his own brother is an officer there, too. To send him as leader of the van is like trying to extinguish a fire with oil. Why not ask the Prince of Wei to replace him with another?”
Without further delay Yu Jin went to see Cao Cao and laid before him the objections to Pang De’s appointment. Cao Cao, seeing the truth of this, summoned Pang De and told him to yield his seal as Leader of the Vanguard.
“Why do you reject my service, my lord? I was just about to do my best for you.”
“Well, I did not distrust you at first, but Ma Chao is now in Shu and your brother too, both in the service of Liu Bei. Even if I myself have no doubts, all the other leaders are against you.”
Pang De took off his headdress and bowed his head with such force that blood streamed down his cheeks.
“Since I surrendered to you, my lord, I have been a recipient of great kindness from you, for which I would undergo any sufferings to show my gratitude. Pray trust me. Although my brother is in Shu, he and I are not even on speaking terms. When my brother and I were at home together his wife was a wicked woman and I slew her, pretending I was drunk. My brother has never forgiven me, and he hates me so intensely that he swears never to see me again, so we are enemies. As for my old master, Ma Chao, he is bold but not clever, so he had to seek shelter in Shu, a defeated and dejected man. Now he serves his own master, and I serve mine. Our old friendship is over. How could I ever think of another after your kindness to me?”
Cao Cao helped him to his feet and soothed him, saying, “I have always known what a noble man you are, and what I said just now was to relieve the fears of the others. Now you can strive to win fame, and if you do not disappoint me I will treat you well.”
Pang De bowed again to thank him. When he returned to his house, he ordered some workmen to make him a coffin. After it was finished he invited all his relatives and friends to a banquet, and the coffin was set out in the reception room for all to see. His guests were aghast. They asked him why he should put out such an inauspicious object on the eve of an expedition. Holding a drink in his hand, Pang De said, “The Prince of Wei has been very generous to me, and I vow to repay him with my life. I’m about to go and fight this Guan Yu. If I can’t kill him, he will kill me—even if he doesn’t kill me, I will kill myself, and so I have prepared this coffin to show that I won’t break my vow.”
The terrible pledge saddened the guests, and they fell to sighing. Then he sent for his wife and son, the latter whom he commended to her care.
“I have been appointed leader of the van of this expedition, and my duty binds me to die on the battlefield. If I die, our son is in your special care. The child is born with unusual looks, and when he grows up he shall avenge his father.”
Both mother and son wept bitterly as they bid him farewell. Then the army set out, and the coffin was carried along. Pang De told his officers to place his body in there if he was killed by Guan Yu.
“And if I slay him,” he added, “I’ll bring his head back in this coffin as an offering to our prince.”
All his five hundred subordinate officers said in unison, “You are so loyal and brave, General—we must certainly follow you to the end.”
The vanguard then marched away. Someone told this to Cao Cao, who was very pleased, saying he had no anxiety with such an officer leading his men.
But Jia Xu said, “I am rather worried, though. Pang De is driven by too reckless a passion to fight to the death with Guan Yu.”
Cao Cao also became anxious for his general’s safety, and he hastily sent Pang De a warning message, which said: “Guan Yu is brave as well as resourceful. You must be most cautious in combating with him. Conquer him if you can—but remain on the defensive if you cannot.”
“Why does our prince extol this Guan Yu so?” said Pang De to his colleagues when he heard this new command. “But I think I’ll be able to destroy his reputation of thirty years.”
“The command of the prince is to be obeyed,” admonished Yu Jin.
Pang De hastened to Fancheng in all the pomp and panoply of war, with gongs clanging and drums rolling as the army marched.
Guan Yu was sitting in his tent when his spies came to inform him of the approach of the enemy from the north, seven divisions in all, of bold fighting men. They also told him that the vanguard leader, Pang De, who had brought along a coffin, had sworn in impudent language to fight to the death with him.
Rage took hold of Guan Yu. His face changed color and his beard shook as he roared, “There is never a fighting man in all the country but trembled with fear at hearing my name. How dare this fellow disdain me?”
So he ordered Guan Ping to attack the city while he went out to slay the impudent boaster.
“Father,” said Guan Ping, “You are as mighty as Mount Tai and you mustn’t trouble yourself to compete with a mere pebble. Let me go and fight this Pang De.”
“All right, you go and try—I’ll come and support you soon.”
So Guan Ping took his sword and rode out with his men to fight Pang De. Both sides drew up for battle. On the side of Wei there flew a single black flag, on which was inscribed Pang De of Nanan in white. The leader himself wore a black robe with silver armor and rode a white charger. He stood out in front backed by his five hundred men, and a few foot soldiers were there too, bearing the gruesome coffin.
Guan Ping began abusing his opponent: “Shameless betrayer of your master!”
“Who’s that?” asked Pang De of his followers.
“That’s Guan Yu’s adopted son, Guan Ping.”
Pang De cried, “I have an order from the Prince of Wei to take your father’s head. You are but a weakling and I will spare you. Quickly tell your father to come out.”
Guan Ping, exasperated, dashed forward, flourishing his sword. Pang De went to meet him, and there followed thirty odd bouts with no advantage to either.
Both sides then drew off to rest. Soon, news of this combat reached Guan Yu, who was again thrown into fury. He sent Liao Hua to attack the city of Fancheng while he himself went to oppose Pang De. Guan Ping met his father and related how the fight was tied. So Guan Yu rode out, holding his great sword, and shouted to Pang De, “Guan Yun-zhang is here! Come out quickly and be slain.”
The drums rolled as Pang De rode out and replied, “I have the order of the Prince of Wei to take your head. In case you disbelieve it, here is the coffin, r
eady for you. If you fear death, get down from your horse and surrender.”
“You imbecile!” cried Guan Yu, “What can you do? It is a pity to stain my Blue Dragon sword with the blood of such a rat as you!”
Then he galloped toward Pang De, flourishing his mighty sword, and Pang De, whirling his blade, came forth to meet him. In a moment they engaged. After about a hundred bouts the lust of battle seemed to grow for both combatants and the two armies were struck in awe and amazement.
But the men of Wei, for fear their champion might suffer, sounded the gongs of retirement. Almost at the same time, Guan Ping, concerned for his father’s age, also clanged his gongs. Thus both warriors drew off to their own sides.
“Guan Yu is really a mighty man of war,” said Pang De, when he had got back among his own men.
Then his chief, Yu Jin, came to see him and said, “I hear you fought a hundred bouts with Guan Yu but still could not overcome him. Wouldn’t it be prudent to retire out of his way?”
But Pang De replied excitedly, “The prince has given you the command of an army, but why are you so soft? Tomorrow I will fight till death with Guan Yu. I swear I will never give way.”
Yu Jin could not alter his decision, so he went back to his own camp.
When Guan Yu got back he also praised the swordsmanship of his opponent and acknowledged him a worthy enemy.
“As the saying goes, ‘The newborn calf fears not the tiger,’” said Guan Ping, “But if you slay this fellow, father, you will have only killed an insignificant fighting man of the Qiang tribe. Remember how highly my uncle has placed his trust in you. You cannot allow any accident to happen.”
“How can my resentment be assuaged save by the death of this man?” responded Guan Yu. “I have made up my mind, so say no more.”
The next day Guan Yu took the field first, but Pang De quickly came out. Both arrayed their men and then went to the front at the same moment. This time neither spoke, and the combat began immediately. It went on for fifty bouts and then Pang De turned his horse and fled, dragging along his sword. Guan Yu went in pursuit, and Guan Ping, afraid of any mishap, followed as well.