“But what if the natives tell them to cross only in the night?”
“Don’t be so anxious,” said Meng Huo. “How can our own people help the enemy?”
It was just then that news came to say that the men of Shu had secretly crossed the river and, moreover, had seized the Cross Hill Gorge, their main road for the transportation of their grain. The flags indicated that the commander was Ma Dai.
Meng Huo affected indifference. “That fellow is nothing to worry about,” he sneered.
He sent a junior officer with 3,000 men to recapture the gorge and reopen the grain route. When Ma Dai saw the Mans soldiers approaching, he deployed his 2,000 men in front of the hills in battle array. Then the Mans officer rode out to give battle. This was but a small engagement, as the man fell at the first stroke of Ma Dai’s sword. The Mans ran away at once.
They returned to the king’s camp and told him what had happened. He gathered his officers and asked for someone else to go up against Ma Dai.
“I will,” volunteered Dongtuna.
The king gave him 3,000 men. After he had gone, Meng Huo thought it would be wise to keep others from crossing the river at Shakou. So he sent a force to guard the place.
Dongtuna duly arrived at the gorge and made a camp. Ma Dai came out to meet him. Among his men were some who recognized the leader of the Mans and told Ma Dai how he had been captured and released. So Ma Dai galloped toward him, shouting reproaches at his ingratitude for rebelling again. Flushed with shame, Dongtuna went away without fighting. Ma Dai followed for a time and then returned. Dongtuna went back and told the king that Ma Dai was too strong for him.
But Meng Huo was angry, crying, “You are a traitor! I know you have received kindness from Zhuge Liang and that is why you would not fight.”
He ordered Dongtuna to be executed. At the intervention of the other chiefs, however, the death penalty was commuted, but the poor man was severely beaten, one hundred strokes with heavy rods.
Many of the chiefs, who sympathized with the beaten man, went to see him. They said, “Though we live in the Mans country we have never thought of rebelling against the central government, nor has the government ever encroached upon our land. It is this Meng Huo who has forced us into this rebellion. Zhuge Liang is so clever that no one can guess what he may do. Even Cao Cao and Sun Quan fear him. How much more must we? Moreover, we have received kindness at his hands and owe him our lives. We ought to show our gratitude. Let us slay this Meng Huo and submit to Zhuge Liang so that our people will not suffer.”
Dongtuna asked, “Are you all willing to do that?”
At this, all those who had been prisoners and later released cried with one voice, “Yes, we are.”
Without delay Dongtuna took a sharp sword, placed himself at the head of more than a hundred mutineers, and rushed into the king’s camp. At that moment Meng Huo was, as usual, intoxicated and lay in his tent. The mutineers rushed in. They found two officers keeping guard there.
“You also received kindness from Zhuge Liang and ought to repay it,” cried Dongtuna.
They replied, “Do not trouble yourself, General. We will capture him alive and hand him over to Zhuge Liang.”
So they bound the king securely, took him down to the river, and crossed in a boat to the northern bank. There they halted while they sent a messenger to report to Zhuge Liang.
Now Zhuge Liang had already been informed of this by his spies. He issued orders for every camp to arrange their weapons in order. When this was done, he told the chiefs to bring up their prisoner, and asked the others to return to their own camps to wait for his orders. Dongtuna came to his tent first and told everything to Zhuge Liang, who comforted him and gave him rich gifts. Then he sent him away with the other chiefs. When they had gone, the executioners brought in Meng Huo.
“You said once before that if you were captured again you would admit defeat,” said Zhuge Liang, smiling. “Now will you yield?”
“This is not your work,” replied the king. “It is the work of these minions of mine who want to hurt me. How can I yield this way?”
“If I free you again, what then?”
“I am only a member of the Mans, I know, but I am not wholly ignorant of the art of war. If you, sir, let me return to my camp I will muster another army and fight a decisive battle with you. If you capture me again then I will yield with all my heart. I will not go back on my word.”
“If you refuse to yield next time you are captured, I will not pardon you.”
At Zhuge Liang’s orders the cords were loosened and refreshments were brought in for the prisoner, who was also asked to be seated.
Zhuge Liang added, “Since I left my cottage in my home town I have never failed to win a battle or to take a city. Why do you Mans not yield?”
Meng Huo kept silent and did not answer the question. After the wine, Zhuge Liang rode out with Meng Huo to show him the piles of supplies and heaps of weapons around the camps. Pointing to the accumulation of grain and weapons, Zhuge Liang said, “You are silly not to yield to me. You see, I have veteran soldiers and able officers as well as an abundant supply of grain and war materiel; how can you hope to prevail against me? If you yield I will inform His Majesty to retain your rank as king and your descendants will succeed as perpetual guardians of the Mans country. What do you say?”
The king replied, “I would like to yield but the men of my country would not be content. If you release me once more I will bring my own men round so that they will not be opposed to this. When all of us are of one mind, I will submit.”
Zhuge Liang seemed pleased to hear this. He kept Meng Huo in his tent to drink till night, when he himself escorted him to the riverside and sent him home in a boat. However, Meng Huo’s first act on his return to his own camp was to assassinate the two chiefs, Dongtuna and Ahuinan. Their corpses were thrown into a gully. Then he sent his own trusted men to guard the most crucial points, while he himself led a force to fight with Ma Dai at Cross Hill Gorge. But when he got there he saw no sign of the enemy, and, on questioning the local inhabitants, he learned that the Shu army had taken the store of grain and forage and re-crossed the river to join the main body.
Meng Huo returned to his own camp and called in his brother, Meng You, to whom he said that he had found out everything about the enemy. Then he thought out a plan and asked his brother to carry it out.
Instructed by his brother, Meng You took a hundred men to carry all sorts of treasures—gold, jewels, pearls, ivory, and rhinoceros horns—and crossed the river to see Zhuge Liang. But immediately after he had landed on the other bank, drums rolled and horns blew. A body of troops under Ma Dai spread out in front of him. As he did not expect to meet an army Meng You was very much alarmed. But Ma Dai only asked him what he had come for. When he learned the reason of his arrival, he told Meng You to wait outside while he sent a messenger to tell the commander about this.
At the moment Zhuge Liang was in his tent discussing with several of his subordinates how to subdue the Mans. When the messenger came to announce that Meng You had come bearing gifts, Zhuge Liang turned to Ma Su and asked, “Do you know why this man has come?”
“I dare not say it out—but let me write it down and see if it agrees with yours,” replied Ma Su.
Zhuge Liang consented. So Ma Su wrote something down and handed the paper to his chief, who had no sooner read it than he clapped his hands with joy, crying, “Exactly what I think. And I have already made arrangements for the recapture of Meng Huo.”
Then Zhao Yun was called in and some orders were whispered into his ear. Next came Wei Yan who also went off with a secret command. Three other officers also came and left with particular instructions from their chief.
After they were all gone for their secret missions, the bearer of gifts was called. He came and bowed low at the entrance of the tent, saying, “My brother Meng Huo is so grateful to you for sparing his life that he feels bound to repay your kindness in some way. As he has but nothi
ng of value to offer he can only collect some gold and pearls and trifling jewels, which you may find useful as rewards to give to your soldiers. Afterwards he will send tribute to your king.”
“Where is your brother at this moment?” asked Zhuge Liang.
“Having been the recipient of your great kindness, he has gone to the Silver Pit Valley to collect more treasures. He will soon return.”
“How many men have you brought?”
“Only about a hundred; I dared not bring a larger number. They are just porters to carry the gifts.”
These men were brought in for Zhuge Liang’s inspection. They were all tall and powerful soldiers with blue eyes, swarthy faces, auburn but dishelved hair and brown beards. They wore earrings and went about barefoot. Zhuge Liang asked them to sit down and told his men to urge the guests to drink to their hearts’ content.
In the meantime, Meng Huo was anxiously waiting in his tent for news from his brother. Then he was told that two of his brother’s men had returned. He immediately called them in and questioned them eagerly. They told him that Zhuge Liang was very pleased to receive the presents and had even invited all the porters into the tent to be treated with plenty of meat and wine. They also brought him a secret message from his brother, saying that at the second watch that night he was to join him in attacking the Shu camp, from both within and without, to ensure a complete victory.
This was indeed very good news to him. He at once assembled 30,000 men and divided them into three bodies. After that, he called up the chiefs and told them to prepare their men for the night raid. “Each army must carry the means of making fire,” he added, “and as soon as you arrive at the Shu camp, light a fire as a signal. I myself will attack the central tent to capture Zhuge Liang.”
Following his order, the armies marched out after dusk and crossed the river. Meng Huo, with a hundred followers, made directly for the main camp of Shu. They met with no opposition all along the way. Presently they got to the camp gate and Meng Huo led his party straight in. But the camp seemed to be deserted—not a soul was in sight.
Meng Huo rode right up to the central tent, which was brilliantly lit with lamps, and lying about the place were his brother and all his men, dead drunk. This turned out to be another ruse of Zhuge Liang’s. He had told two of his subordinates to entertain Meng You and his men, who were urged to drink while a play was performed to amuse them. But the wine had been heavily drugged and the men had all fallen unconscious. One or two who had recovered a little could not speak when Meng Huo questioned them—they only pointed to their mouths.
Meng Huo then saw that he had been the victim of yet another of Zhuge Liang’s ruses. He hastily rescued his brother and the others and set off to join his main army.
But even as he turned, torches flared and shouting thundered all around. The Mans were frightened and took to their heels. They were at once pursued by a troop under Wang Ping. The king fled to his left division, but another troop appeared in front of him and Wei Yan was the leader. He hastened to escape to his right division, only to be stopped by Zhao Yun. Now he was attacked by three forces and there was no escape for him on any side. In the end he abandoned all his men, and alone on his horse he made a wild dash for the river.
As he reached the bank he saw a boat in the river with about a dozen of his own soldiers on board. Hurriedly he hailed the boat and jumped on board as soon as it touched the bank. But no sooner had he embarked than suddenly he was seized and bound. The boat was actually part of Zhuge Liang’s plan to capture Meng Huo and the Mans soldiers were actually Ma Dai and his men in disguise.
Most of Meng Huo’s men accepted Zhuge Liang’s call to surrender, who did not injure any of them but placated them with kind words. The still smoldering fire was extinguished. In a short time the prisoners were brought in—Ma Dai dragging along Meng Huo, Zhao Yun hustling up his brother, and the other officers leading forth the other chiefs.
Zhuge Liang looked at the king and laughed. “That was a childish ruse of yours to send your brother with presents to pretend submission. Did you really think I could not see through such a simple trick? But here you are once again captured by me. Now do you yield?”
“I am a prisoner because my brother was too gluttonous so he was poisoned. If I had only played his part myself and left him to support me with the army, I should have surely succeed. I am the victim of fate but not because I am incapable. Why should I yield?”
“Remember this is the third time,” said Zhuge Liang. “Why not yield?”
Meng Huo lowered his head and made no answer.
“All right,” said Zhuge Liang with a smile. “I will let you go once more.”
“Sir, if you will let me and my brother go we will get together our relatives and servants and fight you once more. If I am caught again I will surely admit defeat, and submit wholeheartedly.”
“I will scarcely pardon you next time,” said Zhuge Liang. “You had better be careful. Study your book of strategies diligently and muster together your comrades. Make sure you adopt a good plan to avoid mistakes.”
The king and his brother and all the chiefs were released from their bonds. They thanked Zhuge Liang for his clemency and left.
By the time the freed prisoners had crossed the river the army of Shu had already gained the southern side of the bank, which was lined with their soldiers and flags. As Meng Huo reached his camp, he saw Ma Dai sitting on high. Pointing at him with his sword, Ma Dai said: “Next time you are caught you will not be able to escape so easily.”
When Meng Huo came to his own tent he found Zhao Yun in possession and his army, deployed in order. Zhao Yun was seated beneath the large banner, his hand on his sword, and as the king passed by, he also added: “Do not forget how generously the prime minister has treated you.”
Meng Huo muttered gratitude and passed on. Just as he was leaving the hills at the boundary he saw Wei Yan and his thousand men drawn up on the slopes. Wei Yan shouted harshly, “We have now penetrated into the inmost recesses of your country and have taken all your defensive positions, yet you are stubborn enough to hold out against our victorious army. Next time you are caught you will be hacked to pieces. There will be no more pardons.”
With their arms covering their heads, Meng Huo and his followers ran away in fear to their own territory.
In the fifth month he marched into the land wild,
The Lu River, deadly with miasma, is clear and bright.
But Zhuge Liang pledged to subdue the south
Thereby to repay the three visits of his late lord.
Little did he care about the toil
Of the seven encounters with the Mans.
The whole army of Shu crossed the river and were rewarded with feasts. Then Zhuge Liang explained to them the strategy he had used to capture the king.
“I let Meng Huo see our camp the second time he was our prisoner because I wanted to tempt him into raiding it. He knows something about warfare, so I dangled our supplies and resources before his eyes, deliberately exposing our weaknesses, for I knew full well that he would resort to using fire. His purpose of sending his brother here to pretend submission was to plant his men inside our camp to assist his military action. I have captured and released him three times because I want to win the hearts of the Mans, not to do away with their race. I now explain my policy clearly to you so that you will spare no efforts and do your best for the country.”
They all bowed and said, “Sir, you are indeed perfect in wisdom, benevolence, and valor. You are superior to even Lu Shang or Zhang Liang of the old days.”
Zhuge Liang replied modestly, “How can I expect to equal great men of old? But I rely on your assistance, and together we will succeed.”
This speech of their leader’s pleased them all mightily.
In the meantime Meng Huo, humiliated at being captured three times, returned angrily to his home base, where he sent his comrades with handsome gifts to the chiefs of many neighboring districts, as well as
all the Mans clans, to recruit warriors that were armed with shields and swords. He got together hundreds of thousands of men. They all assembled on an appointed day, streaming like clouds or mists, ready to be commanded by Meng Huo.
Shu scouts learned about this assemblage and reported it to Zhuge Liang, who said: “This is what I was waiting for. I wanted them all to come and see for themselves our might.”
So saying he ordered his carriage and went out to inspect.
Oh, let our enemy’s fierce courage glow
That the strategist’s greater might may show.
The result of the battle will be related in the next chapter.
Footnote
* June or early July by the Roman calendar.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
Zhuge Liang Designs the Fourth Successful Ruse
Meng Huo Is Captured a Fifth Time
Zhuge Liang went out in his carriage to survey the terrain, escorted by a few hundred horsemen. Presently he came to a river, named the West Er. The current was slow but there were no boats or rafts to get across. Zhuge Liang ordered the escort to cut down some trees and make a raft. They did so but the raft sank. Turning to Lu Kai, he asked him for advice.
Lu Kai said, “I hear close by there is a mountain covered with bamboo trees, some of which are several spans in girth. We can make a bridge of them for the army to cross.”
Therefore a great many soldiers were sent up the hills, where they felled enough bamboo trees and floated them down the river. At the narrowest point they made a bridge a hundred feet or so in width. Then the main army was brought down to the river and camped along the bank. With the river as their moat and the floating bridge as the camp gate, they constructed three large mud stockades on the south bank and waited for the coming of the Mans soldiers.
They had not long to wait. Meng Huo, hot with rage, came quickly with his large army. As soon as he got near the river, he led his fierce warriors to challenge the first stockade. Zhuge Liang went forth to meet him in his usual attire, wearing a silk headdress, a white robe, and holding in his hand a feather fan. He sat in a chariot surrounded on both sides by his officers. Looking across at his opponent, he saw Meng Huo in a mail of rhinoceros hide and a bright red helmet. In his left hand he bore a shield, and in his right he gripped a sword. Riding a red ox he poured forth abuse and insults, while his men darted to and fro brandishing their weapons.