The Three Kingdoms Volume 1 (66 page)

At this Yuan Shao turned on Xu You angrily and said, “How can you have the face to stand before me and propose plans, you degenerate fellow? You and Cao Cao have been friends and he must have bribed you to do his dirty work for him. So now you want to betray my army. I ought to have you beheaded, but temporarily I will let it remain on your neck. Get out and never let me see you again.”

The discredited advisor went out and looking up toward the sky, sighed: “Faithful words offend his ear. He is too mean to be worthy of advice from me. And now that Shen Pei has injured my son and nephew, how can I look my fellow men in the face again?”

So saying he drew his sword to end his life. But his followers prevented him. They said, “If Yuan Shao rejects your honest words then assuredly he will be taken by Cao Cao. You are an old friend of his—why not abandon the shade for the sunlight?”

These few words awakened him to the reality of his position and he decided to leave Yuan Shao and go over to Cao Cao.

Vainly now for chances lost
Yuan sighs; once he was great.
Had he taken Xu’s advice,
Cao would not set up a state.

Xu You stealthily left and set out for Cao Cao’s camp. He was captured on the way. He told his captors that he was an old friend of the prime minister’s and asked them to tell him that Xu You of Nanyang wished to see him.

They did so. Cao Cao was just about to go to bed when he heard of his arrival in secret. He was so glad that he hastily went forth to greet him, without even waiting to put on his shoes. Seeing him in the distance, Cao Cao clapped his hands in joy and bowed to the ground when his visitor was invited into his tent. Xu You hastened to help him rise and said, “Sir, you are a great minister and should not thus salute a commoner like me.”

“But you are my old friend and no fame or office makes any difference to us,” replied Cao Cao.

“Having been unable to choose the right lord to serve I had to bow my head before Yuan Shao. But he was deaf to my words and disregarded my advice. Therefore I have left him and come now to see my old friend. I hope you will give me shelter.”

“Since you are willing to come I have indeed a great helper,” said Cao Cao. “Please teach me a scheme for the destruction of Yuan Shao.”

“I advised Yuan Shao to send a light force to take the capital so that your head and tail will be attacked simultaneously.”

Cao Cao was alarmed. “If he does so, I’m lost.”

“How much grain have you in store?” inquired the new advisor.

“Enough for a year.”

“Not that much, I’m afraid,” said Xu You smiling.

“Well, half a year.”

The visitor rose angrily to leave the tent. “I offer you good counsel and you repay me with deceit. Is this what I can expect?”

Cao Cao held him back. “Don’t be angry,” he said. “I will tell you the truth. Really I have only grain for three months.”

“Everybody says you are a marvel of trickery and indeed it is true,” said Xu You.

“But who fails to understand that in war no one objects to deceits?” replied Cao Cao. Then whispering in the other’s ear he said, “Actually I have only supplies for this month’s use.”

“Oh, do not throw dust in my eyes any more. Your grain is exhausted and I know it.”

Cao Cao was startled, for he thought no one knew of the straits he was in.

“How did you find that out?” he asked.

Xu You produced the letter and said, “Who wrote that?”

“Where did you get it?”

Then he told Cao Cao the story of the captured messenger. Cao Cao seized him by the hand and said, “Since our old friendship has brought you here I hope you have some plan to suggest to me.”

Xu You said, “To oppose a great army with a small one is to walk to destruction unless you resort to a quick victory. I can propose a plan which will defeat the immense army of Yuan Shao in three days without fighting a battle. But will you follow my advice?”

“I’d like to know your good plan,” answered Cao Cao with great joy.

“Your enemy’s stores of all kinds are at Wuchao, where the commander is Chunyu Qiong, a very heavy drinker. You can send some of your trusted veterans there, pretending to be his men sent to help guard the depot. Once inside these men can find an opportunity to burn the supplies. In three days Yuan Shao’s army will be thrown into chaos.”

Cao Cao approved. He treated Xu You very liberally and kept him in his camp. Consequently he chose 5,000 horse and foot soldiers ready for the raid.

Zhang Liao was opposed to this scheme and said, “Yuan Shao’s grain depot is certainly well guarded. You should not act in such haste. What if Xu You is treacherous?”

“Xu You is no traitor,” said Cao Cao. “He has been sent by Heaven to defeat Yuan Shao. If we do not get grain it will be hard to hold out and I have either to follow his advice or sit still and be hemmed in. If he was a traitor he would hardly remain in my camp. Moreover, this raid has been my desire for a long time. Have no doubts, the raid will certainly succeed.”

“Well then, you must look out for an attack here while the camp is un-defended.”

“That is already taken care of,” said Cao Cao smiling.

The defenders of the camp were then deployed. The main camp was to be guarded by Cao Hong and several others, including the new advisor, while two forces under the command of four officers were placed in ambush on both sides.

The plans for the raid on the grain depot were made with extreme care to ensure success. When all was ready they set out, Cao Cao himself in the center. The army showed the ensigns of their opponents. The men carried bundles of grass and twigs to make a blaze. The men were gagged and the horses tied round the muzzles so as to prevent any noise.

They set out at dusk. The night was fine and the stars shone brightly. Ju Shou, still a prisoner in Yuan Shao’s camp, saw that the stars were brilliant and told his jailers to escort him out to the courtyard where he could study them. While watching he saw the planet Venus invade the quarters of the Bear and Lyra, which startled him greatly.

“Some misfortune is near,” he said.

So although it was already night he went to see his master. But Yuan Shao was sleeping after indulging in too much wine and was in a bad humor. However, when they had roused him saying that the prisoner had a secret message to deliver, he ordered him to be brought in.

“While I happened to be studying the aspect of the heavens,” said the night visitor, “I saw Venus suddenly deviated from its usual course and its reflections shoot into the neighborhood of Bear and Lyra. I fear there is danger of a night raid and special precautions must be taken at the grain depot. Lose no time in sending good soldiers and vigorous officers there and keep a lookout on the byways among the hills so that you may escape the wiles of Cao Cao.”

“You are a criminal,” said Yuan Shao. “How dare you come with such wild nonsense to upset my army.”

Then he issued orders to put the jailers to death and appointed others to keep the prisoner in close custody.

Ju Shou left, wiping his falling tears and sighing deeply. “Our army’s destruction is imminent and I don’t know where my poor corpse may find a resting place.”

Blunt truth offended Yuan Shao,
Too stupid any plan to make,
His stores destroyed ‘tis evident
That Jizhou also is at stake.

Cao Cao’s raiding party carried on through the night. Passing one of Yuan Shao’s outposts, they were challenged. Cao Cao sent forward a man to say, “Jiang Qi has orders to go to Wuchao to guard the grain stores.”

Seeing that the raiders marched under the ensigns of Yuan Shao the guards had no suspicions and let them pass. At every post this trick was effective and they got safely through.

They reached their objective at the end of the fourth watch. The straw and wood were placed in position without loss of time and the blaze started. Then the officers attacked amid the beating of the drum and loud shouting.

At the time of the attack the commander of the grain depot was asleep after a heavy drinking bout with his fellow officers. The hubbub, however, awoke him and he sprang up and asked what the matter was. Before he could finish speaking he was caught by hooks and hauled out of his tent.

Two other officers were just returning from transporting grain to the camp and seeing the flames arise, they hastened to the rescue. Some of his soldiers ran to tell Cao Cao that some enemy forces were coming up in the rear and asked him to send reinforcements, but he only replied by ordering his men to press forward and ignore the forces behind unless they were actually close at hand. So the attackers all hastened forward.

Very soon the fire gained strength and thick smoke hung all around, filling the sky. When the two officers drew near, Cao Cao turned around and faced them. They could not stand the onslaught and after a while both were killed. Finally the stores of grain and forage were utterly destroyed.

The commander, Chunyu Qiong, was made prisoner and taken to Cao Cao, who ordered that he be deprived of ears, nose, and hands. Thus horribly mutilated, he was bound on a horse and sent to his master to humiliate him.

From Yuan Shao’s camp the flames of the burning depot were seen away in the north and he knew what they meant. Hastily he summoned his officers to a council about sending a rescue party. Zhang He offered to go with Gao Lan but the advisor Guo Tu said, “They should not go. It is certain that Cao Cao is there in person, therefore his camp is undefended. Attack the camp and Cao Cao will speedily come back. This is what the ancient military strategist Sun Bin meant by ‘Besieging Wei to Rescue Zhao’.”

But Zhang He said, “Not so—Cao Cao is too crafty not to have fully prepared against such an attack. If we raid his camp and fail, and Chunyu Qiong should be caught, then all of us would be caught, too.”

Guo Tu said, “Cao Cao is too intent on the destruction of the grain to think of leaving a guarding force. I entreat you to attack his camp.”

So Yuan Shao sent 5,000 men under Zhang He and Gao Lan to attack Cao Cao’s camp and Jiang Qi was sent to try to recover the grain store.

Now after overcoming the remaining forces in the grain depot, Cao Cao’s men dressed themselves in the armor and clothing of the defeated soldiers and put out their emblems, thus posing as defeated men running back to their own headquarters. On the way they came upon Jiang Qi’s rescue force, who they told that they had been beaten at Wuchao and were retreating. So they passed on without raising any suspicions, while Jiang Qi hastened on. But soon he encountered Zhang Liao and Xu Chu, who cried out to him to stop. And before he could make any opposition Zhang Liao had cut him down. Soon his men were killed or dispersed and the victors sent false messengers to Yuan Shao’s camp to say that Jiang Qi had succeeded in driving away the invaders of the granary. So no more reinforcement forces were sent that way, but only to Guandu.

In due course the two officers sent to raid Cao Cao’s camp were attacked from three sides by the ambushers at Guandu, so that they were worsted. By the time reinforcements arrived Cao Cao’s army, returning from the granary, had also come and Yuan Shao’s men were further pressed in the rear. So they were quite surrounded. However, Zhang He and Gao Lan managed to force their way out and escape.

When Yuan Shao finally collected together the defeated men of the grain depot he saw the mutilated state of their leader. Yuan Shao asked how he had come to betray his trust and to suffer thus and the soldiers told their lord that their commander had been intoxicated at the time of the attack. Yuan Shao was enraged and ordered him to be executed at once.

Guo Tu, fearing lest Zhang He and Gao Lan would return and testify how wrong he had been, began to intrigue against them. First he went to his lord and said, “These two, Zhang He and Gao Lan, were certainly very glad when your armies were defeated.”

“Why do you say this?” asked Yuan Shao.

“They have long cherished a desire to go over to Cao Cao, so when you sent them to destroy his camp they did not do their best and so brought about this disaster.”

Yuan Shao was again furious and accordingly sent someone to recall them to be interrogated. But Guo Tu, the cunning intriguer, was quicker. He sent a messenger in advance to warn them of the adverse fate that awaited them. So when Yuan Shao’s messenger reached them and asked them to return, Gao Lan asked him why they were recalled. The messenger disclaimed all knowledge of the reasons, so Gao Lan drew his sword and killed him.

Zhang He was dumbfounded at this act but his friend said, “Yuan Shao listens to slanderous tongues around him. I think he’s doomed to be captured by Cao Cao. What’s the sense in our sitting still and awaiting destrection? Rather let’s surrender to Cao Cao.”

“I’ve been wanting to do this for some time,” replied Zhang He.

Therefore both of them, with their men, made their way to Cao Cao’s camp to surrender.

When they arrived, Xiahou Dun said to his master, “These two have come to surrender but I have doubts about them.”

Cao Cao replied, “I will treat them generously and win them over, even if they have treachery in their hearts.”

The camp gates were opened to the two officers and they were invited to enter. They laid down their weapons, removed their armor and bowed to the ground before Cao Cao. The prime minister said, “If Yuan Shao had listened to you he would not have suffered defeat. Now your coming to me is like Wei Zi leaving the tyrant king of Shang Dynasty and Han Xin going over to the House of Han.”