The Tiger General (On Hold Due To Lack of Good Sources)

Chapter 3

Over 6 years had passed, seasons had come and gone, battles won and lost; time passed endlessly forward. Zhou Yan stood facing the opposing army, his face a mask void of emotion as he sat upon his horse. Now 23, the young officer had fought and helped defeat Yuan Shao a few years prior, now he was aiding Cao Cao in the fight against the rival kingdoms of Shu, led by Liu Bei, and Wu, led by Sun Ce. It was his job to guard Cao’s flank while Cao fought the Wuhuan people[1], Zhou Yan was going to do just that. Liu Biao[2] had sent men to attack Ye in Cao’s absence to keep him from attacking Jingzhou. Zhou Yan eyed the enemy, judging what needed to be judged, “Well, well, well… we certainly have a cunning little rat over on the other side…”

“Tongjun[3] Zhou, what do you suggest we do?” Huo Fa inquired, riding her horse up next to him, “We’re outnumbered immensely.”

Zhou Yan shut his eyes, deep in thought, “There is but one thing: we must out-fox the foxes on the other side of the playing field, which might not be too easy considering they knew our numbers and where we were… that is disturbing in itself…”

Indeed, the numbers deployed against Wei were large and behind the strategy was a young man only two months younger than Zhou Yan himself. Bao Kaifai was, to say in the least, very intelligent; his strategies were unparalleled in Shu at that time until the arrival of Zhuge Liang. Kaifai was of humble origins, being the son of a farmer, but his natural talent had made him a glimmer of hope for Shu, a kingdom with trouble winning any wars. With his hair pulled back and under a coronet along with his thin mustache, he looked older than what he was.

Stroking his chin, Kaifai examined the sturdy Wei army with curiosity, “They must have some commander if they do not move to fall back against such numbers…perhaps Shu Han’s reputation for losing has preceded us, General…” he turned to the general and fanned himself with his feather fan.

“Nonsense! We are not as weak as to lose to some upstart Tongjun!” the general snapped in return.

Kaifai heaved a sigh, “Oh, do keep quiet! Thanks to you, we’re going to fail so badly that our ancestor will behead themselves, you lout!” he snapped. With another sigh he turned to a lieutenant and asked, “This Tongjun, who is he?”

“I hear Cao Cao left Tongjun Zhou Yan in charge of Ye; they call him ‘The Tiger Cub of Wei’, strategist.”

Bao Kaifai widened his eyes, “The boy that fought Lu Bu…my, what a development! I’m truly up against a worthy foe then,” he nodded in satisfaction, “Very well, proceed as planned, then.”

The foot soldiers surged towards Wei’s lines and Zhou Yan smiled, “I see what you’re doing; De Pan, Ba Dan, take the cavalry and pull them back and only send them to the left flank when I send Huo Fa for you, understand?” The two nodded and signaled for the cavalry to fall back until further notice. Zhou Yan signaled for the first two lines of foot soldiers to hold formation, “Don’t let them break through; put your shields to use!” he ordered calmly. The first two lines were the defenders; the following lines were the attackers. Zhou Yan knew that once they’d cut down the first wave that the Shu army would deploy the cavalry,  leaving their left flank completely exposed, “This has got to work..!” he hissed under his breath, “I didn’t come this far by losing; I mustn’t fail my lord, I mustn’t!”

Sure enough, the Wei lines held the relentless assault from the Shu army with surprising endurance and strength almost entirely unheard of. Bao Kaifai himself was impressed by the army’s tenacity, “This…is an army with a sound leader that they know they can rely on and trust. This man, this ‘Tiger Cub’, is a foe I’d like to meet personally.”

The general spun around to look at him, eyes wide in shock, “Strategist Bao, you must be completely mad! Why would you want to meet an enemy?”

Bao Kaifai sighed, “Jiangjun, is there truly a good or bad side in this war? Are we truly enemies? Look inside of the conflict, beneath its outer shell, and you shall see that we are all descendents of the Han, all of the same people, fighting each other because our lords see things unevenly. We are all brothers, Jiangjun, not foreign enemies; thus I am positive that I might be able to persuade our young Tongjun to join us.”