Chapter Ninety-Three: The Battle of Boundary Bridge, Finale; The Hebei Situation Becomes Clear

Later, when Zhang Yu heard Zhao Yun recount the course of the Battle of Jie Bridge, he was nearly driven to tears by Gongsun Zan’s sheer stupidity.

Ever since the day he had almost lost his life at the hands of Wen Chou, his wits had seemed to be running on empty.

Just like now: so long as Gongsun Zan had men at hand, he would say nothing and charge straight back in with them. If beaten, he would flee, then turn around and charge again.

To put it kindly, he was reckless. To put it less kindly...

No amount of numerical advantage could save a man from losing battles like that.

When Zhao Yun once again saw Gongsun Zan on the battlefield, bloodied and disheveled, his faith in his lord’s renown as the White Horse General wavered for the first time.

“My lord!”

“Zhao Yun, you have come at the perfect moment. Come with me and cut through them!”

“My lord, we cannot keep fighting! Your army... they are all waiting for you to lead them in regrouping. Let us withdraw!”

“Tian Kai, do you dare disobey my command?”

“Brother, let us withdraw first. The soldiers are utterly exhausted; they can no longer fight!” Gongsun Fan pleaded bitterly.

“My lord, Yun can shield you as you break out.”

Gongsun Zan’s tiger eyes were streaked with blood. He looked around and only then seemed to awaken a little from his frenzy of cruelty.

Looking at those loyal soldiers, some of whom could barely remain standing even with spear or sword in hand, Gongsun Zan let out a howl to the heavens.

“Traitor Yuan Shao! If I, Gongsun Zan, cannot one day eat your flesh alive, then may I die beneath the flames!”

“What bold words from a thief! Today I swear to take your head!”

A thunderous shout rolled in from afar, followed by swarming ranks of soldiers pouring into view.

Light cavalry, halberdiers, crossbowmen, axe-men... all surged forward in a black tide, their momentum like an overwhelming flood.

Only this time, the army that covered hill and field belonged to Yuan Shao.

And at its head were the two men famed throughout the north: Yan Liang and Wen Chou, unmatched among the armies and renowned across Hebei!

“Zilong, escort the lord out! Tian Kai and I will hold the rear!”

“Yes!”

His white robe stained red with blood, Zhao Yun could scarcely tell friend from foe anymore.

He knew only to swing, to cleave, to thrust.

Anyone who tried to approach Gongsun Zan had to die.

The greatest terror of war is not that it turns the living into corpses, but that it turns the living into demons.

Fortunately, once Gongsun Zan came to his senses, he did not do anything foolish. Perhaps, in a moment of mortal danger, there was no room left for his passions to run wild. He fought side by side with Zhao Yun and his personal cavalry, and with surprising fierceness recaptured some of the White Horse General’s former valor. At last they forced a new opening through the encirclement of Yuan’s forces, and the troops streamed toward the far side of the bridge in flight.

Jie Bridge, once again Jie Bridge.

They had charged, and charged again, and still they lost.

Gongsun Zan reached the bridge, seething with frustration. He raised his arm and hurled his horse spear at a boulder beside the road, only for his arm to go numb and nearly send the spear flying from his grasp.

Cold sweat broke out over his body. He barely caught it in time. Yet with that blow, the already narrow bridge gave a deafening groan and collapsed by nearly half at that very spot.

There was no time to think.

Only to flee.

And those behind him paid the price.

“Kill!”

Gao Lan used the great axe in his hand as a signal, directing his subordinates as though waving a command banner while driving Gongsun’s men onward.

But on the bridge, Yuan’s troops seemed to slow their pace intentionally, while Gongsun’s soldiers, consumed by the instinct to survive, had no time left to think.

The collapse ahead was like a stone lodged in the throat; when the troops reached that point, expecting them to file through in orderly ranks was plainly impossible.

Shoving, crushing, shouting, cursing.

It was like the depths of hell.

Not only Gongsun’s army, but Yuan’s as well, was transformed in the same way.

Their eyes were bloodshot; their reason had been burned away.

Somewhere along the line, Yuan Shao himself had already brought men up in person. With his troops driving hard in full force, the number who fell into the water and drowned was beyond counting.

Soldiers from both sides tumbled into the river; corpses piled up and leveled the waters, blocking the current until the flow itself was choked off.

Of the tens of thousands in Gongsun Zan’s army, only a few thousand remained. In particular, the elite White Horse Volunteers had been reduced to less than one in ten.

As for Yuan’s forces, aside from the losses under Qu Yi, none of the main commanders had died. Since Qu Yi’s fall, the assault camp had suffered nearly half its strength, but the rest of the army had slaughtered the enemy with crushing, irresistible force.

Yan Liang and Wen Chou guarded the flanks, Gao Lan and Zhang He held the rear, and Yuan Shao led his own men to cross the bridge first.

“If Gongsun is slain here, then there will be no more war in Hebei! Victory or defeat lies in this day!”

“We are willing to die for our lord!”

Eight thousand elite troops had gone out in full force.

By the time Gongsun Zan’s tens of thousands had been driven to such ruin, Yuan’s army had still not been seriously wounded.

Less than five li after crossing the bridge, a high mountain suddenly loomed ahead to block the road. Looking again, Gongsun Zan, madly spurring his horse on, had Yuan’s forces only a step behind him.

Before the Yuan troops could catch their breath, they kept pursuing without pause. Who could have expected it?

Boom!

A thunderous cannon shot!

To the already frightened Gongsun forces, this bolt from the blue had grown numb, but Yuan’s troops, intent on the chase, were startled all at once, even throwing men and horses into confusion.

As the smoke from the signal blast slowly dispersed, Yuan Shao stared hard, and suddenly a column of troops appeared from behind the mountain.

Every soldier in this force was neatly armored, brimming with energy, and calm as if they had long been waiting in ambush here.

“Could this be Gongsun Zan’s hidden trump card—”

Yuan Shao was still thinking when he was struck by sudden shock.

He saw the three generals leading the charge.

The one in the center wielded a pair of swords. The one above him carried a Green Dragon Blade. The one below gripped a spear eight spans long, a Dragon-Guiding Spear!

Yuan Shao knew their might beneath Hulao Pass all too well.

Three horses, three weapons, leading elite troops at full gallop.

One side was wholly unprepared, its weary soldiers still in flight and pursuit; the other was waiting fresh and rested, its morale at its peak.

The instant the two armies collided, Liu Bei’s force overpowered the Yuan troops, whose strength was already spent.

Especially the three brothers, who cut through the chaos like a spear through silk, heading straight for Yuan Shao.

“To take a general’s head from the midst of ten thousand troops.”

That thought flashed through Yuan Shao’s mind, and in an instant he was struck with terror. He hastily drew the precious blade at his waist, clutched the reins with both hands, and wheeled his horse around.

Seeing that the tide had turned, Yuan’s officers and men also fought desperately together, striving with all their strength to rescue Yuan Shao back across the bridge. Liu Bei’s army did not pursue. Jie Bridge became the boundary, and each side returned to camp.

East of Jie Bridge, in Gongsun’s great camp.

“My brother Xuan De!”

Gongsun Zan gripped Liu Bei’s hands tightly and sat together with him in the place of honor.

“Had it not been for you, Xuan De, and for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei coming all this way to save me today, I would nearly have been driven into disgrace!”

“You are too modest, Brother. What truly deserves thanks is your steadiness in crisis, your command of strategy, and the unwavering unity of the soldiers under you. That is why, though defeated, you did not collapse, and were still able to preserve your strength,” Liu Bei replied calmly.

“Xuan De, that is where you are mistaken. This time I was truly in a miserable state!” Gongsun Zan sighed deeply, though the faint curve at the corner of his mouth seemed to prove that the remark pleased him greatly.

“Though I did manage matters myself, this man’s achievements are also considerable—”

Gongsun Zan pointed at him and, as though presenting a treasure to Liu Bei, said, “Zhao Yun. He fought Wen Chou for a hundred rounds without defeat, and he is the finest fierce general under my command. Come now, Zilong, pay your respects to Lord Xuan De.”

Liu Bei looked at this handsome warrior, and the brightness in his eyes seemed almost ready to speak for him.

...

In the year 191, the Battle of Jie Bridge broke out.

This battle was fierce, though not ruinous. Qu Yi, commander of the assault camp, was killed, and the White Horse Volunteers were almost entirely destroyed. Though neither side was crippled beyond recovery, the grand situation in Hebei had already grown gradually clear.

After this battle, Yuan Shao further consolidated his footing in Jizhou, altering the military balance between Gongsun’s strength and Yuan’s weakness, and planting the most crucial seed for his future domination of Hebei.

On the other side, Gongsun Zan’s most elite White Horse Volunteers were nearly wiped out, his strength diminished and his sharp edge blunted. His ambition was thus greatly reduced, and not long after he built Yijing Tower, intending to defend himself within the grave of Youzhou.

Return to Chang’an City.

In a bamboo grove.

“The men of Qin had no leisure to grieve for themselves; later generations grieved for them. Yet if later generations grieve without taking warning, then they merely cause still later generations to grieve for them in turn.”