“Cao Cao, you rebel, do not flee!” shouted Lu Bu as he approached with his halberd ready for a thrust.
All stopped and looked in each others' faces: the soldiers were weary, their steeds spent. Fear smote them, and they looked around for some place of refuge.
You may lead your lord safely out of the press,
But what if the enemy follow?
We cannot say here what Cao Cao's fate was, but the next chapter will relate.
CHAPTER 12. Tao Qian Thrice Offers Xuzhou To Liu Bei; Cao Cao Retakes Yanzhou From Lu Bu In Battles
The last chapter closed with Cao Cao in great danger. However, help came. Xiahou Dun with a body of soldiers found his chief, checked the pursuit, and fought with Lu Bu till dusk. Rain fell in torrents swamping everything; and as the daylight waned, they drew off and Cao Cao reached camp. He rewarded Dian Wei generously and advanced him in rank.
When Lu Bu reached his camp, he called in his adviser Chen Gong. Then Chen Gong proposed a new stratagem.
He said, “In Puyang there is a rich, leading family, Tian by name, who number thousands, enough to populate a whole county in themselves. Make one of these people go to Cao Cao's camp with a pretended secret letter about Lu Bu's ferocity, and the hatred of the people, and their desire to be rid of him. End by saying that only Gao Shun is left to guard the city, and they would help any one who would come to save them. Thus our enemy Cao Cao will be inveigled into the city, and we will destroy him either by fire or ambush. His skill may be equal to encompassing the universe, but he will not escape.”
Lu Bu thought this trick might be tried, and they arranged for the Tian family letter to be sent.
Coming soon after the defeat, when Cao Cao felt uncertain what step to take next, the secret letter was read with joy. It promised interior help and said the sign should be a white flag with the word “Rectitude” written thereon.
“Heaven is going to give me Puyang,” said Cao Cao joyfully.
So he rewarded the messenger very liberally and began to prepare for the expedition. Then came Liu Ye, saying, “Lu Bu is no strategist, but Chen Gong is full of guile; I fear treachery in this letter, and you must be careful. If you will go, then enter with only one third your army, leaving the others outside the city as a reserve.”
Cao Cao agreed to take this precaution. He went to Puyang, which he found gay with fluttering flags. Looking carefully he saw among them, at the west gate, the white flag with the looked-for inscription. His heart rejoiced.
That day, just about noon, the city gates opened, and two bodies of soldiers appeared as if to fight. Gao Shun was the front commander, and Hou Cheng the rear commander. Cao Cao told off his general, Dian Wei, to oppose them. Neither body, however, came on to full engagement but fell back into the city. By this move Dian Wei and his troops had been drawn close up to the drawbridge. From within the city several soldiers were seen taking any chance of confusion to escape and come outside. To Cao Cao they said, “We are clients of the Tian family,” and they gave him secret letters stating:
“The signal will be given about the first watch setting by beating a gong. That will be the time to attack. The gates will
be opened.” So Cao Cao ordered Xiahou Dun to march to the left and Cao Hong to the right. Cao Cao led the main army — together with Xiahou Yuan, Li Dian, and Yue Jin — into the city. Li Dian pressed upon his master the precaution, saying, “My lord should stay outside the city; let us go in first.”
But Cao Cao bade him be silent, saying, “If I do not go, who will advance?”
And so at the first watch Cao Cao led the way. The moon had not yet arisen. As he drew near the west gate, they heard a crackling sound, then a loud shouting, and then torches moved hither and thither. Next the gates were thrown wide open, and Cao Cao, whipping up his steed, galloped in.
But when he reached the state residence, he noticed the streets were quite deserted, and then he knew he had been tricked. Wheeling round his horse, he shouted to his followers to retire. This was the signal for another move. An explosion of a signal bomb was heard close at hand, and it was echoed from every side in a deafening roar. Gongs and drums beat all around with a roar like rivers rushing backward to their source, and the ocean boiling up from its depths. From two sides east and west came bodies of soldiers eager to attack, led by Lu Bu's generals Zhang Liao and Zang Ba.
Cao Cao dashed off toward the north only to find his way barred by Hao Meng and Cao Xing. Cao Cao tried for the south gate, but met enemies led by Gao Shun and Hou Cheng. Cao Cao's trusty commander Dian Wei, with fierce eyes and gritting teeth, at last burst through and got out, with the enemy close after him.
But when Dian Wei reached the drawbridge, he glanced behind him and missed his master. Immediately Dian Wei turned back and cut an arterial alley inside. Just within he met Li Dian.
“Where is our lord?” cried Dian Wei.
“I am looking for him,” said Li Dian.
“Quick! Get help from outside,” shouted Dian Wei. “I will seek him.”
So Li Dian hastened for aid, and Dian Wei slashed his way in, looking on every side for Cao Cao. He was not to be found. Dashing out of the city, Dian Wei ran up against Yue Jin, who asked where their lord was.
“I have entered the city twice in search of him, but cannot find him,” said Dian Wei.
“Let us go in together,” said Yue Jin.
They rode up to the gate. But the noise of bombs from the gate tower frightened Yue Jin's horse so that it refused to pass. Wherefore Dian Wei alone went in, butting through the smoke and dashing through the flames. But he got in and searched on every side.
When Cao Cao saw his sturdy protector Dian Wei cut his way out and disappear leaving him surrounded, he again made an attempt to reach the north gate. On the way, sharply outlined against the glow, he saw the figure of Lu Bu coming toward him with his trident halberd ready to kill. Cao Cao covered his face with his hand, whipped up his steed and galloped past. But Lu Bu came galloping up behind him and tapping him on the helmet with the halberd cried, “Where is Cao Cao?”
Cao Cao turned and, pointing to a dun horse well ahead, cried, “There; on that dun! That's he.”
Hearing this Lu Bu left pursuing Cao Cao to gallop after the rider of the dun. Thus relieved Cao Cao set off for the east gate. Then he fell in with Dian Wei, who took him under his protection and fought through the press, leaving a trail of death behind till they reached the gate. Here the fire was raging fiercely, and burning beams were falling on all sides. The earth element seemed to have interchanged with the fire element. Dian Wei warded off the burning pieces of wood with his lance and rode into the smoke making a way for his lord. Just as they were passing through the gate a flaming beam fell from the gate tower. Cao Cao just warded it off with his arm, but it struck his steed on the quarters and knocked the steed down. Cao Cao's hand and arm were badly burned and his hair and beard singed. Dian Wei turned back to his rescue. Luckily Xiahou Yuan came along just then, and the two raised Cao Cao and set him on Xiahou Yuan's horse. And thus they got him out of the burning city. But they had to go through heavy fighting till daybreak.
Cao Cao returned to his camp. His officers crowded about his tent, anxious for news of his health. He soon recovered and laughed when he thought of his escape.
“I blundered into that fool's trap, but I will have my revenge,” said he.
“Let us have a new plan soon,” said Guo Jia.
“I will turn his trick to my own use. I will spread the false report that I was burned in the fire, and that I died at the fifth watch. He will come to attack as soon as the news gets abroad, and I will have an ambush ready for him in Maling Hills. I will get him this time.”