Episode 81
Three Kingdoms
Since Your Majesty began this campaign you have scored victory upon victory wherever you went.
Your servant is awed and amazed by your resourcefulness and military prowess.
However, as I am cautious by nature,
often worry about the smallest things.
Although Lu Xun is of little fame and no renown,
have heard that he spent many years studying military tactics.
He is like a hidden blade which has not yet shown its edge.
I pray Your Majesty not to take him lightly.
Ma Su,
transporting supplies was only your excuse
for delivering this letter for Kongming, right?
It is as Your Majesty said.
Before I left,
the Prime Minister spent many a sleepless night worrying about the military situation.
What was Kongming worried about?
He himself couldn't say either,
but my guess is that he was worried about Lu Xun.
Kongming has already said it clearly.
Lu Xun has spent many years studying military tactics.
He is like a hidden blade which has not yet shown its edge.
Ma Su.
You must know about Zhao Kuo of the Spring and Autumn era.
Zhao Kuo must have studied tactics much more than Lu Xun has.
But in the end?
He was just an armchair strategist.
What is there to fear?
Rest for a few days and return to Chengdu.
Tell Kongming for me that
we are at an important juncture in our campaign against Wu.
We must advance. We cannot withdraw.
We must prevail and not lose.
This is the order that I have given myself.
Also,
have Kongming put together more provisions and equipment,
and send them to the front lines of Xiaoting in the fall.
Aye.
Zhang Bao.
Here.
It's been five days.
Why is Fort Paohu not taken yet?
Wu is putting up a staunch defense.We've been attacking fiercely for days, but they would not retreat.
Very well.
I will give you another 20,000 troops.
Can you take the fort within three days?
I... I will fight with all my strength
I was asking you if you could take the fort.
Are you too timid to answer me directly?
Sire,
tall of the soldiers are utterly fatigued.
The enemy has the advantage of higher ground.
I will fight with all my ability, but...
I cannot guarantee victory.
Are you Zhang Yide's son or not?
Are you my nephew or not?
If you cannot guarantee victory, just say it,
and I shall appoint another man!
Sire! In three days' time I shall have overcome the enemy's fort!
Otherwise, I will submit myself to military law!
Good!
Bring brush and paper so he can put that in writing!
Your Majesty!
My sworn brother led attacks 12 times in the last three days, and has suffered five injuries.
I'm thinking, if even he...
could not overcome Fort Paohu,
then no one else will find it an easy mission.
Send forth my orders.
All camps will pull back to the foot of the hill
and rest for two days.
After that, we will reorganize and plan again
for another.attack.
Yes, sir!
Yes, sir.
Your Majesty,
the Wu army is already in a situation where they can retreat no more.
Therefore, they will certainly muster all their courage and fight to their deaths.
It seems that...
I should change my tactics.
Sire, you mean...
lure the Wu troops out of their fort and then crush them?
Dispatch my orders.
After we rest and reorganize,
each camp will send out their weakest troops to issue challenges before the forts every day.
Insult their lord and infuriate their commanders.
They have over 50 forts.
There must be one where the commander will be unable to resist answering the challenge.
As soon as he emerges.
we shall take the chance to capture his fort.
If we can overcome even a couple of forts, all of the enemy's camps will be affected.
And then, if we attack in full force,
we shall certainly secure ultimate victory.
Your Majesty is wise.
Dismissed.
Grand Commander, the Shu army lost and withdrew.
When was that?
An hour ago.
The Shu troops finally grew exhausted from constant combat,
and began retreating en masse.
They were in such a hurry they didn't even carry off their dead!
Sir, the enemy has both suffered heavy losses and gained no ground.
Why don't we,seize the opportunity and send a crack unit to charge down the hill
and give them a heavy blow?
If we can take a few of the enemy's camps.
and push them back another, 30 miles. that'll be even better!
You are not allowed to attack.
Listen up.
Without my permission, no one is allowed to attack.
Violators will be executed.
Grand Commander, our troops are few after all. and the Shu army is large.
If we don't ride our momentum forward and crush them in one blow.
they will recover,
and our losses will be even greater in our,next offensive!
All you have to do is to hold your ground.
I have reinforcements hurrying here as we speak.
They should be here soon.
Reinforcements?
But there are no more spare troop's in all the Southland!
Did I say they were the Southland's troops?
I am saying that, when the time comes, three hundred thousand elite troops will descend from the skies.
Three...
Forget it,
ask no more.
Just remember, without my permission. no one is allowed to attack.
This is a military order.
Yes, sir!
Listen up you cowards!
Do you dare come out and fight with us?.
No?
Then you should change your state's name from Wu to Wuss! Wusses!
Everyone in the Wu army is a wuss! Lets toast to the wusses!
Cheers!
Sir.
Wusses! Wusses! Wusses!
The bastards!
Get me 2,000 men.
We'll go and hack the lot of them to pieces!
Sir, the Grand Commander ordered us not to attack!
Can't you see how those bastards are insulting us?
Brothers! Supposedly there's a loser called Fu Jun!
He's the Prince of Wuss's brother-in-law too!
Sir! You must not go! This is intolerable! I swear I will kill them all!
If the Grand Commander finds out, he...
What Grand Commander?
Move aside! Those in my way will die!
Sir! Sir!
They're coming! They're coming!
Take this!
Hurry! Follow me back to the fort!
General, look! The Shu troops have already taken the fort!
Hurry and retreat to fort Paohu! Go!
Three days ago.
in this very place,
I said something to you. Do you remember?
Sir, you commanded that no one was to attack.
You attacked despite my orders, and by doing so. shook the resolve of all the neighboring camps.
The Shu army fought in a bloodbath for half a month and gained no ground!
Yet one impetuous attack by you
cost us four whole camps.
Hear my orders.
Drag Fu Jun out.
Execute him before all.
Aye!
Grand Commander,
even though General Fu is at fault.
the Shu troops' insults were really too much to bear!
Furthermore, he is after all still...
He is still Lord Suns brother-in-law.
Right?
Right! I am our lord's brother-in-law!
It was to save our lord's name from those bastards' insults
that I charged out to attack!
Lu Xun! You think you can do anything to me?
Oh, Fu Jun,
listen to me carefully.
the chain of command matters. Royal relations don't.
Drag him out and execute him!
Aye!
Lu Xun! I'm a decorated officer!
Report!
Lu Xun!
Grand Commander,
Lord Sun has come in person to reward the army. He's just five miles away.
Lu Xun, why don't you go welcome His Highness! Lu Xun!
Grand Commander! Grand Commander!
Grand Commander, maybe you should go now.
Lu Xun! Be a good boy and go!
Drag him out and execute him!
Yes, sir!
Lu Xun! You! Lu Xun!
Lu Xun!
Grand Commander, Fu Jun has been executed.
Lu Xun humbly pays his respects to you, my lord.
My lord.
Boyan, please rise.
Thank you,.my lord.
Boyan, after just a few months on the job,
you're looking rather thin.
I missed you all.
So, while on my tour,of inspection of Jingzhou,
I thought I'd drop by to reward the army.
Come, lets speak inside.
Everyone,
five times our strength for over two months.
you have been fighting against an enemy
You have halted their advance...
and made Liu Bei pay for his arrogance.
You have manifested the might of the Wu army.
Upon hearing about it.
I was greatly delighted.
Thank you for your kind words, my lord.
All these rewards
should be meted out to the soldiers.
However,
not only do I not deserve any reward,
I should be punished.
Why?
I have executed Fu Jun according to military law.
To tell you the truth.
when I was walking into the camp.
I saw Fu Jim's head already.
Gentlemen,
do you know what I am thinking?
I am thinking,
if Lu Xun had tried to ingratiate himself to me and not executed Fu Jun,
then, very soon,
my own head will be cut off by Liu Bei
and hung above the gates of Jianye!
My lord!
Lu Xun!
You said you didn't deserve any reward? Very well.
I shall give you something else.
Men!
Bring it in!
Yes!
Lu Xun, ever since you were appointed Grand Commander,
all the senior officials at court have been petitioning for you to be replaced.
Today, I shall give all these petitions to you.
My lord.
I swear by my life
that I shall repay you with another fire.
a fire of victory that will rouse Heaven and Earth!
Your Majesty,
our spies reported that, after executing Fu Jun, who attacked without permission.
Lu Xun issued strict orders for the Wu troops to hold their ground and avoid battle.
And now no matter how we taunt them.
they refuse to come out and fight again.
Lu Xun,
naturally, is afraid of us.
However, Sun Quan...
wont allow him to keep avoiding battle.
Moreover, none of the senior officers in Jianye
would put up with him losing over and over again.
They will certainly, put severe pressure on Lu Xun and force him to engage in battle.
Lu Xun, though.
Lu Xun, though,
is really waiting for the opportunity to strike.
but are still not accustomed to the climate.
Your Majesty, our troops have been at war for a long time,
It's now summertime and the heat is unbearable.
The freshwater sources in our camps have dried up, too,
and the troops are forced to use unsanitary water.
This has caused illness to run rampant.
Yesterday, I went to inspect all of our camps
and found that many of our sentries are unwell.
Three out of ten have fallen ill.
would it be possible for the troops to retreat into Zigui in rotation,
so that they can rest for a month or so,
and then continue the campaign in the fall?
Are you all
of similar thought?
If the soldiers can rest for a bit,
they will certainly:be*fevitalized and their spirits renewed.
I have fought in the field for many years.
and know the ways of war well.
At this juncture.
If we take even one step back.
morale will plummet.
If you feel the heat is oppressive,
then the Wu troops will feel the same way.
We must all endure it.
and it's simply a matter of who has better endurance.
Here are my orders.
The army must not pull back.
Simply relocate into the forested areas in the hills,
and encamp by the creeks there.
When the heat subsides in the fall, we will attack with full strength.
Yes, sir!
Your Majesty.
Since the campaign is currently at a stalemate.
may I make a drawing of the configuration of both ours and the enemy's camps.
bring it back to the Prime Minister,
and see if he has any ideas?
Are you saying that I don't know how to fight a war?
Sending letters and maps back and forth is too complicated.
Forget it.
As the ancients said, Listening to different perspectives makes one wise.
Your Majesty is a sagacious ruler.
and will surely be able to make use of good advice.
Very well.
Go to the camps again
and make four to eight maps of our current configuration.
Then go the Riverlands and ask Kongming.
If anything is amiss, send an urgent dispatch to me.
Your wish is my command.
Sir. The Shu troops could not bear the heat, and have moved their camps into the forest!
They're stretched out over hundreds of miles, and are split up into around forty camps.
Did you check carefully?
Did only part of the army move,
or did all of them move?
I looked carefully. The entire Shu army has relocated.
Even Liu Bei's royal tent has been moved into the forest.
It looks like they plan to fight when it's cooler in the fall.
It's over.
It's all over for Shu!
Grand Commander!
Two months ago.
I told all of you that
I would have a host of 300,000 descend from the skies.
and you did not believe me.
So, now I shall tell you.
My host of 300,000 has already arrived!
There's no need to look around.
The 300,000 troops that I was talking about
are none other than the present heat and epidemic.
Since midsummer; three out of ten Shu soldiers have fallen ill,
and even those who are not yet ill have lost their will to fight.
With such losses as these in the Shu camps.
is it not as if Heaven has granted us 300,000 troops?
Right!
Those 700,000 Shu troops turned into 700,000 sickly worms overnight!
Why stop at that?
Generals,
look at that forest before us.
It is like a furnace packed with dry firewood.
With just one spark
Liu Bei and his army of 700,000
will not return home alive.
Grand Commander, do you mean to use a fire attack?
Exactly.
Back then Zhou Yu set a blaze at Red Cliff
that annihilated Cao Cao's great army.
But our fire today
will rage even more fiercely than the flames of Red Cliff!
All that will be left of Liu Bei and his army of 700,000
will be smoke and ashes, to be scattered by the wind!
Our army has already relocated across the river.
We are stretched out over 700 miles,
and have built over 40 camps,
all next to creeks and within the woods.
What is it. Your Excellency?
Who was it?
Who was it that advised His Majesty to make such an encampment?
That man is.either cursed or a traitor! He should be executed at once!
Well... well...
Your Excellency,
the relocation of the camps
was entirely His Majesty's idea. No one else proposed it.
Then His Majesty will be defeated.
and the bright days of our dynasty will be over.
Why?
Encamping in enclosed and perilous terrain
has been eschewed by military strategists since ancient times,
If Lu Xun uses a fire attack,
how could they ever be saved?
Look.
All the camps are located in thick woods.
All 700,000 of our troops are in a forest!
they can be easily lit on fire as well!
While the trees might block the summer heat,
Also,
who can repel an enemy with camps stretched over 700 miles?
If a single flame erupts, the 700 miles of camps will become a sea of fire!
I see how.
The reason why Lu Xun took a defensive position
was to wait for precisely this.
Ma Liang.
Ride through the night back to Xiaoting and see His Majesty.
Tell him to remove the camps to open areas at once.
If he tarries, all hope will be lost,
All right.
Your Excellency...
Just say it. Your Excellency...
Going from Chengdu to Xiaoting takes five whole days at the fastest!
In case the worst has come to pass,
what should we do?
You're right to worry.
Maybe, even as we speak, the fire has already started.
And if that is.so
will be destroyed in an instant.
the military strength that we,have gathered over 20 years
Ma Liang, listen carefully.
If, when you arrive at Xiaoting, the Wu army have already breached the camps,
escort His Majesty to Baicli Castle in the Eastern Region.
and His Majesty will be safe there.
The terrain is rough/and the castle is well-stocked,
Your Excellency,
what if the Wu troops press on the pursuit...
Don't worry.
I've set an ambush with 100,000 soldiers around Fishbelly Meadow.
Lu Xun will not dare to press forward.
I passed by Fishbelly Meadow on my way to Chengdu,
but it was as empty as could be.
There were no signs of an ambush!
Of course there's nothing there when nothing should be there.
When it is needed, it will be there.
Don't ask so much.
Return to Xiaoting posthaste.
All right,
I'll go right away.
Your Majesty...
how I hope you can avert this disaster!
Your Majesty! Your Majesty!
Please take your medicine.
Your Majesty!
Ill go fetch the imperial doctor!
The imperial doctor... he saw me last night.
I know...
I have suffered from this disease since I was young.
It comes and goes
and is untreatable.
It's untreatable...
please drink it.
Listen carefully.
No one is allowed to know about my condition.
Whoever leaks it out
will be killed.
Yes, Your Majesty!
Your servant, Sima Yi, begs for an audience.
By His Majesty's decree: Sir Sima is to enter.
Zhongda, what's going on?
You cant even wait for the morning court to begin?
Your Majesty,
our scouts reported this from the Xiaoting front.
on their campaign against Wu, the Shu troops were much afflicted by the summer heat.
and have relocated their camps into the forests.
Over a stretch of 700 miles, they've set some 40 camps.
So what?
This is a sure sign of defeat.
Your Majesty,
Liu Bei's destruction is at hand.
Why?
is the greatest mistake in military deployment.
Stationing troops in enclosed and perilous terrain
Secondly,
who can defend against an enemy with forces stretched thin over 700 miles?
in such hot weather, brush and wood are easily flammable.
If Lu Xun employs a fire attack, Liu Bei and his whole army will be utterly destroyed.
Zhongda,
remember how, at the beginning of Liu Bei's expedition.
you were so sure about...
Lu Xun...
not being Liu Bei's match?
In this campaign, Shu will prevail
and Wu will be defeated!
That was my mistake.
Back then, I saw how Liu Bei emptied his state and pressed forward in full strength.
However, I did not expect Lu Xun to possess such guile.
For a few months, he.lost battle after battle.
and then he held his ground and refused to fight.
But that was just a ploy to make the enemy overconfident.
His goal was to wait until Liu Bei's army was exhausted and worn out
before dealing him the fatal blow.
In my stupidity and short-sightedness
I misled you, Sire.
I await punishment.
Forget it.
You're not the only one who underestimated Lu Xun.
Even I thought at first Liu Bei was sure to win.
Given the current situation,
after Wu crushes Shu,
what will they do?
In my opinion.
after Lu Xun defeats Liu Bei,
he will ride on the momentum and advance straight for Chengdu.
That's right.
Even In his dreams. Sun Quan yearns for the Riverlands!
I implore you, Sire, to grant me 200,000 troops.
Once Lu Xun's force leaves for the west. I will attack them from behind
and take Jing Province from them.
If I am not victorious, you may take my head.
Zhongda.
You want to lead an army in person to invade Wu?
My greatest desire in life
is to serve Your Majesty by accomplishing deeds on the field.
I believe that
if you were to lead a force out in person,
victory is guaranteed.
Thank you. Sire.
However...
I can't have you leave me!
I need you by my side
to help me strategize!
Tasks like leading armies on campaigns
should be left to the military staff, right?
May I ask what you plan to do, Sire?
I plan to...
appoint Cao Ren as commander-in-chief.
Hell take 100,000 troops and march from Ruxu.
Cao Xiu will be the General of the Left
and lead 50,000 troops towards Dongkou.
And Cao Zhen will be General of the Right,
leading 50,000 troops out of Nanjun.
All three forces will be under Cao Ren's authority.
What do you think?
Your Majesty is wise.
It shall be as you said.
What's the matter, Zhao?
There's a rumor going around, Father,
saying that you were reprimanded by His Majesty.
It sure has gone around fast.
Then it's really true?
I wont lie to you. It's true.
I originally thought, in this campaign of Liu Bei's, Shu would certainly win.
I never would have guessed that a man like Lu Xun
could defeat him.
When Liu Bei marched forth, his strength was immense.
The entire court, including His Majesty,
believed that Liu Bei would win.
Father, it's not just you who had misjudged!
That's exactly what makes it interesting.
Think carefully.
Why did His Majesty not reprimand anyone else.
but punish me alone?
He was reprimanding you on purpose.
That's right.
I've served as his retainer for many years, and performed deed after deed for him.
Even though I do not hold a high position.
my every word carries great weight in the court.
Can such power
not draw others' envy?
The imperial relatives of the Cao clan. in particular, are wary of me.
What your father was most hurt by was not His Majesty's reprimand,
but that he has ever been on guard against me!
Why... why do you say that?
I asked His Majesty for permission to lead an army to war.
Not only did he refuse me on the spot,
but he also appointed Cao Xiu, Cao Ren, and Cao Zhen to lead the campaign.
They are all of the Cao clan. Understand now?
His Majesty wont allow me to hold military command. Understand now?
I will send an urgent message to all our kinsmen and former retainers and protegees.
From now on, all who serve as court officials
must be doubly prudent and avoid abusing their power.
And those who are studying, serving. or doing business outside the capital
must stay away from discussing politics.
That's right.
That's how it should be.
Son, how you've come along.
Who's that outside?
Master.
Master,
I've made you some soup.
Do have some.
Oh, Jingshu.
Your cooking skills keep getting better and better.
If you like, Master,
I will make this for you more often
Please excuse me.
There's no need.
Sit right here. We're all family here.
Jingshu,
remember.
From now on, when you see me speaking with Zhao,
you don't have to avoid us.
Zhao, son.
Continue.
It's been raining for months since spring. and the path to our ancestral graves was washed out.
The kinsmen wrote us saying they wanted to rebuild it,
and if you would compose an oration for the occasion...