Episode 88
Three Kingdoms
Your Excellency, if we are to launch a northern expedition again,
will you be planning to march through Chencang?
How I miss Jing now.
If Jing were still in our hands,
we could proceed northward both on land and by the river,
and we could reach Xuchang within days.
Supplies, weapons, and reinforcements could all have been supplied continuously.
Now that we've lost Jing,
every time we launch an expedition from the Riverlands,
we are forced to march over the winding mountain paths. along the 800 miles of Qihchuan.
Besides wasting much effort,
even the smallest mistake may cause unforeseen risks to arise on this route.
In our last expedition, the delay in the journey resulted in our defeat at Jieting and our failure
Your Excellency.
Leave.
I shall prepare a memorial for His Majesty.
The late emperor believed that the Han and the traitors must not coexist
and that the court's sovereignty must not be restricted.
Thus he tasked me with vanquishing the rebels.
were inadequate in defeating the strong state of Cao- Wei.
Yet if we did not march against the rebels, our country would surely perish.
Rather than wait for the destruction of our state we might as well fight until the end.
From the day I undertook the mission
have not slept well, or savored one single meal.
Knowing that the south must be secured before attacking north
in the summer I campaigned in the south in the wild lands across the Lu River,
in order to secure the region at our rear.
It is not that I do not careiabout myself
but I believe that the Han Court must not be confined within the Riverlands.
Thus, in accordance with the Late Emperor's wishes I plan this military campaign to the north.
Who is it?
It is me, Jiang Wei.
What is the matter?
Your Excellency, General Zilong passed away.
What... What did you say?
An hour ago, General Zilong... passed away at his home.
O Heaven,
how you have just severed one of my arms!
The Five Tiger Generals, who served His Late Majesty, are now all gone.
Did General Zilong leave any last words?
He did not leave any last words.
He only shouted thrice.
What did he say?
Attack northward!
Your Excellency,
I will be outside should you have further orders.
I shall do my utmost to achieve this mission, till the day I die,"
however, the outcome of this campaign will be beyond my ability to foresee.
Your Majesty.
Cao Xiu, Grand Commander of Wei, has just suffered a massive defeat at Shiting.
With this great defeat,.
the Wei court is in disarray, and their armies are shocked&by the appalling loss
It is a great opportunity for our northern expedition.
General Zilong has just passed away.
The country lost one of its pillar, and the army, a great general.
Apart from being heartbroken by that.
I fear it could be an ill omen for the forthcoming expedition.
Don't worry, Your Majesty.
I have observed the constellations,
and found the royal aura moving southwards and the Big Dipper gloomy.
This is an auspicious sign for our expedition.
Minister Father, I have a thought.
But please don't get upset if I speak it out.
Please go ahead.
Well, since the founding of Shu,
Wei has never attacked us.
On the contrary, it is you who attacked them time and again.
If we do not march against them,
Shu, Wei, and Wu could coexist peacefully,
andNthe whole nation would be in harmony, wouldn't it?
With all due respect.
how old are you, Your Majesty?
I am 17.
Your Majesty, you are a young man.
In fact the youngest among all three rulers of the three kingdoms.
You have a long way before you.
But do you know how old I am?
I think you are approaching your fifties?
I am two-and-fifty.
If I had wanted momentary peace,
I did not have to march to battle at all.
Instead, I could just attend court every day and enjoy a life of peace.
The natural barriers we have in our state can keep the Riverlands safe for 20 years.
But what about 20 years later?
Wei will surely wage war againstus by then.
By then I would have died; but you will be only 37!
Really?
Any state that is content with holding onto a sliver of land will not last forever.
Expanding and awaiting subjugation are the only options.
I have petitioned for the northernjexpedition time and again
so that I may conquer the Central Plains and settle the realm within my living days.
Only by then could Your Majesty rule the empire in peace.
I understand now.
But, Minister Father,
you wrote in your memorial,
the outcome of this campaign will be beyond my ability to foresee.
Doesn't this mean you are striving to accomplish something impossible?
Instead of awaiting destruction,
why not give the expedition a chance?
General, here you are finally.
Please hurry.
His Majesty has been expecting you for a long time.
I heard His Majesty summoned Sima Yi a few days earlier. Is that true?
It is.
I also heard that when Sima Yi was summoned.
he was allowed to ride the imperial carriage all the way to the steps of the palace. Is that so?
General, please come with me.
I am the uncle of the Emperor, Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince,
a general in command of the army!
Yet I have to walk all the way from Chaotian Gate!
General, please calm down.
General, you are a nobleman.
A nobleman will not fuss about trifles with those inferior to him, right?
General, this way please.
A nobleman.
Please.
This way.
My respects to Your Majesty.
Cao Zhen.
You were appointed to supervise the situation at Yong-Liang.
I issued the order morekhan two months ago,
yet you are still lingering here in the capital city instead of going to your post!
Please calm down. Your Majesty.
I will leave as soon as I sort out some minor business at home.
Getting yourself a concubine?
Listening to music or watching dance.performances?
You only care about indulging yourself.
Do you knowthat there's already trouble at the frontier?
What happened?
Open your eyes and read.
Zhuge Liang is on his way north again,
leading an elite army of 300,000 straight towards Chencang.
Zhuge Liang is out of his mind.
Zhuge Liang is mad!
Last time we defeated him at Jieting...
What does the battle of Jieting have to do with you?
The credit for the victory should go to Sima Yi.
You keep advising me to rely on the Cao clan and to beware of the Sima clan.
If the situation goes on, Sima Yi will gain no power,
but all our land will be taken by Zhugeliang!
Third Uncle, I understand that you loathe the bitter winters at the Yong-Liang region,
and therefore are reluctant to go.
Fine, I shall do as you wish. I'll strip you of all your ranks,
and appoint Sima Yi to the position of Grand Commander.
Your Majesty, please don't do it!
Your Majesty, I will head to Yong-Liang and take up office there now.
I will vanquish the Shu troops to honor you even at the cost of my own life.
Good.
You have three days to leave for Yong-Liang, to lead the army there to engage the enemy.
If you are defeated again,
you do not have to come back.
As you wish, Your Majesty.
Take your son Cao Shuang with you.
Give him the chance to be in battle, to toughen him up.
Yes, Your Majesty.
Chencang
Hurl down the rocks! Shoot at them!
Don't let anyone get up here.
Defend Chencang with your lives! Kill them all!
Is that general at the gate tower Hao Zhao?
It is indeed him.
Since the city was under siege he has been fighting with-all his might.
Our soldiers reached the top a dozen times, but were forced to withdraw by the defending troops.
A very fine commander.
Look.
All the Wei soldiers are fighting,
but he is walking idly as if wandering around in his backyard.
He is silent, giving no orders.
Yet, every time he walks behind his men, they fight without regard to their own lives.
As long as he is here, Chencang would be hard to conquer.
Your Excellency, let me lead the attack.
You are the senior commander of the central army.
You have more important tasks to undertake.
Right now it is not your turn to fight.
This tiny town of Chencang has held us up for over ten days.
Your Excellency,
if we continue to be embroiled in battlejike this,
the one that will benefit from the situation is Wei, not us.
Report!
My lord, Wei reinforcements are 50 miles north of Chencang.
They are setting-up camp right now.
Who is the commander?
Cao Zhen. Who is the commander?
And I thought it would be Sima Yi!
Cao Rui is truly a fatuous emperor.
always deploying members from his own clan.
Looks like Sima Yi has been cast aside.
Then how should we fight this battle?
Chencang was going to be difficult to conquer with Hao Zhao here.
But Cao Zhen's arrival actually makes it easier.
Boyue.
Sir.
Wu dealt Cao Xiu a sound defeat by feigning surrender.
Perhaps you could beguile Cao Zhen with the same tactic?
Your Excellency,
I'm afraid... Cao Zhen will not fall into the trap. since Cao Xiu was just deceived by the same tactic.
Military tactic can be made extraordinary \ when it does not follow common expectations.
Because of Cao Xiu's previous mistake.
Cao Zhen will assume that we would not use the same tactic on him.
This actually will give us a better chance.
Moreover, Sima Yi's merits in the previous battle have made Cao Zhen bitter and jealous.
Now that it is his turn to fight against me,
his desire for victory will be even greater than Sima Yi's.
That's easy then.
Your Excellency , writing a letter takes no effort.
I am going to write a letter of surrender right now.
Relay my orders: advance only 10 miles a day.
Defend at hilly terrain and stop at rivers.
Zhuge Liang is full of wiles.
We can only play safe and take one step at a time.
How prudent, Grand Commander.
Hao Zhao is guarding Chencang with his life. Please give me 20,000 men to go to his rescue, Father.
Cant stay calm now?
Chencang is the bait.
Zhuge Liang has laid out ambush around it well in advance.
Grand Commander, how well you understand Zhuge Liangs strategies!
What if Hao Zhao is defeated and Chencang falls to the enemy?
Hao Zhao was recommended by Sima Yi.
If Hao Zhao is defeated,
Sima Yi cannot escape the charge of a faulty recommendation to the emperor.
Besides, if Chencang is doomed to be lost, then it would have been taken long ago.
Just let Hao Zhao wear Zhuge Liang down.
A delayed battle is beneficial to us.
Report!
Grand Commander, we caught a merchant outside,
and he has a letter on him.
Grand Commander, this is a letter to you from Jiang Wei, who used to be under our service.
Read it out.
Jiang Wei pleads to surrender to you.
Leave us.
Yes, sir.
Jiang Wei, the guilty one humbly bows and addresses the Grand Commander thus.
All my ancestors have served Wei
and I was given the undeserved honor of serving at the frontier.
It was only because I was deceived by Zhuge Liang and ended up in a precarious position
that I had no choice but to pretend to submit to him.
Since joining Shu, I miss my native land and my sovereign deeply
both of which I dare not forget
Fortunately now, Grand Commander, you have led our men here.
Your presence, to me, is like sweet rain in a time of drought.
wish to pledge myself to your service to atone for my crime
and appease my ancestors in Heaven.
This letter is likely to be Zhuge Liang's trap.
Zhuge Liang is full of tricks.
Only months ago, Zhou Fang of Wu used a feigned surrender
to completely rout Cao Xiu.
Zhuge Liang is extremely wily.
If he were to duplicate Zhou Fangs trick. he cannot trick even a child.
Sir, you mean...
Jiang Wei is different from Zhou Fang.
Zhou Fang is a native of Wu, whereas Jiang Wei is a native of Wei.
His ancestral tombs are all in the Central Plains,
and he was forced to surrender to Shu by circumstances.
Now... Heaven has given me this chance to gain glory!
Guo Huai, reward that messenger handsomely.
Let him tell Jiang Wei to set a date and light a fire as signal. We'll crush the Shu troops at one go.
Also, tell Jiang Wei that he must take Zhuge Liang alive!
Yes, sir.
I will show everyone in court
that Sima Yi is not the only man who could earn victories.
Halt!
Grand Commander, Jiang Wei sent someone to meet us.
Grand Commander, General Jiang Wei has the main camp encircled with 3,000-soldiers.
He is just waiting for you.
And Zhuge Liang?
He's trapped in the commander's camp. He cannot escape at all.
Go back and tell Jiang Wei
I will arrive with 50,000 soldiers in one hour.
He is to act immediately once he hears the horn.
If Jiang Wei succeeds in capturing Zhuge Liang this time,
I will recommend him to be Minister of the Interior. Go!
Yes, sir.
Hasten the march!
Speed up!
Grand Commander, that's Jiang Wei's banner.
Bring my blade!
Make straight for the main camp and capture Zhuge Liang'
Cao Zhen! Listen up!
I am Jiang Wei, General of Shu!
You have fallen into our Prime Minister's trap.
Dismount and surrender now!
Stay calm!
Untrustworthy traitor!
Everyone, we'll fight to the very end!
Charge!
Grand Commander!
Are you all right, Grand Commander?
I am defeated again!
How am I going to explain myself to His Majesty?
I am too ashamed to continue living!
Grand Commander, please don't!
Don't stop me!
Father.
Father!
Our reinforcements are here. They are here!
Don't let Cao Zhen escape!
Don't panic. Father! Here I come!
Son, your father is here.
Cao Zhen, die!
Son!
Son... son...
Sir, leave now! I will hold them off!
Take care. General!
Report!
Sir, the Wei troops, routed, are now fleeing southwards.
Their casualties exceed 20,000.
Report!
Your Excellency, I have captured five Wei camps and acquired countless armaments.
Your Excellency.
Si , this is the head of Fei Yao, Captain of the Wei Vanguard.
Cao Zhen narrowly escaped.
The intention of this plan was to kill Cao Zhen.
What a shame that we gained so little by such a grand strategy.
Everyone, please return to your camps and rest well tonight.
Tomorrow...
we return south.
Sir, we just cored a great victory. Why must we return now?
Do we have another choice?
We have been tangled up with Chencang for over 20 days without any result.
Without control over Chencang, we cannot transport our provisions from Hanzhong.
Our remaining provisions could only last for five days.
If we don't retreat, we will be in great danger once our food runs out.
Then why don't we follow up the victory and proceed to assault Chencang.
Chencang is strategically located and not easily accessible.
There isn't much room outside for the soldiers to maneuver.
Attacking blindly will not work.
I have made up my mind.
Get ready to,break camp.
Yes, sir!
Shuang, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to go home alive.
I was setting up camp in the hills when I heard that you were raiding the Shu camp, Father.
So I hurried over to assist you.
All thanks to General Wang Shuang, I was able to break through the encirclement.
Wang Shuang, where are you from?
Xiliang.
The warhorses in my cavalry are all Xiliang steeds.
I think your valor is no less than the late Lu Bu's.
Sima Yi recommended Hao Zhao, who has been invincible at Chencang.
Everyone in the Wei court is praising him.
Do your best to serve us,
and I will recommend you Vto be the General of Chariots and Cavalry.
Thank you. Grand Commander. I will serve you with my life.
Grand Commander, Sir!
Shu troops are coming?
Troops who escaped back \ said that Zhuge Liang returned to the south.
Returned to the south?
How odd.
He should have taken advantage of their victory and pursued us.
Zhuge Liang... Zhuge Liang ran out of provisions!
Really?
How do you know, Father?
Grand Commander is exactly right.
The Shu troops were unable to take down Chencang.
Without Chencang, they cannot transport their supplies from Hanzhong.
Zhuge Liang only has whatever supplies his men carried on them. How long can they last for 300,000 men?
If they didn't retreat, they would all starve to death.
Father, please give me 50,000 soldiers. I will pursue them.
How would 50;000 be adequate? You need at least 150,000.
If you're going to destroy them, do a thorough job of it!
Where do we get 150,000 soldiers now?
Attention!
Zhuge Liang will pass through Qi Mountain on his way back.
Cao Shuang, lead yourunit and pursue them from the north until Qi Mountain.
Wang Shuang, lead the remaining 10,000 men
and pursue them from the south till Yangping Pass.
Yes, sir.
Wait.
That is not all.
Wang Shuang.
Here! Wang Shuang.
Deliver my orders to Chencang on your way.
Instruct Hao Zhao to consolidate his forces with yours and pursue Zhuge Liang together.
Grand Commander, Hao Zhao is under the command of Sima Yi.
What if he refuses to accept your order?
Bring me my military tally.
Wang Shuang, receive the tally.
Wang Shuang, if Hao Zhao refuses to obey you.
use this tally to force him to hand over all his troops to you.
Wang Shuang, this way, you will have more than 150,000 soldiers under your command.
It is your chance to earn great glory.
My gratitude. Grand Commander.
If I fail to kill Zhuge Liang, please punish me according to military law.
Wang Shuang pays his respects to General Hao.
What brings you here?
On the Grand Commander's orders. please deploy your troops to join me in pursuing the Shu army.
Which Grand Commander?
There is only Grand Commander—Cao Zhen.
Pardon me for not complying.
I beg your pardon?
The court instructed me to guard Chencang with my life.
Under no circumstance would the soldiers here leave the town.
General, please look at this.
This is Grand Commander's tally, grantedby His Majesty.
Seeing this tally is akin to seeing His Majesty.
If you disobey his orders.
I may not be able to kill you today.
but Cao Zhen will execute you later anyway.
Please do think it over.
Your lord, Sima Yi, is far away in Luoyang.
The one in charge of the army now is Grand Commander Cao Zhen.
Leave the tally here as a pledge. and I will allocate half of my force to you.
Of course, you have another option.
Which is?
Draw your sword and kill me.
Please give me half of your force.
The Prime Minister was being overcautious.
If I were him, I would continue the assault until we seize Chencang.
Once I throw Fei Yao's head over the city wall,
the defending soldiers would be terrified.
Indeed. What a shame we have to retreat.
I don't know when we can be back next time.
On our last expedition,
I asked the prime Minister to give me 5,000 elite soldiers
to raid Chang'an via Ziwu Valley.
If he had taken my advice. the Central Plains would have been ours by now
The situation would have been completely different.
Report!
General, the Prime Minister asks you to meet him at the temple ahead.
Understood.
Your Excellency.
How dare you, Wei Wenchang! The nerve you've got!
Grumbling about me all the way.
even bringing up the incident in the last expedition.
You sure are haughty.
Your Excellency, I am at fault. I am willing to accept punishment.
However, I also feel I've been wronged.
Speak up.
Our host of 300,000 marched long and hard for this expedition.
yet we were stopped by that little Chencang.
I cannot accept it.
What's more, you once said you had a more important task for me.
May I know what is it?
You aren't asking me to lead the retreat, are you?
If you do not want to leave, then don't.
I will leave you with 50,000 elite soldiers. Stay here and repel Cao Zhen's pursuit.
What if there is no pursuit?
I will demote myself by three ranks.
What if the enemy pursues but you cannot defeat them?
I'll subject myself to the military law!
Very well.
Let me tell you,
Cao Zhen's son, Cao Shuang,
is leading an elite force of 50,000 soldiers
I'm going to deploy the troops now.
Boyue, I will also assign you with 50,000 soldiers to assault Chencang.
General, General! General!
General, there's trouble!
Shu troops have entered the city!
Nonsense!
The gate were closed. How could they have entered?
General, it's open.
Shu soldiers; dressed in our uniform and carrying your banners. deceived us into opening the gate!
How did our uniforms fall into their hands?
General, have you forgotten?
You had given half of our force to Wang Shuang.
General, General!
General, Wang Shuang was ambushed at the crossroads and killed by Wei Yan.
Over half of the 100,000 troops are gone.
The Shu Generals Jiang Wei and Zhang Bao have led their army into the city!
Follow me for the counterattack now!
General!
It is too late.
The Shu army numbers more than 50,000, and they have already broken in.
And we have a mere 20,000 men.
Moreover, all the defensive points in the town have been taken.
Sir Sima, I have failed you
General, General!
Father.
We were ambushed and suffered a terrible defeat.
Son, I made you suffer.
Wang Shuang...
Where is Wang Shuang?
He was ambushed as well
and I heard he had been killed by Wei Yan.
More than half of our troops is»gone.
It's over.
It's all over...
How do I explain\this to His Majesty?
Fa... father, lets retreat to Chencang.
Chencang is well-defended and impregnable.
Son, you really think Chencang is still,ours?
Grand Commander!
Grand Commander, Shu troops used our flags to deceive our men at Chencang into opening the gate.
Chencang is lost, and General Hao Zhao committed suicide.
As I expected. As I have completely expected.
Shu's supply route is now unblocked.
It is over for us.
Father, we still have over 100,000 soldiers.
If we hold to our forts and repel the enemy systematically, we have a chance to turn things around.
Son...
It's impossible.
I've been a commander throughout my whole life, until I reached he title of Grand Commander.
Yet I am defeated more often than anyone else.
As I am His Majesty's uncle. he has not blamed me for my constant failure.
But this time, it is completely different.
Now that Chencang is taken, Yong-Liang is in jeopardy.
Once Yong-Liang is taken, it will all be over for Wei.
How could His Majesty pardon me for that?
Son,
your father will be the first Grand Commander to be executed since the founding of Wei.
Please stay calm, sir.
I believe there is still a way out.
Guo Huai, what do you have in mind?
If you could help me escape this calamity, I... I...
Grand Commander, please claim to be ill and petition to His Majesty
for SimaiYi to come battle with Zhuge Liang.
Give Sima Yi my position?
Sir, this is not a time to be concerned about that!
Regardless of how sinister he is, Sima Yi is a servant of the Wei.
Once Zhuge Liang seizes the Central Plains, Wei will be conquered.
Conquered?
Yes, I'm not thinking properly...
But I lost more than 100,000 soldiers.
His Majesty will still kill me for this crime!
I don't think so.
Why not?
Look, Young Sir fought Zhuge Liang valiantly and even broketen arm in this effort.
Let him go to see His Majesty with this broken arm.
At the sight of Cao Shuang, robes soaked in blood.
He cannot be so hardhearted as to execute you.
That's right...
That's night...
Why didn't that always-defeated father of yours come himself to beg for his death penalty?
He shamed our ancestors utterly
and nearly ruined our kingdom.
How could he possibly carry on his life with such shame?
Why hasn't he killed himself?
Your Majesty,
my father was completely devastated by the defeat.
He attempted suicide several times, ut was stopped by his subordinates
They said, "Grand Commander,"
even if you want to die, you should not die here before us.
Instead, you shall defeat Zhuge Liang first,"
then return to Luoyang, and take your life for the honor of Wei."
Father thought they made a good point.
and that is why he is still hanging on,
waiting for the day to take his own life.
How touching!
Why didn't he come in person but sent you instead?
Father intended to come in person,
but his successor has yet to arrive, while the Shu troops continued their northern invasion.
Father would like to submit a sincere memorial
to petition his dismissal from his post,
and the appointment of Sima Yi to the position of Grand Commander.
Father is willing to serve under Sima Yi as an ordinary soldier.
Your Majesty, General Cao's left arm is broken.
Cao Shuang.
For your bravery in the battlefield, I will pardon your crime.
Go back to tell Cao Zhen
that I have prepared a dungeon cell for him and that he must return right now.
I am afraid Father will not have the honor of serving the sentence.
How so?
Upon my departure,
Father was already gravely ill, coughing blood every night.
I fear... that my father... might have already passed away.
Your Majesty , Cao Zhen maybe unpardonable, Your Majesty, mercy please!
but please spare his-life onTaccount of his effort in the battle!
Your Majesty, Cao Zhen may have been defeated. but his son fought bravely.
His efforts cannotfbe unrecognized!
Hua Xin. His efforts cannot be unrecognized!
Yes, Your Majesty.
Summon Sima Yi.
Yes, Your Majesty.