Episode 93
Three Kingdoms
Your Excellency,
our granaries are almost empty.
The remaining food will only last the army another three days.
Do you know why I have sent for you?
Your Excellency, do you wish to send me to transport supplies from Jiange?
Although Li Feng is capable, after the plank path collapsed,
not even he can transport supplies out of Jiange.
How would sending you make a difference?
Then, Your Excellency, you mean to...
Find a wealthy household and borrow food from them.
That should tide us through the spring famine.
Find a household to borrow food?
Your Excellency, the land of Longxi is sparsely populated.
Where would I find such a household?
There is one who is wealthy beyond measure
and has hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain in store.
Who?
I have learned that
the granary at Chang'an has just sent 300,000 bushels of supplies
by way of the Longzhong Road towards Sima Yi's camp.
I would like you to seize those supplies.
All right. How many men will you give me; Your Excellency?
A thousand.
Your Excellency, isn't a thousand man a bit too few?
Not just a bit. It is too few by far, isn't it?
Three hundred thousand bushels of supplies
would be escorted by 3,000 enemy troops at the very least, right?
Right. .
Your Excellency, you're giving me only 1,000 men,
who will be tired from riding a few hundred miles to Longzhong.
Never mind seizing the supplies,
I fear that we will not make it back alive.
That is all I can give you.
If you go with too many, you will attract attention,
and the Wei troops will then be on their guard.
The 1,000 men you bring with you
must don Wei uniforms and advance in great stealth...
Understand?
I understand.
you know the state of our supplies.
The fate of our army of 340,000 depends upon you.
Among all of the eligible generals.
you are the only one who has served in the Wei army and is familiar with their affairs.
Another man would not be able to accomplish this task.
But whether or not you succeed.
you must return before the third watch tomorrow.
If you do not return. or if you do not succeed in seizing the supplies.
I will be forced to retreat to Hanzhong.
Zijun, our fate rests in your hands.
Worry not, Your Excellency.
I will accomplish this mission even if it means my death.
All right, rise.
Good.
Your Excellency, please take care.
Stop!
Halt.
What is your business?
I am under orders from the Grand Commander
to escort supplies to the Longxi camp!
Who are you to stop me?
Where is your identification document?
We are the Grand Commander's personal guard.
We've come to inspect the supplies.
General.
All of the supplies are here. What do you want?
We want to make sure you're not passing off low-quality stuff as good supplies
and trying to fool the Grand Commander.
Go ahead!
Search them!
Yes sir!
Quickly, over there! Go!
Quickly! Here!
Inspect them carefully!
General the inspection is done!
We didn't find anything suspicious.
Good day. General.
Go!
Yes, sir!
Go!
Move!
Lets go, let's go.
What's the matter?
That's strange. It wont budge. What's the matter?
Rush Harder. Push harder.
No, it still won't budge.
Whats wrong?
It won't budge, General.
We don't know why, but all these carts won't move.
Check them carefully!
Yes, sir' Check them carefully!
See if they're stuck somewhere!
Knock them around!
No, they still won't move!
Oh no
Those officers earlier must have done something to them.
Let's go
The Longxi camp is not far from here!
Co and get reinforcements!
Reverse the mechanism and move the supplies! Quickly!
Yes, sir! Cart them away, quickly!
Hurry!
Where is the supplies officer?
Here, General.
Where are the supply carts?
That's odd...
Just now... the Wooden Ox-Steeds were clearly immobile.
How could they have disappeared?
Maybe they grew wings and flew away!
And where are the ambushing troops you spoke of?
Where are they?
General!
General, I did not lie to you!
Earlier, the banners of the Shu army were truly all over the hills!
General! Sir!
No need for further words. Execute him.
Take him away.
Yes, sir.
I see now.
Zhuge Liang failed to lure me out to battle.
so now he's luring my food supplies.
He gave us these, Wooden Ox-Steeds on purpose so that we would use them to transport supplies,
and then he seizes them.
Father.
If Zhuge Liang gets hold of a few hundred thousand bushels of supplies.
the consequences would be unthinkable.
Let's chase after them.
Chase them how?
There are dozens of mountain paths leading from here towards the south!
Do you know which one they took?
Even if you do, if our men are too few. they wont be able to retrieve the supplies.
and if they're too many they'll fall into an ambush!
Do you want us to just give them another ten thousand men on top of the supplies we lost?
Let's go back to camp.
They're back.
My respects, Your Excellency.
Have you obtained the supplies?
Your Excellency, please look.
Your Excellency, Your Excellency.
Wonderful how wonderful!
Wang Ping,
you have saved me and saved us all.
Your Excellency.
Look.
Your Excellency! this is wonderful.
The imperial decree arrives!
Receive the decree, Sima Yi.
By the Grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees."
Since Shu waged war upon us,"
Sima Yi, you have lost battle after battle,"
losing cities and lands, soldiers and generals."
What pains Us even more
is that though We have invested great efforts in procuring supplies,
you have allowed Zhuge Liang to seize 300,000 bushels in one attempt.
The spring famine is upon us.
The people of the Central Plains, out of starvation. resort to eating each other's children."
Please ask yourself, can you bear to face Us?"
Can you bear to face the suffering people of the Central Plains?"
While the seal of the Grand Commander will remain in Sima Yi's possession,"
his title will be stripped of him as punishment."
If no victories are achieved within one month,"
he shall be punished for both failures as a warning to others."
Thus We have decreed."
Grand Commander, the imperial decree has been conveyed.
You should accept it and give thanks to His Majesty.
Grand Commander, please hold on to it.
This is the imperial decree, after all.
I receive the decree and thank His Majesty's grace.
Father, he's gone.
His Majesty is right.
It is no easy feat to raise supplies.
Now that the spring famine is upon us,
a few hundred thousand bushels of supplies
could save the lives of a few hundred thousand people.
I am guilty.
Zhuge Liang...
How detestable!
He is a petty thief!
If I catch him,
I will skin him alive and rip him apart!
Do not curse Zhuge Liang any more.
Petty thievery is a talent in its own right.
Only with Zhuge Liang here
would the Court allow me to command the army.
If it were not for Zhuge Liang,
His Majesty would have had my head a long time ago.
Grand Commander, look.
Below us is Shangfang Valley.
According to the scouts,
Zhuge Liang has stored all the supplies he stole from us here.
The entrance of the valley is guarded by Wei Yan, Wang Ping, and Shu's elite forces.
What an ideal place for storing supplies.
With such a small path as the only entrance.
it would be difficult to attack the camp even if we tried.
Grand Commander, there are Shu troops approaching.
Go. Let's head back north.
Yes, sir.
Grand Commander,
His Majesty has only given us one month.
The deadline is drawing near.
Grand Commander, you must take action soon.
Sir, don't worry.
It is better to exceed the allotted time than to risk a hasty attack.
If we don't meet the deadline, the Court will dismiss the Grand Commander.
News from the Court said that Xiahou Yuan's son, Xiaho Ba,
has been promoted to General of the Cavalry by His Majesty.
I worry that once the deadline passes.
His Majesty will have him replace you.
Furthermore, that man is an arrogant fool.
Once he is in power, he will be a disaster to the whole army!
We won't ever listen to that rascal!
Grand Commander, please take action quickly!
Grand Commander, please take action.
Grand Commander, Grand Commander.
Here are my orders.
Attack Shangfang Valley by stealth.
Grand Commander.
The valley entrance is guarded by Wei Yan and Wang Ping, with 50,000 men.
They are the best of Shu's men.
Good!
If they had been ordinary generals.
I would not have this opportunity to obliterate the enemy.
What do you mean, Grand Commander?
Listen up.
Zhuge Liang has deployed the 50,000 elite soldiers guarding his main camp to Shangfang Valley.
His camp at Mount Qi is now defended only by weak troops.
If I send 100,000 elite troops
to launch a vicious attack against the Mount Qi camp.
what would Zhuge Liang do?
He would redeploy units to his aid.
Whose?
Wei Yan and Wang Ping's.
Would not Shangfang Valley, then, be left open for attack?
I understand now.
Please give us your orders.
I volunteer to lead our troops to attack the camp at Mount Qi.
You will go together with Sun Li.
Remember this.
As you approach Zhuge Liangs camp,
ensure that the soldiers attack continuously without any care for their lives.
Yes, sir!
Grand Commander, I volunteer to lead 30,000 soldiers to Shangfang Valley.
Once Wei Yan leaves for the Mount Qi camp. I will wipe out everyone there!
No need.
I will lead the army there myself.
Zhuge Liang used petty thievery
to steal a few hundred thousand bushels of our supplies.
I will steal it right back myself to answer to His Majesty.
The essence of military strategy
lies not in the stratagem but in its execution.
It lies in manipulating the changes in Yin and Yang, and concealing deception in truth.
The strategy is merely the surface, while its execution is its essence.
Fully comprehending this fact
is more important than learning thousands of military formations.
Your Excellency.
Your Excellency,
we just detected a great number of elite Wei troops
advancing straight toward our camp at Mount Qi.
How many? Has Sima Yi come?
According to the report, there are over 100,000 men, most of them elite soldiers from Yong-Liang.
The generals Sun Li and Guo Huai are present as well,
and Sima Yi's banners are flying in the central division.
Your Excellency, Sima Yi has come personally.
It appears they wish to fight a decisive battle.
Not necessarily.
Have you forgotten about "concealing deception in truth"?
If Sima Yi's banner is here,
then he himself must not be.
On the contrary,
if Sima Yi has come,
then his banner would not have.
Over the years, Sima Yi and I have competed
with soldiers, with generals, with formations, and with wits.
I have him figured out through and through.
He knows I have elite troops guarding Shangfang Valley,
leaving my Mount Qi camp empty.
Thus he has launched an attack here.
However,
had he truly wished to capture me,
he would have been more covert about it.
All this fanfare for an attack must mean
that he is simply putting on a display.
Shangfang Valley?
Sima Yi's real target is Shangfang Valley?
Indeed. Shangfang Valley it is.
If my suspicions are correct,
at this very moment, Sima Yi is leading an army there personally.
As soon as Wei Yan and Wang Ping come to our aid,
he will take Shangfang Valley,
burn our supplies, and cut off our lifeline.
Your Excellency,
I will send a messenger at once to warn Wei Yan and Wang Ping.
It is too late.
Wei Yan will certainly rush to our aid once he knows that the Mount Qi camp is in danger.
Your Excellency,
if that is the case, then would not Sima Yi get his way?
I have left the plan for a counterattack with Wang Ping.
If worse comes to worst and we lose our supplies.
Sima Yi shall not have them either.
Grand Commander, our scouts report that General Sun is launching a ferocious attack on the Mount Qi camp.
Over at Shangfang Valley,
has Wei Yan left with his relief troops yet?
No, Wei Yan has not moved his soldiers.
Men.
Yes, sir!
Send orders to Guo Huai
for him to intensify his attack on the Mount Qi camp.
Have him attack with all his troops.
Yes, sir!
Report!
Grand Commander.
Speak.
The Shu troops at Shangfang Valley have moved.
They are heading straight toward the Mount Qi camp.
Did Wei Yan go? How many soldiers remain there?
Wei Yan led the army himself.
Wang Ping is staying behind with a few thousand troops.
Scout again.
Yes, sir. Scout again.
Your Excellency, the Wei army is attacking fiercely.
Our east encampment has been broken through twice,
and we we barely managed to retake it.
But the situation at the south encampment is worse.
Even with the wounded men and stable hands fighting.
it looks like it will fall soon.
I see.
Your Excellency,
I have never seen such a fierce attack by the Wei army.
Sima Yi must be here.
Otherwise, the Wei army wouldn't fight with such reckless abandon!
Sima Yi is not here.
He is at Shangfang Valley.
From the watchtower, Shangfang valley looked completely peaceful.
Sima Yi must be at Shangfang Valley!
Say no more. Go and repel the enemy.
Yes, sir.
Oh, Zhuge Liang,
the Battle of Jieting will repeat itself today.
Sima Zhao!
Grand Commander.
Send orders to all quarters.
Follow me to Shangfang Valley.
Yes, sir!
Your Excellency, the south encampment has fallen.
The east and north encampments are deep in battle.
Maybe... the entire camp will fall before dawn.
That is only "maybe".
Your Excellency, please leave the camp
and move to Chencang instead.
That will not do.
the camp will truly fall apart.
But the situation is dire. You must leave.
I will not leave!
Announce my orders.
All soldiers are to fight to the death!
We will defend the camp with our lives!
Your Excellency...
Yes, sir.
Report!
General, the enemy has breached the east and west encampments.
What about the main camp?
It is heavily besieged.
Scout again
Yes, sir!
General, if we hold off on sending relief,
the Wei army will surely take the main camp.
The Prime Minister will be in danger then.
Groundless speculation.
This is the Prime Minister we're speaking of.
He is a divine being.
Lets wait a moment longer.
After the main camp is breached,
well charge our way in.
Aye!
Report!
General, terrible news!
The main camp at Mount Qi has been breached!
Are you sure?
Yes, sir!
The enemy troops are moving in!
Hear my command.
Yes, sir!
Charge into the camp!
Charge!
Your Excellency!
Your Excellency, Wei Yan and his cavalry of 10,000 men have arrived.
The enemy is retreating.
Send orders to Liao Hua's camp at once.
Have him lead his men to Shangfang Valley and join forces with Wang Ping.
Once Sima Yi has entered Shangfang Valley,
they must seal off the valley entrance immediately.
But, Your Excellency, Liao Hua only has a weak force of fewer than 10,000 men.
Why not order Wei Yan to go to Shangfang Valley?
Liao Hua's troops are located closer to Shangfang Valley.
Order Wei Yan to turn around and attack Sima Yi's camp.
Yes, sir.
Yang Yi.
Your Excellency.
How many men do we have left in the camp?
Only 200 to 300.
Ask them to escort me to the peak of Mount Shangfang.
Your Excellency, the road to Mount Shangfang is long and precipitous.
The battle has just ended, and you are ill.
You must stay and rest.
Just two hours ago,
you were advising me to leave for Chencang.
Why am I now not even well enough to travel to Shangfang Valley?
Your Excellency, we've just received news
that the Wei troops have all retreated towards Shangfang Valley.
If they assault you midway.
how could a few hundred men protect you from harm?
Sima Yi and I have competed for so many years.
but today it will all end.
How can I not go see him off?
Let us go.
Grand Commander, I have taken the Shu camp at the valley entrance.
Wang Ping has fled to the hills with a few thousand remaining soldiers.
What is the situation at the valley entrance?
Our men have scouted there.
The soldiers guarding it are abandoning their posts one after another.
leaving behind an empty camp.
Grand Commander, let's not delay.
Enter the valley quickly to seize the supplies.
No.
Fortify the valley entrance first,
then have scouts gather news from the Mount Qi camp.
Yes, sir.
Your Excellency, please look.
Indeed, Shangfang Valley is below us.
The Wei troops are here,
and they are very numerous.
The Wei army has seized the valley entrance. but they refuse to enter Shangfang Valley.
Sima Yi is hesitating.
He is a wily old fox
who takes each step with extreme caution.
Then what can we do?
We can do nothing.
I've done all I can.
The rest is up to Heaven.
Father, we are deep within the valley.
We must either keep going or retreat. This is no place to linger.
What's the hurry?
I've looked around.
The entrance of the valley is ideal for either attacking or defending.
Just be patient.
Once news from the Mount Qi camp arrives,
I will decide how to proceed.
Yes.
Report! Grand Commander!
Grand Commander,
Wei Yan has led his troops to Mount Qi and is now battling General Guo Huai.
The two are locked in a stalemate.
The Mount Qi camp is over 80 miles from here.
Even if the Shu army had wings. they couldn't get here in less than four hours.
Rather, please give us your orders.
Hear my orders!
All troops are to charge into the valley and seize the Shu supplies!
Burn the Shu camps!
Follow me!
Charge!
The Wei army has entered the valley!
Sima Yi has taken the bait.
Charge in!
Yes, indeed.
He has entered Shangfang Valley.
at last you have stepped into your grave.
Grand Commander, the remaining Shu troops have been eliminated.
The granaries are intact.
Are they stocked?
Grand Commander, please inspect the supplies.
Zhuge Liang, oh Zhuge Liang.
You've taken such pains to rob me of my supplies.
Now I have seized them back.
I do not believe that you can retreat with no food.
Father,
give orders to, load the carts.
Load the carts.
Quickly! Load the carts!
Yes, sir! Quickly!
Pull the carts over here! Quickly!
Oh no! The grains are soaked with oil!
Grand Commander, Grand Commander!
There are explosives buried underneath the granaries!
Oh no! Hurry and retreat!
Hurry! Retreat!
Father, go quickly!
Do not panic! Retreat towards the valley entrance!
The valley entrance is still in our hands!
Sima Zhao!
Father, Father!
Father! Father, get up quickly!
Father!
Protect the Grand Commander! Quickly!
Go quickly! Father, lets go quickly!
Quickly! Quickly retreat!
Go!'Quickly retreat!
What a magnificent fire!
Its even more magnificent than the one at Yiling.
Your Excellency, I see Sima Yi.
Your Excellency, look over there! Your Excellency!
Sima Yi is floundering in a sea of flames!
Wang Ping has sealed off the valley entrance.
Sima Yi has no choice but to die in the blazes.
Even Heaven cannot save him now.
Your Excellency.
My lord!
Yong-Liang is ours at last...
The Central Plains are ours at last!
The Han dynasty can be revived at last!
Your Excellency.
Charge towards the valley entrance.
Zhao, my son.
We must charge out of the valley!
Tell the men to stop.
Father.
The men I've brought are the bravest warriors.
When the fire dies down a little. we'll definitely be able to break out.
You know as well as I do
that we will not make it out of here alive.
Do you know what Zhuge Liang's favorite hobby is?
Doing calculations with counting rods.
None in the world is better at calculating than him.
How much oil to use,
how much explosives to bury.
and how much time is needed
to reduce Shangfang Valley to a pile of ashes
he has had it all worked out
Co now. Tell the men to stop fighting.
Have them stand back.
I permit them to surrender.
No, Father. We cannot surrender.
Go!
No, we cannot surrender.
We cannot surrender. Father!
No!
Men!
Grand Commander, Grand Commander!
I know that you have done your best.
It is my fault that we ended up in this situation.
Now,
I hereby permit you to drop your weapons,
exit the valley, and surrender to the Shu army!
Grand Commander, what about you?
That's.right. Grand Commander, what about you?
I am the Grand Commander. I must die in the line of duty!
No, Grand Commander!
I will not surrender!
I will die in battle with the Grand Commander!
I will not surrender either!
I will die in battle with the Grand Commander!
Grand Commander, we would rather die than surrender!
We would rather die than surrender!
You are the best soldiers in the world!
I thank you all!
Cold the gale blows by the frigid.River Yi,"
the hero sets off, never to return again!"
Cold the gale blows by the frigid River Yi,
the hero sets off, never to return again!"
Cold the gale blows by the frigid River Yi,
the hero sets .off *wever to return again!"
Cold the gale blows by the frigid.River Yi,
the hero sets off, never to return again!"
Cold the gale blows by the frigid River Yi..."
Your Excellency.
The Wei army gave up on breaking out.
They... they are singing.
What are they singing?
Cold the gale blows by the frigid River Yi."
That is a song that Jing Ke sang by the Yi River before his mission to assassinate Emperor Qin.
With this song, Sima Yi asserts
his unshakable opposition towards our nation of Shu-Han.
How admirable, how honorable! How deserving of song and praise!
Sima Yi... is indeed a true hero.
Lets fill our cups and drink to song, for life's such joys do not last long.
but are ephemeral, as morning dew, which soon will to the past belong."
Your Late Majesty,
your servant, Sima Yi, will come to see you now.
Father!
Grand Commander! Grand Commander!
It's raining! It's raining!
Father, it's raining!
Brothers, it's raining!
It's raining!
Your Excellency, oh no! Your Excellency.
Its raining! It's raining!
Brothers, Heaven is on our side!
The Shu army will perish
Brothers, charge with me!
Charge!