191-192: LIANG VS THE LIANG REBELS
Guo Si was on a roll. The Black Mountain Bandits were fleeing the battlefields and he could claim victory after victory. If things continued like this, he might come out of this campaign as a bigger hero than Lü Bu himself. These were the thoughts going through his head when news came that Dong Zhuo had been killed and that the Imperial Capital was under new management. This sent him into a rage. He had spent his life serving Dong Zhuo. They were supposed to conquer and unify China! Now that dream was cut short. Guo Si entertained the idea of going for the capital and avenge Dong Zhuo. Surely he could sell this action under the pretence of removing the cabal of conspirators. With good enough planning, he might even present himself as some kind of liberator of the Han, just like the new masters of Luoyang claimed to be.
He laughed when the new Chancellor Dong Huang and his cronies demanded that the generals present themselves to the capital. Oh, he would come back, at the head of an army. However, he was quickly dissuaded by his two main advisors, the general Hu Zhen and the strategist
Yao Shuren. Hu Zhen was a prudent man, so he pointed out that they were all alone now. Their only supply came from Duan Wei, and they had yet to hear if he was still loyal to Dong Zhuo. For all they knew they were going to march against the conspirators without any supply to back them up. Yao Shuren also mentioned the other factor they shouldn’t forget: Lü Bu. They had all been allies and comrades under Dong Zhuo, but with the tyrant dead, who knew if that still held? They might just fight it out with Luoyang only for Lü Bu to come down on the weakened winner.
Guo Si, although frustrated that he was powerless to do anything, agreed with their assessment. They chose to move to Liang Province, which had been Dong Zhuo’s seat of power for most of his career. They hoped to get there before Lü Bu so to inherit Dong Zhuo’s support. Yao Shuren had rightly guessed that Lü Bu would instead go for his home of Bing Province, which would give them free reign to take over Liang and most of Dong Zhuo’s supporters. Thus unlike Lü Bu, who had to deal with enemies within his fold, Guo Si and his officers found themselves surrounded by loyal allies and followers.
On their way to Liang, Guo Si and his troops were joined by Dong Zhuo’s former mistress, the young servant Yuyi. Yuyi had been with Dong Zhuo only hours before he was killed. She panicked when she heard of his death, quickly realizing that things had shifted for the worst. Recognizing that she had no place in the capital anymore, and that it might in fact be dangerous for her to stay, Yuyi left the capital in the night. She hoped to join Dong Zhuo’s generals, where she believed she would be far better treated by them than by the enemies of Dong Zhuo in the capital. In the end, she found her way to Guo Si’s army as it was moving toward Liang Province. A smart woman, Yuyi was able to talk her way into not only staying, but convincing the generals that she could be an important asset. After all, she was the closest Dong Zhuo had to a wife. Surely her support would be useful in some way. This rhetoric seemed to work especially well on Yao Shuren, who saw her as the perfect ally to help his own ambitions. By the time they reached Liang, both had realized how useful the other could be. So why not tie the knot and get married?
The officials of Liang were quick to recognize Guo Si as their lord and pledge their troops to him. However, it was clear that the amount of troops left in the province was nothing compared to what it had been under Dong Zhuo. Probably a result of Dong Zhuo taking the best men with him when he took the capital. It was also around that time that he learned that Lü Bu had established himself in Bing Province in similar ways. At the advices of Hu Zhen and Li Jue, the two began to exchange missives. With Dong Huang forced to recognize them, they could act freely against him. An “alliance” was thus agreed, with Hu Zhen even travelling to Bing Province to discuss the whole affair with Lü Bu. But upon arrival Hu Zhen was utterly disappointed. At the time, Lü Bu was more focused on campaigning against the small Xiongnus chieftains on his northern border and was absent. Hu Zhen instead met with
Xuan Su, who had been left in charge. Xuan Su made a lot of empty promises, but in the end did not commit to anything serious as Lü Bu’s attention (and Xuan Su’s ambition) was north, not south. When he returned, Hu Zhen would be doubly disappointed, finding that Guo Si was also waging a war instead of preparing to fight Dong Huang.
Indeed, within two months of Dong Zhuo’s death, both of his main generals had already abandoned the idea of avenging him and instead focused on expanding their respective dominions. While Lü Bu had chosen to go after northern barbarians, Guo Si’s attention went on his eastern border, where the last rebels of the Liang Rebellion still ruled their own little fiefdoms. He especially hated the idea of having this barbarian Ma Teng on his western border. Unlike Han Sui, who was of Han nobility, Ma Teng was a local Qiang who rose through the ranks thanks to his talent. Guo Si feared that he might convince the local Qiang and Di barbarians of the province to revolt. Better to strike first. This would allow him to not only eliminate a threat, but also to expand his power. So on March 26, 191, only two days after Lü Bu started his first war north, Guo Si declared his intention to bring down the rebel Ma Teng.
Meanwhile, Han Sui had only recently signed his peace with Cheliji Khagan. Since his victory over the horde he had been expecting Guo Si to do something, and so wasn’t surprised when the man started a war against Ma Teng. Chenggong Ying was the first to come ask his lord what they were going to do about this invasion. Would they stay there and watch, or help Ma Teng and push back Guo Si? He simply answered
“I have sworn to protect Liang and its people. How can I sit idly when Guo Si is threatening everything I fought for?” Han Sui was quick to mobilize his armies, his troops readied by the time an official envoy from Ma Teng came to ask for help. The envoy was a man named Song Jian, a magistrate of Han origin serving under Ma Teng and his most powerful follower. This showed how much the warlord wanted this aid. Han Sui made it clear that Ma Teng had nothing to worry about and escorted Song Jian back to Ma Teng, bringing his army with him. With their forces combined, the two rebel leaders once against pledged in front of their men that they would always stand together against the enemies of Liang.
“Never shall we let the villain Guo Si, the central government or any other man under Heaven threaten the righteous people of Liang!” they proclaimed.
Guo Si wanted to go for a direct attack against Ma Teng. His scouts had told him that Han Sui was going to join force with Ma Teng, so he hoped that he could strike at his enemy before he could be reinforced. But once again Yao Shuren stepped forward to dissuade him. He was helped by his new wife Yuyi, who had a surprising understanding of politics and military affairs. Yuyi pointed out that Ma Teng would surely have already joined up with Han Sui, so it was useless to work the troops through a gruesome walk through the mountains just to get destroyed by Han Sui and Ma Teng on the other side. Yao Shuren also believed that Ma Teng would expect them to come from the east and would have prepared in accordance. Instead, he suggested that they marched north and then B-line south through Han Sui’s territories before entering Longxi Commandery. It was a detour, yes, but a detour that could be worth it.
Guo Si was receptive to the idea. First going north would allow them to pick up Hu Zhen, who was on his return trip from Bing Province. However, he had one big problem with this plan. This left his seat of Tianshui undefended if Ma Teng marched against him while he went north. This was indeed an issue that Yao Shuren had expected to come up. The three of them all had a good idea of what needed to be done, although Yuyi was the one who said it first. All they needed was to leave a garrison led by a loyal and competent officer that could hold long enough for them to take Ma Teng’s territories. But the choice of the right commander was a difficult one. In the end, they chose Jin Xuan, the administrator of Hanyang Commandery. Jin Xuan was a kind and loyal man who had a great talent for military affair, but not for much else. Guo Si hoped that a good commander would be enough to hold the enemies if needed, even if Yao Shuren was worried that he wasn’t a good enough administrator for the job. When summoned, Jin Xuan accepted the order and swore an oath to defend Tianshui, leaving Guo Si to march north with his mind at ease.
Yuyi insisted that she went with Yao Shuren up north. Jin Xuan refused to have her leave, as by then it was clear that she was pregnant. She easily tricked the general by convincing him that she needed to go pick up herbs with her entire retinue outside of Tianshui, which Jin Xuan somehow found to be believable. She then raced to the army of Guo Si, which had just linked up with Hu Zhen. Yao Shuren was surprised to see his wife pregnant so soon after their marriage. Seing his surprise, Yuyi made it clear to her husband and everyone else in the camp that the child wasn’t his. She insisted that the child father’s was none other than Dong Zhuo. This was somewhat humiliating to Yao Shuren, who began to isolate himself and focus on the war, spending less and less time with the troops that laughed at him behind his back. Many soldier started calling him the man cuckolded by a corpse.
At first, Guo Si was annoyed by this servant girl humiliating his main strategist. Hu Zhen was certainly suspicious of her intent when she revealed that she was pregnant with Dong Zhuo’s child. However, Yuyi was able to ingratiate herself with Guo Si by playing to his ambitions. The son of Dong Zhuo, even a bastard one, would prove a powerful tool in Guo Si’s hands. After all, this would give an alternative to Dong Huang and Lü Bu, who both claimed the heritage of Dong Zhuo’s legacy. Guo Si was easily convinced, even if Hu Zhen advised him to stay alert when it came to the girl. But she then “suggested” that if she was, let’s say, adopted by Guo Si, than he would be the grandfather of Dong Zhuo’s child. This idea sounded too good for Guo Si to pass out on it, and in June 191 he officially adopted Yuyi as his daughter, allowing her to call herself Guo Yuyi from that point on.
She was also able to mend the recent rift between with her husband by the fact that he was now Guo Si’s son-in-law, his closest general, and quite possibly, his heir. Should anything arrive to Guo Si on campaign, this would surely mean that Liang would fall on Yao Shuren’s laps. Since Guo Si had no sons, this new familial link would certainly make him the expected successor. Yao Shuren was quick to pick up on this new reality. Hu Zhen, although his elder, was notably more respectful than before, showing him deference usually reserved to relatives of a lord. Yao Shuren could only smile and thank Heaven for giving him such a good fit as his wife. Truly the two went well together. Two months later, in late August 191, Yuyi would give birth to a bastard son, Guo Bian, Dong Zhuo’s biological son and Guo Si’s grandson by adoption.
Guo Si’s worries were proven right when Ma Teng and Han Sui went directly for his provincial capital. Now, Ma Teng didn’t want this siege to last so long that they could get exposed to an attack by Guo Si. As far as they knew, Jin Xuan was holding up just fine inside the walls of Tianshui. Thankfully, Han Sui had anticipated this problem, and so had brought with him his siege expert,
Mo Jie. Mo Jie happily joined the campaign as he missed siege warfare, his last siege dating back to the Liang Rebellion. In many ways, this was bringing back some good memories of that time. He quickly drew plans and ordered ladders built. He spent a week writing at least four strategies, all logistically excellent. The problem in applying them came to terrible communication, which is why Jin Xuan was able to push back their first effort to take the walls. This annoyed some of the soldiers of Ma Teng’s army, who turned their frustration against the siege expert and demanded that he be punished for his failure. But Han Sui reiterated his trust into Mo Jie, although he did so to avoid Mo Jie defending himself. It was better to do the talking for him.
With the first months passing with minimal successes, Han Sui and Ma Teng decided that it might be a good idea to open talks with Jin Xuan. After all, maybe the general would be willing to surrender peacefully? But Jin Xian had no desire to betray Guo Si, although he was kind enough to let them in to discuss. They sent Song Jian to go convince Jin Xuan to surrender. It was a total failure, but they did get something out of this. When he entered the city, Song Jian noticed that Jin Xuan’s supply was extremely low. He had badly managed what he had, and soon enough famine might become a problem inside the walls. So Han Sui and his allies worked out a plan. They offered to sell supply to Jin Xuan, out of “friendship”. You know, as a gesture of good will. Mo Jie would even lead the supply into Tianshui personally. Jin Xuan agreed, believing that this was a kind gesture on his enemies’ part. A band of soldiers led by Mo Jie entered the city with the supply, took control of the gate and allowed the rest of the army to enter. Jin Xuan was captured and held as an honorable, but compulsory, “guest”.
But as they celebrated the capture of Tianshui, Chenggong Ying showed up to ruin their good mood. While they were besieging the provincial capital, Guo Si had come down from the north with his army. Wang Bi and Chenggong Ying had tried to stop him, but they barely had enough men to garrison the region, let alone push back an invading army. Chenggong Ying was certain that by now Guo Si had probably already entered Longxi Commandery. Feeling threatened from their rear, the two warlords marched their armies back home through the mountain passes. Mo Jie was left in the rear, managing the supply to make sure that it wasn’t cut off by their enemies.
Yao Shuren was the first to be warned of the returning rebels, having wisely left scouts in the hills of Liang. He was quick to tell Guo Si, who immediately asked his generals to weight their options. They had at least 500 troops less than the combined rebel army, if not less. Obviously, they couldn’t just leave and abandon their position. It would make them look weak. Hu Zhen suggested a surprise attack on the enemy, but Yao Shuren opposed. He believed that this would put them at risk. Instead he favored holding up and using the terrain to their advantages, taking the right position for battle. Yuyi was quick to convince her new father that this was the right idea.
He began to take position around the city of Zhaoyang, where the armies of Ma Teng and Han Sui would meet him. This started the First Battle of Zhaoyang in late August 191, days after the birth of Guo Bian. Yao Shuren and Guo Si had realized that they lacked the troops for a frontal assault, so they placed their bet on defence. But they had failed to consider that Ma Teng would know the terrain far better than they did. Ma Teng and Song Jian led a force in a pass using Mo Jie’s maps and took Yao Shuren by surprise. It quickly became clear that he would not be able to hold out and sent a messenger to Guo Si. But his lord was already involved in heavy fighting and couldn’t come relieve him. Hu Zhen tried to do so, but found himself bugged down by Chenggong Ying’s forces. Seeing no way to win, Yao Shuren ordered his troops to retreat, managing to produce an organize retreat on their part. Hu Zhen and Guo Si soon followed, although in a far less orderly manner.
Guo Si and his generals were forced to retreat to their own territories, ironically using the same path Han Sui and Ma Teng had used to get to their territories. In fact, they almost met up with Mo Jie’s supply line, missing it only by an hour. They returned to find that Tianshui had been taken by their enemies, with Jin Xuan still under guard within the city. Guo Si was enraged at this and ordered a brutal assault against the enemy garrison, against the advice of Hu Zhen. The rebel garrison was slaughtered to the last man on Yao Shuren’s order, who believed that there was no point in allowing their enemies to leave. It was also a good way for them to vent their anger after the recent defeat. Jin Xuan, now released, fell on his knees and thanked his lord for freeing him. Guo Si only looked at the general with contempt and sent him back to his commandery, with no plans of ever calling him back.
Hu Zhen and Yao Shuren were able to temper Guo Si by convincing him that he just needed time to rebuild his army. Guo Si agreed, although he wasn’t happy to see his two generals working together. He tried to throw a wrench in the relationship between them by starting to listen more and more to Yao Shuren. This backfired for many reasons. One, he did so on the advice of his daughter Guo Yuyi, who only wanted her husband (and by proxy herself) to gain more power. Then there was the fact that Hu Zhen was suspicious of all this political manoeuvering and refused to be dragged in. He instead simply started to act as if Yao Shuren was his superior, which only helped the young strategist amass influence in the province.
By early December 191, Guo Si had enough and ordered another march against Ma Teng. Yao Shuren believed that they had to wait longer to restore their strength, but his lord wanted a quick victory. Ma Teng and Han Sui awaited him, having prepared themselves by setting up traps along the passes, which took out at least two or three hundred soldiers on their own. The Second Battle of Zhaoyang took place in late-December, this time with reversed positions. With an indecisive battle on the first day, Guo Si challenged Ma Teng to a duel on the following morning. As he was about to accept, Ma Teng was interrupted by Song Jian, who volunteered to go in his place. The rebel warlord allowed it, and soon Song Jian and Guo Si fought on horseback in front of the two armies, each lined up for the battle to come. Drums were sounded and soldiers were shouting. After a dozen of minutes, Guo Si was able to strike Song Jian of his horse, which allowed Guo Si to trample him to death. Feeling confident following his victory, Guo Si would soon after order an all-out attack against Ma Teng and Han Sui, but would be pushed out once again, losing the Second Battle of Zhaoyang as the year was brought to an end.
As the year 192 started out, it seemed like the war was going in favor of the rebel warlords. Twice Guo Si had fought them, and twice they had been victorious. They had even been able to take Guo Si’s capital of Tianshui for a while thanks to the efforts of Mo Jie. And they now had their enemies on the run. Things were going great! But the entropy of victory struck the allies, as a dispute proved the beginning of the end for their success. Ma Teng wanted to go after Guo Si, chase the routed army and finish their enemies. Maybe they even had a shot at taking back the whole of Liang Province. But Han Sui was far more prudent, and suggested that they instead fortify and rebuild their forces. But Ma Teng wouldn’t hear any of it, mostly due to the death of Song Jian. He wanted to avenge his subordinate, and he wasn’t going to let prudence get in the way.
Ma Teng left Han Sui behind and led his army after Guo Si’s. To lead the pursuit’s vanguard, Ma Teng tapped his young son Ma Chao. Ma Chao was a tall, strong and extremely talented warrior, possibly the best fighter under his father’s command. But he was also arrogant and brash, which led him to charge head first into battle, believing he would inevitably come out on top. He had been too young to participate in the early stages of the war, which was why he insisted to be allowed to lead the force against Guo Si. He wanted his part of the glory, and everyone knew it. Everyone in the army knew Ma Chao wanted to lead the pursuit, including the spies left by Yao Shuren. They quickly reported to the strategist, who convinced Guo Si that they ought to “welcome” Ma Chao properly. Guo Si could only grin at the idea.
Ma Chao made haste to meet the enemy force, which left him to be separated from his father’s army. The arrogant young man soon found himself into a trap laid by Guo Si (or more accurately, by Yao Shuren and Yuyi). Ma Chao challenged Guo Si, but the general was smart enough not to risk his life when he had the advantage. By the time Ma Teng showed up, he had to rush in to save his son, who refused to retreat the battlefield. In doing so, Yao Shuren was able to use this rush to strike at the heart of Ma Teng’s force, inflicting a large amount of casualties with minimal effort. Ma Teng and Ma Chao, defeated, were forced to retreat back to their territories.
But Guo Si had no desire to let them leave like that and ordered Yao Shuren to catch up to them. In accomplishing this duty, Yao Shuren would pull the move that would become his trademark tactic: reaching the retreating’s army destination before it. Hiring local Qiang guides, he was able to manoeuver the army using faster routes, although more dangerous ones. Some soldiers complained, but he had them executed. Protesters and deserters deserved only death, after all. These faster routes allowed him to arrive at their destination before the enemy force, which was demoralised and slow. Ma Teng was shocked to see Yao Shuren awaiting him. The ensuing battle was an easy one, and while Ma Teng and his son were able to escape back to their seat, his army was destroyed, making it a non-entity for the rest of the war.
Han Sui realized what had happened when Ma Teng returned with his tail between his legs. The warlord now had three choices. He could abandon his ally and return to his own domain, preparing himself for the day Guo Si would eventually come after him too. He could bunker down with Ma Teng and prepare for a long siege with his troops. Or he could try to go face Guo Si. He chose the third option in the hope that this would give Ma Teng enough time to assemble a new army. Chenggong Ying also advised his lord to go that route, as bunkering down for a siege would not only doom Ma Teng but also Han Sui, thus dooming the cause of Liang autonomy. Wang Bi also said something, which sounded aggressive and thus was interpreted as a desire to fight. Mo Jie also had an opinion, but no one ever knew what it was even after he said it three times.
And so Han Sui went to fight Guo Si and was easily defeated. Without Ma Teng’s support, he lacked the troops to oppose the invading force, even if he had generals that rival those serving the Governor of Liang. Wang Bi tried to make his way through the troops to kill Guo Si, but he found himself bugged down by Hu Zhen and his men which forced him to back out. Chenggong Han Sui, seeing how things were going, attempted an organised retreat, but it quickly turned into a panicked rout. Yao Shuren was also quick to block their way back, forcing Han Sui and his officers to return home instead of linking up with Ma Teng. This left the Qiang warlord isolated and vulnerable, and for the next six months, his cities and strongholds were besieged and captured by the forces of Guo Si. By October 192, only the main fortress of Ma Teng still held, hinting at the impending doom of the warlord.
_______
Ma Teng could only look out the window, unable to believe what was happening. He could see the troops encircling the fortress, the banners of the Han brandished over their heads as if they were proud servants of the central government. What a joke. Guo Si was clearly in it for himself. Still, he was the one who was about to defeat him.
“Has Heaven really abandoned the Ma Clan?” he grumbled to himself.
What had happened? A year ago they had Guo Si fleeing like a coward. They were on the verge of achieving what they had failed to do all these years ago and finally free Liang. But look at them now. Han Sui had been forced to retreat to his home and he was stuck in his fortress, awaiting his inevitable defeat. Victory had escaped his grasp, but when? When he pursued Guo Si? When he went to save his son? When the enemy army suddenly appeared on the other side of the pass?
“Father, do not abandon hope!” Ma Chao declared, trying to cheer his father.
He gave a look at his son. His strong and heroic son. Ma Teng couldn’t be more proud of him. It saddened him to no end that he wouldn’t be able to live a long life, that his time here was to end as soon as the walls were breached or the gates open. And they were all going to be put to death. They were rebels, after all. There was simply no way they would be allowed to live once Guo Si took over.
“Father!” the young man said as he fell to his knees.
“Please allow me to lead a charge outside! We can die with honor by killing Guo Si!”
“No.” Ma Teng retorted.
His voice was strong and decisive, not letting any room for discussion.
“Our last stand will me here, Chao. We do not need to haste the inevitable.”
“But father! I…”
Ma Chao was interrupted as a piece of the stone wall literally opened, revealing a man in a military uniform. It was clear that it was too large for him, as he kept trying to tuck his pants up as he entered the room. Ma Teng could only look in shock at the man, completely confused How did he enter the room?
“Guo Si’s agent!” Ma Chao said, raising his sword and pointing it at the man.
“Die, scum!”
The man seemed panicked as Ma Chao and the guard advanced toward him. He raised his hands, waving at them. Ma Teng noticed that the stranger looked familiar, especially in the way he was searching his words. Finally, as Ma Chao approached with his sword, he exclaimed.
“请我在这里拯救您，以便您可以随风而飞！不要伤害我的人!”
Everyone looked at each other, having no clue what the man had just said. It was as if he was talking in another language.
“W-What did he say?” Ma Chao asked.
“I-I don’t know…” Ma Teng admitted, utterly confused.
“跟随我哦，上帝和将军”
“Is it some kind of code?” Ma Chao tried to guest.
“It sounds aggressive.”
“Wait, no… I know this man…”
And then it hit him. Of course he looked familiar! Strange man, always searching his words, impossible to understand correctly… It was Han Sui’s siege’s expert Mo Jie! Still, Ma Teng had no clue what he was trying to say.
“Son, lower your sword. He is a friend.”
_______
After ten minutes of trying, Mo Jie was finally able to explain that he was the one who built this fortress a decade ago, and so knew secret passages to get in and out. He came to save Ma Teng and his family and bring him to Han Sui so they could continue to protect the people of Liang. After a bit of uncertainty, the Ma Clan gladly followed their savior north, escaping Guo Si’s siege and joining Mo Jie in Han Sui’s court. The remaining rebel warlord welcomed his ally with open arms, appointing him as his military lieutenant and giving his son an office in his army. So while Ma Teng had lost his territories, he wasn’t out of the game yet, and was even made Han Sui’s lieutenant in all military affairs. As for Mo Jie, he found himself quite popular with the Ma Clan. Ma Teng in particular held Mo Jie in great esteem for saving them. As a way to pay him back, he announced that his daughter would marry Mo Jie once she was of age (she was 10 while Mo Jie was 32). This was a bit of a surprise, especially for Mo Jie, who had not be warned beforehand. But Ma Teng was insistent, and in the end the betrothal went forward, tying Mo Jie to the Ma Clan.
With Ma Teng out, the fortress quickly fell to Guo Si, who was infuriated when he discovered that his enemy had managed to flee. Thankfully Yuyi was able to calm him down and cheer him up. After all, he had crushed the rebel forces. He was a hero of the dynasty. His prestige surely surpassed Dong Huang’s or even Lü Bu’s. But of course, she was quick to remind him that none of it would have been possible without Yao Shuren’s help. Guo Si was quick to agree. To reward his son-in-law and to secure his enduring loyalty, he appointed him as the new administrator in charge of Ma Teng’s former territories. Yao Shuren gladly accepted the appointment, as he now had a powerbase of his own, a first step for any ambitious young man who dreamed of so much more.
I read an article for class where the writer said that "the problem of Alaric which had started in 401 bleed into 402", in the sense that it continued. Don't know why but I liked the sentence, so I reused it.
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