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WARNING: THE HUMAN SPECIES IS WILLFULLY, EVEN GLEEFULLY, JUMPING OFF A VERY HIGH CLIFF. WITH THAT GOING ON, WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT SPOILERS?
And so we come to Chapter 53, which is actually quite an eventful chapter. But before I get into it, I just want to take a minute to thank each and every one of you for your patience. It's been a while since I've posted a chapter, due to attacks which destroyed my last PC and put everything on hold for quite a while, and I'm grateful if you're still here to read this. Thank you. Your continued support means a lot to me.
That said, Chapter 53 is, as I said, an eventful Chapter. It ties up several of the post-Chi Bi loose ends, and many of the great heroes of the period seem to play a significant role in this chapter, from all three Kingdoms. The chapter begins with the conclusion of Liu Bei's conquest of Jing Nan (southern Jing). You might remember in the last chapter, Gui Yang and Ling Ling fell to Liu Bei's forces, under Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun (Zilong). This time, it's Zhang Fei's turn, and Guan Yu, also, helps in the subjugation of the region. These battles in the Jing Province, following so close on the tail of the great victory of the southern coalition forces at Chi Bi, are very important, and here's why. Prior to Chi Bi, as you have read, Liu Bei was pretty much on the verge of being totally crushed once and for all by his onetime friend, and perennial enemy, Cao Cao. Taking advantage of the power-vacuum following Chi Bi, though, Liu Bei's conquest of the Jing Province at last gives him a wealthy, and relatively secure, province to serve as a base of operations. For the first time in the story (and mind you, we're at just under the halfway point here), Liu Bei finally seems to be able to establish somewhat of a secure footing for himself, his army, and his people. It is this which allows the Three-Kingdoms model envisioned by Zhuge Liang to come to pass.
It is interesting to note here the shrewdness of Zhuge Liang in his role as pretty much the supreme commander of Liu Bei's armies. The armies of Liu Bei, at this time, are still somewhat limited, especially after the great Battle of Chi Bi, and the ensuing struggles with Cao Ren in Jingzhou in very recent chapters. Liu Bei has a hostile juggernaut to the north in the form of Cao Cao's army, though he the Great River (Yangtze) DOES afford him some measure of protection against invasion from that direction. But to the east, there is also the forces of Sun Quan, who, while bound in an uneasy alliance with Liu Bei, nonetheless clearly have designs of their own for Jingzhou. So long as Zhou Yu lives, he will not cease to attempt to wrench Jingzhou away from Liu Bei, and Zhuge Liang knows this, so preserving as many soldiers as he can seems to be a top priority. So Zhuge Liang shrewdly makes the conquest of the south a matter of competition. Zhao Yun took a city with only 3000 men. Not to be outdone (as always), Zhang Fei also takes a city with only 3000 men. Guan Yu, ever the overachiever, decides to make his attempt with only 500 swordsmen, and succeeds. Do the mathematics involved, and you see that Liu Bei's forces took Jing Nan with somewhat less than 10000 men, all told, and suffered very little casualties along the way. Oh, that Zhuge Liang were a clever one, he were. ;)
As Liu Bei consolidates his hold on the Jing Province, the story turns to the east and the north, to follow for a time the exploits of Sun Quan. You might recall, during the general deployment of Wu's forces during the Battle of Chi Bi, Sun Quan led an army to besiege He Fei. Because of its chronological proximity to the Battle of Chi Bi, I tend to refer to the first Battle of He Fei as "Chi Bi part 2". While it may not have been as massive a battle as Chi Bi was in terms of participants and resources used, it was nonetheless a very important battle. I shall elaborate on its significance a little later.
At any rate, earlier, we saw several of the great heroes of Liu Bei's army do their thing. At He Fei, Cao Cao's army and the Southland's army fielded some of their finest as well. Cheng Pu, the veteran general of the Southland who had served by this point not only Sun Quan, but also Sun Ce and Sun Jian before him, has arrived as reinforcement for Sun Quan's forces, though Sun Quan rashly takes on the leadership of the siege himself, a mistake he will soon have cause to regret. Also present at He Fei is the mighty Taishi Ci, one of the finest officers the Southland would ever have, as well as Lu Xun (who would rise to greatness quite a bit later in the story).
But He Fei is not lightly defended, though its garrison is vastly outnumbered by the leaguer of the Southland. For Cao Cao chose wisely when he delivered He Fei into the hands of Zhang Liao, Li Dian, and Yue Jing, three of his greatest officers. I talk a lot of crap about Cao Cao (because I really don't like Machiavellians), but he WAS a clever devil, and he probably couldn't have chosen better defenders for He Fei than Zhang Liao and his subordinates. Zhang Liao was certainly a terror on the battlefield, a man of proven martial prowess. But, like his good friend Guan Yu, he was also all the more dangerous because he possessed a keen mind as well. Brawn without brains is not all that big a deal. But brawn WITH brains? That's something else entirely. Yue Jing was no slouch either, but Li Dian was also a very capable field tactician, and between Zhang Liao and Li Dian, it's surprising to me that Sun Quan was able to escape from the debacle at He Fei with his skin intact.
Taishi Ci was not so lucky.
The first Battle of He Fei would prove to be the downfall of Taishi Ci, and few of the Heroes of the Three Kingdoms would affect me, personally, more than that of Taishi Ci. I'm a revolutionary, folks. I've devoted my life to it. I've given up just about everything that can be considered a "normal life" for the cause of ending the chaos, much like Liu Bei sought to do. Taishi Ci's final words, about dying before he was able to render a great service to society...they affect me a bit. I admit it. I totally know where he was coming from, and I feel it too, just about every day. My time in this world is also limited, and I would have it count for something...
Another notable death at He Fei was Song Qian, who, though he hasn't really gotten much coverage in the novel, nonetheless died an honorable death protecting Sun Quan from assassination.
Now here's why the first Battle of He Fei was so important, and also why I call it "Chi Bi part 2". See, much like Chi Bi halted Cao Cao's advance into the South, He Fei stood as a bastion that must be overcome in order for Sun Quan to effect a real offensive into the North. Zhang Liao's masterful defense of He Fei, with such a relatively small contingent of defenders, effectively accomplished for Cao Cao what Chi Bi accomplished for Sun Quan and Zhou Yu...it stopped a major offensive dead in its tracks, and caused the situation along the Great River to settle down into a cold war of sorts. That's the sort of scenario ideal for the establishment of the Three Kingdoms, and from this point on, much of the interplay between the contending powers would take place in the diplomatic rather than the military arena.
One final thing to address in this commentary: Chapter 53 sees the end of the line of Liu Biao, as Liu Biao's remaining heir, Liu Qi, at last succumbs to illness. Liu Bei's relationship with Liu Qi had been the convenient excuse for him to conquer Jingzhou. Now, Liu Qi is dead, and Liu Bei is out of excuses, and must come up with some other, less valid means of maintaining control of the Jing Province. The chapter ends with a bit of foreshadowing. Lu Su is coming to see to it that Liu Bei keeps his side of the bargain. And this will in turn set the stage for the next several chapters, as things heat up a bit between Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu.
Anyways, I put a lot of work into this chapter. I've pretty much decided to start using sound effects more in the post-Chi Bi chapters, though it means a ton of extra work. But I'm hoping you'll like what I came up with. ;) Enjoy this, Chapter 54 of the Sanguo Yanyi audiobook, here at DJRaspy.com, and thank you again for your continued enjoyment of my work. It really means a lot to me. :)