The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 47
Friday, February 26, 2010 at 1:47AM The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 47:
Kan Ze Presents A Treacherous Letter;
Pang Tong Suggests Chaining the Ships.
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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY LIKELY CONTAINS SPOILERS. BUT I'M SURE YOU KNEW THAT BY NOW. IF NOT, PAY MORE ATTENTION! :p
With Chapter 47, the ploys of Zhou Yu, acted upon by various Wu officers, are presented to Cao Cao. Ever wonder why a Shu-Han loyalist like myself holds someone like Zhou Yu, who has tried time and time again (according to the novel) to slay Liu Bei and especially Zhuge Liang, in such high honor and respect? The man was brilliant, both in history and in literature. If he were alive today, and living in America, serving some upstart revolutionary army instead of serving the Sun Family of the Sanguo Period, I have little doubt that the Federal Republic and all its armies would be crushed. I think Zhou Yu really was that damn good at his job. He was the Erwin Rommel of his day, a loyal and brilliant officer whose subordinates loved him because he not only was one of the greatest talents of the day, but also because he was chivalrous, conducting himself with honor and integrity.
The novel, in its attempts to elevate Zhuge Liang to near-Deification, has thus far engaged Zhou Yu in a series of almost Wily Coyote/Roadrunner-esque conflicts with Zhuge Liang, with Liang always somehow emerging the winner. Historically, Zhuge Liang did not play nearly as prominent role in the Battle of Chi Bi as Zhou Yu did, and it were the ploys of Zhou Yu which saved the day for Wu, and defeated Cao Cao.
Even the novel does not downplay the respect the officers of Wu had for Zhou Yu. Huang Gai allows Zhou Yu to beat and humiliate him publicly, and though he states that it is his gratitude to the Sun Family which causes him to submit to this otherwise outrageous treatment, the Huang Gai as portrayed thus far in the novel certainly would not have allowed this "punishment" to be meted out by just anybody. I submit that Huang Gai would have allowed only Sun Quan and Zhou Yu to do this to him, and Sun Quan is not there.
Gan Ning, also, endures violence and humiliation from Zhou Yu, in order to lend credibility to Zhou Yu's ruses. I think that Gan Ning, though pretty much always counted among the mighty of the Sanguo Period, does not get nearly enough credit for his shrewdness, both of thought and character. There are indeed officers in this great story who are a whole lot of brawn and frighteningly little brain, but Gan Ning is the total package, and was pound-for-pound one of the most truly exceptional men of the Age.
Kan Ze also, in serving as Huang Gai's emissary to Cao Cao, puts his own life in jeopardy. It is Kan Ze upon whom the burden of convincing Cao Cao to accept the false surrender of Huang Gai falls, and if not for Kan Ze, the fire attack which defeated Cao Cao at the Red Cliffs would have failed.
Also another important player in this chapter is Pang Tong, the Young Phoenix. Pang Tong, it can be said, served all three of the Three Kingdoms at one point or another, in name at least. Pang Tong, at this time, is technically a free agent. Zhou Yu employs his services in tricking Jiang Gan, who would bring Pang Tong to meet Cao Cao, as Zhou Yu has foreseen. Pang Tong then "joins" Cao Cao, using the full force of his prestige (as one of the paramount talents of the land) and also simple trickery in order to convince Cao Cao to chain his ships together. Now, in Cao Cao's defense, the immobility of his ships did make his land-raised northern soldiers less prone to sea-sickness, and did make travel between the ships in his fleet much easier. Certainly there was enough advantage in the plan to recommend it even to the normally suspicious Cao Cao. But one disadvantage which Cao Cao overlooked, that of the fleet's vulnerability to fire, would come back to haunt him. Certainly, a southeast wind is not supposed to occur at that time of the year in that particular region, so under normal circumstances, Cao Cao has nothing to worry about. But Cao Cao's not up against your normal, garden-variety strategist in this battle. Pang Tong, working for Wu, helped bring ruin to Cao Cao's southern Expedition, and then eventually would go on to serve Liu Bei for all the remaining days of his life.
It has long been illustrated throughout the course of the story that destiny is indistinguishable from the Will of Heaven. When Heaven doesn't want something to happen in the story, it doesn't let it happen. Heaven knocked down the mighty Yuan Shao, so the story goes, because Yuan Shao invaded Cao Cao, and attempted to seize the capitol, Xu Chang. Now,too, Heaven knocks down the mighty Cao Cao when he attempts to invade the Southland. Cao Cao was quite simply outmatched by the impressive minds arrayed against him at Chi Bi. Not to throw rocks at Mengde. He was one of the most impressive specimens of political and military thought in the entire history of China, but even the greatest general will fall prey to the combined talents of several lesser generals. Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, Gan Ning, Kan Ze, and Pang Tong were the true heroes of the Red Cliffs, and Jiang Gan would be added to that list for his significant contributions to the Wu-Shu victory, were it not for the fact that he was working for Cao Cao and thus his contribution to the victory of his enemies was purely accidental on his part.
Chi Bi was the only occasion where Pang Tong and Zhou Yu would find themselves on the same side, and what happens when Pang Tong and Zhou Yu are working together in a common cause against a common enemy? Better check out the next chapter to find out. ;p
In the meantime, though, enjoy this, the forty-seventh chapter of this seemingly never-ending audiobook, the Sanguo Yanyi, here at brookhavenchronicles.com.
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