To Xiahou Yuan's own surprise, his sleep that night was restless.
In his dream, he returned to that small courtyard in Chang'an.
Back to the days when he and Zhang Junyi spent their time playing chess.
The match ended. He looked up.
Zhang He was smiling at him.
"The jujubes in the courtyard are ripe. When will Miaocai return?"
Xiahou Yuan woke with a sharp breath.
Before the battle began, he went personally to inspect Li Dian's troops once more. Only then did his heart settle somewhat.
Even compared to Liu Bei's personal guards he had seen in Chang'an, or to the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, these three thousand men could still be called fierce elites. It was no wonder Li Dian had dared to petition to move his entire clan into Wei Commandery before using them as his core force.
Li Dian's plan was simple. His troops would remain hidden inside the camp. He himself would provoke Huang Zhong, fighting while retreating, then unleash the elite force in one sudden strike.
There was nothing wrong with the plan on paper.
Yet the unease in Xiahou Yuan's chest only deepened.
And now, there was no time left to ponder.
"General, the rebels are attacking. We must withdraw!"
For a moment, Xiahou Yuan felt as though he had returned to those winter nights in the Wei River valley.
Back then, Liu Bei's army had not even been stronger than the Guanzhong troops he commanded. Yet the cold weather, and their own stretched supplies, had handed Liu Bei a bloodless victory.
Warm medicinal soup for every soldier.
Coal briquettes stacked like hills for heating.
Simple words of concern passed from officer to man.
Those small things alone had broken his army.
He and Zhang Junyi had often sighed afterward, saying their defeat in Guanzhong had not been a failure of battle, but of timing and fate.
At the time, Zhang He had always seemed to hesitate, as if wanting to speak yet holding back. Xiahou Yuan had not cared then.
Now, he felt he finally understood that hesitation.
"General? General!"
The shrill ringing in his ears faded slightly. He realized his body was being shaken by his attendants. His mind snapped back to the present, and the memories vanished as quickly as they had come.
Li Dian had planned carefully.
But Liu Bei's army had formed first and struck first, their advance flowing like spilled mercury.
Hundreds of soldiers clad in ingenious iron armor moved forward like a wall. The armor covered them fully yet did not hinder their movement, and blades glanced harmlessly off it.
Behind them, Liu Bei's army advanced in steady rhythm.
Smoking clay jars were hurled spinning through the air by nimble soldiers. When they landed among the Cao ranks, they exploded like thunder.
The Cao troops had not even formed a proper battle line before chaos overtook them. Then came the rain of heavy crossbow bolts, scattering their formation further.
In one hurried glance, Xiahou Yuan saw the fate of those elite troops.
Most ran blindly like startled livestock, shouting at one another in panic, only to collapse with bolts buried in their bodies.
Amid the chaos, he saw Li Dian still managing to gather several hundred men. Braving the crossbow fire, they charged toward the iron-clad line.
But courage alone could not pierce iron.
Working together, Li Dian and five or six of his men dodged the blades of one armored soldier. Three or four threw themselves forward to pin him down. Li Dian wrenched away the man's weapon and thrust repeatedly through the slit in his faceplate until the iron warrior finally fell still.
Then another volley of bolts came.
Those brave men all fell.
Li Dian, who had taken cover behind the corpse of the armored soldier, was struck only in the arm. But within moments four or five more iron soldiers surrounded him.
The fierce general who had been so confident the day before let his weapon drop.
Xiahou Yuan rubbed his ears and felt his face wet with blood. Only then did he realize one of the clay bombs had exploded just a few steps away, and shards must have cut his face.
"General, we must flee!" someone urged again beside him.
The ringing in his ears had finally faded. But Xiahou Yuan only pointed toward the rear of the camp and shook his head.
The attendant turned to look.
Only then did he see it.
Liu Bei's troops had come around by water. Riding strange one-man boats, they had slipped down the Wushui and landed behind the camp. They were already forming ranks.
Oddly, though he stood in the middle of a battlefield, the unease in Xiahou Yuan's heart vanished completely.
He even spoke calmly to his attendants.
"If we must surrender, then we surrender. This defeat is not the fault of battle. Its fault…"
The words felt too familiar. Xiahou Yuan laughed softly at himself and murmured,
"I wonder what those jujubes taste like now."
His attendants stared at him in confusion.
Instead, Xiahou Yuan raised his voice and called out toward the approaching iron soldiers.
"Tell General Huang Zhong he wants my head. Let me go find him myself."
---
By the time Guan Ping and Liu Min finished clearing the battlefield and delivered Xiahou Yuan's message, Huang Zhong and Wu Yi had already advanced to the foot of Wuyang's walls.
Huang Zhong waved his hand with a regretful sigh.
"If we had cut him down in the field, so be it. If we kill him now, Yide might take offense."
That was not the only concern. Killing those who surrendered was taboo on the battlefield. It was even more so for a general who had surrendered, been released, and surrendered again.
Originally Huang Zhong intended to simply house Xiahou Yuan comfortably somewhere. But when his eyes drifted to Wu Yi beside him, he suddenly changed his mind.
"General Wu. That pill you mentioned, the one meant to shatter cities… does it truly have such power?"
Wu Yi nodded. Seeing Huang Zhong's doubt, he added,
"This formula was set by Military Advisor Zhuge."
That settled it immediately. Huang Zhong nodded in relief and turned to Liu Min.
"In that case, invite General Xiahou Miaocai to come… and watch General Wu break the city."
---
The collapse of Xiahou Yuan and Li Dian's forces had been so swift that Wuyang itself still did not fully grasp the situation.
To be cautious, the defenders decided to rely on their strong walls and observe.
It was the safest choice. If Wuyang fell, Liu Bei's army would pour into Yu Province with nothing left to stop them. The stakes were too high for Cao Ren to take any risk.
The city had been reinforced several times. Its granaries held enough for ten months. Within the walls were sturdy armor and sharp weapons. It should have been secure.
Cao Ren had also investigated carefully. When the rebels captured Yangping Pass and seized Hanzhong, they had relied on siege towers known as well-ladders. He had even prepared fire oil specifically to counter them.
But now, the enemy showed no sign of building such machines.
Instead, powerful crossbows gathered before the city, sending dense volleys toward the walls and forcing the defenders to keep their heads down.
Through gaps in the battlements, Cao Ren could see squads of shield-bearing soldiers working busily at the base of the walls. He could not tell what they were doing.
Since he could not understand it, he allowed himself a moment of envy instead. Estimating by eye, he judged those crossbows must reach two hundred paces. Compared to the Cao army's own hundred-pace bows, they were nothing short of divine weapons. If only he could obtain their method of construction…
Cao Ren's thoughts ended abruptly.
The ground shook beneath his feet. His body nearly lost balance, and the earth seemed to soften.
Standing beside Huang Zhong, Xiahou Yuan saw it even more clearly.
With several explosive blasts and bursts of flame, the reinforced gates of Wuyang shattered into fragments that flew in every direction.
Huge gaps opened in the wall where the gates had stood. The arch above, the section bearing the city's name, began to collapse entirely.
Xiahou Yuan turned, mouth open, just in time to see Huang Zhong staring at him in shock as well.
Huang Zhong swallowed and forced himself to speak calmly.
"General Miaocai… General Wu and I are willing to release you out of righteousness. We only ask that when you meet Cao… ah, when you meet Chancellor Cao, you speak well of…"
Before he could finish, Xiahou Yuan shook his head.
"I am not leaving."