“Intention”: War for the Han Frontier sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“Cangting is heavily reinforced now,” Xin Ping noted. “Our only
weaknesses now would be careless negligence and relaxed vigilance. Surely our
past losses have purged the risk of either amongst our forces…?”
“You forget treachery, Mister
Xin,” Shen Pei suggested.
“There’s little that we can do about that,” Cui Yan said as he glared at
Shen Pei. “I would have thought that every man that might have considered
defection or desertion has already done so by now.”
“I certainly hope so, Mister Cui,” Shen Pei said with a cold smile.
“Because it would be a shame if-”
“Weeks… weeks, that vile, godless knave has been stockpiling and moving men
around, and still we are blind!” Yuan Shao cried as his composure finally
deserted him. “O, ‘Crafty Villain’, what mischief are you up to now…? If Heaven
truly desires order, then why does it not enlighten me when men have failed to
do so…?”
The advisers exchanged glances but said nothing.
Another week passed.
“…I wonder what he’s thinking, old ‘Benchu’,” Cao Cao chuckled as he
studied his battle maps with apparent calmness. The Guandu command tent was
filled with his officials for the campaign, and the atmosphere was generally
tense.
“He’s probably wondering what the hell you’re doing, like the rest of
us,” Xiahou Dun complained. “This is another of Guo Jia’s strange little plots,
isn’t it? Marching back and forth from Guandu to Anmin, overseeing tiny
movements of supplies for weeks on end! Please tell me we’re here to find out
what we’re doing!”
“If Benchu is even half as angry and confused as you are, Yuanrang, then
we have won,” Cao Cao replied. “Up and down the riverbank, the men in my camps
have been moving suspiciously and making decoy preparations that will make only
half-sense to Yuan Shao and his little band of near-sighted mediocrities. He’s
floundering and posturing, faltering and procrastinating: now is the moment,
gentlemen!”
Xiahou Dun sighed and asked, “For what?”
“No schemes now, Cousin Yuanrang, just action,” Cao Cao said with a
smile. “I’m going to make another trip to Anmin, one that will be just as banal
and bewildering to them as the rest. What happens next will be told to you when
the time is right.”
“How is that not a scheme???”
Xiahou Dun complained.
Cao Cao looked at Cheng Yu purposefully and said, “Everyone can go now.”
The officials left the tent in a bewildered and irritated state; the
only statesmen that remained were Assistant Officer Man Chong, Cheng Yu and Xu
Yòu.
“…Are you being so cautious because you fear that I might go back to
Yuan Shao and betray you, Mengde…?” Xu Yòu asked worriedly. “Because-”