“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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The history between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan had been far from simple. The two had not, as
many might have expected, fought together against the Yellow Turbans, as Yuan Shao was in ritual mourning for his
father at the time and saw no service; their first collaboration was then supposed to be against Dong Zhuo as
officers of the Eastern Pass Coalition, but Gongsun’s lord, Yòu Province Governor Liu Yu, resisted
calls to join the coalition and instead focussed on continued quelling of the never-ending regional rebellions
and tribal incursions from the northern side of the Great Wall, for which he received praise and rewards.
As tensions between Chancellor Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao’s
Coalition intensified and a chance of some form of resolution appeared to be nearing, Yuan Shao insisted that the
coalition should not accept Dong Zhuo’s appointed Emperor, Xian, and turned to imperial relative Liu Yu as
an alternative: Liu Yu publicly rebuked Yuan Shao and remained loyal to Emperor Xian, and he expected Gongsun Zan -
the true champion of his suppressions and repulsions in Yòu Province - to do the same, though Gongsun
‘rented’ cavalry divisions to individual coalition leaders as a private venture regardless.
When neighbouring Ji Province’s governor, Han Fu,
reneged on his obligations to the unstable Eastern Pass Coalition and put the supply chain at risk of collapse,
Yuan Shao approached Gongsun Zan independently with a proposal: if Gongsun Zan would move south with his legendary
‘White Horse Cavalry’ and attack Han Fu whilst citing border defence to Liu Yu, then Han Fu would be
forced to invite Yuan to take and relieve Ji Province, and Gongsun would receive part of the province as part
of the feigned peace negotiations. Gongsun Zan agreed, since that would have enabled him to have his own independent
territory, but once Han Fu ceded Ji, Yuan Shao reneged on the deal and Gongsun Zan received nothing. Gongsun Zan
swore revenge for what he saw as an affront, despite the entire enterprise being a treasonous territory annexation.
“Mister Guan, Tian Kai sent Bei to Xu Province with my blessing to keep the place from
Yuan Shao and his friends - not cede it to them!” Gongsun Zan cried.
“The only other choice was Yuan Shu,” Guan Jing replied.
“Yuan Shu is our ally!” Gongsun Zan whined. “He shouldn’t be, and I’d rather he
wasn’t, but…! …Oh, this makes my head hurt!”
“…Your despair at the political complexity is understandable,” Guan Jing replied unhelpfully.
Gongsun Zan’s opportunity for ‘revenge’ against Yuan Shao had come when Yuan Shu decided to publicly challenge Shao for control of the Eastern Pass Coalition and the chieftainship of the Yuan clan, citing Yuan Shao’s lineage and military record as reasons for his unworthiness. Gongsun sent his nephew Yue and some cavalry as aid to Yuan Shu’s general Sun Jian in repelling Yuan Shao’s reprisal attacks in Yu Province, but the battles cost Gongsun Yue his life, and Gongsun Zan held Yuan Shao, rather than the local commander Zhou Renming, personally responsible and added it to the list of affronts. In the meantime, Gongsun Zan was finally confronted by Liu Yu and responded by assassinating Liu and declaring himself the rightful governor of Yòu Province. Not being content with that, Gongsun had his subordinate, Tian Kai, lead an army southeast into Qing Province to try and seize that as well: Yuan Shao met Tian Kai’s advance with his valiant eldest son Yuan Tan. Liu Bei was invited to join Tian Kai and received his first proper army of infantry and cavalry as a result: the commission had also introduced Bei to Zhao Yun, a junior officer that would one day be famous for his exploits as a senior general under Bei.