Disclaimer: I do not own Guan Yu, Dynasty Warriors or any of the mentioned characters

Guan Yu’s Escape

Chapter 4

Guan Yu sat atop Red Hare on the grassy hill. His eagle sharp eyes scanned the lush countryside before him. A mile or so behind him was the carriage, protected by its escort. His own cavalry patrol was milling around about him as he surveyed the landscape before him. From the vantage point he could see Dong Ming Pass. A large stone gateway built into a mountainside, leading to the tunnel carved through the mountain range. To pass through the gate legally he would need a document signed by Cao Cao himself. A document, needless to say, Guan Yu did not possess.

A day had passed since their departure, and the sun was rising to the east. Guan Yu turned to his horsemen.

“Alright, rest time is over. Saddle up and prepare to move on.”

Within ten minutes he and his patrol were galloping down the hillside. This part of the country consisted of vast open plains; perfect for a band of riders. Dong Ming Pass, once a mere speck on the horizon was quickly growing into a vast behemoth in the side of the approaching mountain range. Soon he could see the men posted on the towers on either side of the gateway, each man clad in light mail and azure clothing and armed with bows. As the horsemen approached the Pass, other soldiers emerged from tents and wagons, wary of these green-clad riders. Guan Yu spurred Red Hare on purposefully, paying no heed to the gathering defenders. It was only when their leader emerged that he stopped. He did not know the man’s name, but if he was to judge from appearances he was not impressed.

The man wore elaborate blue tinted armour and an officer’s sword. He sat astride a tan coloured horse and was escorted by an entourage of ten men. However, despite these attempts to dignify his presence, he had the face of a clerk. A man who would rather work behind a desk, writing forms and letters, than defending a crucial outpost. His features were sharp and rodent-like, eyes darting all around him. He looked at Guan Yu with barely suppressed terror. He edged his horse slightly forward as Yu and his men came to a stop before him. The captain’s bodyguards formed a closely knit line between the two parties, growling at Guan Yu in a threatening manner. Despite his distaste for this man, Yu decided to take the diplomatic approach to the situation. He raised his halberd in salute.

“Good morning sir,” he said. “I trust I find you well this day?”

The man’s face gave one last glimpse of terror and then set in a pathetic mask of confidence. As Guan Yu had expected, the man’s voice was thin and reedy.

“Indeed, you do sir. I trust I find you the same.” This was not a question, and the man did not wait for an answer. “I am Captain Kong Xiu, Marshal of Luo Yang and Protector of Dong Ming Pass. I command two hundred men at this Pass and am authorised to demand a certificate of approval signed by Lord Cao Cao before allowing you to pass through this gate.”

Guan Yu smiled ruefully to himself. So much for the diplomatic approach, he thought. He had counted only forty men around the gateway, and guessed that the captain was exaggerating the size of his forces. His thirty horsemen appeared to stand idle, but Yu could tell that each man was in a position to fight. His remaining foot-soldiers approached behind them, but were too far away to help in this fight... He sighed and then raised his halberd until it was level with Kong Xiu’s face, despite the five meters between them. He smiled, but his face contained more malice than the grim snarl of any bloodthirsty tyrant.

“Ah… I see we have hit somewhat of a snag. For you see, I do not possess any such document. I am leaving these lands without the permission of Cao Cao.” Kong Xiu stared at him in terror. His guards, a moment ago were brimming with confidence and bravado, were now edging away in uncertainty from this emerald devil. “You have two choices. You can either let me and my men through this gate without interference, or you can stand in my way and die.”

“Do not be a fool, sir,” spluttered Kong Xiu. “You have perhaps thirty men at your command. I have two hundred. No man may face those odds. My archers will kill you in your saddle and your men will be taken as traitors. Who are you, anyway?” At this Guan Yu lowered his head and smiled.

“My name… is Guan Yu.”

The effect of these words was like a ripple. The men guarding Kong Xiu became white as a flag of truce. They lost their last ounce of loyalty and fled. The name of Guan Yu was whispered from soldier to soldier, and the masks of horror spread like a deadly plague. As Kong Xiu himself paled at the name, his adversary struck. Defying all capabilities of a regular horse, Red Hare leapt from the spot and flew through the air. The Blue Dragon scythed through the air, its blade singing as it swept towards its target. All around him his men were spurring their horses towards the fleeing guards, but Guan Yu concentrated solely on his blade’s prey. Kong Xiu slowly regained his senses and reached for the hilt of his sword but it was far too late. The crescent shaped blade entered his body between his neck and collarbone, cutting through his flesh like a hot poker through snow. He cleaved Kong Xiu’s torso in two with one blow, and the top half tumbled from the saddle. The severed body hit the ground at the same moment as Red Hare’s front hooves, but Red Hare did not stop. He leapt forward again and sprinted towards Guan Yu’s next victim.

Guan Yu whirled the halberd through the air and swung it to his other side. It cut into the neck of one of the few soldiers still within striking distance. The unlucky warrior spun as he fell to the ground. The guards on the towers sent arrows whistling down towards the horsemen. One struck a blue clad soldier in the upper arm to the left of Guan Yu and he cleaved through the man’s neck as he recoiled in pain. He rode on, striking down two more with a smooth circular sweep. An arrow thudded into the chest of one of his men who fell to the ground with a shout. A large bearded lieutenant charged Guan Yu with a yell, thrusting his spear at Red Hare’s throat. The fiery stallion reared up as Guan Yu changed his grip on Blue Dragon and drove it into the man’s chest. The man gargled as his blood spilled down his torso and then collapsed backwards as the halberd was withdrawn. Yu wheeled his horse around and surveyed the field. He himself had killed five men, while another twelve had fallen to his cavalry. Three of his own men had fallen to the enemy’s’ arrows, and the blue soldiers had recovered from their first shock and were rallying. He counted ten men upon the towers, and arrows still streaked down upon the riders. He shouted to his own men to circle the reforming enemy and pick them off while he rode towards one of the towers. A ladder was bound to the side, but climbing it would make him vulnerable to fire from above, so he decided to take an alternative approach.

As Red Hare neared the wooden structure Guan Yu gripped Blue Dragon and raised himself until he was standing in the stirrups then climbed to his feet on the beast’s back. The horse, guided by Guan Yu’s feet, veered sharply away from the tower and it was then that Guan Yu leapt. He swung the halberd down in an arc and it struck a beam. He pushed his own weight down onto the weapon and lifted himself up, landing his feet two beams up. He leapt across the tower, vaulting with his halberd again. He continued this until he gripped the bottom of the tower, his halberd lodged in the wooden beam beneath him. Far below, his men had scattered the foot-soldiers but were still being slain and wounded by the archers who seemed oblivious to Guan Yu’s presence. Three were in the tower above his head, three in the tower to his right and four in the furthest away tower. Yu gritted his teeth plucked out Blue Dragon and swung his whole body onto the tower.

He dispatched one of the archers before they knew what was happening, and cut through another as he drew his sword. He spun, parried the third’s strike, and then struck him in the chin with the butt of the weapon. The luckless soldier screamed until he struck the solid ground. Within three seconds all three men were dead, and the other archers were none the wiser.

He kicked a fallen bow from his feet and caught it out the air, then bent down and pulled a handful of arrows from one of the archers’ quivers. He notched an arrow to the bow. It was a poorly made weapon, a far stretch from the finely wrought hunting bows he was used to, but it would send an arrow at least to the next tower. He crouched on one knee, turned his bow arm horizontally and aimed at the largest of the three bowmen in the nearest tower. Guan Yu held his breath to steady his aim, and let loose the arrow. The missile darted through the air gracefully, and struck the big man hard in the chest. The archer tipped backwards, and Guan Yu saw his body tumble to earth. The other archers finally noticed the warrior’s presence, and shouted warnings to the third tower. One man in the nearest tower fired his already drawn bow, but the shot was rushed and the arrow thudded harmlessly into a beam below Guan Yu. The other man drew his own bow a second behind Guan Yu, raised it to fire a second behind Guan Yu, and let his arrow fire to the ground as his neck was pierced by Guan Yu’s missile. The tower furthest from Guan Yu was no immediate threat to him, and for that he cursed. He would prefer them to shoot at him rather than his men. Below the towers the horsemen were continuing their sweep of the camp, albeit with less momentum than their initial assault. The azure-clad soldiers were resisting admirably, and only the fiercest fighters were alive, but for every foot soldier still fighting, two horsemen fought against him, while all the while the arrows seared towards the soldiers. Guan Yu notched another arrow, pulled his head back to avoid his opponent’s shot, took time aiming, and then let fly another arrow. The projectile hit the man just below its intended target; his left eye. The unfortunate bowman’s cry echoed throughout the mountains, and even the hardest of Guan Yu’s marching infantry shuddered at the sound.

Turning his attention to the final tower, Guan Yu saw that several of his men had despatched their opponents on the ground and now rushed the tower, the archers drawing their knives, having spent their arrows. He picked up Blue Dragon and hurled it towards the ground, before climbing down the ladder on the side of the tower. The warriors on the ground had all fallen or fled, and the men at the top of the final tower had decided that their salary was decidedly less than their current conditions deserved and threw down their weapons. Shouldering his blade, Yu surveyed the field. The corpses of his enemies lay hacked to pieces before the gate, but there were glimpses of green among the blue bodies. Upon closer inspection it was revealed that nine of his men had fallen, and several more were wounded. He approached Red Hare and mounted him.

“Get the wounded on horses,” he shouted. “Tie the prisoners to the tower and leave them for their comrades… Bury the dead”

He spurred Red Hare back, towards the approaching infantry. Some had drawn their swords, in anticipation of the battle which was now over.

“We’ll rest here tonight and take the mountain passage tomorrow. Sergeant Hao?”

A brawny, dark skinned man carrying a long pike stepped out from the front of the ranks.

“Sir?”

“Pick your men for guard duty. There should be more men inside the pass and I have no intention of being ambushed as we sleep. The rest of you, fall out and set up camp.”

It took two hours for the camp to set up, but by that time the men had mourned for their lost comrades and were in relatively high spirits. Yu did not allow them sake, but examination of Kong Xiu’s stores produced oxen meat, chicken, bread rolls and a few sacks of rice. These produced a better meal than the soldiers had imagined they were likely to receive for some time. Guan Yu milled about the tents, sharing rice with one group of men, swapping stories with another. Ladies Fui and Yan stayed in their own tent. They would have been made welcome amongst the men, but the high born Ladies felt awkward around the hardened soldiers. When Yu swept aside the canvas door and entered the tent, both women were delicately eating the best rice and fruit, found in Kong Xiu’s private supplies. Guan Yu bowed to each in turn.

“My ladies, I trust you find your quarters adequate?”

“Oh Guan Yu, they’re splendid,” Replied Lady Fui. “The food is exquisite, and your men have been very helpful.”

Guan Yu smiled. “I am glad that you are comfortable, my lady, although the men are not mine. Their loyalty is to Lord Liu Bei. As is my own.”

At this show of modesty, Lady Yan smiled softly.

“Come now, Guan Yu,” she said. “Do you think these men would follow any other officer? Zhang Fei, perhaps?”

Yu couldn’t help but smile at the thought of his sworn brother, a mighty warrior but a mightier drinker, leading a host of men on a battlefield.

“My brother is a noble man…” he said. “I’m sure if the need arose he would command men as well as any lord. Now if you’ll excuse me, my ladies, I must see to the sentries before I retire. Tomorrow I and a group of foot-soldiers shall advance ahead of your carriage and the rest of the men.”

With that, Guan Yu said his goodnights and left the tent.

He and his chosen band of thirty men rose early the next morning. The men were equipped with short swords and bucklers, with no bows. The pass was narrow, and Guan Yu did not want any casualties as a result of poor coordination. Their aim was to sweep the pass of any defenders who remained, then assault what forces remained on the other side, relying on Sergeant Hao to bring the remainder of the force to their aid. Red Hare was left with the sergeant, and after a quick breakfast from Kong Xiu’s stores the skirmishing party departed through the mountain pass.

The pass was, for a large part, naturally formed. When Cao Cao had taken the territory he had noticed the pass through the mountain range and decided to have it manually fortified as a defensive pass. However, these defences had been constructed with the intention of defending from assaults from Yuan Shao’s camp, not from that of Cao Cao, and in this fact lay Guan Yu’s advantage. Judging from Kong Xiu’s failure to match a fugitive on a red horse to the name of Guan Yu, it would appear that word had not yet reached the outlying regions of his defection, and this gave him at least a few hours ahead of his pursuers.

He and his men stalked through the empty darkness. Evidently it was the job of one of Kong Xiu’s men to light to torches which lined the walls of the Pass, or else the men at the other end were not yet awake. Guan Yu could see the embrasures where the defenders would stand during the day, but as his men advanced deeper and deeper into the pitch black, they encountered no night guards or switching patrols, none of the men that Kong Xiu had spoken of. This lack of resistance irritated Yu. He had hoped to make use of the darkness and the early hour by ambushing as many of the enemy as possible in the confines of the Pass, but it seemed as though he would be forced into another open confrontation against the remnants of the garrison, costing him more soldiers. Not only this, but he could not risk the ladies by placing them near the entire enemy force, and so he would have to deplete their numbers as best he could before reinforcements arrived with the carriage. His soldiers could not understand why he was disappointed at the lack of opposition; although they were not cowards they all felt that, at this early stage in their escape, the less fighting to be done the better. Gradually the company began to approach the end of the tunnel, and even the dim light of the morning outside burst through the darkness like a supernova.

“Make ready!” hissed Guan Yu. There was a soft noise as thirty blades were slowly drawn from their scabbards. Guan Yu could practically feel the tension rise in his group of men, for they all knew that they were about to face their enemy, out in the dim morning sunshine, with the rest of their company far behind them. Once again, Guan Yu decided, he would begin with attempting to negotiate with whoever guarded the Outer Gate, but he had no real hope that this would have any more effect than it had before. He ordered his men into a column of ten rows, slung Blue Dragon over his shoulder, and marched through the stone archway into the arms of his waiting foes.