Chapter Ninety-Two: Ziyi Battles Junyi

Truth be told, Yuan Shao’s judgment was spot on.

Among the twenty-four famed generals of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang He stood in fourteenth place.

Within Cao Cao’s camp, those ranked above him were Xu Chu at eighth, the Xiahou brothers at eleventh and twelfth, and Zhang Liao at thirteenth.

The Xiahou brothers, Zhang Liao, and Zhang He all stood close in rank, and in terms of strength they were much of a muchness. So it would not be easy for the Xiahou brothers or Zhang Liao to defeat Zhang He.

Zhang He rode out before the lines, leveled the long spear in his hand at Cao Cao’s camp, and shouted, “Zhang Junyi of Ji Province is here. Who dares fight me?”

No sooner had Zhang He spoken than Cao Cao turned to Su Ming and asked, “My son, who should we send to meet him?”

After the earlier days of duels in which they had suffered defeat after defeat, Cao Cao had become far more cautious and no longer dared to send men forward recklessly.

The main reason was simple: they had already lost several duels.

At this point, Cao Cao could not afford to lose again. If they kept on losing, it would not merely shake the army’s morale; deserters might even begin to appear.

This duel had to be won. It could not be lost.

Without absolute confidence, he absolutely could not send a general out lightly.

Having learned from the successive failures of the previous days, the generals in Cao’s camp no longer dared to step forward and volunteer rashly.

The Cao army could not afford another defeat. If they lost in a duel before the battle lines, no one could bear that responsibility.

Seeing Cao Cao ask Su Ming for his opinion, all the generals in Cao’s camp turned their eyes toward him.

At this point, Su Ming was the hope of the entire camp.

If the first challenger had been Zhao Yun of Changshan, Su Ming would have wanted to meet him himself and see what he was made of.

But since the first man to challenge them was Zhang He, he was not worthy of Su Ming drawing his own blade.

In truth, men such as Xu Chu, Zhang Liao, Xiahou Yuan, and Xiahou Dun under Cao Cao’s command could all have gone out to fight Zhang He.

However, the generals of the Cao army were now dispirited. If they went out to battle in that state, they would lose part of their momentum before the fighting had even begun.

On the battlefield, morale was everything. Once morale was gone, even a battle that should have been won might still be lost.

With that in mind, Su Ming looked at Taishi Ci and Qu A, as though asking which of them would go.

Before Su Ming could even speak, Taishi Ci clasped his hands and volunteered, “Taishi Ci requests permission to fight!”

Among the twenty-four generals of the Three Kingdoms, Taishi Ci ranked tenth. By strength alone, he was certainly stronger than Zhang He, who stood in fourteenth place.

Even if he could not bring Zhang He down in just a few strokes, Su Ming believed that Taishi Ci would surely prevail if the fight dragged on.

Since Taishi Ci had volunteered, Su Ming nodded and said, “Ziyi, this battle must be won. It must not be lost!”

Taishi Ci also knew the situation in Cao Cao’s camp.

If they had not truly been at their wit’s end, they would never have sent word to Su Ming in such dire haste.

Taishi Ci clasped his hands again and said solemnly, “If I do not win, I will come back with my head in my hands.”

“Villain, do not be so arrogant! Taishi Ci of Donglai has come to fight you!”

With his steed flying forward and his pair of halberds in hand, Taishi Ci charged to meet him.

In the blink of an eye, Taishi Ci and Zhang He were locked in combat.

Clang!

A deafening crash rang out as Zhang He’s long spear and Taishi Ci’s twin halberds collided. The two men were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand.

“Good!”

“Again!”

After wheeling his horse about, Taishi Ci gave a thunderous shout and charged Zhang He once more.

Zhang He’s spear whipped and spun so tightly it seemed impenetrable, while Taishi Ci’s twin halberds descended like a tiger charging down from the mountain.

Clang, clang!

Clang, clang, clang!

The two men met stroke for stroke, spear crossing halberd, until in the blink of an eye they had already fought fifty or sixty rounds.

When they first clashed, they had been evenly matched. Now, after fifty or sixty rounds, they were still deadlocked.

Both Zhang He and Taishi Ci had made promises to their lords before taking the field.

They had sworn to win and never to lose. Yet on the battlefield, there could only be one victor and one defeated.

After fifty or sixty rounds without a result, both men began to grow anxious.

Since neither had been able to decide the contest in mounted combat, they both began searching for another way.

Clang!

After another violent impact of spear and halberd, the two men again wheeled their horses apart, putting distance between them.

This time, however, the distance between them was especially wide.

Ordinarily, after a pass like that, the two sides would separate by only twenty or thirty yards before turning their horses back in and fighting again.

But this time they had pulled apart by a full fifty or sixty yards.

Once they had created that distance, both men turned around at almost the same instant and reached down to their saddles.

What were they reaching for?

Without question, bows and arrows.

Taishi Ci thought to himself, If I cannot beat you in mounted combat, then I will shoot you down.

Zhang He had the same thought: I will open the distance and bring you down with a single arrow.

The two men had arrived at the same idea, and now it came down to whose archery was superior.

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

Almost at the same moment, Zhang He and Taishi Ci nocked and loosed their arrows at one another.

Even the aim of the two arrows was the same: each was aimed at the other’s throat.

But to everyone’s astonishment, the two arrows collided in midair and fell together.

At the sight of this, Taishi Ci and Zhang He could not help but praise in unison, “Excellent shot!”

It was impossible to tell whether they were praising themselves or praising one another.

But on the battlefield, victory and defeat mattered most.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the two once again drew their bows at the same time. This time, however, Zhang He had two arrows on his bowstring, while Taishi Ci had three.

After failing to settle the matter with a single shot, both men had brought out the best of their hidden skills.

Zhang He had what might be called one arrow bringing down two birds, but Taishi Ci’s feat was even more formidable: one arrow bringing down three birds.

At this point, who had the superior archery was already plain to see.

Taishi Ci’s marksmanship was truly formidable. To call him the Yiyang Ji of the age would not be the least exaggeration.

If one spoke only of archery, then among the generals of the Three Kingdoms, only Huang Zhong could truly match him.

When Zhang He saw the three arrows poised on Taishi Ci’s bow, his heart jolted with alarm.

Three on his bow, two on mine. It’s over. I’m going to lose!

Such was the thought that surged in Zhang He’s mind. Though the thought was there, there was nothing he could do about it.

What was he supposed to do?

Reach into his quiver and fit a third arrow to the bow?

Leaving aside whether there would even be time for that, Zhang He simply did not possess the skill to loose three arrows from one bow.

With no other choice, Zhang He could only fire first.

Zhang He loosed his arrows first, and Taishi Ci followed after.

Zhang He’s two arrows met Taishi Ci’s two arrows and were knocked to the ground together, but the remaining arrow from Taishi Ci came straight for Zhang He’s face.

That shot was aimed squarely at Zhang He’s forehead.

Seeing the wolf-toothed arrow streak toward him like a star racing after the moon, Zhang He thought, It’s over. Today, Zhang Junyi is going to die here.

Just as the arrow was about to strike, Zhang He was struck by a flash of inspiration. He swung the iron-backed bow in his hand and hurled it toward the oncoming arrow.