Spiteful Nunchucks

The Story of Ling Tong

Chapter 10: He Fei Melee

"Begin the advance!" was the statement that got this showdown on the road. "Their numbers are few! Wipe them all out!" This Battle of He Fei has officially gotten underway!

Gan Ning and Lu Meng were leading the Vanguard, the other generals were behind us, and I was assigned to protect Sun Quan. "I'm sorry you have to face us in battle, you losers from Wei." With the advantage entirely in our favor, this should be a cakewalk.

We soon received word that Yue Jin was ahead of us, and Gan Ning had rode out to engage him. Yue Jin ended up retreating after a few bouts, and Gan Ning and Lu Meng's forces went after him. Cheered by this news, Sun Quan ordered a faster march. This was going to be easier than I thought!

We soon got to the Xiaoshi Bridge at Xiaoyao Ford, and crossed it, ready for action. However, we weren't ready for what actually happened. We barely got a few feet beyond the bridge when we heard explosions behind us, and the bridge collapsed!

The next thing we saw was a figure almost flying through the air on his horse. "Forward for honor!" the figure shouted as he sliced through our rearguard like a sharp knife through bamboo! "With my spear, I shall sever the threads of Wu's destiny!"

We had just walked right into a Wei ambush, led by Zhang Liao and Li Dian. "Damn! It's an ambush! Turn back and rebuild the camp!" Sun Quan ordered as we tried to get things turned around. Zhang Liao rode straight for Sun Quan, so I did the only thing I could do...get in the way.

"Run for it, my Lord! I'll hold him here!"

Zhang Liao reined in, and pointed his halberd at me. "If you get in my way, I will show you no mercy!"

"Aren't you being a little arrogant, Zhang Liao?"

The formalities only went as far as that, as we soon engaged. He had me topped in straight up strength, but I held my own more than well. Meanwhile, Sun Quan began to ride back towards the bridge, only to remember belatedly that it was destroyed.

"Without...the bridge..."

I overheard that, forced Zhang Liao back for a second, then quickly ran over to Sun Quan. "You need a bridge? If you wanted to, you could jump this river!"

Sun Quan apparently decided to take the chance. "Father! Brother! Lend strength to my ambition!" he cried as he whipped his steed and made a beeline for the gap.

"He runs...he leaps..." I jokingly announced as Sun Quan's horse made the jump...and cleanly landed on the other side. "And he clears it! The crowd goes wild!"

I was suddenly reminded that I had more important business to take care of by seeing a soldier get decapitated next to me. I spun around...and could barely get my nunchucks up fast enough to prevent the same fate from happening to me.

However, Zhang Liao wasn't through with me. His next swing severed the chain of my nunchucks, and he quickly followed up with a boot that sent me on a one-way trip into the river. Having disposed of me, and painfully easily due to my earlier distraction, he rode off. All I could do was let myself float down the river. I was soon spotted and picked up by Dong Xi.

Man, that Zhang Liao really is something else. Every single soldier in our camp was whispering in fear about him. Boy, do I have a great scary story to tell my kids.

Soon, everyone else broke out of the battle, and we all regrouped at Ruxu. I was rewarded with gold and a brand new pair of nunchucks for putting my life on the line to buy Sun Quan time to escape. However, the bad news quickly became worse when the scouts brought word that Cao Cao himself had arrived to reinforce the Wei Army at He Fei.

Zhang Zhao quickly spoke up. "We should inflict a defeat upon Cao Cao as soon as he arrives in order to dishearten his troops." Good call for a politician, and apparently, Sun Quan saw that as well.

He turned to face us. "Who will go out and provoke a battle with this Cao Cao."

I immediately stood up. "I will go!"

"How many troops do you need?"

Hmm...after the latest defeat, my thoughts was that the men needed a show of confidence. Plus, not too many of them would be willing to go out after what happened yesterday. "3000 troops will suffice."

Then Gan Ning spoke up. "Why 3000 troops? I could get by with merely 100 horsemen!"

Now, showing confidence is one thing, but that was either insanely cocky, or cockily insane. I would have tackled him and knocked the stuffing out of him, but Lu Meng quickly found it prudent to get in the way...again. However, Sun Quan must not have been a big fan of Gan Ning's proposal either, as he said "Cao Cao's army is too massive to be engaged lightly."

I gave a passing smirk at Gan Ning as I received my commission. I was ordered to reconnoiter outside Ruxu, and fight if I ran into anyone. I probably barely stepped out before I saw an army coming, led by none other than Zhang Liao.

"So, the defeated leader returns to the battlefield!" he called out when he saw me.

"Yeah, but let's see how well you do in a fair fight!"

I must have angered him. "The Dragon Zhang Liao will burn the land of Wu!" We soon engaged, and fought a nice long duel. The new nunchucks I had received from Sun Quan held up a lot better than my old ones did, and fifty bouts between us ended in a perfect draw. Lu Meng then came up with some forces, and Zhang Liao drew off. Lu Meng, however, didn't pursue, as his orders were to extricate me from the fighting. Tch.

When I got back and reported that I couldn't get an opportunity, Gan Ning spoke up. "Now, let me have the hundred horsemen, and I will raid the enemy's camp tonight. Also, if I lose a soldier or a horse, treat it as if it was a defeat!"

Well, he's got courage, I'll give him that. But I had to speak up. "Hey, Gan Ning. Have you ever heard of something called "overconfidence"?"

"Why don't you just shut up and let the real men do the fighting?"

Had Lu Meng not quickly restrained me, I would have torn Gan Ning apart from headband to boots. What a cocky, arrogant jerk that guy can be! However, Sun Quan approved, appointed 100 veteran horsemen to Gan Ning, and let him do his thing.

That night, as Gan Ning began to ride out, I stopped him. "Hey Ning, how about we make this a little more interesting?"

Gan Ning pulled up and smirked back at me. "What did you have in mind?"

"How about a little wager? If you lose a soldier or a horse in this upcoming raid, you have to give me a chance tokill you in vengence for my father."

"All right, but if I return victorious, you have to be the serving boy at the feast in my honor!"

The deal settled, Gan Ning and his horsemen rode off. Not long after, Zhou Tai rode off with a few troops as well. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Sun Quan ordered me to assist Gan Ning if he needed it."

Almost as if on cue, the sound of shouting from the enemy camp could be heard from here.

"Well, you'd better ride quickly, otherwise there's not going to be enough left of Gan Ning to bring back in a pouchel."

Zhou Tai quickly rode off, and I waited a bit longer. Not much later, Zhou Tai returned, followed by Gan Ning, who was all smiles.

"Count 'em and weep, Ling Tong!"

I did just that...and every single horse and rider was still there. He pulled it off. I can not believe he pulled it off.

Of course, a deal was a deal, so I was the serving boy at the feast Sun Quan gave in Gan Ning's honor. Sun Quan was exceptionally praiseful of Gan Ning. "Cao Cao may have his Zhang Liao, but I can match him with my friend Gan Ning!"

Gan Ning just laughed. "Hey serving boy! More wine over here!"

At this point, my blood was almost boiling over, but I presented him with a glass of wine, while speaking through my teeth. "You win this round, Gan Ning. But just you wait."

The party soon broke up, and a new day dawned, and with it came a challenge to battle from Zhang Liao. Not one to sit idly by, I was practically begging Sun Quan to let me go out and fight. He appointed me a new group of soldiers, and I set out.

"You spoke of fair fights, Ling Tong." was the greeting I recieved from Zhang Liao. "How then do you explain what happened last night?"

"You think I had something to do with that? That was just a sneaky move by a sneaky pirate. However, we're now on a level field, so let's fight!"

"Ha! You're barely even worth my time. Yue Jin! You go out!"

This infuriated me, but nothing could be done, so I fought with Yue Jin. He was an okay fighter. Not on mine or Zhang Liao's level, but you got to give him props for trying. The duel ran 50 bouts, when my horse suddenly reared and threw me off! Some jerk from the Wei side shot my horse!

"Tch...what a pain!"

Yue Jin rode at me, hoping to take advantage of what just happened, but before he could, an arrow streaked over my head from my side of the battlefield and nailed Yue Jin right in the face!

He fell off his horse. Smelling blood, I went after him, but the charging Wei Army made retreat the better option. After a short skirmish when the Wu soldiers joined the battle, both sides drew off.

When I returned to camp and came to report what happened, Gan Ning departed before I entered, and he actually gave me as close to a smile as I believed he could. What was that all about? I walked into the tent, and Sun Quan confronted me immediately.

"What happened out there, Ling Tong?"

I told him the truth. "Someone from the Wei side shot my horse. If it wasn't for that arrow that nailed Yue Jin in the face, I might not have made it back. Do you happen to know who shot that?"

Sun Quan got a wide smile on his face. "The arrow that saved you was shot by Gan Ning."

I...was...stupefied. Gan Ning saved MY life? The same guy who killed my father...saved me? "Please tell me you're joking! I owe HIM my life?"

"I was standing right next to him when he shot it. I watched the arrow from his bow to Yue Jin's face."

I knew Sun Quan wouldn't be joking about this. But I still couldn't believe it.

Later that night, I was thrashing away on a practice dummy, still not understanding why Gan Ning would have saved me. I soon however, realized I wasn't alone, as an arrow flew over my shoulder and nailed the dummy in the face. Just like the shot from earlier. I turned around to find none other than Gan Ning standing there, with a grin on his face.

"You're lucky I'm a pretty good archer, huh?"

I just turned my back on him. "So what? Are you expecting me to thank you or something?"

He just gave a light chuckle. "Don't be a fool. I have no intention of apologizing for your father."

This recaught my attention, and I spun around. "What!"

His look turned...sincere? "Let me share with you a piece of advice I picked up from my pirating days that I still hold true to today...the one simple rule of war."

"Oh, really? What is it?"

Gan Ning walked over to me, and put his hand on my shoulder. "Kill the enemy, protect your allies!" He smiled. "It's as simple as that!"

I let my view drop. What hurt the most about what Gan Ning said was the fact that he was absolutely right. When it all came down to it, war really was that simple: Killing the enemy, protecting your allies.

"Listen, Ling Tong." he continued. "We're not doing anyone any favors by dragging this out forever. What do you say we bury the hatchet? Right here, right now! If not for each other, then for Sun Quan and for our Kingdom of Wu."

I looked back up at Gan Ning, and saw nothing but seriousness in his eyes. I only thought it over for a moment longer, then we impulsively shook hands and swore an oath of perpetual friendship.

"But don't think I'm forgetting about this, Gan Ning! I'm not going to let you outperform me again!"

"Yeah right! We'll just see about that!"

The Battle of He Fei drug on for another month, with neither side gaining a decisive victory. Finally, peace was made, and the battle ended in a draw. We returned to our homes, glad to be done with war for the time being. You know, I actually feel a lot better now that I don't have to worry about avenging my father.