Chapter 117- Deng Ai Braves the Impassible Mountain Terrain Attacking C...

The source material really shows us the dominoes starting to fall. Let's set the scene first, the initial situation at Jiang Pass. Well, initially Xu's defense, it looked rock solid. General Dongzhu, he had some worries about the capital, Chengdu being vulnerable. Understandable. But Jiang Wei, along with Liao He and Zhang Yi, they set up this really strong defense at Jiang. And Jiang Wei proved it right away. He takes just, what, 5,000 troops? Just 5,000. And completely smashes Xu's forces from Wei, drives them back miles, grabs their supplies. Yeah, a really solid win right off the bat. It sent a clear message, attack Jiang directly, and you're in for a world of hurt. Massive losses. But here's where things get interesting on the Wei side. The internal politics, the cracks start showing. Immediately, Zhang Wei, he's the big boss for this invasion. He sets up camp, maybe six or seven miles away, 20 lai, and he summons Zhu Jizhou, the guy who just got beaten. And Zhang Wei is furious, not just about losing the fight. No, it's more than that. It's that Xu apparently advanced without orders and lost a key spot, the Yinping bridgehead. Exactly. Critical point. And Hui doesn't just yell. He orders Xu executed right then and there. Wow. Instant execution order. Yeah. But the supervising officer, Wei Guan, he steps in, he points out, hey, Xu technically reports to Deng Ai? A different chain of command. Right. But Zhang Wei, he's having none of it. He basically says, doesn't matter, I've got the emperor's orders, Sima Zhao's backing, I'm in charge. He even says he'd execute Deng Ai if needed. He does. Goes that far. Just total power play. So he throws Zhu Xu in a cage, takes over his troops, done. That's quite a display. Arrogance, maybe. But I guess from his view, Zhu did mess up badly. Why give someone like Xu so much power if he's just going to alienate his peers? Well, that's the tension, isn't it? Xu is technically the overall commander for the campaign, but pushing his authority that hard right away against a veteran like Deng Ai. When he's been on the border for years. Exactly. It's a huge risk. Xu is prioritizing this, like, show of absolute control over maybe keeping his generals unified. And that friction, that's the opening Deng Ai eventually uses. So Deng Ai hears about this, his subordinate jailed, his authority ignored. He must have been furious. Oh, absolutely livid. I mean, they're equal rank technically, and Ai has got way more experience on this frontier. But his son, Deng Zong, actually talks him down. Smart kid. Yeah, basically says, Dad, hold on, bigger picture here. We gotta win the war first. So Deng Ai cools it, outwardly at least. But he still goes to see Zhang Hui, right? To sort of feel him out. He does. But he goes with a tiny escort, like 10 horsemen. Yeah. And when he gets to Hui's tent. It's full of guards. Hundreds of them. There's armed guards lining the tent. Total intimidation tactic from Hui. The text says Ai felt nervous, which, you know, who wouldn't? Yeah, no kidding. But he still puts forward his plan. Straight to business. Despite the tension, Ai proposes this odd troop plan. The wild idea. The yin-ping rote. Exactly. Take a small elite force, go through this incredibly dangerous, barely there path called yin-ping. Completely bypass the main battle at Jiang. And hit Chengdu directly. A surprise attack on the capital itself. And the genius of it, strategically, isn't just taking Chengdu. It's that if Chengdu is threatened, Jiang Wei has to abandon Jiang. Right. He has to pull back from his strongest position to save the capital. The whole Jiang defense just evaporates. It forces the enemy to give up their advantage. It's high risk. Maybe looks ridiculous on paper. Definitely looks ridiculous. But it changes the whole game if it works. So how does Zhang Hui react? The guy who just put Deng Ai's subordinate in a cage. Publicly. He praises it, says great idea, you should definitely go do that, encourages him to leave right away. Oh, okay. So he sees the merit. Not really. The moment Deng Ai leaves the tent, Hui turns to his own generals and calls Ai a yunkai. There it is. Mediocre talent. Yeah. Basically, that guy's an idiot. But why? He just said it was a good plan. Why dismiss it so harshly behind his back? Well, his reasoning is pure, standard military thinking. Convention. He argues the yinping route, it's all high mountains, sheer cliffs. Impassable terrain, basically. Right. Hui figures if Xu just puts a hundred guys, maybe even fewer, to block the key choke points. Deng Ai's whole army starves. They're stuck. Exactly. Too difficult. Too risky. Logistically a nightmare. Hui couldn't imagine making it work. So he decides, nope, we stick to the plan. Hit Jiang head on. So it wasn't just arrogance then, it was also sticking to the book. He dismissed it because it broke all the rules of mountain warfare and supply lines. Pretty much. Deng Ai's plan required someone willing to, well, bend reality a bit. And that dismissal, that yunkai comment, probably just lit a fire under Deng Ai. You bet. He leaves Hui's camp, turns to his own guys and basically says, he thinks I can't take Chengdu, watch me. I love that. And he immediately sends off a secret report to Sima Zhao, the real power back in Wei. Covering his bases, maybe. Making sure his bold strategy gets recorded. Win or lose. Smart. So he rallies his own troops. What's the pitch? Fame and fortune forever. Gu Ming Yu Buxin. Basically, pull this off and you'll be legends. Immortality. Strong motivator. How many men does he start with? He mobilizes 30,000 troops initially, but here's the key. Most of them aren't fighters for the final push. Logistics. Support. Exactly. His son, Deng Zong, leads the vanguard. 5,000 elite troops. And get this, they're not wearing armor. They're carrying axes, tools. To build the road as they go? Carve paths, build bridges, move gear. Then the main force follows. But the attrition, I mean, it's just staggering. Okay, lay it on us. They start with 30,000. They're carrying dried food, ropes, everything they need. But they have to keep dropping off men. Maybe 3,000 every 100 line or so. Why? To keep the path open. Communication. Yes. Establish camps. Maintain some kind of link back. However tenuous. So after traveling over 700 lion, that's like 200 miles. Through wilderness. No towns, no resupply. Unpopulated territory, yeah. It takes them over 20 days. And by the time they reach the final, really difficult stretch, they're down to just 2,000 men. 2,000? Or 30,000. That's incredible. That's basically just the spear tip left. And then they hit the wall. Motion ridge. The climax of difficulty. What happens there? Horses can't make it. Too steep. Damai walks up to check on his scouts, the pathfinders. Yeah. And finds them crying. Crying. Yeah. Because the cliffs are just too sheer. They can't cut a path. They can't build a bridge. It looks physically impossible. They're stuck. Right. This is it. The point where any sane commander turns back. Game over. What does Dangai do? He embraces the impossible. He gives this speech, to catch the tiger cub, you got to go into the tiger's den. Classic stuff. Then he orders them to throw their heavy equipment down the cliff, save what they can carry. And then? And then he wraps himself in felt blankets and rolls down the cliff face first. He what? Rolls? Rolls down. Leads by example in the most extreme way possible. His officers, his men, they see this. They wrap themselves in felt, use ropes if they have them, and they follow him down this terrifying drop. That is absolutely insane. Rolling down a cliff. That's why this is legendary. Pure desperation and willpower. But when they get to the bottom, bruised and battered, probably, they find something else. Don't tell me. A stone marker. Left years ago by Zug Liang. Zug Wuhe. No way. What did it say? It had this cryptic inscription. Two fires arise at the beginning. One person crosses this. Two men contend soon they will die. Chilling. What does Dangai make of that? He bows down. Just pure awe. Acknowledges Zug Liang was a true genius. His foresight was unbelievable. But that discovery leads to another one. Nearby, AI spots an empty campsite. And he remembers something, or maybe knows from intelligence reports. Zug Liang used to keep troops stationed right there. A thousand men. Specifically to guard that impossible pass. But they weren't there now. Nope. The later Lord Liu Shan, the Shu Emperor, he'd abolished that post years before. Thought it was unnecessary. Too remote. Maybe too expensive. Wow. So the belief that the terrain alone was enough defense. That complacency. That's what opened the door Dangai just rolled through. Exactly. Zug Liang saw the danger. His successors, not so much. A fatal oversight. Okay, so Dangai and his 2,000 survivors are at the bottom of the cliff, deep in Shu territory. What now? No going back. Dangai tells them straight up. We came this way, but there's no path back. It's Jiangyu or nothing. Jiangyu City. Their only hope for food, supplies, survival. Right. So they have to take it and take it fast. They rush the city. And what's happening inside Jiangyu? Is the commander ready? Not even close. The commander, Ma Miao, he was totally confident Jiang would hold. He figured any attack would come on the main road. So what was he doing? Let me guess. Not manning the walls. He was relaxing. Drinking with his wife, Lady Lai. Oh dear. So Lady Lai asked him, aren't you worried about the war? And his answer just says it all about the state of Shu's morale, at least in some quarters. What did he say? He basically dismisses it. Ah, the big stuff. That's Jianguoyue's job. Chiang Wai, you know. What's it got to do with me? Unbelievable. Passing the buck entirely. Worse than that, he tells his wife flat out, if way trips actually show up here, he's just going to surrender. Surrender? Why? He blames the emperor. Says Lu Shan is a bad ruler. Listens too much to the yuniquang hao. Basically, the government's rotten. So why fight for it? Wow. Okay. So total disillusionment. How does Lady Lai react to that? She is outraged. Spits in his face. Calls him a traitor. Disloyal. Says she's ashamed of him. How can she even look at him? Real moral fury. Good for her. And just then, bang. News arrives. An enemy force appearing out of absolutely nowhere. Mingai's 2,000 men. Has breached the city defenses. And what does Ma Miao do? The guy who was just talking about surrendering? He rushes out and surrenders. Immediately. Without a fight. Exactly as he planned. The cowardice is stunning. So Ding Ai takes the city. Takes it easily. Accepts Ma Miao's surrender. Even uses him as a guide. But then he gets some tragic news. Lady Li. Ma Miao's wife, Lady Li. She hanged herself. Committed suicide rather than live with the shame of her husband's treason in the fall of the city. Oh man. That's heavy. The general lives by surrendering. The loyal wife dies. It's a powerful contrast. And Ding Ai's reaction is really interesting here. He doesn't just shrug it off. What does he do? He's genuinely moved by her virtue. Her loyalty. He orders a proper, generous funeral for her. He even personally offers sacrifices at her memorial. The source says all the Wei troops were moved by this. Even the enemy commander recognizes her loyalty stood out against her husband's failure. Exactly. And the romance includes a poem right after this. And this is where Ding Ai's whole strategy comes into focus, isn't it? This idea of tempo. Of speed above all else. Absolutely. His troops were utterly exhausted after that mountain trek. They were literally cutting paths, building makeshift bridges. It was grueling. So his own general, Tianzhu, suggests the obvious, right? Let the men rest. Recover for a few days. Makes perfect sense tactically. But Ding Ai, well, he exploded. He was furious. He famously declared, speed is paramount, bingishansu. Paramount to the point of what? Threatening his own officer? Almost executing him. He ordered Tianzhu killed on the spot for daring to suggest a delay. His argument was basically, we have to hit them before they even realize what's happened. Before they can react. Wow. That's ruthless. Did it work? It did. Spectacularly. He forces his exhausted army to march immediately on Fuching. And the reaction there? Instant surrender. Total surrender. The officials, the citizens, they just gave up. The sources say the Wei armies seem to appear as if descended from heaven. Just materialized. Complete strategic shock. So that speed, it was a huge gamble, putting his men through that twice over. First the mountains, then the forced march. Why take that risk? Because the payoff wasn't just a battle. It was the entire kingdom. Shuhan relied heavily on its geography, its mountain passes. By taking that impossible route and then refusing to rest, Deng Ai basically bypassed all their defenses. He made their strategic strengths irrelevant. Exactly. He knew that shattering their will to fight, their confidence, was just as important as defeating their armies. It was a psychological blow as much as a military one. And you can see that psychological impact immediately in Chengdu. The news hits the capital, reaches Lushan, the post lord, and the reaction is just... Paralysis. Complete paralysis. And it wasn't just shock, it was enabled by the court's dysfunction. Lushan's first move is to consult the eunuch Huang Hao. Ah, Huang Hao, the man who had become incredibly influential and not in a good way? Not at all. Reports of Deng Ai's breakthrough are flooding, and the sources call them snowflakes. There are so many. And Huang Hao... He tells the emperor it's what, fake news? Pretty much. He dismisses it all as a trick, assures Lushan. The divine will certainly not mislead your majesty. He's relying on fortune tellers and superstition. In the face of an existential invasion, that's quite something. It really shows how decayed the court had become. It does. And the high officials, they just sat there. The text says, face to face, not a word. Complete silence. Nobody knew what to do or perhaps dared to speak up against Huang Hao. Until someone finally breaks the silence. Yes. Chamberlain Qi Zhang. He sees the disaster unfolding and urges Lushan to summon the one person who might still rally the kingdom. Zhuge Zhang. The son of the great Zhuge Liang. Zhu Gu Hou himself. Exactly. Xiwen was his courtesy name. And summoning him wasn't just about getting a general. It was about invoking the legacy of Xu Han's founding genius. There's so much weight on his shoulders. And it wasn't just his father's reputation, was it? His mother, Lady Huang, was apparently brilliant too. That's a fascinating detail often overlooked. She was known for her intellect, astronomy, geography, strategy, even esoteric arts. Some sources suggest she was a key intellectual partner to Zhuge Liang back in his Nanyang days. So Zhuge Zhang is the product of these two incredible minds. But he'd been sidelined by Huang Hao's politics. Right. He'd apparently been feigning illness to stay out of the political mess. He was married to Lushan's daughter, so he was deeply connected but kept a low profile. Until now. The emperor summons him and the appeal is direct, isn't it? Oh. Intensely personal. Lushan is apparently in tears, pleading with Zhan, invoking his father. Look at your late father's face. Save my life. It's pure desperation. Banking everything on that inherited loyalty. And Zhan's reaction. He weaves too. He accepts the burden. He vows to lead the 70,000 troops available in Chengdu for a final, decisive stand. A fight to the death. That commitment runs in the family, it seems, because his own son steps up immediately. Right. Zhu Di Shang. Only 19 years old, but trained in military arts. He volunteers instantly to lead the vanguard. You see this torch being passed down three generations of service and loyalty right there. So the Zhuge family mobilizes this last-ditch defense. Meanwhile, Deng Ai is still focused on intelligence. On speed. Always. He gets a crucial piece of intel. A detailed map of the 360-light route from Fucheng to Chengdu, given to him by a surrendered official named Ma Mao. And looking at that map, Deng Ai spots the critical point. Instantly. The Mianzhu Pass. It's the last major defensive gateway before the flat plains leading to Chengdu. He knows he absolutely has to seize it before Zhu Gan can get there and set up a proper defense. So he sends his vanguard again. Exactly. Generals Xizhuan and Deng Zhong are ordered to race forward and secure Mianzhu immediately. This leads to one of the most, well, bizarre and brilliant moments of the campaign, doesn't it? The battle at Mianzhu. It really is remarkable. The Xu forces under Zhu Gan's unarrived first. And they don't just line up. They deploy in the famous Eight Tree Grams formation. A clear nod to Zhu Ge Liang's military genius, psychological warfare from the start. And then they take it a step further. A four-wheeled carriage rolls out onto the battlefield. On it sits a figure, dressed in scholar's robes, and above him, a large yellow banner. Han Chancellor Zhu Gan Wu Hu. Wait, they wheel out a statue of Zhu Ge Liang decades after his death? A wooden effigy, yes. And the way generals fell for it. Experienced commanders like Xizhuan and Deng Zhong. It sounds almost unbelievable to us. Maybe. But the sources are clear. The psychological impact, the aura of Zhu Ge Liang, was still that potent. They saw the figure, the banner, the formation. And they panicked. They thought he was still alive. Or maybe a ghost leading the army? Something like that. Whatever they thought, they were terrified. They immediately ordered a retreat. And the way Vanguard was routed. Just like that. By a wooden dummy. Crushed in that first skirmish. It's an incredible testament to the shadow Kong being cast over the era. But Deng Ai wouldn't be fooled by a ghost or a statue. Not a chance. He finds out it was just an effigy, and he is absolutely furious. Again, he threatens to execute Xizhuan and Deng Zhong. He seems to do that a lot. It seems to be his go-to motivational tool. He forces them back out for a second battle, basically saying, win this time, or you die for real. For Deng Ai, strategy and results trump everything. Even superstition and fear. Okay, so round two at Mianzu. This time, it's actual fighting. And the Zhu family really proves their mettle here, don't they? They absolutely do. The young Zhu Guishang, the 19-year-old Vanguard, he personally fights off both Xizhuan and Deng Zhong in single combat encounters. Wow, that's incredible bravery. And then his father, Zhu Guishang, launches a fierce counterattack. They inflict heavy casualties on the Wei forces, thousands killed, according to the sources. Both Xizhuan and Deng Zhong are wounded. So the Wei army is forced to retreat again. A significant retreat, yes. These weren't just symbolic gestures. The Shu forces won two tactical victories at Mianzu, largely thanks to the courage and leadership of the Zhu father and son. They're holding the pass. But Deng Ai, being Deng Ai, pivots his strategy, right? If force isn't working. Tried deception. His advisor, Qi Ben, suggests exactly that. Shift from direct assault to psychological warfare of a different kind. And this is where the infamous letter comes in. The temptation letter. It's masterclass in manipulation, really. Deng Ai writes directly to Zhu Guishang. Does he insult him? Try to demoralize him? Quite the opposite. He starts with praise. Lavish praise for Zhu Guishang's father, Zhu Zhiliang. He calls him incomparable. Says his failures were only due to heaven's will, not lack of talent. That's clever. Buttering him up by validating the father's legacy. So what's the catch? The catch is a direct appeal to betray Xiuhan. Deng Ai argues Lushan is incompetent. The mandate of heaven has clearly shifted away from Xiu. It's all over. And the offer? Surrender. Bring your forces over to Wei, and Deng Ai promises to petition the Wei emperor to make Zhu Guishang the Prince of Langya. Langya Wang. Prince of Langya. That's a huge title, isn't it? Serious nobility. It's massive. It guarantees wealth, status, political influence, and crucially, safety for his entire family line under the new regime. It's an incredibly tempting offer, appealing directly to pragmatism, to self-preservation. The ultimate test. Personal honor and loyalty versus guaranteed survival and status. And Zhu Guishang's reaction is instantaneous. And violent. He doesn't even consider it. Not for a second. He reportedly flies into a rage, tears the letter to shreds, and then he executes the Wei messenger who delivered it. Executes the envoy. Wow. And sends the severed head back to Deng Ai's camp. It's about as clear a refusal as you can possibly make. Loyalty over life. Honor over everything. That act seals his fate, doesn't it? And the fate of Mian Zhu. It does. Deng Ai, receiving the head, is enraged, but also probably knew then that Zhang would never yield. He immediately shifts back to military tactics. A flanking maneuver. How does that work? He sends two other generals, Wang Qi and Qian Hong, on a wide flanking march to attack Zhu Guishang's forces from the sides and rear while Deng Ai presses from the front. And it works. The Shu forces are caught. They're caught. The Shu army outside Mian Zhu is routed. Zhu Guishang is forced to retreat back inside the city walls. And Mian Zhu is surrounded. Completely besieged. Zhang knows the situation is desperate. He makes one final attempt to get help. Sends a messenger. Yes, Ping Han. Sent east to the kingdom of Wu, pleading for immediate military aid. Did Wu respond? They did. The sources say Wu dispatched a sizable force, maybe 50,000 troops under Ding Feng. But they were either too far away, moved too slowly, or perhaps got diverted. They never made it in time. So no help is coming. Zhu Guishang is trapped in Mian Zhu, surrounded by Deng Ai's army. What does he do? He recognizes the grim reality. He tells his officers, long defense is not a good plan. A prolonged siege just means starvation and eventual slaughter. He decides on a final, desperate act. He's going to fight his way out. He leaves his son, Zhu Guishang, and other officers to hold the city as best they can and leaves the main body of his troops out for one last charge. A sacrificial charge. Knowing it's likely suicide. Almost certainly. The battle is joined. It's fierce, but the Shu forces are outnumbered and surrounded. Zhu Guishang fights bravely. Until he falls. Yes. He's eventually shot from his horse, wounded, overwhelmed. He knows it's the end. His final words are recorded. My strength is spent. I must repay the nation with death. And he takes his own life. He commits suicide right there on the battlefield, slashes his own throat, choosing his own end, fulfilling his vow. A tragic end. But the tragedy isn't over yet, is it? His son is still in the city. Zhu Guishang. 19 years old. He sees his father fall from the city walls. His advisors plead with him to stay safe, perhaps try to escape later. But he refuses. Absolutely rejects it. He talks about the immense debt of kindness his family owes the state, referring to his father and grandfather. He asks that heartbreaking question, what use is living? And he charges out, too. He leads his own final, doomed charge out of Mianzhu. He fights fiercely, but is quickly surrounded and killed in the battle. Father and son dying for Shu Han on the same day. Just devastating. The end of that line in Shu. A truly tragic end. But there's a small coda of respect. Deng Ai, the victor, witnessing this fierce loyalty. He orders that Zhu Zan and Zhu Guishang be buried together with honors. Even the enemy recognized their sacrifice. It seems so. Once the Zhu's were dead, the remaining Shu officers in Mianzhu Zongzun, Wang Chong, Li Qiu, they also led final hopeless charges and were cut down. Mianzhu falls. And with Mianzhu gone, the road to Chengdu is wide open. Completely open. Deng Ai's initial gamble on Bingyi Shansu on speed has paid off entirely. The swiftness prevented Shu Han from organizing a proper defense, and the fall of the Zhu's broke their last bastion of morale and leadership. The war is effectively over. But the source material we're drawing from leaves us with one final, slightly chilling thought. It connects this specific tragedy back to a larger pattern. How so? It notes that Lushan, the post lord, facing Deng Ai at the gates. Well, his situation was no different from when Liu Zhang was forced. Liu Zhang, with the ruler Liu Bei, displaced to found Shu Han in the first place. Ah, suggesting a cycle. History repeating itself. Exactly.