chapter 94

(I need to read this over, no time right now)

When considering troop use against the enemy, surround if ten to one; attack if five to one; split up if two to one.
– “Sunzi’s Art of War: Offensive Strategy”

{mountain behind Tanxian . Xiahou Yuan’s staging ground}

[Xiahou Yuan]: Did the enemy show up at the other staging grounds?
[captain]: No, but based on the terrains, they must be here!

[XHY]: Right! The eighth flame signal must be where the enemy is actually heading for.

[captain]: It’s a cavalry. Get ready!

At least this terrain is the most appropriate for army movement.

[?]: Fire!

chapter 94 Strategy Is Key In Warfare

{sfx: *neigh- neigh-*}

[XHY]: Hold up!

[XHY]: Only horses… is it a decoy?
[captain]: They want to distract us if they’d sacrifice their warhorses.

[captain]: But the seven staging grounds are so far apart.
[captain]: It would take them twenty hours to gather a formation…

[XHY]: The enemy used eight signals to divide our defense. They want to weaken our troop strength.

[XHY]: One of Sunzi’s strategy…
diminution tactic!

[XHY]: Second camp, come with me!

[XHY]: The enemy will definitely come here!

[XHY]: But… they will choose the less conspicuous route instead!

{sfx: le~ le~}

{sfx: le~}

Enemy officer!
State your name!

[Guan Yu]: You know how to deploy men, worthy of your famed heritage!
{note: Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan are descendents of a famous Han General Xiahou Ying}

[XHY]: The honor is mine!
/* “I admired your famed name for so long” */

{mountain behind Tanxian . Guo Jia’s staging ground}

Strategy is key in warfare, hence more calculation beats less calculation. – East Han . Ban Gu

[?]: Their number is increasing, but where are they coming from?
[soldier]: Looks like the enemy knows the terrains well!

[soldier]: Hey! Sirs…

are you listening?

{sfx: peng~}

{sfx: wah~}

[Zhang Fei]: Big guy, you don’t look like a good-for-nothing to me!

Damnit, vulnerable point, in pain…
can’t focus my strength.

[Xu Chu]: Who, are you?

[ZF]: Return to recover,
[ZF]: and retrain for a rematch.
/* I took some translation liberty on this one… */

[XC]: Says, who?
/* more like “against someone like you?” */

[Li Dian]: Not just anyone,
[LD]: but… this man, brother Xu Chu, is worth your humility.

{Li Dian}
[Xu Chu]: You, what?
[LD]: Because someone as powerful as Lv Bu could only fight him to a stalemate.

[?]: Wh… what? Unless General Li is speaking of,
[?]: that painted-face man Zhang Fei who challenged Lv Bu at Hulao Pass?

[Guo Jia]: However, I still like his other identity better.

[GJ]: The leading artist of the Peach Garden style, skilled in landscape painting, mister Zhang Yi De. My respected Master is your fan!
[captain 1]: So this painting sent by Xiahou Yuan was drawn by him?
[captain 2]: It’s full of mountain passages, no wonder the enemy could avoid our ambush!

[ZF]: Now I’m regretting giving mister Water Mirror my humble artwork.

[?]: One who knows art; one who knows gains.
/* does he mean “one who knows art knows benefits”? */

[Cao Cao]: Liu Bei.

[CC]: I regret not having met you earlier!

[CC]: Strange, now that I see you, I don’t know what to say.

[Liu Bei]: True! Now that I see you, I don’t know what to curse.

[CC]: We are one of a kind after all.

[LB]: But different in stance.

[captain]: Get the archery team here.
[GJ]: Yue Jin.
[Yue Jin]: Here!

[GJ]: Open a way for their troops. Everything else… proceed as planned.
[YJ]: Yessir.

[LB]: Their formation is changing.

[LB]: And the monster on our side is alive again.
[Liaoyuan Huo]: Up… up there.

[LB]: Yes! We’ll have a standoff as long as we hold this mountain.

[LB]: Vice.
[vice general]: Split up! We’ll climb from the backside!

[YJ]: They’re separating forces to climb the mountain. Let’s go too!

[LB]: Zhao Yun,

[LB]: Emperor’s announcer,

[LB]: and leader of the Handicapped Warriors. What else are you hiding from me?

[LYH]: Now is not the time for that, right?

{sfx: pa~}

[LB]: True! Plenty of time later.

{sfx: pa~}

[captain 3]: Report! Yue Jin’s troop of five thousand has followed the enemy up the mountain.
[captain 4]: Advisor, we’re not sure how many men the enemy has, so we shouldn’t split up!

[captain 5]: Right! Zhang Fei is powerful, so we should get Yue Jin’s men back!

[captain 6]: A hundred.

[captain 6]: A hundred and fifty, a hundred and seventy,
[captain 7]: two hundred, that’s all I can see.
[GJ]: My Lord, what do you think?

[CC]: I see why you sent Yue Jin away.
[GJ]: With Xiahou Yuan guarding the entrance, even if the enemy has a map, I doubt…

[GJ]: We have fifty thousand men on the mountain, minus Yue Jin’s five thousand; the enemy has two hundred.

[GJ]: Now that we each hold our staging grounds, and according to rules of warfare, no division beyond ten percent in size.

[GJ]: I bet my life on it: Liu Bei’s troop only has two thousand men!

[LB]: Zhao Yun, who… who is this fellow?
[LYH]: A man who knows us too well!
/* simplified */

Liu Bei also asked himself: Should I be wary of Cao Cao, or this man named Zhao Yun…?