After a general risks life and limb to save him, Sun Quan makes sure everyone appreciates the sacrifice.

* Transcript

* Map of Key Locations

* Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

Transcript

PDF version

Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 87.

Last time, Cao Cao and Sun Quan were engaged in a fierce battle on the river banks near the key location of Ruxu (2,1). Sun Quan, in an attempt to rescue the trapped officer Xu Sheng, stormed into the enemy lines, but soon found himself enveloped. The veteran general Zhou Tai fought his way out but then had to go back in to find Sun Quan. The first time he found Sun Quan, he tried to take the lead and fight their way out, but lost Sun Quan in the chaos. So Zhou Tai went back in again and again found Sun Quan.

“My lord, you go in front this time, and I will follow close behind to help you break out!” Zhou Tai told him.

So they switched places, with Sun Quan leading the way and Zhou Tai right behind him to cover his back. This time, they managed to break through together, but boy did Zhou Tai pay for it. He suffered several stab wounds from spears, and a number of arrows had pierced his heavy armor. But still, they were free, and now the general Lü Meng came to their rescue with a fleet of ships, and they hurried Sun Quan onto one of the ships.

“Thanks to three valiant tries by Zhou Tai, I was able to break free,” Sun Quan said. “But Xu Sheng is still trapped in the center. How can we save him?”

“I will go in again to save him,” Zhou Tai said.

Without hesitation, he galloped back into the fray with spear in hand. Moments later, he and Xu Sheng both emerged, both bearing severe wounds. Lü Meng helped them onto the ship while his troops kept the enemy at bay on land with a barrage of arrows. Now, when people talk about feats of valor and courage in the novel, the episode that people mention first and most often is Zhao Yun slicing through Cao Cao’s army at Changban Hill with Liu Bei’s infant son strapped to his chest. But I’ve got to say, what Zhou Tai just did — fighting through Cao Cao’s army three times to rescue Sun Quan and then going back in again to rescue a fellow officer despite already being wounded — should rank right up there, too.

 

At the same time Zhou Tai was doing his heroic deeds, at another part of the river bank, the Dongwu general Chen Wu was engaged in a fierce fight against Cao Cao’s general Pang De. Lacking reinforcements, Chen Wu fell back to the mouth of a canyon, where the path became thick with trees. Chen Wu now tried to turn around and fight Pang De some more, but just as he turned, his cloak got snagged on a tree branch. Entangled, Chen Wu could not raise his weapon to defend himself, and he became an easy kill for Pang De, who showed no mercy.

Meanwhile, things were getting a bit dicey for Sun Quan again. He had made it to the relative safety of Lü Meng’s ships, but once Cao Cao got wind of this, he personally led his troops to the bank of the river and had them fire arrows at the ships. Lü Meng’s men fired back, but soon they were out of arrows. So, now what?

Just as Sun Quan and company were panicking, help arrived in the form of a fleet of Dongwu ships. These were under the command of Lu (4) Xun (4), who was married to the daughter of Sun Quan’s brother Sun Ce. His ships carried 100,000 men and plenty of arrows, which they used to shoot back Cao Cao’s troops.