Liu Bei’s team of old warhorses takes another hit, but two young stallions are waiting in the wings. This episode is read by special guest Kaiser Kuo, host of the Sinica Podcast.

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Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 104.

Last time, the forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan clashed, and Liu Bei won an easy victory, putting Sun Quan’s commander and kinsman Sun Huan (2) to flight and then trapping him inside the city of Yiling (2,2). Shaken, but not beaten, Sun Quan then marched out the big guns, sending a relief force of 100,000 and many of his best generals. One of those generals, Gan Ning, one of the Southlands’ top warriors, was suffering from dysentery at the moment, but he soldiered on and headed out with the relief force.

Meanwhile, Liu Bei was putting the might of his army on full display. He built a string of 40-some camps, running from the location of Jianping (4,2) all the way to the borders of the city of Yiling (2,2), where the defeated Dongwu commander Sun Huan was presently holed up. This impressive line of camps covered 200-some miles.

Sitting inside one of his camps, Liu Bei, thinking about all the recent accomplishments by his two young nephews Guan Xing and Zhang Bao, could not help but sigh.

“[Sigh] All the generals who followed me back in the day are now old and useless. But with such heroes as my two nephews, what need have I to be concerned with Sun Quan?”

Just then, word came that Dongwu was sending a relief force led by the generals Han Dang and Zhou Tai. Liu Bei was just about to send a general to go face them when his attendants told him, “The old general Huang Zhong has gone off with a few men to defect to Dongwu.”

But to this, Liu Bei simply smiled and said, “General Huang is no traitor. I misspoke and said that old people were useless. General Huang has never been one to give in to his age, so he must have gone off to the front.”

Liu Bei then summoned Guan Xing and Zhang Bao and told them, “Something is bound to happen to General Huang this time. Do not shirk hardship; please go help him. As soon as he achieves some small victory, bring him back. Keep him safe.”

Guan Xing and Zhang Bao accepted their orders, took their leave, and went to catch up to Huang Zhong. So let us catch up to Huang Zhong as well. Just as Liu Bei suspected, the old war horse overheard Liu Bei talking about how the old generals were all useless, and so he stormed off in a huff with just five or six personal guards. He headed straight for the camp at Yiling, where he was greeted by the officers Wu Ban, Zhang (1) Nan (2), and Feng (2) Xi (2), and they asked him what he was doing there.

“I have accomplished much since joining his highness at the city of Changsha (2,1),” Huang Zhong said. “Even though I am past 70, I can still eat plenty of meat. My arms can still wield a strong bow, and I can still ride a fast horse. I’m not old yet. Yesterday, his highness was talking about how we are all old and useless, so I have come to fight against Dongwu. Watch me cut down their generals, and then tell me if I’m old!”

And yeah, that was a pretty old-man thing to say, but just then word came that the Dongwu relief force was approaching, so Huang Zhong immediately hopped on his horse...