[Three Kingdoms 365 · Day 174] A Plan on a Beaten Back — Huang Gai volunteers to be flogged to feign surrender

That same evening, inside the large tent of the main body of Jiangdong (江東), Zhou Yu (周瑜) held a council. The generals and civil officials of the naval force filled the seats. Zhou Yu sat upon the high seat. Kongming (孔明) sat quietly in one seat beside him.

The council's single topic was the news of Cao Cao's (曹操) iron rings. Word had already crossed to the south side of the river that, on the north side, the two hundred thousand ships were being bound together with iron rings. The body of Cao Cao's naval force was becoming, from this evening to tomorrow's dawn, one great island upon the surface of the river.

Zhou Yu brought out a single line.

"Cao Cao's iron rings are making one body from this evening. Once a sliver of fire catches upon this body, the two hundred thousand will burn together. How that sliver of fire is to be thrown into the middle of Cao Cao's body is this commander's concern this evening."

The council fell quiet. To send an ember of a single ship into the middle of Cao Cao's naval force, that ship had to have a reason to enter the seat of Cao Cao's camp. That reason was — submission (投降).

An old general rose from his seat. His name was Huang Gai (黃蓋), courtesy name Gongfu (公覆). He was one of the oldest generals of Jiangdong, having served three generations since Sun Jian (孫堅). His hair was already white, and his back slightly bent. Yet within his two eyes, the ember of a young general's fire still rested as it had been.

"Commander Zhou. This body wishes to offer up a move. This body will have itself beaten and cross the river to appear to submit to Cao Cao's camp. The beating of this back will become, on the dawn of Red Cliffs (赤壁), an ember of fire."

Zhou Yu's eyes opened wide. The air inside the council sank. The weight of Huang Gai's line was not light. The back to be beaten was his back; the hand that must strike the rod was Zhou Yu's own. The picture of Zhou Yu's hand bringing down a rod upon the back of an old general under his command rose in the middle of the council.

"Gongfu. The weight of that move this commander knows well. That upon the back of an old general who has served three generations this commander's hand should bring down a rod — is not easy for this commander's heart."

Huang Gai smiled. The corner of the old general's smile deepened once more, inside the depth of his wrinkles.

"Commander. This body's back has tilled the earth of Jiangdong across three generations. If the back of an old general who has served three generations can become an ember of the last dawn of Jiangdong, this rod will not be painful. The pain of this rod will, before the fire of tomorrow's dawn at Red Cliffs and after, be no more than a small breath."

Zhou Yu's two eyes reddened. The smile of the old general, inside the depth of his wrinkles, pressed quietly upon the inside of Zhou Yu's chest. Yet inside that pressing, the resolve of a commander grew firm.

"Gongfu. This commander shall bring a rod down upon Gongfu's back tomorrow morning. Only, the weight of that rod must be a weight seen by everyone at tomorrow morning's seat. The greater that weight, the greater the sincerity with which Gongfu's submission will be received at Cao Cao's camp."

"As is fitting. This body will gladly receive the weight of the Commander's hand."

The next morning, before the great tent of the main body, all the generals and civil officials of the naval force gathered. Zhou Yu sat on the high seat. Huang Gai was dragged out to a seat before the tent. The old general's two arms were held on both sides by two soldiers. His back was bent toward the ground.

Zhou Yu let fall a line.

"Huang Gai raised a banner of dissent (反旗) against this commander's decision at yesterday's council. For this discourteous posture, this commander imposes fifty strokes of the rod."

The generals around were greatly startled. To the generals who did not know the inner side of last evening's council, this morning's scene appeared as a real punishment. Several generals knelt before Zhou Yu, citing the old general Huang Gai's long record, and asked that the rod be reduced. Zhou Yu shook his head.

The rod fell, one stroke at a time, upon Huang Gai's back. The sound of each rod shook, large, the air before the tent. Five strokes, ten, twenty, thirty. The cloth upon Huang Gai's back tore, and beneath it red marks were drawn upon the skin. At the fortieth stroke, blood began to flow. By the last stroke, the fiftieth, Huang Gai's back had already become one red map.

Zhou Yu's right hand trembled. Yet he did not show that trembling upon his face. When the rod was finished, Huang Gai tried to rise, but his knees gave way. Two soldiers supported him and carried him into the side room of the tent.

Inside the tent, Kongming bowed his head quietly beside Zhou Yu.

"Commander. This morning's rod has become the ground of an ember of the dawn of Red Cliffs. Upon the red map of the old general's back, the road of a fire of tomorrow and after has already been opened."

Zhou Yu nodded. The trembling of his right hand grew quiet after hearing Kongming's line. The weight of this morning's rod, as it was lightened before the fire of the dawn of Red Cliffs, he had already seen.

The thirteenth morning of Book 6 opened quietly upon one red map on an old general's back. The stratagem of a beaten back was completed this morning. The wind was still from north to south. Yet upon the red map of the old general's back, an ember of a reversal of the wind's direction was already being planted.

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