Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 52.

Previously, we left off with one of the most memorable sequences in the novel,

in which Zhao Yun rescue Liu Bei's infant

son, Ado, and fought his way through swarms of Cao Cao's troops to escape.

But no sooner had he left the bulk of Cao Cao's army behind did he run into two more detachments

of enemy soldiers led by two lieutenants under the command of

Cao Cao's general Xia Hudun. These two guys were brothers. One wielded a battle axe, while the

other used a halberd, and they were shouting for Zhao Yun to surrender. Zhao Yun, of course,

paid no heed to their words and greeted them with his spear.

Within three bouts, the elder brother, the axe-wielder, was stabbed off his horse.

Zhao Yun took the opening and ran. The younger brother, however, gave chase. As he closed in,

the tip of his halber flashed around Zhao Yun's back.

But Zhao Yun suddenly turned around, and the two were face to face right next to each other.

Wielding his spear in his left hand, Zhao Yun blocked the halberd. At the same time, his right

hand pulled out the prized sword that he had taken from Cao Cao's sword

earlier in the day, where the sword landed, half of his opponent's head and helmet went flying

off. Seeing their leaders killed, the enemy soldiers scattered, and Zhao Yun once again

fled toward Changban Bridge. Behind him rose

earth-shaking cries of battle. This was Wen Pin, one of the generals of Jing province who had recently

surrendered to Cao Cao. He was leading a detachment of troops in hot pursuit. By the time Zhao Yun reached Changban bridge,

he and his horse were running on fumes. But fortunately for him, Zhang Fei was waiting on the bridge.

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