Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 144.

Last time, Jiang Wei had launched yet another northern campaign,

trying to catch his enemies off guard

while they were busy dealing with an internal rebellion started by Zhuge Dan.

This time, Jiang Wei was focusing his attention on the town of Changcheng, a key grain

store for the Wei forces.

He put the town under siege, and it looked like the town was just about to

fall, but then a Wei relief force showed up. So I guess we'll have to take care of these guys first,

so Jiang Wei turned his army around to face the oncoming foe. From the opposing lines,

a young general rode out with spear in hand. He looked

to be about 20-some years old, with a face so fair that he looked as if he were wearing powder,

and his lips were dobs of red. This young man shouted across the field, do you recognize General

Deng? Jiang Wei thought to himself,

that must be Deng Ai. So he rode forth to meet his foe and the two traded blows for 40 bouts

without either gaining an edge. Seeing that the young warrior showed no signs of faltering,

Jiang Wei figured that he needed to pull some shenanigans to win this

fight. So he turned and fled down a mountain path on the left. The young general gave chase,

and as he approached, Jiang Wei pulled out his bow and fired an arrow at the man, but his

foe had sharp eyes and quickly dodged the arrow. When Jiang Wei turned around,

the young man was already upon him and thrusting his spear at him. Jiang Wei dodged the thrust,

letting the spear go under his arm, and then he wrapped his arm around the spear. His foe now

...