The son dutifully agreed with his father.
Sima Yi began to march out, with Zhang Hu and Yue Chen following as the reserves.
From the top of a hill Zhuge Liang watched the Wei soldiers march and noticed that they moved in companies from three to five thousand, observing the front and the rear carefully as they marched. He guessed that their object was the Qishan camp, and sent strict orders to his generals that if Sima Yi led in person, they were to go off and capture the camp on the south bank.
When the troops of Wei had got near and made their rush toward the camp of Shu, the troops of Shu ran up also, yelling and pretending to reinforce the defenders. Sima Yi, seeing this, suddenly marched his center army with his two sons, changed his direction, and turned off for the Gourd Valley. Here Wei Yan was expecting him; and as soon as he appeared, Wei Yan galloped up and soon recognized Sima Yi as the leader.
“Sima Yi, stay!” shouted Wei Yan as he came near.
He flourished his sword, and Sima Yi set his spear. The two warriors exchanged a few passes, and then Wei Yan suddenly turned his steed and bolted. As he had been ordered, he made direct for the seven-starred flag, and Sima Yi followed, the more readily as he saw the fugitive had but a small force. The two sons of Sima Yi rode with him, Sima Shi on the left, Sima Zhao on the right.
Presently Wei Yan and his troops entered the mouth of the valley. Sima Yi halted a time while he sent forward a few scouts, but when they returned and reported: “Not a single Shu soldier is seen but a many straw houses on the hills.”
Sima Yi rode in, saying, “This must be the store valley!”
But when he had got well within, Sima Yi noticed that kindling wood was piled over the straw huts, and as he saw no sign of Wei Yan he began to feel uneasy.
“Supposing soldiers seize the entrance; what then?” said he to his sons.
As he spoke there arose a great shout, and from the hillside came many torches, which fell all around them and set fire to the straw, so that soon the entrance to the valley was lost in smoke and flame. They tried to get away from the fire, but no road led up the hillside. Then fire-arrows came shooting down, and the earth-mines exploded, and the straw and firewood blazed high as the heavens.
Sima Yi, scared and helpless, dismounted, clasped his arms about his two sons and wept, saying, “My sons, we three are doomed!”
But suddenly a fierce gale sprang up, black clouds gathered, a peal of thunder followed, and rain poured down in torrents, speedily extinguishing the fire all through the valley. The mines no longer exploded and all the fiery contrivances ceased to work mischief.
“If we do not break out now, what better chance shall we have?” cried the father, and he and his two sons made a dash for the outlet.
As they broke out of the valley, they came upon reinforcements under Zhang Hu and Yue Chen, and so were once more safe. Ma Dai was not strong enough to pursue, and the soldiers of Wei got safely to the river.
But there they found their camp in the possession of the enemy, while Guo Huai and Sun Li were on the floating bridge struggling with the troops of Shu. However, as Sima Yi neared, the troops of Shu retreated, whereupon Sima Yi ordered the bridges burned and the north bank occupied.
The Wei army attacking the Qishan camp were greatly disturbed when they heard of the defeat of their general and the loss of the camp on River Wei. The troops of Shu took the occasion to strike with greater vigor, and so gained a great victory. The beaten army suffered great loss. Those who escaped fled across the river.
When Zhuge Liang from the hill-top saw that Sima Yi had been inveigled into the trap by Wei Yan, he rejoiced exceedingly; and when he saw the flames burst forth, he thought surely his rival was done for. Then, unhappily for him, Heaven thought it well to send down torrents of rain, which quenched the fire and upset all his calculations.
Soon after, the scouts reported the escape of his victims, and he sighed, saying, “Human proposes; God disposes. We cannot wrest events to our will.”
Fierce fires roared in the valley,
But the rain quenched them.
Had Zhuge Liang's plan but succeeded,
Where had been the Jins?
From the new camp on the north bank of the river, Sima Yi issued an order that he would put to death any officer who proposed going out to battle. The final result of the late ill-advised expedition had been the loss of the south bank of the river. Accordingly no one spoke of attacking, but all turned their energies toward defense.
Guo Huai went to the general to talk over plans. He said, “The enemy have been carefully spying out the country and are certainly selecting a new position for a camp.”
Sima Yi said, “If Zhuge Liang goes out to Wugong Hills, and thence eastward, we shall be in grave danger; if he goes southwest by River Wei, and halts on the Wuzhang Hills, we need feel no anxiety.”
They decided to send scouts to find out the movements of their enemy. Presently the scouts returned to say that Zhuge Liang had chosen the Wuzhang Hills.
“Our great Emperor of Wei has remarkable fortune,” said Sima Yi, clapping his hand to his forehead.
Then he confirmed the order to remain strictly on the defensive till some change of circumstances on the part of the enemy should promise advantage.
After his army had settled into camp on the Wuzhang Hills, Zhuge Liang continued his attempts to provoke a battle. Day after day, parties went to challenge the army of Wei, but they resisted all provocation.
One day Zhuge Liang put a dress made of deer hide in a box, which he sent, with a letter, to his rival. The insult could not be concealed, so the generals led the bearer of the box to their chief. Sima Yi opened the box and saw the deer hide dress. Then he opened the letter, which read something like this:
“Friend Sima Yi, although you are a Commander-in-Chief and lead the armies of the Middle Land, you seem but
little disposed to display the firmness and valor that would render a contest decisive. Instead, you have prepared a comfortable lair where you are safe from the keen edge of the sword. Are you not very like a deer? Wherefore I send the bearer with a suitable gift, and you will humbly accept it and the humiliation, unless, indeed, you finally decide to come out and fight like a man. If you are not entirely indifferent to shame, if you retain any of the feelings of a tiger, you will send this back to me and come out and give battle.”
Sima Yi, although inwardly raging, pretended to take it all as a joke and smiled.
“So he regards me as a deer,” said he.
He accepted the gift and treated the messenger well. Before the messenger left, Sima Yi asked him a few questions about his master's eating and sleeping and hours of labor.
“The Prime Minister works very hard,” said the messenger. “He rises early and retires to bed late. He attends personally to all cases requiring punishment of over twenty of strokes. As for food, he does not eat more than a few pints of grain daily.”
“Indeed, he eats little and works much,” remarked Sima Yi. “Can he last long?”
The messenger returned to his own side and reported that Sima Yi had taken the whole episode in good part and shown no sign of anger. He had only asked about the Prime Minister's hours of rest, and food, and such things. He had said no word about military matters.
“I told him that you ate little and worked long hours, and then he said, 'Can he last long?' That was all.”
“He knows,” said Zhuge Liang, pensively.
First Secretary Yang Yong presently ventured to remonstrate with his chief.