Xuande's army

Xuande's army is the following gathered around Xuande, the leader whose fortunes set the pace of the novel’s early action. It is more than a force in the field: its members and allies pursue a political project framed as restoring justice amid the collapse of Han authority. Its cohesion is tested by displacement, strained alliances, uncertain command, and the practical demands of controlling territory; its defining claim is that Xuande will not abandon the people who look to him for protection.

Identity and political purpose

Xuande first appears at the beginning of the action as a generous, reserved, modest man whose greatest aspiration is to befriend the empire’s worthiest people. The novel makes his personal fortunes a guide to the direction of the story, and the people and commanders who gather around him become the means by which his aspirations acquire political and military force. The wider conflict produces three rival leaders—Xuande, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan—each of whom ultimately founds a dynasty from the disintegrating Han realm. Xuande’s following is thus one contender in a struggle over both territory and the future shape of rule.

The group’s political purpose is articulated most clearly when Xuande explains to Kong Ming that Han authority has been usurped by corrupt ministers and that he wants the land governed by justice. Kong Ming’s strategic appraisal places that aspiration against the actual balance of power: Cao Cao commands a vast army and controls the emperor, while Sun Quan has the support of the southern population and is better treated as a potential ally than an enemy. Kong Ming advises Xuande to focus on Jingzhou, identifying the region as the place where the future will be decided. The army’s cause therefore combines loyalty to the Han with a practical effort to secure a territorial base from which Xuande can act.

Command, strategy, and military practice

The organization’s effectiveness depends on the relationship between Xuande’s leadership and the specialized judgment of his advisers and commanders. When Cao Cao’s army advances on Xinye, Kong Ming asks Xuande for the authority to command, signified by a sword and seal. He then assigns distinct tasks to Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Zilong for the defense at Bowang: concealed troops are to strike the enemy’s rear and supply train when fires appear; another force is to attack the stores; and Zhao Zilong is to lead an advance party and feign retreat. The plan makes terrain, timing, fire, and the enemy’s route part of a coordinated operation. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei doubt the orders, especially because Kong Ming will not be near the fighting, but Xuande rebukes them and requires their cooperation. The episode shows that the army’s command structure is not automatic: Kong Ming’s authority has to be recognized, and Xuande’s intervention makes that recognition possible.

The army’s strategic position also depends on the condition and composition of allied forces. When Kong Ming argues for cooperation with Sun Quan against Cao Cao, he cites Guan Yu’s ten thousand men and Liu Qi’s roughly equal force, as well as the fatigue, distance traveled, and lack of naval experience among Cao Cao’s soldiers. An alliance, he reasons, would weaken an already demoralized opponent and establish a three-part balance among the south, Jingzhou, and the north. Sun Quan ultimately agrees to join Xuande against Cao Cao, though his own advisers continue to oppose the decision and he remains uncertain. Xuande’s army is therefore presented not as a self-sufficient power but as one part of a strategic coalition whose success depends on persuading other rulers to commit their forces.

Kong Ming’s methods repeatedly exploit an opponent’s assumptions. During the night operation to obtain arrows, he sends boats into dense fog and has their crews beat drums and shout as if a large force were approaching. Cao Cao responds by ordering archers and crossbowmen to fire toward the apparent attack; arrows lodge in the straw barriers carried on the boats. As the fog lifts, Kong Ming withdraws with the boats loaded with arrows, turning Cao Cao’s defensive fire into a resource for the allied force. The episode gives concrete form to the army’s dependence on information, deception, and the careful use of conditions rather than simple numerical strength.

Civilians, territory, and political obligation

Xuande’s relationship with civilians distinguishes his leadership from a purely military claim to power. When Cao Cao’s forces threaten Xinye and Fan, Xuande and Kong Ming conclude that the people cannot simply be left behind. They ask the residents what they wish to do; the people answer that they want to accompany Xuande, and an exodus begins. The young help the elderly, parents care for children, and men and women support one another as the group leaves. Xuande takes the distress of the departure upon himself, calling it his fault and attempting to throw himself into the river; his closest commanders intervene. The scene makes protection of the population both a practical burden on the retreating force and a measure of Xuande’s sense of responsibility.

That commitment has military consequences. Xuande’s army must move with the people who have chosen to follow it, rather than treating them as separate from its political cause. The narrative places the costs of that choice beside the claim that Xuande is their protector: displacement brings danger and distress, yet abandoning the civilians would contradict the basis on which his leadership rests. His authority thus grows through an obligation that can hinder rapid movement even as it supports the loyalty of the people.

Control of territory presents a related challenge. Ma Liang advises Xuande to strengthen Jingzhou by raising Liu Qi’s status, surrounding him with former provincial leaders, and allowing his family reputation to reassure the local population. Once Jingzhou is more secure, Ma Liang proposes taking the southern commanderies of Wuling, Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling to obtain a firmer base with food and resources. The proposal links local acceptance, political appointments, and military expansion: holding ground requires more than capturing it. It must also be made governable and supplied.

Alliances, internal tensions, and reversals

Xuande’s army has to balance its strategic needs against obligations created by kinship and prior agreements. When Lu Su asks when Xuande will return Jingzhou to Sun Quan, Kong Ming explains that Xuande had agreed to do so after taking the western Riverlands, but argues that the current circumstances leave him with no secure place to go. Xuande is also reluctant to attack Liu Zhang, another member of the imperial family, and understands that keeping Jingzhou strains his relationship with Sun Quan, now his brother-in-law. Kong Ming presents the impasse to Lu Su, who returns to report it and request more time. The episode shows how territorial control is entangled with political legitimacy, family relations, and a promise whose fulfillment would threaten the army’s own base.

Even cooperation against a shared opponent does not dissolve rivalry. Kong Ming warns that Xuande and Sun Quan must collaborate rather than plot against one another, since Cao Cao could exploit their division. In a separate contest, Cao Cao’s adviser Xun Wenruo proposes setting Xuande and Lü Bu against each other: Xuande is to receive a high office but secretly be ordered to kill Lü Bu, a plan designed to leave one rival vulnerable whichever way events turn. Xuande rejects the hidden order’s purpose and reassures Lü Bu that he will not carry it out. These episodes place the army in a political world where honors, commands, and alliances may conceal attempts to divide potential partners.

The group’s military ambitions also expose the danger of inadequately tested command. During the campaign at Jieting, Kong Ming entrusts Ma Su with a key position but assigns Wang Ping to supervise him. Ma Su disregards Wang Ping’s advice to defend the road and instead occupies a hill. The position leaves his troops without water and vulnerable to encirclement; they begin to desert, and efforts by Wang Ping and Wei Yan to assist them bring further losses. The defeat and loss of the city demonstrate that strategic planning cannot compensate for a commander who ignores practical conditions and experienced counsel. They also show that the army’s hierarchy contains both delegated authority and safeguards, though the supervision does not prevent a damaging mistake.

Historical and narrative significance

Xuande’s army embodies the novel’s tension between a claim to benevolent rule and the hard requirements of military power. Its stated allegiance to restoring just government under the Han is tested by the need to acquire and retain territory, manage supplies, command rival personalities, and negotiate with other rulers. Xuande’s refusal to abandon civilians gives his cause moral weight, while Kong Ming’s plans, the commanders’ field roles, and alliances with Sun Quan turn that cause into organized action.

The army’s fortunes are not presented as a smooth ascent. Its position depends on circumstances beyond its own control: the strategic strength of Cao Cao, the uncertain decisions of Sun Quan, the contested status of Jingzhou, and failures within its own command. Across these episodes, the narrative makes political legitimacy inseparable from conduct and practical capacity. Xuande’s following must seek the people’s loyalty, secure a viable base, and act with enough coordination to survive among larger powers; its claim to rule is compelling precisely because the story repeatedly makes it answerable to those demands.