That same evening, to the north of Changban (長坂), there stood a bridge called Changban Bridge (長坂橋). It was a wooden bridge crossing a small stream to the north of the long hill. Its width was narrow — too narrow for two horses side by side, wide enough for a single horse to pass.

At the middle of that bridge, Zhang Fei (張飛) sat alone upon his horse. Liu Bei's (劉備) main body had already passed through the southern woods beyond the bridge and was moving further south. At the north end, no one had yet come. Yet upon the northern horizon, the dust of Cao Cao's (曹操) vanguard of two thousand cavalry was drawing near.

Zhang Fei had chosen to hold off two thousand alone. Yet to hold off two thousand with one man and one spear was difficult. So he used a single stratagem.

Inside the woods to the east of the bridge, twenty of Zhang Fei's riders were in position. Each had tied a bundle of tree branches to the tail of his horse. Whenever a horse moved, the branches swept the earth and raised a cloud of dust. When the twenty moved together, the dust rose as if several hundred ambush cavalry were stirring inside the woods. That dust climbed slowly upward, a breath above the eastern woods of the bridge.

Upon Zhang Fei's head the dusk had settled. The moon had not yet risen. Only the red glow lingering on the western sky lit his dark beard. His beard fluttered large. The evening wind flowed from north to south, and the grain of his beard lay toward the south.

Zhang Fei's Eight-Serpent Spear (八蛇矛) rose at the tip of his right hand. The blade, shaped like eight serpents, flashed large in the dusk. The spear was a length and a half of Zhang Fei's own height. That long spear stood upright at the middle of the bridge.

The dust from the northern horizon now reached the north end of the bridge. It was the front of Cao Cao's vanguard of two thousand cavalry. At the center stood the banners of Xiahou Dun (夏侯惇) and Cao Ren (曹仁) side by side. The sound of two thousand hooves struck the earth at the north end of the bridge.

Xiahou Dun halted his horse. Cao Ren halted his beside him. The front of the two thousand came to a halt together.

Xiahou Dun's two eyes fixed upon Zhang Fei. At the middle of the bridge, a giant sat alone upon his horse, holding a spear upright. Behind the bridge, no one was to be seen. Yet inside the eastern woods, dust was rising into the sky as if several hundred ambush cavalry were moving.

Cao Ren, beside Xiahou Dun, spoke.

"Brother. That one man holds the bridge alone — there must, of necessity, be a plan behind him. Look at the dust inside the woods. The signs of ambush are unmistakable."

Xiahou Dun nodded. He too had been watching the movement of the dust. The front of the two thousand had to halt here. It had to pass the giant at the middle of the bridge first, yet the possibility that behind him several hundred ambush cavalry might be waiting was enough to halt the breath of the two thousand.

Zhang Fei had still not spoken a word at the middle of the bridge. His voice had not yet opened. Only his Eight-Serpent Spear flashed once more in the dusk. The tip adjusted its angle toward Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren to the north.

The hooves of the two thousand quieted at the north end. The front hoof of Zhang Fei's horse scraped the earth lightly at the middle of the bridge. That scrape rang quietly upon the wooden planks.

The evening wind passed over Zhang Fei's shoulder, from north to south. It flowed on toward the slope of Liu Bei's main body at the south end of the bridge.

At the middle of the bridge, a giant stood alone. That one giant had brought the step of two thousand cavalry to a halt at the north end of the bridge. The evening had not yet grown fully dark.

Zhang Fei's voice would open at the nearest point of tomorrow. Upon the bridge this evening, one giant, one man, one spear, and one horse stood complete, first, before the step of two thousand cavalry.

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