by Tao Wong
“There are more contribution points here.” Liu Tsong shrugged. “I’ll be providing us cover during the last stages.” She smiled as she tapped her ring, drawing Wu Ying’s gaze toward it. “I have a few tricks that should help.”
Wu Ying frowned but nodded. He was quickly drawn into greeting the rest of his friends.
When Wu Ying got to Tou Hei, his friend pulled him close to whisper, “Senior Li’s being modest. She was sent here because she demanded our release from the lieutetant general.”
Wu Ying’s eyes widened, then glanced at the junior apothecarist. It was obvious that her actions had resulted in failure, but still, he was grateful for the attempt. Finding friends who were willing to risk their standing was rare. Or so he was told.
Because as Wu Ying looked around the small enclosure, his gaze falling on his friends in turn, he realized he was lucky. Lucky to find people willing to risk so much for him. Lives. Standing. Time.
“Thank you,” Wu Ying said.
The words caught the attention of a few, with Yin Xue sneering and Bao Cong shrugging. Li Yao just offered him a grin and hugged his arm quickly before she released it to point at the unfamiliar faces.
“This is Yan Bai Hu, Xu Gong, and Huang Zu from the White Tiger Sect in the lower Ru province,” Li Yao said.
The three members had ruddy, dark faces, looking more like peasants or bandits than the noble sect members Wu Ying was used to. Certainly, the daos and thick axe-blade polearms they held suited their coarse appearance. They offered him curt greetings, which Wu Ying returned before Li Yao continued.
“Lady Pan is an itinerant cultivator who will be joining us,” Li Yao’s curt introductions grew a little softer when she reached the woman.
Lady Pan was well shaped, reminding Wu Ying of a wine gourd even under the formless wear of the army. When Lady Pan caught Wu Ying’s wandering gaze, she raised a single eyebrow and smirked, making the peasant blush.
Li Yao glanced between the pair then punched Wu Ying in the arm, though her smile continued to stay on her lips. “And this is her companion, Yan Qing.”
Yan Qing, on the other hand, was a handsome youth, six feet tall with red lips, thick eyebrows, and broad shoulders. The youth looked to be in good spirits and sported a straight sword, though its hilt and blade were longer than the traditional form, allowing him to wield it two-handed. Near his side, a beautiful, unstrung bow rested.
“You’ll watch over us, right, Brother Long?” Lady Pan asked. She blinked her clear brown eyes at him.
When Wu Ying stuttered, Li Yao laughed and elbowed him in the side. “Stop it, Sister Lian. Wu Ying is quite innocent and won’t be able to take your jokes. He’ll be too distracted.”
“Oh, we wouldn’t want our brave hero to be distracted,” Pan Jin Lian said, her eyes twinkling.
Yan Qing rolled his eyes as he checked over his bow and arrows.
Her introductions done, Li Yao leaned in to continue her chat with Jin Lian inside the siege weapon.
Released from their teasing, Wu Ying escaped to the other side of the small enclosure. Outside of the cultivators, the enclosure contained a few soldiers who stood silently, waiting patiently for the signal under the watchful eyes of their unit leader. At first, they seemed calm and still, but on closer inspection, Wu Ying noticed the shifting feet, the hesitant words the soldiers passed between one another. Rather than witness their discomfort, he turned away to stare out the back, where he saw the remaining members of the army waiting patiently, and the clouds.
“Hopefully we start soon,” Wu Ying muttered.
“Oh?” Li Yao said, cocking her head. “You see something?”
“Rain,” Wu Ying said, nodding to the sky.
Li Yao frowned, eyeing the few clouds and the occasional gusting wind. “I don’t see it.”
“It’s coming.”
“Not according to the general’s soothsayers,” Yin Xue, who was lounging near the exit, said.
“It’s coming,” Wu Ying insisted.
Yin Xue looked at Wu Ying and nodded. Perhaps he recalled Wu Ying’s previous occupation. But he then studied the ground in more detail. Wu Ying could already tell him what it was like. The lush grass beneath their feet hid dark brown river soil. Of course, the river itself no longer overflowed as often, as canals and dykes helped pull it from the banks, so the alluvial soil beneath their feet was old and settled. None of the gray soil from often-flooding rivers, perfect for growing, with touches of nearly black soil from the mountains farther upstream. All of which meant that when rain came, it’d soak into the soil and run off the grass without any issue. For the grass. Not so much for their footing.
Now that that discussion was over, Wu Ying turned to Li Yao, who’d made her way back to him, and dropped his voice to ask, “That’s all?”
“All?”
“Us cultivators.”
“Oh!” Li Yao shook her head. “No. There are more cultivators in the other assault covers. But the general decided to split our attack in hopes that one of us will break through.”
“And once we do?” Wu Ying said.
“We hold the wall until reinforcements arrive. Widen the gap when we can and link up with the next cultivator group. The more sky ladders fix to the wall, the more soldiers will arrive, so providing aid to neighboring ladders will be nearly as important as holding our own,” Li Yao said.
Wu Ying nodded slowly, then whispered, “What are our chances?”
Li Yao shrugged.
He could only hope that they had not been sent to die without any hope of success or retreat. It was unlikely. No matter how much the vice-general disliked him, wasting their lives would cause more problems than the man could bear. In that sense, being part of a powerful Sect was protection in itself.
***
The start of the true attack began without fanfare. For a half hour after Wu Ying had arrived, the trebuchets had fired on the walls, hammering at portions of the obstruction and the towers that guarded the defense. But as the morning sun finally rose a quarter of the way to its zenith, the signal drums beat a new rhythm.
Wu Ying cocked his head, watching the signal flags echo the commands of the drum. Even if he did not have significant experience with the army or the drums, this command was easily recognizable.
Advance.
The creak of wooden wheels being pushed forward broke Wu Ying from his reverie, making the cultivator turn forward. To his initial surprise, their assault cover was not moving—until he realized that they had to wait. Ahead of them, the initial assault cover wave had to approach, reach their positions under fire, and deploy their men. Only then would the next wave, including the sky ladders, begin their approach. Only once those were close would Wu Ying’s cover move forward. No point sending them until then, to stand under fire with nowhere to go.
Realizing his foolishness, Wu Ying pushed forward to peer through the small gaps at the front of the wagon. He had to elbow aside Bai Hu as he did so and received a silent glower in return. But Wu Ying was a little too excited to pay proper attention to the man’s displeasure as he tried to catch a glimpse of what was happening outside.
“You there. Soldier. Let him take your place,” Bai Hu growled. He dropped a hand on the soldier who was meant to be steering and watching from the front and yanked him back, creating space for Wu Ying. “If he wants to push, then let him.”
“Honored cultivator, I…” the soldier stuttered, caught between duty and the displeasure of the glowering cultivator. One could see his head lopped off for disobedience. The other might see his limbs broken, from the way Bai Hu’s fist rose.
“It’s fine,” Wu Ying said, stepping into the gap. “I wanted to see.” He flashed the soldier a grin then gave Bai Hu a narrowed eye look. “Better view here. And I have no problem pushing a wagon. Better work than pushing a plow behind an ox.”
“Definitely less shitty,” the other soldier beside Wu Ying muttered under his breath. He probably thought Wu Ying could not hear, not
realizing how sharp cultivator senses grew.
Wu Ying decided to dissuade him of that notion by leaning over and murmuring, “Definitely.”
He watched the soldier flush, stutter an apology, before Wu Ying turned his attention back to what he could see in the gap. Luckily, their assault cover had been set on a slight rise in the surroundings, giving them both a rolling start when needed and a slightly better view of the battle going forth before them.
In the time he had been speaking with the soldiers, the first wave of assault covers had covered a hundred yards under the insistent beat of the drums. Wu Ying saw, already, how the formation had grown a little ragged. Wagons that had better terrain, stronger teams, or were just better put together took the lead while others lagged behind. As much as their superiors might desire the first wave to arrive at the same time, reality ensured that it was not possible.
A change in the beat of the drums had the second wave—the sky ladders—begin their slow journey forward. They would take longer to arrive, so their staggered approach was required. Wu Ying knew that soon, they too would begin the advance. But in the meantime…
A harsh snap and whistle, as if someone had cracked a single, large string, broke through the hubbub. As if the first wave had passed an invisible line, the defenders on the wall acted, sending the first of many volleys of arrows at the assault covers. Rising high above, so high that Wu Ying lost sight of the glinting arrowheads, the arrows rose.
And fell.
The actual strike of the arrows as they landed was muted by the all-encompassing noise of the army on march. It only sounded, to his ears, as though a cloud had broken open in the distance, dismissing its wet attendants to the earth. Dozens of light drops, all rolled together such that a single one could not be picked out. The fall of rocks as defending trebuchets released their own payloads was louder and more insistent in being heard.
If the noise of the battle was less than astounding, the sight was eye opening. Wu Ying watched the arrows land, striking at assault covers and bouncing off or raining upon the ground, creating wooden sprouts in the field. Impediments for the oncoming army. And if one wave of arrows finished landing, others arrived soon after. The rocks from the trebuchet were majestic, striking the ground and bouncing. Wu Ying watched one particular rock land almost directly ahead of their route, skipping off the ground and ploughing into an assault cover. It crushed a wagon wheel, leaving the siege weapon to list to the side.
Moments later, soldiers spilled out of the damaged assault cover, holding shields above their head as they ran forward to their assigned position. One caught an arrow in the neck, dropping to the ground as an improperly raised shield failed to save him. The others ran, ignoring the fallen body as infantry paired together with archers in a mad dash to their position across the no-man’s land of arrows.
“Push!” the soldier beside Wu Ying barked at the cultivator.
Wu Ying blinked, then realized he had missed the signal. He hastily gripped the handy wooden divot ahead of him and added his strength to the effort. The covered wagon rolled forward, at first at a snail’s pace but picking up speed when the simple cloth brake holding them still released.
“Not too fast! We have to wait for the sky ladders,” warned the soldier. He was already breathing hard, though whether it was due to fear or effort, Wu Ying could not tell.
Wu Ying slowed down as requested, making sure to not add too much strength. Before him, the war raged, arrows and cast stones landing amongst the assault covers and the newly arrived sky ladders. Already, Wu Ying saw the bodies of soldiers littering the ground, some still moving as they writhed in pain and attempted to crawl back to the safety of their lines. Protective cover or not, the occasional arrow managed to make its way through gaps in the protection or—when used by a powerful cultivator—through the protective coverings directly.
As the assault covers grew ever closer, more and more soldiers were forced to disembark damaged vehicles and risk the fire of the walls under cover of shield and armor. Still, the covers had allowed a good portion of the first wave to arrive unscathed and get into position. Already, some of the archers were returning fire, helping suppress the attacks raining down on them.
A new sound arose—the start of drumming, fainter and deeper than the drums of their own army. Wu Ying frowned, inadvertently slowing. He noticed a slight pause in the arrow fire as the drums signaled a change. Even as the cold thread of dread grew in his stomach, Wu Ying saw a new flight of arrows rise up from the walls.
“That doesn’t look right,” commented Lady Pan. Somehow along the way, the female cultivator had managed to join them at the front of the assault cover.
“I don’t see it.” Wu Ying tried to gauge what it was that Lin Jian had seen before the arrows disappeared from his view. He was still trying to figure it out when they started landing, bringing with them flaming fury.
The arrow storm was much smaller in size, the attack concentrated on the covers themselves rather than spread out across the siege engines and soldiers on foot. Each arrow, upon striking, released a small explosion. Not all the arrows exploded, but a large majority did so, and soon the dried and clay-coated roofs of the siege weapons caught fire, along with portions of their walls.
“What was that?” the soldier beside Wu Ying exclaimed. He released his grip on the wagon, stumbling to a halt only to be pushed forward by the passengers behind. Reminded of his task, the soldier found himself taking hold of the wagon and pushing with Wu Ying once more.
“I…”
Taking pity on Wu Ying as he hesitated, Lady Pan said, “Talisman arrows. Expensive to wrap each arrow with a talisman, but they’re extremely useful for war. If you want to set fire to siege weapons, it’s the easiest method—unless they’re by the walls. Then, of course, there’s oil. They’ll probably fire on the siege ladders soon.”
Wu Ying’s eyes widened, realizing that they too would likely come under fire when they got within range. Luckily, each of those talismans did not look powerful enough to destroy the covers themselves—just set them alight. Even so, the first wave had stalled, many of the soldiers abandoning their vehicles to escape a fiery death only to be targeted by the arrows of the defenders. More and more of the first wave fell, only a few groups managing to form protective shield walls and return fire now that they were within range.
“Are we still going in?” came the deep voice of Huang Zu from behind, highly disapproving of the idea.
None of the cultivators answered him, for the decision was out of their hands. The general and drums would tell them of their fate. In the silence that encompassed their small, cramped, and suddenly too fragile siege weapon, they rolled forward under the relentless beat of the drums.
***
A change in drum signal and a tapped warning had Wu Ying and the soldier apply the brakes. They stopped just outside of bow range and watched the on-going struggle before them. As expected, the moment the sky ladders had made their way halfway through the fields to the wall, they came under fire from the talisman arrows.
To Wu Ying’s surprise, the army had an answer to the talisman arrows. Around each of the siege weapons, a wall of sand and air kicked up as talismans that had been placed on the siege weapons activated. Each of the talismans lived briefly before they expired, releasing their stored energy into the wind and conjuring soil ahead of them, sending arrows targeted at the sky ladders swinging aside and falling away. The attack had the added benefit of throwing up a significant amount of dust and dirt, obscuring the view of the engines as they rolled forward. When Wu Ying managed to glimpse the battlefield again, he was surprised to note that brave soldiers were climbing the ladders, buckets of water in hand as they doused the fires that had managed to light up the ladders. Even as Wu Ying rejoiced at the successful tactic, another wave of arrows was fired.
“How much is this costing them?” he asked, mentally gauging the cost of each flight of arrows.
Lady Pan chuckled. “When it comes to
battle at this level, it is more a matter of taels than skill. Whoever has more wins.”
Bai Hu added his own two coins. “It is a complete waste of resources. Each of those talismans is at least an hour’s worth of work by an apprentice. These enchantments are not particularly hard, but they shot a small Sect’s entire month’s production in a single volley. Only kingdoms can afford this kind of waste.” The disgust that filled Bai Hu’s voice made Wu Ying take a closer look at the man.
“Just be grateful we can afford to do it too,” Lady Pan said.
As Wu Ying watched the third volley of arrows land, to some minor result, he could only agree with Bai Hu. It really was a waste. Not only of resources, but of the bodies that littered the field. At least now that the majority of the fire was targeted at the siege ladders in an attempt to slow them, the individual soldiers who had disembarked from the first wave had been relieved of the pressure placed upon them. Having set up their positions and with shields in front of them, the crouching infantryman who once wielded the propped-up shields were digging into the dirt before the walls.
“What are they doing?” Wu Ying said.
“Digging trenches. It’ll give them better cover,” said the soldier beside Wu Ying. “The deeper they dig, the more places they create, the easier it will be for the next fight.”
“Next fight?”
“Yes. The ladders won’t make it. Not enough of them at least,” the soldier said, shaking his head.
“How many would be enough?”
“At least half. The general is being too impatient.”
“Isn’t that a dangerous thing to say?” Wu Ying said, cocking his head and looking at the soldier.
“It is. Why do you think I’m out here?” The soldier grinned wryly. “Too many opinions for someone who crawls in the dirt.”
Bai Hu laughed and clapped the soldier on his shoulder. “Good man. One should live free from the strictures and worries about the fools above us. If you survive this, find me and my sworn brothers. A man with such bravery should not consign himself to a life of following orders.”
