Chapter 109: The City Gate

The sound of bells rang out from within the city. On the Zilai Bridge, the Guards of one Squad stared at each other in dismay. They dared not disobey a single word those soldiers said — after all, the Ministry of War was a yamen of such immense authority.

The Zilai Bridge was the only passage across the city moat. Pang Yu had deliberately set up a checkpoint here precisely to screen the city gate and prevent a surprise attack by the Roving Bandits. The log barricade could control the speed of anyone passing through; the outward-facing side of the log was even embedded with many iron spikes to stop it from being easily pushed aside. Yet now it stood in a half-open state, having lost nearly all its function.

The soldiers had ordered them to open up, and now the bells were ordering them to man the defenses. Most of the Guards here came from farming villages and led relatively simple lives; they rarely dealt with such dilemmas and were momentarily at a loss.

There were still some commoners in front of the bridge, and behind them stretched a long line of horse-drawn carts. The Grooms standing beside the carts all turned their attention to the activity on the City Wall when they heard the bells.

On the parapet of Dongzuo Gate, a clamor of voices rose; no one knew what was happening.

The Guard Squad leader, unable to think of a solution, sprinted toward Dongzuo Gate, intending to request instructions from the top of the wall.

Seeing this, the first Groom in the line behind turned around and waved broadly at the Grooms further back, then forcefully slapped the canopy of the cart beside him three times.

In an instant, the cloth curtains on dozens of carts ahead and behind were thrown open, and Roving Bandits clad in red, gripping Waist Sabers, bows, and arrows, filed out in a steady stream.

The lead Groom yanked away the cloth cushion on the driver's seat, revealing a mounted bow and a quiver underneath. His left hand took the bow, his right hand already fitted with a Thumb Ring; he nocked an arrow and drew the string as naturally as breathing.

Just as those Guards noticed the appearance of the red-clad men, the first arrow had already left the string with a thwip, flying straight toward the lead Guard at the first log barricade.

The hurtling arrow pierced through his chest. The Guard, the shaft following the arrowhead, made not a single sound. He stumbled two steps backward, swayed once, and then pitched forward onto his face.

Before the remaining Guards could react, a continuous stream of arrows came howling in on the wind. On the bridge, agonized screams and muffled groans rang out in succession.

Blood and flesh splattered. The commoners lined up at the front screamed and fled in all directions. The red-clad men disembarking from the carts did not pursue the scattering commoners, but anyone who blocked their path was met with slashing blades. In an instant, the eastern bridgehead was littered with corpses.

The surviving Guards on the bridge were thrown into panic. Their Squad leader had just reached the base of Dongzuo Gate, leaving the bridge with no one in command. The men stood rooted in place, clutching their swords and spears, crying out in alarm, utterly at a loss.

The red-clad Roving Bandits cut their way through the commoners. The leading group of ferocious bandits, their faces smeared with blood, swarmed toward the bridgehead.

The last commoner before them threw himself onto the log barricade, heedless of the iron spikes, trying to clamber over. Suddenly, a blade flashed. His head separated from his body, tracing a blood-dripping arc through the air, sailed across the bridge surface, and landed in the river below with a splash. His headless torso remained slumped over the log in its climbing posture. Only then did the blade pause in mid-air — a long sword measuring six chi and five cun, blood dripping from its edge.

A Guard further back let out a shriek, threw down his Short Spear, turned tail, and fled. The other Guards followed suit, scattering in all directions. One of the Squad of Five leaders still had a bronze gong hanging from his wrist; his mallet had fallen somewhere unknown. He cared only about running for his life, not even sparing a thought to strike the gong.

The Squad leader, who had been on his way back, happened to witness this scene. He spun around and sprinted madly toward Dongzuo Gate, waving his arms and shouting, "Strike the gong! Quickly!"

A mass of red-clad Roving Bandits surged across the bridge through the wide-open gap in the barricade. Seeing the Squad leader fleeing for his life, the foremost bandits halted, drew their bows, and shot at his retreating figure. Only two arrows struck the Squad leader in the back. One of them actually glanced off; the other lodged in his back. The Squad leader let out a muffled grunt and darted into an alley heading north. The arrow seemed not to hinder his movement in the slightest.

From Dongzuo Gate, the Zilai Bridgehead was clearly visible. A sudden uproar broke out, and the bronze gongs immediately began to sound. By this point, the three-layered forward defense line that Head Constable Pang had established using mounted couriers, Lookout Posts, and the bridgehead stronghold had completely failed. Tongcheng was left with only its final line of defense: the City Wall. And the still-open Xiangyang Gate was now the greatest breach in that defense.

The remaining Roving Bandits did not pause for a moment. The red stream of men turned south into Zilai Street and charged straight for Xiangyang Gate.

……

In front of Xiangyang Gate, the crowd was also at a loss. It had been made clear during yesterday's drill that during the martial law period, the Bell Tower had canceled its nighttime timekeeping; any tolling of the bell now signified a city-wide alert.

They had just learned of the Roving Bandits' departure and were in high spirits; no one had expected the bells to ring at this moment.

Yao Dongshan was the highest-ranking officer at Xiangyang Gate at this time. He should have been commanding from the City Tower, but since the Zhuang Squad had only been drilling for a short time and everyone was still rather undisciplined, he had followed He Xianya's advice and stayed by the gate to keep an eye on those few men.

Now, hearing the bells, the street was abuzz with discussion. Yao Dongshan looked around in every direction and then bellowed into the street, "Have you forgotten what was taught yesterday or what? All of you, get your asses up on the wall! Send a few men to shut the city gate."

A Guard still conducting inspections outside the gate tunnel asked, "But there are still so many people outside the gate, and none of them have been searched."

Yao Dongshan smacked his own head. "To hell with them! Tell them to go in through the West Gate."

The six riders watched their surroundings warily, constantly exchanging glances. They had no idea what tolling a bell in broad daylight meant, but it was clearly causing a stir among the crowd. Though they had roamed freely across the land, this was the first time they had encountered such a situation.

The runner stationed at the gate began to retreat, preparing to close the city gate. The lead rider, sensing the danger, stepped forward, his hand already gripping the hilt of his sword.

But in the blink of an eye, the space before him was jam-packed with people, blocking the road completely. The waiting commoners surged forward to obstruct them, preventing the runners from closing the gate.

"Sirs, please let us enter the city first! How could we dare stay outside at night?"

"Let us get into the city and have some congee first, we've been traveling all day."

A chaotic din erupted before the gate. The runners and the commoners argued with each other, and the Gate Leaves could not be closed. The lead rider released his sword hilt, turned back to take his horse, and with a leap, stood up on the horse's back to observe the situation inside the gate tunnel.

At that moment, the gongs at Dongzuo Gate began to sound. A commotion broke out atop Xiangyang Gate; from the vantage point of the wall, a large mass of red figures crossing the bridge was now visible.

Someone on the City Wall shouted loudly, ordering those below to close the gate. Many figures rushed into the gate tunnel, intent on shutting the city gate.

"Strike!" The lead rider jumped off his horse with a great shout.

All six men simultaneously drew their Waist Sabers and began hacking at the packed crowd before them.

After a few agonized screams, the crowd exploded like a nest of disturbed hornets. The commoners, frightened to the point of hysteria, fled desperately into the gate tunnel. The few runners at the gate could not possibly hold them back and were trampled to the ground by the stampeding crowd.

The runners who had been rushing over from inside the gate tunnel retreated one after another, all the way back out of the tunnel. The area before the gate was in complete chaos. The runners and Community Soldiers all retreated to the sides of the street. Yao Dongshan shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice was drowned out by the screams of the commoners. Inside the gate, no one even knew what was happening.

The lead rider, with five men, followed at the very rear of the crowd, using the fleeing commoners as cover to enter the gate tunnel. They knew the main force had already crossed the bridge. As long as they could hold this gate tunnel for a short while, they could control this crucial city gate, and Tongcheng would be theirs for the taking.

The moment they emerged from the gate tunnel, someone began shouting orders. The runners gathered again from the roadside, preparing to charge back into the tunnel.

The lead rider suddenly leaped out from the tail end of the crowd and swung his blade at a completely unprepared Guard in front of him. The blade struck squarely in the face, and the Guard crumpled to the ground without a sound. The other five attacked simultaneously, and several members of the Zhuang Squad fell. The runners around the gate, suddenly ambushed, were cut down and scattered in flight, unable to regroup and counterattack for the moment.

The gongs atop the wall beat with increasing urgency. Xiangyang Gate hung by a thread.

The lead rider pressed the pursuit, doing his utmost to keep those runners fleeing in disarray. That way, by the time they managed to reassemble, the main force of Roving Bandits would have already reached the gate, and the defenders of Tongcheng would be beyond any hope of salvation.

Suddenly, a dark shadow thrust at him from diagonally ahead. The leader hastily parried, but the seven-chi Long Spear carried such fierce force that he could not fully deflect it. The spearhead whooshed past his neck, scraping a bloody gash.

This was the first counterattack he had encountered in Tongcheng. He hastily retreated and looked — it was none other than that Constable Yao who had been cursing earlier. With a ferocious expression, Yao leveled his Long Spear and charged at another bandit who was in the middle of killing. The bandit, caught off guard, was stabbed in the side of the waist by the spear. The moment the spearhead was withdrawn, the bandit let out a miserable cry and collapsed.

"Kill this dog of a runner first!" the leader roared. The five men spread out and attacked Yao Dongshan from all sides. Relying on the reach of his Long Spear, Yao Dongshan thrust left and right, actually holding his ground for a moment. But the five worked together with practiced skill, one advancing as another retreated, constantly keeping Yao's long spear occupied while the others seized the opportunity to attack. Yao Dongshan took two slashes to the back and a diagonal gash across the face; defeat and death seemed imminent.

A scream rang out from the right. Recognizing the voice of a companion, the leader turned his head to look. A Javelin was embedded in the man's waist. The shaft had entered through his lower abdomen, pierced diagonally through his belly, and a length of the sharp spearhead protruded from his lower back, blood gushing from it like a spring.

The bandit collapsed to his knees, unable to keep hold of his Waist Saber, which clattered to the ground. He clutched the spot where the Javelin shaft entered his body and let out a prolonged, agonized scream.

The leader turned to look around and just caught sight of a figure ahead completing a throwing motion with an extended arm. This time, a Long Spear flew toward them like lightning, aimed straight at another bandit who was preparing to ambush Yao Dongshan. The Long Spear stabbed into his back; the fierce force of the impact knocked the bandit off his feet, slamming him forward against the door planks of a building on the street. He collapsed directly to the ground and lay still.

The situation had been reversed in the blink of an eye by two thrown spears.

"Well struck, Zhou the Second! Third Team, all of you, throw your Javelins!"

Yao Dongshan, drenched in blood, roared toward the street.

In just that brief moment of delay, the number of runners in the vicinity increased. Several runners raised their Javelins and hurled them into the street. Although their force was far less than that of the first thrower, they could not be ignored. The leader dodged repeatedly. Of their original six men, only three remained. More and more runners were returning to the street, and a dense volley of Javelins and Long Spears flew toward them.

Another bandit was struck in the thigh by a Javelin, losing his mobility. A fresh group of runners charged down from the City Stairs and stabbed at the bandit with their Long Spears; after only a few thrusts, he fell to the ground dead.

The leader himself had sustained multiple wounds. Knowing he could not hold this position, he turned and fled into the gate tunnel. Yao Dongshan, shouting loudly, led a group of runners in pursuit into the tunnel.

The leader and his remaining man stopped at the Gate Leaves. This was the mechanism for closing the leaves; holding this spot meant holding the passage.

His face covered in blood, Yao Dongshan charged with a frenzied roar, showing no intention of stopping. The leader hesitated for a moment, then actually turned and fled out of the gate.

By now, the main force of red-clad Roving Bandits had already rounded the corner and was charging straight for the city gate. As if blind to them, Yao Dongshan pursued the leader right out of the gate, hell-bent on killing him. The leader had no choice but to keep fleeing outward.

Only then did Yao Dongshan turn his head and shout, "Close the city gate!"

The bailiffs behind saw the large band of Roving Bandits in red and threw down their weapons one after another to push the gate leaves, but the commoners' corpses laid out on the ground slowed them down.

Yao Dongshan sprinted back, dragging the corpses by the feet and flinging them aside.

The Roving Bandits at the very front surged forward with a burst of speed. Yao Dongshan dared not throw any more corpses. By now the city gate was mostly shut, leaving only a gap wide enough for one person to slip through.

On the gate tower, panicked shouts and the clang of gongs merged into a single din.

From inside the gap, a man shouted, "Squad Leader, get in here, quick!"

Yao Dongshan slipped inside. The charging Roving Bandits were now so close their brows and eyes were clearly visible. The great gate was still slowly closing.

Yao Dongshan panted heavily, aiming his Long Spear at the gap. The figures of the Roving Bandits drew nearer and nearer within that shrinking slit.

"No one runs! Hold this gate for me, and someone go call for more men!" Yao Dongshan stood firm as a mountain, long spear in hand, and bellowed at the bailiffs pushing the gate, "If the gate can't be held, the whole city dies. No one will escape. All of you, hold it for me!"

Before the city gate could close, the foremost Roving Bandit threw himself violently against it, thrusting his sword-arm through the opening and slashing at the nearest Guard.

"Kill!" Yao Dongshan roared, thrusting his Long Spear. The spearhead pierced through the Roving Bandit's chest. The bandit went limp in an instant, his sword clattering to the ground inside the gate, his body sliding down along the gap.

Outside the gate, Roving Bandits kept crashing into it, pushing inward. Long spears were thrust through the gap, stabbing wildly, but because the city gate opened inward, their angle could not reach the men pushing the gate. Yet more and more Roving Bandits arrived, and one after another they pushed back against the gate from the outside.

The bailiffs knew the danger was dire. With a united shout, they heaved. The gap continued to narrow, and it looked as if it was about to close.

Suddenly, a hand reached in from outside the gate, grabbed the Roving Bandit who had died in the gap, lifted him, and slammed his head into the opening, jamming the gate leaves firmly in place.