Chapter 116: Stealing the City

The Watchman's Clapper echoed across the entire city. Thatched huts inside the wall were set alight by Rockets, and the flames began to spread. The Rockets from outside the city showed no sign of letting up, wave after wave flying over the city's head, crashing onto roof tiles and spraying countless sparks. Some arrowheads failed to pierce the tiles and simply continued burning on the rooftops.

Looking out from the top of the wall, Pang Yu saw fires everywhere within the city. In the firelight, countless common folk were beating at the flames with Hemp Beaters, while others used buckets to haul water from large water vats. The sound of splashing water rang out everywhere.

The Community Soldiers and bailiffs who had been delivering water to the city's head all returned to fight the fires. The water on the city's head was quickly exhausted. The burning Hanging Curtains blazed fiercely, producing thick smoke. Some, after their outer sides burned away, lost their balance and began toppling down below the wall.

The fires below the wall were still not under control. Common folk ran chaotically through the streets. A sense of urgency rose in Pang Yu's heart, and he moved beside the City Stairs, preparing to descend the City Wall.

Just as he touched the Parapet, Pang Yu stopped. He turned his head to look along the City Wall. Smoke obscured his vision; both sides of the city's head were somewhat blurred. The firelight and High Lamps filtered through the smoke, becoming hazy shapes of light and shadow.

Pang Yu paused for a moment, then suddenly turned around and returned to the City Tower. Two Squads of Guards were still here, transferred from the Fifth Squadron during the day. Because the terrain and position of the North Wall were unsuitable for deploying formations and the threat faced there was relatively small, Pang Yu had not returned them.

The Fourth Squadron originally guarding Dongzuo Gate had all been dispatched to the top of the City Wall. These two Squads were the reserve force. Although the wall was in utter chaos, Pang Yu had not sent them out either. Besides these Guards, there were also nearly ten Runners led by He Xianya, who were basically being used as Heralds.

"You lot, patrol toward the North Wall." Pang Yu pointed at one Guard Squad Leader. He did not even remember the man's name, nor which Squad of the Fifth Squadron he belonged to. The Zhuang Squad structure was in place, but they were all new arrivals, and Pang Yu had no time to memorize them.

That Squad Leader quickly moved to lead his Squad out. Pang Yu called him back. "You are not permitted to fight fires. The Squad must not scatter; you must move together. If you encounter Roving Bandits climbing the wall, attack together."

The Squad Leader nodded and led his Squad away. One Squad remained.

"Your Squad, follow me to Xiangyang Gate."

Pang Yu grabbed a seven-chi Short Spear and walked out first. He crouched low and moved to the edge of the Battlements, then swiftly popped his head out for a look. His head was exposed for only an instant; he glanced once and pulled back. At that speed, even a prepared archer could not possibly hit him. If the archer was unprepared, they would not even have raised their bow yet.

The surrounding Guards all looked at Pang Yu with doubt. They were very skeptical that Pang Yu could see anything with such a quick flash. In truth, Pang Yu needed only that sliver of time. In that instant, he did not need to judge what he saw; he just recorded it like a photograph. Only after pulling back did he recall the scene he had glimpsed, minimizing his exposure time to enemy attacks.

Below Dongzuo Gate was empty; no one was attacking the Gate Leaf. Presumably, the Roving Bandits also knew that attacking the city gate after the gateway had been blocked yielded very little effect.

After confirming the gate tower of Dongzuo Gate was safe, Pang Yu led this Squad of Guards along the City Wall toward Xiangyang Gate.

The Rockets fired from below the wall had lessened, but some archers were still firing continuously. Rockets whistled overhead. The road was scorched by waves of heat. Their entire field of vision was filled with thick smoke from burning cotton bedding. Everyone around Pang Yu was coughing.

Half of the Grass Depots on the city's head were on fire. The Community Soldiers were busy hauling the contents out. Some were using Long Spears to poke the burning thatch down below the Parapet, drawing waves of curses from below the wall.

Not only were fires burning inside the city, but many thatched huts outside the City Wall were also on fire. It was unclear if these were stray shots. The area midway between the two city gates had the heaviest smoke; the smoke above and below the wall overlapped.

Pang Yu coughed as he walked, tears streaming nonstop. In his heart, he cursed whichever Roving Bandit had come up with this rotten idea.

Enduring this torment, Pang Yu scouted below the wall the entire way using that rapid observation method. He did not discover any Roving Bandits approaching the city. Before reaching Xiangyang Gate, at a section where the smoke was dense, a group of Community Soldiers hid outside the smoke, using water from a water vat to wet their sleeves and cover their mouths and noses. The High Lamp in this section had also been shot down. Nothing inside was clearly visible; the distant firelight could not penetrate this stretch of thick smoke. It was like a black hole on the otherwise bright City Wall.

Pang Yu also wet his sleeve and tilted his head to speak to that Squad Leader. "Keep close."

After the Squad Leader acknowledged, Pang Yu covered his mouth and nose and led the way into the smoke. Even the wet sleeve could not block the dense smoke. Just as Pang Yu was about to cough again, two coughs suddenly came from within the smoke ahead.

Pang Yu quickly held his breath. Letting go of his sleeve, he loudly asked, "Who's ahead there?"

Another cough came from that direction, but no answer. Pang Yu crouched lower. Smoke always rose upward; sure enough, it was less choking down below.

"Which ward are you from?"

There was still no response from within the smoke.

A sense of Danger struck him. Pang Yu shouted, "Zhuang Squad, listen up! Your families are all inside the city. No one is permitted to retreat. Anyone coming forward who doesn't speak, stab them to death."

The Zhuang Squad behind him all shouted their acknowledgment. Some men lined up beside Pang Yu. Pang Yu crouched low, held the Short Spear in front of him, and carefully edged forward.

Another cough came from ahead, closer than the last time. It seemed to be approaching this way as well.

"Just keep thrusting forward!"

The words had barely left his mouth when a human figure burst out of the thick smoke, suddenly appearing to the front-side. Its right arm was swinging violently, nearly dispersing the smoke before its eyes.

Before Pang Yu could react, a sound of wind swept past overhead. Pang Yu did not need to think to know it was a Blade, aimed at the neck area. Because he had lowered his stance, he had just dodged the life-taking slash.

That person had already entered the length of the Short Spear. Pang Yu hurriedly tried to retract his spear, but the rear was blocked by some Guard behind him. That person's slash had missed. Their left hand clamped onto Pang Yu's spear shaft, while their right hand swung the sword back for another cut.

Unable to retreat, Pang Yu immediately prepared to step forward and block that person's arm. Just as his left hand moved, a Long Spear grazed his sleeve and shot past with a whoosh, stabbing into that person's ribs.

That person let out a miserable cry and retreated backward. Another human figure charged out of the smoke behind them. Pang Yu had distance this time. Aiming at a silhouette, he thrust. That person ran straight onto the spear blade. The blade sank in halfway. Pang Yu yanked it out with force. The figure screamed in agony and stopped in place.

Pang Yu's scalp tingled. There was no thought in his mind; his entire body reacted almost mechanically. He thrust another spear strike at that figure. The two Guards beside him also stabbed at that figure without stopping. In the blink of an eye, that person was stabbed seven or eight times.

Liquid splashed onto his face. Pang Yu had no time to think about what it was. That figure had already collapsed.

A roar rang out from the smoke ahead. It was not a Tongcheng accent.

"Roving Bandits on the City Wall! Move forward! Kill anyone you meet!"

Pang Yu shouted and walked forward. The sound of whooshing came from overhead; Rockets were still intermittently shooting into the city. Fortunately, the Guards did not flee. Pang Yu sensed someone catching up beside him, advancing alongside him. The group advanced while coughing.

Pang Yu's face was streaked with tears and snot. His eyes were red and swollen, yet he still strained to keep them open. The smoke ahead was fraught with Danger. He did not know how many Roving Bandits had used the chaos to climb the wall, but he knew he had to drive them off the wall, and the sooner the better.

There was coughing in the smoke. The distance was not far now.

Holding back his cough, Pang Yu shouted, "Form ranks!"

A loud yell came from the opposite side. Several human figures charged simultaneously. The Guards yelled out, over a dozen Short Spears stabbing in a frenzy. Spurred by Danger, their speed was much faster than during normal training.

Blood sprayed wildly in the smoke. Those few people all wielded one-handed weapons, mostly short blades. Waist Sabers counted as long among them. They posed no threat whatsoever against the dense formation of seven-chi Short Spears. The first few figures collapsed to the ground in the blink of an eye.

The other few were also injured and retreated backward one after another.

Pang Yu's confidence soared. He led the Zhuang Squad forward. The Squad maintained its formation. Pang Yu had trained these Guards in formations only to cultivate their discipline. Only now did he feel the practical utility of the formation, beyond just discipline.

A sound of wind suddenly came from beside him; something flew past. A loud cry came from behind and to the side, followed immediately by the sound of a Long Spear hitting the ground.

Then another object came, this time nearly grazing Pang Yu's face. Through the smoke, Pang Yu only saw it was something with a round head and short handle; it must have been a dedicated throwing weapon.

"Charge with me!" Pang Yu howled and sprinted forward with all his might.

The retreating figures quickly appeared before his eyes. One of them was raising an arm, preparing to throw. Pang Yu lunged forward desperately, while that person swung their arm, trying to throw first.

With a tearing sound, Pang Yu felt a resistance in his hands. The Long Spear had struck that person's chest, knocking their forward-leaning upper body backward. The object in the figure's hand just happened to leave their grasp at that moment, flying into the sky with a whoosh.

The Guards behind caught up, chasing and stabbing at those few people. Not far ahead, there were several shouts in a Tongcheng accent. Those few could not hold them off. Three were stabbed and fell to the ground. The last figure howled and leaped out over the City Wall.

Although he had not made many movements, Pang Yu was already drenched in sweat. Not daring to relax his vigilance, he walked all the way out of the thick smoke. Upon seeing a group of Community Soldiers holding Short Spears outside, he almost collapsed onto the ground.

Zhou Er was waiting outside, Javelin raised. Only upon seeing it was Pang Yu did he lower his Javelin. He led the Guards of Team Three back into the smoke. After a moment, several men dragged two people out.

"There were two ladders. Your subordinate pushed them both down," Zhou Er said in a low voice to Pang Yu, who was washing his face with water. "Squad Leader, two are still alive."

"Take them to the City Tower." Pang Yu said fiercely, "I'm going to interrogate them right now."

……

Inside the Xiangyang Gate City Tower, Pang Yu sat in the seat of honor with reddened eyes. He Xianya was beside him. A desk was placed before them.

"You dog constables are the real thieves! Official thieves!" A young man in red howled. "When the master's house was oppressing us household-born slaves, when did you dog officials ever ask if I lived or died? I'm going to kill all the gentry and dog constables under heaven!"

He was covered in blood with two spear wounds in his body, yet his eyes were still fierce.

Pang Yu said to Zhou the Second, "Switch to another one."

Zhou the Second dragged the youth away and hauled in another roving bandit. This man had only been shot in the thigh and could not move, but his mental spirit still seemed passable. The moment he came in, he kowtowed toward Pang Yu, though his thigh could not bend, making it look somewhat awkward.

Pang Yu knew this man would confess easily, so he said sternly at once, "If what you say proves useful, your life may be spared. If you fail to confess honestly, I, Ben Squad Leader, will have to apply torture to you."

The man looked at Pang Yu in surprise. "I will confess. Why would I not confess?"

Pang Yu paused, let out a somewhat embarrassed dry cough, then sat down. "Where is your native place?"

"Shanxi Yangcheng."

"When did you join the bandits?"

"The year before last, the sixth year of Chongzhen. I did not mean to join the bandits. I had gotten into a fight with someone away from home and was locked up in the South Prison. The roving bandits came and released everyone. With nowhere left to seek a living, I just followed them." The man offered no resistance whatsoever, giving none of the tortures Pang Yu had prepared in his mind a chance to be used.

"Which roving bandit leader do you follow?"

"The Eight Great Kings, the Eight Great Kings of the Western Camp, Zhang Xianzhong. We all call him Old Master."

So he was a famous figure. Pang Yu recalled that this man was just outside the city and wondered whether he was the one beneath the Yellow Banner. He felt a slight urge to go see him, but seeing him would serve no purpose. He continued questioning, "How many men do you have?"

"I do not know. The Eight Great Kings has nineteen sentries."

"Organization."

"What does organization mean?"

"It means how many men under each sentry, and what sort of officers and such."

"Each sentry has more or fewer men. A sentry has one leader called a General Officer. The General Officer has two assistants — one called a Precious Banner Bearer, and one called a High Shine. Below the sentry are Post Commander, Old Team Leader, Team Leader, and Long Family."

Pang Yu listened carefully but heard no continuation. He looked up at the roving bandit and said, "What is below Long Family?"

"Below are the servants of the various families — as few as seven or eight, as many as several dozen. The servants are not fit for fighting and killing. Every time we fight the Government Troops, only those at Long Family and above take the field."

Pang Yu rubbed his chin. Put this way, the roving bandits sounded somewhat like the knights and lords of Europe — one man going to battle with several dozen servants attending him.

"What is the background of those who assaulted the city by day? And what about those in red?"

"Those carrying ladders were all servants, waiting to earn merit and become Long Family. As for those in red shooting arrows by day, I only know they included the Upper Fifth Post, but those shooting rockets at night were all three sentries from the Old Camp."

"What is the Old Camp?"

"The Eight Great Kings' Personal Soldiers. They always follow him around. Each man has at least three to five horses and mules. On ordinary days they only ride mules; they mount horses only for battle. Those horses are treated like treasures and are tended only by their own womenfolk."

Pang Yu and He Xianya exchanged a glance. No wonder the organizational strength at night far exceeded that of the day — it turned out to be the Eight Great Kings' imperial guard.

"Tell me from where you entered Nanzhili, and which prefectures and counties you took along the way."

"I followed the Eight Great Kings from Gushi toward Huoqiu. Three sentries went from Gushi straight to Lu'an Prefecture. The Sweeping King and Geli Yan came from Yingzhou — three routes in all. Along the way we broke through Gushi, Yingzhou, and Huoqiu. Shouzhou had a formidable Country Squire, so we could not take it, and then we went to Fengyang. I followed the Post Commander to Red Heart Post and intercepted one hundred thousand taels of Grain Transport Silver — not that it did us any good. After that we came to Luzhou and even broke the Barbican. There was a stout fellow who held a single Long Spear and guarded the wall ascent point — one man went up, one man died. I have no idea what that man was made of. Just those few steps of stairs, and we simply could not take them — the greatest pity of all. The three sentries detached at Luzhou broke Chao County, and then broke Lujiang." (Note 1)

"After breaking a city, did you kill people?"

"I have never killed anyone. Today I was not originally called up onto the wall. My Post Commander insisted the city could be broken and ordered us up."

Pang Yu glared at him. "I am asking whether the Eight Great Kings killed."

"Yingzhou was slaughtered terribly — the whole city full of dead." The roving bandit shook his head. "Huoqiu, I fear half were killed. Fengyang, I do not know how many. Chao County fell as soon as we struck — I fear seventy percent were killed. The day they killed in Lujiang there was fog; I do not know how many were killed."

Pang Yu looked him in the eye and asked, "If everyone is killed off, who will produce grain? Next time you pass through here, what will you be able to plunder?"

"If you do not kill people, who would let you plunder them? Kill them and it is clean." The roving bandit tilted his head. "We only want things to stay alive. It is those Child Army who truly want to kill. The Eight Great Kings likes the Child Army best, precisely because he knows they are easy to deceive."

He Xianya was also keeping a record. He kept observing the roving bandit. The man showed hardly any expression when he spoke, as if he were chatting with a neighbor, which He Xianya found rather astonishing.

The roving bandit seized the lull while the two were recording to ask tentatively, "Old Master, do you intend to kill me?"

"That is not necessarily so." Pang Yu set down his brush. "As I said just now, so long as you speak the truth and it proves useful to us, I will naturally report it to His Honor. When the time comes for court hearing, the County Magistrate will certainly find grounds to absolve you of your crimes."

He Xianya leaned in and said in a low voice, "Magistrate Yang really intends to hold court and interrogate these roving bandits? This is wartime — why not just kill them if he wants to?"

Pang Yu nodded with certainty and said, "We are not the army. His Honor said that if any are captured, we can only proceed according to the Great Ming Code, the Regulations for Trying Cases, and the Collected Statutes of the Ming. Whatever charge fits these roving bandits, that is the crime we charge them with. Only after review by the Ministry of Justice can they be beheaded." (Note 2)

He Xianya wore an expression of absurdity, shook his head, and continued recording.

Pang Yu said to the roving bandit, "One last question. Do you intend to assault the city tomorrow?"

"Naturally we will assault it." The man said ingratiatingly, "Tomorrow the Sweeping King, Geli Yan, and my Old Master will combine camps — three factions, tens of thousands of men. They say tomorrow they will slaughter Tongcheng to the last."

Note 1: A true story from the defense of Luzhou. This man was called Lu Nengsuo. At the time, the roving bandits had already taken the Barbican's wall. Luzhou's main city wall was slightly higher than the Barbican. The bandits advanced along the Barbican wall to attack the main wall. This man, with a single Long Spear, guarded those few steps of stairs and fought so ferociously that no roving bandit dared come up again. Forced to retreat, they climbed back down the wall. He almost single-handedly held Luzhou.

Note 2: At the time, when local yamen offices captured roving bandits, they indeed had to interrogate them according to procedure, convict them according to the law, and report to the Ministry of Justice — still following the methods of local governance.