Chapter 238: Bridge Head

Pounding hoofbeats rose and fell like rain as hundreds of men chased each other across the narrow strip of land east of the Wangjiatao River.

The cavalry unit moved from east to northwest, gradually pulling away from the infantry. Some of the Roving Bandits' horse soldiers left the open wilderness and entered the Official Road, spurring their horses faster. The Government Troops' intent was growing clear: they meant to cut off Fierce Tiger Bridge.

In the chaos of the pursuit, Roving Bandits from different units mixed together, and the chain of command ceased to exist. Most of the horse soldiers simply knew to follow the others and rush northwest in a blind mass; by instinct, they understood they had to cross the river.

The land beyond Wanfeng Gate held the richest water sources in Jiangbei. During the great drought of the tenth year of Wanli, only the springs outside Wanfeng Gate never ran dry, and the twenty li along the road stayed as verdant as ever. The Wangjiatao River, even in winter, ran higher than other rivers. If Fierce Tiger Bridge were cut off, the horse soldiers would lose their way back.

Up ahead, Liu Wenxiu's back flickered in and out of view among a cluster of horse soldiers. Xiao Wazi urged his packhorse on, straining to catch up from behind, but once this packhorse broke into a run, the gap between it and a warhorse was anything but small.

Abruptly, Liu Wenxiu slowed his pace. He shouted loudly for the Flag Bearer, and a conch horn sounded in response. Some horse soldiers drew close, mostly men from the Western Camp. The rest of the horse soldiers paid no heed and kept lashing their mounts, charging straight for Fierce Tiger Bridge.

Xiao Wazi felt a surge of doubt. Why stop at a time like this? He hurriedly spurred his horse to catch up and finally reached the vicinity of the banner. His current position was nearly two li from Fierce Tiger Bridge. The Government Troops ahead were still racing straight for the bridge, while the Government Troops' infantry behind were already closing in.

"Nine Striped Dragon, take some men and hold off the infantry behind us!"

Liu Wenxiu's voice was edged with urgency. Xiao Wazi understood his meaning. Only a few dozen Government Troops had charged past; if the horse soldiers fought with desperate ferocity, there was a chance to break through. But the infantry column behind them packed the Official Road. Once those troops reached Fierce Tiger Bridge, the cavalry would have no hope of winning on that kind of terrain.

The horse soldiers around them looked panicked, hesitating in place, Nine Striped Dragon included. At a moment of retreat like this, whoever stayed behind as the rear guard was the one most likely to be abandoned by the main force. It looked like sacrificing oneself to preserve the main body — something most horse soldiers would not accept.

Xiao Wazi panted nervously. Perhaps Liu Long Family's decision was the right one. The bridgehead could not accommodate many horse soldiers fighting at once; three hundred men or four hundred made little difference. If the infantry on the right were allowed to arrive, one charge from behind and the horse soldiers would scatter.

Only by delaying the infantry could the horse soldiers ahead have a chance to break through Fierce Tiger Bridge. But in this moment of panic, who could think that far ahead?

The many horse soldiers stood where they were, staring at Liu Wenxiu in dread. Xiao Wazi shouted, "I'll go with Nine Changjia."

"We all go together!" Liu Wenxiu changed his mind. He struck his horse's rump and personally charged toward the infantry. The Western Camp horse soldiers hesitated a moment, then one after another wheeled their horses around to face the infantry.

……

Light Arrows shot from the flank came flying in an unbroken stream, plunging into the dense infantry column. A Spear Soldier in the middle fell with a miserable howl. Two spearmen behind him, unable to dodge in time, tumbled into a tangled heap. The men further back veered around them, though a few spearmen from the same squad moved to help the fallen men up.

"No stopping!"

Wu Dacai brandished his seven-chi Flag Spear, kicking and hitting the soldiers who had halted. The spearmen hastily gave up and strained to keep running with the unit.

The Rattan Shield on his left arm gave a thud. Wu Dacai staggered — struck by another Step Bow shot. He hurriedly left the spot and kept moving to make himself a harder target.

His Banner Team had not yet been issued any Heavy Armor; all they had were seven-jin padded jackets. His Banner Team had posted strong results in recent drills and had been selected by Wang Zenglu as the Vanguard precisely because they carried less weight. But to help them reach Fierce Tiger Bridge alive, Wang had specially borrowed over a dozen Rattan Shields from the Personal Guard Infantry Division.

His left arm was strapped to a nine-jin Rattan Shield. On a normal rapid march with a heavy load, he would not have felt tired, but now, having just run little more than a li, he felt as if he would run out of breath entirely.

Behind him, a few arrows hissed out — those were the bowmen the Centurion had assigned him. Each Company had ten bowmen, formerly the Central Army's Arrow Squad. None of them wore armor. Every time they shot, they had to stop and draw power from their waist and legs. After each volley, they had to sprint to catch up with the main unit. But with these bowmen present, the horse soldiers could not attack at their leisure.

"Bowmen, keep up."

Wu Dacai was panting after the shout. Normally, he should have been holding his Flag Spear upright at the front left of the column, guiding the whole Banner Team. But this assault was different. He had to run back and forth to keep the formation together — they needed speed, but he could not let the soldiers collapse from exhaustion. Otherwise, even if they reached Fierce Tiger Bridge, they would only be offering themselves up to die.

The second Banner Team behind them came from the Sixth Company, also light infantry. They, too, were taking fire from the horse soldiers' bows. They had fewer Rattan Shields, and some men in the front rank had been shot down, causing the rear-rank infantry to trip over them in a chain reaction. Their formation was now in chaos, and they had fallen a hundred paces behind Wu Dacai's unit.

Further back still was an Iron Armor infantry Banner Team from the Fourth Company, led personally by Wang Zenglu. Those men wore armor weighing anywhere from thirty to forty jin and were lagging far behind. Wu Dacai could not count on them.

After a few more steps, he passed a wounded soldier. The spearman had taken an arrow in the thigh and lay on the ground wailing.

"Don't block the road! Roll off to the side!" Wu Dacai gave him a kick. The soldier hastily scrabbled one-handed toward the right side of the road.

Another arrow struck his Rattan Shield. Wu Dacai turned and chased after his unit again. He ran hard for a stretch and caught up to the tail of the column, gasping for breath.

From the open ground to the left came shouts mixed with hoofbeats. Wu Dacai shifted his shield and stole a glance. Clusters of horse soldiers were bounding and racing across the open field, pursuing the infantry column. The bowmen assigned to them were being tied down by the horse soldiers at the rear; several had already been killed or wounded. They had lost contact with Wu Dacai's Banner Team, which now had no ability whatsoever to strike back at this group of horse soldiers.

The Roving Bandits pressed closer and closer. Some dismounted in the open field and drew Step Bows, shooting at the infantry from just twenty or thirty paces away. Other horse soldiers actually rode onto the Official Road, turned around twenty paces ahead of the column's head, and shot backward. The front-rank infantry had to keep shielding themselves, and their pace gradually slowed.

Fortunately, the Roving Bandits' horse soldiers were not numerous. Only a few dozen riders were attacking the infantry; the rest of the cavalry were far away. It was impossible to tell whether they were charging fiercely in pursuit or fleeing in panicked rout.

Every spearman on the left flank of the column had been given an extra Rattan Shield. The arrows came pelting down like rain. Most were blocked by the shields, but some slipped through the gaps and struck the Spear Soldiers in the middle. Men in the Banner Team kept getting hit by arrows. The Banner Team had thirty-four men. Excluding three who had fallen ill and traveled by boat, thirty-one had set out from Wanfeng Gate. Now only twenty-five or twenty-six remained. How many would be left when they reached Fierce Tiger Bridge? Wu Dacai did not dare think about it.

Wu Dacai grew anxious. The unit was running too spread out, packing the entire width of the Official Road. He had no way to get back to the front rank.

Suddenly, a burst of battle cries erupted ahead, and the column jolted to a halt. Wu Dacai craned his neck to look. A horse, its upper body skewered by several long spears, reared high. The long spears around it stabbed upward at the rider, and the horse toppled over. Swords and spears flailed wildly there. Some reckless horse soldier had charged the head of the column, only to be killed by a knot of infantry.

Wu Dacai squeezed into the column. By the time he reached the front rank, the corpses of man and horse lay on the ground in a pool of fresh blood. The horse soldier had been decapitated; the horse was still struggling.

"Keep moving! No stopping!"

Amid the relentless volleys of arrows, Wu Dacai shouted and shoved the soldiers. The men were somewhat dazed. Under extreme tension, they obeyed Wu Dacai's order, stepping over the bodies of man and horse and pressing onward.

The unit regained its speed. The arrows kept coming, and the soldiers in the column kept dwindling.

Wu Dacai rushed to the left flank and turned his head to look. Countless riders were racing desperately toward Fierce Tiger Bridge across the open field and the Official Road. Most of the Roving Bandits also wore red. From a distance, it was a scene of utter chaos; there was no telling who was a Roving Bandit and who was a Government Trooper. He had no idea whether the Cavalry Division had already reached the bridgehead.

……

His mount ran at a furious pace. Tiny beads of sweat on its neck flew backward against the wind and landed on Chen Rulie's face.

Fierce Tiger Bridge lay just ahead. There were a few dozen households here as well. The main road cut through this small market town and stretched to the river crossing — that was Fierce Tiger Bridge.

A few scattered horse soldiers had just fled onto the bridge. There were also over a dozen Roving Bandits who had originally been positioned at the bridgehead. To Chen Rulie's surprise, they made no move to intercept him at all. Instead, they lashed their horses and fled toward the other side of the river.

Chen Rulie glanced back. The open country behind him was covered with red-clad riders. In the fading evening light, even Chen Rulie could not tell Government Troops from Roving Bandits, let alone these horse soldiers left to hold the bridge. They were utterly bewildered by the situation across the entire battlefield. Seeing so many riders racing headlong toward the bridgehead, it was no wonder they fled in panic.

"Take the Second Squad and keep pursuing them across the bridge! Scatter them and come back at once!" Chen Rulie roared at a squad leader behind him.

The squad leader kept spurring his horse and led a few men onto the bridge.

Chen Rulie pulled in his reins. His exhausted mount whinnied and slowed. He patted the side of its neck and his hand came away slick with sweat. Something bumped his elbow. Chen Rulie looked down — a Light Arrow was hanging from his waist. The arrow had, by chance, broken through a Lock Ring. Only now did he feel a sting of pain at his waist. He grabbed the arrow shaft, gritted his teeth, and yanked. The arrowhead came out. Chen Rulie winced at the pain and tossed the arrow to the ground.

The cavalry units behind him arrived one after another. Chen Rulie saw that the column had grown much shorter. Many men and horses bore arrows. The Roving Bandits across the open field were closing in. He had no time to count heads. He immediately jumped off his horse and shouted, "Everyone dismount! Tie the horses together in groups of four…"

He had barely gotten halfway through when a rider suddenly burst out of a side alley and sent Chen Rulie staggering. Red coat, red headscarf — it was a Roving Bandit! The man had come from the open field, thinking only of fleeing for his life, and had no idea he had just charged headlong into a mass of Government Troops.

The cavalrymen dismounting in the street were caught off guard. Chaos erupted as they scrambled for their weapons to surround and attack the intruder. The horse soldier reacted swiftly. He wrenched his horse's head around violently and, at the same time, slashed a sword at Chen Rulie.

Chen Rulie frantically raised his sword to block. By the time he moved to strike back, the horse soldier had already gotten his mount up to speed and fled onto the bridge.

"You granny-fucking Roving Thief, seal off this alley—"

Before Chen Rulie could finish giving orders, another horse soldier charged into the street from that same alley mouth. This time, Chen Rulie was ready. As the horse soldier slowed, Chen Rulie grabbed the rider's belt and sleeve. The Roving Bandit was holding a Line Spear, which was useless at this range. He clung to his saddle and struggled desperately, unable to control his horse. Several cavalrymen nearby swarmed forward and hacked him off his mount in a flurry of swords and spears.

Chen Rulie dropped the Roving Bandit and turned back. The street was now a chaos of men and horses. The winded horses after their gallop blew out great plumes of white vapor. The dismounted cavalrymen worked frantically, tying three or four horses together by their reins so they could not easily scatter or even leave the street. This would block the passage.

The street was jammed and chaotic, filled with every kind of shout. This cavalry unit had no training in alley fighting, and this time there had not been enough time to set up properly. After dismounting, each rider acted on his own judgment. Most stayed in the street, looking for a good corner to fight from. Some went into the shops and houses. A few grabbed their bows and went up to the second floor. Squad leaders were everywhere trying to find their men.

Behind them, hoofbeats rumbled like thunder. The Roving Bandits were nearly upon them. According to the original plan, Guo Fengyou was in the middle with the Relay Horses, and Yang Xueshi was at the very rear. After arriving, the tail of the column had become the front line, with Yang Xueshi taking command on the spot.

Chen Rulie finished giving orders to the two squad leaders he had found, then shouted urgently and headed toward the street entrance. The street was a tangle of men and horses; he could not see what was happening at the rear. There were no enemies on the bridge for now. Worried about Yang Xueshi's safety, he prepared to push through the crowded mass of men and horses to check on him.

The thunderous hoofbeats drew closer and closer. He seemed to hear Yang Xueshi's voice giving orders, along with some tense shouts of acknowledgment.

Chen Rulie had taken only two steps when a great cry erupted from the direction of the street entrance. Chen Rulie hurriedly stood on tiptoe and peered over a horse's back.

Swords and spears wavered in the direction of the street mouth. Several Mounted Bandits spurred their horses hard, crashing straight into the ranks at the street mouth. With a few heavy, muffled thuds, a wave of harrowing screams erupted from that side. The figures of the Horse Soldiers vanished into it. Weapons were swinging there; people were hacking and slashing at each other.

In the street, men shouted and horses neighed. The horses stirred restlessly, and some that had not been tied together by their reins in time began trying to find a way out.

In the original plan Chen Rulie and the others had envisioned, once they arrived they would tie the horses together and place them at the street mouth to block the enemy, while the cavalry formed up behind them to meet the attack. They had never imagined it would end in such chaos. The Roving Bandits were right on their heels; they had no time at all to make any preparations.

Chen Rulie anxiously clawed at the saddle in front of him and set one foot on the stirrup. Ahead of the street mouth, countless Roving Bandits in red charged forward on galloping horses. Gone was the caution they had shown during the earlier interception. Without the slightest hesitation, they swarmed toward Fierce Tiger Bridge as if intent on trampling this little market town flat.

Ahead of that surging mass of horses, the cavalry's triangular Red Banner fluttered in the wind along the street.