Chapter 452: The Temple Gate

In the nearly suffocating tension, the temple gate to the outer courtyard suddenly groaned. Amid the rumbling hoofbeats, it still sounded piercing. Hoofbeats followed outside — someone had ridden a horse into the outer courtyard.

Yu Lao'er's hand trembled, and he slowly drew back from the door bar.

The men in the inner courtyard bit down on their gag-sticks, listening nervously to the sounds outside.

From the outer courtyard came the sound of dismounting and feet hitting the ground. Someone was speaking, in an accent none of them had ever heard. Someone else laughed twice.

Yu Lao'er reached for the wooden handle of the throwing axe at his waist, momentarily at a loss.

The hoofbeats outside continued, and the Anthem Sound never came. Time suddenly slowed to an unbearable crawl. The twenty-some Anqing Army soldiers in the inner courtyard stood rigid, not daring to make a sound, terrified of alerting the Qing troops just one wall away.

The outer courtyard was noisy — it seemed there were quite a few of them. Now and then came the sound of horses snorting. Yu Lao'er swallowed hard, his grip on the throwing axe's wooden handle so tight it was nearly squeezing water out.

Just then, the door bar gave a sudden crack. Everyone in the inner courtyard flinched. The two gate leaves bulged inward, then caught against the bar.

The twenty-some men inside surrounded the gate. The hoofbeats on the post road thundered on, but it was as if they could not hear them. Every man bit his gag-stick, eyes locked dead on that door bar.

The Iron Armor Soldiers' team leader waved at the men, signaling them to move away from the gate so no one would be spotted through the gaps. The men hurried to the walls. Only Xu Squad Leader stood unmoving, leaning on his wolf tooth club in the same spot as if he had fallen asleep. It took the other Iron Armor Soldier dragging and hauling him to get him to the wall.

Someone outside cursed, then someone else shouted. The gate leaves bulged violently again, slamming the door bar with a clanging sound. With the impact, a crack split open between the leaves, and a Dark Armor figure flashed in the gap.

The Dark-Armored Soldier stood sideways to the gate, talking to another Qing soldier. He turned his head, saw the scene inside the gate, then rammed it hard again. The door bar was about to burst open.

The Anthem Sound still had not sounded. Seeing the gate about to be smashed open, Yu Lao'er instinctively lunged forward and braced the gate leaf. A moment later, an Iron Armor Soldier braced the other side. Another ram from outside — the gate leaves only bulged slightly.

The men outside realized someone was there and immediately began shouting. Yelling, he moved away from the gate.

Yang Guangdi gripped his waist saber, utterly at a loss. The two team leaders clearly had never imagined this scenario either. The Anthem Sound had not sounded. If the Qing troops discovered them, it would be twenty-some men against over a hundred Tartars.

The door panel exploded with a bang. Yu Lao'er's head jerked sideways — the blade of an axe had abruptly appeared in the door panel above his head, nearly splitting his skull. Yu Lao'er and the Iron Armor Soldier scrambled back. The axe twisted downward and was yanked free, leaving a gaping hole in the door panel. Curses came from outside — they seemed to have spotted Yu Lao'er.

Yu Lao'er spun and ran to the wall, grabbed his heavy crossbow, stomped the foot stirrup, and began drawing the string to load a bolt. They had been discovered now; there was no more time to heed the Banner Commander's orders. Everyone gripped their weapons, breathing fast and ragged.

Seeing this, Yang Guangdi dashed to the steps, grabbed his fire lance and kit with both hands, and ran back to the wall to begin loading.

The hoofbeats near the temple gate faded. The shouting from the outer courtyard grew louder and louder — it seemed many men were dismounting and entering. Fine beads of sweat seeped from Yang Guangdi's forehead. Another axe blow — splinters of wood flew from inside the gate. The door panel was clearly breached. Another axe blow followed. Someone was shouting curses, the sound coming through the hole in the door panel, perfectly clear. There was a scraping sound on the wall top — someone was trying to climb over.

Xu Squad Leader, holding that massive wolf tooth club horizontally in both hands, walked to the spot by the wall closest to the gate. Yu Lao'er glanced at him and yielded the position without a word. Yang Guangdi poured gunpowder into a copper tube; his shaking hand spilled quite a bit around the rim. Once full, he used the copper tube to pour it into the barrel, then shoved a lead bullet into the barrel and rammed it down hard twice with the rod. The fire rope still needed lighting — he did not know if there would be time.

A dusting of snow powder pattered down from the wall top above their heads — someone seemed to be on the wall. Fine beads of sweat seeped from Yang Guangdi's forehead. He turned to look at Qin Jiuze. The Xuanfu veteran was hunched over, away from the wall, his bowstring slightly drawn, staring at the wall top without blinking. Yang Guangdi felt instantly relieved. He lowered his head and continued loading the priming powder.

A tremendous crash at the gate — the door bar snapped with a crack, the front half spinning through the air into the Main Hall.

Several Qing soldiers swarmed in. At the front was a Dark Armor Qing soldier. He held his waist saber vertically before his chest, charging through the gate before he could even take in the situation. A massive club head bristling with spikes came smashing horizontally into his chest.

Clang! The wolf tooth club slammed violently into his waist saber. Under the fierce sweeping blow, the blade offered no resistance whatsoever. The back of the blade, driven by the great club, smashed into his left chest. With the dull crunch of shattering sternum, his chest suddenly caved in. His forward momentum halted instantly. The Dark Armor Qing soldier shuddered, all strength drained from his body in an instant, and collapsed limp, without making a single sound.

The other Qing troops had not expected so many Ming Army soldiers inside, nor so many Iron Armor Soldiers. But they had already charged in. The narrow gateway was jammed by the Qing soldiers behind them — they could not retreat even if they wanted to. They could only swing their weapons and fight.

The Anqing Army soldiers in the courtyard shouted in unison and swarmed toward the gate, forming a half-circle and attacking the Qing soldiers who had rushed in. Xu Squad Leader led the charge. A line spear thrust straight at his chest — he made no attempt to parry. The spearhead scraped across his breastplate with a screech. Xu Squad Leader paid it no mind, simply swinging that enormous wolf tooth club and smashing it down on the Qing soldiers. Blood droplets flew from the dense spikes of the club.

Yang Guangdi had no time to finish loading. He threw down his fire lance, rushed to the gate, and squeezed in beside Manda'er. Manda'er was stabbing fiercely into the crowd with his line spear. Yang Guangdi's view was blocked by Manda'er — he could not see any Qing soldiers. He just thrust his waist saber in and hacked blindly, even forgetting to spit out the gag-stick in his mouth.

The two sides crushed together at the inner courtyard gate. Sabers, two-handed axes, and wolf tooth clubs smashed up and down with the whistle of wind. The Qing soldiers in the middle struck back with waist sabers and line spears. Flesh and blood flew everywhere. The ground before the gate was quickly carpeted with bodies. Frenzied screams and shrieks of agony echoed through the inner courtyard of the Horse God Temple.

…

Five li to the south, at He Village, a cavalryman galloped into the village.

"Sir, Chen Rulie reports: the lookout at Thirty-Li Post estimates the second wave of Qing troops exceeds five hundred. There was no time to notify all the ambush troops. Chen Rulie may wait until the column head exits the pu before giving the signal."

"Understood." Pang Yu raised his telescope and gazed out at the post road. In the lens, the Second Cavalry Company was already in sight. Behind them was the first wave of Qing troops. Aside from the heads the scout cavalry had delivered, this would be Pang Yu's first sight of Qing soldiers.

According to the plan, the Second Company would launch a counterattack one li south of Thirty-Li Post, drawing the Tartars behind them to reinforce, making them rush into Thirty-Li Post. The Second Company was now adjusting its formation.

Tu Dianli's voice came from behind. "Sir, Tongcheng Pu reports: the scout cavalry sent by the Cavalry Fifth Company spotted Tartar cavalry west of Dong'e City at the third quarter of the hour of the rabbit, roughly a hundred men. They circled from West of the City to City East, then turned back to North of the City. There are signs they are heading toward Tongcheng Post."

Pang Yu waited a moment, then said, "Understood."

He glanced back at his side. Jiang Guoyong was with the Garrison Inspector Dui overseeing the battle at Thirty-Li Post. Here, he had Tu Dianli and Wu Dacai. Apart from the cavalry on standby, there were the two companies of Personal Soldiers led by Zhuang Chaozheng. These forces were the reserve for the Thirty-Li Post battle. If the Tartars had a third wave, these were all the troops he had. If Thirty-Li Post were not so small, Pang Yu would have wished to place all the Iron Armor Soldiers in the market town. Only in streets and alleys could Iron Armor Soldiers best leverage their advantage against cavalry.

Tu Dianli turned and went back to the small table set up behind them, waiting there for new dispatch reports.

Pang Ding leaned in. "Young Master, it's not just two hundred Tartars. It might not even be just five hundred. Chen Rulie's deception didn't make the Tartars split their forces."

"Looking at this morning's intelligence summary, Chiping was raided three times last night, Double Temple five times. Three dead, six wounded. There must still be Tartar scouts near Chiping. They saw Chen Rulie's deployment. Naturally, they won't be fooled into splitting up."

Pang Ding said in a low voice, "If it's over five hundred, our men might not be enough."

"Not enough, and we still have to fight. The men at Thirty-Li Post can't pull out — they don't even have a single horse. To stay alive, winning is the only way."

"If that force to the south comes over, we'll have no way out."

Pang Yu let out a breath. "That force to the south only shows signs of movement. It's still far from actually coming. What I can deploy is all here. Whether we win depends on Heavenly Will. If things go wrong in Jinan, a few heads won't be enough."

"But the Tartars seem to be coming in too great a number. Young Master, should we prepare…"

Pang Yu looked around, coughed once, then nodded.

A few paces away, Wu Dacai held up his own telescope, constantly studying Pang Yu's expression. In the lens, the Second Company was being battered into a wretched state by just over forty Tartars. More than ten men had already fallen from their horses. Yet Pang Yu's face remained utterly blank — no emotion could be read.

Tu Dianli's voice came from behind. "Should we send support to the Second Company?"

Pang Yu said calmly, "Wait for the cannon."

Tu Dianli understood Pang Yu's meaning. There were only three companies here. The plan was to use them concentrated, for pursuing and routing fleeing Qing troops. The Cavalry Second Company was in a sorry state, but they still had the numbers and had not yet reached the breaking point. Pang Yu was unwilling to disperse his forces. At the same time, he was dissatisfied with the Cavalry Second Company. The counterattack was supposed to draw the following Tartars into rushing to reinforce, to keep them from searching the streets and alleys. Instead, they now needed to draw reinforcements from the Anqing Battalion first.

Tu Dianli turned and instructed the advisors to listen carefully. The hoofbeats from the cavalry chase up ahead were creating tremendous noise that could easily interfere with signal transmission. When the Advisory Room had confirmed the plan with Chen Rulie, they had not considered this at all.

Wu Dacai steadied the waist saber at his hip. In the skirmish ahead, riders kept falling from their horses now and then. Wu Dacai's mouth was dry, his hands and feet itching with the urge to move.

Pang Ding had also noticed the Cavalry Second Company's predicament. The Tartar cavalry seemed far more formidable than even the Roving Bandits. He did not know how much longer the Cavalry Second Company could hold. He tugged at his collar and muttered, "Why haven't they fired the cannon yet?"

Tu Dianli suddenly said, "I think they fired!"

Pang Yu tilted his head, listening intently. From the chaotic northern hoofbeats drifted another faint, indistinct cannon report.