Chapter 52: Siege Assault

The bandits who first reached the foot of the wall set their ladders against it, and the roving bandits scrambled over one another to climb up and attack. Several hundred archers gathered beneath the wall and began shooting upward at the battlements. The defending officers and able-bodied men were well prepared; at the loud commands of several Company Commanders, large shields covered that stretch of wall and its crenellations, yet still many arrows slipped through the gaps between shields and struck the crowd. Amid cries of agony, several men fell, struck by arrows, but none were wounded in vital spots, and the civilian auxiliaries nearby quickly rushed forward to drag the wounded away.

The section Xu Zhiyuan defended was commanded by an officer holding the rank of Company Commander. Seeing the bandits swarming thick as ants at the foot of the wall, that Company Commander bellowed, "Throw!" At the order, the civilian auxiliaries hefted the piles of lime pots and stones stacked on the wall and hurled them down. A round stone weighing over ten jin came crashing down; one bandit died without even a sound, his head smashed to pulp, blood and brains spurting out in streaks of red and white. Several civilian auxiliaries together lifted a short, thick rolling log, raised it high above their heads, and dropped it straight down onto a ladder. A bandit still a few steps from the top took the brunt of it—struck by the log, his body toppled backward, carrying several bandits behind him tumbling down as well. The log, weighing a full fifty or sixty jin, fell with tremendous momentum; the bandits packed below had no time to dodge, and instantly a chorus of wailing rose up as several bandits suffered broken bones and snapped sinews. The roving bandits were clearly accustomed to such scenes; the wounded and dead were swiftly dragged to the rear, and more bandits surged forward to climb the ladders.

That Company Commander shouted again: "Pour!" Several civilian auxiliaries with thick cloth wrapped around their arms quickly lifted several large cauldrons smoking with green vapor to the crenellations, then tipped the still-boiling hot oil down over the parapet. The bandits below let out screams that barely sounded human. Dozens of bandits were splashed by the scalding oil, their flesh instantly splitting open. Some were struck directly in the face—the skin of their faces began to fester at once, and the pain sent them to the ground, writhing and rolling. The bandits in that whole stretch scattered in flight, while the civilian auxiliaries on the wall roared with laughter.

Several officer Company Commanders each directed the defense of a stretch of wall. The civilian auxiliaries were responsible for hurling stones and lime pots and pouring hot oil, while the regular troops thrust with long spears at the bandits on the ladders. Dozens of archers among the regular troops spread out and loosed sneaking arrows. Some bandits had barely shown their heads above the crenellations when they were struck simultaneously by spears and arrows, tumbling back off the wall.

But the roving bandits were too numerous. Although the defending soldiers and civilians inflicted no small casualties on them, some bandits still managed to climb onto the wall. One thick-set bandit soldier wore iron armor and wielded a wolf-teeth mace. He appeared at the crenellation, swinging the mace one-handed to knock aside the thrusts of several spears, then with a push of waist and legs leaped up onto the parapet. Gripping the mace with both hands, he swept it in a fierce arc—an officer near the crenellation was caught in the chest, staggered back several steps, and sat down hard, blood pouring from his mouth.

This bandit jumped down from the parapet and smashed down with his mace. One officer had no time to dodge; with the crack of breaking bone, his shoulder was crushed flat. The immense pain sent him to the ground unconscious in an instant. Several officers quickly surrounded the bandit, thrusting with their spears. He knocked aside several shafts with his mace, but one spear still drove straight into his thigh—the sharp head piercing through the iron armor and deep into the flesh. Crying out in pain, the bandit smashed his iron mace down, catching that officer square on the head and crushing his skull to pulp. The remaining officers seized the moment and thrust their spears—one pierced the bandit's eye and came out through the back of his head, another struck his belly, blood spurting forth. The fierce bandit's life vanished in that instant. The officers pulled their spears back, and the bandit toppled over onto his back.

Though this bandit was dead, he had opened a gap on the wall. The bandits behind him kept pouring up over the crenellations onto the wall. A nearby Company Commander, howling madly, charged over with his blade raised. Dozens of officers with spears and sabers surrounded the dozen or so bandits who had made it onto the wall. This Company Commander raised his blade and chopped down fiercely—one bandit, unable to dodge, screamed as an entire arm was hewn off. Several spears then struck his chest and belly in succession, and the bandit crumpled limply to the ground.

The Company Commander swept his long saber horizontally, the edge slicing through a bandit's cotton armor and opening a long gash across his chest—blood seeped out, flesh curling back. As the bandit cried out in pain, the Company Commander brought his saber down in a slanting cut, slashing open the artery in the bandit's neck. A jet of blood spurted out, and the bandit fell dead to the ground.

Led by this fierce and valiant Company Commander, the bandits who had climbed onto the wall were wiped out to the last man. A dozen or so officers and civilian auxiliaries lay wounded or dead.

But as one crenellation after another was breached, more and more bandits climbed onto the wall. Everywhere along the wall were clusters of men locked in slaughter, screams rising one after another—the situation was growing perilous.

Blood now stained the long saber in Xu Zhiyuan's hand as well. Just moments ago, catching a bandit off guard while he was locked in combat with an officer, Xu Zhiyuan had driven his blade into the bandit's thigh. The bandit, stunned by the pain, slowed for an instant—and an officer took his head with a single stroke.

Xu Zhiyuan saw great numbers of bandits swarming up over the crenellations and knew the city was about to fall. In despair, he was about to draw his blade across his own throat rather than be captured and humiliated, when at that critical moment Dong Qigao returned with over a hundred reserve troops.

Dong Qigao, wielding a pair of iron maces, roared and charged into the midst of the bandits. His iron maces swept horizontally and smashed vertically, as if he were entering empty ground—in the blink of an eye he had struck down several bandits. Many of the officers and civilian auxiliaries who had already turned to flee found their spirits greatly lifted; they turned and fought forward with all their might, and in one surge drove the bandits on the wall to slaughter and extinction. The few remaining bandits who had climbed up, frantic and desperate, stepped onto the parapet and leaped off the wall. From a wall several zhang high, jumping down meant certain death or crippling injury. The spear-armed officers rushed to the crenellations and thrust desperately at the bandits still climbing the ladders. The bandits on the ladders, seeing their own men leaping from the wall, had their morale plummet. The civilian auxiliaries gathered at the crenellations hefted the remaining thunder-stones and smashed them down. The attacking bandits could hold out no longer—they jumped off the ladders and fled in panic.

Seeing the bandits beginning to scatter in flight, the defending officers and civilian auxiliaries burst into cheers of joy. Dong Qigao loudly ordered the battlefield cleared—gathering up weapons and arrows, as well as the rolling logs, thunder-stones, and lime pots used in the defense. The bandits, dead or alive, were all to be thrown down from the wall; their own wounded were all to be carried below the wall, where the Bureau Directors and apprentices from every medicine shop in the city were waiting to treat the injured. The bodies of the soldiers and civilians who had fallen were to be gathered together and covered entirely with white cloth.

Wang Renyuan and Zhao Yuzhi had been hiding in the rear all along, gripping their long sabers but never daring to join the fight. Only after the bandits had all been driven off the wall did the two trot over to gather beside Xu Zhiyuan. Dong Qigao strode over to the three of them, iron maces in hand. Xu Zhiyuan cast aside his long saber and made a solemn bow to him, saying, "Had it not been for Garrison Commander Dong's timely arrival, the city would already have fallen! Please accept this official's salute!"

Though Wang and Zhao ordinarily looked down on Dong Qigao for being a military officer, times had changed—at this moment they still had to rely on his martial prowess. So the two also cast aside their sabers and bowed to Dong Qigao in thanks.

Dong Qigao hurriedly gathered both iron maces into one hand and returned the salute with a cupped fist. It was not only the two civil officials Wang and Zhao who looked down on him—the long-standing notion that the civil were noble and the military base had sunk deep into his very marrow. Ordinarily he could not hold his head up before these gentlemen, and deep down he harbored a profound sense of inferiority. Now, seeing these habitually proud civil officials bow to him, Dong Qigao felt both that he could hardly bear such honor and a sense of being recognized and respected—his heart swelled with extraordinary gratification.

Dong Qigao said, "Gentlemen need not worry. This humble officer has made all the arrangements. Each family's young master and young lady has three personal guards escorting them, and they have already left the city heading for Nanjing. They carry ample gold, silver, and valuables as well. This humble officer has given orders that upon reaching Nanjing, they are to immediately contact the relatives of you gentlemen, and once contact is made, escort each separately to their destinations!"

Xu Zhiyuan and the others bowed in thanks once more—this time from the bottom of their hearts. They had never expected that this military officer, who looked so rough and boorish, should prove so fine-minded. Not only had he thought to arrange guards to escort their families out of the city, he had even seen to it that they carried means of support for their future lives—and had even thought of having them contact their relatives upon reaching Nanjing. The matter could not have been handled more completely.

Xu Zhiyuan, his heart full of gratitude, said, "Whether in public duty or private feeling, all of us here are deeply indebted to Garrison Commander Dong's kindness. Garrison Commander Dong has both courage and cunning—truly the makings of a great general. If we can hold Chuzhou this time, the four of us will jointly submit a memorial recommending Garrison Commander Dong to the court. These are no empty pleasantries—they come from the bottom of this official's heart. What a pity that you and I are fated to die here today. To have fought shoulder to shoulder with Garrison Commander Dong has been this official's great honor!"

Dong Qigao laughed and said, "To earn the Prefect's praise, Dong has no regrets in this life. All my life I have most respected men of learning. To be honest with you gentlemen, I have privately read a few military manuals—though much of them I could not understand, I still felt I gained immeasurably from them. Your Excellency is a jinshi by examination. That today I should win a word of praise from a jinshi—my family's face shines with glory, haha!"

At that very moment, one of Dong Qigao's personal guards came hurrying over, knelt on one knee, and reported: "Gentlemen, the bandits are gathering again—they are about to attack the city once more!"