Chapter 1335: The Storm Is Coming

"Stay put on the sea. Don't go too far, don't get tangled up with the Tartar ships, and keep waiting for word."

After a brief exchange, the sampan turned back and went to report the news to Zhao Song's side. In just that short span, the people rushing down from the mountain and up from below were no longer just three or five — there were groups of dozens, even over a hundred. The dock area outside the fortress quickly erupted into chaos.

You couldn't expect any discipline from these panic-stricken commoners. In every group of commoners, one or a few would be beheaded, and those who witnessed it would be cowed into obedience and follow the rules. Then the cycle would repeat itself.

With more people and the enforced obedience through slaughter, the work became very efficient. Even the most clueless could guess what needed to be done. Pile timber in the gaps between warehouses, block the edges of the harbor with goods and earth — they were building a temporary camp, finding a path to survival for everyone. They had all fled here from the Liao garrison towns; no one wanted to be slaughtered by the Tartars on this lonely island.

The remaining Jianzhou troops grew anxious, but the dock area was now even harder to crack than before. With cover, the Zhao Family Army's firearms could shoot at their leisure, barely even needing the shielding support of the long spears. Moreover, with the inner circle shielding the outer, the Zhao Family Army could maneuver even more freely. After three probing attacks, the Jianzhou Jurchens left behind several dozen corpses and no longer dared to press forward.

Over the next two hours or so, the number of Pi Island refugees coming to seek shelter did not increase noticeably. Pi Island was not large, but it was still an island that housed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians. The island had many hills and plenty of places to hide. Most of the able-bodied hands were concentrated around the northern shore, and quite a few were already in the camp.

Some could not be gathered in, some lacked trust in Xuzhou, and even more were simply at a loss in such a catastrophic collapse. By this point, Pi Island had become a death trap.

Zhao Song naturally had not thrown everything he had into supporting the Dongjiang Garrison, but the stock in the warehouse was indeed running low. After distributing blades and spears, they had armed fewer than four hundred men.

Yet this small amount of armament greatly accelerated the speed of sheltering and fortification work. The Pi Island able-bodied men who received weapons saw themselves as a cut above the other commoners. To prove themselves before the Xuzhou men, they supervised, urged, and maintained order, showing not the slightest mercy to the Pi Island commoners.

Under this goading, large and small timbers were laid across every path as barricades and fence materials. Chests and crates filled with various local specialties and goods were stacked up. These goods could have earned several times, even over ten times, their profit once inside the passes, but here they were used only as fortification materials. It was fortunate that the fortress had no shortage of tools and the sand and soil by the beach were soft; otherwise, even with enough manpower, bare hands alone could never have managed it.

Zhao Song divided the fortress and the harbor into two zones. The fortress was the core area. Even though it was already enclosed by the outer makeshift fortifications, its main gate remained tightly shut. Apart from the wounded and children under twelve, one company was stationed here — this was the inner circle. The outer circle was the area between the fortress's outer wall and the newly built long perimeter. The rest of the Zhao Family Army troops were stationed here to oversee the battle and make preparations. The companies in the inner and outer circles rotated shifts. The newly sheltered Pi Island commoners and Dongjiang routed soldiers were not permitted to enter the fortress.

The soldiers sent out to gather the commoners had all returned. Inside the dock area, there were over four thousand commoners in total — more than three thousand able-bodied men, the rest women, children, the elderly, and the weak. Over five hundred had blades, spears, or iron weapons in hand, and a few hundred more held sharpened wooden sticks and the like. The rest were barehanded. Under harsh suppression, everyone strictly followed the rules. Those who didn't were now corpses floating on the water.

The sounds coming from the north grew fainter and fainter. That earth-shaking din was gone now; only a clamor remained. By this time, no more people came running over — just a scattered few. Some, in their panic, even fled straight to the Jianzhou Jurchen troops left behind. Others, not panicked at all, went there to kneel and beg to surrender. Inside and outside the fortress, it grew quieter and quieter. No one knew what to do, no one knew what would happen next. It stayed like this all the way into the afternoon.

From the scattered refugees who came, they learned that the Dongjiang Garrison troops had been surrounded by the Tartars and thoroughly bloodily massacred. Marshal Mao's great banner had stood firm for only a short while before toppling under the assault of the Jianzhou Jurchen triangular banners. The truly reliable, detailed news was brought back by the Zhao Family Army soldiers. Those few soldiers whom Mao Wenlong had detained and then released had taken a small path. One of Mao Wenlong's personal guards had led them around the edge of the island. That small path, in normal times, looked like nothing but cliffs and dense forest.

"... Mao Wenlong did not flee. He led his personal guards charging up the mountain. He was wearing our iron armor, so the Tartar bows and arrows could do nothing to him. However, his martial skill was only average. After being surrounded, he was hacked down. The personal guards around Mao Wenlong also all died in battle..." Mao Wenlong was not from a military household or martial lineage; he was a scholar who had transferred to a military post, so naturally his martial and combat skills could not be considered high.

Hearing this, Zhao Song's expression grew quite complicated. In the end, he couldn't help but mutter a curse: "A fool who thought himself clever. If it weren't for his useless little schemes, if he'd given us three thousand men, that Tartar force would have been blocked right in the sea..."

After grumbling a couple of sentences, Zhao Song then said in a muffled voice: "Still, he was a true man after all!"

"That man had no small ambition. He wanted to seize wealth and rank in this chaotic world. A pity." Luo Chen also sighed with a remark.

"... The Dongjiang Garrison troops and Pi Island able-bodied men on the northern shore were blocked by the Tartars from both ends. Some fled into the sea — who knows how many could swim to land. The Tartars cut them down without restraint. The Dongjiang Garrison has completely collapsed. When your subordinate left, the Tartars still hadn't stopped..."

The faces of the Zhao Family Army men were grim. This news made it truly impossible to be optimistic. Zhao Song glanced at Luo Chen beside him and ordered the men to assemble all the companies in front of the fortress gate. He had the sheltered Pi Island able-bodied men take over the defense. He needed to seize the time to give a speech. Everyone knew that in a few more hours, there would probably be no time left to say anything.

"Brothers, if we die here, our families won't have to worry for two generations. They'll be able to live as a well-off household no matter what." Zhao Jin spoke bluntly. These words were very ill-omened, and everyone's expression changed. But they quickly steadied themselves — the situation being what it was, saying it or not made little difference.

The Zhao Family Army's death compensation was generous. Those who had come to Pi Island were all veterans with no worries back home. They knew this in their hearts. Having thought it through, their mood lightened somewhat. Ignoring Luo Chen's meaningful glances, Zhao Song continued speaking in his brash manner: "There's one more thing you brothers should know. If we die here, Lord Jin will definitely avenge us!"

At these words, everyone burst into laughter. No one had any objection to that. The atmosphere immediately relaxed considerably. The laughter made the sheltered Pi Island able-bodied men look over one after another, thinking these Xuzhou men were strange folk — what time was this, and they still had the heart to laugh?

"I've said the bad, so now let me say the good. This fort and dock of ours sit on narrow terrain. Pi Island itself is uneven. The Tartars aren't skilled at naval warfare. The terrain here isn't suited for deploying large formations, and they have no way to come at us from the sea. So this situation is easy to defend and hard to attack. As long as we hold out for ten days or so, reinforcements from Shandong can reach us. When that happens, we'll have rendered great merit. Brothers, we are the first in the Zhao Family Army to engage the Tartars, and in such a harsh and dangerous place at that. Lord Jin will certainly not treat us poorly."

Zhao Song's words couldn't exactly be called rousing, but every sentence was true. The soldiers below listened, and looks of resolve appeared on their faces. Zhao Song clapped his hands and waved, saying: "Everyone, fight with all you've got. If the Tartars come, kill the Tartars. If the sheltered commoners try to cause trouble, don't be soft either. Holding out is what matters most. I'll say no more. I'll take my weapon and stand on the front line with you. We share life and death!"

The morale of the soldiers in every company was thoroughly stirred up by Zhao Song. Everyone raised their weapons and roared. It actually gave the anxiously waiting Jurchen troops a fright — they thought something had happened over here. Given the current situation, this was no time for cheering and jubilation.

"Our outer circle looks big, but there aren't many places they can break through. We have ample firearms and ammunition stockpiled. As long as we stay alert, as long as the sheltered able-bodied commoners don't hold us back, as long as we aren't afraid to die, then we can hold. As for loading and preparing the Nest-of-Bees rockets, get the able-bodied men familiar with them as fast as possible. Arrange more men to drag them — move fast, shoot fast!" Zhao Song began laying out the arrangements.

With everything said plainly, a measure of calm acceptance showed on everyone's faces. They moved to their battle positions according to Zhao Song's orders. Zhao Song did not return inside the fortress either. He had someone tighten the leather straps of his armor, took up his long halberd, and began patrolling the outer wall. Luo Chen had been watching from the side the whole time. Only when Zhao Song was alone did he approach and ask: "Battalion Commander, can the reinforcements really come?"

"They can come. Our Zhao Family Army does not abandon its own brothers." Zhao Song said in a muffled voice, but then immediately added: "It's just that we don't know when they'll come. I'm only afraid that by the time the reinforcements arrive, we won't be able to hold out!"

Hearing this, Luo Chen's face turned deathly pale. But Zhao Song showed no despair. Smiling, he patted Luo Chen on the shoulder and went off shouting orders to arrange the defenses.

The weather was clear that day. The sun sank in the west, and the boundary between sea and sky blazed with incomparable brilliance, dazzling and enchanting to behold. Yet the Xuzhou fortress on Pi Island was utterly silent. The Zhao Family Army had scoured the warehouses and stockyards for anything edible and taken out part of the stores inside the fortress to cook a barely filling evening meal for the sheltered commoners. The supplies meant to last two months had been prepared for the soldier-traders and the trading company. Now that the number of people had multiplied tenfold, they could only eat on strict rations.

At the part of the dock facing the sea, the Zhao Family Army had also assigned men to fish, dig for shellfish, and gather seaweed. They had to conserve wherever they could. However, the Zhao Family Army did have one clever recourse. Both of his seagoing ships had already set sail and gone far. These two ships could go to the nearby Goryeo coast to buy grain. Although the Jianzhou Jurchens had blockaded the coast, what they could blockade was limited after all. Given the Jianzhou Jurchens' seamanship, the threat they posed in naval combat was not great.

As darkness was about to fall, another enormous wave of sound came from the north. After a start, everyone inside and outside the fortress realized that this sound was not screaming or shouting — it was cheering. It was the cheering of tens of thousands. It was the Jianzhou Jurchens cheering for their victory. After the initial shock, silence fell inside and outside the fortress. Everyone quickened the pace of their frantic work.

Thank you, everyone.