Sharing a Pavilion With You
Chapter 156: The Final Battle

Chapter 156: The Final Battle

[Suggested song for this Chapter – No Time to Die (Orchestral Version), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]

"A message from Commander Bai," Feng Bao ran across the study and handed the note to his Lord.

The Emperor unfurled the note and read.

My Lord,

Your message was received and understood by this servant.

Today is the day of the big sweeping plan. The bet had been placed, and we will bring victory to you and the People.

Wait for my good news,

Your servant,

Commander Bai.

"So, today’s the day," the Emperor nodded to himself, "good, good. We will have an outcome today, whichever way it goes."

Meili heard these words, and her heart lurched. Today must be the day of the big battle His Majesty had been waiting for!

Her pulse pumped loudly in her ears, drowning out the world around her for a few moments while she swayed with light-headedness.

She gripped a nearby column to steady herself, sliding quietly from the room as she struggled to compose herself. Her hands shook uncontrollably, and her eyes welled with tears.

Tricky whined with concern and nudged her hand. She stroked his nose absently, her mind a thousand miles away with Bai Li and her brothers.

She wondered if she should beg a trip to the temple and spend the day praying for their safety?

No, she decided with quiet determination, straightening her shoulders and wiping her eyes. She would stick close to the Emperor where she would be best placed to hear any news as it came in. She couldn’t bear to be up in the mountain at the temple, unable to find out what was happening on the front.

"Come on, Tricky," she whispered to her dog. "We’re sticking to the boss like glue today!"

She turned and ran down the alley towards the kitchen, planning to make the world’s fastest cup of tea so that she could return to the Emperor’s side.

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XINGHE COUNTY

"Quiet man!" hissed Bai Li to a soldier who was four rows away but could clearly be heard muttering angry words to his neighbour in the still darkness.

"Shh!" came a series of loud hisses across the huddled soldiers.

"Hang in there lads," Bai Li whispered to them. "Not much longer now."

They were huddled shoulder to shoulder behind rocks on the steep walls of a narrow crevasse not far from the entrance to the Xinghe fortress which Arughtai and his men had overrun.

"We’ve been standing here for two hours now," came a loud whisper from deep among the rows of men. "Our legs are stiff, and we need to relieve ourselves."

The soldiers had started filing into the crevasse using the cover of darkness starting at three in the morning.

They climbed the steep walls in the dark, without any help from lanterns, using picks and ropes.

This was terrain that could only be accessed from the valley floor, the vast mountain range that overhung it was far too difficult for any army to ascend from the south.

Now, they were sandwiched behind the handful of rocky outcrops that could hide them on the walls of the long narrow valley, shoulder-to-shoulder, many rows deep. Those that could stand did so, others had dug themselves little platforms to give themselves some purchase, others clung to the slope using their climbing equipment.

Mei Renlong had chosen the famous ravine for the very reason that no one would ever believe an army could hide in it. The walls were too steep for climbing and fighting, and the ravine ended in a walled canyon from which there was no way out. An army hiding in there would be trapped and could be killed by the enemy like shooting fish in a barrel.

"You’ll have to go where you stand," replied a Sergeant sternly. "Otherwise hold on."

"It won’t be much longer now," whispered Commander Bai.

"How long?" came the desperate whispered questions from many of the men.

The terrain made the wait particularly difficult, far harder than most times they had waited for a battle to begin.

Anxiety made the need to go stronger, and from the stench among the tightly packed men, it was already more than just human sweat they were stewing in.

"Fifteen minutes, maybe twenty," Bai Li responded. "Not long. No more talking. If we’re discovered like this we’ll be sitting ducks for the enemy. There’s no way out of here but down."

"No one would ever believe these rocks could hide so many men," whispered a soldier to his neighbour.

"I don’t believe it myself, and I’m one of them," his friend replied, his arms shaking with the effort of clinging to his pick. "We’re squashed in like sardines in a tin. If the men at the back start to fall, we’ll all be pushed down this cliff."

"There’s no way we’re getting out of here alive if we’re found," whispered a frightened young man to the seasoned soldier beside him. "Only a mountain goat could retreat from this position," the boy craned his neck up at the forbidding mountain that towered above them.

"We’ll be right lad," whispered Assault Commander Yu confidently. "There’s plenty of scouts out there, plus Lieutenant Ju’s army. They’ll put up a fight before they let us be caught in this position. Just sit tight for a bit longer and we’ll be killing Mongols in that gully like so many ants."

The lad nodded, "Yes Sir," though he still shook with nerves and the strain on his muscles.

"Here comes the first light now," the Assault Commander nodded at the changing colour of the sky.

Out on the plain, a small contingent of men lead by Lieutenant Ju rode and ran towards the walls of the Xinghe fortress.

A great shout went up from the Mongol men on the walls.

"Attack! Attack! Beat the gong."

The military gong over the gate sounded the alarm, bringing more and more of Arughtai’s soldiers flooding up onto the walls, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

The Lieutenant’s men carried shields and ran pressed together to form an impenetrable wall to protect them from arrows.

The cavalry rode behind the wall of foot soldiers, keeping back from arrow range.

"Burn the oil! Burn the oil!" screamed the night Commander up on the walls. "Someone wake the Lord and get him up here immediately!"

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