Sharing a Pavilion With You
Chapter 157: Sacrifice for the Empire

Chapter 157: Sacrifice for the Empire

"Ladders, men!" shouted Lieutenant Ju. "Run! Run!"

The foot soldiers on the ground ran forward with ladders and grappling hooks, pushing them upwards to rest against the thick fortress walls and rapidly starting to climb the dangerous rungs.

"We need to get some men onto the walls before they have a chance to boil water or oil," the Lieutenant yelled to his Sergeant. "Archers! Cover the men on the ladders!" he commanded.

The mounted archers shot arrow after arrow, providing the men scaling the ladders with cover from behind, shooting any defenders who approached the top of the ladders, firing at the enemy’s archers.

"Battering ram!" shouted Lieutenant Ju.

A gap was opened in the lines of foot soldiers and the battering ram was rolled forwards by men who carried their shields on their heads. The soldier stood tightly bunched to avoid the archers above them.

"Faster, men, faster!" ordered Ju Rong’s Sergeant, as the men pushing the cart with the siege engine ran.

They heaved the cart, which picked up speed until the battering ram was rolled close enough to the gates and Ju Rong shouted out, "cut the rope!"

A soldier bearing a blade sliced the ropes which held the huge siege engine back, and the heavy battering ram swung forward and thudded forcefully against the gates, crunching into the wood as the men cheered.

"We’re not there yet, men, but nearly. Again!" encouraged the Sergeant.

The men crawled across the cart to heave the battering ram back into position for a second try.

They were exposed as they ran about the platform, and cries rang out amongst their ranks as the arrows flew, striking into the unlucky among the men.

Those men who were hit dropped where they stood, some plunging from the platform with the force of being struck. Other brave soldiers climbed from their positions beside the cart to take the places of the injured men, until they gradually managed to heave the battering ram back into position.

Arughtai had arrived on the walls now, and he strode up and down the parapets, surveying the attackers and taking charge of the fortress’s defence.

"Where’s the boiling water?" he demanded of his Sergeant.

"It’s coming up the stairs now Lord."

"Boiling oil?"

"We have one vat. It will be ready shortly, Lord."

"Drop the rocks! Now!" he yelled at the man.

The men on the walls used pulleys to lift giant rocks into the crenellated turrets. Arughtai’s soldiers ran forward to push the boulders through the gaps, where they tumbled down onto the soldiers below, snapping ladders laden with men and the limbs of those unfortunate souls in the direct path of the missiles.

The screams of the injured were blood curdling as they rang out across the dull grey dawn, their cries tearing at Ju Rong’s core.

"Drop the battering ram!" shouted Lieutenant Ju.

The crunch this time was almost enough to crack the huge doors.

"One more the same men, we’re nearly there!" the Sergeant yelled.

"Pour the boiling water!" screamed Arughtai.

Great cauldrons of boiling water appeared at the turrets. Soldiers pushed and heaved the giant cauldrons until the burning hot liquid spilled from them onto those on the siege ladders, and through them onto the soldiers below.

A man caught directly under the searing flow screamed and howled as his flesh burned and blistered.

"Use the oil on the battering ram," Arughtai ordered his Sergeant. "We’ve only got one vat, so you’d better make it count," he warned the man.

"Heave, heave!" the Sergeant and his men dragged the giant vessel filled with bubbling hot oil over to the gate.

"Keep going men," urged the Sergeant, as tiny spatters of boiling oil flew onto their arms and faces.

The man held onto the vat, leading his men by example, despite the pain.

"Light it up!" the Sergeant cried, just before they tipped it over the turret.

A raging fire danced across the surface of the iron kettle, singeing the eyebrows of the men who surrounded it.

"Push! Push it!" came the shout, and the burning oil fell in a hideously beautiful stream, splattering across the cart that carried the battering ram.

The cart immediately caught alight, the fire quickly spreading across the dry timber until the men still standing on the platform had to jump for their lives, some of them already on fire, and the entire battering ram went up in a thick wall of flames.

It was time... thought Ju Rong. His men were dying in droves.

"Retreat!" came the cry from the Lieutenant.

It was accompanied by a long low blow of a horn, which announced the order to retreat right across the field of their attack.

Groups of soldiers leapt on the men who had been lit on fire, stopping their crazed running which further fuelled the flames, and rolling them in the dirt until they were no longer alight.

When the last of the burning soldiers had been extinguished, and the final man had climbed back down from the siege ladders, the men limped away from the walls, walking slowly, those who could, gathering up their fallen comrades.

Ju Rong sat on his horse until the final man who could walk had reached him. He watched as the siege engine burned, hanging his head in apparent shame as he turned to follow his men.

He could only hope they had done enough to tempt the enemy out from the safety of those thick walls. They had sacrificed a great deal on that chance...

Arughtai proudly watched the sorry dregs of the attacking force dragging themselves and their injured away. They were slow... sorely diminished.

"Open the gates and chase them down," he ordered his Chief of Staff.

"Open the gates!" the man roared.

Ju Rong checked behind him to see the damaged gates creaking open.

"Run men, run! Retreat!" he yelled.

The horn signalling the men to retreat pealed out across the plain again.

The Emperor’s men limped and ran towards the crevasse where Commander Bai and his men lay hidden.

"Message for you, Commander," a runner passed Bai Li a tube marked with the Emperor’s seal.

Commander Bai,

Kill them all. Do not take any prisoners.

By order of the Emperor.

Arughtai’s army spilled out of the gates, hard on the heels of Ju Rong’s force.

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