The Red Plains (The Forbidden List Book 3) (9 page)

The morning had, thankfully, broken with the land covered in a thick mist that rose off the river into the chill air.

“It won’t last,” Liu said as he bit into the steamed dumpling in his hands.

“I know, but every moment is another moment closer to the Emperor’s army arriving. Do you  have any more of those dumplings?” Haung said.

“Missed breakfast?” Gang said. “That’s never a good idea.”

“Couldn’t eat,” Haung said.

“Here,” a voice said from behind and a dumpling arced towards him. Haung reacted subconsciously and plucked the dumpling from the air.

“Where have you been?” Haung asked.

“Around, here and there,” Enlai said as he finished his approach. “Mostly looking for someone who proved harder to find than I had thought.”

“Who?” Haung said.

“Did you get the powder?” Enlai ignored the question and looked towards Gongliang.

“Yes, we did and we have a plan for it,” Haung answered before Gongliang could speak. “Now, who were you looking for?”

“Him.” Enlai pointed at a skinny, timid man who had followed him.

“Who is he?”

“A
Fang-shi,
” Enlai said.

“Really?” Haung stepped forward and up to the supposed
Fang-shi
. “Who are you?”

“Me?” The man’s eyes darted around, looking everywhere but at Haung.

“Yes, are you a trained
Fang-shi
?”

“Well, now... that is a good question. Indeed it is a good question. Yes, a good question,” the man said.

Haung turned a puzzled look on Enlai.

“He is trained,” the
Taiji
said. “If you bothered to use your own training you’d know that.”

Haung bit down on the reply. Ever since they had started to move south to meet up with the Emperor’s army, his fellow
Taiji
had developed a shorter temper and spent more time away from the command staff and Haung in particular.

“He was a research magician but it got away from him one day. Slightly destroyed his mind. Gan Ji was one of the most promising students, but the... accident... put an end to that. If we can get him to focus then, I am told, he is quite useful,” Enlai said. “If you don’t want him though, I’ll put him back where I found him.”

“No, Enlai, I am grateful that you...” Haung tailed off as the
Taiji
nodded, turned and walked away leaving the confused
Fang-shi
stood on his own.

“What has got into him?” Gongliang said.

“Just missing his woman, I bet,” Gang said.

“His woman?”

“Xióngmāo,” the large warrior explained.

Haung listened to the exchange for a moment and shook his head, certain that was not the relationship the two had, but not at all certain that it was not the relationship Enlai wanted. Too much to worry about and too little time to do so. Right now, at this moment, the priority was the defence of the city.

“Now then, Master Gan Ji, can you tell us what you can do to help?” Haung said to the
Fang-shi
.

“Do? What can I do?” Gan Ji looked out over the fields and rivers. “I can swim.”

“What magic can you do to help us defend the town?” Haung persevered. Enlai, for all his bad temper at the moment, had been a trusted companion and warrior on the Wall, he had brought the
Fang-shi
here with a purpose.

“Gan Ji,” Haung tried again, “there is an army out there, in the mist, ready to attack this town and kill us all. You are a
Fang-shi
, there must be something you can do to help us?”

“General,” the shout of alarm raced along the wall. “They are coming.”

Sure enough, when Haung peered over the battlements, the mist had lifted enough for the Mongols to be confident of the ground in front of them. They had spurred their horses into a gallop. A ragged line of warriors broke from the front ranks and charged the city walls.

“Archers, hold. Do not attack,” Gongliang shouted in response.

This first wave was, Haung and the army had learned during the attack on the Wall, made of the untried, unbloodied warriors. The children and young men who were seeking to prove their worth, to get a name of bravery and have the chance to marry. Killing them served no purpose, letting them charge did and Haung turned away, pulling the
Fang-shi
down and out of the sight.

“They are almost at first line of pits, General,” Gongliang reported.

The thunder of hooves was a heartbeat rhythm of fear and panic. The hooves hitting the ground in discordant series of thumps. Even through the thick stone wall, the vibrations could be felt. Haung could hear the cheers of the Mongol warriors who remained in the lines. They had all done similar, charged an enemy, loosed an arrow or two, completed their first attack and returned to the lines a Mongol warrior of proven bravery.

That would not happen today and though Haung understood the need, he could not put aside the deaths of children easily. Not anymore.

The rhythm changed and faltered. The horses no longer ran, their legs no longer stretched out and their muscles no longer pushed them forward, faster and faster. Now came the sounds of falling, crashing, the snapping of bone, the scream of horse and rider alike as, below their feet, pits opened up, tripping and trapping the legs of the beasts.

“They are all down, General. Shall I order the marksman to finish them off?” Gongliang asked.

Haung shook his head. “No, let them go back to their lines. We’ve let them know the ground is uneven and dangerous. Now we will see if they are so happy to charge their horses right across it to get to the wall. My guess is they won’t be. From everything we know, they value their horses.”

“Horses,” Gan Ji said.

“Yes, horses,” Haung answered. “Gang, see if you can get any sense out this magician.”

The heavy warrior stomped over and pulled the thin
Fang-shi
upright by the simple expedience of grabbing his clothes and lifting. “Let’s you and I have a little chat.”

For the next few minutes, Haung watched the Mongol lines. It was evident that some discussion was taking place amongst them. The ranks of warriors at the rear began to dismount and Haung smiled. It would have been better if they had not given up on their horses so quickly. A few more ranks hitting the pits would have been a good lesson for them to learn and bought us more time, he mused.

# # #

Across the river the rest of the Mongol army had spent the morning and early afternoon setting up camp. Small tents, similar to those Haung had seen whilst on patrol in the village beyond the Wall, were being erected and small fires begun. Smoke, the same dark grey of the clouds above, rose into the air. Clearly, they expected to be here for a period of time and the thought was both welcome and worrying.

Gongliang pointed and Haung returned his gaze to the Mongol army before the walls.

“Not many ladders,” the engineer noted, “though it won’t take them long to make some more.”

Haung looked at the wooded slopes that led northwards, back the way they had come. “A day or two of hard work and they’ll have more wood and ladders than they need. However, we have given them something to think about. How long till night?”

“About three hours,” Gongliang answered.

“Then I doubt they will try another attack today. There is not enough time and they will be worried about more pits,” Haung said.

“We’ll keep the men on the walls for a time, let them get a proper look at the Mongols. They’ll send men out on the field tonight, under the cover of darkness, to look for the pits. It is looking to be a cloud covered night. It will be hard for us to see them.”

“There is not a lot we can do about the weather,” Haung said, resting his hands on the city’s stone work. “What about your other idea?”

“The men should be finished by tonight. I have some others on the lookout for the sign. What do you want to do about it?” Gongliang said.

“First thing in the morning. From what you have said it will not stop them straight away and the longer we give it the better. What about the men themselves?”

“They were all volunteers. Once it is done they have orders to make their own way back to the capital.”

“A long journey,” Haung said.

“They know the risks and compared to us, stuck in a city under attack, I think I would rather be them,” Gongliang replied.

“Haung,” Gang called, shaking his head as he approached, the
Fang-shi
following him like puppy. “I am not sure this idiot could do magic even if we shoved a wand up his...”

“He is a
Fang-shi
,” Haung interrupted. “Enlai would not have brought him to us without a purpose. What has he told you?”

“All I can get out of him is something about books and a library. His, I think. Once you get off the topic of books, he loses all interest and focus.” Gang hefted his hammer onto his shoulder. “I can’t get any more.”

“Well,” Haung began, the thought of petty revenge for all the prodigious snoring and unique collection of bodily noises he had put up with whilst sharing the barracks with Gang formed in his mind, “He can bunk with you tonight. Look after him and see if you can find out any more.”

“Haung, that’s not fair. Why not let Liu have a go?”

“I would, but he seems to like you.” Haung nodded towards the
Fang-shi
who was, at that moment, smiling innocently at Gang.

# # #

“This is a bad idea,” Gongliang said.

Haung, clinging on to a rope that had been lowered over the eastern side of the wall, looked up into his second-in-command’s eyes. With night a few hours old and a thick covering of cloud it was difficult to make out the man’s expression.

“Gongliang, you are probably correct,” Haung admitted. “We know they are going to send men out onto the field and try to find the pits. If we can show them they cannot walk our land with impunity and protect the location of some pits, it will help when they attack tomorrow.”

“We have archers on the walls for that,” Gongliang countered.

“And they can’t see much in this darkness. There is no point them randomly loosing arrows at imagined targets.” A thought occurred to Haung. “Send an order round, no one is to loose an arrow or bolt at any target until we are back in the city.”

“And how long will that be?” Gongliang said.

“There are times when you sound like a mother hen. Give us two hours and then lower the ropes again. If we are not back, lower them on every hour for five minutes.” Haung grinned in the darkness. “We will be back before dawn.”

“You had better be.”

Haung watched Gongliang’s head disappear from view and started to lower himself, hand over hand, down the rope to the earth below. As his feet touched the dirt he shook the rope and saw it rise back up the wall. Now, he was beyond the protection of the walls and in territory the enemy was contesting.

“Let’s get away from the wall before one of our own archers decides to take some target practice.” Enlai’s voice came from behind Haung.

“I’ve ordered them not to,” Haung said, turning round and scampering across the ground with Enlai at his side.

“Orders are one thing, but there’s militia up there who might not be as good at obeying as your soldiers,” the
Taiji
said.

Both men ran across the soft, undulating ground, away from the wall and then turned north towards the Mongol army. As they moved closer to the enemy, their pace slowed and darkness deepened. Over his shoulder, Haung could just make out the city walls as black slabs and only by the fact that they contrasted with the grey clouds above could he make out the towers. Ahead, the Mongol tents were harder to see, only the tops of those between him and the northern valley were visible, and discerning movement was impossible. Beyond those, he knew, the bulk of the Mongol forces camped and waited.

The road south was blocked by rubble and the river, the city guarded the path and the unstoppable, uncountable force of the Mongols were bottled up in this valley. A competent commander would send troops to the west, down the marshy valley, and seek out a path around the garrison city. Indeed, Haung had seen a small force do just that. According to some of the town elders, the nearest path south capable of accommodating an army as large as the Mongols was two days ride away. Better than that, they said, that path followed a steep gorge prone to rock falls. A competent commander would not take a force through a gorge if it could be avoided. Too easy for opposing forces to drop rocks, block the pass, or just rain arrows down on them with impunity.

“When you’ve finished staring off into the darkness, can we get on with this,” Enlai whispered. “How well can you see in the dark?”

“As well as you, I expect,” Haung snapped back.

“I doubt it.” Enlai crouched down next to the unmoving Haung. “Do you have a spell or
Jiin-Wei
trick you can use?”