Chapter 21 – Fierce fight in Xiangyang, Part 4
The general guarding the gates said, “General Lu said that spies have hidden themselves amongst the refugees; we cannot let them in for that reason.”
Guo Jing shouted, “Even if there are one or two spies, how can we show no regard for these hundreds of lives? Quickly open the gates.”
Guo Jing has been guarding the city for a long time now and had many great achievements; though he did not have an official post, the general guarding the city did not dare to disobey his orders and opened the city gates. At the same time, he ordered a messenger to report this to Lu Wende.
Old and young all converged on the city. Suddenly, a dust cloud appeared far away; the Mongolian army was moving in from the north. The Song soldiers scattered and went back inside the walls of the city. A large group of people stood out in front of the oncoming enemy; they were all clothed in rags and all had a stick in their hands, none had a real weapon and they were scattered. They called out, “Don’t shoot arrows here; we’re Song citizens as well!”
The Mongolian army however sheltered themselves behind the refugees.
Ever since the times of Ji Si Khan, whenever the Mongolian army attacked a city, they would first send the citizens of the surrounding country towards the city they were attacking. If the soldiers who were guarding the city weakened their resolve at this sight, the Mongols would immediately come forward and attack. By using this method, the Mongolian army was able to slaughter the citizens of the nation they were attacking and defeat their opposition in the city, killing two birds with one stone. It was extremely brutal and cruel but effective.
Guo Jing had been with Mongolian army a long time and knew about this tactic, but there was nothing he could do to counter it. The Mongolian soldiers held the spears and long sabers to the front as they forced the citizens of the Song forward. The people were forced closer and closer and the people closest the city began to climb up the ladders.
Lu Wende rode his horse and took a look around at what was happening. When he saw the urgent situation they were in he immediately ordered, “Defending the city is the main priority, fire the arrows!”
Arrows rained down and many people were struck. Those who weren’t fell back. The Mongolian army chopped heads with their sabers and pierced bodies with the spears and the refugees were forced back towards the city.
Yang Guo stood next to Guo Jing and watched this tragic scene in anger.
Lu Wende called out, “Fire the arrows!” Arrows rained down once more.
Guo Jing shouted, “Stop, you can’t kill good people!”
Lu Wende said, “In such an urgent situation, even if it is a good person, we have to kill them.”
Guo Jing shouted, “No, how can you kill good people wrongly?”
Yang Guo’s heart trembled, “You can’t kill good people wrongly! How can you kill good people wrongly?”
Guo Jing called out, “My Beggar Clan brothers and my Wulin friends follow me!” He then rushed down towards the city gates. Yang Guo followed him.
Guo Jing said, “You suffered an injury when practicing chi last night; you cannot exert any kind of strength today. Go back to the city wall and watch what’s happening.”
Yang Guo saw his fellow Han being treated worse than animals by the Mongolian army and wanted to go down with Guo Jing and do some killing. He was startled when he heard this but he couldn’t tell Guo Jing that last night was just an act; so he returned back up the city wall.
Guo Jing led a group of people and opened the western gate. They rushed out and attacked the Mongolian flank. The Mongolian troops who were forcing the refugees forward turned towards Guo Jing.
The people Guo Jing was leading were good fighters of the Beggar Clan and patriots that had been gathered from all over China. They shouted and attacked; over a hundred Mongolian soldiers were immediately forced off their horses. The Mongolian army saw that their thousand soldiers were not able to fend them off and so another thousand came forward from the side. The Mongolian soldiers were all experienced, brave and vicious; though the group Guo Jing was leading knew martial arts, they were not able to subdue the Mongolians for the time being. When the refugees saw that the Mongolian soldiers were not pushing them forward any longer, they scattered.
A horn blew from the east and two Minghan regiments (division of 1000 men) surged forward. Another two Minghan regiments from the west dashed forward and surrounded Guo Jing and his group.
Lu Wende was scared witless when he saw the might of the Mongolian army; how would he dare to send men out for a rescue?
Yang Guo stood at the top of the city walls and kept on going over what Guo Jing had said, “You can’t kill good people wrongly! How can you kill good people wrongly?” When he saw Guo Jing surrounded he thought, “All the guards had to do was to let some arrows fly and kill a few people and they would have been able to stop this Mongolian attack. The reason Uncle Guo is in all this danger is because he didn’t want to kill good people wrongly. He doesn’t know these people yet he risks his life to save them; why did he want to kill my father?”
He saw the tragic killing below but all he could think about was this riddle; “He and my father were sworn brothers; this isn’t any ordinary kind of relationship, but in the end he still wanted to harm him. Could it be that my father was an evil person?” Ever since he was little he had always thought of his father as someone who was chivalrous, brave and heroic; one of the greatest men on earth. To acknowledge that his father was an evil person was something that he could not do. But in his heart, he had the feeling that his father could not compare to his Uncle Guo; but whenever he had this feeling, he forced it back down. Right now however, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about this point.
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