Chapter Fifty-Eight: Contest of Strength

The bandits who charged up to the barricade never expected that these county soldiers, instead of fleeing, would dare to draw their blades and fight back. In their moment of stunned hesitation, several bandits were struck down from the barricade by the county soldiers’ swords. The bandits in the rear had clearly underestimated the resolve of their adversaries; at the sight of their comrades’ bodies tumbling down, even they faltered for a heartbeat. But after a brief pause, the brutality and ferocity in their hearts were ignited, and they once more raised their blades and plunged into the melee with the county soldiers.

Sun Jiu, witnessing the fierce battle on the mountain path, quickly ordered the archers stationed on Longclaw Peak’s mountain road to fire from afar in support. Although the county soldiers atop the barricade held a slight advantage from their position, the sheer number of bandits surging against them gradually wore them down, and already several county soldiers had been cut down.

The bandits seemed on the verge of breaking through the county soldiers’ defenses, completely unaware of the threat approaching from the flank. Sun Jiu’s detachment of county soldiers advanced to within crossbow range, and on the narrow mountain path, they formed up in a crouched and standing formation, unleashing a volley of bolts at the bandit horde.

One county soldier, his arm cut and blade knocked from his grasp, stood defenseless as the bandit before him prepared to strike again—only for a crossbow bolt to suddenly pierce the bandit’s throat, sending him tumbling backward in unwilling defeat. As this bandit fell, those behind him were likewise struck by bolts shot from the left, collapsing where they stood. The tightly packed bandits, surging forward with raised blades, were felled in droves by this sudden rain of bolts; the survivors recoiled in panic, retreating so hastily that several were shoved by their own comrades over the left-hand precipice to their deaths.

The county soldiers on Longclaw Peak’s mountain road prepared to loose another volley, when suddenly, one among them felt a sharp pain in his chest. Instinctively clutching the wound, he found a feathered arrow embedded there. In the next instant, arrows struck his throat and leg as well. As he toppled backward, he saw his comrades already lying on the ground, riddled with arrows. In his dying gaze, filled with unwillingness and shock, was reflected the image of bandit archers drawing their bows to take aim.

Pishan Bao had been observing the battle from behind. Seeing his vanguard falter and his charging bandits suppressed by the county archers on the left, he quickly summoned the bandit archers forward, ordering them to eliminate the county archers. The deep ravine, some dozens of meters wide, meant that if the bandits were within the county archers’ range, the reverse was also true—the county soldiers stood within reach of the bandit archers.

In ancient times, training an archer was no easy feat—it required exceptional strength and constant practice. Thus, the side with more archers often held a significant advantage in warfare. The bandit archers of Panlong Ridge, though not numerous, were a crucial force for subduing rival bandit gangs on other peaks and ambushing merchant caravans.

During the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, the French developed a psychological scar from the English longbowmen. The infamous gesture commonly used today to signify contempt—the raised middle finger—is said to have originated from the English longbowmen’s disdain for the French. The French had threatened to cut off the English archers’ drawing fingers; in victory, the English would taunt their foes by raising their own middles fingers in mockery.

“You wanted to cut off my middle finger, didn’t you? Well, come and try if you dare!” But enough of that tangent. The county archers dispatched by Sun Jiu had all been slain on the mountain road by the bandit arrows. Sun Jiu, watching the scene unfold, felt his fury intensify.

He longed to lead the remaining county soldiers in a charge to avenge their fallen brothers, but the presence of the bandit archers forced him to suppress the impulse. With the archers’ cover, the bandits surged up to the barricade once more. The fierce battle on the mountain road quickly ended; the bandits crossed the barricade and, after slaying the wounded soldiers still gasping in pools of blood, let out savage cries as they charged toward Longclaw Peak.

Fully aware of how sturdy their own drawbridge was, the bandits knew that only by capturing Longclaw Peak could they open it. Sun Jiu, watching the oncoming horde, had made up his mind: if they could not hold the line here, he would destroy the winch before he and his men perished to the last. Even if the bandits would eventually break through, at least he would have bought precious time for Qi Jun.

“Brothers, the bandits are coming! Stay sharp and ready! Watch out for their archers—every one we kill today is a victory, a revenge for our fallen!” Sun Jiu raised his blade and shouted a rallying cry that thundered through the ranks.

As he spoke, a feathered arrow shot from the bandit ranks and embedded itself in the earth not far before him, the torchlight making its fletching tremble as if heralding death. Sun Jiu knew the arrow was a range-finder; soon, similar arrows would find their marks in his men’s bodies.

“Take down the doors and use them as shields! Prepare to meet the enemy!”

At his command, the doors from the first floor of the watchtower were torn down and placed as a barrier before the soldiers. Using these makeshift shields, the county soldiers, crossbows already loaded, unleashed a vengeful volley at the advancing bandits. The leading bandits fell with bolts in their bodies, tumbling down into the abyss. Those behind immediately dropped to the ground, arrows nocked and ready.

“Get down!” Sun Jiu, well aware of what the bandits would do after the first volley, quickly ordered his men to take cover behind the doors. At that moment, a hail of arrows shot from the bandit ranks, instantly covering the doors in a dense thicket of fletching.

One soldier, a step too slow, was struck in the right shoulder, his blade falling from his grasp with a cry of pain. Sun Jiu’s heart clenched at the sight of the advancing bandits. In desperation, he shouted, “Lift the doors and charge! Push them all down!”

One soldier, hearing the order, immediately braced the door before him, bellowed, and hurled himself forward with all his might.

The bandits never expected their opponents to suddenly act so. The leading ones, pressed by the door, staggered back, and in their panic, shoved several of their fellows over the precipice behind them. The path was so narrow that only one man could pass at a time; though the foremost bandits managed to brace themselves against the door, behind them the crowd was in chaos, and more than a few tumbled down into the abyss like dumplings into boiling water.

The bandit archers attempted to shoot, but between the press of bodies ahead and the shoving from behind, their shots missed again and again, with only one arrow striking the door.

“Damn it, so many of you and you still can’t get past a handful of county soldiers?” Pishan Bao, watching from the barricade, was furious. He couldn’t fathom why the usually timid and cowardly county soldiers had shown such ferocity and death-defying resolve today. He tried to connect it to that scholar who’d seized the stronghold, but quickly dismissed the thought. How could a mere scholar transform these soldiers into such fearless warriors? In the end, he decided it was nothing more than the desperate struggle of cornered beasts.

Once the bandits regained their footing, they placed their hands on the shoulders of those in front and pushed forward as one, aiming to topple both the door and the soldiers behind it.

“Quick! With me!” Sensing disaster, Sun Jiu tossed aside his blade and rushed forward, bracing himself against the back of the soldier holding the door. Even the soldier wounded in the shoulder joined in, pressing his left shoulder to his comrade’s back as the others rallied to hold the line.

On the mountain path, shrouded in night, a fierce contest of strength raged between bandits and county soldiers. Both sides strained every muscle against the other, but the outcome was clear. The bandits, with superior numbers, slowly forced the soldiers back. As the pressure increased, the soldiers’ retreat became more frantic.

“Sir! I can’t hold much longer! What’s happening on your end…” Sun Jiu prayed silently as he was pushed back step by step.

As the county soldiers neared the brink of being driven back, a victor’s smile spread across Pishan Bao’s face.

“To think I’d have to fight this hard to reclaim my own home. Losing so many brothers—damned rotten luck.” He cursed, rolling up his sleeves to lend a hand and boost the morale of his men.

Just then, the drawbridge on the mountain path, which had remained tightly shut, suddenly opened from within.