Return of Condor Heroes (258 page)

*The white head-gear is the rank insignia of a regimental (the thousand men) commander while the red head-gear is the rank insignia of a battalion (one thousand men) commander.

The last general was very brave and although he saw his three comrades die, he still attacked with his spear. Guo Jing avoided his thrust again and smashed down heavily on his helmet, crushing his skull.

Everyone saw Guo Jing kill four brave generals within a few seconds and became frightened. Even though they were in front of the Khan’s chariot, they did not dare step forward to fight him; they could only fire arrows hoping to ward him off. Guo Jing’s horse galloped up the small hill but hundreds of spears formed a wall in front of the Khan so he could not get closer. Suddenly his horse was struck by two arrows and collapsed; the Mongol soldiers cheered and swarmed forward.

However Guo Jing leaped up and pierced a company commander (Bai Fu Zhang) and jumped onto his horse. He swept his spear about forcefully and killed more than ten guards.

He dashed about wildly and the soldiers around him fled. He could kill at will amidst the hundreds of troops and the Mongol soldiers could not handle him. Mengke frowned and commanded, “Whoever kills Guo Jing will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold and a triple promotion!”

Guo Jing saw that the situation was dangerous and he realized he could not reach the Khan. He killed a few more troops nearby and quickly shot an arrow towards Mengke. Although the arrow was not shot with great strength, it flashed through the air like a lightning bolt and flew straight towards Mengke. The guards were stunned and two company commanders quickly used their bodies to shield the Khan. The arrow sliced right through the first and lodged in the second’s chest. The two of them were stuck together but they did not fall.

When Mengke saw this, his face turned pale. His guards surrounded him and they retreated down the hill.

At this time many Mongol soldiers shouted. A body of Song soldiers charged out and the leader wielded two metal oars and swung them around fiercely; it was the Fisherman (the Secret Fisherman from Si Shui ‘si shui yu yin’). Huang Rong saw that Guo Jing was not doing well and was worried. She sent the Fisherman together with 2,000 men as reinforcements. The Mongols saw their Khan retreating, causing their battle formation to crumble.

Huang Rong saw everything clearly and commanded, “Everybody, yell that the Khan is dead!” The soldiers cheered, “The Khan is dead! The Khan is dead!” The Xiangyang troops had fought with the Mongolians for many years so had picked up some Mongolian words; now they were shouting and yelling in Mongolian.

When the Mongol troops heard this, they turned around and saw their Khan’s Banner Party retreating hastily. They thought their Khan really was dead, so they discarded their weapons and quickly ran off.

Huang Rong ordered the soldiers to pursue them and opened the north gate. Thirty thousand soldiers charged out of the city. Yelu Qi’s four thousand men had decreased to half and the remainder chased the enemy together. The Mongol troops, however, were well-trained and withdrew in a swift and orderly fashion, so the Song troops could not catch up. But the five thousand Mongol soldiers trapped in Xiangyang could not escape and were all killed.

When the enemy had gone, it was already morning. This battle was fought for a whole 24 hours and the sand was stained with blood. The bodies piled up into small mountains. Damaged weapons, broken flags and dead horses littered the battlefield.

The casualty rate was forty thousand for the Mongolians and around twenty-three thousand for the defenders of Xiangyang. This is the worst defeat the Mongolians suffered since the beginning of the southern campaign.

Although the defenders of Xiangyang managed to drive away the enemy forces, Xiangyang was filled with mourning; mothers crying over their sons and wives crying over their husbands.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong did not rest immediately but went to survey the four gates to console and praise the soldiers. They then went to visit Zhou Botong and Lu Wushuang and found that they had largely recovered. Zhou Botong could not tolerate being in bed for too long and he was already pacing around restlessly. When Guo Jing and Huang Rong saw this they laughed. Finally they went back home for a good day’s sleep.

The next morning, Guo Jing went to the government office to discuss the military situation with Lu Wenhuan. Suddenly a soldier reported that a Mongolian legion (ten thousand men) was heading towards the north gate. Lu Wenhuan was shocked, “What… they have just left… why are they back? This… this can’t be happening!”

Guo Jing immediately went up to the city wall to take a look. The enemy stopped several li (1li/0.5 km) away and did not attack. One thousand workers, after some time, put together a ten storey high wooden tower.

By now Huang Yaoshi, Huang Rong, Yideng, Zhu Ziliu and company were observing the enemy and saw them building a tower. They could not figure out what they were up to. Zhu Ziliu said, “If they’re building this tower to spy on the city it’s too far out to see anything from there. Moreover, if we fire flaming arrows, the tower will be destroyed, what use is that?” Huang Rong frowned and thought deeply but could not come up with any reasonable explanation. The people around her were equally puzzled. Zhu Ziliu continued, “Could it be that they can’t defeat us so they’re building some sort of prayer tower? Or are they trying to perform some witchcraft?”

Guo Jing said, “I was in the Mongolian armed forces for a long time, yet I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

As they were talking, they saw the workers digging a deep and broad moat around the tower and used the mud dug out to form some sort of wall. Huang Yaoshi said angrily, “Xiangyang is the hometown of Zhuge Liang. The Mongolians dare to try some silly tricks here; they’re really looking down on us.”

Then the horns blew and the drums sounded. The legion came up and took up positions on the left of the tower. Then another legion came forward and took up positions on the right. Finally another two legions took up positions at the front and back of the tower respectively. Altogether there were 40,000 soldiers surrounding the tower. The formation spread over a few li and footmen, cavalry, archers and infantry formed up together, looking like a metal wall around the tower.

A trumpet was blown and the drumming stopped; the soldiers were silent and two horses came up to the foot of the tower. The riders got off and went up the tower together. It was some distance away and they could not be seen clearly, but it looked like a male and female.

The people were still wondering what was going on when Huang Rong suddenly screamed and fainted, falling backwards. The people quickly revived her and asked together, “What? What?” Huang Rong’s face was deathly pale and she trembled as she said, “It’s Xiang’er…it’s Xiang’er.” Everyone was stunned.

Zhu Ziliu asked, “Madam Guo, what did you see?” Huang Rong said, “I didn’t see her face clearly but by intuition I deduced that it must be her. The Mongolians can’t take this city so they came up with this evil plan. This… this is totally despicable… terrible!” Huang Yaoshi and Zhu Ziliu heard this and were speechless; their faces turned pale with anger.

Guo Jing arrived and he asked, “How on Earth did Xiang’er end up there? And how are the Mongolians despicable?”

Huang Rong finally got up and said, “Brother Jing, Xiang’er was unfortunately captured by the Mongolians. They built this tower and filled the base with dry grass and forced Xiang’er up the tower. They’re trying to force you to surrender. If you don’t they will burn her alive to wrench our hearts and destroy our resolve so that we can’t defend the city properly.”

Guo Jing was shocked and furious and asked, “How the hell was Xiang’er captured?”

Huang Rong said, “We were busy fighting the enemy for the past several days, so I didn’t tell you about this in case you lost your concentration.” She then narrated how Guo Xiang was captured by the Golden Wheel Monk (Jinlun Fawang) and how Yang Guo went missing at the bottom of the gorge in Passionless Valley.

After she finished, Guo Jing frowned and said, “Rong’er, it was wrong of you to do that. Without determining if Guo’er is dead or alive how could you just leave the valley like that?” Guo Jing had always respected his wife and never scolded her in front of others, but this time he spoke sternly to her in front of everyone, causing her to blush.

Yideng said, “Madam Guo was suffering an intense chill and could have died from hypothermia. We believed Yang Guo was not there. Besides the young lady had been captured so we quickly gave chase. You can’t blame Madam Guo.”

Guo Jing did not dare to argue with Yideng and only said sternly, “This girl Guo Xiang has always caused a lot of trouble. If anything happened to Guo’er how could we be at ease? Just let the Mongolians burn her.”

Huang Rong did not say anything but descended from the city wall. The people were all discussing how they could rescue Guo Xiang when they suddenly saw the city gate left open and a single horse galloping north. The rider was of course Huang Rong. Everyone was shocked and Guo Jing, Huang Yaoshi, Yideng and company mounted their horses and gave chase.

They galloped near the tower and stopped out of range of the archers. They saw a young pretty girl tied to a wooden pole at the top of the tower. It was indeed Guo Xiang.

Although Guo Jing said she always created trouble, but she was, after all, his daughter; how could he not be anxious? He said loudly, “Xiang’er, don’t worry, Father and Mother are coming to rescue you!” His internal strength was very solid and his voice was clearly heard at the top of the tower. Guo Xiang was already getting dizzy from the hot sun but when she heard her father’s voice, she happily shouted, “Father, Mother!”

Fawang laughed, “Hero Guo, if you want me to release her it’s very easy. But do you have the courage?”

Guo Jing had always been calm and steady; he was even calmer in precarious situations and was not angered by what Fawang said. He said, “Fawang, if you have a problem, just tell me.”

Fawang said, “If you have the benevolence of a parent, come up here with your hands bound and exchange yourself for your daughter.” He knew Guo Jing had a high sense of public duty and would not lose Xiangyang for his daughter, so he purposely said this to provoke him into walking into the trap.

But Guo Jing did not fall for it and said, “If it’s me you want, why create trouble for my daughter? Since the Mongols fear me, how can I let you kill me so easily?”

Fawang laughed coldly, “Everyone says Hero Guo’s martial arts are very outstanding and his bravery is unmatched; but he’s actually a coward who’s afraid of death.” His attempt to provoke him might have worked on others, but Guo Jing just smiled.

However Wu Santong and the Fisherman were provoked by Fawang and they waved their metal hammer and metal ores respectively and surged forward. The Mongol archers were already poised to strike and were only waiting for them to get closer to shoot them down. Reverend Yideng saw that this was not good and jumped off his horse and somersaulted, landing in front of their horses. He waved his sleeves and obstructed the horses, saying, “Go back!” The two had gone forth only because of a burst of anger, but they knew that there would be no return once they went forward. When they saw their master blocking them, they retreated immediately. The Mongols saw this old monk catch up with the horses and could not help but cheer.

Fawang said, “Your daughter is beautiful and intelligent, I like her very much. I want to take her as my disciple and pass down all my skills to her. But the Khan ordered her to be burned alive if you don’t surrender. You’ll be sad and I’ll feel that it’s such a pity, please consider this carefully.”

Guo Jing snorted but saw about forty soldiers standing at the foot of the tower with fire torches who would immediately set the tower ablaze on Fawang’s command. The forty thousand soldiers guarded the tower tightly, how could anyone penetrate their formation? Even if they got through, the soldiers could just set the tower on fire, then, could they rescue Guo Xiang on time?

Guo Jing was with the Mongolian armed forces for a long time so he knew how cruel the Mongolians could be. When they conquered a city, they could kill hundreds of thousands of women and children in a day. Burning Guo Xiang alive was like killing an ant to them. He raised his head and saw that his daughter was thin and pale and was greatly distressed. He shouted, “Xiang’er, you’re a good girl of Great Song, don’t be afraid. If Father and Mother can’t save you today, we’ll kill this bald bastard to avenge you! Understand?” Guo Xiang cried and nodded, saying, “Father, Mother, I’m not afraid!”

Guo Jing said, “This is my good daughter!” He took out a metal bow and shot three arrows simultaneously, hitting three soldiers at the top of the tower and the arrows went right through them. They screamed and fell to the ground. Guo Jing’s archery skills were taught by the legendary Mongolian General Jebe [Zhe-be] and he’d practiced for many years. He was standing out of range of the Mongolian archers yet he managed to hit the 3 men on the tower. The Mongol troops yelled and quickly raised their shields to protect themselves. Guo Jing said, “Let’s go!” He turned the horse around and went back to the city.

They got back up to the city wall. Huang Rong blankly stared at the tower and her heart was beating rapidly.

Yideng said, “Their formation is solid, if we want to save Xiang’er we must first break and destroy the formation of the forty thousand men.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Exactly.” He thought for a while then said, “Let’s use the “Twenty-eight Star Formation” and battle them.”

Huang Rong hung her head and said, “Even if we win, they will set the tower alight, what do we do then?”

Guo Jing said, “We’ll try our best. Whether Xiang’er lives or dies we’ll leave it to fate. Father-in-law, how do we use the “Twenty-eight Star Formation”?”

Huang Yaoshi laughed, “The formation’s changes are complicated. When I saw the “Big Dipper Formation” of the Quanzhen Sect, I thought deeply and came up with this formation to counter their “Big Dipper Formation”.”