39
It was a brief stillness.
The enemy commander's red scarf, soaked in flame, burned away as he collapsed onto the field.He had been the vanguard commander directing the battle.
The Northern Yuan camp held its breath for an instant.That silence was taut, like the battlefield drawing in a great breath.The air pressed down as if lungs were swelling.
But then the sky burst open.
"Bring the catapults forward!"
The enemy order spread across the field.
At the far end of the plain, black throwing frames were raised all at once.Leather slings flipped open simultaneously atop bow-curved arms.
A moment of silence.Kuuuuung——!
The impact arrived before the sound.The sky darkened.
Massive stones flew toward the battlements and the gates.They spared neither the corners of the wall nor the earthen ramparts.
When the first struck, the ground roared.At the second, ears went numb.From the third on, only impact remained.
The trajectories were crude.But even a single hit crushed everything.
"Cover your heads with shields!"
Hwang Hyeon-pil's shout exploded, but scattered into the noise.
A huge boulder smashed into the wall.Earth and stone, brick and wood burst together, dust erupting like an explosion.
"Catapults! Catapults!"
O Jin-cheol shouted.He pressed Seong-jin's head down and dragged him to the ground.
At that moment, a stone shattered the parapet and skimmed past.Fragments scraped his face.A metallic ringing filled his ears.
"Change angle—fire!"
Hwang Hyeon-pil ran across the battlement, swinging his arm.
"Aim for the catapults! The catapults!"
Many archers crouched low and endured.
Seong-jin pressed himself behind a shield, dodged the barrage, and seized his crossbow again.His hands trembled, the string felt heavy.
Each time a stone fell, the battlement jolted.It felt as if his heart were dropping.The wall shook as if about to collapse, but it held.
The bombardment did not stop.It came at short intervals, like a drum being beaten.
Then a gap opened.
"Fire! Shoot!"
In the brief moment when the enemy barrage stopped, Hwang Hyeon-pil's order fell.The crossbowmen rose at once.Through the smoke, they took only direction and released the strings by feel.
Pipipipiping——
A rain of arrows surged upward beneath the falling stones.Firelight reflected off arrowheads in the dust.
Around the catapults, men fell in heaps.One throwing frame was swallowed by flames.This, at least, was manageable.
Seong-jin sucked in rough breaths.Smoke scorched his throat, and his fingertips throbbed.
"Again!""Shoot!""Shoot!"
Arrows cut through the stones' arcs as they rose.Rocks and arrows crossed in the middle of the sky.The impacts grew fewer—then finally stopped.
"The bombardment stopped!""One's burning!"
The wind blew.Through the smoke, a burning catapult could be seen collapsing.
Enemy soldiers stumbled as they rushed forward.Hwang Hyeon-pil laughed.
"They don't have infinite stones either."
Seong-jin looked down at his hands.The trembling had not yet faded.
The vibration left in his fingertips seemed to spread through the entire battlement.
Stone strikes, answered by arrows.In that exchange, the enemy assault slowed by a single beat.
The dust settled.The burning air cooled.
The wind atop the wall turned cold again.
Do-hyeon walked past and tapped Seong-jin's shoulder.Brief, heavy, unmistakable recognition.Behind them, O Sun-geun swallowed hard.
"That's incredible… the enemy commander is dead."
Seong-jin gave a short laugh."So what changes?"
There was only one thing that mattered now.They had stopped.While they were stopped, one could breathe.
Seong-jin leaned his back against the parapet and looked up at the sky.The dust-filled sky was dull.The sunlight was blunt, like old iron.
Below, lower-rank officers were running frantically.
"Reform the left wing!""Carry the wounded!""Form arrow-recovery teams!"
Listening to the shouts, Seong-jin said quietly,
"They'll come again."
A single bird flew through the flames.It crossed the battlefield and vanished.