CHAPTER THREE: GENERAL HOW
"Man the parapets! Don't let them get past our fire!" General How's voice rung out like a clarion call, somehow managing to not get lost over the din of battle. All around him, there was chaos. Blasts of flame and chunks of earth flew back and forth in every direction. Men were in huge clusters along the massive stone wall, either raining earth down on the attackers or using their Earthbending to repel any ladders put in place. The harsh heat of the day combined with the attacks of the Firebenders was making it nigh unbearable. How do those Fire Nation men stand it? How wondered, not for the first time.
Looking out over the battlefield, How saw that his section of the wall was easily being hit hardest. The others were being attacked as well, but only enough so that none of them could reinforce his position. That would be the Dragon of the West, all right. Divide and conquer. It was only How's first day, but he was resolved to show the Fire Nation who they were dealing with now. After this battle was over, though, he thought, he would have to devise a relief system so that this ploy wouldn't work again. It was one of many things he wished to use his new position to reform, but the Council of Five was not particularly open to new ideas.
How cast his eyes upon the banners that floated above the host below him. It would pay to know who General Iroh had sent against him. He saw the emblem of the intertwined dragons-that would be Jeong Jeong. How had heard of him, and even among the Earth Kingdom military he had a good reputation. It was often said that if you had to be taken prisoner by the Fire Nation, you had best hope for Commander Jeong Jeong or General Iroh. How knew in his gut that this would be a very hard fight, then. Jeong Jeong wouldn't become discouraged after a few failed attempts to take the wall. He was probably biding his time, letting How's own troops bleed their strength out a little before attacking in earnest. It was a wonder that he hadn't been promoted yet.
There were a few other banners being held aloft, but only one other one caught How's eye: an ornate thing of red silk, with the emblem of the Fire Nation Royal Family emblazoned upon it. For a wild moment, How thought that Iroh had come himself to challenge the wall, and he searched the field for the Dragon. However, after a moment it was apparent that Iroh wasn't there. Before he could wonder who indeed was, he saw the figure and had his answer. Clad in red and gold armor and exhorting his men to new heights as he waved his shining blade was Prince Lu Ten. He was something of a mystery to How, who knew very little of his military record. He was reputedly popular with his men, but if half the stories told about the Fire Nation were true then a cannibal would be popular with his men. He seemed to be in control of the situation down below. An arrow fired from above flew straight for one of the men next to him, and in one smooth motion the Prince turned an incinerated it with a gesture before turning back to the wall and throwing a bolt of fire at its defenders.
"Get down!" How heard someone yell. An orange explosion of flame mushroomed across the ramparts before collapsing, leaving singed bodies and burn marks where it had hit. How shook his head slowly. It was a grisly mess, fighting against Firebenders. It wouldn't be nearly as dangerous as fighting the Water Tribe, that was for sure. The Earthbending school of thought was all about meeting your opponents head on and being as stalwart and immoveable as its namesake element…but what could it really do against a school of thought whose mantra was to do the exact same thing, but do it faster? How had often thought subterfuge would be the best way to undermine them. Even so few as a dozen Dai Li could wreak untold havoc if unleashed in the Fire Nation's camps at the dead of night.
That was another thing they needed to free up. The Dai Li were among the best Earthbenders in the world, and yet according to edict they were firmly off-limits for the military to command. Even the Earth King's palace guard were allowed to be commandeered in times of great need, but not so with those shadowy agents. The rationale was that at least one standing force had to be separate from the military in case someone attempted a coup, but How found that ridiculous logic. No one would dare turn against the Earth King, and even if elements of the military did, the majority was completely loyal to the Earth King. In his opinion, it was just a matter of old Tsao Tsai loving his position too much and not wanting to give up any authority. How knew he could have found great use for even a small detachment of operatives.
Well, if wishes were ostrich-horses, we'd all be eating steak, he thought to himself before turning his attention back to the battle. He saw the Fire Nation troops were starting to fall back. The front line moved as one and shot forth a massive wall of flame, and for a moment the unexpected light blinded How and his troops. He shielded his face; even from here, he could feel the immense heat. When he felt his face cool, he looked and saw the Fire Nation troops standing just outside the range of his troops. His men were starting to relax, but How knew better. He had a feeling something was coming, and in a second he was proved right.
A low rumbling noise filled his ears, and he saw a cloud of dust heading towards the wall from behind Jeong Jeong's forces. Through big gaps in the ranks, they came: massive, howling metal monsters that spat fire and smoke into the sky as they moved. Tanks, he had heard them called. They were brand new machines, and it was beyond hope to try and bend their chassis. "Open fire!" How called, and a veritable avalanche cascaded down the wall onto the tanks. Rocks merely bounced off their metal hides, leaving the occasional dent but nothing more substantial. How let a few curses flow fluently from his mouth.
"Immobilize them!" How called out. Brute force wouldn't work on something that could shrug off flying boulders. They'd have to be a little more subtle. "Bend the earth beneath their treads! Get them off the ground!" He had to duck before he could say anymore; one of them had launched a fireball that had sailed just over his head and landed with crash in the grassy courtyard below. Immediately, volunteers with buckets of water rushed over to douse the flame before it could cause too much damage. Righting himself again, he stamped his foot hard on the parapet, causing a crack to form where he stood. A tremor shook down the wall and into the ground, causing a slight ripple effect. The ground beneath one of the tanks shook, and then suddenly a column of earth rose up out of the ground, grabbing the thing from underneath and hoisting its wheels off the land. Immediately, others began following his example, albeit with mixed results. Still others continued to keep up a steady stream of fire on the Fire Nation machines, and occasionally taking potshots at the serried ranks of infantry.
"We will not let them past this wall!" How started the old soldiers' chant.
"We will protect it with our hearts and our lives!" came the response, and to hear so many voices shout it to the heavens at once, it was at once reassuring and inspiring to General How.
"We will not let them take this ground!"
"We will be as unyielding as the mountains themselves!"
"We will not retreat!"
"We will not surrender!"
"Men of the Earth Kingdom! Ho!"
With an uproar, his men began fighting with renewed vigor. Before he punched a huge boulder into the hull of the tank he had immobilized, he had the time to think to himself, Not bad for the first day. Not bad at all…
