Chapter 3
The physician bowed low before the Prime Minister Zhuge Liang. "He has been stabilized your majesty, but he is not completely safe yet. His wounds are extensive and he will need constant attention."
The Minister made no indication that he had heard the man, but instead kept his back turned away from the audience, hiding any feelings he may have harbored. "Thank you for you efforts," he finally said. "Keep me posted on his progress."
After the physician had left the command tent, Zhuge Liang finally turned to face Zhang Fei and the officers that were gathered. "You disobeyed a direct order Zhang Fei," he said without making any attempt to hide his displeasure.
"Yes Prime Minister, and I'm ready to accept any punishment for my insubordination." Zhang Fei felt justified in what he had done and made it known to all present by his demeanor.
The Prime Minister allowed but the faintest grin to pass his lips. "We will deal with the issue when the time is approapriate. Shin Mai," he called the young officer forward.
"Yes, Prime Minister," he said, dropping to one knee.
"You are to be commended for your act of bravery on this evening. Your bravery in the face of almost certain defeat should go as an example to all of our men. You are hereby promoted to the position of Protector of Jian Wei."
Shin Mai looked up in surprise. "I'm honored your majesty, but I simply cannot accept the General Zhao Yun's former position. I have neither the merit nor the desire to take on such a burden."
"Your modesty is commendable General, but the issue cannot be debated at present. The Roman army will be upon our camp in only a few hours and our plan of action has not yet been established." Shin Mai got to his feet and took his place next to Zhang Fei. "After reviewing the tactics of the Roman forces," he paused in order to watch the reaction of the two generals and their officers, "I've decided to abandon Jian Wei and retreat back to the Min River."
The men were visibly surprised, but none of them attempted to object. Zhang Fei's scowl though had turned even more sour. Shin Mai knew that relations between the two men had not always pleasant, but he was under the assumption that their differences had been put behind them. Apparently, that wasn't the case.
"The Romans have the upper hand here with superior armor and experience," the Minister continued. "In order to counter this, we will use our knowledge of the terrain to our advantage. This is what we will do…"
"Sir, we've captured several Chinese in the skirmish earlier," a soldier said, riding up next to Vinicus as the Roman army marched toward the enemy encampment. The night sky was transforming before their eyes into a brilliant red as the sun began to break over the horizon.
"Captured?" the youthful officer asked disdainfully. "Why on earth would you take prisoners here? Crucify them as an example for any others that attempt to impede our march."
"Yes sir," the man said and galloped off toward the back of the procession. Vinicus kept his eyes trained on the enemy camp. It appeared that they were going to make their last stand here and Vinicus was pleased. They had already slain the arrogant commander that had molested them in the gorge only a week earlier and now it was only a matter of time before their primitive defenses were completely obliterated. The city of Jian Wei was now visible upon the horizon and the camp was the only thing between them and it.
The sound of a gong filled the air, but the Romans ignored it. Nothing would stop their march. As they all watched, the gates of the camp opened and a single soldier on horseback rode out. He was a beast of a man, with a wild beard and tiny, piercing eyes. "Who is this man?" Vinicus shouted.
"Sir," a soldier yelled from the line formation in front of him. "It's the man who rode out alone to take the enemy commander that was killed." Vinicus looked the man over carefully. Rumors had circulated that this man had single-handedly taken on an entire legion and now he was standing in front of the enemy camp as if he were ready to do it again.
The bold warrior walked his steed forward slowly and then came to a halt. He lifted his spear high into the air and in a booming voice began yelling in Chinese so loud that the forward procession of the Roman army actually came to a halt. "Translator," Vinicus commanded.
His young slave, a Chinese boy no older than ten or eleven stepped closer to his master's steed. "He challenges you, master. To a dual."
Vinicus laughed loudly. "Is this some sort of joke?"
The young officer suddenly realized that some of his men who were close enough to have heard the translation were eyeing him curiously with sideways glances. "Send Heritus out," Vinicus said angrily. "He will cut down this fool." The order traveled quickly to the back of the procession and a huge man, with a wild course beard rode up next to Vinicus, dwarfing the young officer. "Bring me this man's head Heritus," he hissed.
The massive soldier rode out alone to face the challenger. The Romans all along the line began cheering wildly. None of them had ever seen anything like this in all of their years in the army, and Vinicus had to admit that he was excited. The strongest representatives from both sides were to face off to the death. Vinicus smiled to himself. Like gladiators, he thought.
Heritus approached his opponent carefully, sizing him up before battle. He would have enjoyed circling his prey for a while before battle in order to draw out the suspense for his Roman comrades. The other man though, having no flair for dramatics, lunged at Heritus instantly when he got within striking distance.
Vinicus was awed by the man's speed and strength. He was bringing his giant spear down upon Heritus from every angle while Heritus himself was doing everything he could to hold him off with his shield and short sword. Vinicus sighed. Clearly, it was an uneven match and Heritus would be slain. A pity, the young officer thought to himself.
Suddenly, the man pulled back and away from Heritus and made his way as fast as he could toward the gates of the enemy camp. "Villian," Vinicus shouted angrily. He wasn't alone. The entire Roman army was screaming in disapproval. It was too much for Vinicus to handle. "Forward," he screamed.
The line rushed forward toward the hastily constructed fence, which rose some ten feet into the air. Vinicus himself, so insulted by the enemy soldier's retreat, galloped headlong toward the gates. Just as the first wave of one thousand troops reached the foot of the fence, archers appeared above them and rained down a hail of arrows. Vinicus cursed to himself. They would have to wait until the ram was brought forward to destroy the gate. His men quickly packed themselves into tight formations, with their shields raised above them, creating an indestructible barrier between them and the archers.
Vinicus retreated back from the fence, but then realized that his men were breaking through the barrier without the assistance of a ram. "Weaker than I thought," the officer said to himself. He once again rushed forward toward the largest opening and pushed past his men and into the enemy camp.
To his surprise, the camp was almost completely deserted. The archers and a few other pockets of resistance were attempting to flee, but the main force was not there. "What is this?" another officer said, coming up beside him. "Some sort of trap?"
"Perhaps they fled to the city when we defeated their champion." Even as he said it he knew that the thought was preposterous. The other man was obviously besting Heritus when he retreated back into the camp. He walked along the line of tents, cutting a few open to pear inside, but there was no one there. More and more of the Roman troops were coming into the camp through the few loose logs they had managed to pry from the fence and were now moving methodically through the camp, searching for enemy soldiers.
"Sir," a soldier said, coming up to report to Vinicus as he approached the back wall of the camp. "We find no trace of an ambush party. It appears that the camp was abandoned long before we arrived."
It didn't make any sense. Vinicus was staring at the back fence, lost in thought, when it slowly dawned on him that the back fence was constructed differently than the front. The logs were in two columns here instead of just one and there seemed to be some sort of tar material in between them, holding it even tighter into position. "Why would they make the fencing at the back of the camp stronger than the front?" he asked himself, as if trying to figure out a riddle. "Unless…"
He noticed that the man who had reported to him was still standing there. "What is it soldier," he demanded forcefully, annoyed that he was being disturbed.
"Look sir," he man said, pointing beyond the camp to a hill that rose behind them. Vinicus rode forward to get a better look. It appeared to be two people sitting under an umbrella at the very top of the hill. He quickly recognized one of the men as the challenger that had ridden out to challenge them. The other was a much smaller man who was dressed in a beautiful white gown. They appeared to be enjoying refreshments.
"What the hell…"
Suddenly, a hail of flaming arrows shot over the fence and ignited the camp like a tinderbox, trapping the Romans within a blazing inferno.