Author notes: Thank you for reading. I don't own kingdom.
Alright so I'm going to talk about death on the battlefield. Most people died after the battle was over, infection was common and took many lives. Another included stabbing someone in the stomach, and it would take them a couple of days in agony to finally pass away. Another thing was the most common injuries were on the head, forearms and legs. This is something especially common when you are fighting more then one opponent at once. You wouldn't try to go for the killing blow instead you would simply cut ones fingers or forearm open and go for the others.
I've done this many times with my mates who spar with me. We have a little game called many against one, usually its four against one. And if the one actually wins a very sight. He usually took out his opponents by disabling them and not taking any life. Thanks for reading alright back to kingdom.
Chapter four
Second assault
In records it was said that thousands of soldiers died on first day of the assault. However this was false, only 500 soldiers lost their lives on the walls the first day, many of them dying after the battle from camp fever and infection from their wounds.
The first assault was nothing but a test to taste the Qin's forces. With it done the Chu redirected their men many of them in the north and southern walls. They would weaken or try to break the ranks of the Qin and head for the gate. However the Chu weren't fully relying on this, they really were just seeing how the Qin troops on those walls could hold up against them.
An hour before dawn broke the Chu attacked. Screams filled the air in a matter of minutes as thousands of bodies threw themselves at each other in a deadlock. Among them were Shin, Kai and Lia all three commanding their section of the wall and holding back the enemy advance.
Lai brought down his glaive. It crunched against the soldier's helm, blood splattered from his head as he fell lifeless. Lia didn't have time to think he spun around bringing his glaive across his body as another Chu soldier swung his sword.
He struck the soldier with the butt of the glaive. When the soldier stumbled back he wrapped his fingers around the man's throat and shoved him forward entail he fell straight from the wall. He came to his right deflect a strike from a spear.
Lai couldn't stay sturdy if this kept up. The Chu was launching soldiers that were stronger and more disciplined then the day prior. Lai and the soldiers that held the southern wall was struggling to keep from gaps opening up in their ranks.
The thousand man commander kept himself away from the fighting ordering the men from a safe distance. Lai on the other hand was taking part right in the middle of it, he needed to lead the militia forces from the front if he wanted to them keep their ranks together.
Lai spotted an officer come over the wall. He directed his men with confidence and soon a gap was opened and the Qin forces began to be pushed back.
Lai cursed under his breath. He shoved his way through the ranks of the Qin and charged head first into the line of Chu. He brought down his glaive on a soldiers collarbone, he felt the crunch and crack as the bone was snapped like a twig by the strike.
Lai let go of the glaive leaving it inside of the man who tried desperately to get it out of his flesh. Lai broke through the Chu line and drew his sword with his right hand and with his left he drew a long double-edged knife.
The officer stood in front of him his sword at the ready. Lai saw a smile spread over his face, the officer thought this was going to be an easy win.
"So you will be the first to fall from my blade!" the man shouted.
Lai didn't reply he glared at the Chu officer. With one breath he bolted at his enemy. He slashed down at the man with the power of a head cleaving strike.
The officer deflected the strike. He moved to the left and stabbed out at Lai's left shoulder.
Lai parried the stab with his short-blade and thrusted his sword straight for the officers chest.
He batted Lai's blade away and struck up at the young man's neck.
Lai barely had time to move his short-blade in front of him. The officer's sword crashed into the blade. Lai felt the sharp bite as his opponents blade sunk into his neck. Liquid ran down the side of his neck, he couldn't help but smile though he was still alive.
The Chu officer jumped back gasping for breath. Lai gasped for breath as well but his breathing was far more ragged then the older mans.
"Your pretty good," the Chu officer complemented, "but this is where your head falls."
Lai charged him. He swung his sword, and when the officer went to deflect the blow he ran his short-blade straight into the man's right hand.
A gasp escaped the officer's lips but it was short lived. Lai's blade came up, it ran through his collarbone and came bursting out of his back. The young man struck him with such speed he didn't even know what really happened.
Lai severed his head. He snatched it up from the ground went to the edge of the battlements and threw it off. The soldiers below him looked at the head in shock and anger.
"No mercy to Chu!" Lai screamed.
"NO MERCY TO CHU!" the soldiers behind him repeated.
Soon the entire southern wall had Lai's words on their lips. They shouted them as they shoved back the Chu. The anxiety and adrenaline of the battle was getting to them, and with the words that came from their lips it made them go into blood frenzy with their foes.
Fu carried the pot of hot water. Sweat was slick on her skin as she didn't falter when she reached the medic camp. Cries of pain surrounded her as she ran through the camp and into one of the many surgeons' tents
Even if she was nothing but a slave, she still had a part to play in the battle at hand. She carried bandages, helped clean and dress wounds. She also helped bring water to the wounded and to the water supplies near the wall.
Each wall had more than a few soldiers who were responsible for giving soldiers on the wall water. It didn't seem like a critical job. However it was in fact something the soldiers had to have. If they started to wither from dehydration, then it was all over.
She placed the water on a table next to the table were a soldier laid. The Surgeon was sowing muscle back together. She could see the tears slide down the soldiers face as the muscle was slowly put back together.
Fu knew how to do all that as well, but she didn't dare say she could. Her mother before becoming a slave was a healer for Shia. She now was the personal healer for their master.
The surgeon placed steamy water on the wound washing away the blood so he could work easier. He worked fast and with confidence, soon the soldier was taken out. A knew man was taken in. This one however had his entire right arm missing from his body.
Many people didn't live when their limb was taken off. When they did however they were never the same. Losing a limb was just as bad as losing one's life. You would be unable to do the work in the fields or whatever that person did for a living outside of being a soldier.
Fu left the tent, she went and grabbed a bandage and headed were the new soldiers were being placed. She didn't see that Lia among them, she knew he was stationed on the southern wall but he didn't seem to have been injured yet.
She helped clean and bandage minor wounds of the soldiers. Many lost fingers, or had bad slashes to the forearms and legs. Those two areas were the most common wounds on the battlefield. Hitting an arm or a leg would render the enemy nearly useless then you would simply step over them and finish them off.
She wiped her blood slick hands on her tunic smearing the crimson on her cloths. She could hear the screams and shouts of the battle that was taking place on the walls. She wondered how it would be to be standing on the ramparts swinging a sword, or firing a bow. She wondered if she had the strength and courage to do such things.
She didn't have time to deal on the thought. She worked the entire day dressing wounds, bringing water and helping bring weapons to the blacksmith to repair. She didn't have time to rest or go back to her mother who was in their master's home.
Dusk came fast and the sound of battle began to dual and finally went silent. She went back to where the Shili unit set up camp and spotted their commander sitting on a stump. He was stripping off his armor. He was dripping wet from a bucket of water he dropped over his head. Fu wondered why he did such a thing.
She noticed when he drew his tunic from his shoulders he had a slash that ran to the top of his shoulder and went six inches down to his arm. Blood slipped down the cut, it was a thin red like probably a very sharp strike from a sword.
Fu checked her satchel. She still had one bandage-roll and a small bottle of salve. She took a breath and walked up behind Lia.
"Can I help?" she asked in what she thought was a strong voice.
He turned to look at her, "Oh didn't think I would see you anywhere close to here. Isn't your mother worried about you, you should hurry home."
"Why aren't you letting any of the medics take care of your wound?"
"Oh, I usually care for my own wounds. Plus it's just a scratch."
"You should still have someone look at it. Can I?"
He looked at her with a puzzled gaze, "you know healing?"
"My mother was the best healer in this city. She taught me everything she knows."
Lia shrugged, "have at it then."
Fu nodded feeling her ears ridden a bit. She grabbed his shoulder. He flinched from the touch but didn't say anything. The wound was an inch and a half deep in his flesh. It was a clean cut so it wasn't something to fret over.
She went about cleaning the wound off, drying it placing the salve on it then finally dressing the wound. She worked fast just like the medics in the army. She didn't hesitate and didn't waste energy on stupid motions that beginners made their first time.
"That's a nice dressing," Lia stated as he moved his arm around testing out the bandage, "I guess I have to thank you."
Fu smiled, it was her chance. "In return tell me about the battle, or one of your previous battles." She said the words with light gleaming in her eyes as she sat across from him.
Lia looked at her for some time. He dragged on the silence for what seemed like ages. However finally he sighed and nodded.
"All tell you about a skirmish a little while back on the border."
Fu nodded, she rested her chin on her hands looking up at the soldier.
"We were patrolling the border. But we spotted an enemy unit of a thousand or so men moving into Qin territory. They were heading straight for a village. Soldiers on the border have a bit of a habit of attacking poor farmers who can't really fight back against them. I guess it raises morale or something like that. I sent out a massager to the village, but they didn't have a lot of time to evacuate."
"So what did you do?"
"Shut up and listen, damn," Lia snarled, "well I set up Qin flags along the forest of the village. Enough flags to show that a thousand man unit were stationed there. I hid my men in the forest and waiting. I and my men usually use bows in battle, so we had the advantage of mobility, but the enemy had numbers. So like thought they went and attacked the forest before they even got to the village."
Lia picked up a skin and drank deeply from it. "Want some," he said offering the skin to Fu.
Fu nodded several times and took the skin. She put it to her lips and nearly spit out the mouthful of burning liquid. She gave a small squeak as she swallowed the liquid.
"Strong right," Lia said with a grin on his face.
Fu nodded and passed the skin back to him. Lia took another swig of the liquid before setting it back down.
"Well they attacked the forest. I was outnumbered, but that didn't make any of us falter. The battle began and the forest was filled with war cries. I knew I wouldn't win, and it wasn't like I could hold them off before the village could get evacuated. So I did my trump card."
Fu's eyes were big as she watched the soldier. Something was in his eyes. It looked like sadness mixed with regret and pain. She wondered if it was because of this one skirmish or the many battles he faced already.
"I set the forest ablaze. It set panic in the enemy and I charged them, I lost so many men that when we came out of the forest with the commander's head I only had fifty men left. The others got burned alive or died fighting the Chu. The Chu came out as well, but they didn't want to continue the fight. They retreated from the field of battle, and we let them go. I still remember the faces of the enemy as I drove my men into the suicide charge. The flames lapped at our flesh as we drew blood from men that screamed and shouted for help in the flames."
A soldier came up to the two of them, "commander," he said standing at attention.
"What is it?" Lia said, with a sickening smile plastered on his face.
"Everyone is ready, the operation will begin soon."
Lia nodded and got to his feet. "Right then, all be there in a moment."
"Aye sir," the soldier responded before walking away.
"Well I have to get going," Lia said looking down at Fu, "thanks for the dressing. With your skill I should just hire you to be the company's healer. We all know we need one."
"Can we talk again?"
"Next time I need to get patched up all come to you."
Fu gave a smile and bowed. She left without another word. However her mind was swarming with questions. She wondered what operation the soldier was talking about. And how Lia looked like he was going to take part in it, but nothing should have been going on, the battle was over for the day.
She thought for several minutes as she walked home. But she wrote it off when she got into the courtyard and went to the slave quarters. She didn't need to really think on the matter, whatever the commander was doing wasn't her business. But still it was something she couldn't just leave without knowing at least one bit of information about it.
