Chapter nine

Battle for Shia part 1

The sun rose over the horizon showing thousands of soldiers who faced one another. Both sides Chu and Qin looked exhausted and tired of battle, despite having reinforcements. The Chu's forces numbered 68,000 while the Qin numbered 60,000 the siders were close to equal in strength.

Shin looked out at the rows of the enemy. He had a bad taste in his mouth for reasons he did not know. Maybe it was the fact that none of the soldiers on both sides wanted to fight, or maybe it was that the general of the Chu wanted nothing more than to slaughter all of them and send his men to pillage the city of Shia.

"If we hold up on the left flank," Ten stated as she steadied her horse next to his, "then we will crush them in the middle."

"Where is the Shili unit?" Shin asked.

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Don't know," Shin admitted, "but for some reason he is a stubborn bastard. He should be bed ridden right now."

"Reminds me of someone," Ten said under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she said with an innocent face, "he's stationed in the right flank."

Shin couldn't help but grin. He saw the young man's face once that morning he looked like death itself. His skin had been clammy and pale. His disfigured face was twisted into a proxy of his anger. His eyes were not lit with flame but with acid. Acid that could drive men mad if it sat and festered into one's body. Despite all that Shin had a feeling in his chest that the battle today was going to be interesting.


Lai wiped his brow. He felt tired and sick, but he refused to let that get in the way. "You know maybe you should have stayed in the city," Chien suggested, "you look like you might fall over and die."

He turned to his officer a snarl on his lips. "I'm taking the enemy generals head," he hissed between clutched teeth. "We take General Jung Gen's head!"

"Ahhhhh!" his men responded to his words with a war cry.

Without much delay the army began to move out. Their objective was to take a hill that was controlled by the left flank of Chu. The two sides watched each other as they got closer. Lai moved his men to the left of the attacking force.

Dust was kicked up as the soldiers started to jog. They got the foot of the hill before arrows began to fall on them. Screams followed, but they continued up the hill without faltering. A shield unit went ahead of the army protecting crossbowmen hidden behind.

When they got into range a volley of repeating bolts cut into the Chu ranks. The two sides met in a fury of metal on metal along with blood spraying in the air. Lai watched this with an evil smile spreading across his lips.

Chien tossed him a halberd. He took the pole weapon feeling a great amount of heat rising in his chest. "We move along the left and hit the enemy commander!" he shouted at his men, "charge!"

His men strung their bows and followed his lead as they moved up the hill. A group of spearmen saw the enemy cavalry start to eat up grown. They moved a thin line in front of them ready to stop the charge. Before they even prepared their selves fully a volley of arrows cut into their line. Dozens fell to the ground and the ones who weren't hit quickly thought twice and scurried to get out of the way of the onslaught.

They got halfway up the hill before they actually started to face the enemy force. Many of them fell as arrows tore through their flesh and bone. Lai watched a man's skull collapse on itself as he brought his halberd down on the man's head.

He could feel his wound start to reopen little by little as he swung his halberd but he didn't mind it. He swung and stabbed down at soldiers who stood little chance against him and his blind acidic fury. He and his men broke through the infantry lines and came up to the top of the hill. Behind them was a trail of dead and dying.

The Qin took advantage of this and advanced through the opening and began to slaughter the Chu were they stood. The Chu was quickly having their forces split up and annihilated. Men slipped in blood and shit but they pushed the Chu back and cut them down without any mercy.

The cavalry at the top of the hill went to stand in the way of the Shili unit. Arrows slammed into the first rank. They didn't have time to recover before the blunt of the attack slammed into their line. Rider as well as horse was killed indiscriminately as the Shili unit ate them up.

They broke through the ranks of horsemen. Lai charged the commander with a war cry as he came to strike him down. The enemy commander grabbed his glaive with two hands and swung the weapon at the young soldier.

Lai ducked as he swung his halberd. The blade of the glaive missed his helm by inches, but his halberd struck the commander straight into the sternum. He heard the sickening sound of a crunch as the blade of his halberd collapsed through the commander's bone.

Chien brought his horse to the left of the enemy commander who was desperately trying to remove the halberd as blood gushed from his mouth. With one powerful swing Chien took the commanders head clean off of his body.

Lai ripped out his halberd just in time to parry a sword swing from a soldier who wanted to revenge his commander. Lai brought his horse back as he aimed his halberd at the soldier. He wing and hit the man's fingers slicing off four of them. The soldier gasped in pain, but it didn't last long, the spearhead of the halberd ripped through his throat, and came out the back of his neck.

Another rider came from his left thrusting a spear at his ribcage. Lai didn't have time to pull out his halberd to defend himself. The soldier with a look of pride went to take down the enemy commander. Before his spear entered Lai's body however an arrow struck the soldier. It shattered his teeth and entered his mouth jerking his head back and killing the man before he even had time to know that he was hit.

The halberd was pulled out with a powerful yank. Lai sighed as he watched the Chu forces begin to buckle and retreat back down the hill. The fight was over in less than fifteen minutes, it showed the Chu didn't want to fight. However the Shili unit was itching for more blood to be spilled.