“What happened?” Prefect Shang’s heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly jogged forward to investigate.
Please, let there be no more trouble! As he ran, Prefect Shang prayed anxiously in his heart.
“Sir Prefect, look, there’s a troop of soldiers approaching our East Gate in the distance,” the deputy general reported, pointing ahead.
Prefect Shang squinted, following the deputy’s finger. Sure enough, he saw a troop of soldiers winding their way toward the East Gate from about seven or eight li away, looking like a line of tiny black dots heading straight for them.
Seeing the soldiers advancing toward the East Gate, Prefect Shang’s heart immediately tensed up.
Who were these soldiers?!
Could it be General Wang returning triumphantly to the city?!
Or had General Wang fallen for the pirates’ ruse, his entire army wiped out, and now the victorious pirates were coming to attack the city?!
Prefect Shang grew increasingly nervous and turned to the deputy, asking urgently, “Is the city gate secured? Are the beams in place? Prepare twenty carts of stones—if necessary, we’ll use them to block the gate passage. Not a single pirate must enter the city!”
“Reporting to the Prefect, the gate is locked tight, and the beams are secured—we’ve used eight sturdy beams. I’ll order the stones to be fetched immediately. If the gate is at risk of falling, we’ll block the passage with them,” the deputy replied, then issued orders for his men to requisition carts and gather stones to place outside the gate as a precaution.
Seven or eight li wasn’t too far. In the sight of Prefect Shang and the others, the distant troop grew larger—from ant-sized specks to the size of peanuts, then to the size of fists.
They were getting closer.
The hearts of Prefect Shang and everyone on the city wall rose to their throats.
As the troop grew to fist-sized figures in their view, Prefect Shang and the others noticed something: there seemed to be quite a lot of them.
Yes, a rough estimate suggested nearly two thousand soldiers—around sixteen or seventeen hundred at the very least.
General Wang had only taken a thousand men out of the city. This force of sixteen or seventeen hundred clearly didn’t match his numbers.
“Sir… Sir Prefect, this troop seems a bit large…” the deputy stammered.
“How many do you estimate?” Prefect Shang swallowed hard, asking despite hoping he’d misjudged.
“About sixteen or seventeen hundred,” the deputy calculated again and reported.
I didn’t misjudge, Prefect Shang thought with disappointment. Then, a fleeting, impossible idea crossed his mind.
“How many men did General Wang take to pursue the pirates?” Prefect Shang asked, knowing the answer but clinging to a sliver of hope that he’d remembered wrong.
“One… one thousand soldiers,” the deputy replied.
“Then this force of sixteen or seventeen hundred—it can’t be General Wang and his men, can it?” Prefect Shang’s voice wavered.
“You’re wise, Sir Prefect. I also think this troop doesn’t seem like General Wang’s— the numbers don’t match. It might be the pirates,” the deputy said, swallowing nervously.
“Alas, why didn’t General Wang heed my warnings? I came to caution him time and again, explicitly ordering him not to pursue the pirates outside the city. He ignored me and insisted on chasing them. Look, now trouble’s come!” Prefect Shang let out a long sigh, venting his frustration and annoyance.
The deputy didn’t know how to respond.
“The pirates are attacking again—what can we do?” After his complaints, Prefect Shang turned to the deputy for advice.
“Sir… Sir Prefect, General Wang and his men may be in danger, but Suzhou City needn’t worry. Our walls are tall and sturdy, and with the thousand reinforcements you summoned plus five hundred able-bodied men, this wave of pirates—only sixteen or seventeen hundred—won’t be enough to take the city. They’d need at least five times our numbers to have a chance. The pirates failed in their previous attacks, and this time should be no different,” the deputy replied after some thought, saluting respectfully.
“In their past assaults, they used captured civilians to attack, deliberately sending them to their deaths to lull us into chasing them. Their goal succeeded, and now these are likely pure pirate forces— their combat strength can’t be compared to before,” Prefect Shang said, shaking his head slightly, still uneasy despite the deputy’s words.
Hearing this, the deputy’s face took on a hint of worry too. Of course, he still had confidence in defending the city, but as the Prefect noted, the earlier attacks had been civilians used as bait. That had made the pirates seem weak, but this wave was likely pure pirate warriors.
Pirates were notoriously fierce and skilled in battle. Though sixteen or seventeen hundred couldn’t take the city, they’d undoubtedly inflict heavy casualties on the defenders.
In battle, swords and spears spared no one, and with Prefect Shang overseeing the defense, the deputy couldn’t hide in the rear.
Dangerous indeed.
Just as Prefect Shang and the deputy were gripped with worry, a commotion erupted nearby— excited and unexpected shouts rang out.
“What now?” Prefect Shang and the deputy hurriedly looked out, fearing more bad news.
“Look! The ones coming are wearing our armor, not the pirates’! The vanguard is over a hundred cavalry— General Wang’s personal guard had just over a hundred cavalry, didn’t it? It’s our people, not pirates!”
“Wait, really?! Though it’s still far, you can make out the armor style. The pirates’ gear is totally different from ours— it’s definitely our men!”
“It’s our people, not pirates!”
The soldiers on the wall couldn’t contain their cheers. This sudden joy from the heavens— how could they not celebrate?
“Our people?!”
Amid the soldiers’ cheers, Prefect Shang and the deputy stared incredulously at the approaching troop. On closer inspection, the armor on the distant soldiers did indeed resemble that of the Ming army.
Not pirates— General Wang?!
Prefect Shang and the deputy exchanged glances, their faces filled with disbelief and suspicion. Something felt off.
First and foremost, the numbers didn’t add up.
General Wang had left with a thousand men to chase the pirates— how could he return with sixteen or seventeen hundred?!
It’s not like he went out to multiply his troops!
If it were pirates wearing Ming army armor and heading for the East Gate, their intent was obvious: to disguise themselves as Ming soldiers and trick the gate open.
If the pirates had acquired Ming armor, General Wang and his men’s fate was clear— they’d likely met with disaster.
“Alas,” Prefect Shang sighed again, mourning General Wang and his men who’d defied orders to pursue the enemy.
Though General Wang’s unauthorized sortie had infuriated him, now that they were gone, the dead deserved respect. Let bygones be bygones. At that moment, Prefect Shang even began mentally composing an elegy for General Wang.
