Barry Sadler: The War lord

The way back was pleasant and the" weather cool. Winter was not far off and the leaves were just turning gold and red, setting the hills on fire with color. Twice he had the pleasure of running into some of the same bravados he had met going to the capitol and thoroughly enjoyed making them perform Kowtow as he now outranked them by some distance. Through winding valleys and rivers they rode, taking their time and enjoying the countryside, watching the villagers on their daily business. "How could they allow their feet to be mutilated?" he mused, thankful Mei didn't have such a deformity. The girls who worked at the factories had to be brought in on wheelbarrows, riding in baskets on the side to do their work and returned to their homes in the same manner.

Boundary stones marked the limits of each province and, after a month, a rider came to him to tell him the borders of Chung Wei were just over the next rise. Spurring his horse in the flanks, he raced ahead with his bodyguard and stopped at the stone marker. Over a thousand villagers were prostrated on their faces waiting for him to cross. They had come to see their new lord and make him welcome. Dismounting, he stepped across the boundary.

Calling out and talking to the backs presented, he called loudly, "I am your lord. Serve me well and I will serve you likewise. If you have complaints, I will find you justice. If you are dishonest, I will punish you. Be loyal to your Emperor and to me. Follow his commands and we will get along. Now, rise and face me as men should."

The villagers rose to their feet at his command, watching as Casca mounted his horse and rode among them, following the trail to the castle. Village leaders and elders came forward and made gifts of pigs and grain while gongs were beaten to frighten off evil spirits that might try to bring bad fortune to this day and their new master. He was strange looking enough to them without having a curse put on him by a jealous ghost. They had not had a real master for some time now and only the tax collectors came at the end of each harvest to collect the Emperor's tithe. They were a glad people now. Without a master they felt incomplete. There was no one to give them justice or tell them what to do.

The deserted castle of Chung Wei held enough rooms for a thousand warriors and a hundred horses. Dust covered everything but nothing had been removed. All had been left as it was when the previous master had been sent to join his ancestors for trying to incite rebellion and make alliance with the Hsuing-nu.

Mei Cho gave everyone hell, shouting orders and threatening the most vile of punishments until in a remarkably short time, the castle was restored to a decent condition, making maximum use of the new furniture and paintings she had so carefully packed before leaving the capitol. This was her home now and would look like one.

Casca's first act was to send for the commander of the garrison at the Jade Gate. Next he set about organizing his forces and familiarizing himself with their weapons and tactics. The most amazing finding was their use of the crossbow, those miniature arbalests; five bolts could be set in a wooden slot on top and fired as fast as the operator could recoek with the lever provided for such a purpose. A powerful and most efficient weapon. Like the Hsuing-nu and the Huns, they relied heavily on mounted archers for the mobile units and placed men with long spears to the front to ward off enemy cavalry while crossbow men behind them would pick them off with their bolts, swordsmen and auxiliaries filled the rest of the ranks. But their structure was too rigid and not given to making use of maximum mobility in turning to face an enemy who attacked from the oljlique or flank position.

"Well," thought Casca, "a few weeks of good Roman short order drill would take care of that."

In the stables he found a number of stout-looking chariots that had been there for an unknown period of time, but in good repair. An idea began to creep around the edges of his mind. "True, by today's modern standards, chariots had long since become outmoded for warfare against individual mounted units, but still, they might be useful.. "

Casca ordered the chariots refurbished and the wheels greased so they could be used instantly if needed. He also had a strong loop of brass tied to each side of the chariots and connected under the floorboards by a strong brass band, the purpose for which he kept to himself.

Sung Ti presented himself in a flash, racing into the courtyard with a small escort. He swung down from the saddle and strode to the great room where audiences were held. Casca rose at his entrance and spoke to him: "Get up, Sung Ti. You are my first friend in the land of Chin and I welcome you as such. You have my permission to enter my presence and not perform Kowtow. You're a man, stand like one and as an equal. You are welcome. Now, come and sit with me. We have much of which to speak."

Casca dismissed those present and he and Sung Ti were left alone together except for Mei Cho who stayed to serve her man and his friend, though with a slight sense of displeasure at the honor the Baron had shown this common soldier.

"Bring me up to date on what's happening on the frontier, Sung Ti. And what may I do to help you?"

Sung Ti eyed Casca's woman. "A pretty thing, even if she does have ugly feet," he thought. Turning to Casca, he spoke, "My lord, the Hsuing-nu are becoming bolder. It has been too long since last they were taught a lesson and their numbers increase with each year. They are like desert fish which lay eggs by the thousand and each year there are more. As of late, they have been attacking caravans with impunity and taxing those they choose to let pass."

Casca thought a moment and then spoke, "Has a messenger from his Highness gone through the Jade Gate to Kushan?"

"Yes, several have gone through, all with strong escorts and well mounted. At least one should make it. Can you tell what is happening?"

Casca laid out the Emperor's orders. Depending on the response which came back from Kushan next spring, they could mount a combined offensive against the Hsuing-nu. The general plan was for the armies of Tzin to ride wide across the desert and come in from behind the barbarians, thus forcing them to the mountains where the Kushan forces would ambush them in the passes and hold them until Tzin army could come up and, between the two, could eliminate these human vermin once and Sung Ti fairly glowed with pleasure. "Good, it has been too long." Then, with a touch of anxiety, "You will take me with you, my lord?"

Casca clapped him on the shoulder. "Yes, I want to see how you use that long blade of yours. In Han, I have seen no other like it. They all have conventional looking swords with straight edges and points. I want to see how your weapon compares. If it's good, we might make it standard issue for my men."

"By the way, has a caravan come through with a young girl named Li Tsao? She is being sent to the Emperor as a gift. I met her and her escort on the trail here some months back, and was just wondering if they made it through."

Sung Ti shook his head. "I would know if they had come through the Jade Gate, but as I said, the savages have been killing and plundering with impunity and who knows, she may now be servicing a barbarian or may yet be in one of the cities on the edge of the Silk Road, waiting until it is safe to pass. One does not take chances with the Emperor's property."

Two seasons passed for Casca in his mountain stronghold. The castle resembled the more familiar structures of Rome and the Empire; square and solid, with sharp angles and parapets, it had been built for the security of the Emperor Shih Huang Ti, whose workers built this section of wall six hundred years ago. It was as solid now as when the first stones were joined.