(Author: Hello all. Now that Zhuang and Lord Liao Chu escaped from the city, they must escape to the Wu province. The samurai behind their back, can Zhuang successfully escape with his life? Hope you enjoy the chapter.)

Chapter 2: Escape to Wu

Zhuang analyzed the situation carefully as he caught up to the Chu forces. The samurai were the enemy. There was no question. Most of the Chu forces were part of the  infantry so escaping will be slow. He needed to find a way to have some of the infantry to stay behind to slow down the samurai.

"Cao Chu," Zhuang started as he rode beside the general. "We need to station some of the infantry behind to slow down the pursuit. We will lose more men if we continue at this pace."

"Tiger cub?" Cao Chu gasped, startled and said, "I'm sorry young scholar but my elder brother is stubborn. We can only pray that we reach the Wu province where he is lord and our main forces can protect us."

"Is there any location with cliffs or canyons on the way to Wu?" Zhuang asked, a plan popping in his head.

"Ah, that would be the Canyon of Heilong," Cao replied. "It is called that because the road has many twists and turns and is pitch black at night. Is the young scholar thinking of traveling through the canyon?"

"That's right," Zhuang  grinned. "We can send the cavalry up ahead with some of our archers. They must travel around the canyon and wait for us to pass. They can shoot at our pursuers from above while the cavalry can approach the enemy from the rear. We can box them in and kill them all."

"It might work. There is a fork in the canyon that leads to a dead end. The top of the canyon walls are low enough that our archers can shoot at the enemy accurately. I'll inform my elder brother immediately. You must join us as I will guide them to the area," Cao Chu laughed and rode forward to tell Liao Chu. His savior was not only had good swordsmanship, but he was as smart as he looked. He and his brother must devise a method to have the young scholar stay with them.

Liao Chu and his generals were surprised as Cao told them Zhuang's plan. Liao nodded in agreement and let Cao lead half of his cavalry and archers to the cliffs. He needed the rest of his cavalry and archers so as to not draw suspicion and unveil the plan to the enemy.

Cao grabbed an extra longbow and gave it to Zhuang as he led them to the canyon and through a path to the destined location where the ambush would take place. Zhuang was given a war horn by Cao and told that once Zhuang blew the war horn and the archers began shooting at the pursuers from above, Cao would lead the cavalry to attack the rear. His elder brother's forces would also turn back and destroy the trapped pursuers.

"Good luck young scholar. I leave the timing to you," Cao said and led the cavalry to take a different path where they could ambush the pursuers without being seen.

The archers stared at the young man in the blood-stained silk robes. The young man carried twin swords they had never seen before and even had a tiger cub that seemed to be tamed. They had heard of the young scholar's swordsmanship and archery skills from other soldiers that witnessed it from inside the manor. Some had doubts but knew that their life was in his hands and dared not disturb him as he waited for the samurai to arrive.

The top of the cliff they waited at was to the left of a dead end in the canyon. As soon as the Chu forces were "trapped," the ambush would begin. Zhuang felt the ground shake a little and knew that the Chu forces were approaching. He told the archers to nock their arrows and wait for his signal.

Zhuang watched as the Chu forces were startled as they reached the dead end. As only the generals , the harem, and Liao Chu knew the plan, Zhuang would have believed that the army really was trapped if he hadn't come up with the plan. He smiled as the samurai arrived and watched as the cavalry of the samurai struck first.

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"We should strike now. Our brothers are dying out there," one of the archers whispered.

"Not yet. Not until the samurai on foot attack. If we attack now, the cavalry will escape and we lose our chance to strike back," Zhuang hissed. "Shoot only on my signal. I will kill any archer who plans on shooting first!"

The archers feared for their lives. They were only armed with bows and arrows and Zhuang was too close to them and could behead them before they can lift their bow and shoot him without shooting each other. They watched miserably as they saw the infantry's numbers dwindled slowly under the cavalry's assault.

"Draw," Zhuang said and waited until the samurai on foot broke into a run. "Fire! Shoot them down! Aim for the samurai on the horses!"

Arrows loosed one after another as a war horn was heard all over the battlefield. The samurai realized they were under attack and most of the cavalry were killed as the samurai on foot blocked their escape. The samurai who were running in the front could not stop and those who did were trampled by those who followed.

Another war horn sounded and Cao Chu had arrived with the cavalry to strike the rear, blocking the samurai from escaping. Liao roared his orders and his forces realized that the archers and cavalry were on their side. Hope rose in their chests and they formed their formations. Shield bearers stood on the front with their spears pointed to the samurai. Zhuang saw gaps in the shield wall and the rest of the cavalry of the Chu forces rode forward through them.

"Shoot only the samurai in the middle," Zhuang said as the cavalry attacked the samurai. "Aim for all the samurai wearing the flashiest armor. They must be the officers!"

The archers nodded as their respect for Zhuang had grown. His plan really worked and their pursuers were the ones who became trapped. They stopped shooting randomly and focused their arrows on the officers. When the battle finally ended, only a fifth of the infantry had died. A small number compared to how many more would have died if not for Zhuang's plan.

"Ah, Scholar Zhuang," Cao grinned as Zhuang and the archers joined the main forces. "Your plan worked brilliantly. Those samurai bastards are dead!"

"We should still hasten toward Wu province," Zhuang said. "We can't relax. We don't know how many more samurai the enemy sent after us. We should salvage any weapons and arrows we can find and leave quickly."

"You got it," Cao laughed and yelled at the soldiers to quickly collect the weapons.

Liao Chu, his harem, and his commanding officers and strategists stared at Cao and Zhuang. This Zhuang character truly was a young hero. He had swords they had never seen, made a tiger cub he found his pet, and created this grand strategy. Thanks to him, they had a chance to escape with most of their forces and fewer casualties.

"This person said he was surnamed Ji," Liao began. "Has anyone heard of the Ji clan?"

"No Lord Liao Chu," his chief strategist  Wei Xu answered. "We can investigate once we reach Wu province. I believe we should have this Scholar Zhuang as one of your strategists. His unorthodox strategies will prove useful for your ambition and he might have other qualities. I am also interested about those twin swords of his. I have never seen a young scholar wield such magnificent swords."

"You may be right Wei Xu. I must take that young man under my wing. For now we make haste to Wu province," Liao said and after a half hour passed, led his forces out of the Canyon of Heilong and into the Wu province.

Prologue and Chapter 1: City of Blood Main Page