The setting sun cast a red hue over the plain, the ground bathed in crimson light appeared pitch black.
Blood had caked all over and only the vile stench off the ground reminded Lu Hao that this was his nightmare, a nightmare of the living
His hair matted in blood fell over his eyes, he moved his hand to brush aside his locks but darkness remained, a violent pain from his shoulder reminded him there was no arm attached to it.
Gathering strength he moved his other arm and shifted his hair.
He lay on a boy,dead,with his eyes vacant and face grimaced in pain.
Lu Hao moved his body and fell on the ground , he could still hear the distant shouts and clang of the weapons, a dying wail or a triumphant cry full of bloodlust and madness.
This was war
The great nation of the Gu and the nation of the Wei was fighting each other, Something over a piece of fertile land found recently.
“Anyone alive … anyone there?” He shouted.
“Is that you Hao?” said a hoarse voice some feet away from him
He saw that he was in a makeshift barricade formed of leather bags full of sand and many arrows sticking on them.
He didn't like the barricade and was
scared of the bags , they were made of human skin , the beasts were very rare in both the nations and jute was scarce resource.
The blood dripping from an arrow stuck in the bag made a very ghastly scene, suppressing the vomit in his throat he looked around
There were about 30 people in the barricade each harbouring a devastating wound and surrounded by scores of corpses telling a tale of the battle recently fought.
They were a company of hundred but now only thirty remained. The company commander was lying a bit far from them , his throat pierced with a arrow and his corpse beginning to rot.
“When is the relief coming, a new commander shoud have been sent by now, how are we supposed to hold the post with broken swords and limbs” shouted a burly old man with a leg missing, resting his back on a couple of corpses of their enemy soldiers from wei , he was Zu Di , and old veteran and assistant commander.
“This place is right in the middle of the battlefield with hundreds of troops on either side holding off each other, I would give my left testicle if anyone from the command centre dispatched someone or anyone brave enough to come to our rescue. Forget about rescue lads , atleast our houses get 5 bags of rice after we die” spoke another soldier and then started singing a vile song about a woman's knickers, his sharp teeth.
It was a lousy attempt at comfort but many others joined him and started rolling out more of the offending lyrics.
Lu Hao rolled over in search of water, his throat burning like it was filled with sand but found no water in the pouches.
“We are all out, we have been out since afternoon, we started off with less than 5 litres anyway” replied a soldier.
Lu Hao stood up bearing down on his remaining arm and looked around.
He saw a large basin on the ground a few metres away from him, this was a large boat shaped stone filled with water kept in various locations on the battlefield to clean the soldiers’ weapons which were often caked with dried blood and entails
How ironic that a troop of hundred people was given a mere 10 litres water per day to drink yet several thousand litres were wasted in the basins to wash the weaponry.
He wondered when the ancient basins were placed on the battlefield.
His younger self and friends would sneak into the empty battlefield and admire the basins with thousands of nicks and cuts whose color remained flesh pink no matter how much you scrub them , probably because of the repeated staining from blood
As he neared the basin, he scrunchies his nose with disgust , a stench of blood and feces with rotting pieces of flesh assaulted his nose, all sorts of scavengers ranging from vultures to hyenas sorrounded the basin picking off rotten scraps of flesh. He drew his broken sword to sho away the creatures.
The water inside could no longer be called water, it was a dark glop of rotting solidified blood and scraps giving off an unbearable stench.
He plugged his nose with a cloth and reached out his hand to grab a handful of wet ground around the basin in hope that during the frenzy of the day, some water had spilled on the ground.
Fighting was forbidden 3 metre around the basin , those who disobeyed were swiftly dealt with nearby commanders of both the nations in a frenzy as if they were afraid leaving the person alive would cause the skies to fall.
The muddied water with a taste of blood fell into his open mouth, he retched uncontrollably but nothing came out his empty stomach.
Atleast the burning of his throat had stopped.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Standing to his full height he saw his surrounding in a dim setting of the sun and felt a wave of despair.
The Twilight was always a depressing time but today it signified true dusk.
The surrounding sounds of war had stopped and all the respective troops were retreating for the night to warm bunkers to shield them from the soul freezing cold of the night but for them there was only death, without able bodied men to dig out new bunkers, no food and fire being a beacon of deathly arrows from enemy , he didn't see a way out for them.
He retuned to the barricade and spoke to a nodding man “Comeon dogbreath let's move these corpses”
“What for” dogbreath replied. “The bodies would freeze into solid rocks and crush us, we can't use them against cold”.
“I just want their clothes, damn if I am dying with a single cloth covering me”
“No use “ replied Zu Di “everyone is dressed for the day only in single coarse tunic, the gods hate us I tell you, with daytime being so hot that any metal or leather you wear burns of your skin and nights so cold that no one survives”
The soldiers didn't wear armour or leather covering even during fighting , thousands more had perished from heart stroke than the blades of the enemies.
The remaining soldiers, quite dead in their eyes still crawled to the nearby bodies collecting whatever cloth they could find.
No one had anything to eat , eating itself was a luxury to both the nations, there was an old saying that birds die for grains and men die for gold.
Here men died for grain.
The victor would be given three bags of rice and loser one bag per head and dead will be given five , with each bag barely lasting a month, the men would then have to go to another battlefield in order to feed their families.
Battles lasted throughout the year
The moonlight fell with a sense of melancholy onto the ground, a overseer of romantic love and bliss but today a silent witness for death that is to come.
Lu Hao rested his head on his arm and watched into the distant mountains thinking of his wife and slowly drifted off to his final sleep
Badump his heart jumped , he had seen something on the horizon, several dark shadows were obviously crossing over in their direction.
“Alert” he shouted and the surrounding people woke up alarmed.
“What is it?” Shouted Zu Di .
“Troops from the direction of wei , about a hundred of them ! Everyone arm yourself” shouted Lu Hao
“What's the point , atleast i die with warm blood flowing over my balls rather than this cold” dogbreath replied and flung off his sword.
The remaining troops copied him and flung off their swords.
“Something is approaching from our side! It's people , it's our releif , we are saved, we are saved “ shouted a young boy looking back.
Everyone turned and indeed cried in joy for there were people coming
The people from the back approached faster than the enemy and a loud voice shouted “Where is Zu Di”.
Zu Di excitedly replied “here I am , are you our relief?”
The man with a scarf around his nose and warm clothes shouted “I am hereby commanded to assimilate the remaining soldiers of the 87th troop and defend the post against enemy attack till morning until reinforcements arrive, the 87th troop have been consecrated under the commander of 11th troop and are to follow orders, the commander is held back by some wei spies and will be joining us shortly, all men to arms”.
The eyes of the wounded soldiers widened in horror.
“ You have got only about 16 men, we are 30 dying and the enemy appears to be a hundred ,fresh and unwounded with warm leather coats , how are we supposed to fight them with torn tunics and broken swords?” asked Zu Di , his hands trembling.
The remaining soldiers started crying and cursing the arrived soldiers , their camp and the gods for robbing them of the bleak hope they had awakened and pushing them to despair.
“Brothers, fret not for we had already decided to die by the blades of the enemy before they arrived , now let's just do the same and wait for sweet maiden of death to take us in her arms… damned be the post and damned be the war, atleast our houses get five months of food, let's die in peace brothers , steel yourselves and brave your balls to the enemies, let them see the swing of our mighty weapons in lieu of our broken swords and wallow in shame” said a soldier and started unwrapping his pants throwing down his sword.
“Well said brother , why should we strive ourselves , lets just kill ourselves and be done with it”.
“MUTINY!!!” a thunderous roar came from behind
Four people approached from behind. There were three men following a man.
Before the party approaches them , an ungodly scent filled the air , so vile that several men retched their guts out. The smell was similar if not even denser than the stone basins filled with blood , and all the soldiers knew without even needing to guess who had approached them
Wu Shen - The bloody butcher
There were tales of his achievements and conquests heard everywhere in the army but in hushed tones.
It is said that he carries out slaughter so dreadful that he is often sent to the periphery of the battlefield to protect the sanity of the main troops. As dreadful to his companions as to his enemies , he was known to have caused as many deaths of his soldiers as the enemy troops.
Ruthless, cruel and extremely demanding.
He never wore a leather coat on the battlefield even in the harshest cold , he wore a simple tunic , but this tunic soaked in the blood of his enemies throughout the battle caked with blood and tissue emitted an unbearable stench resembling the stone basin prevented the cold from touching his skin.
He removed his tunic only after each battle which he would bury at the edge of the battlefield.
This ritual solemnly witnessed by enemies and allies alike both dreading the next battle where they would have to see the blood robe
“ALL TROOPS HEAR MY COMMAND FOLLOW ME TO ANNIHILATE THE ENEMIES IN FRONT OF US. THE SOLDIERS NOT HOLDING AT LEAST TWO HEADS OF ENEMIES BY SUNRISE WILL BE KILLED BY ME. DON'T THINK THAT DEATH IS YOUR RESPITE AS I HAVE PERSONALLY GIVEN COMMAND THAT FAILING TO ACHIEVE OUR OBJECTIVE, NOT A SINGLE BAG WILL BE PROVIDED TO THE FAMILY OF THE DEAD, ME INCLUDED. TOMORROW WE EITHER GO AS WINNERS OR DONT GO AT ALL. NOW PICKUP YOUR BROKEN SWORDS AND LIMBS AND KILL”
The command bred horror into the broken soldiers and they scampered to get up with their swords , some not even realising they were standing on broken legs and knees.
This was no longer a question of merely their survival, it was the survival of their families.
The moon had never witnessed such ferocity and bloodlust on this battlefield before.
The broken swords did not parry, did not defend , they focused solely on killing, and what a killng it was, Lu Hao didn't defend a single strike , dogbreath never parried , all the soldiers had only one aim , find a gap , thrust the sword , draw blood
The enemy troops numbering hundred initially delighted upon seeing 50 soldiers facing them with more than half disabled, soon shit their pants as they tried to protect from the insensible , incomprehensible attacks of their enemies
Wu Shen , a glaive in his hand cut down enemies left and right , cutting swords, limbs and necks , the blood of his enemies soaking his blood tunic and his war cries breeding horror into the camps both allies and enemies alike.
As sun rose in the east , a battle weary Wu Shen was kneeling on one knee supported by his glaive, his face facing the distant hometown of Jau, a number of arrows sticking from his back.
For who could strike the butcher on his chest.
“ROLL CALL”
Several voices answered him but on a closer look it was only ten voices , ten voices amidst a hundred corpses
Only 3 people from the wounded soldiers had survived Lu Hao , dogbreath and Zu Di .
The enemies , their entire company lay dead with horror in their eyes some having their throats ripped out with teeth and some trying to scoop up their fallen intestines off the ground.
“ZU DI” commanded the butcher , “RISE THE FLAG OF GU ON THE BARRICADE ALONG WITH THREE HEADS OF ENEMIES.LET THE COMMAND KNOW THAT WE HAVE COMPLETED OUR MISSION”.
