fear for us.’
‘My lord, it is more important that the cannon ranks reduce their ability to manoeuvre,’ Uriang-Khadai said. He was flushed with a slow-burning indignation over Kublai’s refusal to listen to any idea of a retreat. In his frustration, he became ever more stilted in his manner, his tone lecturing. ‘They put too much faith in the heavy weapons, my lord, but we can still move. With respect, I must point out that I have been against engaging them from the beginning. This formation only reinforces my view. Why commit suicide against their guns?’
It irritated Kublai that Uriang-Khadai was so obviously right. Before hearing the news of his brother’s death, he knew he would have ridden round the Sung regiments, forcing them to come after him and leave their guns behind, or make such slow progress with them that they would never catch up. He could then choose the best ground to attack.
It was the merest common sense not to let an enemy have his main advantage. All Kublai’s cannon, both captured and brought from home, lay rusting on fields hundreds of miles away. The weapons were terrifyingly powerful in the right place and time, but until someone found a way to move them quickly, they were more often a hindrance to fast-moving cavalry. The Sung commander did not seem to understand that, at all.
Yet under the stillness, Kublai felt a part of him clamouring and clawing its way out. It was red-mouthed in savagery, demanding that he attack just where the enemy were strong. He wanted to take all the grief and pain of his brother’s death and dash it out against those iron guns. He wanted to show Mongke that he had courage, whether his brother’s spirit knew it or not.
‘Sun Tzu said there are seven conditions for victory,’ Kublai said. ‘Shall I list them for you?’
‘Sun Tzu never saw gunpowder used in war, my lord,’ Uriang-Khadai said stubbornly.
‘One. Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with Moral Law? Who is in the right, orlok? It matters to the men. The Sung are defending their lands, so perhaps they must take that first point. Yet I am the grandson of Genghis Khan and all lands are mine.’
Uriang-Khadai stared at him in worried silence. He had never seen Kublai so intensely focused. The scholar had been burnt out of him and Uriang-Khadai feared the effects of his grief.
‘Two. Which of the generals has most ability? I give you that one, Uriang-Khadai, and you also, Bayar. These Sung have made a house that cannot move, with walls of guns. Three. With whom lie the advantages of Heaven and Earth? I call that equal, as the land is flat and the skies are clear.’
‘My lord …’ Uriang-Khadai tried to interrupt.
‘
‘Six. On which side are the officers and men more highly trained? That is ours. Every man here has fought and won many times. We are veteran soldiers, Uriang-Khadai. We are the elite tumans of the nation. The Sung have had peace for too long.’ He paused. ‘The last is a strange one. Which army is most constant in reward and punishment? Sun Tzu valued good leadership, I think, if I have understood it correctly. Without knowing the Sung, I cannot be certain, so I will call that one equal. The balance is with us, orlok.’
‘My lord, the guns …’
‘The guns must be swabbed down between shots,’ Kublai snapped. ‘The barrels must be cleaned of burning scraps of cloth or embers. A new powder bag must be jammed down and carefully pierced by a hollow reed filled with black powder. The ball must be lifted into the barrel and shoved down. It all takes time, orlok, and we will not give them time. They will have one shot and then we will be in range to kill the cannon teams. We can face one shot.’
He had been staring out to the Sung regiment waiting for them, but he turned to face Uriang-Khadai, his yellow eyes blazing.
‘Should I treat them with respect, these Sung men who know nothing of war? Should I fear their weapons, their black powder? I do not, orlok. I
‘My lord, please reconsider. Let them stand and run dry for a few days without water. Let them grow hungry while we forage the land and remain strong. They cannot remain for ever in one place, leaving us to ride unchecked around them. Let me burn the closest towns to us and they will be forced to answer, to come out.’
‘And by then, there will be another Sung army on its way to support them,’ Kublai said bitterly. ‘Have you not learned yet that there is no end to these people? Today, I think I will answer their arrogance with arrogance of my own. I will ride down the mouths of their guns.’
Uriang-Khadai was horror-struck.
‘My lord, you must stay clear of the battle. The men look to you. If you are killed …’
‘Then I will be killed. I have made my decision, orlok. Stand with me, or join the ranks under the orders of others.’
Uriang-Khadai slowly bowed his head, understanding at last that he would not move the younger man from his choice. He looked again at the Sung guns, in the new light of knowing he would ride into them.
‘Then, my lord, I suggest wide-spaced ranks as we go in, coming back after the first shot for massed arrow volleys and a lance charge. If I may, my lord, I would also hold back two groups of five hundred heavily armoured riders to strike as gaps appear in their lines.’
Kublai grinned suddenly.
‘You are an interesting man, Orlok Uriang-Khadai. I hope you live through today.’
Uriang-Khadai grimaced.
‘As do I, my lord. With your permission, I will pass on those orders to the minghaans, telling them to target the cannon teams first.’ When Kublai nodded, he went on. ‘The Sung have not placed as many cannon at their rear, my lord. General Bayar is reasonably competent. He should swing out with a tuman and attack them from behind.’
Bayar chuckled at the grudging description of him.
‘Very well,’ Kublai replied. He felt lighter now he had made the decision. It was done. He would ride against the guns with his men, the bones of his fate tossed high into the air.
Uriang-Khadai passed on the new orders to the minghaan officers. Through them, the news reached the jagun commanders of a hundred and the most junior officers in charge of just ten men. The sun had hardly moved before every warrior there understood what Kublai intended them to do. He made no speeches to them. Even if he had, only a small number would have heard the words. Though he watched them, they seemed unsurprised by the orders and simply readied themselves, checking their mounts and weapons one last time. Kublai sent a silent prayer to his brother’s spirit. Men would die that day who might have lived if he had made different choices.
He stopped, the moment stretching in his head. It felt as if a veil had lifted, as if the sun shone through his grief for the first time. He could almost hear Mongke’s voice speaking in anger or mockery. For just an instant, it was as if his brother was standing behind him. Kublai dug in his heels and rode to where Uriang-Khadai and Bayar were discussing the battle plan with a group of other men. Kublai did not dismount.
‘I have new orders, Orlok Uriang-Khadai. We will ride round this army and head for Hangzhou. If the enemy leave their guns to chase, we will turn and tear them to pieces. If they bring them, we will attack while the cannon are still attached to oxen.’
‘Thank
The men around him were grinning and Kublai could suddenly see how much strain they had been under before. Yet they had not baulked at what he had asked of them. His heart filled with pride.
‘We are the tumans of Mongke Khan,’ Kublai said. ‘We move, we strike and we move on again. Mount up. Let us leave these Sung fools behind.’
There was laughter in the ranks as the news spread and Kublai’s words were repeated hundreds of times. The tumans surged forward into a trot and the Sung regiments less than a mile away watched in confusion as they swung clear of the battlefield, leaving only dust, manure and cropped grass in their wake.
General Salsanan had not expected it to be such a task when he volunteered to leave the khan’s tumans and come south. Though he did not know exactly where Kublai was, he expected to track him down by following a trail of burnt towns and cities. Instead, the Sung countryside seemed hardly to have been affected by the passage of armies. It was true that there were few animals grazing and the peasants ran to hide from his soldiers as they searched for anything they could eat. Even so, it was a far cry from the trail of devastation he had thought to
