Explore Chapter 60 of '水浒新传' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
Now, the Jin troops laid siege to Bianjing in full force, attacking from all sides and putting the city in dire peril. The heroes of Liangshan Marsh, following the orders of Zhang Shuye, defended the various gates, fighting bloody battles day and night against the Jin troops. On this day, the Jin general Wuzhu personally led elite troops in a ferocious assault on Xuanhua Gate. The drawbridge at the gate was raised high. The Jin troops set up scaling ladders, advancing in relentless waves that swarmed upwards. Defenders rained down arrows, and rolling stones and logs fell in torrents. Though Jin corpses piled up like a mountain, still they refused to fall back.
Wu Song had been assigned to defend the left flank of Xuanhua Gate. Seeing the enemy offensive surge like a tide and the defenders on the wall gradually wearying, his tiger-like eyes blazed. He roared to the soldiers beside him, "Hold the battlements fast! I'll go and smash that ladder!" With that, he snatched up his tempered steel monk's spade and made to descend the wall. Suddenly, from the Jin ranks below, dozens of 'goose carts' were pushed forth-tall as the wall itself and packed with crossbowmen whose arrows flew up like locusts, pinning the defenders down. Seizing the moment, the Jin troops rolled a battering ram to the edge of the moat. Its top was covered with raw oxhide, and warriors hidden beneath it swung great axes, hacking fiercely at the drawbridge's iron chains. The chains, thick as a child's arm, sparked under the relentless blows, on the very brink of snapping.
Should the drawbridge fall, the Jin troops' iron cavalry would charge the gate unimpeded, and all would be lost. Seeing this, Wu Song bellowed, "You blasted curs! Cease this madness!" He ignored the proper ramps. With blade in one hand and gripping the parapet with the other, he vaulted from the wall, dozens of feet high. Soldiers from both armies above and below cried out in shock. Like a great roc spreading its wings, Wu Song plummeted down, landing squarely atop the battering ram. A thunderous crash followed as the oxhide caved in, crushing the Jin troops inside. Rolling to the bridgehead, he swung his blade and cut down two axe-wielding Jin soldiers.
By now the chains were mostly severed, and the drawbridge swayed precariously. Without a moment's hesitation, Wu Song cast aside his spade. With his lone arm, he seized the broken end of the chain, thick as a bowl's mouth. He took a breath and roared, "Up!" Every muscle in his body corded as he arrested the massive drawbridge's fall by sheer force. The bridge was monstrously heavy; the chain's edge, sharp as a blade, sliced instantly into Wu Song's palm, blood gushing forth. Unheeding, his eyes burning crimson, he wound the chain twice around his arm and held on with a death grip.
Witnessing Wu Song's god-like valor, the Song troops on the wall rallied, and a renewed storm of arrows and stones lashed down. The Jin troops were stalled at the riverbank, unable to cross. Wuzhu, watching from afar in mingled fury and disbelief, urgently ordered his sharpshooters to fire. A deadly rain of arrows descended upon Wu Song. Unarmored and anchored to the bridge by one arm, he had no means of evasion. In an instant, arrows struck his shoulder, back, and leg. Yet he stood immovable, an iron colossus, refusing to fall, his roars thundering across the battlefield.
At this moment of utmost peril, a long rope snaked down from the wall. Several death-defying soldiers rappelled down, rushed to Wu Song's side, raised shields to cover him, and took over the chain. Spent of strength, Wu Song was supported by the men, his war robe drenched, a figure of crimson. Through their combined effort, the drawbridge was finally secured. A lifting basket was lowered, hoisting Wu Song and the brave rescuers back to safety. Seeing their chance to take the bridge vanish, the Jin troops' assault lost some of its ferocity.
Wu Song was borne to the arrow tower within the barbican, where army surgeons came to extract the arrows and dress his wounds. The arrowheads were buried deep in bone and sinew; the surgeons had to cut the flesh to remove them. Wu Song gritted his teeth, sweat beading like pearls on his brow, yet not a groan escaped him. By chance, Song Jiang arrived on his rounds. Seeing Wu Song thus, tears glistened in his own tiger eyes. Clasping his brother's hand, he said, "You have suffered greatly, brother!" Wu Song laughed, "Say no such thing, elder brother. To hold the bridge for a time, to check the Jin troops and win us a breath of space-it was worth it! My only regret is failing to slay that cur, Wuzhu."
Song Jiang urged him to rest well and resumed his inspection of the defenses, but his mind was troubled by the matter of provisions. The Jin troops' prolonged siege was steadily depleting the city's grain stores. Recent scouts reported that a Jin supply convoy had brought a large shipment of millet from Hebei, now stored at Mutuogang Hill north of the city. Seizing this grain would relieve their pressing need. Yet the Jin defenses were tight, making a conventional approach impossible.
Returning to headquarters, Song Jiang consulted Wu Yong. Stroking his beard in thought, Wu Yong said, "Mutuogang Hill's terrain is treacherous; the Jin troops surely have strong ambushes laid. A direct assault would likely fail. We must employ cunning." Song Jiang replied, "The Military Strategist must have a plan." Wu Yong continued, "We should dispatch two forces. One will attack openly, with great clamor and display, feigning a grain raid to draw the enemy's main strength. The other will execute a covert maneuver, sending agile brothers to infiltrate the Jin camp, set fires at the opportune moment to sow chaos, then strike with elite troops to seize the grain. For the open assault, I recommend the Twin Spears Champion Dong Ping and the Featherless Arrow Zhang Qing-their bravery will suffice. For the covert task, none but the Flea on a Drum Shi Qian and the Golden-Haired Dog Duan Jingzhu will do. They are masters of scaling walls and penetrating perilous places. Then, have Hua Rong and Xu Ning lead five hundred cavalry in support, and Li Kui and Liu Tang lead five hundred infantry to transport the grain."
Song Jiang was delighted and approved the plan. Dong Ping and Zhang Qing mustered two thousand men, bearing many banners and drums. At dusk, they charged straight for Mutuogang Hill. The Jin troops, well-prepared, saw the Liangshan Marsh forces approach. Signal cannons boomed from the camp, and great troops of cavalry poured forth to intercept them. The two sides clashed in a tumultuous melee, the din of battle shaking the very heavens.
Meanwhile, Shi Qian and Duan Jingzhu, having changed into captured Jin troops uniforms, used the gathering dusk and the confusion to slip into the Jin camp via a hidden path behind the hill. Before them stretched endless grain piles, mountainous in scale, most of the guards drawn away by the uproar at the front. With uncanny agility, they flitted through the camp's barriers as if they were shadows. Reaching the heart of the granary, they found several dozen large carts, fully laden and tarpaulin-covered-doubtless the newly arrived grain. Only a dozen or so Jin soldiers patrolled the area.
Exchanging a glance, Shi Qian and Duan Jingzhu stole silently behind a grain cart. They produced flint and a sulfurous fire-starter, sparking a flame beneath the cart. The dry grain caught at once, and in moments a pillar of fire roared skyward. The patrolling Jin troops cried out in alarm, scrambling to fight the blaze, but it was too late. Fanned by the wind, the flames spread with terrifying speed, and soon half the grain depot was a roaring sea of fire. Chaos erupted throughout the Jin camp, front and rear, soldiers trampling one another in the panic.
Seeing the blaze, Hua Rong and Xu Ning knew Shi Qian had succeeded. They immediately led their cavalry in a slashing charge from the flank. Li Kui and Liu Tang's infantry surged after, cutting down all in their path as they rushed for the grain carts. The Jin troops, torn between fighting the fire and repelling the attackers, were thrown into disarray. Dong Ping and Zhang Qing, seeing the enemy camp ablaze and knowing their stratagem had worked, fought with redoubled fury, pinning down the Jin main force.
Hua Rong and his men seized over a hundred laden carts. Not daring to linger, they formed a protective screen and fought a retreating action. The Jin troops, hindered by the inferno, could not give effective chase. The Liangshan Marsh forces returned to the city in triumph. The grain was safely stored, lifting the spirits of the entire garrison. In this battle, Wu Song had displayed divine strength by hauling up the drawbridge, and Wu Yong had demonstrated ingenious stratagem by intercepting the grain. Though they had not driven the Jin troops back entirely, they had greatly blunted the enemy's momentum, securing the city's safety for the time being.
That night, Song Jiang held a victory banquet at headquarters for Wu Song and the other Chieftains. Yet below the walls, the lights of the Jin camp stretched into the distance, its watch strict and its defenses stern. The great battle was still to come. Though the heroes rejoiced for a while, each knew in his heart that even more savage fighting lay ahead.