Tongpai Town soon appeared in the distance, it's walls and internal structures highlighted by the full moon that was in the sky. It was an imposing town that could easily house several thousand villagers. The outer wall was shorter than would be expected, but would still need someone to climb on someone's shoulders and reach up to get over it.
There was some light coming from the Town, mainly from the larger structures that were in the middle and stood high compared to the outer wall. Behind the town, in the distance, you could see the general area of where the Lake should be, not that it was easy to see from where Dom was currently crouched by a tree line. He hoped Gan Ning would appear as planned, but they had heard nothing yet.
The last part of the approach had been simple for Dom and his team after leaving from the Riverside Military Camp several hours away. However the leading party led by Tomyris had more of a challenge, having to silently approach the few watch towers that were posted around and silence any potential guards. From the update Dom had received from her Messenger, they had permanently silenced six guards in total, with no alarms being made.
Dom looked to the west of the Town where the Tongpai Military Camp was located, It was on top of a small raised hill and there was more light being emitted from it compared to the Town. Most likely from camp fires from the Warriors or potential Watchmen. Dom couldn't see Tomyris's force, which laid in wait ready for the signal to strike the Military Camp, but he hoped that they were prepared and in position.
"Subutai has just arrived." Xun You commented from beside Dom, pointing to the east of him where the shadows of the Cavalry could be seen. Dom didn't know where Subutai was within the group, but he expected his Commander would be near the front.
"They were much quieter than I expected." Dom replied quietly, not noticing their arrival, "It seems the idea to cover their feet worked."
"Definitely." Xun You replied, before continuing "I'll go check on the rest of the unit and make sure all of the Warriors are in position as planned."
Dom trusted his Centurions, but didn't blame Xun You for wanting to double check. He then looked towards the main gates that were in front of him, waiting to see if the signal from Centurion Meng Gao appeared. There did seem to be a couple of Warriors on top of the gate, but from where Dom was, It wasn't clear who they were.
"It has to be soon." Xun You said, having returned from checking in on the Centurions that were with them. "If we don't attack soon, the men will be exhausted."
"We need to wait for Centurion Meng." Dom replied, agreeing with Xun You's statement, having travelled through most of the day light to their current position.
...
Some more time passed before things started to progress. The first thing that Dom noticed was the sound of weapons clashing in the direction of the Military Camp. He turned his head and saw that Riverside Warriors were climbing over the walls and that the lights that had illuminated from inside were flickering.
"They have gone before the signal!" Xun You exclaimed in frustration, "What are they thinking? Where is Centurion Meng?"
"The last message from Abubakar was that everything was ready." Dom replied as he felt the same frustration as Xun You. "I hope Tomyris is ok!"
"She is one of the strongest amongst us, she'll be fine." Xun You replied, "I just don't know why she would go before the signal."
"Something must have happened." Dom said as he tried to work out what to do next.
"Where is Centurion Meng?" Xun You said again, wanting to try and rescue the original plan if he could.
As if he had heard his name being called, the gates swung open from Tongpai Town as a group of Warriors marched out, more Warriors also appeared on the Tongpai Town's walls near the gates, as the distant silhouettes pointed in the direction of the Military Camp.
"I don't think that's Centurion Meng." Dom replied as he thought about what they should do next, what ever the option, Plan A had not worked.
"We need to get a message to Subutai." Xun You stated, "We need to charge the gates whilst they are open."
"Get the Balearic Slingers to target the Warriors at the gate." Dom ordered to the Messenger that was lay down behind him.
"Wait!" Xun You said quickly, as Dom turned to look back at the Main Gate.
Suddenly the Warriors at the Gate began fighting each other, as well as those on the wall. Before Dom could make an order he saw Subutai's Cavalry charge out from the east towards the Gates.
"I think that's the signal then." Xun You shrugged.
"Riverside, Charge!" Dom shouted so that his men could hear him, those in Tongpai Town would not hear them over the sound of the current clashes that were taking place, but Dom was sure his force would be the loudest of all when they broke in to Tongpai Town.
"I think we are now on to Plan C?" Xun You asked as he climbed on to his horse and prepared to follow the Riverside units that were charging towards Tongpai Town.
"I don't know what the plan is now." Dom replied seriously, as he recognised the shinning armour of Tomoe in the distance as her unit charged towards the gates as well. "We just need to get that gate open, and hope Tomyris is successful."
......
Tomyris lay in wait in the shadow of the Tongpai Town Military Camp. Beside here were the Halberd Twins and Centurion Percennius. She stared towards the Entrance to Tongpai Town, waiting for the appearance of Centurion Meng Gao or Abubakar so she could launch the attack.
"Where are they?" She said quietly, mainly to herself, before looking back at the walls at the top of the small hill in front of her. There was more light being emitted than she had anticipated, and the sound of laughter from inside was much louder than she had hoped.
"Are they having a feast or something?" Guo Sheng commented.
"Hopefully they will be drunk." Lu Fang replied.
"We should postpone and wait for the feast to end." Centurion Percennius said, he wanted to prove his men's worth, but attacking now was not a good idea.
Behind them lay in wait the Legionaries of Percennius and the newly trained Shang Legionaries, as well as the former Bandits and half of the Celts. A group that Tomyris had not fought with before, or even trained with properly before yesterday.
"I agree, this isn't a good idea." Tomyris replied, "We need to get a message to the main army that the Military Camp is not asleep as expected."
The march so far had been successful, The Legio I Germanica Legionaries had successfully killed any scouts from Tongpai Town that they had come across, either in the woods or in their Outposts. She was surprised that no one had come looking, but then remembered the information that had been shared about how badly managed the enemy were. The Balearic Slingers that had scouted ahead had also been helpful and she was excited to see them in action across the battlefield.
"Get down!" Guo Sheng whispered.
Tomyris looked up and saw that some faces had appeared on top of the wall ahead of them. Two recognisable Shang Warriors, who were not wearing armour. Both held a cup of alcohol and were talking loudly.
"I am going to ask her to Marry me." The first one declared proudly, as he unfastened his pants.
"The Baker's Daughter?" The other asked with a laugh, taking a bit of his drink, and patting his fellow Warrior on the shoulder. The Riverside Warriors all made themselves as low as possible in the shadow of the Military Camp, the reflection of the moon thankfully illuminating the walls at not them.
"No, not the Baker's Daughter!" The first one replied slurring, as he began to empty his bladder down the side of the Military Camp wall. "The Bar Maid!"
"Oh she's nice!" The second one laughed, "But I am sure half of the men here have the same thoughts."
"But, are they as good looking as me?" The first one said as he raised his cup to tap against his fellow Warrior's cup.
"Probably not, but I am better looking." The second one laughed as he clashed his cup against the first ones. The first Warrior however was unprepared for the force and dropped his cup, which fell from the Military Camp Wall and rolled down the hill below.
"My wine!" The first one declared in frustration, where as the second one laughed as they followed the view of the wine cup as it rolled down the hill in to the shadow beneath the walls.
Tomyris and the others from Riverside all watched the Cup as it rolled towards them, hoping that it stopped before it reached them, but it didn't and suddenly the momentum of it caused it to bounce slightly and land on the back of Centurion Percennius's armour with a clang. The clang echoed and the eyes of the second Warrior changed.
"What was that sound?" He asked, sobering up slightly.
"Just my cup!" The first replied in frustration, "I'm going to get it."
"Just get another one." The second replied as he peered down, his eyes focusing towards the shadows.
.....
"He's seen us." Lu Fang whispered. "We need to react."
"He may not have!" Guo Sheng whispered back.
"Get the slingers!" Tomyris whispered angrily, knowing she had to make a decision quickly as Percennius looked angry at himself for being in that particular position. He was the one wearing the heaviest armour and the only one that would have made a noise if hit by a falling cup.
The two Warriors on the wall were both now looking towards Tomyris and the senior members of Riverside that were with her. She knew that she had to react quick, as the majority of the Warriors with her did not have the experience of battle like she had, she knew that if they didn't react soon, they would lose any momentum if they were seen.
The slingers quickly approached and she signalled to the two men on the wall, they both nodded and took of their middle slings, which had a good range and aim. They crawled back and got to their knees out of view, picking out a small pebble each from their pouches and then started to spin their slings above their heads. The gentle noise of the slings spinning travelled on the air and the second Shang Warrior on the wall realised what was happening.
"Enemies!" He shouted loudly as the stones were released, both hitting their targets on their heads and knocking them both down. The first Shang Warrior fell forwards off the wall, his head hitting the ground first and his body landing in an awkward position, where as the second fell backwards in to the Military Camp instead.
"Charge!" Tomyris shouted loudly to her small army, that quickly raised themselves and charged to attack the south wall of the Military Camp. Her original plan having to change suddenly, she just hoped that what she did now didn't have a wider impact on the rest of the battles taking place. "Lu Fang and Percennius take the gates, Guo Sheng you are with me!"
They all headed up to the base of the wall together, before splitting and following their instructions.
"I don't think he'll be proposing!" Guo Sheng said as they reached the base of the wall and saw the body of the first Warrior, his head having split open and blood and brain pouring through the exposed skull from the Slingers attack.
"I'll have to check out this Bar Maid!" Lu Fang laughed as he left with Percennius towards the gate.
"I'll check out the Baker's Daughter then!" Guo Sheng said as he climbed in to the hands of a Shang Legionary that had reached the Wall. His Halberd on his back as he prepared to be the first over the wall alongside Tomyris who was doing the same thing.