“There is only one way to find out,” Seh answered.
“They are closing the giant gate!” Malao called down. “Five of Tonglong’s men entered without their horses. Four were carrying a big crate.”
“Malao,” Charles said, “how far do you think we are from them?”
“Based on our practice shots along the Yellow River, I think Fu could hit them with his cannon.”
“Did you hear that, Fu?” Charles asked. “Battle stations, everyone!”
Fu remained at the bow and began to load his cannon with black powder and a ball the size of a large peach. Seh and Hok raced to the stern, where Hok set to lighting several lengths of slow match fuse with a piece of flint and steel, while Seh began to load two cannons that were slightly smaller than Fu’s. Malao raced down the mast, pulled several loaded pistols from a large wooden box on deck, slipped the pistols behind his wide sash, and scurried back up to the very top of the rigging.
Charles remained at the helm.
Hok glided to the front of the boat and handed Fu a burning piece of slow match, then she ran to the stern and gave Seh one, too. Seh watched as Hok went back to the center of the boat and quickly loaded several muskets, laying them out along the deck in front of her. She shouldered one, and Charles said, “Malao, furl the sail! Everyone else, fire at will!”
Seh saw Malao scurry along the rigging, tying down the mainsail with amazing speed and dexterity. The boat eased to a slow drift, and Seh looked over at Fu.
Fu’s eyes were fixed on a point in the distant darkness, and a group of soldiers soon came into view. They were standing before a set of the largest doors Seh had ever seen. Several of the horsemen began to point toward the boat, and two of them spurred their horses, charging toward Charles’ sloop.
Fu fired.
The cannon erupted with a thunderous BOOM!, and smoke filled the air around Fu. Fortunately, there was a bit of a breeze blowing across the deck, and the air cleared almost immediately. Seh saw Fu place the burning slow match between his teeth and begin to reload the cannon.
Seh looked toward the soldiers and saw that Fu’s shot had knocked one of the advancing men off his horse. That soldier would not be rejoining the fight.
The remaining charging horseman continued to race toward their boat, and Seh said, “I’ve got him.”
“No,” Hok said. “Save your cannons for multiple attackers. He’s mine.”
As the horseman neared, he withdrew a pistol from the folds of his robe and aimed it wildly at the boat. Hok did not let him get off the shot. Seh heard the crack! of the musket the same instant he saw the soldier tumble from his horse, a neat hole between his eyes.
“Wow,” Charles said. “Remind me to never make you angry.”
“You taught me well,” Hok replied.
“Uh-oh!” Malao cried, and Seh looked over to see half of the horsemen spur their horses to life. At least thirty-five soldiers charged toward the boat.
“Here we go!” Charles shouted. “There is no turning back now. I am going to run us aground to give us a more stable platform to shoot from. Wait for my signal, then make every shot count!”
Charles steered the boat toward the shore and let go of the helm. He picked up one of the many loaded muskets he kept handy and put it to his shoulder.
Seh heard a scraping noise, and the bow of the boat rushed up onto the soft muck of the shoreline. When the boat finally stopped rocking, the soldiers were almost within pistol shot.
“Fire!” Charles yelled.
Fu fired first. His cannon blast sent a horseman flying, and before the man hit the ground, Seh had fired off a shot, as had Hok, Charles, and Malao.
Soldiers began to shout, and Fu roared back in anger as Seh took aim and fired his second cannon. He had loaded this one with grapeshot—hundreds of lead balls the size of grapes. He could not believe the damage caused as it took down several soldiers.
Hok, Malao, and Charles continued to shoot as a few horsemen returned fire, then Charles bellowed, “Cease fire!”
The smoke cleared, and Seh saw that between the five of them, they had obliterated the attacking horsemen in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Every soldier was down. Who needed kung fu when you had weapons like these?
“Here come some more!” Malao called out from the mast top, and Seh saw another group of horsemen advancing toward them. The remaining pack had split, and nearly twenty soldiers were barreling toward them with pistols drawn. Seh and Fu scrambled to reload their cannons.
The next wave of soldiers came, but they did not venture within range of Seh’s grapeshot-filled cannon, so he did not fire. He saw with dismay that they were not able to do anywhere near as much damage without his deadly but short-range grapeshot. They managed to take down ten or eleven soldiers, but the rest remained unscathed, firing their pistols. The soldiers’ shots ricocheted around the boat, but fortunately neither Seh nor the others seemed to get hit.