The Invasion of the Mongols

by Jeff

"The Mongols are invading," screamed someone out on the street of the Forbidden city. He ran past the old temples and the Imperial palace which had been around for thousands of years. The forbidden City had many buildings in the style of old architecture. The roofs had dark green rivets, and the buildings were made out of wood.

After Wang-Fan heard that, he ran home. When he got there his mother said "Wang, Kublai Khan has invaded"

"I know, Wang said out of breath. "I am going to fight him"

"No...No...You can't," Wang's mother screamed

"The emperor sent out conscription notices saying one male from each family must fight. Since father is dead, I am the only male in this family and I want to bring our family honor," Wang stated.


By that night, Wang was already at the army's training camp. He had been a fascinated by war and he had always been wanting a taste of it. But he didn't know the horrors of war that took his fathers life in a deadly battle against Ghengis Khan, Kublai Khan's grandfather.

Wang's best friend, Bai, had the same feelings. "Can you believe we are actually going to fight in a war?" Bai asked excitedly.

"I can't believe it either, and we are going to determine China's fate", Wang declared. "What happens if we decide we want to leave?"

"Once that you get onto a tiger's back, you can never get off!"

"Meaning, since we've decided to represent and bring honor to our family, we will not be able to leave". "If we try to, our family will be dishonored and we would be known as cowards," Bai pointed out.

The next morning they were told to put on their armor and assemble into battle lines. Wang marched alongside Bai. They both could not talk; they had lumps in their throats. They had no time to talk anyway. When they got to the top of the hill, there, right in front of them, was the Khan's army. Instantly, the general pulled out his sword and stuck it through his helmet, the charge was in effect. The Chinese immediately set up their rockets.

Fire one...the rockets didn't explode. Meanwhile, many people lay dead. Wang, fighting and battling and that was all he could think about. Not even the bodies at his feet bothered him. All he could think about, was saving his own life. The battle ended many hours later. By this time, there were thousands of casualties. Arrows had ripped right through the armor of Chinese soldiers. War Chariots lay broken. The ground was black from the explosion of cannons. The smell of sulfur roamed throughout the battle field.

After the Chinese were humiliated and defeated in the battle, Bai was nowhere to be found. Later on at the camp, the Chinese were told by their generals to go and search the field. Bai still wasn't found. He was gone without a trace. Back at the camp, a team of men were formed to go to find Bai. The team consisted of five men. They were given canteens, ammunition, food, and a war chariot.

After one week, they found the Khan base. As they climbed the hill, they saw, basically, the whole Khan army.

"We go in at night to look for Bai," said the leader, Liu

"Look, there is Bai!" said Wang. Bai was standing on a platform, with a sword above his head. Standing next to him was the man with the sharp, menacing sword.

"But how are we going to save him in time?" asked Liu

The five of them made the decision to fire off the rockets from a different position. The Khan's soldiers would march off in that direction and they could go to rescue Bai.

Before they fired off the rockets, they saw rockets firing toward the Khan base. A trail of smoke followed the tan rockets made out of bamboo. Right behind them, was the Chinese army. They marched in and fought the Khans. The battle was on going... blood everywhere. The five men who were investigating what had happened to Bai, weaved their way towards the platform, and climbed it. Bai was rescued, but there was one casualty among five men, Wang. He was aiming right for the man on the platform and...a crossbow made a direct hit in his neck. His hands immediately went up to his neck like something was pushing them up. His hands became red. Bai took him to the side of the field and laid him down. Wang's eyes were closed, his neck all red. You could clearly see the mark the arrowhead made as it hit Wang.

"No," screamed Bai. "You can't die."

But it was too late. He was gone.

Wang's funeral service was held at a pagoda six stories high, in Beijing. Inside, it was very dark, the only light was provided by a few candles. And only a few people attended.

"His life was taken while fighting, dying in the most honorable way," the words that Bai used to describe the death of his friend at his funeral. "He got onto the tiger's back and but never got off," Bai used the proverb that best described this, which he had told Wang at training. In the middle of Bai's speech, in walked a man, looking very much like Wang, but older. He put his arm around Wang's mother. She just put her hand over her mouth. Wang's father was alive. He had been a prisoner of war. He had escaped during the siege, but his son had perished.


Wang's family and friends would go through a much bigger war than the one in which Wang had lost his life. Living without him...knowing he would always be a son of war.

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