Qwesye
Hail pelted the Shu forward camps.
And the bitter chill of the Yinping mountains stung his ears.
Zhuge Kongming sat in the strategist's tent, with nothing more than a stove to keep himself warm. Wei's patrols were afoot, and though a large bonfire would bring comfort to the men it would no doubt give Sima Zhongda his exact location.
It was humiliating to watch his troops shiver, to watch his foes profit from his life's work by ensuring that Han could not break through this mountain range and take Chencang. Chencang stood between Zhuge Liang and Chang'an. Chencang stood between Shu Han and Tianshui. Some of East Han's greatest cities were locked away by a rouge strategist and his army of thugs and bandits.
How much longer did they all have to suffer? As Han supply wagons rolled into his encampments from their southern territories, the transporting units reported that the light of Han had started to fade from the people's eyes. Many of them were hungry, many more were tired, and the cries of the sick were quite loud indeed. Lord Liu Shan seemed so hesitant, so unwilling to grit his teeth and face the enemy.
Master Liu Bei would never be this queasy.
And yet the enemy stood proudly before him. Wei was taunting him, forcing him to remain vigilant in these cruel mountains. If only Heaven would demonstrate its favor by scattering these rebels! If only the Earth would swallow Sima Yi and end this once and for all...
How long had this war gone on?
How many imbeciles helped extend this war's lifespan?
The hail slammed against the tents of his encampment. Nature herself was taunting the men of Wei, teasing them with its cruel chill, telling them that they must bend to her will. As long as she pinned them with frost, they could not advance.
Wei had bested Yuan Shao. Wei held off Wu at Hefei. Wei kept both her enemies contained, and yet Wei could not conquer either of them.
Why? How could everyone be this incompetent? How could the servants of the Caos claim they were so grand when they could not crush states that were a fraction of the Empire's size?
It couldn't be... Were the heirs of Cao Cao just queasy?
But for all these accusations of incompetence, perhaps he was incompetent too.
No... That couldn't be true. Sima Zhongda was one of the greatest minds of his age... Incompetence? Was he partly to blame for their failure to crush Shu?
As the bitter cold settled outside of his tent, doubt began to settle in Sima Yi's heart.
No, this war had to end. The madness had to stop! Recent supply convoys had arrived on schedule, yet every guard of those convoys showed misgivings and hesitance. He had to personally threaten to strangle one of them before that guard spit out the truth: each convoy passed masses of starving peasants, civilians of Wei who had suffered for decades because of this war. The soldiers of the convoys were torn between handing over some grain and risking Sima Yi's wrath, or marching past and letting the people starve. The strategist could barely maintain eye contact upon hearing that news. What shame! How irresponsible!
How... Incompetent...
People were suffering, yet this idiotic war had to continue. People were starving, yet victory was somewhere far away. Surely the people cried to the heavens, and the heavens would not answer them.
How could anyone endorse this conflict? How could anyone insist on extending the fighting? How could men of strength tolerate such chaos and ruin? If Zhuge Liang and Sun Quan truly cared about the people, they would surely accept Wei's overwhelming superiority and lower their weapons. Then the people wouldn't starve anymore. If they had any sense, this war started by imbeciles and extended by imbeciles would be over.
If only he could have stayed in retirement...
If only he could have killed those two idiots and ended this war sooner...
If only... If only Sima Yi could be somewhere else, somewhere far away from all these imbeciles!