Author's note: Hello all! I am the second author on this work and my original Pen name is aliedcam1. The Terror of Zanarkand is the other author and is a competent writer who's knowledge on the history of the Three Kingdoms of China have lead more then one interesting discussion between the two of us on History. My own expertise is in Japanese History, although my own knowledge pales in comparison to Terror's own knowledge. This story is set between two alternating points of view: Between the Three Kingdoms of China and their rulers against the invading forces of Japan under Toyatomi Hideyoshi. I do realize that the two rulers are nearly 1400 years apart in their time as rulers, but that is why this is fiction. I am more then open to suggestions or inaccuracies in my writings, and please let me know.

-aliedcam1

Disclaimer: I do not own the former Generals of Japan. They did exist and belong to themselves.

Chapter 2: An Invasion

Mori Terumoto was anxious to get to his rooms inside of Osaka castle. He walked down the wooden halls of the castle so fast, that his contingent of bodyguards had to jog alongside him just to keep pace.

Coming to an intersection, the daimyo sighed in disappointment when the eccentric old man he had been hoping to avoid stepped in front of him. The body guards around Mori went kneeling onto the ground with their faces pressed to the wooden floors. Mori bowed at the waist and came back up to look at the reigning kampaku, or regent of Japan The man was grinning like a fool at Mori.

"Ah! Terumoto, just who I've been meaning to speak to. I have something that I want to tell you about that I am planning and I need your advice on it. Are you free for some tea?"

Mori could not refuse the most powerful man in Japan, but he wished very hard that he could, "Of course Toyotomi-sama. I would be honored to join you."

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the first man to do many things in Japan, not the least of which had been to unite all of the clans and daimyo under his powerful grip. Mori had once opposed the wiry little man which stood in front of him now, but now he was one of the most trusted advisors to the would-be Shogun.

"What do you think about China?" Hideyoshi asked as he walked along in short quick strides. The two bodyguard units gracefully merged together and continued their easy walk down the wooden walks of Osaka castle.

"They make good silk…" Mori said carefully.

"Yes I know! But we have to trade with them for that silk, now don't we?"

Mori tried not to sigh, "Yes, we do."

"Well I say we invade them and take all their silk!"

Mori stumbled over his own sandals, but caught himself on the shoulders of a nearby retainer, "You want to invade China over silk?" he said nearly full of incredulity.

Hideyoshi stopped and so did the bodyguards around them, "Can you think of a better reason Terumoto?" he asked with a head tilted to the side.

Mori thought for a moment, "I can think of a few. World domination, the Chinese government slighted you for some reason, a desire to gain natural resources outside of Japan, they stole your wife…"

"They stole my wife?" the old man shouted as he reached for the hilt of the sword that he was not wearing. The body guards shifted and tried so hard to look away from their charge that they might as well have gaped.

Mori threw himself to the floor. On the verge of madness the kampaku might be, but he had been known to order seppuku for less.

"Forgive me, Hideyoshi-sama. The Chinese have not stolen your wife. I was just…" the head of the Mori clan stopped talking as the kampaku's murderous gaze fell on him. Mori put his head down to avoid having to look into the gaze of Hideyoshi. Gulping, Mori whimpered, "The Chinese my lord? You wanted to invade them?"

The murderous gaze quickly left the eyes of the Japanese leader and he smiled, "Ah yes. That reminds me Terumoto. I have something that I wanted to ask your advice about…"

Mori ground his teeth and waited for the kampaku to finish explaining what he had just explained before he said, "I like that idea. When will you begin this invasion?"

Hideyoshi looked down at his vassal in confusion, "Begin it? Why, it's already begun! The armies of the kampaku must have landed in China by now…"

Forgetting formality Mori spluttered, "It's begun? Then why did you need my advice when you've already begun a war I did not know about?"

Hideyoshi ignored Mori's outburst, "Well I suppose I should be off. Take care of Osaka castle for me Terumoto," the kampaku reached behind a wall hanging and removed his swords and armor, "Ah! So that's where I put those…"

Mori stared, "Y…you're going yourself?"

Hideyoshi placed the helmet on his head backwards, and then spun it around so that the eye slots faced front, "Of course, Terumoto! Would you like to come along too?"

Mori put his head back down to the floor, "No thank you, my lord. I've still got much to do here yet…"

"Fine. Suit yourself," Hideyoshi said as one of the kampaku's retainers brought his horse. He tried to get on it, but ended up facing backwards so he was looking out over the horses' hind end rather than over the neck.

"So long Terumoto! I'm off to conquer the world!" Hideyoshi shouted as he dug the heels into the horses' flanks. The steed jumped forward and through one of the paper walls and the beast screamed as he fell nearly three stories to the cobble stone pavement below.

The retainers all hurried out of the castle to see if their liege lord was alright. Mori sank to his knees and wanted to weep. If the kampaku was leading the armies of Japan personally, then more hazards awaited the Samurai in Korea than small things like the Chinese army…

Konishi Yukinaga sat on his horse overlooking the small coastal town inside of China. He was leading one small force that had been sent as the first vanguard to begin the assault into China. There were two others, one lead by Kato Kiyomasa and the other by Kuroda Nagamasa.

Yukinaga grimaced at the pile of the dead that used to live in the village. He offered a small prayer for their souls, even though he knew that they were Godless heathen and probably burning in hell just then.

The men under him were already clearing out away the citizen's homes and preparing the village to act as a staging ground for further conquest into the rest of China. Some of the citizens had mentioned that they were under the protection of a Lord Sun Jian, whoever he was. Another had lamented that this wouldn't have happened if they were under the protection of a Lord Liu Bei. Yukinaga couldn't make any sense of any of it, all of these Chinese had such odd names…

A retainer kneeled in front of Yakinaga's horse and made a bow with his head, "My lord, some of the villagers have managed to elude our forces and are making for Jianye."

Yukinaga's face darkened and he slapped his open palm against the saddle of his horse, "Send couriers to Lord Kuroda and Lord Kato and inform them that we have been detected," he spat. So much for surprise.

"Yes my lord," the young samurai said and with another bow scurried off to where a tent was being erected.

As if everything else weren't bad enough with this campaign, the kampaku had ordered that the first three Daimyo to go along had to have such similar sounding names. Kato, Konishi, and Kuroda. It made it very confusing when Kato got Kuroda's reports or Konishi got Kato's mother's package of homemade cookies.

One thing that Yukinaga did see though that made him smile was the unloaded regiment of riflemen that were marching off toward the village. He had heard…stories about some places in China.

Horses as big as houses and warriors that were able to fend off armies. The thought made him shiver despite the heat under the samurai's big flamboyant helmet. He was sure those boasts had been inflated. He was sure. Of course that was nothing more then rumor. Nothing.

Sighing, Yukinaga adjusted his helmet and began overseeing a defensive perimeter around the now captured town. He hoped that this Sun Jian was a sensible man, and would not resist too badly.