Back again, enjoy
Just so you know, I'm using the name for the battle in China, so this is just the battle of Chi Bi.
Chapter 13: Red cliffs
I did think while moving into position about a few things. This was our first major battle…and I mean more major then Jing. Would we come back in one piece or would something happen?
"Tell me again what we're doing?" I asked Xun whilst moving a few pots around.
"Setting up the shrine for Lord Zhuge Liang" he told me, he seemed oddly peppy right now, as if he had a want for Zhuge Liang to succeed. Well, I for one didn't know what the plan was as I wasn't invited to that meeting. "Once we're done here, we are to defend this area"
"Well, that seems easy" I replied, sarcastically, finishing moving the pots. "So where is the man in question?"
As I said this, Zhuge Liang walked up some stairs to the altar, holding his fan in his hand.
"Master Xi, I require use of your long sword for this ceremony" he started, walking over to me slowly. "I need it so that I may summon forth the wind and grant our united force victory"
"Look, I missed out on that meeting, mind filling me in?" I asked him, unstrapping the sword from my belt.
"The forces of Wu command the Navy, while Lui Bei's wandering Militia handle the tactics and espionage" Xun told me, walking over to me and moving his hands around as he explained. "Master Pang Tong will chain the enemy ships together, Lord Zhuge Liang will summon forth a wind, if that's possible, and somehow the Wu navy will set Cao Cao's fleet aflame" Xun looked back, seeing the units of spears and bows assembled. "But I don't think this will be enough to beat him back"
"Hey, don't worry Xun" I told him, passing my sword to Zhuge Liang. "We will win, just have faith, alright?" I looked at him, seeing him get his swords ready. "Besides, we have to believe that we'll all return home"
He remained silent after this, Zhuge Liange getting the sword out and doing some weird dance while speaking in a different language altogether. Both me and Xun left the shrine, giving him space to work.
The shrine was set up on a hill, protected by the terrain. I looked at the soldiers, seeing them nervous about the battle. I knew I couldn't really do anything. I got my blade out, thinking of how Sarah might be doing. I stood next to a spearman, hoping to get in on some combat.
Five minutes passed then an hour, then two. Still no enemy sightings, no reports of what's going on any of the other fronts, After three hours we had our first report…Pang Tong had succeeded in his ploy, but still no combat.
"Why am I almost always the last one into battle?" I moaned, putting my sword into the ground, standing next to it and looking into the distance. I was missing out on one hell of a battle jut to protect some shrine. Why couldn't we just move out and attack them head on?
My 'prayers' were answered when I saw a load of horsemen in the distance, their lances ready and their plate armour shiny and blue. I made out the shape of an officer among their ranks. A young man with a pole arm of some kind, His light blue armour and…hat really did stand out, and a cape…who wears a cape on the battlefield?
"Men of Wei, we must defeat whatever plan these men of Wu have!" he told his men, his voice sounded a bit deep, but not very. He held his weapon high and his men did the same, cheering as they did so. I could see some of the men in our ranks quiver, saying the name 'Zhang Liao'. I didn't know why they were scared, but I wasn't about to let it stand.
"Men of Wu!" I started, grabbing my sword and resting it on my shoulder. "We have been entrusted with guarding Lord Zhuge Liang!" I walked in front of the men, including Xun. "We have right on our side! The gods are on our side! We shall not lose!" I raise my sword, the men doing the same with their weapons, even doing a little cheer. I looked at the enemy, seeing that the unit was, entirely, horsemen. "Spears, front with a spear wall, Archers behind, firing at will"
The soldiers moved accordingly, Xun standing next to me, smiling. I could tell he was glad I did that speech, but something told me a speech wasn't going to be enough. We needed to keep our spirits high if we were going to beat the enemy back. Why did my second battle have to be so important?
I stood behind the first spear line, keeping my sword ready. I looked into the distance and saw Half of the enemy troops, including Zhang Liao, dismount. The other half charged us, hoping to get some kind of advantage; the archers fired their first round over our heads with an amazing volley. Annoyingly all the shots missed…but I wasn't actually bothered.
About three quarters of the horsemen, which was roughly half of our unit, hit the 'wall' of spears, falling off as they hit the points. I swung my sword around, using the flames to do a bit more damage, to some of the enemy that got through. I saw Xun out of my eye corner using his blades as if they were just extensions of his arms, sometimes making fireballs come out of his swords which exploded, oddly not injuring our own side.
The archers got out a sword each, stopping firing and walking into the melee. I kept on swinging my blade around, feeling blood splash on my face and in other areas which I won't mention out of courtesy. I had floored about five when I noticed that the general's ranks had also met us.
"On your back!" I heard Xun shout, I turned round, seeing one of the enemy getting ready to stab me in the back. I dodged to he left, slamming my sword down as I finished in order to burn him.
"Thanks" I told Xun, walking over to him, slashing at three more enemy soldiers. I held the blade in one hand (That's how light Xing had made it). One of the enemies tried to slash me, which I blocked and countered, starting by kicking him in the crotch and slashing him in the chest. Block splattering across my leg.
"So, we shouldn't have to hold these off for long" he told me, slashing at two enemy soldiers, I could see blood splatter along his arm. "I just hope Morale holds"
I looked round, seeing soldiers dying left right and centre. There had to be a better way to end this without all of this bloodshed, a way to get the enemy to retreat. I slashed at two more, defending myself from their attacks.
I saw Zhang Liao, spinning his pole arm around, killing several of our soldiers every time. His blue armour started turning crimson, and that was when I decided enough was enough here. This was more bloodshed then Jing…either that or I was more sensitive to it.
"Xun" I start, my voice seems a bit…darker then before. He looks at me, worried, as if I was about to do or say something stupid. "I'm going to kill that Liao"
"Don't do it Lord Fu" he told me, slashing round me to hit an enemy. "He's too strong for you to handle alone"
"Well, that just makes this more of a challenge and better for us when we win" I replied, smiling and spinning the sword in my hand.
I don't know what came over me, but I just saw red, the battlefield quieted around me. I ran towards Zhang Liao, thinking of how to beat him. He swung his pole arm at more of the soldiers, killing them without giving them a chance.
"Zhang Liao!" I shouted, holding my sword in both of my hands. He looked at me, surprised I would charge him. He swung his Pole arm low, which I jumped and tried to counter, swinging my sword down upon him.
"Nice try" he spoke, raising his weapon above him to block me. I heard the steel slam together, followed by a shockwave…were we really that strong?
I pushed off him, landing on the ground a few feet away from him, sliding in the ground as I did. I put my sword in the ground to stop me sliding, adrenaline flowing through me. He span his weapon above him, sliding along the ground towards me. I ducked under it, attempting to slash at his legs. He jumped, doing what I had done a few seconds a go.
"Try harder next time" I taunted, raising my sword above me, blocking him, I felt my feet sink into the ground a small bit, but not much. I gritted my teeth, hoping to push him off. "For Wu!" I shouted, making flames dance along my sword again. He pushed off as he saw this, hoping not to get burnt, doing a back flip.
He slid back, holding his weapon in the ground to keep from sliding. I looked at his face, seeing him smiling.
"This is your path then warrior" he spoke, getting his weapon out of the ground, spinning it round and finishing with it behind his back. "What is your name?"
"My name is Fu Xi" I told him, getting my sword into a good stance. "But names don't mean much to the dead"
I charged him again, slashing at him when I got close enough. He blocked and span round, slashing at my side. I tried to jump out of the way, but was still cut by the blade. I grabbed my side, feeling the blood ooze slowly out. He kept on going, slashing at me again. I raised my blade in time to block.
"Your right, names don't mean much to the dead" he taunted, kicking my arm in an attempt to get me to drop my sword.
"Not that easy" I replied, taking one hand off my sword to grab his spear, I moved the blade away, moving his weapon out of the way of me. "I won't die here"
I slammed my blade into the ground, making flames shoot around me. Part of the flames hit Zhang Liao, his cape aflame, but he was still alive, if injured. I was worn out, that small bit of combat was very tiring, but then again, he was a strong general.
The soldiers on our side shouted, fighting back even stronger then before. Xun was beside them, cutting down more then his fair share of soldiers. Me and Zhang Liao were down on the ground, recovering our strength. He had burn marks evident on him. I had a cut in my side.
I got up first, looking at the soldiers, thinking that it would be good to help them, and then I looked back at Zhang Liao, the thought of killing him surging to the front of my mind. I walked over to him, sword in hand.
"Go Ahead" he spoke, lowering his head in shame. "Do it" I held my sword up above me, getting ready to strike the blow that would finish him…
SHRING!! THUMP!!
I brought my sword down, seeing Xun look at me in surprise. Zhang Liao looked up at me, seeing I had missed him, my blade embedded nearby in the ground. In a moment of sanity, I chose to miss him.
"What…" Zhang Liao started, looking at me. I pulled my blade out, breathing heavily.
"If you want to live, then I suggest you run" I told him, putting my sword over my shoulder and running to join our soldiers. I ran by Xun who was watching Zhang Liao.
I swung my sword at three enemy soldiers, dropping them instantly. I held my blade, getting ready to dodge and counter. That was when I saw Zhang run by me, his arm in the air.
"Soldiers, retreat!" he shouted, stopping to make sure his men got the word. "We must pull back and live to fight another day!"
All the enemy soldiers looked at him, fear in their eyes. I was glad I didn't have to fight anymore of them. They looked back at each other, thinking of running.
Well, I say they were thinking of running, but all of them started running at the same time away from us. I put my sword into the ground, thankful that I could rest after the battle. I looked at Zhang Liao, seeing him follow his men, making sure that they were safe. I had to respect him for that.
"What exactly happened there?" Xun asked me. I looked at him, wondering what he meant. "Just now with the fight"
"Oh, that" I answered, sitting down on the ground. "I don't know why, but I just couldn't watch those soldiers die" I looked up, thinking back and trying to recall what set me off. "I just thought there had to be a better way, a way so that we didn't have to kill our own countrymen. Then I saw him killing loads of our men and I just lost it" I got up, looking at Xun.
"Well, that's one hell of an arm you have there" he replied, almost too calm. "I wonder what it could do in the name for Wu"
"Look, I'll be honest, I don't give a shit what happens to me, so long as Nu is safe" I flexed my arm, hoping to get the stiff feeling out of it. "Now how much longer do we have to wait until Zhuge Liang is done?"
You know the phrase 'speak of the devil', well as I finished that sentence I saw a flag in the distance turn the other way. It used to be blowing towards the Wu fleet but now it was pointing towards the enemy fleet…meaning that if the ships were set aflame, the flames would spread like wildfire.
I raised my hand in pride as I saw it, the troops following my example. We had hope that we might win this battle, and we knew the enemy didn't know of our plan…all that was left to do was set the ships aflame.
A messenger ran over to us bowing before me and Xun. We stood in front of him, hoping to hear his new orders.
"Lord Sun Quan wants Fu Xi to move north alone to reinforce Lord Pang Tong's retreat" he told us. We looked at each other, confused by the order. Why not send the whole unit?
He ran off after saying the order, moving back to his old position. Zhuge Liang walked out of his Shrine, my sword and sheath in hand. I pulled my sword out and strapped it to my back then running over to him with Xun.
"New orders?" The strategist asked, passing me my equipment.
"I'm to move north and reinforce Pang Tong's retreat" I told him, strapping the scabbard to my side.
"It's got to be a trap" Xun told us. We both looked at him, I was surprised and Zhuge wasn't.
"That would make sense" Zhuge replied, looking at me. "Lord Fu Xi, I suggest you be careful on your Order"
"I always am" I replied, smiling. "Besides, how bad can it be?"
"Lord Cao Cao is a cunning man" Xun told me, now moving his hands to explain. "If you moved north and it was a trapped, you could be captured…or worse"
I gulped as he said 'or worse', thinking that I didn't want to die yet. But then, if Pang Tong was retreating, then I couldn't exactly leave him to die.
"Well, either way, I'm heading out" I told them, walking away from the shrine. "I can't leave a good man to die, even if it does turn out to be a trap" I heard Xun catch up to me and I could guess what he was going to say.
"Lord Fu Xi, please, don't go" he begged. I wish I didn't have to go, but this young boy…well, about my age, didn't know much about me.
"Sorry, Xun, I have to" I kept on walking, seeing him stop. "Besides, I'll be back; I have a promise to keep to someone"
He stopped after that, and I started running, hoping to reach Pang Tong in time. I looked into the distance, seeing multiple lights go along the river. I guessed that was how they intended to spread the flames. I ignored it, still heading north from the shrine.
About an hour later, the flames had taken hold and MASSIVE flames could be seen in the distance. I was gladdened by that, and also hoping that Sarah and Shinra were ok over there. After about two more minutes of running, I found someone, dressed totally in green with only his eyes visible, he held a staff in his right hand. I walked over to him, hoping it was the guy I was meant to reinforce.
"Excuse me" I started, getting closer to him. "Are you lord Pang Tong?" He remained silent and really nothing happened…well, until I reached out to him.
"Fool!" Someone shouted. The guy vanished in a cloud of dust. I covered my eyes to avoid being blinded by it, but someone came up behind me and hit me over the back of the head.
I fell to the ground, steadily losing consciousness. I kept my eyes open, looking at the 'shadows' move in front of me, hearing voices.
"What shall we do with him, Lord Sima Yi?" a soldier asked. He held his spear on the ground, getting closer to look at me.
"Take him back to the camp" a calm, cold voice spoke. I could see someone with a fan but couldn't make out anything else. "We may have lost this battle, but I'm sure Wu will miss losing this officer more"
That was when I blacked out, but one word passed through my lips before I did.
"Sorry…"
I had to think it. Why couldn't I have thought of something good like 'we win with no casualties'? I was just thinking where did all of that strength come from, and would Sarah and Shinra come and help me. Or would we have yet another mysterious ally?
Sorry I haven't updated in so long, I've had tons to do with coursework and school and possible career options. I'm doing this as much as I can but writer's block is slowing me down…heck, I only got inspiration for this from staying up late trying to work on this.
Now a little background here, the battle of Chi Bi as we call it is know as the battle of red cliffs in China, known as such because the cliffs of the Chang Jiang River were red for a few months after the battle. Zhou Yu and Huang Gai implemented the 'desperation plan', where an officer, I.e. Huang Gai, would be beaten up enough to make him look harmless, and then he would feign a defection to get into the ranks. If you've played the games, you know what happened next, the fire attack on Wei's fleet, aided by the Linked ship plan and the Miracle winds. Sima Yi and Lu Xun were present apparently, they just weren't officers of any stature.