"Pikes down! Pikes at the ready, and CHARGE!" roared the drill
sergeant. A contingent of about five hundred pike men charged their
dummies, pierced the straw bodies, and punched holes in them the size of an
orange. Then, they quickly marched back to their starting positions, all as
one as they prepared to charged the dummies again.
Zhuge Liang watched his troops as they drilled and drilled constantly. It had been five days after the council, and it was already the fourth day of drilling. They had decided that they would drill for a week before going out to meet the enemy. This meant waking up early, drilling for five hours straight, a quick meal, drilling for another seven hours straight, a meal, and then a little more drilling. The troops were surprised and shocked at what they had to do, and there were thoughts of rebellion. But then came the thoughts of a hellish army razing their homes, and they persevered in their drills. Zhuge Liang was to devise a plot to hold the Hell Army off for a while until Cao Cao and Sun Quan could reinforce the Shu soldiers at Hanzhong.
Hatch had decided to stay with Shu to see off his vanguard and get a viewpoint of the battle. He held a smaller council with Shu's officers and officials, and they decided upon the battle formation and numbers. Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong were the vanguard leaders, and they would strike first with ten thousand armored cavalry. Guan Yu would lead the left flank with five thousand bowmen, five thousand cavalry, and ten thousand foot soldiers. Zhang Fei was to lead the right flank with two thousand crossbowmen, fifteen thousand calvary, and three thousand footmen. Liu Bei would lead the center himself with Zhuge Liang, with twenty five thousand footmen and ten thousand crossbowmen. Ma Liang would bring up the rear with five thousand calvary and a thousand mounted archers guarding supplies. The army numbered ninety one thousand men in total, with another fifty thousand back guarding Chengdu led by Ma Dai and Ma Su, with special instructions from Zhuge Liang.
And so the drilling continued on without cease, and would continue for a couple more days until the army of Hanzhong would march out against the demonic army. Zhuge Liang sighed as he racked up his brains for an assault on the opposing forces.
Ma Liang walked up to him, and asked, "What is the matter Master Sleeping Dragon?" Zhuge sighed again and replied, "It is just that the burden of this matter is so big on me. If have to lead many to battle against an evil foe, and if we lose, our homes and families can all be destroyed and massacred. That is what I'm worried about." Ma Liang looked sorry for him, and instead of leaving, he said, "Have you come up with a strategy yet?" Kongming looked at him, and responded, "I've come up with one, and I'm sure that it could work. However, I think it would sacrifice too many lives." Ma Liang looked curious, and inquired what was the plan.
"First, we will send our vanguard in to meet them. They will cause a ruckus, and set fires everywhere they step, but making a path for them to retreat. This will attract the enemy, for they feed on fire. If they are undisciplined enough, they will break for the fire. However, if that fails, they will instead crush our vanguard. I decided that we must also charge their ranks and scatter them. So Zhang Fei and Guan Yu are to lead their men with pails of water and throw it upon the enemy when they charge. I believe that it will scatter the fire-orcs, as Hatch said. This done, they will lead their men into a charge and disorganize the flanks of the enemy. Our opponents will send men to reinforce the flanks, weakening the center. As all this is being done, our main army will arrive and reinforce the vanguard, which probably would've been crushed already. The rear will bring up food, and if we drive them off we will set camp and set ambushes around the entrance of the camp if they are to perform a night-raid. If this all could succeed, we can defeat them, and Cao Cao and Sun Quan can help us."
Ma Liang was awed, and spoke, "Well then Lord Zhuge Liang, why are you so worried about lives being risked? The only real threat is our vanguard, and in war, we always need to make risks." "Have you not forgotten the enemy has more than two million soldiers? With my strategy, we have a chance of routing them, but for that we will lose almost all of our soldiers, even if they're in confusion." Ma Liang fell silent, and then said, "Well, they won't send all of their soldiers will they? Maybe around a quarter or so." "That is still 500,000 my friend, we will still be outnumbered five to one." Ma Liang, convinced by Zhuge Liang's words, decided to offer some advice. "Why not instead of sending your van to get crushed, have them lure the enemy's front lines into the hills near Hanzhong. There, you can have archers shoot arrows down at them and have men throw water down at them." "I have already thought of it. But who can we spare?" "We can have around twenty thousand archers and ten thousand soldiers from Chengdu surprise them." Kongming smiled, "Exactly my thinking."
----------
Later on that evening, the Shu officers were feasting themselves before the day they began marching. Liu Bei looked at his officers, who were looking glum at the fact that they were outnumbered badly. Smiling, Xuande reassured them, "Do not look worried my friends! What are these demons to us? We are man, and we have heaven's mandate to defeat these hellish creatures. I have Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as my brothers; Zhao Zilong, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, and Ma Dai as my generals, Ma Su, Zhuge Liang, and Ma Liang as my advisers; what have we to fear from these armies?" The officers, though they showed relief, still were gloomy inside. They weren't scared of course, but yet they each felt something troubling was going to happen to their lord and all his land. However, they kept these thoughts in their mind and continued feasting until finally it was late at night. The generals left, leaving the advisers behind to Liu Bei for their plan.
"So my advisers, have you come up with a plan to outwit the demons?" inquired Liu Bei. "Well yes, but I'm a little afraid the plan might be a little risky." As the night wore on, Liu Bei listened to Zhuge Liang's and Ma Liang's plan (for they had come up with it together) with a few comments from Ma Su in between. As each risky part was mentioned, Liu Bei's face would become wearier. Finally, Kongming ended with one last word. "My lord, are you ready to adopt this plan and take the risks?" Bei sighed, and replied, "Though an ingenious plan, it puts too many of the army in risks, and many will die, and I won't be able to stand it." "Remember my lord, Wei and Wu will come to reinforce us," said Ma Su. "Still, I can't bear it. This burden sometimes can be very heavy, in bearing the lives of many men from so many families that would be hopeless without them." The three advisors, Zhuge Liang, Ma Liang, and Ma Su, sighed at his good will. "However, I will accept this plan if this is the only thing we have," said Liu Bei quietly. Satisfied, the meeting was adjourned.
----------
It was dawn, thus marking the beginning of the great march. The generals organized their men into orderly fashion, and marched them to their positions in the formation. Tents were downed, fires quenched, equipment packed, weapons sharpened, banners raised, horses mounted; it was a great sight (not in a good way that is) as all the preparations for marching were underway. Finally, the great army of the Riverlands was organized, and all was quiet except for the occasional clanging of armor. Liu Bei rode his horse to the front of the whole army, and shouted, "Today men, we go to war! We do not march for my own purposes of ambition this very day, no we don't! Instead, we are marching for ourselves, to save the lives of our families, our relatives, our friends, our villages, from destruction of an army that's not even human! Come on men, and let us fall upon our foes like lightning. Do not be afraid of our enemy, for if you do, we will lose, and losing means we will die! Hold them off as best you can, for Wei and Wu will come and help us. FOR VICTORY!" At the last two words, Bei thrust up his magnificent sword into the air for all to see. A deafening roar came from the army as they replied in unison, "FOR VICTORY!" "Then let us go, and teach them who are the bosses of our land!"
The army shouted, yelled, and whooped as they were roused up. Drums began rolling as they signaled the beginning of the march. In high spirits, the soldiers thumped their boots together perfectly on the ground as they began moving slowly ahead. The clop clop's of horseshoes hitting the ground were heard as the cavalry galloped ahead of the foot soldiers, and then doubling back as they patrolled the flanks of the army.
Meanwhile, Liu Bei rode side by side with his advisors as they rode in the center of the whole army. Xuande looked at each one of his advisors, and smiled at them. "What do you think we should do if we come back to the Riverlands," he asked them, "Should we declare everlasting peace and retire to a happy reign and life, or shall we continue our dreams for subduing China into a land for the Han?" At these words, Ma Liang replied quickly, "Is our lord actually thinking of living a normal life? And not still aiming for a righteous course to making the Han true again?" Embarrassed, Xuande said, "I spoke in jest. I was just testing you as my advisors. Yes, I shall pursue that goal of reuniting China under the Han again. However, I believe our men will need a rest after this."
And so, the armies of Shu marched towards battle, maybe even a hopeless battle if the plan doesn't work. Wei and Wu were also preparing their battle plans. Cao Cao had prepared a contingent of five hundred thousand to fall on the rear from the north, with Liu Ye and Xun Wenruo as his strategists and advisors. He would have Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Zhang He, Yu Jin, Wen Ping, Pang De, and Xiahou Yuan lead his army as generals. Sun Quan mustered a force of a hundred thousand to reinforce Liu Bei. His advisors were Lu Meng and Lu Xun. His generals included Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, Han Dang, Dong Xi, Jiang Qin, and Ling Tong.
Would Liu Bei succeed in holding off the demonic army? Will Cao Cao and Sun Quan be able to reinforce him? To be continued.
Zhuge Liang watched his troops as they drilled and drilled constantly. It had been five days after the council, and it was already the fourth day of drilling. They had decided that they would drill for a week before going out to meet the enemy. This meant waking up early, drilling for five hours straight, a quick meal, drilling for another seven hours straight, a meal, and then a little more drilling. The troops were surprised and shocked at what they had to do, and there were thoughts of rebellion. But then came the thoughts of a hellish army razing their homes, and they persevered in their drills. Zhuge Liang was to devise a plot to hold the Hell Army off for a while until Cao Cao and Sun Quan could reinforce the Shu soldiers at Hanzhong.
Hatch had decided to stay with Shu to see off his vanguard and get a viewpoint of the battle. He held a smaller council with Shu's officers and officials, and they decided upon the battle formation and numbers. Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong were the vanguard leaders, and they would strike first with ten thousand armored cavalry. Guan Yu would lead the left flank with five thousand bowmen, five thousand cavalry, and ten thousand foot soldiers. Zhang Fei was to lead the right flank with two thousand crossbowmen, fifteen thousand calvary, and three thousand footmen. Liu Bei would lead the center himself with Zhuge Liang, with twenty five thousand footmen and ten thousand crossbowmen. Ma Liang would bring up the rear with five thousand calvary and a thousand mounted archers guarding supplies. The army numbered ninety one thousand men in total, with another fifty thousand back guarding Chengdu led by Ma Dai and Ma Su, with special instructions from Zhuge Liang.
And so the drilling continued on without cease, and would continue for a couple more days until the army of Hanzhong would march out against the demonic army. Zhuge Liang sighed as he racked up his brains for an assault on the opposing forces.
Ma Liang walked up to him, and asked, "What is the matter Master Sleeping Dragon?" Zhuge sighed again and replied, "It is just that the burden of this matter is so big on me. If have to lead many to battle against an evil foe, and if we lose, our homes and families can all be destroyed and massacred. That is what I'm worried about." Ma Liang looked sorry for him, and instead of leaving, he said, "Have you come up with a strategy yet?" Kongming looked at him, and responded, "I've come up with one, and I'm sure that it could work. However, I think it would sacrifice too many lives." Ma Liang looked curious, and inquired what was the plan.
"First, we will send our vanguard in to meet them. They will cause a ruckus, and set fires everywhere they step, but making a path for them to retreat. This will attract the enemy, for they feed on fire. If they are undisciplined enough, they will break for the fire. However, if that fails, they will instead crush our vanguard. I decided that we must also charge their ranks and scatter them. So Zhang Fei and Guan Yu are to lead their men with pails of water and throw it upon the enemy when they charge. I believe that it will scatter the fire-orcs, as Hatch said. This done, they will lead their men into a charge and disorganize the flanks of the enemy. Our opponents will send men to reinforce the flanks, weakening the center. As all this is being done, our main army will arrive and reinforce the vanguard, which probably would've been crushed already. The rear will bring up food, and if we drive them off we will set camp and set ambushes around the entrance of the camp if they are to perform a night-raid. If this all could succeed, we can defeat them, and Cao Cao and Sun Quan can help us."
Ma Liang was awed, and spoke, "Well then Lord Zhuge Liang, why are you so worried about lives being risked? The only real threat is our vanguard, and in war, we always need to make risks." "Have you not forgotten the enemy has more than two million soldiers? With my strategy, we have a chance of routing them, but for that we will lose almost all of our soldiers, even if they're in confusion." Ma Liang fell silent, and then said, "Well, they won't send all of their soldiers will they? Maybe around a quarter or so." "That is still 500,000 my friend, we will still be outnumbered five to one." Ma Liang, convinced by Zhuge Liang's words, decided to offer some advice. "Why not instead of sending your van to get crushed, have them lure the enemy's front lines into the hills near Hanzhong. There, you can have archers shoot arrows down at them and have men throw water down at them." "I have already thought of it. But who can we spare?" "We can have around twenty thousand archers and ten thousand soldiers from Chengdu surprise them." Kongming smiled, "Exactly my thinking."
----------
Later on that evening, the Shu officers were feasting themselves before the day they began marching. Liu Bei looked at his officers, who were looking glum at the fact that they were outnumbered badly. Smiling, Xuande reassured them, "Do not look worried my friends! What are these demons to us? We are man, and we have heaven's mandate to defeat these hellish creatures. I have Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as my brothers; Zhao Zilong, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, and Ma Dai as my generals, Ma Su, Zhuge Liang, and Ma Liang as my advisers; what have we to fear from these armies?" The officers, though they showed relief, still were gloomy inside. They weren't scared of course, but yet they each felt something troubling was going to happen to their lord and all his land. However, they kept these thoughts in their mind and continued feasting until finally it was late at night. The generals left, leaving the advisers behind to Liu Bei for their plan.
"So my advisers, have you come up with a plan to outwit the demons?" inquired Liu Bei. "Well yes, but I'm a little afraid the plan might be a little risky." As the night wore on, Liu Bei listened to Zhuge Liang's and Ma Liang's plan (for they had come up with it together) with a few comments from Ma Su in between. As each risky part was mentioned, Liu Bei's face would become wearier. Finally, Kongming ended with one last word. "My lord, are you ready to adopt this plan and take the risks?" Bei sighed, and replied, "Though an ingenious plan, it puts too many of the army in risks, and many will die, and I won't be able to stand it." "Remember my lord, Wei and Wu will come to reinforce us," said Ma Su. "Still, I can't bear it. This burden sometimes can be very heavy, in bearing the lives of many men from so many families that would be hopeless without them." The three advisors, Zhuge Liang, Ma Liang, and Ma Su, sighed at his good will. "However, I will accept this plan if this is the only thing we have," said Liu Bei quietly. Satisfied, the meeting was adjourned.
----------
It was dawn, thus marking the beginning of the great march. The generals organized their men into orderly fashion, and marched them to their positions in the formation. Tents were downed, fires quenched, equipment packed, weapons sharpened, banners raised, horses mounted; it was a great sight (not in a good way that is) as all the preparations for marching were underway. Finally, the great army of the Riverlands was organized, and all was quiet except for the occasional clanging of armor. Liu Bei rode his horse to the front of the whole army, and shouted, "Today men, we go to war! We do not march for my own purposes of ambition this very day, no we don't! Instead, we are marching for ourselves, to save the lives of our families, our relatives, our friends, our villages, from destruction of an army that's not even human! Come on men, and let us fall upon our foes like lightning. Do not be afraid of our enemy, for if you do, we will lose, and losing means we will die! Hold them off as best you can, for Wei and Wu will come and help us. FOR VICTORY!" At the last two words, Bei thrust up his magnificent sword into the air for all to see. A deafening roar came from the army as they replied in unison, "FOR VICTORY!" "Then let us go, and teach them who are the bosses of our land!"
The army shouted, yelled, and whooped as they were roused up. Drums began rolling as they signaled the beginning of the march. In high spirits, the soldiers thumped their boots together perfectly on the ground as they began moving slowly ahead. The clop clop's of horseshoes hitting the ground were heard as the cavalry galloped ahead of the foot soldiers, and then doubling back as they patrolled the flanks of the army.
Meanwhile, Liu Bei rode side by side with his advisors as they rode in the center of the whole army. Xuande looked at each one of his advisors, and smiled at them. "What do you think we should do if we come back to the Riverlands," he asked them, "Should we declare everlasting peace and retire to a happy reign and life, or shall we continue our dreams for subduing China into a land for the Han?" At these words, Ma Liang replied quickly, "Is our lord actually thinking of living a normal life? And not still aiming for a righteous course to making the Han true again?" Embarrassed, Xuande said, "I spoke in jest. I was just testing you as my advisors. Yes, I shall pursue that goal of reuniting China under the Han again. However, I believe our men will need a rest after this."
And so, the armies of Shu marched towards battle, maybe even a hopeless battle if the plan doesn't work. Wei and Wu were also preparing their battle plans. Cao Cao had prepared a contingent of five hundred thousand to fall on the rear from the north, with Liu Ye and Xun Wenruo as his strategists and advisors. He would have Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Zhang He, Yu Jin, Wen Ping, Pang De, and Xiahou Yuan lead his army as generals. Sun Quan mustered a force of a hundred thousand to reinforce Liu Bei. His advisors were Lu Meng and Lu Xun. His generals included Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, Han Dang, Dong Xi, Jiang Qin, and Ling Tong.
Would Liu Bei succeed in holding off the demonic army? Will Cao Cao and Sun Quan be able to reinforce him? To be continued.