Dynasty Warriors: To End the Chaos
Chapter 9 of my Dynasty Warriors story, enjoy.
Reviews
Wolfgirl77769: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; what kind of spell?
Diao Lover: Yeah, they should have, glad you enjoyed it :)
kkman57: Nope, of course not, Dong Zhuo wasn't there after all; glad you liked that scene; thanks :)
Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: Dynasty Warriors belongs to Koei.
Chapter 9: Battle of Tianshui
Completely unaware of what had transpired and at his loss of the capital Dong Zhuo was holding a feast with certain members of his army at his home castle of Tianshui. Li Su; Liu Ai, Xun Shuang, Dong Yue, Dong Huang, Li Jue, Xu Rong, Zhang Zhi and Zhang Xiu all sat with their lord, enjoying the feast. While all this was going on Zhuge Liang brought his army towards Tian Shui and set up his main camp, he then assembled his officers. Accompanying him on this battle was his wife Yueying, his pupil Jiang Wei along with Ma Chao, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao. Also with them was Gao Xiang, Ma Su, Zhou Cang, Liao Hua, Yan-Yan, Liu Feng, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang. They were sitting around a large map of the area.
Finally Zhuge Liang spoke. "Our objective here is to claim the three castles, Nan'an, Anding and the main castle of Tianshui." He paused before adding, "Likely, the enemy will now know we are here and will scramble to get into position. Our scouts should return soon and inform us of who is stationed where."
Sure enough the scouts soon arrived and gave their reports; Dong Huang was stationed in Nan'an with Liu Ai and Xu Rong, Dong Yue was stationed at Anding with Zhang Zhi and Zhang Xiu, Dong Zhuo himself was at Tianshui with Li Su, Li Jue and Xun Shuang. Zhuge Liang nodded. He then turned back to his officers.
"Good, everything is going as we foresaw; our sudden arrival has the enemy in a panic and they are scrambling to get into position, let's not waste this opportunity." He stated; then he made his announcement. "Jiang Wei, it is time to show me what you have learned. You shall take charge of this battle and lead the army."
Jiang Wei bowed. "You can rely on me, my lord; I shall lead us to victory."
With that the Shu army advanced from their camp.
Almost immediately they came into contact with three of Dong Zhuo's officers; Xu Rong, Zhang Xiu and Li Jue. Jiang Wei made a bold presentation of his banners and challenged them, when they agreed to the challenge he rode out to face them along with Guan Xing and Zhang Bao. Each trio of warriors fought valiantly, three-on-three until finally Dong Zhuo's men fled back to their castles. It was then that Jiang Wei began to implement his first strategy.
"I made sure they saw my banner, so they and their scouts would recognize it." He explained to his colleagues. He then turned to Yueying, "My lady, I shall remain here with half the army, if you could take the other half and my banner towards Anding, then I should be able to lure the enemy out of Nan'an."
Yueying agreed to the plot and did as Jiang Wei requested. Jiang Wei then waited in ambush as, just like he predicted, the scouts reported his banner heading to Anding and leaving the main camp undefended from Nan'an. The doors opened and the three officers inside, along with their troops rode out to claim the main camp. Jiang Wei launched his ambush and took the enemy by surprise. Liu Ai and Xu Rong were forced to flee the battlefield while Dong Huang was captured. After stationing their own troops there, the Shu army turned for Anding.
There Jiang Wei formed a second strategy and so he arrayed his men; He rode out front, Yueying to his left, the bound Dong Huang to his right. He called out for Dong Yue to show himself. He did so and Jiang Wei offered to return his brother to him, if he surrendered the castle. Dong Yue turned to speak with Zhang Zhi and Zhang Xiu quietly.
"What should we do?" He asked, "If I leave our brother in their clutches my lord will be most displeased."
Zhang Zhi pondered for a moment and then stated. "This Jiang Wei is arrogant; we can take advantage of that."
Zhang Xiu agreed.
"Yes, open the gates and let him in; we'll be waiting to ambush him as he enters, then we can claim his head."
Dong Yue agreed to the plan and took his place, as his officers took theirs. The gates were opened and Jiang Wei began to ride forwards slowly, Yueying and Dong Huang accompanying him. However another rider took up position just behind Jiang Wei and Dong Yue paled. He recognized the magnificent helm and mighty stallion spear of Ma Chao and knew the ambush was doomed. But he was powerless to stop it. So, when the ambush was launched the Shu army surged in and turned it against them. In the confusion Dong Huang escaped and along with his brother and Zhang Zhi and Zhang Xiu, fled the battle field. Jiang Wei garrisoned Anding and then marched his army towards Tianshui. There he began attempting to besiege the castle, but Dong Zhuo held fast, Li Su and Li Jue went from gate to gate, wall to wall, desperately holding firm and encouraging the troops. Xun Shuang ensured that the defence held against siege weapons and now, almost three whole weeks since they had left Chengdu, Tianshui still held fast.
Regretful and vexed over this; Jiang Wei sent a messenger back to the main camp; informing Zhuge Liang of his successes and his current predicament. In response to this message Zhuge Liang himself arrived and took charge of the battlefield. He gave certain instructions and then settled into the siege. The whole week was a nightmare for Dong Zhuo and his men; every night, every hour, on the hour, the men of Shu would explode bombs, beat drums and raise a clamour as if attacking. However they only launched small raids on every third attempt. This led to apprehension that they were building up to a large attack. Eventually, after a whole week of this Dong Zhuo's men could barely stand and Zhuge Liang allowed Jiang Wei to resume his attack. This time, despite their best efforts the castle could not be held and the Shu army surged in. Dong Zhuo and his men fled. The Shu army claimed Tianshui and got to work burying the dead, calming the people and rebuilding the damaged castles and securing their strength. Meanwhile Dong Zhuo and his men that fled with him stopped and caught their breath. They set up camp and waited to recover at the Wu Zhang Plains. Those that had fled the battle beforehand heard about this and rushed to join their lord. With the army he had taken to Tianshui back together, although much smaller, he felt relieved enough to sit and rest for a while. More bad news reached him however, following their victory in Tianshui the Shu army sent another contingent from Cheng Du, led by Ma Dai, they had managed to reclaim Liang Province. Dong Zhuo's territory had been vastly reduced; however unbeknownst to him, this was just the beginning of his problems.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.