Chapter 9: Taking a Stand

"Evil is allowed to reign when good men do nothing."

Han Xin sighed. Those words were so true.

But he felt it best to add a few more words of his own: "But the idiocy of good men only helps evil's cause tenfold."

Case in point...

Sima Yi cackled as he dreamed of his victory.

These animals would not expect him to attack an area which they had so successfully defended, no? They'd be overconfident, thinking that they could easily pull a second victory.

But all warfare is based on deception, and Zhongda knew that a lucky strike would cripple the animal's morale and lead to a complete and utter victory. He'd have the element of surprise.

This Feral Legion wouldn't know what hit them!

Han Xin sighed as the Sima Yi unit began fleeing for its dear, precious life.

Sima Yi was not Ma Chao, that was clear. His flanks were well guarded and his formation was sturdy. What Sima Yi failed to realize was that he'd been led into a trap the entire time. The Feral Legion had detected him quickly and had decided to ambush him at the opportune moment, cutting off his supply lines and his form of retreat and surrounding his forces completely. Outnumbered, and out-gunned, the soldiers under Sima Yi simply decided to dash about frantically and try to escape with their lives, without considering the needs of their commander. Zhongda's last minute thinking allowed him to escape unscathed, but he had lost and the Coalition had suffered another defeat.

With lousy Morale, how could any commander hope to make a gambit and think that he'd win?

Han Xin shook his head. Sooner or later he'd have to come in to teach these novices himself.

Jia Xu sighed as Sima Yi returned, with head bowed and eyes drooping towards the ground. The man who claimed to be Wei's finest strategist had been humbled by the same animals that schooled Ma Chao.

And Wei's other great strategist was quite annoyed at that.

"Master Guo, should we just fire this idiot?" Jia Xu turned to Guo Jia, who smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"If he came in here shamelessly, I'd say yes. Otherwise, he might redeem himself."

"Redeem himself? Hah! And have us lose another legion of soldiers? We're not at our maximum fighting strength, not even close, and yet he decides to go on another joyride. Well, of course he'll be licked and come crawling back to us for forgiveness!" Jia Xu nearly exploded.

"Calm down. Anger solves nothing, especially in a crisis like this." Zhang Liang spoke.

"I still say you should fire him, Wenhe. He's absolutely useless." Zhuge Liang laughed. (1.)

"And yet you failed as well." Zhou Yu sighed. "To fire any of our more competent strategists is an idiot's move. We must find a plan to save our skins, and firing our brightest would kill us in that regard."

"Thank you, Zhou Yu." Sima Yi looked up and smiled a little.

"Know that if this were a different time and place, I'd be ordering your execution." Zhou Yu stared at Sima Yi grimly.

Zhongda got the message, and slowly backed off.

"Alright, then. So you say that we should calm down and brainstorm. Fine. Does anyone have a seemingly usable idea as of yet?!" Jia Xu groaned. "No? I didn't think so. Instead of spending hours planning while the enemy inches ever closer, I say mobilize now and fortify our perimeter. One who is indecisive or inactive at the critical moment will suffer defeat, mark my words."

"An ill planned defense can easily be paper thin. I suggest we deploy scouts to learn of the enemy's movements so that our defenses can counter their exact strikes." Guo Jia offered.

"Good idea. Would anyone like to volunteer?" Zhang Liang smiled.

"I would." Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi spoke at once, but realizing that the other made that offer made both cringe.

Zhou Yu just glared at them. "Oh, be men and take those duties. You'll finally be able to redeem yourselves that way."

"Oh, they're a long way from that, Gongjin, but at least this time they'll prove themselves to be useful." Jia Xu crossed his arms.

Zhang Liang groaned. His peers would never stop arguing, would they?

Surprisingly enough, Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang were better spies than field strategists, and soon the Coalition's officers received the best maps and projected attack patterns that the Feral Legions would use.

Even if some maps were covered in suspicious writing like: "he's lying" or "my colleague is an idiot," the maps both strategists produced seemed rather well drawn and detailed.

Even Jia Xu, pragmatic and arrogant as he was, could not deny that these maps were very well done.

As they reviewed the maps, the strategists of China's Coalition decided upon their next move:

They would send troops to guard Jiangxia, as it was clear that the enemy had begun its march upon that city.

The question was, would they make it in time?

"Commander Guo Huai, we've just lost our forward camp to a pack of these centaurs!"

"What?" Guo Huai shook his head as the Wu scout frantically reported the situation. As a veteran Wei commander he had dealt with many Qiang incursions in the past, and his record at squashing them was quite well set, but these centaurs were barely similar to the Qiang. They were a far stronger foe, and he was not prepared to face them now.

"Give me more details. What is the estimation of the enemy's troop strength?

"No idea, sir."

"No idea?"

"They just came and slaughtered every single soldier they met. If I told you that they numbered around 500,000, would that help your plans any more, sir?"

Guo Huai facepalmed. "All units, gather yourselves at any opening you find. Archers, be ready to fire at whatever charges at us. If we are to survive this, we'll have to fight like cornered rats. We want to be alive to see our allies come to save us, right? Get moving."

The land shook with the pounding of hooves as Xiang Yu and the other Coalition officers rushed to Jiang Xia's aid.

Even with Guo Huai, a tried Wei commander, guarding the city, the warriors and strategists enroute knew that the Feral Legion would be more than a match for him.

"How would you like to bet that Guo Huai's already been overwhelmed? I'll bet 40 copper coins." Sima Yi spoke up suddenly, startling some of his colleagues.

"2 gold pieces." Jia Xu smirked.

"Coward. That's less than my bet. Anyone else?" (2.)

"Profiting from an ally's defeat is rather cruel, and stupid, because you're expecting us to have to retake the city." Zhang Liang sighed.

"But you can't deny that Guo Huai's not competent enough to win. I bet 3 gold pieces." Zhuge Liang retorted.

"Nice! Maybe I should raise my bet." Sima Yi smirked.

"It's not that big a difference. I'd rather have him surviving anyway. I'll bet 4 silvers that he survives." Zhou Yu added.

"How naïve." Sima Yi laughed. "We'll be making money off of you pretty soon, Zhou Yu."

"It is not wise to participate in this." Zhang Liang pointed out.

"I'd like to bet 5 gold coins that Guo Huai survives and that he succeeds in holding off the enemy. Gongjin won't have any penalty for his bet, either." Guo Jia spoke.

"Favoritism!" Jia Xu growled.

"Wow, and I thought that Zhou Yu was an idiot. You're on, Fengxiao." Sima Yi smiled. "Don't cry when you find us rich on your expense."

"Can we stop talking and ride a bit faster? Jiang Xia might be in ruins and we're too busy arguing over a stupid bet!" Xiang Yu growled, scaring everyone into silence.

Han Xin smiled as he witnessed the battle of Jiangxia.

Guo Huai was holding his own, somehow, even though he practically lost most of the forward camps in the area. The city of Jiangxia was still in Chinese hands, and that was the most important issue of the day. If he could hold the city for just a few more days, his reinforcements would certainly arrive and the Feral Legion would be driven out.

But then he saw it: A company of Feral troops were heading for his southern flank.

It seemed that a small unit of scouts was encamped near the enemy position, trying to give Guo Huai some more knowledge of the terrain and the situation, but these scouts were so incompetent that they were unaware of their foes advancing on them.

Thus, in order to save China, Han Xin would finally have to strike.

But what would the significance of this little move be?

1. Jia Xu's style name is Wenhe

2. Since this universe has already been screwed, I can make up my own currency chart.

1 silver piece = 5 copper pieces.

1 gold piece = 15 copper pieces

Of course, with some basic math:

3 silver pieces = 1 gold piece