Kapitel 31: The man who wished to be King
Unknown PoV
It is often said that those who become king, they are blessed by the Heavens . They were destined to be king. Every struggle, every battle, and their very surroundings and people would pave the way towards the throne.
But the throne is something everyone desires, and would do anything to be King. Long before the birth of the warring states, or perhaps from the beginning of humankind, everyone had that dream to stand atop others, to rule over these lands, to be a king.
For me, it was just an ambition, maybe a goal that took root in my heart ever since I was a mere child. I always knew just sitting on the throne doesn't make you a king, nor does having the wealth to build a nation. It is armies that grant you that privilege, the weapons and strategies that help you conquer the kingdoms.
In this chaotic era, the one with the greater army shall swallow the weak. This is how only 7 kingdoms exist after the 500 years of war between hundreds of nations.
I thought myself to be strong, my intellect unmatched and the wealth of the Ou(Wang) family to establish my foundation. All I lacked was competent soldiers and strong generals. As long as I have that, I can train an invincible army that can grant my all desires. But suddenly the chance arrived in front of me . All I needed to do was grasp it.
But it's not without perils. I have to fight someone who is very strong, perhaps stronger than me. It would be interesting to see the gap in our intelligence. I didn't wish to face him considering his unpredictability, but what that guy spoke is indeed true." You can keep waiting for the opportunity, or make your own fate with your own hands."
*Present time*
The second day of the battle of Sanyou arrived rather quickly. After the first day's mistake, Wei decided to follow Renpa's plan and send Genpo the strategist. Wei army who was lacking moral decided to fight passively while Genpo would be the offensive force.
This turned out to be the correct decision as Genpo used the bell formation to cover the field with smoke and death. Qin soldiers ran around the smoke trying to avoid the arrows but they got found each time.
*Flashback*
"Up there, on the castle walls!" A Qin soldier shouted in alarm, and all eyes turned to the walls of the castle, where they could see soldiers of the Wei Army wheeling out siege engines and load huge jars on the catapults.
Before the command post could set out a warning, the catapults loosened their load, and dozens of jars, each the size of a small pony rose through the air and crashed into the middle of the battlefield, clearly delineating the two forces.
The jars burst with a thunderous impact, and out of them rose a thick hazy smoke, clearly obfuscating the battlefield. The bombardment continued relentlessly as more and more jars were thrown about, and the smoke became so much, that for a few minutes, the gargantuan castle of Shangyong was itself obscured from view.
As the sounds of the huge bells began to resonate around the battlefield, the vanguard general Shuki reigned in his horse, and took stock of the situation. The Qin soldier formations were all but gone as confusion and panic took over them.
"That noise!"
"W-what on earth is that ruckus!?"
"W-what's going on!?"
"The hell is that?"
Meanwhile, on the other side, Genpo's retainer MaQi reeled in his attack, as he too heard the sounds made by the ringing bells.
"Tsk! That's a bit too early! I guess Genpo sama does not wish to play around anymore! Order our 2nd wave to fire ."
"They're coming! Brace yourselves!"
shouted Shuki as he noticed more catapults lining up on the walls.
The first few jars smashed into the open ground a few hundred yards in front of him, and a thick smoke began to spread around the field.
"Hold! Hold the lines! You must hold!" he shouted desperately as he tried to rally his men through the unceasing bombardment from the walls of the castle.
"Tch! A smokescreen on this scale!
Enough to cover the whole battlefield?
What is Wei playing at?" Ouhon wondered as he watched the scene playing on the battlefield below alongside Mouten and Shin from their headquarters.
In the field, the situation was getting out of hand. "Uncle!" shouted a Qin soldier aloud as he rode up to Shuki, "Are you unharmed? " Damn it Wang shu! What happened to you and the squad with you ?" His voice was stern but laid with concern as he saw two arrows sticking out of his nephew. WangShu scratched uis head and replied," we got separated in the smoke and there were arrows flying everywhere. They are shooting arrows in the smoke and a lot of people died, So I came to check on you uncle."
Shuki sighed and spoke "We have been outplayed, this smoke has robbed us of our vision and our men cannot move! We must get out of this smoke." Wang Shu, the nephew of Vanguard general Shuki yelled in response, " let's go then uncle . I'll protect your back as we retreat. We can fight back after that."
Shuki, amidst the chaos managed to smile and pat his nephew's shoulder and said," you're too young for it WangShu. Stay close to me as we make for HQ. You are already injured, I can't let you stay here. The rest of the soldiers, form a shield wall and retreat back to HQ. We must gather back at HQ and plan."
Together, they started making thier way out of the smoke accompanied by a small squad. While riding , Wang Shu rode beside Shuki and spoke," But uncle, if we just retreat first , what about the soldiers who are ahead of us deep inside the smoke? Won't they just die misarably?"
Shuki gritted his teeth and replied," Mougou sama entrusted the front to me so he can take action somewhere else. Our job is not to win here but to hold the enemy off.
Even if I tried to go back and gather everyone, it won't help as the battle is too chaotic. And if I fall there, the whole Vanguard will be wiped out and we'll lose the war. I can only order the retreat and hope my message can reach everywhere in time."
Shuki looked at WangShu and spoke gently ," A general has to sometimes make hard decisions that will make thousands lose their lives. The only thing you can do is to make sure they didn't die in vain. You take the opportunity they created by laying down their lives and avenge them." Also, I can't protect you always kid , so I'll take you out of here and return to rearrange the defenses."
Suddenly there was a faint sound of bells near them. Shuki, being a veteran and following General Mougou for years yelled immediately, " raise shields, enemy attack !"
But before they could respond, a dense rain of arrows fell towards them. Shuki watched with horror as the arrows rained down on them.
Almost half of them died in that barrage. Once the arrows stopped, Shuki yelled to keep moving forward . He wanted to get away from the smoke to regroup immediately as the longer this go on, the more damage Qin will receive. He pulled the injured WangShu on his horse as his one died.
They kept moving but the arrows never stopped. After a few moments, they were almost out of the smoke.
But suddenly there was a sharp whistle and the horse was stuck by an arrow, throwing them off. Wang Shu managed to get up and rushed to his uncle to carry him out of there, but suddenly another wave of arrows arrived.
Without moving from there , this was certain death. Wang Shu tried his best to drag his uncle away from it, but the arrows arrived immediately. He could only close his eyes and hug his uncle.
Suddenly he felt being pushed behind as the arrows pierced something. Wang Shu opened his trembling eyes as he saw his uncle standing in front of him with his arms spread, his body covered with hundreds of arrows. His mind went blank as he saw his uncle falling down to the ground.
Wang Shu cried out loud as he tried to grab his uncle. It was already too late. Shuki, with his last breath spoke ," leave me andbGo back to the HQ , wait for General Mougou. If he loses, run away somewhere safe and live a peaceful life. Don't try to avenge me." Wang Shu refused and spoke," I'm not leaving you uncle. I'll take you with me. We'll go back home together."
Shuki coughed up some blood and spoke," don't die here like me kid . I have watched you grow up after your parents died, and it has been my greatest joy. My only regret is not watching you get married and playing with my grand kids as I grow old. Save yourself little Shu, be happy. I'll always be watching over you." With that, Shuki closed his eyes with a smile as Wang Shu howled in anguish with tears.
Nobody cared about this young boy as he lost his only relative here. There was no arrows to claim his life as well. Maybe the Wei soldiers thought taking out the vanguard general was enough and ignored this young soldier.
But they really should have. Maybe it was fate, or maybe just a coincidence. But on this day , a small mistake of Wei would prove fatal for them in the future. As this young boy would later accompany the Qin army and take down the Wei capital with vindictive strategy.
Near Qin HQ
"And just when we had managed to halt the rout as well, this is an enemy scheme, no doubt," Mouten sighed even as he moved back with his soldiers.
The majority of the Qin cavalry which was made up of many veterans was becoming agitated.
Having their charge broken in a spectacular fashion, the shame of being made to retreat by a force half their size was sorely rankling the men, who were shouting at their opponents in a bid to vent their frustration.
The Qin soldiers were massacred within the smoke while Renpa decided to explore the forests to find out Ousen and Kanki's location. Qin HQ seeing the carnage in the battlefield, called for a full retreat as the commander was already dead. They wanted to cut their losses and save strength.
But all of a sudden , there was a huge commotion behind Qin HQ as Kaishibou of Renpa's four pillars chose to attack the rear army reserves. This led to the communication being cut off and soldiers running away without discipline.
Being attacked from front and rear, specially after the defeat, lowered Qin morale further. Some even trampled over their comrades just to escape, causing further flaws in the Qin formation. The defending general shouted loudly to rally the soldiers to defend the HQ, but very few responded to his command.
But just as Kaishibou made his way towards the main HQ, he found out Mougou was not there. Instead , a silver armored general riding a white horse stood there calmly holding a spear. Surrounding him was one of the most famous armies of China that hasn't been seen in a while. Kaishibou, awestruck could mutter only these words," you have to be kidding me!"
Shin PoV
This is really bad. The advantage we gained on the first day is gone and Wei has us on the ropes suddenly. Most of the battlefield is chaotic and disorderly now. Only Mouten and Ouhon has their units together with some other Qin soldiers. Together, we have almost 7,000 soldiers.
We have no idea how many soldiers the enemy HQ has now, but it has to be around 10,000 atleast. They won't be taken by surprise like yesterday as they will be ready. Suddenly we heard a large commotion behind us and I saw the Qin HQ in flames.
My blood ran cold. If the main HQ which was mostly empty was breached, this could end this war . Mouten was very agitated as he was concerned for his grandfather. He wanted to rush immediately without any plan. But with just us, there is very little we can do.
Ouhon of all people, suddenly came up to us said," we need to hit the Wei HQ immediately to divert their attention. If the enemy achieves success here as well, this war will be over. We can only attack their HQ to relieve ours."
Mouten replied," But even if we can take down this HQ, there's no guarantee that our main HQ would last that long. My grandfather doesn't have his lieutenants with him so they are outnumbered."
I yelled angrily," Get your head together Mouten! If we rush back, everyone here will die. Then even if we rescue General Mougou, we won't be able to fight again, let alone win. We have to attack the Wei general Genpo and take him out. We have to win this so we don't make all those who died meaningless casualties. "
Mouten was hesitant and gritted his teeth," Alright Shin, Let's do this and hurry back to support HQ."
I turned my gaze toward the location where the sound signals coming from and said," Then let's go take Genpo's head."
Meanwhile in Wei HQ
Genpo looked at the chaotic battlefield and sighed. This was just a massacre at this point. If Kaishibou manage to take Mougou's head, then this war will be over soon. Suddenly there was a rumbling sound as one of the soldiers yelled out," Enemies approaching! About 7,000 of them heading this way."
Genpo amusedly chuckled and replied," just some foolish soldiers thinking moral and willpower can can take me down. Prepare the defensive array and move back." The soldiers all got into their position as the Qin army got close. Genpo smirked and spoke," This is as far as you go you brats. I won't make the mistake of sparing your lives just because you are young. We can't allow another monster like him to be born in Qin after all."
Both armies clashed and the traps set around the HQ were sprung. Many of the Qin soldiers fell but the ones who survived kept charging , leading them was 3 youths. Genpo witnessed this calmly ordered," All troops, retreat 500 steps." This created a gap between them and the Qin soldiers kept chasing despite being tired. Genpo just laughed disdainfully and spoke," what a bunch of fools. Send the arrows in."
The Qin army were vulnerable as they took the arrows and their dwindling numbers kept decreasing. But all of a sudden Genpo noticed one young boy in tattered blue cloths hurling a spear towards him. He thought the distance was too far but surprisingly, the spear crashed near his feet, almost hitting him. He was surprised and said," maybe they are not hopeless after all. All troops, full retreat, he ordered. My goal has been achieved and this isn't good to have an old man like me doing all the work."
He looked back while retreating and thought to himself," I hope Kaishibou is done with his task. This war getting complicated but we will be the ones who will win. " But suddenly there was a rumbling noise as a bunch of cavalry came through the forests. Leading them was a man dressed in a purple luxury robe with fur coat. He smirked devilishly and spoke," Aren't you leaving in a hurry old man? You should leave something nice as a gift before you leave.
Genpo looked calmly and spoke," and what would that be ?"
The man unsheathed his sword with a laugh and replied," well, that would be your head of course, Genpo of the four pillars of Renpa."
Genpo realizing his peril replied calmly," You are too green to consider something like that, Kanki the mountain bandit!"
General Mougou PoV
I have been fighting for a long time. From the far east to Qi to the western Qin, it has been a long journey. In this Journey, Renpa has been my nemesis. I have never won against him. But a young man told me that only the end result matters. If I defeat him today, all my past losses can be redeemed.
So, I'll put everything I got in this old body of mine to achieve that. With the presence of Zhao Yun in my HQ, I can let go of other worries and focus on one thing, how to defeat Renpa. I'll also be putting my hopes on those 3 kids to ensure our central army doesn't get annihilated.
It's a shame though. I wished I could see my grandchildren grow up , but there's a good chance I won't make it past this war. I guess I shall be entrusting the future of Qin and my grandson Mouten to that man.
He has been his idol after all. Under him, Mouten can hone his talents and maybe can become a great general blessed by the heavens. With that, this old man can give his all here to ensure that future.
I ordered the soldiers to prepare for engaging the enemy as I felt Renpa's army besieging Ousen in the valley ahead of us. This battle shall decide it all, and I must redeem myself.
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
Virtuosso
Virtuosso I had this chapter written before, so there might some adjustments after I'm done adjusting the previous chapters. I'm also gonna add probably one more chapter on volume 1. Enjoy
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein