August 206 The Battle on the Road to Qianzhong

[Shen Feng]

(Deng Yue's new PA will be forced into Jiujiang. Also, what happens to my troops that were taken captive? Do I get them back too, in addition to the captives I took?)

The battle had gone as he'd planned, the larger force being ground down by his slightly smaller but stronger army. As Deng Yue's men were being driven back to Zhu, where Baocen Peng's army awaited, they chose instead to break and flee into the hills, effectively ending the reign of Deng Yue. The men celebrated and cheered, the battle of the last several months against a numerically superior foe finally over after this major clash.

While inwardly as happy as his men, Shen Feng still had business to attend to. Two of the enemy's rearguard had been captured, one of whom was familiar to him. He ordered both Lin Xin and Zu Juang to be brought to his command tent. The captives had their hands bound, but were otherwise treated with respect by their guards. As they were led in, Feng looked up to them with a curious, detatched expression. "So, we finally meet, Sir Lin? You were one of the first that I'd contacted when I was ordered to head south. I was hopeful that you would be of assistance to me in pacifying the south, but instead you joined the bandit lord and only added to the chaos. And now, here you are. Your lord didn't dare march with his armies, I notice. He instead pressed you into service to fight the battles he was too scared to fight, and now he's fled and abandoned you. So.. what do you have to say for yourself?"

Glancing over to Zu Juang, Feng gave him a slight nod as well. "You, I am not as familiar with. But that said, as I tried earlier with Lin Xin here, I am always seeking locals to assist me in the government. Will you join me, Zu Juang? Or do you continue to hold loyalty to the man who left you to your fate?"

~

Later, after the discussions with the prisoners concluded, Shen Feng's armies marched the rest of the way to Zhu, coming to a stop outside the walls. Accompanied by his guard, Feng approached the city's gate, calling out to Baocen Peng's soldiers. "Shen Feng has come! The army of Deng Yue was routed in the east, and his power broken. I wish to speak with you about the status of Zhu."

[Royalspork]

The soldiers led Shen Feng into the the administrative section of the occupied city, where Lin Yue was putting together a new government. After some travel, Shen Feng was let into a small room, with a simple desk and a large open window, where lady Lin Yue sat looking straight at the desk as Shen Feng entered. When she realized who was in the room, she stood up and bowed appropriately. She spoke, "Good day Lord Shen. I hope your presence means that you beat Deng Yue on the battlefield, yes?"

[Shen Feng]

As Lin Yue bowed to him, Shen Feng returned the gesture, his smile genuine as she spoke of his battle. "Indeed, we did defeat him. His forces were scattered with nowhere to flee. What of his men in Linjiang? I had figured there would be reinforcements from there, did you best them?"

The speed at which the city was secured led Feng to believe that there wasn't any fighting at all, which would be a good thing for Baocen Peng. With the deal they'd arranged, he'd get a hefty sum of gold just for mobilizing his troops.

[Kymvir Raemiz]

Shen Feng Army:
15053(98)
9321 Pi Spears, 5606 Leather Armor, 4000 bows

4213(10) soldiers are captives/released
Lin Xin and Zu Juang are prisoners.

[Shen Feng]

The captives shall be split into two 1500 (10) garrisons for Zhu and Qianzhong, assuming I get Zhu, otherwise they will be a 3000 (10) garrison for Qianzhong. The extra captives shall join my field army. I already made a recruitment attempt on Zu Juang above, I'm also waiting for a reply from Lin Xin.

All armaments shall go into my field army.

[Lin Xin]

Xin looked up at his captor with defiance. While he realized that Deng Yue was not a suitable lord, his anger towards the Chu led him to continue this losing battle. Unfortunately, the coward Deng decided to withdraw rather than fight an honorable battle.

"I would rather die than serve a puppet of the false king," he said with surprising strength in his voice. "You may consider yourself a hero but those who serve the vile Chu are the lowest form of life. Do with me as you wish."

[Shen Feng]

Despite Lin Xin's harsh words, Feng did not seem angry. If anything, he appeared thoughtful. "So, now you wish to speak out against Chu? I do not recall this kind of hostility in the letters we shared. To call me a puppet, 'the lowest form of life', when you yourself chose to serve a man who willfully employed bandits that ravaged his homeland..." He trailed off, shrugging helplessly. "It is hypocritical, to say the least. But I'm used to it at this point. My vision is going to be realized, regardless of what a vocal minority thinks of me. Whether you like it or not, Lin Xin, I am a hero. The people of the south will come to realize this in time, and perhaps you shall wind up kicking yourself for picking the wrong side." He nodded slowly as he spoke, seeming truly to believe the words.

"You will have an opportunity to kick yourself, too. I am not going to take your life, even after these words. You are a man who can help this land. Your talents do not lie in warfare, as we so ably demonstrated today, but your sound governance will be of benefit to people in whichever province you wind up in. As such, you shall be released, free to go wherever you will. I will, however, be claiming the tomes that you brought with you into battle. My loyal officers deserve a reward, and rather than fund that through the tax income of Changsha, it is better to do so through the spoils of victory, is it not?"

After the books (+3 Com and +3 Jud, going by Lin Xin's OI) were seized, he was escorted to the edge of the camp and released, though given a chance to speak final words to the Lord of Changsha first if he wished.

(I'm assuming that even though the items aren't listed in the battle post here that they're still available to take, and Bonaparte just forgot to note them. Please correct me if I'm wrong and I'll amend this post!)

[Royalspork]

Lin Yue returns to her seat, and offers another seat to Shen Feng to sit. She sighed and replied, "He's gone, truly. There was no resistance to us taking his land in Linjiang, and apparently his former ally Liu Bang decided he wanted a city to take as well. You did a fantastic job baiting your enemy, truly a magnificent campaign." Lin Yue stiffled a grumble here, she desperately wanted a battle to prove her worth, and this Shen Feng had robbed her of quite a large fight. But she continued, "Now that you have dealt with your enemies, it is time to see how you handle your friends. There is some discussion on who should take this city, yes? I assume you wish to take it for yourself, and you did do the legwork for taking it. But if I recall, your orders were to take Linjiang, not Changsha, correct sir?"

[Shen Feng]

"Those were indeed my orders, yes." Feng took the offered seat, nodding slowly. He had figured this discussion was coming, and he'd had it previously with others. "My orders were to take Linjiang, but those orders also came before Linjiang was captured by Deng Yue's rebel force, when it was just the isolated governments of Jiangling and Danyang. Situations change. The quick rise of Deng Yue necessitated me to pursue battle against him as I did. When i first struck at Changsha instead of Linjiang, knowing that Deng Yue's forces were concentrated there and ready for me, I reported my actions to the Hegemonic King afterwards. I did not wish to offend him by turning my eye on a different province than he'd assigned me. Not only was he not offended, but he heartily approved of my strategy and gave me leave to continue as I saw fit." Feng looked almost wistful as he recalled that conversation with Xiang Yu. How far he had come! Being able to talk strategy with the King of Chu and not be laughed at and dismissed.

"When I enlisted your lord's aid in moving on this city, I was assuming that it would fall under my jurisdiction, at which point I would move on and attack Linjiang to take it as the Hegemonic King had initially intended. I could not have forseen Deng Yue's total collapse. Now Lord Baocen Peng controls Linjiang, part of it at least. I am fine with this, personally. What I am curious of is the stance of the Hegemonic King in regards to this. He has apparently tasked the Swordbearer, Xiang Jun, with the seizure of Changsha, though he struck first at Jiujiang. Similarly, Wen Xu, who was tasked with Jiujiang, is upset that Xiang Jun took a city there. I tried to enlist the aid of both men to joining us in fighting Deng Yue, and neither chose to contribute. It seems as if there are too many lords for these provinces, and some are going to have to settle for less. Given the efforts that we have put forward, I would rather it not be us."

"So, with your lord's blessing, I would like to go once more to speak with the King and report our success. I shall, of course, speak glowingly of your aid, and inquire what he wishes us to do with the pacified territories, as well as with regards to the King of Han in the west. It is my hope at this point that I may be permitted to stay on as the governor of Changsha, and that thus your lord shall be able to keep Jiangling, and we can keep a unified front against threats beyond our borders. That is the suggestion I intend to carry to him. What he will decide, I cannot be sure, but our victory over one of the court's enemies should carry some sway, especially with the report of setbacks in Liang." The news of Ma Su's flight from Chenliu, Feng's hometown, had been a concern to him once he found out about it. "So I would request guardianship over Zhu in the meantime, should you care to grant it. In return I shall pay the amount of gold that I offered in exchange for your assistance, one thousand taels, from the city's treasury. Unfortunately, without administration of Zhu in addition to Qianzhong, I will be unable to gather that much funding and pay my officers at the same time. Is this a fair arrangement?" After a moment's pause, to think things over, Feng continued. "If Lord Baocen wishes to send one of his officers along with me to report to the Hegemonic King, that would surely be helpful to our cause. We can show him what his vassals are capable of when they work together rather than feud."

[Royalspork]

Lin Yue laughed lightly, this Shen Feng was far better at discussion than she could ever be, but she replies, "What you say sounds agreeable to me, however, I bring up Linjiang because we need to find an arraignment that allows us all to complete our objectives. Right now I believe Liu Bang is going try to replace Deng Yue as the threat to Chu power in our area. Perhaps it is best for you have Zhu now so you can have the army to take and hold LinJiang for yourself. I was thinking, and this is just my own thought on the matter, that if you were to drive Liu Bang out of Linjiang, (with my involvement, I hope), we could then exchange our city in Linjiang for Zhu. that way both of us have our provinces as given out by the king, and we would have the ability to defend Changsha from threats as a group: yourself, my lord, and Xiang Jun."

Lin Yue then adjusts herself in her seat and says, "But those are just my thoughts, I assume the real course of action will be decided by those in Chu."