Warlords: Three Kingdoms

As the ponderous man named Sun Zhong, styled Weixiong, pondered about changing their designations for the ambush because of what Zhengzong Yi stated, the latter then said, "Forgive me if I might be wrong since I am still uneducated to this day, but should not the lure for the ambush be something that the opposing army would try to make a dash towards, like when a bait should be enticing for an animal to be lured headlong into a trap? The sight of your hulking figure might scare the opponent into making cautious measures and that might be not what we want, as we might be fighting superior numbers. Let us go with the original plan: I will be the bait with which we lure the opponent in, and I will try to my utmost to induce them into an ambush. Do not worry much about me, I do not intend myself to be killed so easily."

The discussion between the three then turned towards how they could procure men. As Sun Zhong stated, they could train the men into capable soldiers, so the only problem was where to get the right people needed for the task at hand. Before the other person could speak, Zhengzong Yi stated, "If I can, I will also try to outfit our men with the needed equipment for the task. Although my talents are limited to sewing and leather-working as well as woodworking, it should be better than them being unarmed. We should be lacking in decent weapons; but in terms of armor, there should be no way that we can never be at par with our opponents."

Biting his lips, Lai looked around. Seeing a stump a small distance off, he motioned the others to follow.

Out of his robes, as he walked, he pulled several pieces of parchment.

Without looking if the others were paying attention, almost to himself he started rambling about numbers, routes, formations...

The scrolls he had taken out were maps he had drawn, lots of maps.

"The men, they aren't at my command yet... but they will be. I have never... led men before, this would be my first time."

He thought back to the man he was supposed to meet.

"Any of us can conscript men, request volunteers, people are eager these days."

He showed them plans he had to gather men and weapons, supplies and camp materials.

He indicated where each could go to acquire what they need, some would be better at getting men, other supplies or armaments, it mattered little in the end, they would combine what they had.

"One of you will have to lead..."

He let that statement sink in before smiling awkwardly

The youngster spoke truth, no man with even basic intelligence would pursue an opponent they knew they could not beat..it would be suicide..he could sense the apprehension, he only hoped the scholar had some idea on how to keep him safe in that kind of eventuality. 'You are right Rixiang, but do not worry. When the time comes to act, we will make sure you don't come to harm..' Looking the young lad in the eyes, there was a menacing fire beneath the bumbling persona of the Great Bear..he had experienced a lot, seen a lot..and there was a hidden rage within that perhaps had yet to be unleashed. '..at any case, I won't let you come to harm..'

Soon the Scholar Fei began his tirade of ideas, which seemed to be a theme for this man..mostly quiet, but given the chance it was as if allowing a sandstorm to have its way with the land..it kept coming, like a plague..a never ending whirlwind of knowledge; this man would definitely be useful..though the point of him not having any leadership experience was quite obvious to Zhong, perhaps he had never seen a battle. 'Well then, this is the perfect chance to gain that experience commanding your own men.' Turning to try and look at both Rixiang and Fei, the Great Bear nodded to this plan. There was hope, they could genuinely do something for this village and the tribesmen..the Empire was failing its people, yet it was beings like themselves that brought real change. 'Leather armour has been a time tested amenity..with armour the men shall fight with more fervor than without.' Smiling he could not keep the excitement of what laid ahead within him. 'Then it is set. Master Fei, we shall rely on you for tactics and logistics...Rixiang, the bait...and..I shall take the role of lead. We shall all have our own group to manage and our own parts to play.' At some point it was clear that Zhong was forgetting this was not a great battle to save the Empire, or a defining moment in their history..simply a small skirmish to weaken the village's rival, though their success would mean the tribe's survival. 'Master Fei, how long do you believe we will need until we are ready?..a month or so?'

Looking away from these men, he looked in the direction he believed the Confederation were..though..he was not fully confident, nonetheless, it was more for effect than anything else. 'Rixiang, Master Fei..you two seem to know this area very well. I am a stranger here. What do you know of this Red Dragon Confederation?..their name makes me believe they could be well organised?..for instance, who is their leader?..what is he like?' The Great Bear was a great believer in knowing the enemy, he did not wish to go into this fight completely blind..after all, that is when mistakes could be made and these two men were giving him ideas that he did not wish to fail. If they could accomplish this small feat, a partnership could be made and territory of their own gained...

As Zhengzong Yi then looked at the old scholar, he noticed that he was always about to speak, but, in one way or another, always stopped himself. As he wondered what was wrong with the man, he then noticed the person walking towards a nearby stump, pulling something out of his robes as he was muttering. Zhengzong Yi followed the person, still wondering what was happening to him. As the old man sat down on a nearby stump, what he was pulling out of his robes became revealed: pieces of parchment with the maps of different regions drawn on it. So that should be what his basis was in suggesting that they make an ambush. When Zhengzong Yi saw these, his interest became piqued as he peered towards the parchments to take a closer look. As he read the maps with great interest, he then noticed that the old man was muttering something. He recognized what he meant by "ambush in *insert place here*" from the discussion earlier, but he did not understand all the others. The words seemed to be of the same context as "ambush" in that those would be used to defeat a superior force, like what he himself always do to defeat people larger and stronger than him, but it all was unintelligible to an unlettered person like him. Maybe he should try to learn something more in his free time, he thought.

As Zhengzong Yi continued to stare at the maps with gusto, he was interrupted by the words of Sun Zhong, who asked them about what they knew about the Red Dragon Confederation. At this juncture, Zhengzong Yi stroked his chin as he tried to remember about something. "As far as what was discussed within our trading company, the leaders of Yu, Yan and Yuyang had made an alliance with each otherand call themselves the Red Dragon Confederation. Some of our peddlers were also warned against getting on their nerves as the areas they ruled in were increasingly filled with warriors. Not to mention, there were rumors that they served with great distinction on the Coalition's side. I don't know what that "Coalition" meant but it sure was a great deal for those who talked about it, maybe it was a huge war on some front at the west."

It had been a while since the trio had met but now Lai came to meet again ready to take on the challenge before them. Close by was his camp, 200 men strong, men that probably still didn't respect him as a leader but still willing to take orders for now.

He waited, hoping to see the others arrive

(RP for Merc and lamethyst)

Zhengzong Yi found himself again in the same location where he was before, the village of Touba which had served as his temporal lodging area as he was gathering materials from his craft. Now he was not alone in visiting this area: he was accompanied by an aged person clad in armor and an array of guards marching in two files of 5 soldiers per file, all armed and armored to the teeth. Zhengzong Yi himself was wearing a crimson turban and a crimson and black armor more elaborate in design in comparison with the old man and his guards, over a black silk robe, white undergarments, and long black leather boots. This display of readiness to battle were always shown on the mannerisms of Zhengzong Yi and his group, for they knew that war would be coming, and it would be sooner rather than later.

He had divided his own army into companies of 50 and sent them to key roads surrounding Touba and Fanyang, aiding the merchants in secret in smuggling goods into the villages, hoping that the villages would be relieved partially from the famine they were experiencing, or at least, for the village to stockpile their resources in preparation for an incoming assault. He knew that what he had been doing was exacerbating the tensions, but all of these was to try to goad the Red Dragon Confederation into giving battle. After quite a long deliberation between him and the aged man on his side, who was his lieutenant Duo Zan, they figured out that only the generals of Yuyang are what could be considered a threat to Zhengzong Yi himself in terms of prowess and skill in leading troops, and they were too far away from Yu and Yan in terms of launching an invasion. If they managed to lure in the forces of Yan and Yu and deal them a massive defeat, they would have a chance in dismantling the whole Confederation as a whole. And so they try at the utmost to goad the Red Dragon Confederation to launch an invasion. But this was not the matter at hand this time.

Zhengzong Yi then arrived at the place that was chosen for them three - the three who decided to defend the two villages from the invasion of the Red Dragon Confederation - and then, after a short time of searching, he saw one of the two other people in the trio: the aged tactician Fei Lai. After some salutations on his part, he then said, as he looked at the camp nearby, presumably those of Fei Lai's soldiers, "I suppose things are going well on your part, Sir Fei. If things progress as we wanted, we could even launch an assault as fast as we could defend this village."

Lai nodded.

"Indeed, as expected I think people are craving leadership and a cause, we simply have to present it. As it stands, we could probably take position here or attack their base, especially if our friend has managed to gather a force as well."

Rubbing his bearded chin, Lai took a quick look to see if he saw the big man arriving.

It had been some time since the offer of protecting the villages under the Touba Tribes' protection had been made, it had seemed that each party had vanished to do their parts..all seemingly conscripting a decent number of soldiers, though no doubt they would yet be in any state to stage the surprise attack they had planned..the Red Dragon Confederation would be a formidable foe, rumours of them being organised and ferocious..especially compared to desperate villagers, uncertain tribesmen and three strangers.

As the young craftsmen and scholar shared salutations it was only Zhong that was missing and yet, there he was..his large frame walking towards them, a stride of pride with a joyful expression on his face. His heavy armour still in disrepair, fortunately his right shoulder guard had a new strap, though it was unsure of how long it would last. Upon his back where his trusty battle rods, battered from skirmishes and fights, they were his pride and joy..a set he would no doubt dislike from parting with, though in the back of his head he knew before their plan could be set in motion he would need a new set. However, the Great Bear was not alone..beside him walked a man of similar height, yet he was half the size of Zhong and instead of what seemed to be soft meat..this man was seemingly well-built. His dress was unlike that of the Great Bear, it was clear that he had been employed from within this region. It was a smart move on the part of Zhong, he knew that he needed a second in command that knew this terrain..a friend that would no doubt guide him. On his back was strapped two short spear-like weapons, a perfect team..they both dealt with dual-wielding weaponry; Zhong, his having the ability to crush, while the other's had the ability to slash and stab.

Not so far behind them were a group of men in a good size, over 200 in number...they were lightly armoured and their weaponry was basic, it was clear they could handle a skirmish but going against an organised troupe such as the Confederation could be out their grasp..however, it had not been a long time to fully train a militia, though by the looks of their commander and the right hand man, it would be in no time for them to be ready. They too had a look of localisation, it seemed Zhong had taken a liking to this area and it would have taken far too long to return South to conscript those of his homeland. Though they were moderately trained, the command the Great Bear had over them was quite something..they moved as one unit, as one entity.. However, to the Great Bear, this was mostly for show..he wanted to give Rixiang and the Scholar Fei confidence, not only that but if the villagers looked upon their gathering it would no doubt give them hope that their future could be secure.

'Rixiang! Master Fei!' Zhong saluted them, hands clasped, as a General would to his comrades.

Slowly, the large figure gestured towards the harsh looking man beside him. 'Please meet Gong Shan, he helped me gather these men..and become quite the companion.' Smiling the large paw slapped onto Shan's back, even though the man looked unkempt and almost feral, it was clear the two had a brotherly comradeship between them. Gong Shan gave a weak salute to the others, knowing that these two men before them would have no interest in him..and standing beside anyone of the size of Zhong, would naturally lose focus.

'Look' Another gesture, quite elegantly, to the men standing in position..their expressions did not falter, all for show of course. 'They are rough around the edges, but 255 in total and under mine and Shan's supervision will surely be read for battle in no time.' As Zhong finished a loud, staccato shout came from the group 'huh!' while they banged their hands to their chest..it seemed it even gave the Great Bear a bit of a shock, he knew it was coming but did not plan for them to commit to the role in such a way...it was clear Zhong was proud of them.

As Fei Lai noted about the ease in amassing troops in those times, Zhengzong Yi replied, as he was sighing heavily, "As much as I wanted to believe that your statements were over-exaggerations, I must admit what you have said is true. It brought me to realization that these times are indeed not peaceful, and it falls to us to restore the peace that we wanted to live in. As such, I tried to step up my methods of recruiting soldiers to our cause, and hopefully it should be enough to stave off an attack from the Confederation. I have just talked to a local militia captain who is leading 150 troops to join our cause, and, although I should wait for them to appear, I am confident enough that they will, as our talks were amicable to say the least."

He was not yet finished speaking when another body of militia entered the scene. He turned around to see whose it was, and when he turned, the ponderous mass of armored flesh beckoned in his sight. But this one was the person he had expected to meet: Sun Zhong zi Weixiong, the last person of the trio that the two had waited for. It seemed like he was also preparing for the incoming battle based on the current armor he was wearing, and Zhengzong Yi was relieved to know it. As Sun Zhong offered a military salute, Zhengzong Yi responded with the same, and then said, with a small smile, "Looks like you are still in great spirits, Weixiong. I trust that with you being confident, taking down the Confederation will be an easy task." Sun Zhong then introduced his companion, but Zhengzong Yi could not see the companion anywhere. He then peered away from the ponderous body of Sun Zhong and he saw the companion, and stared at him as he was being introduced. He seemed like a really capable person. After Sun Zhong introduced the companion, whose name was Gong Shan, he offered a salute to him as a greeting.

As he then saw the huge army that Sun Zhong had amassed, he could not help but be admired at their discipline that he commented, "If that is what you called 'rough around the edges, I shudder to think what could you do within 3 more months." He then made an outline in his mind about what he could actually do within days of the Confederation not attacking them.

Lai motioned them to follow him.

He withdrew his maps and reports again.

"I say we strike them here."

He jammed his finger down on Yan.

"My associate has infiltrated their forces, here are their numbers."

He showed them the reports. (PM)