Chapter 14: Generation of Monsters '2'
Day 4 on battle of Bayou
Kyou En's Pov:
"Their formation that's protecting their main camp isn't exactly as good as I expected a general of his calibre to have..." Said a soldier by my side.
"You're here Kei Ou... What do you think about this formation?" I asked Kei Ou wondering what his opinions about this formation protecting General Shou Mou's main camp would be like.
I had Ga Rin, Shi En and Ryuu Yen split their troops into small groups of a few hundred so they don't get caught easily by the enemies scout troops and they will also have better mobility as a small unit as a bonus..... However what shocked not only me but my whole unit as well.... Was that while the enemy had a lot of scouts.... Their main camps defences were... Really lax... Especially for a place that has a general there....
"... Shou Mou's arrogance and high ego is well known... Even to us Qin...it is of no doubt that his abilities are the real deal.... However... I doubt it's a trap.... Considering the abnormal amount of scouts we saw... Even with these circumstances and the unknown locations of allies and enemies.... I believe his goal was to do a raid first thing in the morning.." Kei Ou who I recently recruited as my advisor said to me.
"Hmm that's an interesting answer... Why do you think so?" I said while starting to think that it's probably true.
"...there are many reasons for this... It's currently the first night since both armies have gone into the mountains... Both sides probably still don't know all of their allies whereabouts and are most likely still trying to find out more about the terrains here...this is probably why Shou Mou is confident that he won't get attacked in the first night and left minimum defences.... Especially since you'll need an army if you want to deal damage to him." Kei Ou said while looking at the enemy camp.
"... Hmm is that all?" I said before smiling as he looked like he still had other reasons.
"Look at the enemy troops.... that's far too little... He probably had most of them rest for now while leaving a couple thousand defending here compared to his 20 thousand soldiers... Most likely because of his confidence that he wouldn't get attacked... Lastly.... Shou Mou is known for his offense... He definitely isn't the type to sit still and wait for others.... The scout troops that we saw earlier... Were also too deep.... Far too deep if their goal was only to scout the areas nearby and make sure to spot any enemies close to them.... They were probably trying to get an advantage over the others and find good location and terrains so they can raid the Qin armies first thing in the morning...."
Kei Ou said while still looking seriously.
"... That's a very comprehensive answer.... As expected... You really have talent for this if you noticed all that just from this." I said while getting a bit surprised.
"Thank you for praise my lord!" Kei Ou said respectfully.
I then look at my unit that all gathered here after splitting itself in few hundreds...
"I believe Kei Ou's theory is correct... We cannot waste this chance.... We will quickly ambush them and try to take Shou Mou's head before retreating... However be warned.... Although Shou Mou is a foolish general.... His ability is real.... The enemy will most like get up from their shock and regroup fast to counter us.... Time isn't in our advantage as it is obvious that their main camp has over 5 thousand with just a glance and the rest of their camps are all close to them with thousands as well... Even if most are resting right now.... Make sure to be prepared thoroughly everyone!" I said while grinning as I was excited a bit.
"Yes Sir!" My men said
"Ga Rin, Shi En and Ryuu Yen.... You guys will be launching the attack first with the intent to find and Slay Shou Mou while trying to kill as many of the Zhao as you can... I will join you guys later when the enemy starts to regroup so I can stop and confuse then."
"It's finally our time to shine instead of you... Huh Boss?" Ryuu Yen said while laughing.
"Ryuu Yen..." I said.
"Sir" Ryuu Yen answered.
"Good luck to you... The rest of you as well!" I said before all of them smiled and went to their respective positions and started to get ready to launch their attack.
.....
.....
Shou Mou's Pov:
"Shou Mou sama! One of our scouts have a found a good open location that meets your requirements of being wide and having a terrain that makes it bad for escaping!" Said a zhao soldier.
"Excellent... Tomorrow morning we shall go there with the Qin Flag and slaughter any of those mountain monkeys that approach us hehehe... A good thing we are positioned near the Qin armies." I said as I thought of how I would slay those apes tomorrow hehe... Just wait for me Ouki... Soon I shall have your head and become one of Zhao's three great heavens hehe.
"Enemy Attack!!!!!!!!" A zhao soldier shouted while running to Shou Mou's tent.
"What's this Ruckus!" I said annoyed that someone was disrupting my thoughts.
"I-its an Enemy Attack! We are currently getting attacked from two different sides!" The Zhao soldier said frightened.
"What!? Which army is it?? Is it Ouki? How many troops do they have?" I said angered that the Qin apes dared to attack me and disrupt my plans.
"N-No sir! It appears to be from a unit with the flag 'Kyou' ... The enemy appears to have a few thousand soldiers but we cannot discern it clearly due to the the darkness!" The Zhao soldiers said without stalling for time.
"Hm? Could it be Kyou En?... One of the people that Chou Sou told me to be wary about? How dare that Monkey attack us with a few thousand hmph... Although it is a surprise attack.... We also got a few thousand elites defending right now as well... I doubt they'd do much.. but just in case.... Wake the others fast and have them surround them... I will also take action myself keke." I said while grabbing my weapon.
"Yes Sir, most of the troops have already awoken and are now getting ready to surround the enemy... We are just awaiting your commands Shou Mou sama!"
"Hmph very good.... Its time to slaughter them!" Hehe...
I said laughing while riding my horse with my soldiers behind me aiming to kill them personally.
I then see one of the enemy units which was surrounded yet was still pushing forward with an incredible speed.... 'Hmph interesting... You seem to have some strength.' I internally thought as I charged at the guy Infront that was seemingly leading around a thousand soldiers.... But just as I started to charge.... There was another unit that ambushed me from behind and started to rush towards...
"Damn Mountain Monkeys!" I shouted annoyed and started to change my direction to personally slaughter the one behind my annoyance.
.....
.....
Kyou En's Pov:
"Sir... That's the enemy General Shou Mou!" A soldier that rode next to me to tell me said as he saw a large fat man charging towards us.
"I can tell.... Heh let's take his head." I said while grabbing my spear aiming to kill him instantly....
As we got closer... I heard his screaming as he targeted me.... However just before he reached me.... Ga Rin who was originally Shou Mou's first target.... Arrived and attacked Shou Mou.... However Shou Mou reacted fast with anger clearly shown in his face as his swung his weird moon shaped weapon.... However I just chuckled..
"Kuku.... How naive Shou Mou.... The one Infront of you right now.... Was the right hand man of Ko Shou... You cannot stop him" I said... And I was right as Shou Mou had his weapon knocked away from him instantly before getting cleaved in two.... This seemed to stop the Zhao in its tracks as they tried to process the information...
"All Forces retreat.... My personal unit shall cover for you!" I shouted while having my unit charge at the Zhao who quickly regained their movement an had anger shown in their faces.... However they seemed freightened as well with many of them retreating which was good for me as my unit definitely wouldn't be able to hold off that many units."
.....
.....
"Well done Ga Rin hahahaha!" I said to Ga Rin while laughing loudly.
"It was nothing... I was mostly only able to slay him that quickly due to him being surprised.... Despite his offense power... He seemed to lack a lot of things...." Ga Rin humbly said before he continued.
"Rather than that... You heard that sound while we were retreating right?" Ga Rin said.
"Mhm... One of the Qin armies is probably also being attacked... I doubt it's a mistake as it's been sounded a few times... However we won't interfere as we cannot move from our current location... I would like to ambush another Zhao army within these circumstances... But it's impossible as I'm sure none of the armies will be making any move and instead put full effort into defending after hearing of Shou Mou's death.... They wil also be wary of their backs now and will have to be more cautious..." I said while looking at the camp that Yi and Shuu Ki made while we were attacking Shou Mou... Good that they made it far from the enemy camps...
"Alright everyone! I want all of you guard all sides with a few scouts in each direction.... The rest of you... Make sure to sleep and rest as much as you can... We are currently too deep and I doubt we'd get attacked however we cannot cross out the chance that the enemy may do the same as we did... Tomorrow morning... We will be scouting this place as much as we can!" I said before going to my tent to sleep.
...
...
Day 5th battle of Bayou
Kyou En's Pov:
"Your awake early brother.. want some?" Yi said as he greeted me while handing me a snack which I delightly took.
"Mhm of course... This location that the Zhao retreated is strange and is giving me bad vibes... I want to scout it personally... How about you Yi? Your also awake early." I said while munching on my food.
"I also feel the same.... I've already sent out scout troops and have found a bit of the terrains around this area.... It seems like the mountains here will affect most of our mens cavalry so we've gotta be careful ..... I just can't understand why the enemy did this move all of a sudden..." Yi said as he looked at the board while changing pieces each time he receives news about locations of armies and units or unique terrains....
"Hmm... Want to come and scout with me then?" I asked Yi to which he nodded.
I then gathered my strongest bodyguards that were also awake....
"I don't want to take long and be spotted... So we'll be going with only these 14 people guarding us." I said to Yi as I looked at my 6 swords and 8 Spears.... The top of the cream of my personal unit... These people are almost always near me and are people that I have full faith in their abilities.
.....
.....
2 hours later...
Kyou En's Pov:
We returned to our camp with most of the unit awake and ready.
I then go to Yi and help him put pieces on his board while talking to him.
"Well... Have you gathered any information on why the Zhao retreated here?" I asked Yi wondering what he thinks of the situation...
"... I have found a few unique terrains that would be good for the enemy to use... Assuming that they've investigated this place before.... Howev- hmm?" Yi said before getting interrupted as he saw one of our scout rushing to us.
"Urgent Report!!..." The scout shouted before telling me and Yi that one of the Qin armies was attacked last night by Houken who is the commander of chief of the Zhao army.... Something that shocked both of us... Especially me... As I was reminded of 9 years ago...
"Just like 9 years ago..... What a monster..." I said before Yi quickly asks me something.
"Hmm brother... You briefly told me about Houken when he was mentioned as the Commander In Chief... However I don't think his presence in this war is a coincidence anymore... Can you tell me everything you know about him quickly..." Yi said as he started looking concerned.
.....
.....
Kyou Yi's Pov:
I heard about this Houken from my brother.... However It concerned me greatly as I realized that things were far more dangerous than I thought...
I then look at my board after hearing everything from my brother.
'Yi... You are talented.... If there ever is an enemy movement that you cannot understand... then trace it from the beginning... Go back and think to how it all started ' I remember my Sensei's words....
Trace it from the beginning.... How did this war even start?... It was from Houken who invaded Bayou with an army of over 100 thousand... Houken.... He was someone who also Slayed Kyou of the 6 Great Generals at this same place 9 years ago... However he was supposedly killed by Ouki right after that as well.... Was it a coincidence that Houken appeared at this same place again? No It's not.... If he came as a normal looking for revenge after hearing that Ouki is the commander then it'd make sense.... But to attack first and be a commander of over 100 thousand.... It's definitely not a coincidence... That same Houken also attacked one of our armies last night all alone... something that would be outrageous as a commander in chief.... which proves that he didn't become a General through normal means....Not to mention that Ouki became commander in chief when he was thought to be retired... He most likely knew about this.... But it seems that even the Royal Court didn't know about Zhao's commander in chief... Until we already marched to Bayou.... If Ouki knew about it then.... Was it leaked or is his intelligence group that good....
... If I think of the worst case scenario in my mind.... Then it would be that this is a trap to lure Ouki! .... Not to mention that there are a few perfect terrains that would be good to trap him... This is bad!!
"Have most of the scouts focus on General Ouki and Chou Sou right now!"I shouted hastily.
"Report!!!! Moubu Sama seems to have attacked the enemy headquarters!" Said another scout however instead of being happy... I looked concerned instead.
.....
.....
Kyou En's Pov:
"What's wrong Yi!?" I said as I quickly saw his worried face after hearing the report.
"... I'll tell you while we're moving... Everyone quickly follow me!" Yi said in a hurry as he got his horse and started rushing to the area that was said to be Zhao's headquarters that Moubu is attacking right now.....
.....
It didn't take long until we arrived above the location that Moubu and Zhao's soldiers were fighting in.... Yi already told me about Zhao's plan... And it's for that reason that we aren't revealing our location to help Moubu...
"Yi.... The place ahead of them also looks like a trap... I doubt Ouki would fall for that... But if it's Moubu then he'll probably get baited... Considering the location that we are in... If we are to look at the path ahead.... One of the unique terrains that you mentioned to be wary of.... Is there " I spoke to Yi while looking at the board.
"Everyone make haste to the designated location.... Arrive there before the Zhao get there." I ordered my unit without being too loud and quickly headed there.
.....
.....