Preparing for War

A week passed and it was time for Yun to leave Jianye with his family and Sun Ren while they left Mulan behind since she now had a husband to look after her.

Cheng Pu and some of his men escorted Yun to the border with his little army to make sure nothing happens to them. Yun could see the sadness in the eyes of Sun Ren which made Yun feel a bit guilty for taking the young teen with him but it was for everyone's best since Sun Ren would sooner or later live with them.

It took them four days to return to the border where Yun's army was waiting for him ready to leave at any moment as they were only waiting for him and his family.

Cheng Pu said his farewells before leaving the group with his army to return to Jianye while Yun went to find Pang Tong and Tang Shi.

"Did Cao Cao send a messenger?" asks Yun as Pang Tong nods.

"He did as we have expected he wants us to have our men ready to help Yuan Tan take his rightful place as the oldest son and the heir of Yuan Shao," says Tang Shi seriously as he wasn't happy with Cao Cao throwing them into a war in which he himself doesn't want to move yet.

"Did you tell him about why we didn't move?" asks Yun curiously as Pang Tong shakes his head.

"We didn't need to since the campaign will begin next year as Yuan Tan is at the moment looking for support from inside the Yuan Clan to help him take it over. We won't meddle in until we get another message from Cao Cao," says Pang Tong informing Yun about when the next war would start.

"Good for us," says Yun as he looked at his family before saying, "Let us return to Xiapi. Qing must be worried sick because of our mother and Wei Yan must be nervous since a tiger he can't control is to his south."

Yun was talking about Lu Bu who was stationed at Guangling with his army performing the reforms that Yun gave him beforehand while raising his heir Lu Feng. Huixiu was staying mostly in Guangling going to Xiapi once every two months and staying there for a month before going back home since Yun was like an uncle to her.

"Let us begin to pack up and return then," says Tang Shi happy to see his wife and children again.

The army began to march after half an hour toward Xiapi which they would reach in a week if they marched rapidly since they didn't need to save their stamina for an upcoming battle.

Yun, once at his office, looked over some documents which Wei Yan left for him on the table. They were too much over Wei Yan's rank and only Yun, Pang Tong, or Tang Shi could resolve those problems listed on them.

Wei Yan was right now in charge of a small city named Suiling which lay south of Xiapi. Yun wanted to have him near since Wei Yan was married to his sister who was following her husband with their children.

Yun stationed some of his other generals and part of his army in other cities as well since he wanted to keep the Xu Province safe. Also, he couldn't keep all of his generals in Xiapi as well as his whole army since they take too much space which left Yun with only a handful of Generals such as Hua, Dian Wei, Zhang He, Taishi Ci, and Huang Zhong in Xiapi while the others were settled in the cities around the Xu Province.

Sun Ren made herself at home as she received Mulan's room which she could redecorate to her please with Zheng's help. Fang, on the other hand, threw himself back into training while Rin looked over the tigers keeping the population controlled under her watchful eyes.

Yun told her to keep the number of tigers at thirty since keeping more than that would be catastrophic for their wealth with ten of them being white tigers. It was hard for Rin who cared about all of them but she did her job.

Two months pass by since Yun's return when Pang Tong enters his office and he asks without looking up, "What happened?"

"What monster have you sent me to teach," says Pang Tong as he sits down across from Yun who now looks up.

"You mean Lu Xun?" asks Yun curious to find out Pang Tong's opinion.

"Yes, I thought he was slow at the beginning but now I see that he was just slowly building his foundation before showing his real talent. He could become a Prime Minister in the future," says Pang Tong in excitement because his student has a bright future before him.

"He is that good?" asks Yun already knowing that Lu Xun was a talented person.

"You knew, didn't you? That's why you asked me to teach him so he would solidify his foundation earlier," says Pang Tong seeing through Yun with a grin on his face which Yum returned.

"How would I know that there are many people with the name Lu Xun in our Empire," says Yun spatting no lie at the end since there are many people with the same name in the Han Empire.

"But I won't deny that I hope that it was the young man which I was waiting for," says Yun since Lu Xun will lead the next generation of strategists in his army.

"I knew it," says Pang Tong as he saw the report Yun was reading when he asks, "Is it the report regarding the movement of Ma Teng and Han Sui?"

"Yes, but it seems that Cao Cao is taking care of it as a broker of peace between them. He might want to recruit them to his cause to take the north. It might work with Ma Teng but not with Han Sui," says Yun concerned since Ma Teng would die because of his own son's attitude.

"So we are playing with your premonitions again?" asks Pang Tong as he liked to know pieces of what is going to happen to plan against it.

"I know only one thing and that is that we will take the north easily if Cao Cao is successful in breaking peace between them," says Yun knowing that it would be like stealing a piece of candy from a newborn child.

"Then we are the vanguard and Cao Cao will lift his feet up and relax while we do the work," says Pang Tong as Yun only nods.

"So it seems but war is our favorite game, isn't it," says Yun as he places the report to the side.

"I will miss those peaceful days," says Yun knowing the next few years will be quite adventurous for them.

More months passed and Yun finally received his order to march north to regroup with Xiahou Dun and Yuan Tan in Lu to attack Pingyuan while Cao Cao will lead his remaining army toward Ye to drive the other sons of Yuan Shao away.

Yun began to gather his army at Changlu which took three weeks before they marched together to Lu. It took a month to arrive there as they marched slowly.

Once at Lu, Yun went to meet Xiahou Dun as well as Yuan Tan with Pang Tong and Dian Wei. They are standing around a table while Yun looked at Yuan Tan who seemed to be around his younger sister's age.

Yuan Tan seemed to have some of his father's features which were fortunate for Cao Cao since no intelligent man would hold the hand of his father's enemy.

Yun could only sigh as he steeled himself when Xiahou Dun asks, "Have you heard what I said?"

"Yes, you and I will be attacking Ji from the southeast while Yuan Tan will attack it from the east, pinning our enemies and making them either retreat further north or face them while advancing," says Yun as he listened to what Xiahou Dun said before.

"Good," says Xiahou Dun feeling relieved that he didn't need to repeat himself.

"Pingyuan shouldn't resist too much since the Commandery is backing me up it is the Commanderies deeper in Ji which are my worries," says Yuan Tan worried about losing this war against his brothers.

'If he just knew that he just jumped into a Dragon's maw,' says Ysmrgra to Yun laughing out loud inside Yun.

'He is a naive man just like his father he doesn't think ahead,' says Yun back to Ysmrgra feeling pity for Yuan Tan but he needed to do his job which would involve his death sooner or later.

Yuan Tan then left Xiahou Dun and Yun alone when Xiahou Dun says, "Zang Ba won't be joining us in this battle. He has other orders."

"I know, he must be busy preparing to take Qing while we take Ji," says Yun revealing that he knows Cao Cao's plan of not holding his word to Yuan Tan.

"So you knew," says Xiahou Dun surprised as Yun only sighs.

"I wouldn't be a general if I couldn't see through such a simple plot," says Yun sighing once again while holding his head.

"I will retreat as well. We will have a long war to fight in the next few months," says Yun retreating with Pang Tong and Dian Wei.

"So we are going fast in this war. Cao Cao doesn't want to waste any time, it seems," says Pang Tong as Yun nods.

"Which is bad for us since I hoped he would take the whole North in three years and not in one or two," says Yun worried since it seems his involvement caused this change.

"So what are we going to do against it?" asks Dian Wei hearing Yun's worried tone.

"Nothing," says Yun now with confidence.

"Nothing?" asks Dian Wei confused while Pang Tong got it.

"Because we can't do anything to slow it down. We must accept it and keep moving forward, is what Yun is trying to say," says Pang Tong explaining it to Dian Wei.

"That's right, we can only watch as it unfolds before us and maybe Zang Ba's involvement might backfire on Cao Cao and prolong the war if Yuan Tan can see through it," says Yun in a hopeful tone as they reached their camp.

"Why not inform him?" asks Dian Wei the obvious when Yun sighs.

"It would fall back on us and we would lose more men than needed if we do so. That's why I said we will do nothing to spare our men from dying in a battle they don't have to," says Yun explaining why he won't reveal Cao Cao's tactic to Yuan Tan as they went to Yun's tent to inform the others about the strategy Cao Cao wants them to follow.