Kingdom of Power, of Courage, and of Wisdom

Dragmire's War - Inspiration

-Ouki-

Ouki requested a chair from where he might watch the battlefield, and he sat. The first engagement ended in a draw. Moubu's formation had ended in favor of Qin by reducing the losses. The Zhao had responded with a technology Ouki had never seen utilized in this manner before, and he had feared for the worst when the massacre reached its peak. However, as if by miracle, the chariots had created a dust cloud only to be swallowed up by it, and Zhao's gamble to separate and entrap Moubu, and kill all of the Qin fighting, had failed. Moubu had returned to the Qin line with the head of a Zhao commander, Ouki heard a rumor that a small group of soldiers had managed to destroy the Zhao chariot unit.

He would have to look more into this.

To the unobservant the draw could be considered a loss. Many lives were lost. However, Ouki knew it to be a win. The lives of untrained peasants, though worthy of mourning, had been traded for the lives of trained soldiers. The loss of skilled soldiers would injure Zhao greatly. In addition, it was a generally understood rule of war that an invader needs to hold the advantage at all times to continue the invasion. For the invader to be forced into a draw is advantageous to the defender. This was Qin's turf. If the Zhao did not respond properly, then the advantage would be taken from them, and they would find themselves surrounded, cut off from supplies; and while the defender could retreat when losses get too high, and know they were in friendly territory in which to retreat, the invader would find themselves spared no mercy.

Ouki intended to kill Harken Dragmire. Then he would give them one chance for mercy. If they refused... Well...

Chouhei could very well become the standard of this new age of war.

So Ouki calculated. He set his mind to predicting what the Zhao would do. Harken was by no means a proper general, never had been, but may have gained some tactical insight and leadership ability in the last thirteen years. Ouki expected either Harken was a puppet who allowed his tactical advisors to lead for him so long as he got what he wanted, or Harken had been trained for this. He would have to prepare his thoughts for either contingency.

Either way, the Zhao army was aggressive. They would not settle for anything less than destruction. That was the first rule of invaders, they tend to attack.

"Any word from commander Mutagi?" Ouki inquired.

"Yes, sir! We received a hawk on schedule. Mutagi is standing by, and his scouts report Zhao has made no moves."

"That will not last long..." Ouki mused. He cast his eyes west. The landscape west was that of ancient ruins of an unwalled city destroyed in a past war. All unwalled cities closer to the borders have become ruins. In this age of war, any city without walls won't last a generation.

The city would be easy to hide in and would allow them to entrench themselves right next to Ouki's hill. Zhao would want to take it to spring an attack on his flank.

Ouki cast his eyes east. There he had ordered Kei Ki to hold. The land was filled with hills and forests. Ouki recognized that the former-bandit would be able to use this to his advantage well. Judging from the lack of word from him, Ouki could only assume he was busy. At the very least his scouts reported that the Zhao eastern flank was occupied. Though which side was winning would be anyone's guess.

West would be the next focus.

-Link-

"We did it! I can't believe we actually did it!" Tou gasped. He took another sip of the wine. "We survived!"

"Yeah..." Link smiled weakly at the thought. They had done well. But he felt... melancholy.

The team was back at their set of tents around the campfire. Solitare had immediately retired to sleep. Ganon silently sat against a rock and observed the festivities from an emotional distance. Kagami slept at his feet, satisfied in the way a good dog breed is after a good hunt. This left Hei, Tou, and Link with a carriage of wine... and over a hundred guests.