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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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In a pre industrial era, coordinating a million men across hundreds of miles of freezing, hostile terrain was practically impossible. A delayed order could mean the slaughter of an entire flank. Xun You stepped forward, his expression one of calm, absolute certainty, to ensure the Emperor that the line of communication was very well established.
"Your Imperial Majesty," Xun You began, gesturing to the three distinct staging grounds on the map, Liang, Bing, and You provinces. "The synchronization of the trident formation is secure. We have layered our communication networks to ensure no command is lost to the winter winds."
Xun You explained that the imperial beast masters had been working tirelessly. "The trained ravens have established a secure aerial line. We have established relay coops every fifty miles along the Great Wall. Even in heavy snow, the ravens can fly above the storms, carrying encrypted, lightweight silk scrolls between Marshal Taishi Ci in the west, Marshal Huang Zhong in the east, and this central command."
He paused, a cold, ruthless smile touching his lips. "And, of course, we are not relying solely on the sky. The vast Oriole's network, under Chancellor Jia Xu's meticulous direction, is fully present and operating in the shadows of the steppes. We have operatives embedded with the nomadic merchant caravans, and deep cover scouts living among the subjugated border tribes. They are ready at a moment's notice to relay ground intel back to our lines. If a nomadic horde changes direction, we will know before they even finish breaking camp."
Lie Fan nodded his head at that, profoundly satisfied with the multi layered security. To have a real time, functioning intelligence network across a million man front was an advantage no ancient army had ever possessed.
"Excellent work, Grand Commandant," Lie Fan praised him, before shifting his gaze to the next vital metric of the invasion. "Intel is only useful if the men have the strength to act upon it. What is the physical condition of each army? We cannot strike the hammer if the iron is too brittle from the cold."
Xun You looked down at his ledgers, offering a highly realistic, unvarnished report. He stated that the three armies' conditions, of course, varied based on their recent movements.
"Your Majesty, the Central Command, this main imperial army under your direct lead, has just completed an incredibly grueling, two month march from the capital through the deteriorating autumn weather," Xun You reported honestly. "The men are thoroughly exhausted. The frost and the mud have taken their toll on the infantry's feet, and the draft animals are fatigued. Therefore, the central column needs rest the most before we push beyond the Wall."
He then pointed to the western edge of the map.
"Conversely, the Western Command under General Taishi Ci was already stationed at Liang Province for quite some time, pacifying the local rebellions. They have not had to endure a massive cross country march. They are highly fit, fully acclimated to the freezing western winds, and are completely ready for battle the moment the order is given."
"And the east?" Lie Fan asked, looking at the coastal province of You.
"As for the Northern Command under General Huang Zhong," Xun You continued, "they need a bit of rest from moving into position from the coastal garrisons to the frontier passes, but not nearly as much as the Central Command. They will be fully combat effective within three days of striking camp."
Lie Fan absorbed the information, his mind instantly adjusting the timetable. "Then we hold the center for five days. Let the men sleep with full bellies. Let the horses recover. The anvil must be solid before the western and eastern hammers begin to swing."
Lie Fan then turned his attention to the man responsible for the most devastating, technologically advanced aspect of the entire campaign. He asked about the status of the artillery, specifically the Cannons that had required so much effort to transport.
Sima Yi stepped forward, the Minister of War taking the floor. He bowed respectfully before answering, his mind a steel trap of logistical data.
"The artillery is secured and deployed precisely according to your grand design, Your Majesty," Sima Yi said, his voice smooth and confident. He tapped several key, high elevation chokepoints along the topographical map of the Great Wall.
"The heavy, defensive cannons, the massive siege variants, are mounted on the Great Walls and are more than ready," Sima Yi reported. "They have been bolted to reinforced stone platforms. If the vanguard encounters a horde too massive to break in the open field, they can retreat toward the passes. The wall mounted batteries will create an overlapping, unbreakable shield of shrapnel and high explosive fire that no cavalry charge can ever hope to penetrate."
Sima Yi then pointed to the supply depots clustered around their current central camp. "And also, the mobile cannons mounted on the reinforced wagons are fully ready for the field. The powder is dry, and the shells are primed. They will march directly behind the heavy infantry."
However, Sima Yi paused, his brow furrowing slightly as he noted a highly specific, very practical concern regarding the unprecedented integration of modern artillery with ancient logistics.
"However, Your Majesty, I must note an operational hazard," Sima Yi warned carefully. "The horses pulling the artillery wagons needed to be carefully handled. We are dealing with beasts of burden, not men of iron. We must make sure they wouldn't suddenly run away or panic due to the immense shock and thunderous sound from the cannons firing. When a dozen of the Cannons roar simultaneously, the concussive wave and the noise is enough to shatter a horse's mind. If the draft teams bolt in terror while attached to the artillery carriages, they could tear through our own infantry lines and destroy the cannons."
It was a brilliant, pragmatic observation, highlighting exactly why Sima Yi was the Minister of War. He saw the mundane, biological flaws within the mechanical perfection.
Lie Fan nodded his head at that, thoroughly satisfied with the meticulous preparations and Sima Yi's foresight.
"Have the artillery quartermasters blindfold the draft horses during deployment, and pack their ears with heavy, wax soaked wool," Lie Fan ordered, providing an immediate, practical solution. "Keep them tethered securely behind the infantry lines when the firing sequences begin. The cannons are our spear, I will not have it broken by a panicked mare."
"It shall be done immediately, Your Majesty," Sima Yi bowed, quickly making a notation on his scroll.
With the logistics confirmed, the communication lines secured, the physical stamina of the million man army accounted for, and the artillery prepped for devastation, Lie Fan placed his heavily gauntleted hands flat on the edge of the map table.
The time for discussing his own forces was over. It was time to look into the dark, freezing expanse of the unknown.
The atmosphere in the tent grew incredibly tense, the air crackling with the lethal anticipation of the coming bloodshed. Lie Fan locked his dark, piercing eyes onto Jia Xu and Xun You, the two men responsible for knowing what hid in the shadows.
Before then, asking his council lastly about the absolute most important matter, Lie Fan's voice dropped into a register so cold and commanding it rivaled the winter winds howling outside the canvas tent.
"The hammer is raised," Lie Fan stated, his gaze sweeping over the map of the steppes. "Now, tell me where the anvil must strike. I want the current movement and the exact gatherings of the Xiongnu, the Wuhuan, the Xianbei, and the other various nomadic tribes across the northern steppes. Where are they hiding from the winter, and how soon can we burn them out of it?"
Hearing Lie Fan's crucial, incredibly pointed question about the enemy's movements, it was not the veteran Xun You or the calculating Sima Yi who answered. Instead, Lu Xun stepped forward.
The brilliant young tactician, his youthful face illuminated by the flickering orange light of the braziers, possessed an aura of sharp, undeniable competence.
He reached into the folds of his thick woolen robes and produced a small, tightly rolled tube of black parchment sealed with a familiar, intricate wax crest.
Lu Xun responded by saying that he had just received an incredibly urgent, highly classified encrypted letter from Master Jia Xu back in the capital of Xiapi, delivered mere hours ago by the fastest raven birds which had braved the freezing mountain passes.
"Chancellor Jia Xu has gotten this intelligence directly from the deep cover Oriole agents currently infiltrating the deepest, most secluded regions of the steppes," Lu Xun reported, his voice steady and clear as he unrolled the small parchment. He looked up, meeting the Emperor's eyes, and a look of profound, almost disbelieving astonishment crossed his face.
"The situation beyond the Great Wall is... unprecedented, Your Majesty," Lu Xun revealed, his tone carrying the weight of a monumental strategic revelation. "According to the shadows, the nomadic tribes incredibly still do not realize what has happened in the central mainland over the past year."
A murmur of surprise rippled through the veteran generals. Zhang Liao narrowed his eyes, while Ma Chao leaned forward, resting his hands heavily on the table.
"They are completely, utterly unaware that the chaotic warlord era is over," Lu Xun continued, tapping the center of the map. "They still believe the Han territories are burning, fractured by petty lords fighting over scraps of land. They do not know that the land has been definitively, absolutely unified by Your Majesty."
Lu Xun paused, letting the sheer magnitude of the enemy's ignorance sink in before delivering the killing blow. "And more importantly... they still don't know that there is a staggering, fully supplied one million elite soldiers quietly sitting right at their doorstep, preparing to eradicate them from the face of the earth."
Lie Fan raised an eyebrow, a cold, predatory spark igniting in his dark eyes. Ignorance in warfare was a fatal disease, but for entire nations of born raiders to be completely blind to the largest military mobilization in human history bordered on the impossible.
"How is that possible, Boyan?" Lie Fan asked, his voice a low rumble. "The steppes have always possessed excellent outriders. They have always watched our borders like starving wolves. How could a million men march to the Great Wall without them noticing?"
Lu Xun explained that the reason for this massive, catastrophic blind spot was not a failure of their outriders, but a failure of their own internal politics.
"The reason for this blindness is the extreme internal conflict currently raging between the tribes, Your Majesty," Lu Xun detailed, tracing a series of chaotic, overlapping lines across the northern territories on the map. "The steppes are tearing themselves apart. This war is causing them to not focus on the southern borders at all. They have pulled every able bodied rider away from the Han frontiers to fight for their own survival."
Lu Xun pointed specifically to the massive, sprawling territories held by the two largest and most historically terrifying factions. "Especially the Xiongnu and the Xianbei. The Oriole agents report that they are still brutally, mercilessly fighting each other until this very moment. It is a war of absolute extermination."
The young tactician took a deep breath, preparing to deliver the shocking news that would fundamentally alter the timetable of their invasion.
"The shocking news from the front is that the command structures of both massive trubes have been entirely decapitated," Lu Xun announced, his voice ringing with absolute certainty. "Their previous top leaders have all fallen in battle due to how fierce, desperate, and devastating their war against each other became."
He looked at the area traditionally held by the Xianbei. "The Xianbei had actually just managed to form their great confederation again. They were finally being led under one unified banner by Kuitou, the highly ambitious nephew of the legendary Tanshihuai, the man who originally created the first great confederation before it collapsed into chaos after his death decades ago."
Lu Xun shook his head slowly. "However, the threat of a unified Xianbei has been neutralized for us. Kuitou has been slain. He fell during a massive, incredibly desperate defensive battle against the invading Xiongnu hordes who were attempting to crush the confederation before it could fully solidify."
"And the Xiongnu?" Ma Chao demanded, his voice thick with a warrior's anticipation, remembering the countless raids his family had fought off in Liang Province.
"They fared no better, General Ma," Lu Xun replied sharply. "At the very same time Kuitou fell, the two supreme leaders of the Xiongnu, the Chanyu Batu and the second Chanyu, Zolgar, have also been slain. They were ambushed and killed by Xianbei elite forces in the chaos of the retreating battles."
Lu Xun gestured to the chaotic mess of markers on the map. "With both sides suffering from the sudden, violent deaths of their supreme leaders on the battlefield, the tribal alliances have completely shattered. They have undergone chaotic, bloody changes of leadership. Dozens of minor chieftains are now claiming the titles of Khan and Chanyu, plunging their ranks into further, uncontrollable disarray. They are fighting us, but mostly, they are fighting themselves."
But the tactical nightmare for the nomads did not end there.
"To make matters exponentially worse for them," Lu Xun added, a grim, ruthless smile touching his lips, "the bloody, exhausting fight between the two massive tribes was soon taken advantage of by the Wuhuan tribe in the east."
Lu Xun pointed to the territory bordering Huang Zhong's Northern Command. "The Wuhuan saw the Xiongnu and the Xianbei bleeding each other dry, and they opportunistically joined into the fight. They are viciously attacking both the Xiongnu and Xianbei sides from behind, attempting to seize grazing lands and winter supplies while their rivals are leaderless and exhausted."
Lu Xun stepped back from the map, concluding his report with a sharp, supremely confident tone that echoed the absolute superiority of the Hengyuan military apparatus.
"The northern plains are essentially a massive, freezing slaughterhouse right now," Lu Xun stated, looking directly into Emperor Lie Fan's eyes. "They are starving, they are freezing, and they have no central leadership. The steppes are completely ripe for the picking, Your Majesty. We will not be fighting a unified horde, we will be sweeping up the bleeding remnants of a war."
A heavy, incredibly tense silence fell over the command tent as the high generals processed the sheer magnitude of the tactical advantage that had just been handed to them by the heavens themselves.
Lie Fan, hearing all of this incredibly detailed intelligence, remained perfectly still for a moment. He slowly nodded his head, his face a mask of impenetrable, cold calculation.
"I did not expect the situation would turn out to this extreme level of self destruction," Lie Fan said aloud, his voice calm, giving nothing away to his generals.
But inwardly, behind his dark, impassive eyes, Lie Fan's mind raced at a terrifying speed as he recalled the original history from his past life.
He stared at the map, visualizing the timeline that he had just violently, permanently ruptured. In that original timeline, the history that was supposed to happen, the warlord era of the Three Kingdoms dragged on for decades. Because the central plains were burning, the nomadic tribes had time to recover and consolidate their power.
In that timeline, Batu and Zolgar, the two supreme leaders of the Xiongnu who had just died in the snow, aren't even in such position of power and possibly only tribe chieftain. They here only grew powerful due to butterfly effect, where eventually, they became Cao Cao's vassals when the Emperor of Wei managed to conquer the land beyond the Great Walls during his northern expansion, simply because Cao Cao didn't have any other direction to expand to while locked in a stalemate with him and Liu Zhang at the time.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty
Age: 36 (203 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 2325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 11)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 1,010 (+20)
VIT: 659 (+20)
AGI: 653 (+10)
INT: 691
CHR: 98
WIS: 569
WILL: 436
ATR Points: 0