But unknowns to most people a caravan consisting of a thousand or two people was currently making its way through the Warring States Region. This caravan would make camp during the day and move out through the night. The few who have ran into this caravan are left with bit and pieces of memories that prevent them from recalling what they truly saw. However, some say they saw ghostly white monsters and thousands of people bound in rattling chains, overall a horrific sight to see.
On a particular night when the moon’s light was not obscured by clouds, hundreds of carriages could be seen making their way through an open plain. Pulling these carriages however were not horses but ghostly white spiders the size of horses.
However, unlike most places, tonight Red Mist City was bustling with activity. Soldiers could be seen shuttling supplies from one end of the city to the other as they prepared for the coming invasion that would begin within two weeks’ time. New recruits were being trained around the clock as the Red Mist Army was trying to bolster its numbers.
Once they dashed out of the city gates it did not take long for the ghostly caravan to come into sight. At the forefront of the caravan was a carriage being pulled by a massive white and purplish spider and a team of fiery horses.
“We welcome your return, your highness.” All of them said in unison.
“Brother Sima Yi, how are the preparations going along? Also didn’t I tell you to call me brother and drop the formalities?” Zhang asked as he helped Sima Yi up.
“Our naval fleet is ready to set sail at your command and the rest of our army should be ready to face the enemy in battle.” Sima Yi said with a smile as Zhang patted his shoulder.
“Your highnesses.” Sima Yi, Gan Ning, and Xi Ning said in unison as they saluted the beauties. Although they were quite friendly with Zhang, they still felt that they needed to be formal to the beauties when in public.
“Thanks to the funds confiscated from the Jin Clan, we were able to allocate much more spending to our military. Whereas before when the Red Mist City was solely focused on defense, we now have tripled the size of our naval fleet and increased our infantry by a substantial amount.” Sima Yi reported.
“Our navy consisted of roughly thirty ships before and now there is a total of one hundred ships, eighty warships, nineteen carriers and a commanding vessel. Now that the Jin Clan is gone and there is no more embezzlement, we can properly fund our military.” Sima Yi replied with a smile.
“How many mobile ballistae have we managed to construct?” Zhang asked.
“Have most of them placed onto the commanding vessel and the remaining few on the warships. They’ll be a great surprise for our enemies. Also ready the men we set out toward the Dark Sea Province at sunrise.” Zhang said with a devious smile.
“The enemy probably knows that the invasion will begin in two weeks and will be ready for our arrival, so we don’t we come a bit early and give them a pleasant surprise.” Zhang said.
Zhang’s prisoners who had attacked him when he was moving through the New Moon Province were the last to set foot on the naval ships and assigned to be the oarsmen since they couldn’t really be trusted, they were kept bound in chains. Of course Zhang was not cruel enough to ensure their deaths if one of the ships were to sink in battle so he had promised to relocate them to the carrier ships if enemy forces show up.
Also without know what the size of the enemy and what tricks they could have hidden in their sleeves, Zhang felt that he needed to be in the front lines where he could aid his soldiers and prevent unnecessary deaths if possible. Sima Yi of course would manage the land battles once they set foot on the lands of the Dark Sea Province.
As the awe inspiring fleet made its way through the massive sea gates of Red Mist City, the same thought appeared in the minds of every resident present, perhaps the lost magnificence of the Red Mist Navy would soon be restored.
Of all of the beauties, Ai could be seen excitedly looking out into the open sea with sparkling eyes. The fresh air, the gentle breeze and the boat’s gentle rocking reminded her of the time that she, Yuying and Zhang he spent at sea before running into Jian Wei. Although an experience could be unbelievably terrible, as time passed and when one reminisced, even the worst of experiences could be turned into a fond memory.
“Perhaps.” Yuying replied with a chuckle. Like this the two of them stood side by side until Red Mist city was out of sight.
“Maybe one day we’ll return to that island and I’ll build a castle or something on it.” He thought as he looked toward the direction where a certain one hundred islands were.
“Of all of people I would think that you’d be the last to be sea sick.” Ling’s voice could be heard with a laugh.
Without replying to Ling, Lingqi grabbed a small bucket beside her bedside and expelled the contents of her last meal before laying back down on her bed.
Although they were fairly certain they could defeat the enemy at sea, the beast battlefield for Zhang’s army was on land, where their cavalry could trample the enemy lines. While on land Zhang could use his cavalry and a variety of other factors to achieve victory, but sadly on water battles tend to revolve around the number of ships one possess.
“If these navy vastly outstrips ours we can dock here and continue on foot. Once our ships dock in this bay they wouldn't dare to move in.” Sima Yi added while pointing to a location near where Gan Ning's finger was.
“None of the then will be actively participating in this battle, unlike before when we were facing one province at a time, this time we can fighting a dozen provinces, each other their own experts who will be sent to the front lines to repel our invasion. Which makes it too dangerous.” Zhang said, disagreeing with Gan Ning's suggestion of using Ling’s magic for the naval battle.
That being said, the invasion is unavoidable because if they do not act then sooner or later the Aurora Kingdom would be attacked. The creation of a kingdom with the middle of the region definitely is an eyesore to most if not all of the other lords, so it was only a matter of time before a war began.
So the best and most logical decision would be to invade the south and solidly their power while using the northern provinces as a buffer zone. Then when they are strong enough they can absorb the northern provinces and for the first time in thousands of years the Warring States Region would be united as one.
“Then our best course of action would be to scout out the enemy and if possible move onto land. It would be best to dock here at this harbor and from there occupy this small village here and then use it as a command base to seige Blue Wind City. ” Sima Yi said as he traced a path across the map with his finger.
“That is to say I don't crush them at sea. If we sink them all then we can sail directly to Dark Sea City.” Gan Ning laughed as he stabbed a dagger onto the map, directly on where Dark Sea City was located.