With their efforts to halt Aurora’s advance proving to be ineffective, the various southern lords were scrambling to find solutions to the looming threat that would soon descend on them.
Some lords began to blame their allies for not sending enough aid while other lords were contemplating whether to surrender or not. Slowly their trust in each other began to dwindle as new of the Dark Sea Province’s defection, coupled with the new of the Red Thorn Province’s betrayal and arrest of the Dark Legion.
There were some lords who had sent emissaries throughout the continent hoping for aid in halting Aurora’s growth.
To keep things brief, few days after Guan Yu’s arrival his army was combined with Zhang’s army as all of their soldiers were assembled outside of Red Thorn City.
Although Guan Yu’s forces had suffered heavy casualties due to facing against the Twin Dragon Province’s Dragon Core Army, he had brought roughly one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers to supplement Zhang’s forces. This meant that when the soldiers of the Red Mist Province were included, their army neared a nine hundred thousand soldiers total.
As the force comprised of nine hundred thousand soldiers stood in neat rows that stretched as far back as the eye could see, they made everyone who was able to witness this sight watch in awe.
Tang Hong, his wives, and practically the rest of the people living Red Thorn City were either gazing down from the city walls or trying to peak a look on at the imposing force that was assembled in front of them.
Amidst the countless soldiers, Tang Wei and Tang Shiang could be seen atop large white stallions, surrounded by the soldiers clad in red armor.
“All forces move out!” Zhang commanded, signaling the various commanders and generals within his massive army to intimate their march toward the east tip of the Southern Region.
Before long, new of Zhang’s army resounded from one southern lord to the next as he continued to go deeper south.
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A few weeks after their departure from Red Thorn City, Zhang and his people found themselves in a desolate land void of green and was instead filled with black.
Charred land and ruined towns and cities were all they saw as they made their way into the Azure Rain Province.
While every well and water source they encountered had been laced poison
Luckily for Zhang’s army, they had someone extremely well versed in the art of poison who was able to purify the poisoned wells and water sources in next to no time at all.
Because if there was no natural source of water then an army of nine hundred thousand soldiers would be forced to withdraw from battle before even began.
Traversing ruined cities and poisoned lakes and rivers, Zhang and the beauties soon saw the top of magnificent tower poking out from deep within a large mountain range.
“Your highness, I believe that is the Azure Rain Province’s Azure Tower. It is said to be the site of an ancient fortress that can hold hundreds of thousands of people within it. Although I've never been to it since it is considered a sacred site to the rulers of the Azure Rain Province, I've heard that this fortress was built to honor a mighty dragon.” Tang Wei said as he stood beside Zhang and saw the glorious tower that pierced into the clouds.
“Azure tower… Dragon…. Azure Dragon…” Zhang mumbled as his eyes focused on the tower.
“Have our men pitch camp here for the night.” Zhang said before calling for a conference amongst all of his generals and commanders.
Before long hundreds of people converged into a large tent erected within a massive camp that was currently being constructed.
General's such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Song Ren, Tang Wei, Tang Shiang and many more unnamed individuals and their subordinates arrived and either sat or stood in a circle with a large map laid out in the center.
Once Zhang and the beauties made their way into the tent, the conference began.
“Judging from the layout of this map provided by Lord Tang Hong, there is a total of five passes through the mountains and to the Azure Tower. There are also a dozen small back mountain routes that would only allow for a dozen or so men to travel on at a time.” Yuying explained as she traced her finger on the large map in the center of the conference tent.
“Since the enemy has the advantage of knowing the local terrain, coupled with the fact that they arrived here before we did, it would prove to be disadvantageous for us to simply March our forces into the mountains.” She also said.
“Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we should advance?” Zhang asked.