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Imperial Calendar, Year 779, August 2nd, the City of Di Du was already wide awake. Today was the day Central Army Commander – Stirling and hundred fifteen thousand of his companions were supposed to leave for Fort Warren. Headmaster ZiChuan Shen Xing was there to bid them farewell in person.
Since most of the Central Army were sons of Di Du, thousands upon thousands Capital’s citizens had come to admire the mighty army, hoping to catch a glimpse of their families. Mothers holding their sons’ hands, newlywed wives in their husbands’ arms, tears all over their faces, and cries everywhere.
Today, Commander Stirling was the focal point of everyone’s attention. Headmaster and members of High Command accompanied the army for dozens of miles, in the end Stirling had to come down to his knees, only then did Headmaster reluctantly bid his farewell: “Stirling, this is as far as I go. Know this: everyone will be waiting for the news of your victory here at home!”
The words moved Stirling to tears. He made a promise while still on his knees: “Do not worry, Sir. I will wipe out the Rebels and restore the peace! If I don’t succeed, I’d rather die in battle than to return empty handed!”
“Shh” ZiChuan Shen Xing whispered to Stirling: “Hey now, none of that talk! Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I only need your safe return. I don’t have a son. I have always treated you like one my own…” It was a heartfelt speech.
“Li Qing is here as well; don’t you have something to say to her?”
Stirling had spotted Li Qing’s feature amongst those who came to bid theirs farewells earlier, but he only nodded, hinting at her, while turning his gaze back to the Headmaster: “Sir, I carry the fate of the House on my shoulder. This is neither the place nor time to let personal feelings getting in the way. Would you tell Li Qing I said goodbye? Thank you Sir.”
“Sigh, even though a man should put his country above his home, you are being…… too harsh!”
Despite Li Qing’s worried look and ZiChuan Shen Xing’s lament, neither of them took notice of Commander Stirling being slightly absent-minded today. He kept diverting his gaze towards the crowd, searching, only to retract it moment later, disappointed…
“Hey, Sister Ka Dan. You came all this way, why don’t you talk to Stirling?” ZiChuan Ning asked Ka Dan.
Underneath a dark veil, Ka Dan stared at Stirling’s shadow left behind by the surrounding crowd, shaking her head lightly: “If I walk up to him as who I am, I will only cause him troubles…”
A drop of hot liquid fell on the back of ZiChuan Ning’s hand. Her eyes widened, and through the veil she saw Ka Dan’s elegant face: “You are crying…”
……
Standing beside them, ZiChuan Xiu sighed under his breath and lamented: “Since the days of old, in the shadows of a country’s success, you can always find a woman’s tear. Even for the likes of Stirling and Ka Dan, a unique couple, the law still applies…”
ZiChuan Xiu contemplated, lamented, all the while…
“Brother, you hand… why are you touching the girl standing in front of you like that… and at that place too?”
“Oh, she seems so sad. I just want to comfort her a little…”
“Smack!” A loud slap later, the girl standing in front of him turned around, and she was outraged: “Pervert! How dare you grope me in public! My husband is heading to the Far East with Sir Stirling, to put his life at risk for his home. And you stand here as a coward, bulling a lonely girl like me! Do you have no shame?!”
Her words had angered the crowd, and a several fists surrounded them…
“Hahaha. Let me explain, it is clearly a huge misunderstanding!”
“I have always been a fervent supporter of those with the noble cause… Haha… How could I have done what she had suggested?”
“Listen, it was an accident!” ZiChuan Xiu acted all seriously, declaring his intent in a righteous tone: “Due to time, space, air flow, gravity and many other unknown factors, the position my hand just happen to unconsciously overlap with the position of the bulging part of her backside. It was a design of fate, and no one’s fault really…”
“Ouch, hey, there is no need to get violent! Ning, Ka Dan, where did you go? Help me explain to them!”
“Oh, we are just passing through. We don’t know that pervert. Do you worst!”
“Ungrateful little…! Ouch, not down there! That really hurts! Help!”
……
August 6th, the battle of Fort Warren had reached a critical point. The tall walls finally gave under the relentless attacks from the Rebel Army, collapsing to a gap. Hundreds of thousands Rebel Army poured through the crack shouting incomprehensible warcries.
At the time, the City of Warren was already fully mobilized. They had no forces left to send to plug the gap. Watching the endless Rebel Army storming towards the fort, Deputy Commander Luo Bo and Lin Bing could only burst into a bitter laughter. By then, they had given their all, exhausted all their resources. They were ready to die for their country at any given time…
Lin Bing deplored with her sword raised up high: “My only regret, is to not have seen the traitor Lei Hong bleed out in front of me… I have been robbed of my justice!”
Luo Bo caught her hand: “Wait!”
“Don’t you see what is happening? What are you waiting for? Surely you are not planning to confess to me right now!”
“Fuck off. I’m not in the mood for your jokes! There is something strange going on with the rebels!”
Indeed, horns sounded with certain urgency in the midst of the rebel army, and it wasn’t anything like the horns of victory. Their banners waved aimlessly, messengers dashed through the lines and officers shouted loudly, something was definitely amiss. Their soldiers reluctantly halted their steps, hastily trying to regroup. Something had caught them off guard; they were in disarray……
Horns of war sounded from the northwest!
The two Deputy Commanders, who were prepared to take their own lives moment earlier, shared a surprised look and uttered in unison: “Could it be reinforcements?! Surely not that fast?” Overjoyed in anticipation, they locked their hands tightly together!
“An army has appeared in the northwest!”
“It is a human army! Sir, the reinforcement has arrived! The reinforcement has arrived!”
“Only Cavalry! Numbers unknown!”
“Sir, I saw the banner! It is the Central Army! The Central Army has arrived!”
“Stirling… It is Stirling’s forces!”
“Long live the king! Long live the Headmaster! Long live the Central Army! Long live Sir Stirling!”
As if their words were heard on the other end of the horizon, deafening warcries erupted from the riders: “Woaah!”
It was no doubt Central Army’s warcry! Both Luo Bo and Lin Bing were pleasantly surprised: “How did he get here so fast?!”
……
When the army left the City of Di du, Stirling regrouped all the highly mobile cavalry units together, forming ten Cavalry divisions and twenty Infantry divisions. He believed the time was of the essence. Despite the protest from his fellow officers, he gave the order to have Deputy Commander Qin Lu take charge of the infantry divisions while he raced day and night, nonstop towards Fort Warren with the Cavalry divisions. He even created a new forced march record – Four days to get from Di Du to Fort Warren.
After arriving at the battlefield, and seeing the Rebel Army in disarray trying desperately to regroup, Stirling quickly gave the order: “Charge!”
His advisors all argued in protest: “Sir, the enemy outnumber us greatly, and we are exhausted from the march. We should enter Fort Warren and get rested first, before we attempt any offensive manoeuvres.”
Stirling refuted: “We just arrived, and our morale is high! The Rebels have been bashing their heads against the walls of Fort Warren for days. They have lost their edge. The only reason they are in disarray right now is because they don’t know how many men we have. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!”
The Rebel Army tried desperately to regroup. Due to the abruptness however, they only managed to form six square formations of Beastmen[[1]] infantries in the way of Stirling. If they could stall his forces for a short while, their great army would be able to regroup, form up, and with their superior forces, they would crush Stirling with ease!
Several thousand stout Beastmen swung their giant arms, shouting wildly.
Central Army roared: “Woaah!” Hooves thundered forward, a neat line of pitch black pressed in on the Beastmen with lightning speed.
Thousands of arrows surged forward, dropping the front lines of the Beastmen like flies, leaving them screaming for pain.
The arrows took both the Rebel Army and the Defenders on top of the walls by surprise: “Why is Stirling’s army all horse archers? And why are they shooting while charging? How can archers charge into enemy ranks?”
When the charging riders approached the Rebel Army within hundred meters, Stirling’s clear voice echoed across the battlefield: “Front row, bring forth the Lances!”
“Clack”, the rapidly approaching Central Army Cavalry quickly sheathed their bows and switched out the lances. Their agile, stream-lined movement was no doubt what made them the most well-trained Army of House ZiChuan. To be able to execute such technical manoeuvre so perfectly while charging on horseback, even the Rebel Army was in awe.
The horses charged forward at the same pace while the riders lowered their body, extending a row of lances one and half meter forward from their mounts. Meanwhile, more Central Army Cavalries loosed their arrows from the backline, raining more death upon the Rebel Army.
The gap between the two armies quickly narrowed, fifty meters, thirty meters, ten…
There were warcries and there were shouts.
The two armies clashed head-on!
With added momentum, rider’s lances pierced through Beastmen’s hardened hide with minimal resistance. Some even pierced through several Beastmen in quick succession. The second row of Beastmen fought back with sticks and shovels, toppling the riders from their horseback, but was subsequently cut in half by another incoming rider who had switched to the sabres more suited for close quarter combat…
In an instant, several hundred Human soldiers had hit the ground, separating them forever from their pining loved ones far away at home. At the same time, several thousands of Beastmen were felled by the lances and sabres…
More and more riders fearlessly jumped into the fray, before long, Stirling’s entire force had entered melee with the enemy!
Stirling’s forces held the clear number advantage, and were far better armed than their rebel counterpart wielding sticks and shovels.
Faced against Beastmen’s natural physical prowess, Human soldiers usually fought in formation. With three soldiers a group against each Beastmen, organized combat against unorganized defence. The Rebels were in the end not a professional army. When it comes to unit cooperation and bravery, they were no match for the well trained and organized regular Army in close quarter combat, leaving everyone to fend for themselves. In less than ten minutes, six and half Beastmen divisions were sent fleeing in all directions.
Stirling’s whistle sounded loud and clear. Like a dream, the scattered riders immediately regrouped into massive square formations.
“Ignore the ones running away. Our goal is the bulk of the Rebel Army!”
Empowered by their first victory, soldiers shouted together: “Woaah!” and pounced like hungry wolves, tearing into the disordered bulk of the enemy forces in the middle of withdrawing from besieging the Fort.
Seeing the deadly riders annihilating all the hardened Beastmen in mere minutes, many of the Serpents, Dragonkin and Dwarfs already started to flee.
They were no soldiers after all. Sure, they might seem eager when they were winning, but the moment the tide turned against them, their first instinct was to run. They ones left behind had to quickly make a decision: Should they follow their officer’s order and form lines or follow suit and run… Before they could make up their minds, the riders had descended upon them. Screams, panic everywhere. Whatever hesitation they may have had, was gone in an instant!
Serpents: Gurogumi! (Run!)
Beastmen: Walawa Ke! Waja! (You damn cowards! Fuck it, run!)
Dwarfs: Ekorok! Thamar ekorok! (Surrender! We surrender!)
Dragonkin didn’t even say anything and already fled.
The only regulars amongst the Rebel Army were Lei Hong’s human divisions, but they left three days ago to deal with the two remaining provinces in the Far East who did not join the rebellion – Province Deja and Province Iribart. He would never have guessed that several hundred thousand Rebels could be sent into a panic spree by mere fifty thousand Cavalries…
Imperial Calendar, August 11th, a breathless messenger brought the news that would send the entire City of Di Du into a state of euphoria: “Victory at warren! Inflicting seventy-one thousand casualties! Capturing eleven hundred and six thousand enemy combatants! The rebels are on the run and Sir Stirling has given chase! Fort Warren still stands!
Under Headmaster – ZiChuan Shen Xing’s order, the City was to enter five minutes of silent prayer for those who had fallen.
High Command made the announcement later, to officially appoint Stirling as the Central Army Commander. (Removing the Acting part)
After the short prayer, the time had come for the million citizens to celebrate over night… Stirling’s name was constantly being mentioned, and each time it was followed by a wave of cheers: “Long live Stirling!”
The local taverns soon found themselves exploded with celebratory remarks: “May Stirling live forever! Cheers all around!” and the Sales of beers, flowers, fireworks, talismans in Di Du quickly went through the roof, greatly boosting the effective demands of the respective products, and consequently, causing the very stagnant economy since last year to enter a period of accelerated growth.
Many streetwise book publishers began rushing their new titles on the same night:
--Chronicles of a famous General – Stirling--
--The untold story between me and Stirling – Banner Master Li Qing’s deepest secret--
--Stirling in real life--
The reporters on the other hand, took full advantage of the fact that newspaper came out much faster than books. Full pages of articles of Stirling appeared on the front page of their papers the very next day:
--Stirling in the eyes of his friends--
--The great man next door – An interview of Stirling’s neighbour--
--My dinner with Stirling--
--I knew he would be great one day – Stirling’s kindergarten teacher claims she knew he would be great one day when he first saw him pee--
--Stirling’s first confession! – Stirling’s classmate, Lady Liu Mei Li’s statement: I never loved him!--
There was another announcement made on Imperial Calendar, Year 779, August 11th, except this one slipped under everyone’s notice. The “Capital Times” did write a small article on the subject in the "lost and found" section: “Due to the increasing tension in the Far East, High Command has appointed Reserve Division Deputy Commander – ZiChuan Xiu to conscript all class of men from the province of Mozof, Kesan and Anxing for the newly formed Emergency Response Unit.
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[[1]] Half-Beasts shall now be known as Beastmen, it was suggested by a reader, and it sounded better.