Chapter 1: Rise of the Nan Mans

"Seven times captured, seven times freed! Such a thing has never happened! Though I stand beyond the range of imperial grace, I am not utterly ignorant of ritual, of what propriety and honor require. No, I am not so shameless!" - Meng Huo admits defeat

Off Wikipedia:

Meng Huo was aristocrat in the Nanzhong region, south of Shu Han, during the Three Kingdoms era of China. He was involved in several small skirmishes with Shu Han, and in retaliation Shu's strategist Zhuge Liang launched a full invasion on the Nanzhong region. After being captured by Zhuge Liang seven times, Meng Huo surrendered to him and swore his allegiance to Shu Han.

I like reading RTK, the book conjures up of heroic acts and villainy, sometimes bordering on 'superheroic' feats in battles, or sheer ingenuity in tactics. But the biggest loser that I always remembered was Meng Huo of Nan Man rebellion.

We're talking about a guy that was beaten SIX times and still had the cheek to try again the SEVENTH time. Only to fail and capitulate finally to the dude that whipped his arse. I couldn't help but think the writer is 'biased'. But such is the greatness of Sleeping Dragon that people still praised him for 'wasting time'. Seriously, he should've just finished these guys off in the first victory. Instead provisions and time was lost when he should've focused on the northern kingdom of Wei who's dominating so hard in the north. But what do I know, I'm not him.

I guess he wanted to beat them mentally and physically. Oh well, we're not talking about him anymore, we're talking about the bad boy of Nan Man. Meng Huo! I always like to twist history a bit, and what better way is there than to take the mantle of the King of Nan Man himself?

I've mastered Lu Bu's scenario after a week of play. But his Cavalry combo was very cheesy and made combat a joke. Especially when we're talking about a wife that has double chance to 'confuse' male generals and a daughter that disorganizes enemy on Cavalry charge. Mother-Father-Daughter combo was too good, by late game I was just steam rolling people left and right. So I wondered if I could take the Meng Huo challenge.

Covering the weakness of leaders is made easier now in RTK XI, deputies that are attached acts as the 'strongest unit statistic'. So people like Meng Huo & Lu Bu are no longer vulnerable to trickery tactics when they are attached to think tanks (e.g Zhang Fei + Zhuge Liang etc) . So I set myself up with Meng Huo and checked his roster for 'think tanks'.

Oh, he has King Dousi as his strategist, he should be quite smart, right? WRONG.

The Sleeping Goat of Nan Man

And that's the highest in the roster? Sigh. I could go on, but seeing a guy with 80 war and all single digits on politics, charisma and int is enough summary of the situation. We've no lack of fighters, but city development & tech upgrades will take twice as long.

Mang Yachang, a true patriot

I've got to get the production line started, but before that I need a steady income and food to hire and feed an army. I currently own two cities. Jian Ning being the front line city makes it a natural choice for a military district. I set up a random thug to transfer all the gold, food and arms as well as men they can spare from the capital city. As I hit the left mouse button, the right most window made my jaw drop.

So you want me to spend two and a half months shitting in the woods?

Seventy days for my supplies to reach the front lines? Holy shit. Now I realized how hard it must be for Zhuge Liang to win in this territory. And to think he did it seven times. What the hell. Experimenting with the march towards Cheng Du gave me an estimate at around 120 days of march. Considering default food loadouts for units are worth 200 days that left me with only 8 turns to settle things when I reach Cheng Du. I grimly set myself to the task, knowing full well a Shu invasion is bound to take place shortly.

For now, my capital city will focus on marketplaces, no additional foodstuff will be grown there. Gold will be delivered non stop in excess of 2000s to the Jian Ning periodically. Jian Ning will focus on food production and military stuff such as troops, arms and siege weaponry. It's ok for gold to be delayed by a month, but going without food for 10 days is disastrous.

I have to add that development speed is very very slow. Having 10-20 rating on politics creates a situation where adding them into a development team gives a FLAT ZERO benefit. I've had three single digit officers working together on a farm and they still finish it in 50 days, alone or not! Repeated searchs for officers turn up nothing but spare change & some obscure items for duels. I kept it in case I need to bribe a bright officer. But for these guys? NAHHHHHHH. Horse crap.

End of Chapter 1

And so it begins:
"The whole of the Riverlands once belonged to another. Your lord seized it by force and proclaimed himself emperor. My ancestors held these lands, which you have encroached upon so barbarically."
Meng Huo's reason to rebel