Chapter 13: War Reignited

Year 237 Month 12, Shou Chun

"You look worried, Jiang Wei." Guan Suo remarked.

"Hm. You can say that. Preparations to invade Wu has been...slow. It'll take a while to re-base our troops from the north towards the southern border towns."

"Which cities will be our spearhead?"

"Shou Chun, Xin Ye, and Xiang Yang."

"I guess our targets are all their cities on the northern side of the river first."

"Correct. But it will not be easy. Scouts report 100,000 strong garrison force on Lu Jiang and Jiang Xia. Jiang Ling has 60,000."

"I'll leave it to you, I'll go inspect our supplies and drill our men." Guan Suo left the command tent, braving the cold winds outside.

"It's melting soon. The snow. The alliance. And Wu. Zhuge Liang, I hope I am worthy" Jiang Wei hissed as he warmed his hands over the fire.

Year 238 Month 1
The alliance between Nanman and Wu was dissolved and almost immediately the dust of war ravaged once more between kingdoms. Jiang Wei of Nanman drew up a simultaneous assault plan and led the assault with Guan Suo from Shou Chun to Lu Jiang with 100,000 forces.


Sun Quan responded with an equally large force.

At the same time, Li Yan and Zhang Bao led a charge towards the mountain pass leading towards Jiang Xia from Xin Ye. Their army 80,000 strong.


King Meng Huo, Hua Man and Wu Tugu will hold their position in Xiang Yang, defending against a massive Wu attack from Jiang Ling.


Year 238 Month 3, Lu Jiang Marshes
"March quickly! The enemy will surround us shortly. Raze the farmlands to the north of the Lu Jiang and break their gates." Jiang Wei commanded.

"Commander, the marsh here is bad for cavalry. We can't charge nor perform most of our cavalry tactics at all in this terrain." Wei Yan objected.

"I know, but the roads are littered with archer towers and fortresses. If we can raze our way past the farms and granaries, we should not take too much damage"

"I trust Jiang Wei, let's do this!" Guan Suo shouted as he led a charge past an archer unit.

"Ma Dai, hurry south! Ignore everything else. The city gates is key!"

"Jiang Wei, what about their reinforcements from Jiang Xia? They're headed towards Shou Chun." Sanniang queried.

"Hopefully Zhang Bao and Li Yan can wreak enough havoc to force them to return. Else we need to settle things here quickly. You are our rear guard! I'm counting on you!" Jiang Wei barked.

"Aye, sir!"

Year 238 Month 4, Mountain Pass of Jiang Xia

"Sir! I have terrible news!"

"What is it?" Zhang Bao grumbled. Progress has been slow due to the heavily forested terrain.

"Commander Li Yan...he...passed away sir. He was ill." the soldier struggled with his words.

"Curses. We are now down to half of our numbers. He had no deputy! His unit must've disbanded. Damn it!" Zhang Bao swore.

"Zhang Bao, we should pull back. I'll start a fire to slow them down. We can't take them like this without additional melee units." Wang Ping remarked.

"But if we don't take the city, Shou Chun will be in danger."

"If we fall in Jiang Xia, both Shou Chun and Xin Ye will be in danger. Jiang Wei foresees these things."


"Very well. All units withdraw, set fire to the forests to slow them down!"


Year 238 Month 4, Lu Jiang Outskirts

"Altogether now, CHARGE!" Jiang Wei commanded.

The city walls are crumbling. Soon the populace will submit to their rule, but there's still a matter of handling the defenders outside the walls. That will prove easy with their supplies cut off. Jiang Wei spied the western mountains. Cloud of smoke rose up slowly, but he estimated the source of fire was closer to Xin Ye than Jiang Xia. Something went wrong.

"We need to settle this fast and reinforce Shou Chun!" he barked as the gates of Lu Jiang crumbled and Deng Ai rushed inside to secure the city. The ports will have to wait. Shou Chun must not fall.


Year 238 Month 5, Xiang Yang Outskirts


"Bwahaahhaha, Take THAT!"King Meng Huo swung his giant Pike and killed three men at once. His unit was outnumbered three to one, but he held his ground at Xiang Yang.

"Damn these flame towers will burn the city to the ground. We won't be able to disable it, they have 10,000 troops guarding it!" Wu Tugu lamented.

"Milord, we might have to retreat!" Guo Huai shouted as his unit caught fire from two flame towers raining arrows at them.

"No retreat! Nanmans rally yourselves! The Sleeping Dragon held this city with half the number. We can do better!" Meng Huo let loose a warcry as flames burst from the ground he stood upon.

Guo Huai and Meng Huo's unit willpower are nearly empty. They are unable to perform their sweeping attacks and cannot hope to hold Xiang Yang for much longer. The first three months of Nanman-Shu conflict begin to take its toll as hundreds of thousands marched against each other in the name of their Emperor.

Year 238: Nanman takes Lu Jiang