It was worth a shot
One hundred twenty days of travel. Supply line is more crucial than ever. A standard food load out will provide for 200 days of travel. Barring any delays, we have 80 days to settle matters in Cheng Du with Zhao yun and his forces. Our supply of gold is moving slowly from Yun Nan, but the time is right to move. Two and a half years was the time it took to muster a force of 40,000 fully trained pikemen and three flame towers. A supply wagon followed it 10 days behind in case we run out of food.
Days after the march, the town of Jian Ning is unusually quiet and lacks a schedule for production since everything is diverted into logistics efforts. News of other battles reached the city. The Shu and Wu Alliance attempts to take Wei territories, with mixed successes.
Liu Chan tries to get comfortable, and fails
Shu made some gains towards Chang An, but it is doubtful he can hold it for long with only 15,000 troops. But the amount of officers he relocated there indicates he is really serious about developing the place (26!). A complete opposite to Cheng Du's state of having only 5 officers and 32000 troops to deal with me.
Which will prove to be a mistake if I can capture some of his generals. Zhao Yun led the charge with Ma Su on their cavalry. The perfect counter to Pikemen. But I'm not too worried. Casualty is expected, less troops means less food consumed too. The real damage comes from the three flame towers behind the pikemen formation. 80 days, I reminded myself on how much time I've got to settle this battle. A narrow pass to the north leads to Chang An with another 10,000 Shu reinforcement coming from the East, but they're on foot. We will deal with the Cavalry first.
A straight line eh? Meng Huo likes straight lines, because...
"Burn, Burn! BURN HIGHER!"Straight stack lines are perfect for a fireball trap. RTK XI trap construction will occupy a tile . An ember trap will burn surrounding tiles, so you need flame arrows to set it off from range. A fireball trap will burn three tiles in the opposite direction where the unit set fire from. So in this case, I wanted it to burn three tiles to the north. I had one unit set up a the fireball trap and Meng Huo rushing from south to set it off. Leading to free damaging up to three units at once with no retaliation. In RTK XI, melee attacks will incur retaliation damage unless target unit is 'confused' or under similiar strategy effects, so it's best to use range weapons to soften up the targets first before taking them up close.
The Shu frontline was quickly overwhelmed by superior numbers and concentrated fire. Meng Huo and his army have to finish this fast before the fresh troops can cross the pass and spread out to inflict more damage and slowing us down.The perfect moment would be catching them just as they cross the pass in a line. The timing would have to be perfect. Ma Su fell quickly but escaped capture. Next is Zhao Yun, who is severely isolated. He too, evaded capture.
A smaller force led by tiger cubs, Zhang Bao and Zhao Guang accompanied a main force of 9,000 led by Wang Ping. They look to cross the narrow passage and take us on the other side. They must've noticed our food supply is dwindling. We have to act quickly to avoid being held up on the narrow path.
Zhu Rong''s unit quickly rushed forward to setup a fireball trap in front of the hapless Shu forces. With Yong Kai's flame tower unit setting it on fire to trigger the explosion. Hundreds died in the burst of flames. Zhang Bao and Zhao Guang quickly put out the fire but could not advance. Wang Ping units sidesteps the flames and attacked Zhu Rong's unit and slain 2000 men, but it was a worthwhile trade, for he is isolated across the passage. Mulu Dousi gleefully set up another fireball trap in front of the narrow passage, still occupied by the tiger cubs.
Battle for Cheng Du's Pass: Shu-moking Hot!
While everyone focused fire on Wang Ping's unit, the supply caravan led by Jinhuan Sanjie made a move towards the fireball trap and instructed his men to set it alight to finish off the Shu forces on the narrow pass. The battle climaxed in a spectacular fashion as the second fireball rolled towards the Shu forces on the narrow pass. The Nan Man soldiers cheered at the carnage and mayhem as their opponents scattered to save themselves, leaving Wang Ping behind with 3,000 men against 28,000 Pikemen and 3 Flame Towers.
The Nan Man caravan dealt more damage than the two tiger cubs units combined
Wang Ping was quickly dealt with, but he evaded our capture. The way to Cheng Du is cleared but time is running out. Our supplies are starting to dwindle. Jinhuan Sanjie quickly distributed supplies to the nearly depleted forces. A few hundred cowards fled early before all units can be resupplied however, but they would miss out on the glory of Cheng Du.Within a month, the Shu stronghold fell upon the march of the Nan Mans. The only downside was no generals of Shu were captured. We missed out on gaining new officers and fresh talents. Sigh.
I pondered my next move as I ordered another transport to deliver fresh supplies for the development of Cheng Du and wincing at the 120 days journey from Jian Ning . Cheng Du will take a few months to develop due to lack of good civic officials, and with the threat of Shu counter attack, I've got to prioritize barracks over farms. But Jian Ning can start converting itself into a pure economic district.
Yun Nan to Jian Ning = 80 day
Jian Ning to Cheng Du = 120 day
-End of Chapter 3-
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