East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“Reinforced???” Cheng Pu
exclaimed.
“There must be another army coming
here,” Wu Jing supposed.
“Then the commander is right!”
Cheng Pu decided. “If we scatter this
force, the second one will withdraw!”
Sun Jian nodded and rode into the fray once again to face the enemy
personally.
“Oh, for…!” Wu Jing
complained. “COME BACK, YOU MAD…!”
“Actually, we should join him, Wu
Jing!” Cheng Pu said through laughter.
The whole of Sun Jian’s militia advanced - along with most of the Han
force as a whole - and ploughed into the Yellow Turban army: their efforts
disintegrated it completely. Sun Jian took care to spare any women, youths or
obvious non-acolytes as he moved, but he slayed several men as he rode deeper
and deeper into their collapsing ranks; Zu Mao and Wu Jing followed him quietly
and protected the reckless commander from any attacks that he could not
anticipate. Suddenly, word spread amongst the ranks of both armies that the
second reinforcement army had been routed as it advanced; the remainder of the
Yellow Turbans’ morale disappeared, and they scattered in all directions. The
leaders of the last stand against the Han - Liu Pi and Huang Shao - gathered a
large number of their demoralised followers and fled to the northeast.
“Hè Yi…? Where is Hè Yi’s
division???” Liu Pi asked.
“He went west,” Huang Shao
reported. “I hope our ‘brother’
survives!”
“Surely we should fight to the
death!” one junior officer pleaded.
“That isn’t what the Great Teacher would want, Hè Man,” Liu Pi retorted.
“Teacher Zhang would want us to live to fight another day… and we will.”
“Well done, everyone!” Sun Jian said as his followers gathered around him to watch the Yellow Turbans retreat.
“We were all separated there
for a while, but it’s nice to see every made it back.”
“Yes, and once again you charged
into the thick of it!” Wu Jing scolded.
“Didn’t Cao Cao, and our commanders…?” Sun Jian retorted. “This was a
critical battle, Brother-in-law: all or nothing.”
“…Alright, yes,” Wu Jing conceded.
“And don’t think that I didn’t notice you and Zu Mao covering my back,”
Sun Jian continued. “For all your whining, you’re as brave as any other man
here… you worry too much, but that’s not really a fault in a sane world.”
“A pity, then, that we don’t live in one,” Zu Mao said with a sigh. “So
is it over here in Yu Province, then, d’you reckon…?”
“Some have actually surrendered; others are fleeing to the hills, while
others are retreating westward toward the Jing border, probably to join the
last resistance around Wan City in Nan County,” Cheng Pu reported as he
clutched his arm.
“You’re hurt, Demou,” Sun Jian prompted.
“Not seriously,” Cheng Pu insisted. “Anyway, listen: Wan’s
well-fortified; any man’s going to have trouble with those defences. Any ideas,
in case we’re asked to join that mission…?”
“Siege…?” Zu Mao supposed. “Mind you, that’d be costly… and take a long
time.”
Suddenly, a voice shouted, “Mister
Sun!”
Sun Jian, Wu Jing, Cheng Pu and Zu Mao turned to face Commander Zhu Jun,
who was riding toward them with three of his staff and three militiamen.