East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

“This isn’t your fault,” Zu Mao replied as he struggled to steady his agitated horse.
“Is it not…?” Sun Jian chortled. “I am here as an adviser. A man like me… an adviser! I am a hero, supposedly, so my words should carry greater weight than a little man in a robe that only reads of war, presumably; and yet this ‘Zhou Shen’ ignores my caution completely, practically dismisses me, and advocates this suicidal advance without taking perfectly logical steps to protect our supplies or hasten their retreat. I never imagined I’d ever say this, but… the man is a witless, reckless idiot, and he just wants a nice big fight to tell the court about, so that he’s favourably compared to ‘the amazing Dong Zhuo’; he’s deliberately ensuring the enemy are fit to face us… I’m sure of it.”
“You take risks, sure enough, but never outright stupid ones… only necessary ones, that save lives,” Zu Mao noted. “This man has no sense, Mister Sun Jian. I only hope that he’s even the slightest bit right, and the enemy have no strategy whatsoever, else we’re doomed before we even get started.”
“My ancestor would disown me,” Sun Jian sighed. “This is a textbook situation; cut their supply line, safeguard our own, and it’ll be over in no time; but no, we will-”
Sun Jian’s rant was prematurely halted by a commotion at the rear of the army.
“Oh no,” Sun Jian groaned. “Quickly…!”
Sun Jian and Zu Mao rallied a small group of confused men and hurried to the rear of the military convoy, but it was too late; the blazing flames and plumes of smoke told them that the enemy had successfully destroyed the supplies and ensured that there would be no advance.
“I’ll tell him!” Sun Jian shouted to Zu Mao. “Do what you can to calm the troops!”
Zu Mao acknowledged his responsibility, and Sun Jian hurried back to the vanguard.

“What is going on?” General Zhou Shen barked as Sun Jian approached him.
“They hit our supply train… it’s gone,” Sun Jian reported.
The soldiers within earshot started to panic immediately.
“We have to retreat in an orderly fashion!” Sun Jian pleaded. “The day is lost; we cannot proceed without supplies!”
“Do you think that I do not know that???” Zhou Shen retorted angrily. “I…! …Mister Sun Jian, I-”
“Order a retreat, General, and quickly,” Sun Jian interrupted irritably. “We must now treat the vanguard as the rear, and be ready for attacks to our current position.”
“Yes, yes, I… FULL RETREAT! WATCH FOR THE ENEMY!” Zhou Shen shouted with as much authority as he could muster, but the damage was done; the troops were openly resentful as the army began an ignominious retreat. The rebels attacked repeatedly as the army moved, ensuring that the return to the Han camp would be humiliating and the defeat definitive.

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