Eastern Wu: Realm of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

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There were now two parts of the Yangtze River that looked to be made of more wood and men than water, and it was highly likely that the battle would cost a lot of lives if it was not brought to a swift end through an act of morale-breaking heroism by one side or the other.
“…So many men and boats,” Bofu said as he marvelled at the sight of the two large navies. “I doubt that we’ll see this again in our lifetime, Gongjin.”
“We might, we might not,” Gongjin replied. “That depends, as it always does, on the state of the northern court.”
The grey-haired Cheng Pu harrumphed and said, “The sooner we’re free of their foolishness, the better, Zhou Gongjin. What’s the plan…?”
“What plan can one have when the situation is as simple as this, Demou…?” the veteran Huang Gai asked. “I would have thought that the answer here is ‘sail toward them and break them as quickly as possible’.”
“And you’d be right, Mister Huang,” Gongjin said. “Lü Fan and I have discussed it at great length, and we both decided the same thing: the great ‘Tiger of Jiangdong’ is the man that we must look to for inspiration.”
“Suits me!” Bofu cackled. “I-!”
“No heroics, Bofu!” Sun Hè pleaded. “We’ve done this too many times already, and I can’t guarantee that I can watch your back during a river fight!”
Bah… don’t fret so much, Bohai!” Bofu insisted. “I’ve been practicing this stuff endlessly in the last two years, which you know well enough.”
“…Well I’m not so nimble these days, not since my leg got hurt, so I’ll manage things from the command ship,” Cheng Pu grumbled. “Remember that your leg is not so trustworthy since you were shot by Ze Rong’s men, Lord Sun.”
“It’s fine now,” Bofu insisted. “Let’s get this over with! Taishi Ziyi! Let’s you and I show these men what true heroes look like!”

The brawny Taishi Ci smirked and said, “I’m already there in spirit, Lord Sun: my body won’t take long to catch up!”
“And you’re lucky I didn’t charge already!” Ling Cao cried.
“…Aiee… such recklessness,” Huang Gai muttered.

Huang Shè and Han Xi watched with horror as Bofu, Sun Hè, Gongjin, Taishi Ci and Ling Cao led a force of several hundred highly-trained men toward his fleet at great speed: they were already hopping onto the Jing vessels and engaging the front lines before their craft had even slowed. At first, their tactics - which involved moving past the front lines of boats - seemed to be suicide, as they risked being surrounded, but it quickly became clear that something more was happening.
“At that speed, they’ll be at the main ships in no time at all!” Huang Shè exclaimed. “We’ll have to be ready with archers!”
“That’s the least of our worries!” Han Xi noted. “Their smaller craft are parting… and their larger ships are moving to ram into our small boats as their leaders pass them!”
As Han Xi spoke the words, the actions that they described came to pass: many of Huang Zu’s vanguard boats were being capsized and smashed by the larger Jiangdong vessels, and the men that were thrown overboard were being shot and stabbed as they tried to swim toward land.
“This is a rout!” Huang Shè gasped. “How can this be???”

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