“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“…But I feel so powerless, Gongda,” Cao Cao admitted. “My army is not
great enough to face the Liang warlords and their fair-weather Qiang allies and take Chang’an.
…We struggled against Yufuluo! …If the Yuans do not make peace and the warlords of
the east do not act soon, then… then will we one day be told that Li Jue and Guo Si have once
again slain the Son of Heaven…?”
“There will still be good men close to His Majesty,” Xun Gongda replied. “They will
give us time… time to put things right.”
Cao Cao nodded and said, “Then let us relieve the last of the settlements and return to Xuchang;
I feel a cold wind, and worry that it’s Zhang Miao’s fallen kin prodding at my conscience.”
*************
12
Yufuluo’s battered Xiongnu warriors and Fixed Gaze’s
bandits retreated separately across Central Province and toward the sandy, surging
currents of the Yellow River; their marches would take them past the ruins of the
capital Luoyang and privately-managed lands - including a fief awarded to former
Yellow Turban pacifier Zhu Jun - that had once been attacked and pillaged by Li Jue
and Guo Si in their days as Dong Zhuo’s generals.
“We’re probably going back to a purge by Yuan Shao,” Fixed Gaze muttered
as he rode across the scarred landscape. “Poison Yu’s lack o’ sense in
knowing what to attack has really left us in it.”
“Where’s ‘Nobody’s Chanyu’…?” Big Eyes sniggered.
“He ran from that last battle before we did!”
“I think he was hit during his charge this time, Big Eyes,” Fixed Gaze replied.
“I don’t reckon he’d be running like this if he wasn’t hurt, not
after seeing how angry he was, and ‘specially after he said his son was joining us soon…”
“P’raps his son lost his nerve and isn’t coming, and that’s why
he’s running,” Big Eyes suggested.
“Yufuluo is brave, if nothin’ else,” Fixed Gaze replied. “His son
is pretty brave too, so that ain’t it. No, I reckon Yufuluo was hurt and hurt bad,
in which case… in which case our next trip into Yan might be on our own.”
Another bandit coughed before he asked, “Are we going to raid anywhere, boss…? A
lot o’ the lads are hungry.”