“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

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“I’ll believe it when I see it, Lord Yuan,” a lofty, well-dressed official scoffed. “Our best forces have been chipping away at that old goat for what seems like an age: Sun Ce would have to be a prodigy equalling or bettering his father to deliver victory outside of a year.”
“…Perhaps he is such a tiger, Mister Liu Xun,” Yuan Shu murmured.
“…And in that case, would you give him Lujiang if he takes it for you, as you promised, Lord Yuan…?” Liu Xun asked pointedly.
“…I will decide that, Mister Liu, when or if the time comes that I must,” Yuan Shu replied. “In fact… I think I now know who should receive Lujiang when it rightly falls into my hands…”
“And your reaction to Cao Cao’s movements will be…?” Han Yin asked timidly.
“…Nothing, yet, as is obviously preferred,” Yuan Shu replied. “We’ll see how he fares against the bandits; no, my main focus should be the northeast… Liu Bei…”

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8

Cao Cao’s thousands-strong force marched to the region southeast of Chenliu Prefecture’s capital and prepared to make their first strikes against the invaders.
“They currently attack the small village to the west of Kuang Town,” Cao Cao noted. “They number in the hundreds… against such a tiny village… such cowardice deserves great humiliation, and besides, that place lost much when Li Jue’s men attacked it, so it should not lose any more.”
“This will be easier than Li Jue and Guo Si’s attacks during the ‘Dong Zhuo crisis’, or Yuan Shu’s invasion of Fengqiu,” Xun Gongda suggested.
“The former was truly a challenge; the latter was, thankfully, a farce,” Cao Cao retorted. “…It makes me think of that fine young man that I had in my employ as an adviser during that first incursion that you mention… what a shame that Mister Xi succumbed to illness, just as Heaven had found use for him.”
“Heaven’s design is often hard to fathom,” Xun Gongda sighed.
“…Let’s act quickly, before word gets back to their leaders,” Cao Cao decided. “I need no stratagem to deal with the attacks on the villages! Xiahou Dun, Yu Jin, Dian Wei, Yue Jin!
Dian Wei…?” Xun Gongda exclaimed as the four officers rode forth and turned to face their lord and hear his orders.
“We need to scare them, Gongda,” Cao Cao said. “Have you a better way to do so…?”

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