Chapter 456: Old Friends Returned

"So we have five new enemies who have joined up in a temporary coalition to attack us?" Dom asked from his seat as he looked at the vast map on the table. The map showed the locations of the other Kingdoms, but it also showed the mountains, rivers and forests between the lands. There was also other cities that had been marked amongst it, some between them and others distant.

Yuan Shao’s Kingdom was the closest and the map didn’t show much of them. He was slightly south of the west of them and the map only showed his border cities that were closest to the border they had with Emperor Huvishka. A lot of land seperated them from the Lazarus Kingdom, even if they were the closest, but it looked like they could be travel to them either by land or river.

Huvishka and Samudragupta were on the north and south sides of the Calm River as it passed more centrally in to the main land. Both had vast lands with lakes, cities and what seemed an ample supply of resources. The map didn’t show many of their cities, but mainly the land they had called their own with some of the geographical shapes. Both were much bigger than the Lazarus Kingdom and Dom could tell that they had only sent small forces in this battle.

Hanno and Viriathus were even further away, little shown other than the mountains and rivers that connected them to the rest of the kingdoms. They were so far that Dom was surprised they had been able to send forces to Battle him at all. The cause of them all collecting and deciding to attack could not have been recent, and Dom realised that he was their only route to the possible trade to the sea.

"We do, from questioning and the information that General Gan Ning gathered from their camp, we also have a good idea as to why they were attacking us. It is complex and I believe something that Xun Yu will be able to resolve for us." Xun You explained, as he turned to Xun Yu to take over. He had been briefed before the meeting, having spent the time since his arrival late in the night to work with Xun You on information gathering. They had also brought some Elite Villagers and others with them to help dissect the information.

"When Riverside was founded, it’s first confrontation was against a small Village known to us as the Gluttonous Chief’s Village. From all accounts the ruler was not a great person, and from further information we have gathered, it seemed that he raided other villages for their resources." Xun Yu began, as the others sat and listened. "However, he didn’t have many resources when you attacked him, that is because he traded them away with other Towns further in land. His disappearance was the first point that we had been discovered, albeit our outer edges and not our Kingdom itself."

"So this is revenge for that Fat Chieftain?" Subutai asked, raising his eyebrow as he said it, whilst the others also thought this was a large amount of people to avenge a small town.

"No it is not, but it seems a city further down river had sent some people to investigate but they had stopped at the sight of our Fort at Eruthros that was being built." Xun Yu continued, "From the trading of information, that is how the coalition discovered our existence originally, or at least Emperor Huvishka had. They were gathering their coalition for another reason."

"For five forces to gather together, they must have had a major enemy. We are not that enemy." Shang Yang replied, as others nodded in agreement. He looked down at the map, at the north part of the River that had very little showing of civilisation between the Lazarus Kingdom and Samudragupta. Samudragupta was even further than Yuan Shao and there was no reason the two would have met except for far distant trade at this point.

"That is correct, the enemy they were trying to eliminate is the same enemy we have been trying to eliminate. The Type 3’s." Xun Yu explained, showing a document that Gan Ning had gathered which had drawings of the Type 3’s on them. "They have also been fighting them on their eastern border, and that is why the others had reluctantly joined with them, as this enemy is more dangerous than a fellow human that they can plan against."

"That makes no sense as to why they attacked us!" Tomoe stated, frustrated at the size and distance of their new enemies.

"No, but the correct words in the correct ear can quite easily persuade people to do the wrong things." Xun Yu replied, as he showed a second document which showed the reason why. "A man, saying he was the Lord of a small City, explains that another Lord had controlled this Type 3’s to attack and burn his own City. After doing so those controlling them then captured his whole population and enslaved them, with the intention to spread further west and attack the Kingdoms of Huvishka, Samudragupta and Yuan Shao."

"We should have killed him. This is my fault." Subutai stated, seemingly putting everything together whilst Dom looked on in confusion for a few more moments.

"Bagoas escaped Tongpai Town, heading west towards the trade Town that they had been working with, as had the Gluttonous Chief. They were then safely escorted to Huvishka who was already pulling the other Kingdoms together for a Coalition against the Type 3’s. I believe he put the different points together in a way to get revenge." Xun Yu continued as Dom looked on in surprise, realising that actually it was all his fault and not Subutai’s that they had been invaded.

"I do not know the back story, but can you explain who Bagoas is?" Pausanias asked, having been quiet for most of the meeting and looking at the map that showed them a lot more of their local area than they had ever hoped to have known.

"When we invaded Tongpai Town, which was in a poor situation at the time due to corruption within it’s leadership. We captured their leader, who we discovered was actually just the face of Bagoas, who was the real leader behind the scenes. He had imprisoned General Sun Ce’s wife and taken command of the City." Lucius explained from his seat at the table. "Decisions on his future had yet to be made, but he escaped using some of the secret passages he had built within the Town Centre. We do not know where we went or how he escaped fully."

"It is clear that he didn’t flee straight away, or he wouldn’t have known about the Type 3’s and the burning of Tongpai Town." Subutai commented, seemingly annoyed himself. "But, it seems he wasn’t happy with hiding for the rest of his life. Now we have five enemies to fight against."

"We will clearly be out numbered if they all push their forces together, either of Huvishka or Samudragupta will out number us easily, whilst Yuan Shao will have well trained troops and Generals that will be confident in fighting against our own." Zhao Yun replied, having fought against Yuan Shao’s forces himself when he had been a part of Gongsun Zan’s forces in his earlier career.

"I have a plan, it seems whilst fate has given us a challenge, it has also provided us with an important connection. Xun You and I know Yuan Shao, whilst Yuan Shao will know of Sun Ce through his father’s contributions when they fought together against both Zhang Liang and Dong Zhuo. He may also recognise Cheng Pu from those years. He will also be aware of Zhao Yun’s reputation, as well as that of Huang Zhong." Xun Yu explained as the others seemed to understand that actually whilst Yuan Shao wasn’t an ally, he at least knew them in a world where everyone was a stranger. "He will be aware that if those Generals are here, then we are not the masterminds of the Type 3’s. This will show that we fought a defensive Battle and won, and that they had been misled by Huvishka."

"I thought it was Bagoas who misled them?" Tomoe asked, whilst Xanthippus put his hand up in response.

"That is correct General, however, Bagoas is a man. Huvishka is the leader of one of the five armies. If you can create tension between the Leaders, then the Coalition will break." Xanthippus explained, as the others nodded in agreement.

"Yuan Shao has been part of many coalitions that have broken down, he is also a man that wants to be the Leader. The fact that he isn’t will be causing him frustrations which is why he sent so few forces and Shamoke is not a primary Officer for him. In fact, this information give him power in the coalition and power is what he craves." Xun You replied.

"So my proposal is that we keep enemy officers that were captured as captives for the time being, as protection for our own men that we will send to the Coalition. We will free their normal Warriors and will send them on Transport ships up the River to the Trade City which we believe is where the Coalition Forces will be retreating to, so they can plan their next steps." Xun Yu began, "We will send Sun Ce and I, with an honour guard and the captives to the Trade Town. We will meet with Yuan Shao and explain the situation, offering him gifts and support. I will push that he should release the Captives to the forces as he had negotiated their freedom. We will also say that a Coalition should take place against the Type 3’s which we have fought and liberated towns against, with him as the leader."

"Causing the Coalition to break, gratitude for our kindness and distrust against Huvishka." Shang Yang nodded in agreement, before continuing. "We should also reach out to Huvishka and offer to take Bagoas off his hands as an example, as they have lost thousands due to his machinations."

"Depending on the time frame they have arrived from, Yuan Shao also has some capable Advisors and Generals. From my understanding from the later information I have been provided from Gu Kaizhi and others, some of their loyalties could be turned in time." Xun Yu continued, "He is a proud man and listens to those that allow him to feel he is correct, those that disagree are often pushed down. With a major loss in the coalition and being in a new land, there will be opportunities to target them with gifts."

"I do not expect any short term recruitment from this, but this will destabilise our nearest competitor on the inside, whilst creating strong ties with them on the outside. His sons are not aligned and he listens to bad advice, there are definitely opportunities here." Xun You agreed with a rare smile. "We will need to send spies in to their land and see who is here with them. There are wealthy families such as the Zhen family, capable administrators such as Ju Shou and Tian Feng and Generals such as Gao Lan and Zhang He that may be persuadable if they are here. There are also people to watch out for such as Shen Pei and Guo Tu, as well as Generals Wen Chou and Yan Liang."

"So, we are using Yuan Shao as a shield." Dom stated, his mind thinking through the current situation. If all of these five armies gathered their full forces, they would easily walk through Dom’s land and Xun Yu was coming up with plans to make them concentrate on each other first. "With the intention to use Bagoas to cause Huvishka and Samudragupta to continue their rivalry. Hanno and Viriathus are not something we have a plan against, but if the coalition collapses and they know we are not to blame for the Type 3’s then there is a higher chance they will not get involved again any time soon."

"That is the plan yes, during the period of Spring and Autumn Period, as well as the Warring States Period of China, several states fought and switched allegiances over hundreds of years. It wasn’t until Qin Shi Huang unified them that there was one state." Xun Yu replied, "For now, let us act as the state of Zhao and use our brains. Once our strength has increased and we have dealt with our current enemies in Papaver, we will switch to the state of Qin and unify these lands under your rule."

"That is a big appetite." Pausanias replied, not knowing the reference other than what he had read in the Library with Xanthippus, but understanding from looking at the map that Xun Yu was talking about claiming all of it as their own.

"We will need to reinforce this border, increase our training and improving our military with new techniques and improved weapons and armour. We will also need to prioritise subterfuge and bribery." Shang Yang stated, his tone serious as all in the room looked to him for command. "We have a lot to do, so let’s get it done."