Kingdom: Hyou Ren

The knowledge of the future had truly come in handy, so even if my goal was to stop it. I had somewhat prepared myself for the potential outcome of Duke Hyou dying. 

Now, the true pain of losing one's father right before your eyes, was truly beyond planning. So I was devastated, and tired. Both mentally and physically.

But I knew of the upcoming battle, and therefore I took command. Organising scout parties, charging forth with our horses, never stopping. 

Shin remained in a depressive state during the entire ride, and I wished I could enter a similar state. But I had a job to do. 

We rode for a day and a night, until we finally reached Sei, at dawn. 

I rode at the front, Kaen, Hozu and Tetsuji by my side. 

Heki had the rear, and Shin was somewhere in the centre. 

We rode through the opened gates, and as we passed through on the other side. We were met by the flags of Qin. And the Royal Flag, and in front of us stood King Sei, in his golden armour, and golden horse.

"Well, ain't this a shocker. The King came to greet us personally." I said, surprising most men around me, and I was within earshot of the King. But I ignored it for now.

"Kaen, Tetsuji, Hozu. Organise sleeping quarters for the men, and distribute food. I'm sure the Kings Army will assist." I said, turning towards the King for confirmation.

"Of course, we´ll assist in finding sleeping quarters." The King said, and I nodded.

"Shin is depressed, badly so. The death of his men, his mentor. He's lost 2 of them now. I've done my part, I´ll also need some time to fully devour the death of my father." I said, and the King nodded. And I rode off. 

**Small Note**

In the anime, there are different ranks for the different commanders, which makes sense. They're a bit too advanced for the age, but I don't feel like saying 1000-man, 2000-man and allat, so here's the ranks. 

500-Man Commander -> Company Commander

1000-Man Commander -> Battalion Commander

2000-Man Commander -> Regiment Commander

3000-Man Commander -> Brigade Commander

4000-Man Commander -> Division Commander

5000-Man Commander -> Corps Commander

Basically, battalion = 1000 men

Regiment = 2000

Brigade = 3000 and so on. 

The next morning, I organised a meeting with all the officers of the Hyou Kou Army, or Duke Hyou´s Army.

It included 4500 men. 3 Battalion Commanders and 2 Company Commanders. 

Ga Ro, Gaku Rai and Man Dou, the only surviving 1000-Men Commanders would later go on to join the Hi Shin Unit.

The Commanders of the other 2000 men had died during the battle, including Kou´s right-hand man. 

The other 2,500-man commanders were Touma and Jinsuke. 

3 out of the 5 men had sworn to follow me upon Duke Hyou´s death, now we'd get to know how earnest they were. 

"We all know why we´re here, so I´ll cut straight to the chase. With my Father dead, the Hyou Army will disband, now in actuality. That's only 5000 men or so, as your unit suffered heavily during these 15 days of combat." I said, cutting straight to the chase. Battalion Commander Gaku spoke up first. 

"You've proven yourself a capable commander, commanding 30,000 men at the age of 17, and I swore an oath. I will follow you, Duke Hyou." Gaku Rai said first, and I nodded. Grateful for his assistance.

"You do not embody the General, nor will you follow his legacy of combat. But the late Duke put his trust in you, and you've already taken the left arm of his killer. For that, and due to my oath. I will follow you as well." Man Dou spoke next, another battalion commander, and he was followed by the last Battalion Commander. 

"For me, it stands between the Hi Shin Unit and you. But due to the love I bear my brother, the oath I swore to your father, and gut feeling. I will join the Ginryu Tai." He said.

Hm, and interesting reasoning indeed. But it fits his character, he's known to be rough, grumpy and a drunk. Sometimes.

But I don't really have a problem with that. 

"I have discussed it with Company Commander Touma. And we've both decided to join the Hi Shin Unit, as much as you are Duke Hyou´s son and heir, Shin is the embodiment of the war-legacy of Duke Hyou. We have not sworn an oath, and that's the reason we decided to join the Hi Shin Unit." Jinsuke said, the other Company Commander. 

"That is fine. It is your choice, and Shin is a fine option. But you're both dismissed." I said, waving the 2 Company Commanders off, as I turned towards the Battalion Commanders.

"I want you to ensure your men are well fed and rested, all our men will be off-duty for the next few days. Ri Boku will strike soon enough, and a standard tactic within a siege, is to starve the garrison of sleep. And I have no doubt in my mind that it will be used, so make sure our men are well-fed." I said, and the 3 nodded.

After that, we went over some simple numbers and information. 

The 3 men had absorbed the remnants of the units with their Commander killed, which allowed them to replenish their troop-count back to 1000 each, and even bolstering Heki´s unit with 300 extras. 

Apparently, the 2 Company Commanders have less than 700 troops in total in between them, as they had suffered the brunt of the damage. With their commanders dead, and even after refilling. They hadn´t gotten back up to their full numbers. 

After that, I headed up to our command centre, where I found Shin on the stairs, talking with the King.

"Oh, you've stopped whimpering like a dog, that's good." I said, as I walked past him. Shin had begun crying after he saw the King, once he passed through the gate. And after some chatter between them, he had left. But it was clear to all, he had been full out crying.

"HEY! I DIDNT WHIMPER!" Shin exclaimed, but I ignored him, and the King's laughter didn´t make it better for Shin. 

And after that, like a few seconds. Ka Ryo Ten, Shin's tactician. Or just Ten approached.

"Oh, you've finished crying Shin, that's good." She said, before getting down to business, calling all of the officers to us. 

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**EVERY 50 POWERSTONE IS AN EXTRA CHAPTER**

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Captain Vaughn: +11 Chapters

House Bracken: +12 Chapters

Hyou Ren: 40+ (soon, gotta fix a few things)