Chapter 32: The Western Wall
I smiled as I overlooked my formation. It was good, by all means. I had spent multiple hours simply forming the poor men up properly, they had to be given detailed information and explanations to properly utilize the formation, but luckily. We had a decent amount of time.
And a good amount of veterans, which I had taken advantage of.
The 4 walls were split between our 4 walls; Shin had the southern wall, Heki had the Western Wall, I had the East Wall and Kai Oku had the northern wall.
As for who Kai Oku was? He was Lord Changping´s right hand. He had a unique mustache, and hair that sort of fit his moustache.
He had brought about 100 men, all beyond elites In their own might. Being Lord Changpings top of the cream. Each of them possessed the strength of an officer, between 100-300 men. Half of them had the strength of a 500-man Commander, some even at the 1000-man Commander level.
Ten, Mou Kin, and 2 other unknown men had taken strategic command, while Minister Shou and King Sei remained by their side.
Either way, the walls were divided as follows.
Southern Wall: 400 men of the Hi Shin Unit, 10,000 Civilians
Western Wall: 500 Veterans ( Duke Hyou´s Men who didn´t join the Ginryu ), 7000 Civilians.
Northern Wall: 100 Elites, 5000 Civilians
Eastern Wall: 3000 Elites, 13,000 Civilians.
Now, the reason why we had the most troops was simple, during the meeting I had noted the shift in winds. Which would give the archers from Ri Boku´s Army an advantage against mine, while my archers would be weaker.
This is why I had decided against using archers at the front, and instead kept 500 in the command center for the Eastern Wall.
Luckily, the walls had small command positions behind them, out of the range of the sieging archers. This made for a perfect archery spot, so I had placed some 300 archers at the top, with 200 in reserves.
Giving me 12,000 Civilians and 3000 Elites, a total of 15,000 Infantrymen and 1000 archers.
Either way, I had positioned my 3000 elites in the reserves, hiding them from the reach of their archers entirely, as I kept my 12,000 Civilians atop.
They needed to mature, and they needed to do It during today's battle.
Now, that wasn't to say I had left them entirely alone, in between their ranks stood Kaen, Hozu, Tetsuji, Ga Ro, Gaku Rai, and Man Dou.
6 of my officers, the first 3 had been with me since the start, while the latter had just joined.
Their sheer presence and skill would likely boost our morale to new levels, and their experience in commanding would be essential. They each commanded a portion of the defenses, not an actual defined number. But instead, each one would be tasked with a single ladder.
I doubted they´d have more than 6 ladders, and if they did. We just had to spread out more.
But, all 6 of them essentially commanded 2000 men. While the elites weren't under anyones command, except me. Though they were still commanded by their Lieutenants and such.
Well, this battlefield would be sort of boring as it stood. I have something far more serious to witness.
Well, of course. It´s Shin´s speech.
"Alright, take command over here. I´ll leave it in your capable hands, Gi." I told a middle-aged man, standing behind me.
"Y-yes, sir!"
He was a Lieutenant of my father's unit, but he didn´t command any men. He was under Ga Ro, as his tactician. And I had him command the headquarters, which was a fine job for him.
And with that, I headed towards King Sei.
...
"Hello, everyone." I said as I walked up the stairs to the highest room in the Southern Tower, where the Tactical Headquarters and Southern HQ were placed.
"W-what are you doing out of position!? Their army is already here." Ten exclaimed, pointing at the enemy army, which was still approaching.
"Meh, my men can handle themselves. And anyhow, there's something far more interesting growing." I said, as I walked up to the King and I saw Shin standing amongst his soldiers.
I chuckled at that.
"Your Grace, do you believe he'll be the one to save Qin?" I asked Ei Sei as I leaned against the railing, my eyes on Shin.
"This Castle will save Qin, but Shin will play a major part in it." He said.
"You likely know it even better than me, but there's something with Shin. With his natural charisma and charm, I´d even dare say he has the potential to surpass Bai Qi." I said, which slightly threw Sei off-guard, but he quickly recovered.
"Oh? So you've given up on becoming a Great General?" He said, but I shook my head.
"Nah, but I don't have the same talent for war, that he has. My Father saw it, and I see it. His mind is slacking behind his strength, but I'm sure it will catch up, soon enough. But my strength lies in my mind, my strength is slacking, in that way. Shin and I are opposites." I said as Sei turned to me, his eyes drilling into mine.
"Then why did you not take strategic command? Your rank, experience, and achievements would allow you to take command over Ten, with all due respect." Sei said, and I sighed.
"With all due respect to the tacticians. Their role in all of this, is sort of insignificant." I said, the eyes of everyone inside the room widening.
"What!? This post is the most important one!" Mou Ki exclaimed, but I shook my head.
"No, this battle depends on the Wall Commander's ability to lead and command the civilians. The way they dispose of their resources will serve as the difference between death and survival. Ri Boku knows this as I do, he will not play any tricks. He will siege us, in the most basic form available."
"For he knows the truth, his chances of taking Sai through basic means are close to 100%, but tricks can backfire." I said, and Ten took that the wrong way.
"So you mean to tell us, we will die with almost 100% certainty?" Ten said.
"If nothing changes, aye. Our goal is not to defeat Ri Boku but to hold out. Hold out long enough for Lord Changping to raise a host of soldiers to oppose Ri Boku, or get reinforcements otherwise. You're all stupid if you believe that genius would put all his faith in this castle." I said, Ten and Ki´s eyes widened, before looking back towards the map.
"And that's why I chose to be a wall-commander, their job is the most important. And it'd allow me to move freely." I said, and Sei responded this time.
"How exactly, would that allow you to move freely?" He said, his eyes narrowing.
"Because I have six capable commanders under me. All of them are tested, and their strength equals their rank. And I have full faith in them. My job is more so overseeing it and helping where I can." I said. However, we couldn´t continue our conversation as a single rider rode out.
Ri Boku.
So it begins.
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