Show Your worth!

While in the carriage Charles and Liu Xuan sat on opposite sides of each other as they looked thoughtfully at the board in front of them. "I move my archers up." Liu Xuan said. "I decide to pull my infantry back," Charles replied. " And you've fallen into my calvary's trap!" Liu Xuan commented with a smile on his face as Charles lost the game. They had been playing Military chess for the entire trip, and Charles had been losing every game. "You need to use your mind more Charles. You have to consider everything!" Liu Xuan said as he replaced the pieces back into place. "I'm trying, but I still don't know how to deal with my end game tactics. I always get caught in the end!" Charles shouted in frustration. "That is because you're too passive at the start! You need to have some courage in your troops!" Liu Xuan replied.

"But remember Charles, what you see on the board today might not reflect what is happening on the battlefield, this is something the imbecile beside me here still does not understand." Commander Yue said as she scolded Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan sweated as he replied "Are you still angry? I already apologized so many times!" "You caused our frontline to retreat due to your so-called "brilliant strategy" that you came up with during one of your games and almost caused us to lose. Let us remember that moment for a very long time so you won't forget that humiliation." Commander Yue replied coldly. Charles began to fear that Commander Yue would also reprimand him in the same way as Liu Xuan if he messes up.

Liu Xuan seeing Charles becoming nervous smiled and said: "You don't have to be scared of messing up like I did Charles. What you need to do is focus on the battle and absorb as much experience as possible! All the strongest generals are mostly old men due to their immense experiences in battle so you should try to learn as much as you can." Charles nodded as he kept that in mind. "Since we still have some time before we reach ZhongZhu so I shall teach you something." Commander Yue said. "Wow, Commander Yue. I've never seen you so generous before, why don't you treat me this well? I've been with you for so long!" Liu Xuan asked. "Because you're not worth the time." Commander Yue coldly replied, and Liu Xuan looked out the window sadly.

Commander Yue cleared her throat and started speaking. "In war, many factors can affect the outcome of a battle. Supplies, Morale, Weather, location, and Commanders. Supplies are an essential factor that can affect an army's strength; supplies are food, water, and weapons. If an army runs out of any one of these necessary things, then that army will undoubtedly surrender. The next is Morale; this is something that could change the flow of battle in either your favor or the enemy's favor. Remember that your sword in war is your army if they start to be unwilling to fight then your army will crumble. Morale can be affected by numerous things, Supplies, Situation of battle, lost of too many men, and if the commander dies."

"If supplies are too low your soldiers will give up fast if they don't have anything to eat and drink how they will survive much less fight? If they have no weapons, there is no way they are going to go in bare-handed fighting and die. If the situation of battle is in a mess, for example, an army is getting flanked from behind or the side. Or the enemy has more men then them they would start to think that they're going to die. It is the same with the loss of too many men if your men see that many of their comrades are dying they will start to doubt their commander and begin to give up. The commander dying will immediately pull the morale to zero because with no one to lead them they are a bunch of men with weapons that don't know what they're doing. When it comes to morale always remember that the men you lead are the same as you, human. So treat them with the respect that deserves and shows them why they should risk their lives to follow you into battle."

"Unless your Commander Yue, the 500 men under her don't even care if she loses a battle! They would run into battle like madmen because they want her affection!" Liu Xuan laughed. Commander Yue ignored Liu Xuan and continued. "Remember that the morale of your troops is important. Next, we move on to Weather and Location. Let's talk about Weather first, if it's a sunny day, then it won't affect anything but if it's a rainy day then everything changes. The battlefield will start to get muddy, you won't be able to see far, and the rain slapping on your body would get irritating after a while, and your body will get cold, this will affect your men's morale greatly so don't try to send your troops out on bad weather. With Location, it's the same if it's flat lands with a river nearby you are fine. If it's a narrow valley or a hilly area, then you will have to change your tactics drastically."

"Lastly it's Commanders, they are the most influential part of a war. They decide how much supplies they should take; the Commander improve morale just by being in battle, they can choose whether to camp or attack depending on the weather and location. They provide the strategies based on all these factors and lead their troops to battle. Commanders take center stage in the battlefield and war it is always essentially a duel of strategies between the two main commanders. They can also duel the each other like how you dueled Er Hong if one kills the other then that instantly wins the war. But of course, that is always either a last ditch effort if they don't want to lose men." Commander Yue finally ended her long lecture.

Commander Yue took a sip of water from a gourd bottle that was hanging from her side "We have arrived at the palace, I suggest we head inside now before we get mocked for being late." Liu Xuan commented as the carriage stopped and the driver opened the door for them. Charles was so busy listening to Commander Yue's lecture that he didn't even realize that they had arrived!" The three of them got off the carriage and what Charles saw shocked him. When he exited he saw a whole city just behind them, the houses were all made out of white stone walls, and black sloped tops and every one of them was two stories tall! The streets were also made out of stone as people walked around wearing cloth clothing! Such property was something Charles had never seen before!

"Charles, we have enough time to look around the city after the feast. We should be heading up now." Liu Xuan said as they started walking up the steps. Charles followed behind them as he looked up. The Palace looked beautiful with a mix of white walls, golden trimmings, red pillars, and a beautiful green roof. The palace was extremely tall, without including the stairs towards the entrance the height of the palace was about four stories tall or about 60 feet tall! After climbing the long flight of stairs, they managed to reach the entrance which was decorated with beautiful trees that had pink leaves!

Two gorgeous women bowed towards the three of them and guided them to the hall where the feast was held. They walked through hallways that looked like something out of a fantasy, while Charles was more focused on beautiful hallway Liu Xuan was more concentrated on the two women in front of him. He didn't dare to look at Commander Yue for too long, so he did not know how beautiful she was, but the two women who were guiding them were showing off their bodies with their short dresses showing their thighs, and long hair parted to the side to reveal the nape of their necks. But Liu Xuan quickly looked away once he noticed the disgusted look directed at him from Commander Yue.

After climbing up to the top floor and walking through a few corridors, they finally reached a massive metal door. The two women knocked on the door, and it suddenly opens, an odd feeling ran through Charles back started to shiver and sweat rolled down his face. Liu Xuan still had his cheerful smile, but you could see some sweat forming on his forehead. Commander Yue gripped Charles's shoulder hard as she said to them: "Keep your composure, you don't want to look weak against these tigers." The door finally opened wide and what Charles saw wasn't the cheerful feast that he thought but was instead a serious meeting with 57 people inside.

As the door opened every single person looked at the three of them. Everyone was sitting crossed legged on the ground with a bottle of wine and food in front of them on a small table. A senior man with white hair and green eyes who was sitting at the end of the room and was the only one who was not wearing armor looked at the three of them and smiled. "You have finally arrived Yu Yue; I think we can finally start our feast."