Chapter 179: What To Do Now

With Fushu captured and the raiding party dealt with, all that remained was the village of Naka. 

Naka would be Victor's challenge, yet in his southern campaign, the village was a strategic location for the Kislevian raiders; it was a place that held the forces of Jiuzhen in place. With such a large host of raiders, keeping the forces at Jiuzhen and Beihai at bay, the raiders could look to pillage the south-western coast.

However, with Victor and his army dealing with all the raiders west of Naka, the forces of Jiuzhen and Beihai did not need to fret. 

With almost the entirety of the Kislevian raiders dealt with, Naka served as their final bastion. It was the most fortified and heavily garrisoned place that the raiders had occupied. There were artillery pieces deployed there, and the overwhelming number of raiders had always made it difficult for Field Marshal Gai Mou to act.

Now that Naka was cornered on both sides, it would be only a matter of time before the combined forces of Gai Mou and Victor attack it.

The only issue was, once again, man-power. Victor needed to leave General Bun Gen to refortify Fushu and make sure it could repel waves of Kislevian raiders. One consequence of recently conquering the continent was that Victor had to spread his army out. He could only bring less than half his forces down south, and even then, his soldiers are spread thin, covering areas of the southern coast.

Victor's only plan to take Naka was to wait for more reinforcements to arrive. He could try to contact Field Marshal Schwarzenberg and organise for 2 corps to come south and assist them in the war effort. It would take over eleven weeks for the reinforcements to arrive, and Victor did not want to risk more raiders bolstering Naka's garrison.

Victor only had General Lasalle's 14th Corps and the Royal Guard at his disposal. They still numbered around 35,000 men with all their cannons still intact. If Victor could get Field Marshal Gai Mou's support, with an additional 30,000 soldiers, taking Naka would be somewhat achievable.

With that option being the only one that was truly viable, Victor began drafting a letter. For Victor's sake, Field Marshal Gai Mou needed to assist him in taking Naka; there was no way Victor could pull off that feat alone.

Jiuzhen was a 2-week march away, which meant it would it take almost half a day for a messenger pigeon to reach the city. In the meantime, Victor and General Lasalle would assist General Bun Gen in refortifying the village. Trenches would be redug and spikes would be laid out on the beach.

The messenger pigeon flew high in the sky as the city of Jiuzhen came into view. Traditional Chinese buildings line a narrow stone-paved street, their wooden walls weathered and their tiled roofs sagging, some with visible damage or moss.

In the background, a multi-tiered pagoda rises above the rooftops, partially obscured by mist. In the harbour rested several Chinese junks—wooden sailing ships with furled sails—anchored in calm, reflective water. 

The port appeared quiet, with no bustling trade activity, reinforcing the theme of economic decline. Scattered figures walk through the streets in dark robes, adding a sense of scale and subdued life to the otherwise quiet and tired cityscape.

In the multi-tiered pagoda, a messenger dressed in a ragged brown uniform approached a man with his back turned to him, looking out the window of the pagoda, overseeing the harbour.

"My lord, I bring an urgent letter," the messenger stated, holding out the letter in both hands. 

The man slowly turned, revealing his worn-down, purple military uniform. It was decorated with a faded golden embroidery and had a few rusting medals. His scruffy brown hair was peering from under his purple round hat that had a golden plume and a golden topknot.

Silently, the man picked up the letter from the messenger and flicked his hand to dismiss him. His greyish-blue eyes scanned the letter quickly, and once he was done, he crumpled the letter and threw it in the nearby fireplace.

"Hmmmm," grunted the fierce-looking man. He meandered his way to his desk and began scribbling on a piece of paper. His penmanship was flawless; each stroke of the quill was pristine and elegant. Quite the contradiction for a man looking so rough and tough.

"Soldier!" called out the man from his desk. 

Promptly, a weary-looking soldier entered the room and put a cupped fist on his chest in a saluting fashion. "You summoned me, Field Marshal," He said in a slightly uneasy tone. The Field Marshal handed the soldier the piece of paper and gave him instructions to make sure that this message was delivered back to the person who had sent him a message.

The soldier nodded and exited the room, swiftly carrying out his orders. The messenger pigeon was released from its temporary cage, and it flew back to its original sender. By the next morning, Victor had received his first communication from Field Marshal Gai Mou.

"Greetings, King Victor,"

"I would like to extend my gratitude for your army's support. Without your help, we would have succumbed to the Kislevian raiders that plagued our land. From your message, I believe that plan is most acceptable to us. My men and I shall join you in this fight. May we finally meet, in two and a half weeks, when we conquer Naka and rid this continent of the Kislevian raiders."

Victor bore a smile that stretched ear to ear; having the Field Marshal send troops to support him at Naka was a massive achievement for him. 

With the Field Marshal offering his support, Victor spared no time in preparing to depart. General Lasalle had to speed up his men's preparations for departure, and cannons were needed to be attached to their horses quickly. Victor did not want to be late or unprepared for the assault on Naka.

When everyone was ready, Victor and his troops departed Fushu and headed straight to Naka.