Ren Hyou

My eyes widened slightly, at the sight of the great castle before us. Gaolang, Wei´s foremost defense against Qin intrusions, and a strong castle.

Its walls were high, and its population count was higher, the inhabitants knew that this castle would be the first to be sieged, and they had survived and repelled multiple sieges. Therefore, almost the entire male population knew how to fight, and it wasn´t hidden. 

I turned around to look behind me, and I couldn't help but smile at the force gathered behind me. 

I was a 300 Man Commander of the Qin Army, I had just recently graduated from Strategist Academy, 2 months after the rebellion. And I had been promoted to a 300-man commander. 

The Ginryu Tai, also meaning Silver Dragon Unit. I didn´t create it, nor did I wish for it. But it worked, and that was all that mattered.

The men behind me wore the standard armour of the Qin Army, the helmet and all that came alongside it. The only difference in my unit was that they were coloured Silver, with black outlines. Additionally, my entire unit was composed of heavy infantry. 

They all possessed a square shield, and a spear. Alongside a secondary sword at the hip. 

Now, for my skill set. I didn´t really have anything outstanding, I was decent with the sword. But in all honesty, my specialty was with my ability to wield a bow. 

My killbox currently stood at a formidable 300 meters with the standard Chinese Bow, which could also be wielded on horse. It was good, but not good enough. The standard member of the Ten Bows could easily shoot over 500 metres, and with a death shot. 

However, I focused on strategy. And my unit was stronger than one might think. 

My relationship with Duke Hyou was strained. To say the least. 

The first 6-7 years since my birth were relatively nice, he was gone on intervals. Likely going out to war, but when he came back. He was truly a loving father figure, but as I aged. He became colder, perhaps a strategy to grow me into a stoic and brutal general, or perhaps war truly changed him.

Either way, as I turned 14. And I realized my lack of talents regarding close up combat, I chose to enlist in the Strategy Academy. My Father tried everything, to make me as powerful as he was. I was trained with the sword, the spear, the horse, the glaive. He tried everything, to find me a powerful weapon, that I had talent in.

But I had none, and as such he eventually relented. But with it, he also gave up on me. His disappointment was evident, and I hadn´t seen him since, I had seen some glances of him. But otherwise, he remained distant.

I had talked with him 4-5 times since I enrolled, and most of those were on birthdays, with a simple "Happy Birthday" or something of the sort, before he dipped once again.

I was currently 16, having graduated. And I had yet to truly talk to him, however. He had supported me. This unit was gifted to me by him. Veterans from his unit and the army. 

The 300 men were all heavy infantry with spears and shields. Split into units of 100, the first was led by Hozu. He was tall, or decently so. 187 centimetres tall, and he used a sword. He had black hair, as most did during these times, and some resemblance of a beard. 

He wore the standard armor, including a helmet and armor. But he also wore a black cloak, and some extra additions on his armour, including 2 dragons riding up his armour. 

The second unit was led by Roku. Roku is and was a cavalry commander, with great skill in scouting. But due to my lack of a proper cavalry unit, that's what he led. He was 191 centimetres tall, with black hair, and a black beard. He fought with a glaive, even now. And he had similar armour to Hozu, but his helmet had dragons on it. 

Lastly, the third was led by Kaen. He had silver hair, but he was in his early twenties, 25 to be precise. His hair was slicked back, but was sort of loose. He didn´t wear a helmet, but instead wielded a spear. And sometimes a shield, depending on the circumstances. He was about 189 centimetres tall. 

And then lastly, the last man brought to me by Duke Hyou, Ishiro. Ishiro was a tall man, standing at 194 centimetres. And he was known for his strength. While each of my commanders embodied the strength of a 1000 man commander, or a 500 man commander. Ishiro was the true powerhouse of the unit, his strength at the peak of a 2000 man commander. 

He wasn't particularly smart, or at least in the strategic terms. But his battle-iq and fighting was where he shone. And he served as an officer in my father's guard, which is why he was assigned to me. 

However, I put that into the back of my mind. As I focused on the situation at hand, namely the siege of Gaolang.

I had been put on the Eastern Reserve Force, alongside the Hi Shin Force, the Yu Feng Force, and the Le Hua Force. 

I was in the back of said reserve force, or more so in the middle. Behind the 3 other units, which suited me just fine. 

Unlike Shin's belief that a battle will be over after one day of fighting, I knew otherwise. It would take days, if not weeks. Perhaps months to take this castle, and sometimes it took years, which was not actually that surprising.

However, I was brought out of my thoughts by a rider, rushing through the lines.

"All units of the Eastern Reserve Force are to join the Battle! All units of the Eastern Reserve Force are to join the Battle!" He shouted, as he ran through the lines of the reserve forces. 

It didn´t take more than a few seconds for the first unit to move, namely the Hi Shin Unit, sprinting to the front. Even though they were the unit with the lowest quality and quantity of armour. None of them had proper armour, and at best they had waist guards. 

However, what was surprising was the lack of archers used during this battle, or the few minutes it had lasted. No matter how few archers a castle had, there were always some, even in small numbers, they were used atop the castle walls, but none had been used.

Meaning they had either moved all archers to another wall, or this was a trap. 

"Sir, should we not move?" One of the Sergeants asked, but all my 4 officers kept silent, even Ishiro. 

"We´ll go..... soon enough," I said, deciding to remain still. Even when all the other units, even those behind us, charged forth. The Yu Feng Force and the Hua Force had also remained still, and they were correct in doing so.

Before the Hi Shin Force could even reach the wall, a wave of arrows was released, slaughtering the undisciplined and unarmored men of the reserve force, most of them only in rags. 

"Sure enough, it was a trap," Kaen said, and I nodded.

"To think the first day of combat would end so soon, but I suppose it makes sense. They've now informed us of their archers, and the number of them. We´ll need to form a counter strategy." I said, and all the men around me nodded, as the first day of combat ended. 

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New story, this one will be the focus. And I have already written 40 chapters, so yeah.

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Captain Vaughn: +11 Chapters

House Bracken: +12 Chapters

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