Battle Royale of the Sinners

October 13th, 184 A.D.

Ye City.

10,000 Ye Garrison Unit "Police" in blue uniform stood on top of the walls around the city. Even though it was a rare time of peace, they were taught not to let down their guard even one second.

Their eyes observed all movements of people outside the city wall, searching for anything suspicious. It was tiring to them, but the rewards for catching spies or thieves were worthwhile.

Southeast outside the city, soldiers in shining steel armors established a camp and trained their new soldiers in earnest. 20,000 Newly recruited soldiers were being taught about flag signals and army arrays.

The white steel plate armor from the 15th century had been mass produced in Jinyang and Julu, and they transferred it to the developing Ye City.

The knight armor covered from the head to toes, yet the entire set weighed only 25 kilograms (55 lbs.) which was half of the old Imperial heavy armor suit, which only covered vital parts of the body.

Unfortunately, not every soldier could wear it. Only 100-man-commanders or higher rank officers could use them as the supply was limited.

The recruits eyed the knight suit with anticipation and desire. This battle armor looked way cooler than the ancient Imperial armor sets.

"If you want this armor, work harder! Remember, we only give this sets of knight battle suit to the elites so prove yourself that you are one of them!"

"Yes, sir!"

…

In the main government building, they were having a meeting. The agenda was about the recent migration of peasants who ran away from the bandits and the war.

Tong sat on the main seat as he took over the government role from Xun Yu.

He Xing sat by Tong's left side with Liu Xie in the middle between them. Because of Sima Fang's coaxing, she resigned herself to be used as a political tool. In exchange for that, Liu Xie could call Tong "Father" or "Papa" in the open.

Indifferent Hua Shi and the grumpy Friday in Xiao Wu form seated by the sides of the throne, signifying the second in command of all officers.

Xun Yu, Jia Xu, Ju Shou, and Li Feihong were in the hall as well. With all military strategists presented, the guards and other minor officers sweat bullets as they could not stop their sense of nervousness.

On the middle of the hall, Jia Xu's signature strategic map was placed there with dolls and tokens all over the places. Because of the chaotic wars on the north and central plain, everyone was on alert.

Jia Xu used a long stick to point at Xuchang in the map.

"Our development and the good rumors we spread bore fruits. However, Cao Cao is stealing some of our potential civilians. Although we lost about one-fourth of the refugees, we can still expect more people from Luo Yang, Wan, and even other provinces by December."

Tong glanced at the map and Jia Xu, "Can you estimate the number of refugees?"

"The war scale is not on the same level as Pingyuan and Runan, but I believe there will be at least another 100,000."

Tong looked at Ju Shou this time, "Can Shangdang support more civilians?"

Ju Shou nodded without hesitation, "We have enough supplies while we are short on labors. Even 200,000 more move in, we can still manage with ease."

"Try to attract the refugees to Shangdang. Spread the news that it is also developed like Ye and Julu. Also, spread more rumor that I abolish slave trading and slavery. No slave exists in my cities!"

"Affirmative!"

"As for those that come to Ye and Julu, welcome them and don't forget to make them register their identity. Don't let another spy slip into our cities. Jia Xu, continue."

"Yes, my lord! Well, all fake Yellow Turbans did the job for us. Although Cao Cao and Dong Zhuo are too busy dealing with rebels, bandits, and random invasion, Yuan Shao is recovering fast after he bribed us to reopen the borders. However, he and Gongsun Zan are glaring at each other from the reports of our spies. We won't have to worry about them for another year until they finish fighting each other."

Jia Xu tapped Xuchang on the map again, "Cao Cao also won't bother doing anything to us since they have to digest Runan and organize the people that they poached from us. But …"

Tong understood the hint. Everyone stared at Luo Yang on the map.

"Dong Zhuo is waging wars left and right. The mad man doesn't even care for the domestic affair, which is unpredictable. Fortunately, Li Ru seems to control almost everything so we can guess their movements to some extent. Also, Ding Yuan has reported that Xiongnu King sent an envoy to him and demanded him to surrender his city, or he will attack."

"Did we detect any movement on our northern border?"

"Yes, about this morning after Ding Yuan met their messenger. Xiongnu hid 100,000 soldiers north of Jinyang. They stop moving toward the city, though."

Xun Yu and others clicked their tongue. It was obvious that Xiongnu wanted to attack the Han when the country was at its weakest. Fortunately, Ding Yuan's vision was sharp and manage to stall the invasion temporary.

"We'll switch our current agenda from the movements of the three monarchs to Xiongnu's actions. Aside from the north of Jinyang, do we have other intel about the different locations that they might show up?"

The four strategists frowned and did not speak. They did not have the scout or spy report from the borders aside from their territory of Jinyang. It showed that even they neglected the military activities of the outsiders.

Li Feihong mumbled and expressed his conjecture, "Xiongnu is crafty and good at war. I think they will attack every border to attract everyone's attention while they strike the weakest city. I believe the 100,000 men at Jinyang is a diversion."

"Sound in the east to attack the west stratagem!?"

Jia Xu, Xun Yu, and Ju Shou got the hint. They understood the scenario that Li Feihong was thinking and simulated the possible strategies that Xiongnu could use.

Xun Yu and Ju Shou walked to the strategic map and placed the tokens around the map. Jia Xu also rearranged the soldiers of Tong's forces and grouped several dolls together.

Currently, Zhongshan was protected by a newly established [Silver Axe Legion], which Xu Huang took the role as its grand commander. Bo Cai, Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang, and Zhou Cang became Xu Huang's assistants while the veteran, Gao Shun, acted as the Legion's vice commander. And lastly, the Legion's strategist was Lu Zhi.

They were the team of 40,000 soldiers that was responsible for protecting the northern regions, which was enough to repel Gongsun Zan or Yuan Shao if a war were to break out.

On the strategic map, the Axe Legion of Xu Huang was not the only one with massive troops. At Jinyang, the tokens of Zhang Liao, Ding Yuan, and Lu Bu were there with 40,000 men, forming the [Mountaineer Legion]. This Legion's strategist was Li Feihong, but he was attending the meeting here.

At Shangdang, [Ghost Legion] had been formed this year with Zhang He as its grand commander. Qu Yi, Gao Lan, and Han Hao, who had defected from the Imperial Army, were Zhang He's assisting generals. Ju Shou took both roles of Shangdang Governor and the Ghost Legion's strategist. At this moment, only 30,000 soldiers stationed there, but they kept recruiting and training more soldiers quietly.

And the main force, [Immortal Legion], was led by Tong remained in Ye as Julu had transformed into a merchant-hub city, which was not suitable to have military camps around. A total of 50,000 soldiers, excluding the recent 20,000 newly recruits, maintained the order in the surrounding territories.

Xiao Wu was the vice commander. Both Jia Xu and Xun Yu were also the strategists of this Legion.

Hua Shi, Zhang Jiao, and Sima Fang did not belong to any legion. They stayed behind as reserves.

Their empire did not have to worry about any invasion from the three monarchs, yet they still could not mobilize any legion. Even though they saw many opportunities to strike down Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, they withheld their decision for the bigger picture.

Xun Yu groaned and stepped forward, "My lord, you should dispatch the Silver Axe Legion to You Province if the Xiongnu attacks Gongsun Zan. We can't afford to let them be destroyed, or the entire country will perish."

Tong raised his eyebrows, "We don't even have any information about their movements. Are you sure that they will strike You Province?"

Ju Shou nodded, "Gongsun Zan is the current strongest border defenders because of his White Rider Legion. I believe that Xiongnu is seeing them as a threat so they will plan to sabotage the You Province first. Since the entire country has been suffering by the drought, they shouldn't miss this opportunity to provoke a fight with Gongsun Zan while his provision supply is at the lowest."

"That is illogical in my point of view," Xun Yu shook his head and pointed at Liang Province of Ma Clan, "The better targets should be Wuwei County of Ma Teng or Jincheng of Han Sui. As long as these counties fall into Xiongnu's hands, the western trade route would be blockaded, and they will steal all the resources from the Silk Road!"

Liang Province, the far northwestern region of the current East-Han Dynasty, was the most critical border that watched over the Silk Road, which led to the western countries. This region was rich in resources, such as spice, food, ores, and other luxurious wares as they got the income from the border taxes.

And most importantly, their main businesses were animal husbandry, horse ranches, and sheep farms.

By occupying the Liang Province, they could get the benefits of the precious resources, taxes, and warhorses, which was a sweet target for the Xiongnu.

Jia Xu shook his head in disagreement, "That's too predictable! Both Liang and You Province are well protected. If they want to exploit our country's weaknesses from the infighting, they will strike Anding County or Tianshui County of Dong Zhuo since they are rich in resources and has the weakness defense among all border regions."

At this moment, Li Feihong also stepped forward and pointed at Jinyang, "This can also be a multi-layer stratagem. They can also strike every county that we are discussing while they look for an opportunity. All the armies that we think it's a diversion can transform into the main force at any time they need to. So, Jinyang is not in the safe. We will still have to reinforce it."

Jia Xu frowned, "Stratagem wise, it's doable if they have massive troops. They will need over 500,000 soldiers and many supplies for that."

Tong, who was listening to all theories from his strategists, clapped his hands to stop them.

"Okay. I get what you are worrying, but let's not jump into conclusion how Xiongnu will act. First, we can't assist or help anyone even if we predict it correctly. For now, Ju Shou, you and the [Ghost Legion] will reinforce Jinyang. Feihong, head back to Jinyang and keep Lu Bu in check. I don't want him to switch side to Xiongnu at the critical moment suddenly. I'll send the clan message to Xu Huang and my master. They will move to Ji City and assist Gongsun Zan!"

Li Feihong squinted his eyes, "What if Lu Bu wants to join Xiongnu?"

"Let him. I want to see him try."