The King in the North [Intro/Closed]

[baikun]

"You shouldn't have spared them, my king. They will not support you just like that. You must be meriless with those who would bear steel against you, leaving enemies will only wound your efforts later, when they are organised and ready to meet you." The two rode abreast, each atop his dark steed, "Suo, we must subdue their minds, we can't win over what is dead; and if there is only dead, there is no one to win over. Which defeats my purpose. There will be opposition until I openly declare myself." Liang Suo shook his head, "You are far too compassionate, my king." The King regarded his general, "I am not compassionate, I just know who not to kill...in war we are all monsters." Liang promptly corrected him, "Demons." The King smiled, a weary smile of acceptance.

The two rode on at the head of their armed cavalry column until another general rode up to the fore, "My king," he bowed from his saddle, "twelve carts, two filled with sword and spear, one filled with good armour, two with chests of coin and jewels. The rest have naught but dry provisions." "Good, quite the catch we made then. Any movement?" "None." The king looked unimpressed, disappointed even, "Yuan is certainly slow to respond, I can well believe he lost so badly at Guandu now." Xin Feng pulled his horse in line with that of his King and the three proceeded on together, carts in tow among the column behind them.

A lone rider approached from the west, he had a black head kerchief, one of ours. "Report." The king called. The man dismounted and bowed, "No need for that, what news?" The man bowed his head saying, "My king, Captain Yan is at the pass, he's ready to transport anything you need taken off your hands back to the Wall." The lord nodded, "Good, let him know we're on our way." The messenger remounted and was off again as sure as he got there, he made off, it wasn't far to the pass through the mountains from where they were now.

It had took Bai Kun a mere four days to earn himself access through the mountains, and another five to capture Zhaoguo and Shiyi on the other side. He did not garrison his winnings on this side of the pass, he wasn't quite ready for that level of armed dedication.

"This is how we will win this war. By depriving Hebei of it's supplies, we will cause confusion, and with that I will get Yuan to a place where he will rush this little revolt of his into action, and then I have him." His generals agreed. "The sooner I deal with Yuan, the faster we will be rid of these Xianbei invaders."

"What do you plan to do next, my king?" Bai Kun turned to his general, with reproach in his voice he said, "You don't have to keep addressing me so, I find no joy in it. We're old friends." The general nodded, "Bingzhou. Bingzhou is next." "We have no siege weapons." Liang tuned in. "I do not plan to conduct a siege. I do not have the luxury of time for a siege."