Year 128 - You Were Right, Grand Elder. The Negotiations Were Short.
- Location
- Straya
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"I could speak at length, Elder Sun. But you know as well as I that the Optimatoi are not given to abandoning mortals to your depredations. I could use a hundred justifications and a thousand clever lines of reasoning, but it boils down to this."
Manuel jabbed a finger over at the horizon.
"If you cross into my lands, I'll kill you. I'll kill your disciples, their disciples, and any misbegotten Blood Path animal that thinks itself worthy of preying on human beings. I'll keep killing until there's nothing left to kill, and when I'm done learning your name will be a salutary lesson to keep juniors from practicing your vile ways, nothing more."
He smiled, even more warmly.
"Am I clear?"
Old Cannibal laughed.
"Good! Good. I'll go prepare. You'll regret those words, you blind old fuck."
Manuel's smiled grew wider.
"Oh, and I understand you've little enough to eat over there. Here, with my compliments."
Corpses were difficult enough to properly hold in one's aperture, but three Core Formation elders was no small boon. Manuel was permitted to kill them - just as Old Cannibal was permitted to kill his spies in Cannibal territory. He took out two, tossing their corpses down.
"Hungry?"
Old Cannibal's laugh grew strained, and Manuel felt a secret trickle across to him. The other man was hiding a desperate sort of gladness, merely pretending to be bothered by this. The two Core Formation elders he'd hunted down and killed had been setting up major problems for his supply lines - preventing Legions being deployed effectively to the Burnished Crags and the like. The third who had kept close at hand had been doing... something to the Legionforts, that line of fortifications he'd ordered constructed across the frontier. Nothing so great as the Night Devil Fortress, but rather a scattered group of minor forts, capable of empowering weaker cultivators, enabling them to fight for extended periods of time against superior force. Each of them had a clever Spear Targeting Array, allowing the defenders to bring down spears on the enemy heads with ease if the forts were not taken, forcing any attack to smash each fort individually.
The hammer and the anvil. As long as he could provide the anvil, the Golden Devils would always prove to be a mighty hammer.
So the third who had died was unknown to him, but his death was unknown to Old Cannibal as well. Hopefully it would prove to be useful.
Old Cannibal was done, and the man turned and flew off. Manuel did likewise. The drumbeat of war was sounding again, and he knew his position to be desperate.
Any major losses would easily spiral into death by the time the next Trials rolled around. As long as the Cannibals could be held sufficiently at bay, he could lure Old Cannibal out and into a series of unfavorable fights. Once that occurred, his victory was more-or-less assured. The key was setting up that fight, ensuring his own forces were kept intact and powerful while the enemy was not able to grow by cracking open cities. Any early losses might spell doom, but as long as the tempo of war went in his favour...
Manuel frowned. He was facing the same problem the Strength Purity Sect did, only with less allies and more threats.
- - - - - - - - - -
Heraclius Staurakius had been the recipient of several treasures when he returned. Festooned with lifesaving measures, the other man was crucial for the prosecution of the war to come.
"Heraclius. Tell me of the progress in the Crags."
The second-oldest man in the Clan frowned.
"We are in better stead than I might have hoped. There are fundamentally three approaches for the Cannibals to take. Four, perhaps, but three fundamental. Firstly, they can strike into the Uncast Molds. That opens them up for a war in our core territories, however, and I doubt they're well-prepared for that. The Molds are less fortified than the Crags, but this is by design. Even if the enemy take the Molds, it is easy enough for us to reinforce them and retake them. Conversely, the Crags require more power projection, and behind them sit our vassals."
Heraclius sighed.
"I only hope they strike into the Crags directly. Our fortifications and arrays there are excellent, and our defense is so in depth if the Cannibals threw themselves into the Crags alone I could guarantee a victory in the war. I suspect they'll try and flow around them, however."
"Their third option is to head into the Xin Kingdom and Hua Empire, savaging our southern lands and killing as many mortals as possible to bloat their strength before turning north. If I were Old Cannibal I would unleash my hordes in the south, knowing that the two kingdoms there are the most vulnerable. Oh, they held off the Devil Bees, but the Bees are as good an enemy as we could hope to face - their weaknesses must face our strengths when they invade, and their consumption of Qi is vast. The Cannibals are native to the desert, and Xin Kingdom has lost the last few wars it fought with Hua Empire. The problem of course is that if we decide to meet him in force in the south, he can simply be strong elsewhere, and smash through the Crags or Molds, cutting off our lines of supply and ensuring our defeat."
Manuel frowned.
"I had not thought the situation so dire in the south. What would you suggest?"
"In all honesty, Grand Elder? I would consider leaning heavily on the Hong Xuan Clan, forcing them to deploy as many cultivators to the south as possible. Such strongarming would make our relations with them far worse - but we have few other sources of might. I would consider redeploying heavily from the Scorpion Road, even if it costs us wealth in the short-term. Let the unblooded face the Road, and move our veterans south. Lastly, strip the mountain fortresses to the bone against the Blacksmiths. They are unlikely to attack, and those Legions should be used on the Road. If the Righteous powers decide now is the time that we fall, those fortifications will not save us. Not with the situation as it is."
"Mmm. I will take your advice into consideration. How goes the ordered Legion?"
"The new mobile Legion notion is forming well. A mixture of Spirit Beasts and magical flying artifacts have allowed us strategic mobility in a single Legion, though it has come at quite a cost in Spirit Stones. I would wager the 716th is the equal of any other Legion, and with their manoeuvrability, we have a card to play that Old Cannibal cannot easily counter."
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(A note. There will be one to two player-led Legions formed this turn, so this is me writing up the template for such.)
Legion: The Windswept Ten Thousand
Number: 716th
Words: Storms above, bodies below.
Description: The Windswept Ten Thousand are a reformed Legion led by one of the new Early Core Formation cultivators. Primarily standard cultivators equipped with the largesse of the Clan - flying Spirit Beasts, artifacts, and endless funding of Spirit Stones, they are explicitly designed to be easily redeployed. They are not shock troops, but rather might be considered analogous to mortal mounted infantry. The Clan brings them to the battlefield with their superior strategic mobility and then deploys them into battle in the usual way.
Numbers: 10,000 Qi Condensation disciples, 100 Foundation Establishment experts, 1 Core Formation Legate.
Morale: Superb. Some of the best Legionnaires the Optimatoi have to offer unified with the best equipment, the 716th feel invincible at this point in time.
Legate: Yi Hoshuan. A dedicated logistics expert, Legate Yi spent most of his time as a scribe and administrator in the Contribution Board department of the Clan. However, it is his keen skill at moving troops and supplying them that led him to be the Legate of the Windswept Ten Thousand. Despite being only a mediocre battle commander, his excellence in ensuring that the 716th will be able to move wherever they are required meant he was the obvious choice for command.
Notable Members: None yet.
- - - -
Manuel rubbed his temple with a few fingers.
"So we deploy to the Burnished Crags, leaving sufficient forces to prevent us being cut off in the north, a minority of forces to the south, and we lean on our vassals to provide safety in the south?"
"I think it the most prudent plan. We win by thinning out their numbers and bringing a great counterblow at the appropriate time, but if they are able to consume kingdoms, it will be difficult to do the former."
Manuel hmmed.
"Well. Draw up new plans. I have some information gained from a few Cannibal spies that may come in handy, but give me a notion of what our options are so I might plan effectively."
The other man saluted.
"By your will, Archegetes."