Subutai arrived at the southern coast, led by the young scout that urged him to follow quicker. There was some slight worry in the scouts voice as Tomoe rode beside Subutai. Their forces were beginning to head in to position, but had halted at Subutai's command, with the outer edges of the formation of Legionaries and small cavalry detachment, fanning out to protect their exposed flanks. The sun was barely visible, but the first signs of dawn were approaching.
"They should be in position by now." Tomoe commented from beside him, her red hare horse standing proud as they pulled to a halt at the top of a nearby cliff edge from the large hill that they had just climbed. The view from the cliff top showed the southern coast beyond, a shimmering sea that reflected the morning sun and the moon that was beginning it's descent.
"Then they'll have to wait." Subutai replied, also worried about the implications of any delays, the legionaries armour would begin reflecting the sun soon and any hidden advantages they may have had would soon disappear. He turned to the young scout, "What are you showing me?"
"Follow the sea's edge to the west, eventually you'll see the shapes in the distance." The scout replied, whilst Subutai squinted his eyes to see in the distant dark.
"I count at least eight." Tomoe exclaimed, frustration in her voice. Subutai hadn't seen them yet, anger at himself for his slightly aging eyes. He was supposed to be in his prime, but the large amount of work and constant thought, had tired him. He followed their direction and finally saw what they were pointing at.
"Ships." Subutai stated, there was at least eight ships as Tomoe had said, if not a few more hidden in the dark. They were transport or merchant ships at best, not battleships like the Trireme of the Serene Sea Fleet that Gan Ning had.
"It looks like they have disembarked and made camp to the west of us." The scout explained. The ships were anchored slightly off shore to their west as the shoreline began turning southwards slightly. It was hard to see, but as the sun rose slightly higher the outline of tents could be seen.
"Warriors or Civilians?" Subutai asked, an enemy to their west was risky. Zhao Yun had his army within the Red Woods, whilst Liao Hua was further west with the San and his own forces. Their army was fragmented, his confidence that there was no one to compete now slightly cracking.
"I am not sure General, some other scouts have headed westwards to see." The scout replied honestly. He needed to make a decision regardless of the situation. He turned behind him, looking down the hill he had just climbed, the nine Centuries of Legionaries for the descent in to the Cove, two Centuries of Cavalry and the Hoplite that were mixed in.
"I shouldn't have given Zhao Yun so much of my Cavalry." Subutai winced to himself, Cavalry would solve any issue's he had right now. Zhao Yun would be several hours away by horse, whilst Liao Hua and Riverside were even further.
"We can't delay the attack on the Cove much longer." Tomoe commented after some thought, the sky now even higher. They also couldn't abandon the attack, as the first motions of it would have already began and the element of surprise would be lost.
"They have four Centuries, the Wudang Archers and Gan Ning's fleet." Subutai replied, thinking out loud, wishing Xun You had caught up to them by now and he could challenge his own forming plans against him. The strategist had left the camp last, having been working on some last minute instructions to be sent to Zhao Yun and was travelling an hour or so behind them. "We need to get a message to Gan Ning to bring the fleet westwards after the initial assault and bring them to bare on these ships. Regardless if they are friend or foe, this is our land and we need to show that."
"Send a messenger to the cliffs and pass a message on!" Tomoe shouted to one of the riders who had followed them, allowing Subutai time to keep thinking.
"Genghis, fly to the fleet!" Subutai ordered his eagle that was lazing behind him on a stand placed on the back of his seat. Genghis was trained and had a perch placed on the Galatea for him to travel too, the sight of the eagle would allow the four Centuries to attack under Dom and General Qin Ming.
"Are we heading west and not attacking the Cove?" Tomoe asked as Subutai shouted his order.
"We are heading west and not attacking the Cove." Subutai replied, his tone relaxed now a decision had been made. "With nearly four hundred Warriors, they will succeed. Eight transport ships could easily delivery over a thousand warriors on our southern shore, their could be more. We take our army and head west. Scout, how far would you gauge them to be?"
"Two hours maximum, I would also suspect General Zhao Yun's scouts would have seen them as well." The scout replied honestly, understanding the gravity of the decision his commander had just made to leave their Lord and his men to take the Cove.
"Tomoe, leave two Centuries behind for Xun You, when he arrives, he can either reinforce Lord Lazarus if he needs it, or follow us." Subutai ordered, wanting to get moving quickly whilst they still had some form of advantage. "The rest will march at fast pace, I want us there within the next ninety minutes!"
...
"General, our scouts have reported movement to the south." A guard reported to Zhao Yun as he sat and ate some breakfast with Sun Shangxiang and Hua Rong. The arrival of Sun Shangxiang had caused him a lot of worry, with her being the wife of his Lord, but he knew that his role in the conflict should be minor.
"Bring them in." Zhao Yun replied as he looked down at the map in front of him again. The map covered the Red Woods and the two abandoned ancient Towns. They were currently camped at the most eastward of the two, with his army searching for potential underground routes. There was also some Civilian scholars who were digging through the ruins to try and understand the ancient texts. One of them called Zenodotus had caused him some headaches the day earlier, after finding some strange glyphs carved in to the door arch of some crumbled former building.
"Good Morning Generals, and Lady Sun." The Scout bowed as he entered, his face read and covered in sweat from rushing back to camp. This scout was part of Zhao Yun's former Cavalry and had been sent to oversee the small scouting groups that had already been placed by Tomoe and Liao Hua in the past. "We have discovered a camp to the south of us, easily one thousand warriors, armed with a combination of weapons. The sun has still not rose fully and they seemed to have a relaxed watch. However I believe they will be an issue if they aren't dealt with."
"A thousand Warriors to the south?" Sun Shangxiang exclaimed in shock, her husband to the east should be fighting a battle now, unaware of enemies in their lands. She gripped her hands tightly, whilst Hua Rong sat up straight in his seat, having been relaxed up until that moment.
"Yes Lady Sun." The scout replied, nodding his head towards her in respect.
"This isn't ideal, but we'll need to head south to confront them." Zhao Yun declared as he sat up, "Send a fast scout towards General Tomoe and another to General Liao Hua, hopefully they can help us enclose them before they disappear."
"Of course General." The scout replied, before bowing and leaving the command tent where the three of them were gathered. A few Centurions soon appeared whilst Zhao Yun looked over the map and Sun Shangxiang prepared herself to get involved.
"I need you to stay here Lady Sun." Zhao Yun explained, frustration on her face. "We still do not know if there is a tunnel system, I need someone here who can oversee everything."
"Can't Hua Rong stay here?" She asked in reply, whilst Hua Rong tried his hardest to not get involved in the conversation.
"He could, but if there are a thousand enemies, I will need him to control half of our Cavalry whilst I control the rest. I can leave the Infantry here with you, think of it as an opportunity to command." He explained to her kindly.
"I won't disagree with you." She smiled in response, not wanting to put pressure on Zhao Yun when the situation was already changing at a fast pace.
....
"General, a San representative has arrived." Huang Xin explained to Liao Hua who was lay down on his bed in the temporary fort that had been built at the bottom of the Red Hare Valley. He had arrived the day prior and was impressed by the work his Legionaries had progressed with. His Centurion Felix had explained that the San had helped them, even supplying some of the thick black wood that was to a forest to the south of the San. The black wood was much harder than that from the Red Woods and he was grateful for their gift.
"Let them in." Liao Hua replied, getting himself out of his bed and putting on a simple toga. He found the clothing of the western Warriors in the Kingdom to be comfortable and was quite happy to adopt the life style of his Roman and Greek Warriors.
Huang Xin opened the door to the room, motioning in for an extremely dark, slim but muscular man, to enter. The man wore animal fur's and his greying beard on his bald head showed his maturity. Huang Xin motioned to a chair nearby, where the man sat. Liao Hua sat opposite him and smiled at his new friend.
"I am sorry I do not come with good news." The man began, his voice deep with a thick accent.
"That is not like you Elder Kabbo." Liao Hua replied, badly speaking the mans name that seemed to use clicks and other forms of sound that he couldn't quite grasp. The man Kabbo however didn't seem to mind and just smiled in response. Kabbo was one of the senior members of the San Tribe, a man who could speak with a voice that even their tribal chief would listen to.
"Men have come, on boats. Strange men with weapons and no women." Kabbo explained, a slight tinge of worry in his voice. Liao Hua appreciated that from Kabbo, most men in a negotiation would hide the truth, but the San were honest people.
"Are they to the south or west of you?" Liao Hua asked, knowing that this could be a good opportunity to begin preparations for their western campaigns in the future.
"The east." Kabbo replied in a serious tone, Liao Hua understanding what Kabbo meant. No one should be approaching the San from the east, unless they were from the Kingdom of Lazarus.
"Are they definitely not from another of our Generals?" Huang Xin asked from the side, leaning against the wall and listening.
"They do not have your weapons or, how should I put it, organisation." Kabbo replied, knowing that the information that he shared was essential. "I fear that when the day breaks, they will come and attack us. We are prepared, but there is at least a thousand of them, I don't want unnecessary losses of my Hunters and Warriors. Please can you help us."
Liao Hua also knew the impact this thousand warriors could have on the rest of the plans for today. He looked towards Huang Xin, both of them knowing this was a great opportunity to improve their friendship with the San and also show of their military power.
"Prepare the men, we will march with our San brothers!" Liao Hua ordered, Huang Xin nodding in response as he headed outside and called for Centurion Felix, the Centurion of the First Century in their Cohort.