World Conquest Online

"There they are!" Huang Xin grinned, seeing the enemies camp ahead of them. The enemies seemed to be loading their ships with some San captives from the earlier village raids, surprise and shock on their faces at the oncoming army led by Liao Hua. The captives seemed to see the panic on the faces of those around them and some hope began to form.

"Around a thousand of them, give or take." Centurion Felix exclaimed from beside them as they stood at the top of a small hill that overlooked the flatlands and the beach below where the enemy were based below. A small circular camp had been formed on the flatlands, whilst small boats were beached on the beach below. Further out to sea was a small flotilla of transport ships that were anchored away from the shore.

"How do you want to do it General?" Kabbo asked, the San Elder who was their point of contact during this battle. Liao Hua paused for a second as he thought through his response, whilst he was a Grade B Hero, he was still relatively young at this point in time and this was his first battle where he was in full control of it. A smile appeared on his face as he replied.

"I’ll take the centre with the Infantry." Liao Hua replied as he could see the enemies raise the alarm and begin to run around the camp with surprise and fear. "Four wide Centuries wide, two deep. Kabbo, your men will attack from the right flank, you’ll take my ninth Century with you for support. Huang Xin, you will take the Cavalry and hit the left flank. We push them in to the sea." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"They drown or die by our sword?" Huang Xin asked, also excited to be involved in a proper battle in the southern part of the Kingdom.

"Exactly that." Liao Hua agreed, "Use the Tiger Cavalry sparingly and have them target the area where they are loading their captives, I want them to cause fear so they abandon their prize. This is a rescue mission first."

"Thank you General." Kabbo replied honestly, genuine gratitude in his voice at their allies support. Part of him wanted to prove himself to their friendly allies, the thought that showing his worth would lead to further opportunities in the future. The life of an Elder in the tribe had been enjoyable and rewarding, however the new opportunities that arose with Liao Hua’s arrival were enticing.

Liao Hua had over one and a half thousand warriors between his and the San’s armies and he out numbered the enemies almost two to one. He would be charging down the hill towards them, with the momentum, terrain and experienced warriors under his command.

"Kabbo, have your Chieftain signal when he is in position and we will strike under my command." Liao Hua explained, as Kabbo took the small horse he had given to him and headed towards the San Warriors and Hunters that stood nearby, rage on their faces at the situation before them. As well as rage, their was excitement to fight alongside the professionally trained warriors they had been drinking with for the last few weeks.

"We’ll let the San attack first, it will grab the enemies focus. I want to see their skills in battle as well as have them owe us more favours from this surprise encounter." Liao Hua explained to Huang Xin and Centurion Felix who nodded in agreement.

"What do we do if their ships approach?" Centurion Felix asked, wanting to to prepare for any potential changes to the situation.

"If we can, we’ll take them as well. If they are confident enough to get close, then let’s take the opportunity." Liao Hua replied after some thought. "For now, let’s get them pushed back against the water and clear them up."

"Once you have them blocked with the San, I’ll clear them up from my flank and roll them over." Huang Xin replied with a smile as he nodded his head and made his way towards the Cavalry that were waiting for him, signalling for them to get in to position at the left flank.

"I’ll get the men in formation then General." Centurion Felix also nodded, before shouting orders to the other Centurions who were nearby. The Legionaries quickly moving in to the box shapes that he had requested and prepared themselves to charge down the hill towards their exposed foe.

"I can’t wait." Liao Hua said to himself as he stroked the mane of his Red Hare Horse and looked down at his panicked prey below. Part of him felt that learning from Subutai and Tomoe was starting to impact his own thinking, but he didn’t feel bad because of it. He sat and watched for a few moments as the forces around him go in to position, the loud noises echoing across the open plains.

The enemy below began getting themselves in to a loose formation to defend themselves, whilst the ships all began pulling in to the beach so they could load up and retreat. Liao Hua decided that he wouldn’t give them the chance to load as he soon heard a loud drum from the right flank, signalling that the San were in position.

"Charge!" Liao Hua bellowed loudly, his voice echoing across the land as the front four Centuries began running down the gentle hill towards the enemies below, a grin full of teeth on Liao Hua’s face as he kicked his horse to charge after them.

Shortly after they began the charge, the San forces hit the enemies first. Their archers released a loose volley’s whilst their spearman charged straight in to the enemies formation. Their excellent athletic ability and speed allowed them to pass through the oncoming spears that the enemies held out fearfully in front of themselves. The San charged straight through the spear line, violently pushing the enemy lines whilst arrows landed around them.

The San front lines violently attacked their enemies, stabbing spears through gaps, whilst the Archers aimed at any spaces that were made, their aim true every time. Liao Hua watched from his horse as he charged down the hill, following his Infantry that would only be a few steps behind their allies. He was impressed with their aim and could tell that they were a deadly warrior people. Whilst he could tell they were dangerous, he had self belief that the organisation of his own warriors could still topple them, however the wild ferocity of the San definitely showed him a different style of battle.

As the right flank began to be pushed back by the swarming mass of the San under the command of their chieftain, Liao Hua’s Infantry finally clashed against the front line who were unnerved by the sound coming from the side of them. His front lines had two Hoplite Centuries in the centre, with two Legionary Centuries at each flank. The long spears of the Hoplite with the momentum from the charge down the hill, easily penetrated the enemies formation as they pushed through easily. The Legionaries on each side hit with their shields first, taking enemies from their feat or pushing them in to their scared allies beside them. Liao Hua’s second group stood behind the first, ready to rotate once they were called upon, however Liao Hua could see that the battle was easily theirs and he planned to keep energy high in the reserves.

The San beside let our victorious war cries as the momentum from Liao Hua’s army reverberated down the thinning line of their enemies. The line’s began to thin even more as more enemies gathered and tried to push back the Legionaries at their flanks, allowing the San to create an opening where they quickly pushed through the gaps that had been made, splitting the left flank in half. Liao Hua caught sight of the Elder Kabbo charging through a gap himself with some spearmen and heading south towards the beach.

"It seems they have the initiative." Liao Hua grinned to himself as he saw the violent battle to his right, whilst his own Cohort easily controlled the centre of the battlefield. From his horse he could see openings and quickly shouted orders for some rotations or support at different areas so they could push through. He kept the pace of the battle in his favour, whilst allowing the San to run more wild.

The enemy ships seemed to increase their pace to the shore as the enemy lines began to be pushed back. Some of the enemies had broken away from their own lines and had began pushing some of their captives on to the small boats to row out to the approaching ships. It was as if taking the captives was more important than their own lives. Liao Hua continued to watch, waiting for an opening that would allow him to direct his men through, however he knew that Huang Xin would be approaching shortly and would take most of that credit.

He was impressed by the quality of the San Warriors, as the enemy left flank that was already outnumbered, began to crumble. His own Century within the San’s ranks directing the battle alongside their Chieftain and Kabbo. One of the enemies ships travelled away from the fleet towards the East, a sign that worried Liao Hua slightly that their may be more enemies on the land. He knew that after they had won here, he would have to prepare to follow that ships direction, whilst reinforcing this location.

The sound of hooves distracted him from his thoughts, as Huang Xin had finished his flanking motion and charged directly from the East and in to the enemies exposed flank, his forces mirroring the edge of the coast and driving straight in to the enemies already weakened and scared flank.

"He’s not taking all of the credit!" Liao Hua grinned to himself, before ordering his own units to now begin pushing through, using the Hoplite’s to create a arrow like formation at the front with the Legionaries supporting from each side.

From his horse, he could see the enemies were running where they could towards the beach, where as others tried to form small circles to fight back. What surprised Liao Hua was that none of them had attempted to surrender yet, and even though some retreated, none put down their weapons or begged for their lives. Instead it seemed that they would rather risk swimming in their clothes out to sea than surrender.

The San had already aimed for the beaches, and were jumping on the retreating enemies with spears and axes, whilst the Legionaries supporting them worked on freeing the captive San with Kabbo. Others were releasing arrows at the enemies that seemed to be attempting to swim away as they dived in to the shallow water, or the enemies that were still trying to take the captive San on to the small boats that had been beached.

"Send two Centuries from the right to support the San at the beach, the rest will clear the enemy. Capture some if we can, even if they refuse to surrender! Knock them unconscious if needed." Liao Hua ordered loudly, his order acknowledged silently as the two Centuries on the right of his formation headed forwards whilst the rest spread out. The rest pushed forwards and began encircling the small fighters that kept fighting back.

Huang Xin’s head could soon be seen amongst his Cavalry as they drove through the enemies and began charging towards the beach themselves, the Sabre Tooth Detachment causing chaos as they charged through, with some jumping on to the smaller beached boats or swimming reluctantly in to the sea. The fear factor was definitely there but the enemies seemed keen to fight to the death with the tigers instead of surrender.

"A strange group of people." Centurion Felix commented as Liao Hua approached him. His Century had just rotated and he headed towards Liao Hua to agree the next step.

"They are indeed, we will need to interrogate some of them when they have been captured. We also need to dispatch some men to the east to follow that ship." Liao Hua replied as he watched over as the short battle seemed to start coming to an unclimactic end. The San were cheering as they freed their own and continued to strike down the remaining enemies around them.

"I’ll send a message to Huang Xin to dispatch some Cavalry." Centurion Felix responded as the waves of the sea began to slowly turn red as more enemies began dying in its shallow waters. "They really do not want to surrender do they."

"They must fear death less than survival." Liao Hua muttered to himself as the battle continued to end around him, a realisation hitting him that he hadn’t even had chance to use his own weapon so far.