Seige of Ru Nan

[Sima Yi]

As the troops crossed into Ru Nan from their capital of Xia Pi they noticed how quiet Ru Nan was and what they were about to do cause disturb that peace but disturbing it could be the start for something new.

Sounds of troops could be heard from the city walls of Ru Nan. Sima Yi was on horseback in the distance. He was fanning himself down surrounded by his loyalists. The troops appeared in formations some distance from the city walls. Sima Yi had sent a letter to the city. The troops were doing battle chants to get themselves hyped up if battle was to occur. Sima Yi didn't feel like it was fair for people to die if they didn't want combat at this moment in time. He had just begun his conquest and bloodletting would be a last resort if the city could be taken easily.

Letter:
Han De, it would be a wise decision to surrender the city of Ru Nan. Wei is becoming violent and corrupt. The people don't want to be run by Wei any longer. Surrender yourselves and your forces and join us. We do not want to attack and it would be wise if you surrended.

The troops began roaring louder holding their weapons in the air. Clashing their weapons against their armour. The crashing sounded like thunder as the troops did it simultaneously. Sima Yi stood back awaiting Han De's decision.

"If Han De doesn't surrender we have no choice but to take Ru Nan by force!"

The troops quickly assembled into an offensive positioned and awaited further orders from Sima Yi. Troops stood silent with occasional murmers from some of the soldiers. The soldiers were confident and filled with morale from the presence of Sima Yi althought this was because this was the beginning of a new age for Jin.

Total Troops:
800 Militia
2,000 Jian Bing (Swordsmen)
1,000 Ji Bing (Halberdier)
1,500 Gong Jian Bing (Archer)
1,500 Dao Bing (Curved Swordsmen)

Seige/Misc.
10 Ladders
1 Cart of Food

[Cao Pi]

City Statistics for Ru Nan

Governor: Han De

City Level: 2
City Defence: 2000

Garrison
1000 Fou Tu Bing
500 Wei Wei Dui
500 Militia
500 Jian Bing
500 Nu Shou
1000 Gong Bing
500 Chang Dao Bing
500 Qiang Bing
500 Peasants
500 Qiang Qi Bing

Battle Map


(Sima Yi is marching west towards Ru Nan, and will be going through the forest located on the map above.)

---

Han De was just about ready to sit down to a meal of chicken wings when the doors opened before him. Standing there, wearing a light and dark blue cut robe and a pair of highly priced sandalas, stood one minister Fuzi, the grand minister in fact of the city and leading director of the cities military affairs.

Usually he’d come to rant about patrols or new military re-formations, neither of which interested Han de all that much. But today seemed different, it seemed exciting.

“What news do you bear?” Han spoke as calmly as he could, pushing aside the bowl of juicy chicken wings and the small pot of BBQ sauce.

“I bear a letter of arms against our nation my lord, a declaration of sorts.” He paused and unravelled his robes, receiving a small parchment from within his pocket and opening it on the table before him. “I will now read the following message:

Han De, it would be a wise decision to surrender the city of Ru Nan. Wei is becoming violent and corrupt. The people don't want to be run by Wei any longer. Surrender yourselves and your forces and join us. We do not want to attack and it would be wise if you surrended.

That is all.”

Han De smiled at the letter, pushing his seat up and lifting his body in a more suitable position. “Then it looks like we force them to attack, for I sure am not joining someone who cannot even spell the word surrendered.”

He laughed and went to prepare the army.

---

Below the palace walls, thousands of troops prepared for the upcoming attack. No one had expected an attack so soon after Jin’s first declarations of independence, some thought of it as a desperate move – others just plain old hasty.

But they never doubted the meaning of this fight, nor its importance. Ru Nan was a city that protected the central plains from the region of Jiang Dong. Should it fall, the Jin empire would have accessed entrance into the southern lands, a risk that no-one would have wanted, especially not Cao Pi.

The Nu Shou were the first to move, taking up the rows left on the city’s main walls, alongside the Gong Bing and the odd Qiang Bing who acted as look-out for the others hiding below. Soon this city would become a ground filled with the dead, and it would all come charging from the east.

[Sima Yi]

Sima Yi was talking to his officials when suddenly an advisor rushed to his side telling him of the army in Ru Nan taking arms and positioning on the city walls, Sima Yi and his troops travelled out of the forest they thought it wouldn't be a keen place to be situated in this time in battle.

Troops began to move towards the walls screaming at Han De's decision for battle. (One letter equals 1 unit)

Formation:
---BACK---
AAAAA
SSSSS
HHHHH

A = Archer
S = Swordsmen
H = Halberdier

As the first wave of troops moved forward the archers began to fire at the archers on the wall so that they would turn attention to Sima Yi's archers to avoid conflict with the Swordsmen and Halberdiers. 100 Militia holding the 10 ladders began to split off and attempt to assemble the ladders on the walls. Sima Yi and the rest of the troops moved into defense in the distnace.

The swordsmen and halberdiers would attempt to move towards the walls as the militia set up the ladders. Halberdiers charged forward with their spears plunging before them shouting in rage as the swordsmen ran in a crouched like position behind them. The archers would walk slowly in their direction attempting to fire at the archers on the wall.

"Lets see what Han De makes of this!"

[Cao Pi]

(So many bad moves here Sima Yi)

Han De smiled as the armies of Jin came storming across the battlefield. His archers, although trained to listen and wait – took no time in hesitating when they realised the grave mistake that his enemy had made. Each row suddenly raised their bows and loosed a set of arrows, their tips piercing the sky before showering down upon the enemies advance.

Han De counted the distances it would take before the enemy could return fire and strike, because of their great height – it was incredibly difficult for the archers to properly penetrate the stone walls, and Han found his enemies receiving a good 2-3 volleys worth before his enemies counter-fire actually succeeded.

By then Han De had organised for his swordsmen to begin climbing the stairs leading onto the walls, his archers keeping up a continuous onslaught of archers that found their targets. When the halberdiers of the Jin army advance with the swordsmen crouched behind – that was when every archer unit took advantage of their miss-place in strategy.

Every archer fired down at the halberdiers, their arrows finding their targets for the only shields present were too busy cowering behind the advancing armies.

Meanwhile the qiang bing and the Chong Jian Bing readied their call to advance from the towers.

(Assessment: Okay, short post because I’m exhausted. But you’ve done about 4 things wrong Sima. Because you said I would battle mod this battle then I will give you the stats the formula shows, but first lets clear all doubting minds of why they will say what they say. 1. Height advantage gives me at least 2-3 shots before you retaliate, 2. Having halberdiers protect swordsman is very wrong, have it the other way round when we have a serious fight. 3. Do not run 12 squares in 1 round; your fatigue is very high, the movement estimation states infantry moves between 1 – 2 rounds, maybe more but with a penalty of fatigue. 4. Never attack a city when you’re preparing for a siege with only 800 more troops unless you have a good strategy in mind, its suicide. That enough for now, pm me or talk to me tomorrow on msn if you have any other questions.)

Losses

Sima Yi
(0 + 12 + 0 + 10 + 14 + 0) * .01 = P (0.36)
P (0.36) x 1,500 = 540 (base value)

Total loses:
320 Gong Jian
220 Ji Bing
40 Jian Bing

Han De
(0 + 0 + 0 + 2 + 2 + 0) * .01 = P (0.04)
P (0.04) x 1,500 (only my archers attacked) = 60 (base value)

Total Loses:
40 Nu Shou
20 Gong Bing

---

It seems so harsh, but this is what the formula came up with. 0 is impossible to get, since no strategy ever works, 10 is ‘adequate’ and 20 is ULTIMATE. You ran 10 – 12 squares in 1 round, so having 12 as fatigue is actually good, considering you moved 5x longer then you should have. Your formation fell apart when you put halberdiers to protect swordsmen, people you’re so close together to even allow that formation to exist – it makes the ratio higher, so 10 for formation. Your general strategy lacks severely, just charging a city is mental without some other plans to go with it. I’m sorry but, anyone b-modding would have values close to this because of how you attacked.)

[Sima Yi]

"Sima Yi our troops are being crushed as they attack the city, what should we do?" Says the advisor.

Sima Yi turns his horse around and begins to head towards the forest, all of his troops also follow him and the troops attacking the city walls also retreat back through towards the forest. The troops fleeing the fortress could be seen as left open but losing more troops on the long run could be damaging to morale.

"Han De, you're nothing but a pathetic worm, hiding in your shell like the turtle you are. We will return one day and destroy you...You're a coward and everybody knows you're nothing compared to the great Sima Yi..."

Sima Yi continue to retreat towards the forest heading on the path east of the map towards Xia Pi.

[Cao Pi]

Han De merely smiled as he listened to the barks of the enemy general. He didn’t know how he heard such rants, especially from the distance between the two posts that separated their longing gaze. But he did, and when he heard of their retreat – he knew all that he could do was smile...smile and be merry.

His archers never took a second to notice what Sima Yi had done, the enemy came, got shot, died and then retreated. It was another beautiful cycle where the entire army would be shot at before Sima Yi’s army would make it back to the safety of the trees.

“Please come again.” Han de yelled out after them, turning later to inspect his archer’s fine work. He could see the dead and decided to leave them there for an entire day, to show that he meant business.

Actions: Han De refuses to move from the city, sticking to a defensive game whilst letting his archers continue to shower the retreating enemy with lots and lots of arrows.

---

Losses

Sima Yi
(10 + 13 + 0 + 13 + 15 + 0) * .01 = P (0.51)
P (0.51) x 740 = 377 (base value)

Total loses:
140 Gong Jian
177 Ji Bing
80 Jian Bing

Han De
(0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0) * .01 = P (0.00)
P (0.00) x 1,500 (only my archers attacked) = 0 (base value)

Total Loses:
0

(Explanation: Retreat lowers morale. Fatigue worsened due to retreat. No Strategy Implemented (just flee). No formation Implemented (just flee).)

[Sima Yi]

Sima Yi stops before the forest and regroups. The fatigued soldiers take a rest and Sima Yi forms a new attack force. Yi assembles another 500 archers and sends them to around centre of the field so that they can't be attacked or can't attack. He then sends another 500 archers to a similar location but further left. Then 1000 Swordsmen to form behind the archers and assemble along with 500 curved swordsmen. The troops stood a fair distance this gave them a chance to prepare an attack and prehaps rest before engaging into attack in the next wave of battle.

"It's true about Han De, he's just Cao Pi's lapdog. His father must think he's a failure right now rolling around in his swallow grave....Such stupidity!"

Sima Yi stood from before the forest watching his troops assembling in the distance. He knew the people who would die would have their blood on his hands. His strategies where causing death but it was his only choice in these desperate times.

The militia as (aforementioned in previous posts) have been resting around the walls and are situated around the west walls with the ladders next to them.

Formation Assembling:
---BACK---
SSSSSSSSSS CCCCC
AAAAA AAAAA

[Cao Pi]

The Militia had continued their march west. Han De couldn’t explain why, but the soldiers moved carelessly past the eastern side of the walls, where the main contending armies were stationed and ready.

“Just what are they planning?” He muttered, peering down and gazing at the Militia move north to finish their trek.

He had seen many things, but today he had seen something new – he had seen the actions of stupidity.

“Send 500 Fu Tou Bing to the west side of the wall and have them await their actions.”

Then, he saw another wave of soldiers approach. They stood, at around 5 square blocks away (literally), in rows of lined men. He knew that he couldn’t really shoot them with the standard bow. But just as he moved to prepare for their main attack, he had an amazing idea.

“The foot-cross and bow attack.”

His men gazed at him as they prepared the formation. The Nu Shou and the Gong Bing all lay on their backs on the walls, lifting their legs up and bracing their bows and crossbows over the flat surface of their feet. With their hands free and the arrow tips pointing towards the sky they begin to position the angle of their shots. The bowmen were prepared first, and used both of their hands to pull back the string before releasing a volley of arrows.

The crossbowmen were the second lot to shoot, firing once before assuming their normal positions. The Gong Bing had managed to fire twice each before they too stood to assume their formation.

Han De gazed ahead at the falling bodies, because of the strength of the two hands and the re-positioning of the bows; they had been able to extend their reach, showering arrows upon the lined formations of Sima Yi’s second wave. With their morale and fatigue still not complete – he suspected it would bring fear among their ranks.

Han De was no pushover, and he planned to show that this very day.

---

Losses
Sima Yi
(8 + 4 + 0 + 10 + 14 + 0) * .01 = P (0.36)
P (0.36) x 2,000 = 720 (base value)

Total loses:
200 Jian Bing
200 Dao Bing
320 Gong Bing

Han De
(0 + 0 + 0 + - + - + 0) * .01 = P (0.0-)
P (0.0-) x 1,500 (only my archers attacked) = 0 (base value)

Total Loses:
0

(Explanation: Okay, new troops bring new fatigue, however since you marched a few paces it lowers, as you didn’t stick to the estimation infantry moving 1 – 2 per round rule. Morale: your morale is still low, you’ve lost over 800 soldiers without dealing any real damage, your soldiers are also not high tier, so they would be a little scared, you haven’t done any speeches or ways to improve that said morale, you also fled remember. Formation – standing in an open row makes it a default of ok which is 10, its average, nothing great. Strategy: you don’t have a strategy in play, you’re just standing there so its at 14. I’m sorry if the formula did more damage then you liked, but its the figures it gave me – i do go through the formula with another mod for their opinion. But the formula is designed to deal big damage .)

[Sima Yi]

"Come on men let's show them what we got, believe in your masters words! Let's Go!"

The archers began to move forward and attempt to fire up towards the wall, with their plan in place the archers moving would make it more difficult for the archers on the wall until they resumed regular position. The archers continously fired until they disperced through the centre allowing the swordsmen and curved swordsmen to charge.

The Militia hastily propped up the ladders and held them in place making it more difficult for them to be pushed down in the near future. The charging troops charged towards the new assembled ladders. Some of the militia who wern't doing anything decided to help eachother climb the wall trying to aid more support to the main attack force. The swordsmen and curved swordmen attempted to climb the ladders and besiege the city.

"Let's just see what Han De makes of this, come on troops lets go!"

The rest of the forces moved into the aforementioned centre spot what the recently attack force where placed. The wave of troops which are attacking the walls would make it difficult for the archers to keep changing formation with the sudden panic.

"There are five possible operations for any army. If you can fight, fight. If you cannot fight, defend. If you cannot defend, flee. If you cannot flee, surrender. If you cannot surrender, die! Come on!"

The troops roared as they moved forward and helped eachother lift their spirits in this time of battle.

The main forces in the centre assembled. The archers taking the sides, the swordsmen taking the front because of less weight and mobility. The Halberdiers at the back. They all began to prepare themselves and take a short rest preparing for the next attack.

"Prepare yourselves, this is it!"

[Cao Pi]

(I am no longer doing the modding for this battle. The creator of the formula, Jen will be taking over. Trust me, Jen is the fairest person I know – and since it’s her formula she’ll use it properly. So let’s enjoy this fight Sima Yi. Now that I’m not modding it I can give it some effort hehe)

(I’m also ignoring my previous comment on your ladders being on the west wall, you mean they’re on the east wall, so I’ll ignore the error and continue accordingly)

Han De smiled when the ladders crashed against his walls, allowing that one moment to call forth his Chang Jian Bing.

“This is it guys, cut down the top edge of the ladders, archers, assume firing positions.”

He called forth the order as his Chang Jian Bing sliced at the edge of each ladder placed on his beloved city. The top cracked and fell back – sending pieces of wood to fly back and plummet on anyone unlucky enough to be below it. Meanwhile, his archers resumed their positions, gazing ahead as the enemy archers began to move.

Han de smiled as he found one of Sima’s tricks. “Indeed a smart move, but he is cancelling out his own action.”

He spoke confidently as his archers whipped their arrows from their bundles and placed them on fresh strings. Every few seconds more and more arrows were finding their targets. “An archer compensates wind and direction before shooting. Their still aim allowing them to do such a thing – as a proclaimed master-mind Sima Yi, I thought you would have learned the lessons the Xiong Nu taught our ancestors. But I guess not.”

The enemy’s arrows whipped into the solid wall, “By moving and shooting you’re disabling your ability to judge wind and movement. An archer must be steady to fire upon his enemies. I ... expected more from you Sima Yi.”

The enemy Dao and Jian Bing began their charge after exchanging a few volleys worth of arrows. They charged towards the recently damaged ladders, climbing their way to the top only to find the top of the ladders destroyed, making it harder to push up and fight.

The Chang Jian Bing found no difficult in repelling whatever climbed up the walls, with the ladders damaged, the enemy soldiers wouldn’t be able to climb to the top and step onto the wall – instead, they’d need to actually hurl themselves onto the edge of the great wall, but those who tried quickly found swords in their necks and bodies.

The time was upon them all and blood trickled down the bodies of the dead. His archers had gone to the towers and took up various positions besides the ladders, shooting down or across at whatever seemed like a good target.

“I will not be defeated by you Sima Yi. I cannot.”

[Zhen Luo]

(6 + 9 + 5 + 12 + 14 + 17 + 0) * .01 = P (.63)
1780 * .63 = 1121

Total Loses:
300 Jian Bing
400 Dao Bing
421 Gong Bing

Morale: Your troops have rested a bit and you gave them a small pep talk, so your morale gets better by 2. If you want to better it by more, you will have to do more of a ‘speech’ than a few lines.
Fatigue: Infantry can move about 1-2 squares without gaining much fatigue. You moved about 3 squares, and you charged, which increases fatigue even more – that’s why the number went up by 5.
Food Supply: 3 rounds left. Steve forgot this little stat. If you look on the troop loss formula page you’ll see what each number stands for. Since he didn’t use it yet, I won’t be harsh. This really should be at 10, but I am just going to give you a 5 for now. You might want to think about getting more before you continue because this number will get high very quickly.
Formation: You are charging, so your formation is almost non-existent. I’m being nice giving you a 12.
Strategy: You don’t have a strategy so you should technically have 20. Openly charging a city wall is horrible and can’t possibly get any worse. Again, I’m trying to be nice, but you’re making it hard.
Ambush: N/A

I feel bad giving you this many losses, but I’m just using the formula, and I’m trying to be as easy on you as I can be without going ott.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

(0 + 0 + 5 + 0 + 0 + 0) * .01 = P (.05)
2000 * .05 = 100

Total Losses:
100 Gong Bing

Morale: High as it can go. Not many men have been killed and the enemy is falling easily.
Fatigue: Troops are not moving.
Food Supply: Again, Steve forgot this stat, so I’m going to be fair. Both of you had 8 rounds, and only have 3 left, so I’m going to give a 5 for this stat instead of something higher. It will go up quickly.
Formation: None is needed, and the formation you do have cannot be countered.
Strategy: Strategy is virtually flawless; you show a good understanding of archers.
Ambush: N/A