Zhen Luo
Queen of Wei
Empress of China
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Posts: 189
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Post by Zhen Luo on Jul 10, 2009 15:03:19 GMT -5
This thread covers everything from the west gate and left.
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Post by Guan Yu on Jul 13, 2009 15:07:19 GMT -5
Guan Yu and 200 Dao Bing arrive upon the field from the tussle at the Shu Camp. They're warmed up from their little encounter and stand at attention in two one hundred man blocks, with Yunchang occupying a spot in between both blocks. They're far enough out from the city to clearly spot the advance of the Wu troops, yet still be out of range of Wei's archers.
There was nothing to do here but wait for the rest of the Shu army to reorganize and begin its own advance upon the castle.
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Zhao Han
Warrior of Wei
General of the West
Posts: 53
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Post by Zhao Han on Jul 13, 2009 15:42:20 GMT -5
Zhao Han stood on the walls amongst his men, swordsmen and halberdiers alike taking to the walls with the archers under his command. The veteran swordsmen stood as a local reserve in the plaza opposite the western gate, their banners flying proudly within Xuchang. Along the wall, too, several score more flags gave indication of the numbers arrayed against Guan Yu. Within the walls too stood Zhao Han's personal army, flying his black banner proudly amongst their force. Cavalry too stood at the ready, armed with swords, with the veteran soldiers. Two catapults too, one each at opposite ends of the plaza, one at the north end, the other the south end, stood at the ready, the peasants maintaining their positions with a sense of duty not seen often amongst their kind.
He watched for some time as Guan Yu and his two hundred curved swordsmen were the vanguard. He was sorely tempted by the arrogant advance of the long-bearded warrior to engage him at once. But he knew that there were better ways to win victory than to directly engage even a piecemeal force such as that when the main body threatened so closely behind. The word was given from the walls, a blue banner with a white rectangle within, red letters within that, It fell at once, inward, towards the city walls, before raising again. A barrage of shot from the catapults rained upon the Shu general's force. Though they fired blind, the manner in which the flag was flown and directed from the wall gave the crews within the information they required on direction and range to the formation. The first blow had been dealt, and Zhao Han stood on the wall, watching the stones fall into and around the Shu party before turning away from it and walking to his horse. He rode to the party in the plaza.
Peng Wei stood on the wall, his dagger-axe in one hand, a cleaver in the other amongst the swordsmen that made up the first rank along the wall. The halberdiers made the second, and the archers made the third rank all along the western wall. The shields would rebuke the enemy, the halberds would add weight to the first line with their long pikes, and the archers could touch the foe long before they reached the walls, even as they stood quite safe along the last rank.
There was no need for words of courage just yet. Every man that stood on the walls of Xuchang and within the city knew their duty. It was their sacred duty to defend the city to the last man, and Zhao Han knew that every man present knew it. Words of courage and bravery, if they were to come, would arrive when they were most appropriate: not spent haphazardly for the sake of a moment of bravado that would last for so short a while. They would come in the final hour, whether to route the Shu from the field once and for all, or to ensure that as few of the enemy left the city if it was to fall under the weight of the foe. The determination within Zhao Han was such that he saw only the former as an option, the latter defeatism at its worst.
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Post by Liu Bei on Jul 13, 2009 18:35:37 GMT -5
Not long after, and just in time to see the enemy's catapult shot fall short, the Shu army walked down the hill towards Xu Chang. Numerous, more numerous than the Wei defending force when combined with Wu, the Shu army was ready to eliminate the pretender Cao Pi, the first step the ol Capital, Xu Chang.
Bei's personal guard, 1,000 Jian Qi Bing, stood ready around him, the rest of his force, all of his own personal army, ready behind that. The archer units stood to the fore, ready for Bei and his riders to retreat around the sides before firing, a peeling formation, a funnel in which any enemy would be sucked, and spit out.
That is, if they could get through the thousands of troops that were arrayed in front. Gong Jiang stood at the fore, the melee units mixed around behind them. Shields protected everyone as the Chang Jian Bing stood resolute against any incoming projectiles, though the distance was too grand for either army to fire.
It was here that Bei stopped, motioning to his generals to begin the fight. He was not stupid, and he was not reckless; after almost losing Liao Hua to Ma Chao, if anything, he was more careful.
He awaited his men to take the fight to their enemy.
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Norion
Warrior of Shu
Posts: 144
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Post by Norion on Jul 14, 2009 11:38:49 GMT -5
((I apologize for the delay. It's show week at my camp, so it's just getting down to the wire and it's taking up a good bit of my time. Just assume that I'm prepping my troops for battle; no attack from me this turn. I'll elaborate when I get home tonight.))
Zhao Yun, given his allocated troops, led them to the field of battle with the rest of his fellow generals. He rode at the head of his designated flank, with Wei Zhong to his right, and Fong Zhu to his left. Zhao Yun was the only mounted officer. Zhao Yun had split his own troops up as the following: He would commant the sword cavalry himself, Wei Zhong would take the swordsmen and 1,000 archers, and Fong zhu would take the halberdiers and 1,000 archers.
Zhao Yun's cavalry were in a standard column formation behind him. 10 units each of 200 horses were trotting, ready to charge when given the word. To the cavalry's left were the swordsmen, also in your basic column formation, with 1,000 archers bringing up their rear. To the cavalry's right were the halberdiers, mimicking the formation of the other troops, and another 1,000 archers.
Zhao Yun raised his spear, halting his troops outside of the enemy's archer range. The siege tower was being pushed by the archers, and the ladders were being carried by swordsmen and halberdiers, 5 per side. Although he would have rather had a catapult... Zhao Yun would have to make the best out of what he was given. Once his troops had halted, they waited, protecting Shu's right flank. for all he knew... Zen could mount another attack against them.
"Wei Zhong... if it turns out that Zen attempts to attack us once more, I must request that youdon't do anything reckless until I tell you too. That goes for you as well, Fong Zhu. When I give the command, I will take command of the army, and you two will go after their commanding officer. Assuming Zen does pull another move like that... but without Jiang Wei, I don't suspect that they will."
Then, Zhao Yun rode outwards a little, and turned his horse to face his troops.
"Warriors of Shu! I, Zhao Yun, the Dragon General of Shu ride before you today as your brother in arms. But I am also your commanding officer. You will respect my authority on this battlefield, or I will kill you myself. You are all aware that certain sections will take orders from Wei Zong and Fong Zhu. Today, we will ride against Wei, and the pretender Cao Pi, who believes himself fit to succeed the throne. We, together, have defeated the beast of Zen. Now, we will defeat the Swine of Wei."
Zhao Yun had a philosophy; 'twas better to be feared than loved. If soldiers loved you, the respect only went so far... they would not fear repercussions if they fled. However, if you were feared... the troops would rather die fighting than provoke your wrath. Zhao Yun, for a brief moment, stared at his own personal banner waving along with that of Shu's. The green rectangle, with a black, vicious dragon twisting it's way down.
He spun his horse around, and as he did so, his troops took up their attacking formation. the archers moved themselves infront of the swordsmen and the halberdiers, and lined themselves infront. The melee fighters filled the windows of the lines. This way, once the battle started, the archers would have optimal range, and they wouldn't have to move for the fighters. However, they were currently out of Wei's range, just as Wei was out of theirs.
[]*Zhao Yun has set up shop at Guan Yu's right flank. *His troops are prepped for combat! *Zhao Yun's troops are out of Weis range! *Wei is out of Zhao Yun's range![/i]
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Post by Zhang Fei on Jul 14, 2009 12:06:15 GMT -5
Zhang Fei was allocated his troops as he moved out from the Shu camp, slowly heading east towards Xu Chang, fully ready for the challenge that awaited him and his comrades in taking the old Capital of Cao Cao’s reign. Though with the assistance of the Wu army Wei were outnumbered, they would not be taken easily as defending a city was blatantly easier than attacking one.
Zhang Fei made sure that his army was out of the range of the Wei archers and took up the position he was told to, left of both Guan Yu and Zhao Yun. The upcoming one was to be a very interesting battle. Yide was eager to test his admittedly rusted abilities once more.
Zhang Fei’s Unit: • 2,000 Gong Jian Bing (Archers) • 2,000 Ji Bing (Halberdiers) • 2,000 Chang Jian Bing (Veteran Swordsmen) • 2,000 Jian Qi Bing (Mounted Swordsmen) • 1 Siege Tower • 10 Ladders
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Post by Guan Yu on Jul 16, 2009 0:45:51 GMT -5
Guan Yu stood with his guard as the Wei defenders appeared upon the western wall. Banners were raised skywards from the battlements, Wei banners, and then what Yunchang perceived to be unit specific banners. A black one standing out among the rest. He surmised this might be the defending generals own banner. Regardless, of what the banners were made to represent, the defending general had already made a mistake. By using these banners, he has revealed the positions of his troops along the wall. Should Yunchang be given missile troops, he would know where to aim. Suddenly, a salvo of catapult shot came flying from behind the walls. It landed short of his position on the field by about 200 yards or more. Yunchang had to guess that they were trying to do one of two things by this; range finding, or trying to actually damage his, for the moment, paltry unit. He hoped that for the enemy's sake it was the former and not the latter. For though he knew not the exact number of the enemy defending the battlements, he knew it could not be much, for the walls were only so deep. He knew storming the walls would be hard, and any victory gained here would be hard fought, but he also knew that the Wei forces would lose this city by the end of the siege.
He chuckled at the Wei's display of power. How bold, how daring! He knew they were outnumbered here, and even though they had the protection of the city, it would not protect them forever, and it would not save them from him.
One of Xuande's aide-de-camp rode to Yunchang carrying the troop assignments for the siege. The two exchanged salutes as the rider handed Yunchang the orders. He opened the scroll as the rider took his leave.
"General of the Van, eh? Well men, it looks like we shall be the first to taste the blood of Wei!"
The Dao Bing accompanying him shouted in anticipation of the battle. And no sooner than this had happened, then Guan Yu sighted the forces he was to command for the battle.
The army marched to him and took up position behind his personal guard, well out of the range of the enemy forces. Units captains made their way to him to receive their orders. There was, yet again, an exchanging of salutes between multiple men and after wards the unit captains made their way back to their respective units.
The forces rearranged themselves into the battle order Guan Yu had instructed them to take. Archers at the front in a loose bar formation parallel to the walls of the city. Swordsmen behind them in a bar formation with normal displacement in the ranks, covering either flank of the ram that resides in the center of their formation. Behind the Swordsmen were the Halberdiers, and on their flanks were the riders, both in a loose bar formation. This would be a ground-pounder's war for the most part.
Yunchang thought it appropriate to shout out his battle orders to the men. The enemy would be too far to hear them, and even if they did, it would be inconsequential, their formation could already clearly be seen from the walls. And if they couldn't, then surely the Wei defenders had been struck blind before the engagement here.
"Archers, loose formation! Nock your bows and prepare for standard advance!"
He waited for them to comply fully before issuing his next set of orders, "March to firing range and take aim!"
The archers advanced up to a range where they would be able to fire upon the enemy, they took aim and would be raining down their fire from over the enemy's heads. There was no wind blowing to impede their fire, and it as it stands, only gravity would slow their ascent. But that too mattered not, since it would aid them in their descent upon the Wei's heads.
"Loose!"
A swarm of arrows flew from the archers.
Guan Yu's main force has arrived. Guan Yu's archer's have fired upon Zhao Han's men on the walls.
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Norion
Warrior of Shu
Posts: 144
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Post by Norion on Jul 16, 2009 1:32:40 GMT -5
Zhao Yun heard Guan Yu's thunderous voice rally his troops into formation, he knew the time to strike was approaching. He spun his spear two turns clockwise; This was the signal to move forward, and the two spins meant 200 yards. He judged the distance of the arrows that fell infront of Guan Yu to be about 150-200 yards out, so moving to that distance would get the archers to the perfect range.
However, the 2,000 swordsmen split up into two groups of 1,000, mimicing the archers. They were the only troops to advance into the archers range. This way, if a volley was fired at them, they would cover themselves, and their respective archer, with their large shield. As they reached their spot, the archers all knocked their bows as Zhao Yun's signal, which was him raising his spear. Then, as he pointed his spear towards the black flag upon the wall, his archers all fired at it, the 2,000 arrows raining down upon the enemy commander's position.
*Zhao Yun's Archers and Swordsmen are now in Wei's Range! Wei is in Zhao Yun's range! Each Veteran Swordsman is paired with an Archer, to cover each-other with a shield upon an attack from the enemy! Zhao Yun's Archers have fired at Zhao Han's position upon the wall! the Halberdiers and Cavalry are still outside of the enemy's range!*[/b]
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Post by Zhang Fei on Jul 16, 2009 8:03:04 GMT -5
Zhang Fei was a learner on the field of battle. Given, he had a lot of strength and ability with a blade, and although he had been in numerous battles before, formations and tactics within were not his strong suit. He allowed Guan Yu and Zhao Yun to begin the march before him; one of the reasons for this was that if the opposing officer caught sight of even more men trampling towards the city then he would certainly feel unnerved and the other was to investigate the approaches that Yide’s two comrades took towards their advances. It paid off.
He smiled as he watched both Guan Yu and Zhao Yun, and took pointers from them both. Guan Yu’s loose bar-formation involved a lot of common sense but it was a clever move, while their army moved forward, he made his archer unit form up into the identical formation. It was not long after that Lord Zilong gave his Chang Jian Bing the order to defend his archers by pairing them up, all 2000 of them. They would defend both themselves and, through lack of a less ambiguous term, partner when the enemies arrows came raining down on them.
The Halberdiers were around 40 yards behind the mixed formation of Swordsmen and Archers, close enough… yet when they reached their destination; still far enough away that most of the enemies would not be able to reach them with their volleys. The siege tower and ladders were behind these men, and the horsemen were ordered to protect the flanks, from the halberdiers to the ladders, vertically spread (not very thinly due to the lack of distance that the Siege Tower and Ladders took up).
Zhang Fei gave the order, pointing his spear towards the walls of the great Xu Chang. The men moved out and began to follow their orders, when the archers and swordsmen stopped because they were close enough, the whole army stopped, maintaining their distance from the front men. ”Release!” The archers released the arrows that were notched on their bows and pulled another from their quivers.
The battle had begun for these men.
Glory was not far away.
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Post by Huang Kuai on Jul 17, 2009 13:47:36 GMT -5
(With no Jen and no Steve. I'm going to try and do my best with this. I have no power but if you want it to continue then i can have a go. First things first though, both Guan Yu and Liu Bei need to stop God modding. It is not up to them if the Catapaults fall short or not, it's up to the battle mod and all though Wind doesnt factor again its up to the battle mod if it plays a factor
Ok lets see if i can get this right:
70 From Zhao Hans personal army have died
0 losses for shu (i've ruled the Catapults out of range)
Can you guys leave a summary of your actions like Norion is doing please. It helps so much in knowing what i'm ruling. Also can you try to be more specific in what your firing at. As it is, i can only rule 70 dead from Zhao Hans unit (his choice what) as you guys never said anything more than that.
It's up to you guys, i'm happy to have a go at this. If you agree with the numbers then i will continue to do this. If not then wait for Jen and Steve)
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Post by Liu Bei on Jul 17, 2009 18:59:27 GMT -5
((Err, that's not a godmod. that's common sense. catapults were out of range = the catapults are not going to hit our men.))
Bei watched as the archers arrows pierced the enemy, bodies tumbling off of the walls, smacking on the ground. Bei's personal army and his 1,000 riders stood at the utmost rear of the formation, Bei personally not taking too much stake in this battle, instead letting his men fight it out.
He watched, and took note...
Bei does nothing!
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Zhao Han
Warrior of Wei
General of the West
Posts: 53
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Post by Zhao Han on Jul 17, 2009 19:30:18 GMT -5
Chaos gripped Xu Chang as the southern walls all but collapsed on account of a myriad of strategic and tactical blunders and misunderstandings amongst the Wei forces. For what had happened elsewhere there was no excuse. However, there was a solution. As Wu's men began their advance through the southern gates, Wei's banners fell from the wall, men pulled back with care from the walls and plazas within Xu Chang. This was all done, of course, under the care of a hail of arrows from the city's defenders as they organised themselves into battalions set to march out via the northern gates. It was this they did, several hundred halberdiers and swordsmen both conducting a holding action at the west gate to hold the Shu back. North they went, Zhao Han in the last quarter of the formation, that rear guard a forlorn hope to buy the time they required to evacuate the city.
Though we failed in holding the walls, a war it is they shall have from the passes! Zhao Han settled. The catapults were disassembled with haste and thrown into carts before being run off with the food near the middle of the massive armed exodus to the passes to the north.
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