Kingdom: Hyou Ren

I smiled, as I sat on my horse, overlooking the great assembly before me. Or pretty great assembly.

Namely, the Ginryu Tai, the 2000-man unit, formed a little over a year after my first command. 

I researched into my promotion quite a bit, and it seemed there were several factors in hand. The main one, being the heritage of Duke, which meant I wouldn't receive any noble ranks, but for me to only receive gold, while even Shin became a noble. Seemed odd to many of the ministers and advisors. 

Additionally, both factions tried to curry favour with me. Lû Bu through the honest intentions of Lord Changing, my teacher at the strategist academy. Or more so one of my many teachers, I didn´t enjoy the same relation to him as the Mou brothers and Shin´s young friend. 

But neither faction attempted to thwart the reward after it was suggested by Lord Changing, which is how it worked out so well. 

Either way, these past 3 months have been quite boring, for me. But not for my troops. We had served as the garrison for Sanyou City, while also replenishing our troops, which was less than 200, mainly due to the fact we merged with Genji´s division.

Sadly, they weren't up to my standards, and although I agree that the Battlefield is the best teacher, you need some background before you take it further there.

These last 3 months, the 1500 new recruits had been relentlessly drilled by my 500 veterans. They had received our trademark silver armour, they were given spears and shields. And I had decided to place all of my veterans on horseback, alongside 200 of the best recruits. 

We now had 1200 Infantrymen, and 800 Cavalry. A suitable force I´d say. 

My Officer staff now included, Ishiro, Kaen, Raku, Hozu, Tetsuji and Genji. 

Genji had taken up a new role within our army, the second strategist, I suppose, we haven't gotten a name for his position, so it's just strategist. The man deals with the various auxiliary tasks, organising scouting parties, resources, food, and movements. 

And he had taken up those quite well, his experience in leading units shining through. Our scouting and marching had never been as efficient before, even with Raku being an excellent scout. 

Meanwhile, Kaen, Hozu and Tetsuji had each become 400-Man Commanders, leading 400 infantrymen each, a total of 1200. As you'd expect.

And meanwhile, Raku had been given the highest amount of troops, with 800 Cavalrymen, though we had decided to alleviate some of his stress by making his second in command a commander as well. 

Kaen Ryo, a part of a small noble family. A 5000-man Commander as his Father, had become a 300-man Commander, taking charge of 300, while Raku had the other 500. 

Though Raku still had a higher authority to give commands to all 800 cavalrymen. 

And as usual, Ishiro had decided not to take on a personal unit, but as we grew. We both knew he was likely to make his small elite force, which I was perfectly fine with. When the time came 

I hadn´t precisely been stagnant myself either, I had reached a wall in my archery, which was about 70% of the Ten Bows, a legendary organisation. And I had accepted such a wall, it could not be breached through training, so it'd need to do it through Battle.

And as such, I had begun focusing on another weapon, the Glaive. I've realised it's strength when wielded on horse, and I've decided to use it for myself. I´ll rarely end up fighting enemy Commanders, but rather normal infantry, and against such a foe.

The Glaive is better than the sword, it´s reach makes all the difference. So I've received training from Ishiro in its use, and it's been coming along nicely. 

Either way, back to the situation at hand, we were currently marching through the terrain, reaching the border between Wei and Qin, and the main staging grounds for the various battles and skirmishes throughout its entire length.

The remnant Wei Troops had been continuously engaging Qin in small engagements, nothing more than 5000 men at best on either side, they were battles between the Commanders. 

1000 man commanders against 1000 man Commanders, and so on.

There were a few minor castles around the region which had been designated as a target, but that was mainly those within the Sanyou Region, and Wei tried to keep them unoccupied by our forces.

Of course, both sides knew that eventually we'd get it, but it was good training and experience for the Commanders, likely the goal of both sides. 

And these Battles were only Commander against Commander, rarely with reinforcements. Unless designated as so. Mostly you'd just put out a call for help, and sometimes it worked. Other times, it didn't. 

Either way, a 2000-Man Commander was going around, destroying enemies left and right. 

Shinrai Haku, a large and bulky man. He once served as a battle-monk, but after it was raised to the ground by Qin, he enlisted. 

He stood at a terrifying 210 centimetres, 15 centimetres taller than Ishiro. He wielded a massive spiked club, similar to Mou Bou. But that was not all, for he wasn't the only notable man within their unit.

His right hand, or brain, the Raiga Tai Unit´s tactician, Ko Jin, was also a powerhouse in his might, the might of tactics. 

He had commanded multiple Battles, and together. The 2 men had a record of undefeated, but that was perhaps due to their fighting style.

Due to their characters, they preferred single combat against enemy commanders, to prove their might in a duel. Without a General to oversee them, which had held them back. For they participated in no great battles.

They could easily rival 5000-Man Commanders, or even Generals with their might and brains. Which meant, they were a true rival to any Commander. And their men equalled my elites, and surpassed my recruits. 

Either way, intelligence reported that they had made camp in Hidong Plains, choosing to fight any opponents on even battlefields.

It made sense, I suppose, their higher individual skill made them a difficult foe for most of these divisions, with all the Generals and above having been transferred to the various borders. There were few elite units here.

Which is why the Raiga Tai needed to be exterminated. 

And so, with that goal in mind. We marched forward, towards the Hidong Plains. 

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**EVERY 50 POWERSTONE IS AN EXTRA CHAPTER**

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Captain Vaughn: +11 Chapters

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Hyou Ren: 40+ (soon, gotta fix a few things)