157 Final Push

 They saw the banners first, swirling and bouncing to the rhythm of the men as they loped along. Xin smiled at Bǎo, they had caused mischief and mayhem to the forces who occupy  their capital and now part of the Twin Hammers was coming.

General Li proudly rode at the front, a smile radiating across his face as he caught sight of the mercinaries. Holding his hand up, the army came to a stop, and General Bǎo approached.

"Good to see you. Good journey down? Lost many?"

General Li shook his head, "We lost about fifty but they lost a batallion. We left them there for the carion feeders and a warning to any we missed, we mean business, we take no prisoners." He grinned. "Their discipline was poor, their training even less." 

"So General," Bǎo responded as General Li dismounted, "Let's head to where we are camped out and speak there. How many are there of you in total, because our established base is only big enough for us?"

"I've brought over six hundred, of which, most are Blades and Arrows. We have Hammers, but most were with Commander Chen and the prisoners. They should be reaching Mu territory about now." He paused and looked around, "We can make camp here if you think its convenient? Or would you prefer if we moved closer to the capital? We are, what? Two or three miles off?"

"I'll take you closer where there is water, shelter for the horses and grain store. It's on the outskirts of the town, an area Xin cleared first." He grinned, "Private joke. I'll fill you in later. We're set up close by, so it will make communication easy. And before you ask, yes, there's room for you all." Bǎo laughed again, then added, "street loads, actually." He continued laughing as he turned and waited for the troops to set off once more. "I promise, General, I will fill you in on all the antics, especially our dearly beloved Xin."

Life was going to get tougher for the Mu fighters from now on.

 

Niao led the way up the mountain path, towards the caves.

Turning to Hao she placed a cautionary hand on his arm, "This is bear and mountain lion territory. The caves are where they usually hibernate, so if Yiran is up there, it'll be amazing if she has survived." Niao turned back to the track and watched for signs of activity; paw prints, poo piles, fur scrapings. 

Hao kept a higher watch, searching undergrowth, tree stumps and canopies. He had long ago realised her strengths and left her to do her job. His was better at spotting things which ordinarily were well camouflaged. He had been diagnosed colourblind when he was a child, seeing the world in a series of greys and smokey blues. He had learned to read 'colour', but had no concept of it. Niao had taught him how valuable this was, and how he should regard it as a skill not a disability. Now they shared the scouting, her, for potential enemy activities and movements, his, for their camouflaged presence.

"There's something to the left of us." he said quietly as he ducked down, watching, closely. 

Niao automatically went down too, both looking in the direction of what Hao had suspected was possibly a preditor.

"There!" he said quietly, pointing where the patterns of the forest changed very slightly.

Niao indicated with hand gestures that she would move round and double back, he was to stay focused and watch for movement. She would keep his direction of sight as her sighting line and from that determine her approach. 

Slowly, imperceptably, the two of them moved forward. Whatever it was hadn't realised they were closing in. At the last minute Niao darted forward and a startled hog came squealing out of the undergrowth, tusks very much in evidence. Automatically, Hao made a back hand movement with his knife as it passed, and the hog fell dead at his feet.

Niao walked back, grinning, "We'll eat well tonight!" slapping him on the back. "A nice kill. Well done. You've lost none of your edge!"

He grinned, "we always worked well as a team."

 

Second Master left the High Council chamber. He was both surprised and pleased at the progress made, and within the week he expected to be able to return to Shipao with a peace agreement, shared troop training although no formal joining of Twin Hammers as yet, and free movement of trades and goods between the provinces under the Twin Hammers banner.

He looked down at his hands, where he held a jade seal from the Council in recognition of their shared futures as well as a flag of the Hang province, which could fly at the garrison in Shipao. Progress indeed, but now it was back to his half brother. He had to secure something similar, so as to insure a war like this never occured again.

Poom was waiting for him at the Tea House.

"How did it go?" He looked at Second Master's hands, "by the looks of it, it went very well indeed. Let me guess, our next stop will be back to Commander Zhang?" He grinned as he said it. This would be another difficult meeting. 

"Oh, by the way, there's a runner been sent to our villa. He says he has some important news." He looked at Second Master, "I didn't pry but I suspect it maybe something to do with your father?"

"Let's get back," and with that, the two men walked back to the Poom's Villa and the waiting runner.

 

 General Lui Xian and his men pushed towards Tangun. This was a prosperous town on the furthest point of their border territory and it had been neglected. 'We've let these people down over the years. What protection have we offered them? None. Too far away? Too close to Mu territory?' He paused his thoughts as he looked around. This could be a thriving community, with trade and commerce leading the way. It was on the river. It had good connections. Why had it been ignored for so long?

Then he saw why. On the horizon stood one of the border towers the Mu had erected so as to watch activities. Mudon, their capital, wasn't that far away and connected by a very good trackway, capable of taking heavy carts and wagons. It was wide enough for a batallion to march along. That roadway connected directly with Tangun. "This needs to change."

His Sergeant at Arms rode forward, "Sorry, Sir, what did you say?"

He hadn't realised he had spoken out loud. "I was thinking about the connection to Mudon and how easy it would be for a batallion to march straight through our border and overrun our township." 

"Yes, Sir." He said sheepishly, not following his senior's train of thought. 

"Return to your position Sergeant. We will make camp shortly. Tangun is in sight so we are also in sight. We're close enough. Break out the camp. We stop and determine our next moves."

"Sir."

The camp settled and food was being prepared. What was to be, changed in an instant. 

"Sir, one of the scouts had returned from forward patrol. A large contingent of Twin Hammers have been spotted to the north. I suspect they are the men bringing the prisoners."

Lui Xian turned and faced the latest arrival. What details do you have? Send in the scout."

With a nod, the orderly retreated only to come back a few moments later.

"Sir," the scout bowed in respect, then continued. "I have been doing a sweep of the northern territories when I spotted a large number of what appear to be predominantly Hammers,  surrounding a large number of men. They are all tied together in military escort style. I suspect these are the Mu fighters who have taken a different route. They are heading toward Tangun." He stopped as he allowed the information to sink in, then continued. "My concern is, I have been given intelligence that there are a large number of Mu fighters coming across the border and heading directly to Tangun. I am not certain whether they have been told of this army approaching, but if they have then..." He trailed off as he allowed the General time to absorb the information.

"Then we act. Send out general orders for readiness for engagement. I want all seniors here in ten minutes." The original orderly left, leaving the scout and the General to ponder the next stage. 

"Show me positions. Show me everything you have." He paused, the barked out, "Orderly! Get me a runner here on the doouble. I have an important mission for him." Turning back to the map which had been spread out on the table, the two men poured over the positions of the border patrol, Tangun and its invaders, the approaching Twin Hammers, and possible engagement sites.

The runner arrived.

"This is what I want you to do. I will write a communique for you to deliver. This is to be carried with the utmost speed, do you understand?"