Warfare's Ultimate Frontier 1

by Quasar Magellan

  After the incident, the two sides clashed against each other without any special moves being made for months.

  But finally, Han Xin was ready to reveal his next big move.

  Han Xin had been preparing for this day for quite a long time. There had been another reason for his visit to Mongolia — he’d started another secret blueprint that he hadn’t mentioned to anyone else. Han Xin had actually had this blueprint built in the other simulations, too, but he hadn’t needed it to beat the other three. But, it looked like he would need it against Baron.

  The newcomer was quite tricky.

  But with how important and secret this blueprint was, he’d always had someone build it far, far away from the location of battle.

  This special blueprint was none other than that of the Mark 1 tank — the predecessor to all modern tanks.

  Through miraculous luck, Han Xin had managed to acquire this wondrous blueprint — and it was his weapon of last resort. Even in the entire Chinese community, this blueprint could be considered quite modern, special, and was a point of envy. Yue Fei, Xu Da, and Ban were all completely flabbergasted at the sight of a tank, because this was the first time they’d witnessed such a blueprint come to life.

  At least, in such a setting.

  ***

  “General Baron, sir.” A soldier hurried into Baron’s office.

  “What is it?”

  “Sir, the enemy has brought forth a new weapon of some kind. I’m not sure what it is, but it seems to be a large mobile shield that moves along some kind of long wheels or belts.”

  Baron was stunned. Had Han Xin really brought a tank into the 13th century? How in the world?

  Upon reaching the walls, Baron was able to see that the soldier indeed had been talking about tanks. Baron was quite surprised.

  But not so much that he couldn't think properly. Since the Mark 1 tank could be halted with some mud, Baron wasn’t too worried. After all, a river ran through Baghdad.

  And there was a lot of dirt around Baghdad.

  The only problem was that Baron didn’t have an easy way to move such a large amount of water onto the ground around Baghdad. He would have to think about it more, after he repelled them. He ordered all weapons to be aimed at the advancing tanks. Baron could see about a hundred tanks, but it was possible that Han Xin still had more. Regardless, it was best to destroy as many tanks as they could before more, if any, arrived on the battlefield.

  By focusing on the tanks, Baron and his army was able to fend the enemy off — for a while, at least. The two sides continued to lose soldiers at a steady pace, but as time passed, things looked worse and worse for Baron.

  Although he’d been able to diminish the effect of the tanks on the battlefield, this had come at a cost of men. Many sacrifices were needed to destroy just a single tank. The only ray of hope was that Han Xin had limited, and fewer, supplies than he.

  Another week or two passed until Baron's worst nightmare came to pass — and more tanks arrived. Han Xin wheeled a thousand new tanks onto the battlefield, absolutely crushing the fighting spirit of Baron’s men.

  They’d almost destroyed all of the hundred tanks Han Xin had originally shown — but seeing so many…

  Well, even Baron was incredibly depressed.

  He’d been working on transporting water from the Tigris river that ran through Baghdad, but Han Xin had been well prepared for it — every time Baron sent men to do these tasks, they were greeted by Han Xin’s troops.

  The months rolled past and soon it was November 1st in the simulation. This was when Han Xin brought forth his tank army to bear on Baghdad. Through the heroics of Baron’s men, they were able to hold out until nightfall… but defeat was imminent. The remaining men held no hope for victory, and despair was in the air. Even Barono expected to lose the simulation the day after. With nothing to lose, Baron and his men spent the night drinking their sorrows away.

  But later that night, while everyone was drunk, a miracle happened. Rain began to fall from the sky. Heavily.

  So heavily, that Baron immediately sobered up. This was the chance he’d needed — a miracle capable of changing the course of the battle. But then, he looked at his men. Drunk as they were, they were dancing in the pouring rain with no consideration for battle.

  Baron sighed. Despite the miracle, with all of his men drunk, he couldn’t do anything. He opened up his menu, and didn’t surrender, but sent a “Draw” request to Han Xin.

  And Han Xin approved it. With both sides agreeing that the battle was a draw, the simulation ended. Both sides had their reasons for accepting a draw. Baron’s men had been drunk, and at the end of their wits.

  But Han Xin’s men hadn’t been much better off. With their daily provisions getting smaller and smaller, many soldiers, despite the state of the battle, had begun to desert. At first, it was only a few, but a few turned into tens, into hundreds.

  Furthermore, although Baron hadn’t managed to mount an attack, Han Xin’s tanks had been effectively immobilized. He wouldn’t be able to use them to attack Baghdad, at least for a few days or even a week.

  Baron was satisfied with the results of the simulation, though. He’d found that Han Xin’s management of an army’s logistics was imperfect, and he had the habit of ignoring some of the finer details of war.

  As the two of them removed their helmets, Yue Fei, Xu Da, and Ban Chao all cheered for Baron. After all, Baron had managed to achieve a draw against Han Xin, the man that had utterly decimated the rest of them.

  Chapter 33

  Money

  Han Xin himself seemed much happier than they’d ever seen him.

  “Wow. You are quite an interesting opponent, Baron. I don't think I've had so much trouble from an opponent or experienced so much fun in a simulation in a really long time.” Han Xin said with a hearty smile.

  Baron grinned. “Well, I'm glad to hear you say that. Honestly, though, a draw was the best I could hope for against an opponent such as yourself.”

  “Haha, you are being too modest. The way I see it, you’re still a growing strategist. People like me have reached bottlenecks. The easiest way for me to improve, by far, is to acquire blueprints. But you still have much to learn, much to experience. You have far more potential than I.”

  Hearing Han Xin talk about blueprints, Yue Fei suddenly remembered a question he’d had. “That reminds me, Han Xin. How many silver coins do you have?”

  “Well, I'm saving up for some blueprints I've been eyeing. I've got close to ninety thousand silver coins.”

  Everyone’s jaws dropped.

  Ban Chao couldn’t help but shout in response. “Han Xin, surely you're joking with us? That much is a huge sum, even for most elders!”

  Han Xin nodded. “Yes. I know it’s quite impressive, but I've saved ninety thousand coins in my five hundred years here.”

  Ban Chao shook his head. “I’ve been here half as long with you, but my funds don’t even compare. How did you do it?”

  Han Xin shrugged. “Well, I just travelled to the other communities and partook in their tournaments. As a fairly strong strategist, I made a name for myself outside of the Chinese community. Although, I still pale in comparison to the true monsters out there.”

  Baron waved his hands, trying to get everyone back on track. “Let's discuss this later. I feel we should talk about the simulation while it's still fresh in our minds.”

  Han Xin nodded. “Lets.”

  Ban Chao smiled. “Hey, Han Xin. What do you think of Baron? Pretty good for an amateur, right?”

  Han Xin nodded. “I've noticed a bit of a pattern with you, Baron. Although your tactics and military know-how are solid to amazing, your experience is lackluster. Even compared to the regulars here.”

  Baron shrugged. “Yes, that is one of my biggest weaknesses at the moment. I died when I was only twenty years old, so I wasn’t really able to experience much of the world.”

  Han Xin blinked a few times before responding. “Twenty y
ears old… Well then, I must say you have quite a wealth of military knowledge for someone who died so early.”

  "...Thanks for the kind words, I guess. Do you have any other great blueprints?”

  Han Xin shook his head. “Not other than the four I showed you guys.”

  Baron pushed on. “In that case, was there anything I could have improved on?”

  Han Xin sighed before slowly lowering himself into a chair. “Let's talk about what you did in chronological order. First, you brought your army out of the city and conquered the neighboring cities, getting yourself more workers and troops. This was very good.”

  Baron nodded. “That was out of necessity, given your negotiations.”

  “It was a good response. Outstanding move. The next was to tamper with the cannons, so that when I used them, they would explode next to my soldiers. That was quite a sneaky move, and I commend you for that. However, you were quite disappointing after this. You knew the weakness of my tanks, but couldn’t exploit it.”

  “That's true. You seemed to know exactly what my response to your tanks would be.”

  “Exactly. You were saved by the sudden rainfall, but you can rely on miracles in war. You have to create your own. You should have prioritized the Tigris river far more than you did.”

  Baron contemplated before responding. “Thank you for the advice, Han Xin. Now that we’re familiar with each other, we should get down to business. Han Xin. Everyone here except you has shown commitment to the start of our faction. I need to know if you are willing to not only be a member, but one of our core pillars in the future.”

  Han Xin finally relented on his stance. “I’ll be honest. I’m not sold on joining you guys, just let. Don’t forget, the only reason I am even considering, is because of Yue Fei. That being said, I’m not unwilling. You just need to convince me.”

  After thinking for a moment, and exchanging looks with Yue Fei, Baron moved to leave the room. “Come with me, Han Xin. Let’s have a chat.”

  The two entered another room to have the fateful chat.

  “What can we do to convince you to join us?”

  “That's a tough question to answer,, but like others, I'd want to know my benefits first.”

  “Once we become an official faction we will recruit more members. I haven’t thought everything through, yet, but I’d like to have our own little auction house that is only accessible to our faction members. As for the requirements to join, I likely won’t set any up. Maybe a small joining fee.”

  “Wait, wait, wait.” Han Xin raised his two hands, stopping Baron’s words. “How many blueprints do you have? An auction house should have at the bare minimum a hundred blueprints. And that’s… well, that’s stretching it already.”

  Baron chuckled. “I'm assuming you haven't heard, but we just sold a few hundred blueprints before we met you. That's how we were able to afford this place.”

  “Heh. I’d assumed you had Yue Fei pay for everything. That’s better… but I need some more substantial benefits to join. After all, I’m tying myself down here if I join you.”

  “Of course, of course. I was just getting to that point. For core members, they’ll be gifted an extremely rare and advanced blueprint of their choosing. I haven’t told the others this yet, but I’ve been planning to do so.

  Han Xin’s eyes narrowed. “You have multiple blueprints even more impressive than my Mark 1 tank?”

  “How do you think we had so many blueprints to sell? I drew them all. Naturally, I saved the best for my faction’s own use.”

  “I don't know… do you have any blueprints that resemble my tank?”

  “You seem quite fond of tanks. I can make blueprints of quite a few tanks, but given how complex tanks are, it would take me a long while to draw them.”

  Han Xin couldn’t help but complain. “How did you even acquire the blueprints for tanks? Tanks are super expensive here on planet four, given that most of the blueprints are imported.

  “Remember, I’m from the modern world. I’ve only spent a little over a year here on planet four. Anyway, since I've only known you for a little while, I can’t exactly give you my best tank blueprints, can I? Tell you what, I’ll give you the blueprint for the Mark 7 type. It doesn’t have a rhomboid body like the Mark 1, but it’s far superior.”

  “You're willing to give such a precious blueprint to me?”

  Baron leaned forward in his chair. “Yes, but it comes with a condition. You have to become an elder and officially announce your unyielding support for my new faction.”

  “That's quite a steep price.” Han Xin began to sweat as he contemplated his options. If an elder announced their unyielding support for a faction, then betrayed the faction, they would be blacklisted from every other faction, and possibly even kicked out of the community.

  But… a Mark 7 tank…

  “Do we have a deal, Han Xin?”

  “I...I don't think I can object.”

  Chapter 34

  The Plan for the Future

  Han Xin and Baron finished up their negotiations then returned to the first room to talk to the others.

  “Let's welcome our newest core member, Han Xin.” Baron said as he entered.

  The five chatted in high spirits before returning to business.

  “We have to set goals for the future of our faction — but we all have different goals we want to achieve. We should set a general direction for our faction to work towards, then narrow it down from there.”

  “Good idea.” Said Han Xin. “First things first, we need to discuss the faction tournament.”

  Baron nodded. “The four of us have actually discussed it in length, but perhaps you could shed more light on the matter.”

  “That's correct, we have decided to go with the air portion of the tournament.” Yue Fei said.

  “Oh? Why haven't you guys decided to go for the other two battlefields?” Han Xin was confused.

  Yue Fei awkwardly coughed. “Ah… well I’d hinted this to Baron earlier, but I didn’t say it outright. There are some very strong people fighting in the other two battlegrounds this time around.”

  “How powerful are we talking here? Are they better than me?”

  “Amongst those participating, the most likely to win on land is the Eternal Dragon faction, with a potential dark horse being the newly founded Communist faction. Then for the sea portion, the likeliest to win is the Imperial Dragon faction. A potential dark horse is the Steel Junk faction.”

  “What about the air portion of the tournament?” Baron asked.

  "...This is where things get tricky. Somehow the Vesper faction found out about the supposed alliance between our group and Madam Zheng's. They have formed a subsidiary faction and have invited some of the best aviation strategists to participate. Specifically against us.”

  “This Vesper group sure is troublesome. Do you think they will be a problem, Yue Fei?”

  “Since this is a regulated simulation with rules set in place, it’s not terrible for us. But, these are five strategists who are revered in the Chinese community for aviation strategy. They specialize in aerial warfare. So, we’d need to do quite a bit of work to be able to defeat them.”

  Han Xin brushed the discussion off. “Enough of this topic for now. What are we going to do after we form a faction?”

  Baron replied. “Recruiting members to our faction should be our top priority. Can you elaborate for us, Yue Fei?”

  “Yeah, I was just about to speak about this. Most strategists are factionless. That is because the terms to join factions are typically harsh, and the monthly pay is terrible. It’s just not worth it for most people.”

  “Well, I believe that we should have as many faction members as possible. So why don't we lower the requirements and increase the benefits.”

  Yue Fei groaned. “It’s easy to say that, but it’s difficult to do. For most factions, paying their strategists is the highest cost of operating. Unless you have very deep pockets, you’re unlikel
y to be able to run a large faction for very long.”

  “The benefits I'm talking about will be the auction store that we will be starting within the faction.”

  “Then what about the pay? Will you keep it as is?” Ban Chao interjected.

  “I haven't decided yet.”

  “Wait, wait.” Han Xin raised his hands. “Who’s going to be the faction leader?”

  “It should be either you or Yue Fei.”

  “Why not you?”

  Baron shrugged, as he had last time he spoke of this issue. “If a strategist that only arrived on planet four a year ago becomes a faction leader after winning the tournament, there’d be too much attention on us, and specifically, me. Instead I think it would be more acceptable to have someone who has been here for a few hundred years be the leader. Also, the two of you have more weight to your words than I. I’m just a newcomer.”

  “Interesting…” Han Xin glanced at Yue Fei. “What do you think?”

  “I don't know, how about joint leadership?”

  “That's even better in my opinion.” Said Baron. “You should know though, I'll be handling most of the faction’s business.”

  Han Xin snorted. “Suit yourself, kid. Those things aren’t up my alley anyways. Anything else you have planned, Baron? You seem to be the leader here, even if not in name.”

  “I'm thinking that after we establish a stable base here at the Chinese community, we should venture out into the outside world to participate in tournaments.”

  Ban Chao grunted. “Sounds good to me.”

  “Sure.” Said Xu Da.

  Yue Fei simply nodded.

  As for Han Xin, he was used to traveling outside anyways.

  “Alright, then it’s decided.” Baron finally imposed the all-important question. “Anyone have a good name for our faction?”

  “Modern Menace?” Han Xin mused.

  “Oh, how about Fearless?” said Ban Chao.

  “Righteousness?” Yue Fei quipped.