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Post by Dark Narrator on Jul 7, 2008 20:51:30 GMT -5
In the morning, the allies began the journey across the large river in pursuit of the cowardly enemy who had attacked at night and then ran for their lives. The crossing would not be easy though, as the river was knocking around the boats and it was still dark due to thick clouds.
Waves hit the side of the allied boats as they moved across the river. The sight was impressive though, as the boats stretched for quite a bit from one end to the other.
In the distance, the shore could be seen. However, along with it were smaller objects that seemed to be getting closer as they approached.
To the allies despair, 4 large ships chained together, comprisded of 8 small in total, were heading right for their large 'fleet'. On board the enemy vessels, men were rushing around wildly. They were preparing what would be noticed all too late. A fire attack!
The fire raped the wooden ships and spread quickly to their masts after being ignited with torches. Soon the entire ship was ablaze and combined with the others they made a deadly attack force.
Also, at the bow of each ship were crazed troops ready to launch arrows and board the allied boats! That is, if they did not burn to death first!  Troops:
400 Ruffian Archers (50 per ship)
400 Ruffian Swords (50 per ship) *********************** ***New Battle Objectives:***
Protect He Jin from harm! (+50g)
Show that you be a fine pirate! Yarrrr! Take control of the vessel and steer it clear of danger! Ships ahoy me maties! (+20g)
Survive the fire attack with your boat unscathed! (+30g)
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Post by Mikey on Jul 7, 2008 21:45:27 GMT -5
What the devil... After a sleepless night on the ship, Ba Zeng accompanied He Jin to the deck of the main ship and looked out at the enemies fleet. They were chained together. Then a fire attack was launched on a ship, the one left of the boat Ba Zeng and He Jin were on. In an instant it was engulfed in flames. Thank god the one to my right is the one with my troops.
"Heh, He Jin, shall I accompany you into battle?" Their ship was about to run into some enemy ships. Ba Zeng put a box of bolts on his hand crossbow and reloaded the first one. His rapier remained sheathed and strapped to his sash. He was ready to protect He Jin, or perhaps lead him into danger. Whatever Ba Zeng's motives, he was ready to do it.
While the last minute of peace was coming to an end, fighting, yelling, and fire engulfed the enviroment around them. I knew this was a death trap. Ba Zeng sighed and took off his cloak and it caught wind and flew away. If it caught fire within combat Ba Zeng would probably be dead. He brushed off his robe and said a prayer to himself.
Perhaps Lu Chen will guide me...
As the main ship came closer to the chained fleet Ba Zeng made sure to pick off some of the archers at the bow of the enemy ships. Ba Zeng pulled the trigger of his crossbow and the bolt flung from his hand crossbow propelled by a sling. The mechanism re-pulled the sling and another bolt quickly took it's place.
Ba Zeng's aim was perfect, the bolt struck a Zhou soldier in his heart, he cried out a cry of pain and clung his chest. He tripped and fell over the railing of the ship. Ba Zeng was surprised they would lay fire to their own ship, suicidal for their cause? Impressive, Dong Zhou had mustered up men to shit like that.
Hmph, wish I had men that devoted.
Ba Zeng shot another bolt at the archers, he missed. Dang how embarrassing... The Zhou archers tried to shoot at them too, Ba Zeng was not hit, he kept shooting bolts at the Zhou archers. Trying to take out as many as possible. He stayed at He Jin's side.
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Post by Mr. Zhang He on Jul 7, 2008 22:53:50 GMT -5
Qu Yi had to appreciate Zhang He's foresight. Thanks to the flamboyant general's order to proceed with caution, Qu noticed the fire ships shortly before they ignited. Noting their paltry numbers, Qu was able to deduce their purpose before they ignited. Unfortunately, he was too far from the other allies to warn them, but he could at least make preparation of his own. He had four small scouting ships under his command, each with ten soldiers. He himself was in one of the archers' boats; he barked orders that were relayed via men chosen by Zhang He himself for their exceptional vocal chords. The two sword ships were positioned in front of the archer boats, which sailed side-by-side. The swordsmen would fall back to the stern of their crafts and deploy ramps to board the archers' ships while their own served as buffers against the fire. This would take some time to set up, but Qu Yi had a plan to grant them the time. Soon the enemy would ignite their ships and cause chaos for the allies. However, before they did so, Qu drew back his bow. While the north was known for its marksmen, Qu Yi was a shade above the rest; his skill with the bow and the men who used it was what kept him in Yuan's employ despite his outspokenness. He drew a bead on the nearest ship's captain, then left fly. His aim would be true, or at least true enough to cause the confusion needed for his ships to get into position. Once they were, Qu would ram the forward ships into the closest enemy craft while the archers in the rear turned its occupants into pincushions. Any attempt to cross the soon-to-be burning sword ship would be thwarted by Qu Yi and the swordsmen, who now stood at the front of the bow ships.
Qu Yi is meeting one of the fire ships head-on, sniping its captain in the process
Qu Yi's Troops: (Advance Force)
20 Veteran Sword and Shield
20 Veteran Bowmen
Formation:
----
^^
IIII
==
S S
B B
Key:
---: Enemy Craft
^: Sword and Shield Ship's prow
I: Sword and Shield Ship's Stern
=: Connector Ramp
S: Bow Ship's Prow (Occupied by Sword and Shield Veterans)
B: Bow Ship's Stern (Occupied by Bow Veterans)
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Post by Wei Yan on Jul 8, 2008 0:32:23 GMT -5
Wei Yan, for the first time in a long time, was in a panic! First above all things, the warrior hated being on the water, secondly, he hated having no possible route besides into a flaming boat, thank the gods he had Lu Rai.
Yan's friend was to show his true worth as he rallied men to lower decks. He sent Wei Yan down with them, and started them to rowing away from the main section of the fleet.
"Backwards! Backwards! We have to gain more time to react! Damnit Yan! You said we would soon out grow being late!!" With that joke, Wei Yan was back to atleast some sense of thought. He let out his own roar in defiance of his fear and took up rowing with his men.
"Lu Rai, we need to turn and get this boat wide of the flames. Understood!?" he bellowed, sending Rai back to top to watch for when to turn. It seemed like an eternity to Yan, but soon he heard Rai bellow he was shifting their direction.
"When did you become a captain Rai?" Yan asked himself before promptly answering his question. "This is just a big, slow moving, shaky, wooden water horse."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wei Yan and his men throw it into reverse while Lu Rai begins steering them. Turing their end to the right and preparing them to go wide to the left.
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Post by Mr ~Traptz~ on Jul 8, 2008 3:37:52 GMT -5
The Mighty Mountain Warrior... Is Screwed
Zhang Ren moved about his vessel. Checking that everything was going to plan. It seemed it was. The Imperial forces hadn't sent ships to intercept, and fire bombs and the like. The only bad thing was no word from Liu Pi yet, but that was to be expected.
As Ren was just about to go below into the ships middle, Ren had no idea what it was called, hold maybe? One of his troops began hollering about fire. Quickly rushing above deck, thinking that somehow one of his men lit the ship on fire, Ren was ready to kill someone. He was however stopped in his tracks as multiple fire vessels began to move toward the allies fleet.
"Holy mother of... DAMNIT!" A single arrow whizzed past the furious generals head. Zhang Ren wasn't a naval commander, Ren was screwed right now. Ren paced for a few seconds. He was sweating, and wringing his hands. All of his men knew he wasn't a naval commander, and seeing him so nervous they began to get nervous. Hell, none of them even had bows and arrows. Ren caught sight of about a half dozen barrels and buckets scattered about the ship.
"Quickly, grab those buckets and the like and begin to bring water aboard the ship. We will use it to douse the flames, and pour also pour water along the sides of the ship. The water should help make the ship less likely to catch ablaze."
As his troops went about carrying out his orders he spotted a couple of bows and a few less quivers. He began to give orders to his men to pick them up and use them as best they could to take out the men aboard the fire ships. Ren himself ran to the front of the ship and began shooting his bow. His first arrow connected with the ships front end. His second took one of the Imperial troops full in the throat. As he knocked his third his men began to fire their bows. All in all their was only 5 of them with bows...
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Post by Ayden (Retired) on Jul 8, 2008 5:05:10 GMT -5
"Would you shut those damn horses up already!" Yuan yelled, he was getting frustrated at the anxiety and noises coming from the clearly uncomfortable horses as they swayed along with the waters. Horses never went well with boats or anything water-like. It was not like you could silence the powerful beasts. Much to the dismay of Yuan, he just had to deal with their annoying noises. He himself hated the water, he often felt sick. Now that he mentioned it...
"...Son of a..." Yuan mumbled as he vomited over the side of the boat. How much longer would this flipping boat ride go for? Supporting himself on the edge of the boat, he held on as he heard noises up ahead. "What the heck is that?" Yuan yelled as the soldiers on his boat around him all looked forward, trying to pinpoint what that thing was. The boats were about forty feet or so away before..."Hang on! They are on fire!!" The soldiers began to panic. Yuan began to run to the front of the boat, ignoring the clear nausea he was experiencing. "Start reversing!...No wait!! Maneuver to the right!...Wait!..." Yuan began to panic, the soldiers seemed to segregate with his commands, half the soldiers began to row backwards, others began to row to the right. The boat began to slowly spin, staying as still as a duck, but merely rotating.
"...Blimey..." Yuan mumbled as he felt the vomit coming. At least the boat wasn't moving forward. He watched as the boats got closer and closer. "This calls for some ridiculous strategy! Archers, form two lines at the front now! Stop rowing you morons!!" A majority of the soldiers accepted his order, 60 in total, and moved to the front of the boat. making four lines consisting of 15 in each, they waited for Yuan's order.
"Fire at their sails!! Rip their sails to shreds so they can't move as fast! Right now, we can't do anything but be a absolute pain in the ass! You know the firing formation!" The men all nodded, drawing their bows...they aimed at the sails...
Summary
- Xiahou Yuan, suffering from epic sea sickness, vomits over the side of the boat! He also curses the horses for their annoying noises!
- Seeing the fire boats heading towards them, he begins to panic, issuing contradicting commands!
- Due to the panic and contradicting commands of Yuan, the boat literally stops moving forward and begins to rotate in the one position!
- Yuan vomits again! Now, he orders 60 of the 100 Bowmen to form 4 lines of 15 at the front of the boat.
- The men stop rowing, causing the boat to stop rotating, allowing better aim.
- They fire at the sails, hoping to literally rip them to shreds to stop their advance!
- Yuan doesn't realize that they still have rowers...Oops.
Troops
100 Horsebow Veterans
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Post by Curty Burty (Hao Zhao) on Jul 8, 2008 8:04:07 GMT -5
Lu Zhi could not help but laugh at how predictable, yet fiendishly clever at the same time, the enemy forces were. He knew they would be going into a trap. He watched as the Enemy ships were approaching. He thought quickly and then smiled. The fire attack could suceed against wooden boats however they were also on the river which was made of water! And water put out the flames of fires! HE bellowed out an order to his troops.
"All troops collect as much water as possible! We'll use the water to put out the fires! Continue to advance! when we get close to them then go full speed ahead and charge right through the gaps in the enemy ships! Prepare to use all collected water, preferrable in buckets and such, to put out any flames from their ships! Turning and fleeing will not help us in getting away from the enemy! IF we're gonna burn then charge! even if we sink our forces shall still win this war in the name of the Han as their ships shall sink with us!"
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Post by Liu Shan on Jul 8, 2008 9:06:19 GMT -5
The sea wasn't that rough, a good sign, the men prepared themselves for the fight that was ahead; some excited to see the last days of Dong Zhuo. Standing at the back of the boat was the Great teacher with Gong Ce by his side; both speaking of what happened to Jiao after Dong Zhuo tried to have him killed...
"F-f-fire!!" Dong Zhuo wasn't stupid, he had cleverly sent a barracade of ships set on fire to halt or even destroy the allied boats. "Sage master! The flames of Hell closen, wh-what shall we do?!" Screams came from the men who were beginning to panic, they were heading straight for them; if they waited they would surely be a clash... There boat would be set ablaze. Shocked the Sage master rushed to the front, his eyes widened as he saw it was true. "Dong Zhuo..." Gong Ce looked at the other boats, some were trying to head back to the shore, others trying to move out of the way which would no doubt cause crashes among the allied ships and the rest, pouring water down the side of the ships. "Master, do as the others... Pour water down the sides while stocking up on water in buckets-" With a small growl of anger at Dong Zhuo's strategy to try and cause carnage; so many lives would be lost. "Listen to Ce! Fill every bucket with water! Some of you pour water down the sides!" Gong Ce rushed off to help, turning his back onto the fire boats; watching all of them run around collecting water Jiao looked up. "Forever testing us.." Sighing the Sage master gesture to all the rowers, the dramatic swings of his arms reminded them of the good old days of the Yellow Turban rebellions; however, the anger within his voice could be heard clearly, deep growls that grew louder. "Do not fear my Children, the flames will have weakened the boats! Ram straight into them, the water we have shall surely put out the fire we gain!" Turning around to face the boats again, Zhang Jiao could only smile. "Mere tricks like this shall not phase us!" With an uproar from the men on the boat Jiao began to help the men pour water down the sides of the boats and collect water to hurl at the flames when they come into contact...
- Zhang Jiao's boats keep heading towards the ships!
- The men collect water in buckets ready for a collision while pouing water down the sides!
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Post by Liao Xiuxu on Jul 8, 2008 10:01:32 GMT -5
Liao Xiuxu had already found out were the battle would take place, and after having heard of the advancements on the river, Wuxing Ma had found an abandoned fishersboat. rowing downstream all alone, screams and light from fires came in range. Somewhere there should be Zhang Jue? It seemed he and the allied forces have problems with enemy boats on fire.
As Xiuxu came closer, it would be better to swim or to go ashore. Best thing was to swim and manage to get on one of the allied ships, and ask there for help. Speaking was necessary in these times.. sighing won't help. Wuxing Ma took a dive into the water, carrying the light bow and some arrows in the quiver. Xiuxu hadn't brought the other weapon, since Suhuan cared it with her.
When Liao Xiuxu arrived to the first boats, they were already fighting, though further in the center, some boats were trying to break through the inflamed ships. Xiuxu tried to board one of them. It was a struggle, but a rope was the solution. Wuxing Ma thought shooting an arrow with a rope out of the water was a challenge, but fortune made the first shot not too bad. So Xiuxu climbed aboard, and found a soldier busy carryin a bucket with water.
"Tell me, you know of master Zhang Jue?" Xiuxu said with a high tone, but whispering such that only the soldier could understand.
Summary: Liao Xiuxu has come alone downstream the river with a fishersboat. Now Xiuxu has managed to board an allied ship who was trying to break through the flames and asks to a soldier about Zhang Jue. Xiuxu only has the long bow and about 14 arrows.
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Post by Mr Wu Sheng on Jul 8, 2008 10:26:52 GMT -5
Dagoth Ur watched as the chained ships aimed straight for the heart of the fleet, and releasing that his boat would soon be one of the afflicted, he turned upon his men, to wish them both luck - and to thank them for their services, "Today you fought a great battle, but now it is time to depart, let the Han prevail, for the Morag Tong shall watch with open eyes at the victory you guys will help win."
And his own boat crashed, flames ripping apart the furnished decking as his men screamed to put the fires out, Dagoth watched everything, issuing no commands, but readying the small boat for him to leave on, "Good luck men, let your names be forever remembered."
And he left, slicing the cords that aligned his small boat to the larger deckings and sailing west, away from the enemy, and away from harm. Aboard his small fleet were 6 soldiers, their blades now lost within the devils sea as their shields hovered around their sore bodies, hoping to avoid any mis-guided arrows had the enemy fired upon them.
"We will land away from this battle, and head west, to wards Chang'An."
But he would never reach such a place, instead his small boat landed further west from the allied shoreline, and he traveled west only to later see a camp in the far distance, at least he would get chance to re-cover his men's swords there.
Dagoth Ur left the battle, his ship was damaged and now there are 54 men on board a ship on fire, will any of the allies go save the boat - or will Han suffer even more damage to their Morale..YOU DECIDE. As for Dagoth Ur, he isn't anywhere to be seen, so no body knows just where he is!
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Post by Liu Shan on Jul 8, 2008 10:46:32 GMT -5
The Heavens were surely testing Zhang Jiao, for his boat would be one of the first ones to be hit by the flaming boats; the other being Dagoth Ur. Once again it would be the Heavenly Hand saving the allied forces, with the impact of the Sage's ships destroying the enemy boats, the others would have a clear path; hopefully. However, the being of Liao Xiuxu had found the right boat, could be a lucky guess for them; but unfortunate that the boat she/he boarded would soon collide with an enemy ship. The solider was busy collecting water, hearing the voice he expected to look a sweet maiden but with his surprise was unsure if to call the person lady or lord. "Erm.. The Great Teacher is helping collecting water.. We only hope this Celestial test will not lose many lives" As if she/he no longer existed the soldier merely pointed in a direction before continuing with helping pouring water down the sides of the boat....
The direction was right, however it wasn't hard to find Zhang Jiao; the yellow robes of the past and the ellaborate desing of the attire stood out from everyone else. Jiao looked up while tying ropes in different places for the men to hold onto when the impact comes. Turning the Sage noticed the androgynous figure, a new addition to his boat, approaching the being he spoke with haste. "Dear child, I have yet to see you within this boat. Though it means more help, please help the men collect more water and pour some over the sides." His glace moved infront of him, it was going to be soon, Dong Zhuo's boats were going collide with his soon enough. ".. Act with haste young child, it won't be long till, the Heavens show us our fate.." Gong Ce continued to help, rallying the men to never give up. Zhang Jiao moved with light footing to the front, he was more concerned of the men on board than the fact that Dong Zhuo would get his wish; that Zhang Jiao was dead. "Children of the Heavenly Hand! We will soon collide with the ships, when that comes hold onto anything! Once steadying your feet drown the Hellish flames!" Looking at the androgynous being Jiao knew that this new recruit may be slightly feeble, another life.. No. Speaking lowly to him/her the Sage master nodded to her. "Stay by me.. I do not wish to put anyone else's life at risk. I just hope the Heaven's sacrifice me over these men, their faith within me is too deep; I refuse to allow them to perish.." Knowing it would be soon, Jiao continued to help the others get ready for the impact, while hoping the new being would stay close to him and do the same; the water they had collected would surely help with getting through the barrage of flaming boats..
- Zhang Jiao's boat continues forward, even though his boat would be the first to collide with the enemy!
- On impact Zhang Jiao would hurl the water collected at the ablaze boats!
- Zhang Jiao wants Liao Xiuxu to stay close, for his/her protection!
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Post by Xiahou Dun on Jul 8, 2008 11:54:42 GMT -5
Xiahou Dun watches the first boat explode, not being a very experince seafaring general he begins to look at other boats reactions, not to mention Xiahou Yuan right next to him. He saw some boats break forward, others broke backward. A couple boats also seemed to have men reaching over the sides toward the water, but he couldn't wait much longer for orders.
"Quick, men row backwards throw up the sails so we don't row against the wind here."
Once the soilders began those orders the stop and change in motion made a couple of the horse whine. Xiahou Dun was still looking at other boats for example. Once he focused he could tell they were filling up buckets with water. He looked back at his own men, they had just put up the sails and most of those men were getting back to helping row. Dun grabbed 5 or 6 men who were still free and pulled them aside.
"Find any bucket, tub, cup, anything that'll hold water and begin wetting all parts of the ship to dampen the wood, then fill the buckets, tubs, cups whatever with more water."
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Xu Shang
Corporal
"Loving to win is cool, But hating to lose is better"
Posts: 59
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Post by Xu Shang on Jul 8, 2008 11:55:16 GMT -5
simple but folish, a little smirk came across the face of Meng as in the distance was heavy smoke thickining the air, and ships engulfed in flames, not only that but a lot of the men burning to death by some of the ships that caught their boats a flame or just getting shot by multiple arrows from many enemy vollys.indeed not a very fond site to see but its the price of war non the less
On Meng.s boat their was little panic due to the ships not that where on fire wasn't approaching them as fast because Meng's ship wasn't sailing as fast as the other ships,but the fire ships where coming none the less.Meng didn't quite know what his newly arrived friend An Bo what do just as yet, but Meng had other problems to worry about at the moment.
With a countless number of arrows shoting towards them, and some actually connecting with their target, brought the mens moral down somewhat, but quickly gathering themselves a Mengks order. One important factor was to protect his lordship He Jin but, from the way the attack was shaping up to be, but that was main priority as of now.
"Men!!! Stier towards Lord Jin, he must protect He Jin"[B\]
The boat then quickly turn towards where He Jin was station at, at the same time he sent his archers towards the eadge of the shipsn to also send vollys towards the enemy at the same time Meng. Ordered the some of the other men to also get a pal of water just in case things et more seriuos and the boat catches fire. The men started to run around with much haste from the order from their lord, but at the same time trying to proect themsleves from harm and the fire ships.
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Post by Mr Nor on Jul 8, 2008 12:09:33 GMT -5
"Huh... Well, sonofa..." Zhou Tai muttered as he stood at the prow of the boat. His arms were crossed, and he could only think of the irony of a fire attack for this Wu General... he turned away and motioned for Zei Fang to come. They had to get on the same boat, so there were 85 Twin Blades waiting for orders. "Get those men to form up with buckets of water. When we reach the boatsthe men will douse the fire, or at least hit the bowmen and make it so they can't fire properly."[/b] Zhou Tai said as he removed the bow from his back. He wasn't the best archer, but hey, he was good enough for his purposes. "MEN! Gather Water and on my signal, I want you to throw the water at the enemy ships. Captain! Head towards the gap of those two ship ."[/]b he said, shooting an arrow between the two ships he was mentioning. Now all he would do was fire arrows towards the left side of the right ship. Maybe if he got extremely lucky, he'd hit the captain of one of ths ships, sending them hurling into each-other.
*Zhou Tai is heading for a gap between two boats! Zhou Tai is firing aimlessly at asn enemy boat hoping toi hit someone of importance to the ships's steering!!*
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Post by Cao Pi on Jul 8, 2008 17:57:18 GMT -5
Gongsun Zan watched almost helplessly, his men designed for land combat.
So, he'd do what he could. Thankfully, his ship was closer to one side, albeit not at the very end of one side. He pushed the pilot out of the way, and began giving commands.
Lower the sails, weight the back end, and someone get me something to drink!
He grabbed the rudder, and swung it hard to the right, causing his ship to begin its slow rumble to the left. The boat would turn, and then, at its apex, Gongsun Zan would scream again,
"Open the sails!"
Unfurling sails would catch the wind, and drive him northwards, away from the line of Han Ships. He'd let it go a little before slamming the rudder hard to the left, making a cutting turn, and aiming directly for the enemy ships.
In a small amount of time, Gongsun Zan's ship would ram into the enemy ones, on their flank, their ability to defend against this threat minimized due to their being chained together. Shao had his horsemen hold their shields high to the sky to protect themselves and the other men on the ship from arrows.
Zan was confident he'd at least do some damage. If he'd survive the encounter, however, he was less sure.
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