Chapter 1 (Updated)

"A true man dreams at least once in his lifetime to do one of two things, to be the strongest man in the world or to have the strength to conquer it."

- Unknown

Future

Looking back I still wonder about what I could have done differently. Could I have chosen to just turn away from all this, from them? To leave those people... no, my people, to die at the hands of our enemies while choosing to run away and live? Would I have been able to live with that decision? Would I have been able to look in the mirror and not see a coward staring back?

But that is a moot point, there is no going back for me, not anymore. I will either succeed and become closer than ever to my ambition or die and be washed away in sands of time. I have trained myself for this my whole life, yet it still feels like I'm barely prepared. Well I always did imagine my death to be something special, who doesn't want to go out in the blaze of glory so to say. Fate certainly presented me with a chance to do just that, but she certainly made sure to do it in a very cruel way. But who am I to judge what fate has in store for me, I can only live and hope that I come out on top, but so far it does not look good.

The Zhao forces that were approaching Kwan are over 50,000 strong and I currently have a 1,000 trained men. It will take a miracle to win this battle and that's why I will create a miracle, after all that's the least of it if I want to fulfill my ambition. Thankfully with my parents riding to the city of Bai, its approximately a day's ride on a horse. Bai is currently an important location, it's serves as a temporary supply depot and therefore has a big garrison of 25,000, with my family's warning it should take them around 3 days to get here.

Kwan is is just a minor city, with the population of 10,000 but with invasion happening I had to send out message to all surrounding areas for civilians to hide within walls of Kwan. Now with civilians from all surrounding countryside the population swelled to 30,000 including woman and children. While not a big population even in this time period, it is big considered big for a small city like Kwan and is proof of its prosperity.

I wondered how I can hold Kwan for 3 days while waiting for reinforcements to arrive? Answer is simple, with blood, lots of it. I will have to draft civilians, which will be relatively easy since most of them don't wish to die. I will arm civilians with bows, javelins and shields, they'll hit someone easily since there are over 50,000 Zhao soldiers and shields will prolong their lives. Zhao might not have the best army among all states, but its nothing to scoff at, especially with their numerical advantage.

With Zhao forces attacking us from the north and Wei forces approaching from the east, Qin has been losing ground very fast. Last I heard, general Ou Ki resupplied at Bai and went to engage Wei forces to north-east of Kwan, but that has been over a week ago. At this point in time Kwan is the only thing standing between Zhao forces and Bai. Bai is very important right now for most of the Qin forces fighting in the north. If Kwan falls then there will be nothing stopping them from raiding the supply routes. This will result in Qin forces having to split and send more units to guard supply routes or in worst case scenario retreating to secure another supply depot. Therefore I must hold Kwan at all costs, otherwise it will result in Wei and Zhao regaining almost all of the land that Qin previously conquered and that will set Qin behind other states for many years. In other words, Wei and Zhao have proved to be an unstoppable force together. Well guess what, unstoppable force meet the immovable object by the name of Yang Jin.

Three Days Later

When general Ou Ki, his army and garrison from Bai were arriving to the city of Kwan they expected to see a ruin or a city flying colors of Zhao. What they saw was a gruesome sight, all 50,000 soldiers of Zhao soldiers were being gathered in a huge pile. On top of that pile sat a child wearing an armor and holding a halberd that was leaning on his right shoulder, on top of the halberd was a head of the enemy general. As the soldiers started to arrive, the boy turned his head and looked down upon the arriving army, even Ou Ki a veteran of many battles felt as if he was being watched by a predator when he looked into that child's eyes.

Far future

'Ri Boku, you arrogant fool, you really think that you and your coalition can do anything to conquer Qin while I still draw breath.' though Yang Jin with a sneer clear on his face.

As Ri Boku was observing the battlefield suddenly an army appeared from the mountains on the coalition's left flank.

'Impossible, no army can traverse those mountains! Unless?!' thought Ri Boku as he looked towards left flank. He knew that there was only one person who could pull something like this off, but he thought he would be busy dealing with barbarian tribes in the west. Soon after a messenger arrived and confirmed his worst fear, Yang Jin was here and he brought his whole army with him. This whole plan relied on the fact that he was busy subduing barbarian tribes to the west and wouldn't reach Kankoku Pass till the battle was already over.

'This changes everything.' as soon as he finished that thought he finally saw with his own eyes the most dreaded army in all of warring states as it cut swath through Zhao and Chu forces, with their general at the front.

While this army lacked cavalry due to need to traverse mountains, what it lacked in mobility it made up for in sheer brutality. Those red iron clad warriors at the front were seemingly impossible to stop, the sheer amount of armor on their bodies should make it impossible for them to move yet they moved with ease and swung their giant weapons. The infantry at sides formed impenetrable wall with their tall shields and made sure that any enemy that dared to come near did not live to regret it. The accuracy of the archers at the center were known throughout all warring states and today they lived up to that reputation. The unit at the back were the most feared, despised and undeniably powerful unit in the whole army of Yang Jin, the Death Legion. Made up of traitors, criminals and deserters, the Death Legion lived up to it's name as they slaughtered any enemy stragglers that were not stomped to death and anyone that approached them.

They seemed like an unstoppable wave that ripped to pieces everything in it's path, but the man at the front was the most feared general in all of Qin, possibly all warring states. Even the likes of general Ou Ki of Qin paled in comparison to the tactical genius and sheer brutality employed by this person. Wearing his infamous armor and wielding his seemingly unstoppable weapon, was Yang Jin. Ri Boku had previous experience fighting this person and he still remembered the humiliating defeat that was handed to him then. Some hailed him a genius for holding as long as he did, but he knew that he survived only because he amused him. He had a feeling that this time he won't be spared, so he had to hurry and stop him.

And as the enemy approached closer and closer, everyone heard one of the dreaded war chants that was signaling their doom.

"We have come to judge you!" roared Yang Jin.

"Our judgment is death!" his troops roared in response.

AN

Hope you enjoyed it so far, this is kind of like prologue so don't worry, a lot of stuff will be cleared up in the next chapter. Please leave a comment if you like the story.