Dom, Subutai and Xun You arrived beside Sun Ce, whilst Zhou Tai continued to watch over them with confused looks as the cavalry from the large fort arrived. The majority of them were dressed Similar to Zhou Tai, however a few were wearing robes similar to what Xun You normally wore. There was a variety of ages on the face in the front, whilst a large armoured contingent surrounded them. The man at the front was clearly the leader and looked to be in his mid twenties. Dom was surprised at how young him and some of the others behind him were.
"I got the message!" A man at the front exclaimed to Zhou Tai, who had sent messengers ahead to inform them of the surprise arrival. The man cast his bright green eyes across the group, shock on his face as his eyes lined up with Sun Ce's. He had dark hair with tinges of red and wore Taoist Robes. The man's face suddenly paled at the sight in front of him, "Bofu?"
"It's good to see you young brother, yet you look more like the older one now." Sun Ce replied to the man, whilst the one beside him, also in robes, road forwards towards Sun Ce.
"Bofu, I have missed you." He exclaimed, grabbing Sun Ce and pulling him in to a hug, before letting go and hugging Xiao Qiao as well.
"And you Gongjin." Sun Ce replied, a slight tear in the corner of his eyes as he looked over the faces in front of him. "It is good to see you all again."
"Come inside and you can introduce me to your new men, well it seems that they are mainly women actually." The first Man exclaimed in surprise, he caught a look in both Xiao Qiao and Tomoe's eyes before continuing. "They look much stronger than our forces, some of which are barely passable, these must be your elites."
"Actually, these aren't my men." Sun Ce replied, "Let me introduce you to my Lord. Lord Lazarus, please meet my brother Sun Quan and by closest friend Zhou Yu. Sun Quan, this is Lord Lazarus of Riverside."
Surprised faces passed across all of the men in front of them, some gasped in shock, whilst others clenched their weapons tightly. Dom smiled politely at Sun Quan, whilst Zhou Yu who was holding Xiao Qiao's hands, face seemed to have a strange smile on his face. Before anyone could speak, Zhou Yu let go of Xiao Qiao's hand and trotted to Dom, clasping his hand in greeting.
"I do not know you, but the fact you have brought Sun Ce home, and my wife, shows that you are a good man." Zhou Yu greeted, before looking down the hill below. "Are those ships also with you?"
"They are, we heard that you came here to avenge Lord Sun Jian's death and decided to offer our aid." Dom replied kindly, before pointing to the Generals around him. "This is General Subutai, General Tomoe Gozen and our Strategist Xun You."
"It is a pleasure to meet you all." Sun Quan stated kindly, grasping each of their arms in greeting. His face changed as he grasped Tomoe's whose grip was iron like.
"At the Rear we have General Liao Hua and on our Ships we have a further two Generals" Dom continued after the greetings. "They are all skilled Commanders who can lead large battlefields."
"Your ships also look powerful, as do your Warriors." Sun Quan replied in a friendly, but still surprised tone at everything that was taking place. "We are glad to have you, we were having a strategy meeting when we got word, so I brought some of my Commanders with me. It would be great if you could join us. But perhaps you would like to rest after travelling first?"
"We are ready to fight." Subutai smiled from beside Dom, "But if we can have a part of the camp near the waters edge to set up, that would be appreciated."
"I will have one of our men direct your ships in and make space for your cavalry." Zhou Yu replied eagerly, before he looked over the lines and saw the forbidden guard that were riding the Sabre Tooth Tigers. "Are those tiger, that are being rode?"
"Yes, they are." Xun You interceded, "We brought a small detachment of them, as they are fierce and useful against both footmen and cavalry. All of our units are slightly different to what are common across the the Han Empire."
"It would be interesting to see them in battle." Zhou Yu stated with a laugh, his strategic mind thinking through things. Normally Zhou Yu was more measured, but his reunion with Sun Ce had brought him back to his youthful state.
Sun Quan then pointed towards the Warriors behind him, before looking back at his brother and then Zhou Yu as the two of them stood together chatting for the first time in a long time. Sun Quan smiled at the sight, before pointing at some of the Warriors.
"This is Dong Xi." Sun Quan introduced, a tall warrior with a round face and a large spear in his hand. He was one of the Warriors who seemed happy at Sun Ce's return. "He is one of our chief Naval Commanders."
"You have earned a few promotions under my brother then." Sun Ce teased towards Dong Xi, who laughed happily in response. Dom was aware of Dong Xi, as Gan Ning had spoken about him before as being a capable naval commander.
"These are Lu Meng and Ling Tong." Sun Quan continued with a smile, seeing how excited Sun Ce was to see them all grow. Dom was also aware of these, especially Ling Tong who originally had a hatred of Gan Ning, until they eventually grew as good friends due to Lu Meng's intervention on multiple occasions.
"It seems that you have also taken a few steps Lu Meng, you were but a strong Warrior when you served me, it seems my Brother has a better eye than I for men." Sun Ce replied, "It is also great to see the young Ling Tong now almost a man, where is your father?"
Lu Feng was a tall muscular man, with a learned appearance who was in his early thirties. Beside him was a younger man who was a similar age to Dom, who clearly had ambition and skill to be involved in meetings of this level.
"Dead, by our new recruited General Gan Ning." Ling Tong spat. "It is an honour and a privilege to see you again. I know my father would have cried with happiness to know you were safe and well."
"I am sorry to hear that, he was one of my greatest supporters and friends." Sun Ce replied, already aware of what had happened. "I understand your pain, but in life enemies can become friends, and friends enemies."
"You will also know Cheng Pu." Sun Quan interrupted, trying to move the conversation on, "And Zhang Zhao."
"Uncle Cheng Pu it is good to see you, as it is also good to see you Zhang Zhao, thank you for taking care of my brother." Sun Ce replied as he looked across at many of the other faces. Sun Quan introduced a few others, including Xu Sheng and Lu Su. The list of officers both minor and senior continued and Dom struggled to keep track, however he was aware that Xun You was tracking everything that was taking place in front of him.
Dom wasn't sure if he should be happy or not, but Gan Ning wasn't present on Sun Quan's side. He wasn't sure if that was because they had Gan Ning with them who was slightly older or if they had their own Gan Ning that wasn't available. Either way, the question hovered and he wondered about it. Dom realised however, that he wasn't the only one wondering. Some of the Generals that had been introduced were whispering with each other, specifically Lu Su and Zhang Zhao.
"Let's all head in to the Camp, we can continue our Strategy meeting with some new Allies." Zhou Yu invited happily, "We shall get some meat delivered for your Sabre Tooth Tigers and allow your Ship Captains to dock."
"Some fish would also be great if you have any." Sun Ce commented, not explaining the reason why.
"We can definitely get you some fish." Zhou You smiled, looking down at the sprawling river below them.
"That would be great." Dom replied, wondering how to deal with Gan Ning's situation.
....
The Trireme had docked at a small wharf near the Fort's wall, separate from the rest of the Naval forces. Originally some Mengchong's had been docked there, but they had been moved away to make space for the Riverside forces. Normally they wouldn't have been trusted to enter the camp, but the presence of both Sun Ce and Xiao Qiao made them more trustworthy.
The Cavalry had been placed near the ships, and the Commanders had all gathered together in a minor command tent that had been built for the Riverside forces by the crew from the Enyo. After having a brief conversation between them all on who would attend the strategy meeting; Dom, Subutai, Xun You and the masked Gan Ning headed towards the main command tent. The first three were guaranteed, whilst the masked Gan Ning already knew the flow of the battle and would keep silent and only whisper during the meeting.
Sun Ce and Xiao Qiao weren't with them, as they had headed off with Zhou Yu and Sun Quan to catch up whilst the Riverside forces were given time to settle in before the Battle. Tomoe was tasked with defending their part of the camp, whilst Tomyris, Liao Hua and some guards had gone to introduce themselves to some of the minor Generals that weren't part of the strategy meeting.
Dom had warned Liao Hua to be weary as even though he was younger than the Liao Hua of this time, there may be some, even if somewhat unlikely, that would recognise him from his Yellow Turban days. Liao Hua had been told by Gu Kaizhi of his impact in history for the Shu forces when that dynasty formed, but there should be limited cross overs with this mission and the Liao Hua of this time.
The Command tent was huge, made from an off white fabric with a large circular centre. In side a group of officers were gathered, most of which Dom had seen earlier. Sun Quan stood at the head of the table with Sun Ce and Zhou Yu beside him, whilst Xiao Qiao was stood beside her husband. The officers of Sun Quan stood mainly on one side, with Zhang Zhao, Lu Su, Dong Xi and Cheng Pu nearer the leaders, whilst Lu Meng, Ling Tong and Xu Sheng stood closer to the door. Dom, Subutai, Xun You and the masked Gan Ning headed to the other side of the map that was on the large table that was central to the room.
"My brother has been informing me of the strength of your troops, I look forward to their performance." Sun Quan said as he welcomed Dom and his Officers. "It feels strange and unreal to be reunited with my brother again, I have offered him his place back as the our Leader, but he has declined it."
There was gasps in the room from the officers of Sun Quan, mostly in shock at what Sun Quan had just said, whilst some showed relief that Sun Ce had declined, other seemed slightly disappointed.
"You have stabilised and grown in my absence, my near death has taught me that I should listen to Zhou Yu more and be less rash." Sun Ce explained to them all. "I love my brother, my family and the officers here, but I have a new home now that I want to take my children to."
"We have discussed and I have already dispatched several riders and messenger ships home to request Sun Ce's children are brought here, as well as the Sun family and officers who would love to be reunited with him before he heads home after this battle." Zhou Yu explained to everyone.
"Will you not remain for a while?" Cheng Pu asked him, "Your help here could easily resolve some of our issues with pacifying our lands."
"As much as I would like to, my Wife is waiting and when we are reunited with our children I would like to see them grow. I also have an important role in my new home where we are building something new and exciting." Sun Ce replied passionately, "It's an adventure and an opportunity of dreams."
As they began to discuss more about reuniting with family and friends, the tent flaps opened and a slim, muscular man in his mid thirties walked in. He wore light hide armour and his black hair was tied in a bun. On his waist were a handful of bells, that made a noise as he walked. Dom felt Gan Ning beside him tense, whilst Subutai and Xun You shared a look. Dom looked across the table and saw Ling Tongs clench his jaw, whilst the tall General Lu Meng beside him touched his shoulder to calm him.
"Sorry I am late back. We had to hide the scout ship for longer than anticipated." The Man announced, before looking towards Dom and the others, his eyes resting on the Masked Gan Ning for a second before turning back towards Sun Quan. "I think we should do it."