The Chanyus were a group that occupied the Mongolian Steppes over a thousand years before the time of Ghenghis Khan. They constantly warred over territory with the Chinese empires of their era. Chanyu was a term to denote the supreme leader of the Xiongnu confederation beginning from the second century BC up to the first century AD. Touman Chanyu was credited with being the first Chanyu. Modu Chanyu, son of Touman, was credited with being the founder of the Xiongnu empire through killing his father. Finally, Laoshang Chanyu, son of Modu Chanyu, continued the expansion of their empire.

Their position within the Mongolian community was special enough that they were granted clearance to have no members of the Great Khan faction among their group. They figured that their intellect in warfare was enough to outsmart most others. Even if their blueprints were lacking. As soon as the two groups geared up for their simulation, they found out what the setting would be. It was the battle of Issus in 194 AD in Cicilia without the use of blueprints. A dispute directly associated with the year of the Five Emperors in the year 193.

Baron, Roxi, and Jaxon had been chosen to be on the side of Pescennius Niger. Pescennius laid claim to the Roman caesarship the year prior but was challenged by Septimius Severus, who would eventually start his dynasty in Roman history. Meanwhile, Touman, Modu, and Laoshang would lead the army under Septimius Severus.

Right at the beginning, Baron knew that he would be fighting an uphill battle. Not only were his soldiers' morale weakened by prior defeats, but he also knew that the governors in the region would soon turn against him through revolts and political hostages in the heart of Rome. All in all not a great start to their Sun tournament matches. However, they had to do the best they could. A lot was riding on this battle and the 4 proceeding this one.

Once the two groups stepped into the simulation, they had two weeks before the official start date. Baron, Roxi, and Jaxon found themselves near the borders of modern-day Syria as soon as they came in. They were to defend the Cilician pass located in the Taurus Mountains. At this same battlefield some 500 years prior, Alexander the Great defeated the mighty Persian King Darius III.

Naturally, the preparation period was not spent in vain. The trio had much to do to reverse the odds. Baron had no clue how knowledgeable the Chanyus were on this specific battlefield, but it was Baron’s preference to overestimate his opponents rather than underestimate them.

In all honesty, two weeks was nowhere near enough time to get everything in order. Roxi was the one who was put in charge of training the soldiers to the best of her abilities. However, the challenge with this group was the not uncommon tendency of the soldiers to desert before the fight even began. Even with the strict disciplinary actions of the Roman army, it did not stop everyone.

Baron did what he did best and prepared plans from the get-go. The matters that he had to deal with were quite considerable since the disadvantage he was dealing with was a tough one to bridge. However, he did all he could to draw up battle plans. Despite them placing in the top half of the Emu war simulation, the opponents that they were facing were quite skilled in their own ways.

Finally, Jaxon was sent to the surrounding regions to use his political knowledge to sway the local governors to not participate in the upcoming battle. It was too much to ask them to provide troops, but not having to deal with reinforcements from these people was already a huge blessing. Thankfully, Jaxon’s prowess in this field was enough to convince most of the surrounding cities to just watch on the sidelines.

With this piece of good news, Baron felt a lot better about his chances of fighting against the Chanyus. There was only one more thing that Baron could do to even the odds out a little bit before the battle began. That was to postpone the fight as long as he was able to give his troops more training. This was the tricky part. He needed to convince the Chanyus to agree to a ceasefire.

With this in mind, Baron deployed Jaxon once more to try and strike a deal with their enemies. The lengths that Jaxon went to buy his team a precious few days was costly but entirely worth it. On the days that the simulation was to officially begin, there was a huge storm that was facing Baron’s army. Had they fought during this storm, it would be in favor of the Chanyus. Avoiding a costly engagement for a few blueprints was a no brainer.

A few weeks into the simulation, the fighting finally began. The odds were no longer stacked against them, but the fight would still be a tough one. On the first day of battle, Baron decided to copy history and had his troops hurl missiles at the enemy. The rest of the day did not see any significant developments until nightfall. At that time, the forces of Chanyu launched a massive invasion committing every soldier they had to their cause.

Thankfully, Baron had set up a few traps that he thought would most likely be used to march such a large number of soldiers. It worked to a degree, but it was nowhere near enough to deter the army that was fast approaching. Although they were defending a mountain pass, the soldiers they were pitted against seemed to have gotten a major upgrade in terms of traversing mountainous paths. Perhaps the extra time that both sides agreed to had benefited the Chanyus more.

Roxi and Jaxon were mixed among the masses fighting, however, since they did not have superhuman strength, they had to pace themselves as well as stay their distance. From the rear, Baron could tell that there was much more to this night raid than what was just going on here. Just a little while longer, Baron’s suspicions turned out to be true. The Chanyus’ cavalry forces looped around to his rear and were about to tear into the back of Baron’s unprepared forces.

If it was daytime, then Baron would have seen this coming. But in the middle of the night, with visibility as low as it was, there was no chance. He had assumed that among all those fighting in the pass the enemies’ cavalry forces were in there as well. A gross miscalculation. With the way things were, they would not be able to last the rest of the night without his army either routing or straight up deserting. That was when Baron decided to pull back using his communication network of instruments that echoed throughout the mountains.

This time, it was the signal for his army of Roman legionaries to fall back to the more fortified pass at another part of the mountains. Thankfully, losing their current position would not result in them losing in this specific simulation. The soldiers were trained by Roxi to engage in guerilla warfare tactics whenever they heard this sound. It was a difficult task as the Romans heavily preferred to be close to each other and the idea of organized fighting so ingrained in their minds.

As soon as the sound was heard by the army under Baron, they did as they were trained to and split up like thieves in the night to the rendezvous point. The sight of so many scrambling to run away greatly confused the legionaries under the Chanyus as they felt that they had yet to deal any serious blows. Aside from their cavalry that was only just starting to cut deep.

It was a painstakingly difficult few moments for Baron as the majority of his army disappeared into the night. The confusion in the enemy army was clear, and it lasted long enough for his army to gain a massive head start. Soon after, Baron followed his soldiers in the night on horseback. He was uncertain whether or not the Chanyus would pursue them, but he figured that even if they could, they would have to at least regroup and reorganize their army before giving chase. So for now, they should be safe.

That did not turn out to be the case. The enemy legionaries started their pursuit as soon as they got the order to. Such a persistent army was difficult to deal with, and it hadn’t even been a full day since the fighting had started. To be pushed back this far was not something that Baron had expected. Although he had contingencies for such surprises, it would be difficult to pull off now that his forces were scattered, tired, and on the run.

However, it was not impossible to turn this one around. All he had to do was to get to the rendezvous point and he would be able to turn the tides immediately. The risks that he had taken in this simulation was calculated, but man, the enemy turned out to be way too direct in their method of warfare. Both sides had started the day out with over 20,000 men each, but with the turn of events, the number remaining on each side was not clear.

The next 2 hours was a grueling one for Baron as he took the utmost care in his choice of which path to take. If he slipped up once and met enemy soldiers on the way, then the small contingent of soldiers he had to guard him might not be enough. Not to mention the highly likely possibility that they ran into hostile forces more than once. He could only hope that his two allies were taking the same kind of precautions as he was.

Even if they were not the most tactically apt in this department, losing allies would affect the army as a whole. At last, Baron managed to reach the rendezvous point. The reason he was so adamant that he could turn the tides was that he had kept a quarter of his forces at this temporary location. Those who were stationed here were hand-picked by Roxi as being the elite of their army. It didn’t seem as if the other two had made it to this location, but Baron gave the order for the second signal to be sounded. It was a way for his army to know to hide as best as they could in whatever situation that they found themselves in. Because the reserve forces of Baron who hadn’t yet made a move were about to embark on a clean sweep of enemy forces in the area.