57 Preparation for war
[3rd POV]
After the ceremony was done, Tai Lung and Shen returned to the Tower. They were followed by the family head of each house and the commanders of the army.
Then, they proceeded to start planning for the upcoming war they were about to wage. Shen with his intelligence and Tai Lung with his knowledge of the art of war were the main brainpower behind the strategy they came up with.
There was no need to delay the attack any further as that would just give the kingdoms more time to prepare themselves so they decided to attack as soon as the following week.
The speech that Lord Shen gave in the ceremony was also recorded in a letter which was then spread amongst the citizens and to the rest of China.
It was a declaration of War.
China entered a state of awkward times as every kingdom prepared for the war yet the kings waited for Shen to make the first move.
Although Shen had declared war against all of them, the kingdoms did not work together to defeat him. Instead, they waited for the right opportunity and were always ready to take advantage of Lord Shen's attack.
There were ten kingdoms that currently ruled over pretty much the whole landscape of China other than the rare independent places like Gongmen City and the Jade Palace.
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There was the Kingdom of Dali and the Kingdom of Minyue in the South. They can be said to be the only two neighbouring kingdoms that had a good relationship as they prospered in trade and maintained the silk route which facilitated trade between China and Southeast Asia.
The Kingdom of Nanzhao and Shu were always at each other's throats in the West with the recent war. Each of them had two powerhouses, Mighty Eagle and the Monkey King which put them in a stalemate with each other.
The Kingdom of Wu and Wuyue shared territory in the East and were once one giant kingdom. But it was split apart in a civil war with the criminals living in the kingdom of Wu and the rest staying in Wuyue.
The Kingdom of Chu and Tang were located in central China and never really at war with each other since the Jade Papalce occupied the border between them. Whenever a conflict was about to start, the Jade Palace would put a stop to it before it could get serious.
Tai Lung himself had been given a mission to settle disputes between the two kingdoms countless times. These two territories had a big influence since they were in the centre of China and there was a time in the past when the dispute between them got so bad that a Great War almost broke out, in which more than half of the Kingdoms would participate in one war.
It was Tai Lung who put an end to this budding Great War and it was also the last mission Shifu gave Tai Lung as a test to see if he truly deserves the title of the Dragon Warrior. After which Shifu brought Tai Lung to Oogway where the canon unfolded.
It was due to this feat that the other Kingdoms were more than happy to imprison Tai Lung and even built the Chroch Gom Prison to hold him. He held too much power and ruined many of their plans so they took their revenge on him.
How else would the Jade Palace have enough resources to carve a prison right out of a mountain and station an elite 1000 Rhino soldiers for two decades? It was due to the funding of the kingdoms.
And lastly, the kingdoms of Jingnan and Zhou were in the North. These two were extremely hostile to each other but would never go into a proper war because invaders from Russia, Mongolia and Korea were always ready to take advantage of their weakness to conquer China.
It was due to this that the two kingdoms rarely dealt with the other kingdoms as they were always busy fighting off invaders or with themselves. It was also because of this that they wanted more territory and power.
All of these Kingdoms were not allies even though some might be on friendly terms. So none of them wanted to waste any substantial amount of troops just to deal with Shen and weaken their force so that other kingdoms could take advantage of them.
Although Shen had his weapons and although they were powerful, his army was the size of a city and couldn't compare to the military might of a whole kingdom.
if he were to disregard the Codes of War and launch a surprise attack on the main city of a kingdom like Shen in the movie was trying to do, then he might be successful in taking over one kingdom. Then he could take over the resources to build more weapons to conquer the other kingdoms.
But with Tai Lung by his side, things have changed. With Tai Lung's neutral moral nature and his sense of honour as a warrior, Shen couldn't break the Codes of War.
But on the other hand, he now had enough power to rival the military might of a kingdom.
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Or maybe even more, Shen thought to himself when he realized the true value of having Tai Lung as a general. He was not only just a master of Kung Fu but of war who learned many strategies and siege tactics from the library of the Jade Palace.
But there was one other reason why Lord Shen changed his evaluation of Tai Lung, it was because of his innovative ideas.
Of course, it was not hard for Tai Lung to give ideas as he had knowledge of another world. Especially when it came to the usage of gunpowder, let's just say Tai Lung had to keep himself from saying too much.
Shen with his genius mind could comprehend the true weight of Tai Lung's suggestion and immediately got his mind to work
And just like that, they brew up a plan to conquer the whole of China. The two of them worked together perfectly as if they were always meant to be allies. They covered each other's weaknesses and truly became a force to be reckoned with.
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[3rd POV]
(A few days later)
"Come on now pups, try harder!!" Tai Lung screamed at the wolf soldiers as they trained according to Tai Lung's instructions.
There were more than a thousand wolf soldiers alone as they lined up and executed different techniques with their weapons.
They were currently in the middle of preparation for war and even though it might seem foolish to train the soldiers now when the war was about to start in a few days, that did not apply when the teacher was Tai Lung.
Although it will only be for a couple of days, the training they received here would be priceless and it would save the lives of many people while also allowing them to eliminate more enemies.
"You are preparing for war! Forget about all the combat teachings you've had until now. Your aim is no longer to defeat the enemy but to eliminate them with the least amount of effort!!" Tai Lung said before he clapped his hand suddenly.
A shockwave erupted as the calp exploded in a terrible sound. It was a Wing technique that allowed someone to create a loud echoing sound of shockwave.
The wolves nearby whimpered and fell to their knees. They covered their ears as their ears rang in pain.
"Learn to control your own senses! When the real battle starts, the cannons are going to explode with louder sounds, you can't get affected by it!" Tai Lung said, scolding them.
Wolves have a very acute sense of hearing like Snow Leopards and they needed to learn how to be immune to loud explosions if they wanted to fight in a war.
The training ground which was outside of the city was bustling as they all learned under Tai Lung. He would approach the wolves one by one and decimate them while giving them advice.
"Stop swinging your sword like that. Not only are you predictable but you can harm your own ally in a war." Tai Lung told the Boss Wolf, "It's better if you can stab."
Boss Wolf was more adept with using a war hammer but that was not a good weapon for war as it wastes a lot of energy and as one of the commanders, he needed to be fighting without stopping.
"Are those teeth only for display?" Tai Lung asked and right after, the Boss Wolf lunged forward to bite him.
Tai Lung dodged and grabbed his maw. "Good."
And the teaching continues. Tai Lung could not train the Gorilla soldiers as they were busy preparing the battleship and the cannons.
But he made do with what he could and taught the wolves as best as he could. He dug into his memories and used his vast knowledge of kung fu to help them as much as he could with the limited time.
As the Supreme General, he couldn't have incompetent soldiers. He also trained them in making different formations and taught them how to train even in his absence.
"Pain is inevitable!! Suffering is not." Tai Lung said as hundreds of soldiers groaned in pain while they did body training.
Tai Lung trained them to exhaustion just to see how fit and strong his soldiers were and although it could've been better, the wolves were to an acceptable standard.
"Learn to enjoy the training and know that the more you sweat here, the less you will bleed in battle." Tai Lung said to the wolves who looked at him with respect.
"So even when you feel pain, do not allow your mind to suffer. Embrace the pain, for it is proof of your improvement." Tai Lung said and the soldiers nodded at their general.
"Now do it AGAIN!!"
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[IMAGE]
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Author : Stones.
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