"Intention"

M Thorne T. P.

Description

It is the beginning of the 3rd Century, and Han Dynasty China is in a state of flux. The Han's senior minister, Cao Cao, has rescued Emperor Xian from Dong Zhuo's minions, established a temporary capital in Xuchang, quelled most of the rebels and dealt a crippling defeat to his most powerful rival, Yuan Shao, at the Battle of Guandu.The loss at Guandu left Yuan Shao a sick man, and thoughts turn to his successor: the resultant crisis begins another era of chaos that empowers the Wuhuan tribes of the northeast and threatens to undo all that has been achieved. With so much at stake, Cao Cao and his strategist Guo Jia embark on their most ambitious mission yet: to destroy the Yuan clan, recapture northeast China and pacify the Wuhuan tribes in their own lands beyond the Great Wall. Success would allow Cao Cao to request controversial authority and demand the submission of every other rebellious faction in the land: failure would certainly lead to the end of the empire.The fate of the Han Dynasty is once again uncertain; an 'all-or-nothing' encounter at White Wolf Mountain is the next critical stage on the road to the legendary "Three Kingdoms" era.

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: PaMat Publishing
• Date de parution: 17 mars 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780995658219
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

INTENTION
~ WAR FOR THE HAN FRONTIER ~
BY T. P. M. THORNE
COVER ART BY T. P. M. THORNE



Published by PaMat Publishing

Copyright 2017 T. P. M. Thorne

All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study,research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs andPatents Act 1988, no part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, electrical,chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - withoutthe express written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should bedirected to the author of this work.

The author, T. P. M. Thorne, has asserted the right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://tpmthorne.com/

For any enquiries, email the author at [e-mail]

This version of the work is for online publication only.

Cover art: artistic depiction of the Han Dynasty China as they were when Cao Cao began his northern campaigns: Han-controlled (or at the least neutral/temporarily ignored) regionsare darkest; the northeast region controlled by the Yuans and the Wuhuan is lightest with faint glow; the southeast (governed by the Sun family) and the central region (Jing and Jiaozhi, governed by Liu Biao, Shi Xie and several semi-autonomous prefects) are lighter coloured .



Table of Contents FOREWORD PROLOGUE: A GRAND ELABORATION ACT I: THE LEGACY OF GUANDU CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 CHAPTER 14 ACT II: THE SIEGE OF LI COUNTY CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 17 CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 21 CHAPTER 22 CHAPTER 23 CHAPTER 24 CHAPTER 25 CHAPTER 26 CHAPTER 27 CHAPTER 28 CHAPTER 29 CHAPTER 30 CHAPTER 31 CHAPTER 32 ACT III: A CHANGE OF PLAN CHAPTER 33 CHAPTER 34 CHAPTER 35 CHAPTER 36 CHAPTER 37 CHAPTER 38 CHAPTER 39 CHAPTER 40 CHAPTER 41 CHAPTER 42 CHAPTER 43 ACT IV: THE BATTLE FOR Y CITY CHAPTER 44 CHAPTER 45 CHAPTER 46 CHAPTER 47 CHAPTER 48 CHAPTER 49 CHAPTER 50 CHAPTER 51 CHAPTER 52 CHAPTER 53 CHAPTER 54 ACT V: THE BATTLE OF NANPI CHAPTER 55 CHAPTER 56 CHAPTER 57 CHAPTER 58 CHAPTER 59 CHAPTER 60 CHAPTER 61 CHAPTER 62 CHAPTER 63 CHAPTER 64 ACT VI: THE CONQUEST OF BING PROVINCE CHAPTER 65 CHAPTER 66 CHAPTER 67 CHAPTER 68 CHAPTER 69 CHAPTER 70 CHAPTER 71 CHAPTER 72 CHAPTER 73 CHAPTER 74 CHAPTER 75 CHAPTER 76 ACT VII: BEYOND THE GREAT WALL CHAPTER 77 CHAPTER 78 CHAPTER 79 CHAPTER 80 CHAPTER 81 CHAPTER 82 CHAPTER 83 CHAPTER 84 CHAPTER 85 CHAPTER 86 CHAPTER 87 CHAPTER 88 CHAPTER 89 CHAPTER 90 CHAPTER 91 CHAPTER 92 CHAPTER 93 CHAPTER 94 ACT VIII: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HEALING CHAPTER 95 CHAPTER 96 CHAPTER 97 CHAPTER 98 CHAPTER 99 CHAPTER 100 CHAPTER 101 CHAPTER 102 CHAPTER 103 CHAPTER 104 CHAPTER 105 CHAPTER 106 CHAPTER 107 CHAPTER 108 CHAPTER 109 CHAPTER 110 ACT IX: THE INVASION OF JING PROVINCE CHAPTER 111 CHAPTER 112 CHAPTER 113 CHAPTER 114 CHAPTER 115 CHAPTER 116 CHAPTER 117 CHAPTER 118 CHAPTER 119 CHAPTER 120 EPILOGUE: THE SCENE NOW SET CHARACTER PROFILES AND NAME PRONUNCIATION GUIDE PEOPLE PLACES MISCELLANEOUS


FOREWORD

Intention - War for the Han Frontier is a direct sequel to myearlier works, Yellow Sky - Crisis for the Han Dynasty and Turmoil -Battle for the Han Empire , and my fifth foray into the era known popularly as Three Kingdoms (approx. 184AD - 280AD when including the Yellow TurbanRebellion and the decline of the Han that precedes). I never planned to writeworks set in this period beyond Yellow Sky - which was, by my na vereckoning, going to serve as the one and only prequel to Crouching Dragon andprovide much-needed exploration of the events that led to the fall of the Han -but I had so much material left over at the end of that book - and had failedin my mission to end where Crouching Dragon began (at the Battle of Guandu) -that writing East of the River - Home of the Sun Clan and Turmoil becamean irresistible compulsion for me. When I finally finished that second prequel,I had partially-developed material left over that carried the story as far asthe weeks before Red Cliffs (the consequence of planning for the unlikely eventof having too little to work with): after a much-needed break, I decidedthat there was a fairly interesting story to tell by going further, and theproject spiralled from there.

The Yuan clan did not simply disappear after Guandu, and their alliancewith the Wuhuan tribes of the northeast - whose way of life couldn t have beenmore different to the lofty Yuans - led to the first major military excursionbeyond the Han Empire s famous northern boundary - the Great Wall - since175AD, when that poorly-equipped Han army was all but destroyed by the XianbeiConfederacy. Cao Cao was making history and putting old mistakes to rest whenhe embarked on that risky campaign after ending Yuan clan rule in the northeastprovinces, and as it is also the strategist Guo Jia s last - and, perhaps, mostimportant - contribution to Cao Cao s career, I felt it deserved propertreatment, and hopefully justice has been served. I do try, as usual, tohighlight all sides and be as multilateral as possible: I do, for example, showthe effect of Cao Cao s campaign on the Wuhuan race at the same time that Ishow the impact that the Wuhuan s way of life has had on the Han Chinese thatthey share the land with (and that the actions of individuals or subgroupsshould not be taken as the nature of the whole).

The narrative begins after the conclusion of the Battle of Guandu(200AD) and concludes in the weeks prior to the famous Battle of Red Cliffs(the summer of 208AD), which was not at all ideal in many ways but perfect inothers: Cao Cao is at the height of his powers prior to Red Cliffs, and theoutcome seems to be preordained. The events covered in this work do make someother parts of the whole story make more sense as well, and serve as a prequeland parallel narrative for Crouching Dragon - the Journey of Zhuge Liang anda compliment and partial sequel to East of the River - Home of the Sun Clan ; most of the famous figures of the era - some well-known, some not so well-known - are featured, along with theirsubordinates and peers, in order to build as strong, varied narrative aspossible (they include Cao Cao and his clan, Yuan Shao and his 3 sons, Liu Bei,Kong Rong, Hua Tuo, Guo Jia, Liu Biao, Sima Yi and Jia Xu to name but a few,but there are only references made to the activities of the Sun clan ofJiangdong, who once again did too much in this time period to include them hereand do proper justice).

Cao Cao is a truly complex central character (he cannot be called an antagonist , and protagonist would be even more inappropriate), and thiswork shows many of his contradictions in full: he is often a saviour and murderer,liberator and captor, or protector and destroyer of knowledge at the same time,and his affliction - implied at times to be migraines in this work, but oftensupposed to be symptoms of a brain tumour - only adds to the mysterysurrounding his constant veering between incompetence and brilliance, andbetween what some might call good and evil. And it must also be noted that Cao Cao s approach to dealing with the Wuhuan provides an interesting contrast to Zhuge Liang s campaign against the Nanman (as depicted in Crouching Dragon ).

A final disclaimer: the work does portray the famous physician Hua Tuo sefforts to cure Cao Cao s headaches, and I have chosen, after muchconsideration, to follow the portrayals in historical records and portrayacupuncture as working effectively. The entirety of what is described - theacupuncture and Hua Tuo s other exploits - is taken from questionable accounts,not a medical dictionary, so please do not take any of it to be sanctionedadvice and always consult a qualified doctor! It is all part of my usual attempts to write asoriginal and informative a work as possible, partly by looking at people andevents that are typically ignored or given reduced roles, by giving focus tosocial and academic elements instead of keeping the narrative solely targetedon political and military matters, and by relying more on history than thefolktales (although, as before, there are some instances of artistic license for the sake of telling a story). And once again, all I can hope is that thisbook inspires or entertains someone out there as much as I have enjoyed writing it.


T. P. M. Thorne, the author


PROLOGUE: A GRAND ELABORATION


Yet another period of chaos had begun in China: once again, the soldiers donned their armour and fought for to prolong or resist the u