Recaps

Yan prepared to reinforce the Fire Tribe’s river defenses and harass the Tiger Tribe while Jianshi planned for a larger assault next year. After saying goodbye to Qingye, Qingsui, and Yi'er, Yan led the fleet downstream toward the front line.

• Jianshi summoned Yan and warned that the defeated Tiger Tribe could recover and attack the Fire Tribe’s outposts.
• Yan agreed to reinforce the Willow Vine Tribe River Mouth and the Great Luwei River Mouth and support Shibang and Yingmu.
• Jianshi ordered Yan to deliver supplies, destroy smaller Tiger Tribe strongholds, raid sentry posts, and intercept grain boats while avoiding a direct fight with the main force.
• Jianshi said the Fire Tribe hoped to test a larger-capacity ship next spring and might launch an all-out assault on the Tiger Tribe the following year.
• Yan visited Qingye, Qingsui, and Yi'er before departing at dawn with the fleet from the Valley River Mouth.

Yan met with Daya, Shibang, and Yingmu at the Great Luwei Tribe to plan how to weaken the Tiger Tribe while consolidating their recent gains. They assigned responsibilities and prepared to begin attacking outposts along the lower Fish River in two days.

• Yan arrived at the Great Luwei Tribe and went directly to the council hall, where Daya, Shibang, and Yingmu awaited him.
• Yan explained the chief’s plan to uproot Tiger Tribe outposts and absorb newly gained territory while the Fire Tribe expanded its strength.
• Shibang endorsed wearing down the Tiger Tribe, and Yan described plans for a larger fleet and an all-out attack the following year.
• Yan assigned Daya to settle people and manage supplies, Shibang to train the army, and himself and Yingmu to lead attacks on outposts along the lower river.
• Daya, Shibang, and Yingmu agreed to their duties, and the group left the hall to prepare for the campaign beginning in two days.

Yan and Yingmu led the Fire Tribe in capturing all eight Tiger Tribe outposts along the Fish River, taking prisoners, supplies, and more than twenty thousand people. After the Tiger Tribe stayed behind its defenses instead of fighting, Yan turned the fleet back toward the Great Luwei Tribe.

• Yan and Yingmu divided the eight outposts between them and planned to protect the captured workers while attacking the Tiger Tribe garrisons.
• Yan's forces secretly seized the first west-bank outpost at night, subdued its soldiers, and spared the workers.
• Yan and Yingmu captured all eight outposts in less than ten days, taking more than a thousand garrison troops, over ten thousand people, and supplies.
• Yan joined Yingmu and led the fleet past the Tiger Tribe's main camp, but the Tiger Tribe did not come out to fight.
• Yan ordered the fleet to return to the Great Luwei Tribe with the prisoners, captured people, and supplies.

After the Fire Tribe devastated its outposts and seized territory, Hu Zheng and the Tiger Tribe's leaders agreed to pull back and seek peace with neighboring tribes. The chapter leaves them preparing envoys to negotiate with Western Shu and Wuyue while they gather their forces at the main camp.

• Hu Zheng told the council that the Tiger Tribe had lost eight outposts, four thousand soldiers, and vital farmland to the Fire Tribe, leaving it short of food and defenders.
• Hu Bashan urged the Tiger Tribe to abandon its outlying territory, consolidate its forces at the main camp, and strengthen its defenses.
• Tongding proposed yielding the eastern territory to Wuyue and the western territory to Western Shu, while seeking grain and an alliance with Western Shu.
• Hu Zheng approved Tongding's plan and ordered Hu Bashan to send an envoy to Western Shu with copper ingots and cloth to discuss territory, grain, and cooperation against the Fire Tribe.
• Hu Bashan agreed to contact Western Shu, and Tongding agreed to send an envoy to Wuyue to explain the Tiger Tribe's withdrawal and request that it not attack.

Hu Yi traveled to the Western Shu Tribe to secure grain and troops for the Tiger Tribe’s war against the Fire Tribe. Can Cong agreed to sell a year’s rations for 200,000 people and send 20,000 soldiers in exchange for territory, leaving Hu Yi to return with the agreement made.

• Hu Bashan sent Hu Yi to negotiate with Can Cong, and Hu Yi reached the Western Shu Tribe’s docks after more than twenty days of travel.
• Can Ge escorted Hu Yi to Can Cong after learning that the Tiger Tribe wanted a year’s worth of grain for 200,000 people.
• Hu Yi told Can Cong that the Tiger Tribe was fighting the Fire Tribe and offered ten percent above the usual price for the grain.
• Hu Yi asked Can Cong to provide troops and promised to return territory the Tiger Tribe had taken, plus another equal-sized piece.
• Can Cong agreed to sell the grain and send 20,000 troops led by Can Ge once the Tiger Tribe returned the first territory.
• Hu Yi and Can Cong discussed transport and troop arrangements, and Hu Yi departed with his fleet.

Hu Zhua visited the Wuyue Tribe to offer the return of disputed territory and seek help against the Fire Tribe, but Yue Kun refused to join the war. After Hu Zhua left, Yue Kun ordered scouts to investigate the Tiger Tribe and the Fire Tribe before Wuyue decided how to act.

• Hu Zhua arrived at the Wuyue Tribe's dock, where Yue Jiao challenged him about the Tiger Tribe's recent activity along the border.
• Hu Zhua gave Yue Kun bronze knives and pottery, then offered to return Wuyue's former territory and asked for twenty thousand men to pressure the Fire Tribe.
• Yue Kun accepted the territory but refused to involve Wuyue in the Tiger Tribe's war.
• Yue Kun told Yue Jiao to prepare to reclaim the land and send scouts up the Fish River to investigate the Fire Tribe and the Tiger Tribe's losses.
• Yue Jiao agreed to send scouts disguised as sellers of dried fish and bamboo wares.

Hu Yi and Hu Zhua returned to report that Western Shu would supply grain and troops, while Wuyue refused to join the fight against the Fire Tribe. The Tiger Tribe leaders planned to rebuild their strength, prepare for the Fire Tribe’s return, and keep watch on Wuyue as they withdrew from the east.

• Hu Yi reported that Western Shu agreed to provide enough grain for two hundred thousand people for a year and send twenty thousand troops against the Fire Tribe in exchange for territory and trade goods.
• Hu Bashan supported the agreement and urged the Tiger Tribe to use the supplies and reinforcements to rebuild, train recruits, and strengthen its defenses.
• Hu Zhua reported that Yue Kun accepted gifts and territory but refused to send Wuyue troops, while Yue Jiao had challenged him at the dock.
• Tongding and Hu Zheng ordered scouts to monitor Wuyue during the eastern withdrawal and agreed to reclaim the ceded territory after dealing with the Fire Tribe.
• Hu Zheng assigned Hu Yi to organize the grain fleet and Hu Zhua to withdraw the eastern troops while leaving scouts along the border; both began making arrangements.

Yan and his people discussed their growing strength after absorbing the Willow Vine Tribe and Great Luwei Tribe, and planned how to prepare for a decisive war against the Tiger Tribe. The meeting ended with reports on border security and winter supplies, while Yan ordered closer surveillance of the Tiger Tribe.

• Yan said the Fire Tribe had absorbed more than twenty thousand people and supplies, and could attack the Tiger Tribe as early as next year.
• Daya reported that newcomers were being settled and trained, and that more than fifty thousand people from the Willow Vine Tribe and Great Luwei Tribe still needed to be settled.
• Yingmu described the Tiger Tribe's weakened forces and explained how the Great Tiger Tribe and Great Copper Tribe had risen to dominate the Fish River Basin.
• Yan told Yingmu to investigate the Tiger Tribe's troop movements, defenses, and efforts to find allies before war began.
• Shibang reported that Xueya and the Wolf Tribe had disappeared, and Yan guessed they had moved to the sparsely populated north bank of the Long River.
• Shibang and Yingmu reported on patrols protecting the newly absorbed territories, and Daya confirmed that grain, firewood, and winter clothes were ready.

Jianshi and Dabang discussed the Fire Tribe’s production and military preparations for the coming year, including building larger ships and settling people from the Willow Vine Tribe and Great Luwei Tribe. Jianshi planned a decisive campaign to defeat the Tiger Tribe and take the Fish River Basin.

• Jianshi said Yan had captured the Tiger Tribe’s eight outposts, taken in more than twenty thousand people, and secured the Willow Vine Tribe and Great Luwei Tribe territories.
• Dabang reported that most workshops could increase output by thirty to forty percent and that the Fire Tribe planned to build one hundred large ships and ten ships with a capacity of two hundred thousand jin.
• Jianshi stressed that the ships had to meet strict quality standards, and Dabang promised to inspect each one before launch.
• Dabang proposed sending supplies and moving more than fifty thousand people from the two territories to the Fire Creek River Mouth Outpost in spring, and Jianshi agreed to arrange their journey and settlement.
• Jianshi urged everyone to prepare shipbuilding, weapons, farming, and troop training for a decisive battle against the Tiger Tribe next year, then remained alone studying the map of the Fish River Basin.

As spring arrived, Yan discussed the Tiger Tribe’s preparations and possible allies with Yingmu, Shibang, and Daya. He ordered continued scouting and preparations for war while assigning spring farming and troop training duties.

• Yingmu reported that the Tiger Tribe had recalled its forces, stockpiled grain from the Western Shu Tribe, and kept its docks busy.
• Yan warned that the Western Shu Tribe might join the Tiger Tribe and ordered scouts to learn the alliance’s strength and plans.
• Yingmu said Fire Tribe patrols had driven away disguised Wuyue Tribe scouts near the Great Luwei River Mouth.
• Yan rejected Daya’s suggestion to recruit the Wuyue Tribe, saying Fire Tribe would fight the Tiger Tribe alone.
• Yan assigned Daya to oversee spring plowing and supplies, Shibang to train the outposts, and Yingmu to intensify scouting.

Dabang arrived at the Great Luwei Tribe's dock with settlers and supplies, then discussed the Tiger Tribe's alliance with Western Shu and Fire Tribe's preparations for war. After the fleet exchanged passengers and cargo, Dabang sailed upstream toward the Fire Creek River Mouth Outpost.

• Dabang brought a fleet, 30,000 settlers, and supplies to the Great Luwei Tribe's dock, while Yan organized their reception and the boarding of 40,000 people bound for the Fire Creek River Mouth Outpost.
• Yan told Dabang that Shibang was managing defense and training at nearby outposts and had become a dependable right-hand man.
• Yingmu reported that the Tiger Tribe had withdrawn its forces, ceded territory, and secured Western Shu's promise to send 20,000 troops if war broke out.
• Dabang said Fire Tribe planned to launch a 200,000-jin-capacity boat and build a hundred 100,000-jin boats, and promised reinforcements for the coming conflict.
• Dabang told Yan that Fire Tribe planned to attack after the first harvest, and Yan prepared to train troops, ready boats, stock provisions, and extend sentry posts.
• After eating and completing the exchange of people and supplies, Dabang sailed upstream toward the Fire Creek River Mouth Outpost.

Yan strengthened the Fire Tribe’s forward strongholds while the Tiger Tribe prepared for conflict. On the Long River’s north bank, Xueya and Yexiao planned to expand the Wolf Tribe northward, train their new warriors, and eventually return to the south.

• Yan had Yingmu gather reports on the Tiger Tribe’s defenses and worked with Shibang and Daya to secure the Fire Tribe’s strongholds.
• The Tiger Tribe built ships and weapons, filled its granaries, watched the Wuyue Tribe, and drilled its recruits.
• Xueya and Yexiao discussed how the Wolf Tribe had grown to around a thousand warriors by raiding scattered tribes on the Long River’s north bank.
• Xueya and Yexiao agreed to gather more people and supplies, then advance north toward the grasslands to build the Wolf Tribe’s strength.
• Xueya and Yexiao went to inspect the training of their newly recruited warriors.