text: [Themes: historical, serious, war]
  
  You try to capitalize on your five ballistae's great range and damage output. You order your ballistae to fire at the enemy.
  
  The ballista is an impressive machine, and you watch them wipe out hundreds of enemy infantry before Toleron reacts to being slaughtered. He commands every last one of his 90 thousand men, including his archers, to charge at your army in order to negate your range advantage. This is exactly what you want. Now you engage his army with yours.
  
  Your men are noticeably better trained. Your infantry's footwork is quicker and their swordplay stronger than Toleron's. Your archers are far more accurate. Having almost twice as many troops pales in comparison to being prepared for battle. You suffer terrible losses but annihilate Toleron's ranks and score a crucial victory. Toleron himself tries to escape but is tracked down by a scout unit a few hours later. He is thrown in front of you with bound ankles and wrists.
  
  "Why should I spare your pathetic life?" you ask a defiant Toleron.
  
  "There is no need. Ever since I converted to Buddhism I have seen the way. The pain and suffering of existence are meaningless. In time, your people will agree with me. Killing me will only send me to nirva-"
  
  "Enough! Your death will serve me much better than it will serve you, believe me. Off with his head!"
  
  When you take over Toleron's castle you find his 15 ballistae in good condition and add them to your fleet. In addition, winning a huge battle while being vastly outnumbered raises your kingdom's morale a good bit. Another spike in conscription occurs, this time increasing your troops to 500 thousand infantry, 200 thousand archers, and 300 thousand mounted cavalry. Furthermore, your increasing stable of skilled tradesmen have completed construction on several cloud ladders.
  
  Cloud ladders, or siege towers, are slow-moving, wheeled, vertically extendable wooden structures. They allow infantry and archers to directly reach the top of castle walls and towers without being bombarded by arrows on the way. Damp cloth is draped over the outside to protect it against burning arrows. Unlike regular arrows, ballista bolts can penetrate the cloud ladder's wooden shell and eventually wreck the entire structure. Cloud ladders also cannot accommodate any cavalry, so your mounted troops would not be able to support your infantry and archers. Your war machines now total 20 ballistae and 10 cloud ladders.
  
  One day, as you are preparing for another offensive campaign, you are visited by an emissary.
  
  "I am here on a mission of peace from President Min. He has heard tales of your victories and is in awe of your military brilliance. Now that all other remaining warlords in China have allied themselves with the President, your joining us is overdue. He asks that you keep your troops within the boundaries of your newly acquired territories in north, south, and east China in exchange for him keeping all the other warlords from invading your territory. You are still free to attack anyone you want outside of China. What reply shall I bring back to President Min?"
  
  "Ahahahaha!" You have not had such a good laugh in a long time. "Don't worry," you say, "I'll take care of that for you."
  
  You grin as your men drag the diplomat away to be executed and his head put in a box and sent back to Min.
  
  By now you hold three quarters of China. But the last opposition is the strongest. Min has convinced his allies to all resist you as one. Their most defensible position is Min's capital, where 1.5 million soldiers await you in battle.
  
  You march your army to Min's last bastion. A giant castle stands in the distance. In front of it are thousands of tents nestled close together, where the one million infantry of Min's allies are camped. Perched on the castle walls are Min's 200 thousand infantry and 300 thousand archers. Ten ballistae sit atop his towers, pointed in your direction. Due to their elevation, Min's ballistae possess much greater range than yours. The battlefield terrain is a low plain with no trees, and a brisk wind blows from behind your back.
  
  Your army stands ready to face your enemies. Your day of glory has finally come. Before you can savor the moment however, Min's allies suddenly attack you. All one million infantry charge as one at your formation and taking the initiative away from you. You have no option but to fight back.
  
  Your 300 thousand cavalry are the first to engage the enemy. Soldiers on their front few lines are knocked down by your cavalry's ferocious charge. Outnumbered, your mounted troops slaughter the infantry while taking heavy losses. Your infantry and archers eventually catch up with your cavalry and join the fray. Several bloody hours later, all one million infantry are either dead or scattered, while you have lost all 300 thousand cavalry and 100 thousand of your infantry.
  
  Careful to remain just out of the range of Min's ballistae, you walk past the tents and closer to Min's towering castle. You still have 400 thousand infantry, 200 thousand archers, 20 ballistae and 10 cloud ladders. Min still has 200 thousand infantry, 300 thousand archers and 10 ballistae guarding his fortress. How will you assault the castle? You have four choices, but decide carefully.
  
  You know that as your ballistae move close enough to fire on the castle, they would also likely be fired on during the assault as well and eventually all destroyed by Min's longer ranged ballistae.
  
  > fire your ballistae at and destroy Min's own ballistae installations; once his ballistae are eliminated, advance your cloud ladders, carrying solely archers (and then infantry only if necessary) to storm the walls and capture the keep
  You decide to not expose your troops to inevitable heavy casualties from ballistae fire. You order your ballistae forward. They move into range to destroy the installations. A battle of the ballistae ensues as bolts furiously fly back and forth. Ballistae on both sides slowly wreck and break down. Your 20 to 10 advantage is offset by their greater range and accuracy. When the giant bolts cease flying, neither side has a single ballistae still intact.
  
  This is the result you were looking for. Now you finally get the chance to use your cloud ladders.
  
  They slowly approach the walls, with your archers forming long lines behind them. Your 400 thousand infantry can only wait outside the castle, anxious to enter the fray.
  
  You watch as your archers crawl out of your cloud ladders and attempt to assail the walls. The enemy is well positioned, sniping the exit points of your cloud ladders and maximizing the effectiveness of their 300 thousand archers. Almost none of your troops make it onto the walls alive, and those few who do are quickly cut down by the 200 thousand infantry supporting the archers. There are simply too many enemy archers for your cloud ladders to safely deploy your troops.
  
  You rue your decision of not attacking the gate with your ballistae, but now it is too late as they have been destroyed. The defenders slaughter each wave of your soldiers, who reach the top of their cloud ladder only to be outnumbered and outmaneuvered like the wave before them. In desperation, you send your 400 thousand infantry up the cloud ladders as well, but they fare only slightly better and are eventually decimated as well. Soon you see your 600 thousand foot soldiers dwindle to only a few thousand. You feel abject failure.
  
  You have lost most of your troops, and Min is certainly not going to open his doors, so you have no choice but to tell your troops to turn back. However, your colonels have had enough of your idiocy and decide it is time for a new leader. You can't blame them; after all you did just blow a chance at victory. Your colonels execute you on the spot. Soon they start bickering amongst themselves about how to divide power and none achieves the dream you once had of uniting China.