The border between Qin and Wei was not a defined line, but a living space that pulsed with tension. East of the Duyan River, a region of dry valleys, low hills, and scattered forests served as neutral ground. Or so believed the bureaucrats in the capital. For the men stationed there, there was no neutrality—only enemies who might arrive at dawn or vanish into the mist.
The Ri Unit, composed of one hundred heavy infantrymen, had been sent to a small outpost called Yenshao, two days from the fortified city of Jiyun. There they coexisted with three other Qin units, all under the rotating command of captains from various minor houses. Open battles were rare. Skirmishes, on the other hand, were daily bread.
First Blood
The first clash occurred at sunset on the sixth day. A patrol of ten men from the Ri Unit, led by Ming Tao, detected movement among the bushes flanking the supply caravan route. They weren't animals. They weren't peasants. They were Wei soldiers.
Without waiting for orders, Tao organized a feigned retreat toward the nearest clearing. There, twenty-five men from the Ri Unit waited hidden, following earlier orders from Yami.
The Wei soldiers—a light squad armed with spears and dark garments—fell into the trap. When they entered the clearing, they were surrounded. Spears sliced through the air, shields closed in around them. In less than ten minutes, all seventeen enemies lay dead. Tao was wounded in the arm, but he smiled as he returned to camp.
Yami analyzed the battle in detail: Tao's reaction, the execution of the ambush, the response time. He took notes on everything in his campaign journal.
Skirmish in the Niel Forest
The following month brought a more complex fight. The Niel Forest, with its dense vegetation and barely passable trails, had become contested ground. The men of Wei had installed small observation towers in tall trees. It was a provocation.
Yami did not respond immediately. He sent Han Jin with a team of ten scouts. Their mission: locate the outposts and mark them. For five nights, Jin disappeared into the shadows, returning with maps and records. Finally, Yami ordered an attack.
The operation was carried out in two phases. First, a distraction: twenty men simulated an incursion on the northern flank. The enemy moved to respond. Then, from the south, thirty soldiers led by Wei Long and Lao Chen climbed the trees and burned the towers with oil and flaming arrows.
The smoke alerted nearby units, but Yami had already planned escape routes. The group split into three squads and disappeared along separate paths, confusing the enemy. The result: three towers destroyed, five enemies dead, zero casualties.
Wei's Counterattack
Wei's patience ran out. Two weeks later, they launched a quick offensive against Yenshao—not an invasion, but a warning strike. One hundred and fifty soldiers with light shields attacked at dawn, hoping to catch the garrison off guard.
They hadn't counted on the discipline of the Ri Unit.
Yami had reorganized the guard shifts, improved sound signals, and dug defensive trenches. When the enemy breached the first gate, they met a closed line of shields, spears pointed like a wall of steel.
The fighting was brutal. Blood in the mud, shouted orders. Lao Chen felled three enemies with a spear heavier than usual. Ming Tao, arm still not fully healed, led a counteroffensive on the right flank.
Within thirty minutes, the attackers retreated. They left behind sixteen bodies. Qin had six wounded, two seriously.
Yami, bloodstained but unharmed, walked among the corpses. He did not smile. He only wrote down names, wounds, movements. He learned more with each fight.
Harvest of Reputation
After six months, the Ri Unit was recognized across the eastern border. Not for its size. Not for its body count. But for its efficiency. For its coldness. For its young leader who never shouted, yet whose orders were carried out as if he were a veteran general.
With some of the gold accumulated, Yami further reinforced their equipment: repairs, sword upgrades, and a new layer of reinforced plates for the central shock core.
Soldiers loyal to him were starting to be called "Shadows of Ri" by other units.
Wei had taken note. And so had other Qin captains.
The real war had not yet arrived. But in that forgotten corner, a future general was beginning to rise.