So... I made a map, it may not be 100% accurate but in my defense, there were many different maps with different locations for the cities and provinces. So I decided not to even have in consideration the provinces in the first place and decided to take the one in the Wiki as the correct one, with a few adjustments as it helps with how I had planned my story.
Map: https://imgur.com/a/k0Qz72d
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The new bridge was completed in eighteen days.
That alone would have been enough to earn praise from any magistrate we have served under, but Captain Lin did not stop there. She had the old retaining walls along the river reinforced, ordered gravel laid along the approach road, and assigned labor teams to dredge the bank so the spring floods would not swallow the crossing again, as they had done twice in the past five years.
If someone had told me a young captain of not even sixteen years old would put forth these changes, I wouldn't have believed them. It was the right decision to surrender to her forces. Not only were we spared, but things were improving rapidly.
When Elder Bosen tried to thank her publicly, she cut him off and told him that a road which could not support carts was a military liability and that gratitude was unnecessary. It was as if an old spirit was living inside that young girl's body with her choice of words. And that remark even earned her a few scowls from the elders, but I confess I found it refreshing. We have suffered many officials who promised many things and delivered nothing. This one promised nothing and yet left with many of our issues and work completed behind her.
They say she is bound to move out to the south now. I can only wish her good luck.
- Report of Magistrate's Clerk Jian Yu at the municipal office, Gaipan. 96 A.G.
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"We need you to explain your reasoning more throughout, Colonel. Your men are a small elite unit and we have given you the freedom to do as you please. You have been working on a freelance basis for a long time, now you want to return to Fire Nation Army command, but your first request is a leave of absence for three months. Why?"
"I was disillusioned for some time in our leadership, especially after General Iroh's retreat in Ba Sing Se. A certain Captain has opened my eyes to the fact that there is still hope for the Fire Nation Army. She has also made me realize that my standards for recruiting and expanding the Rough Rhinos were too high. I want to return to the Fire Nation Army but on my terms, with an elite cavalry unit under my command worthy of its name. I believe my group and I can train said unit to great effect and use it to better help our soldiers in the field."
"Very well. So Captain Lin was the one who inspired this change."
"Certainly. She was instrumental in our victory. At first I was skeptical of her skill, but she proved to be one of the most capable officers we have. I have no doubts in my mind that her ruthless and cunning mind will eventually lead us to victory."
"How are you so certain? You have known her for less than a year."
"Let's just say her innovation in the field of war and how best to utilize my unit gave me that clarity."
"Mmm… How big did you say you wanted your unit to be?"
"I will need 43 recruits and the same number of Rhinos. Will that be possible?"
"We can accommodate that amount at the moment, yes."
"Excellent!"
- Fire Lord's War room record. 97 A.G
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…it was a shame though. Some would remain alive. Conversation as I remember it:
"I-I cannot do it, commander. Please… no more. Send me home. I-I don't want to be part of this. The mass graves… that is not what I signed for."
That pleading fool returned my thoughts to the present. It was certainly infuriating to hear him fail in his duty to his nation.
"I understand, Corporal Liu. You are in no condition to continue serving which is why I brought Agent Wu here with me. He was on a mission until recently and he is to return home to rest for some time. He can take you to the Fire Isles on his way." Commander Lin said.
"Thank you… thank you." cried the weak excuse for a soldier in front of me.
"You can go ahead and wait for him at the docks, I still have to hear the agent's report before he goes back."
I had already given her my report. As the corporal left, I turned my attention to the greatest officer I had ever had the honor of serving. As the commander looked at me I understood why she had dismissed him right away.
"I cannot allow him to tell anyone of what we are doing here. The citizens wouldn't understand. Kill him and throw his body into the sea."
"As you command."
I love her.
- Agent Wu's journal entry #78 (98 A.G). Recovered records of Fire Nation spies post-war.
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I had expected cruelty and laziness from the occupiers. Instead I found an army of engineers that moved like ants everywhere they went.
At first the villagers hated them for it. Walls were torn down to widen paths, sheds were moved, drainage ditches were dug through family plots, and work details were imposed on nearly every household. Yet when the rains came, the streets did not flood. When the dry weeks followed, the wells did not fail. When traders returned, they found a road broad enough for two carts to pass each other.
Many now call it a harsh but effective rule. Some even call it a great change from the previous one.
- Entry from the journal of traveling herbalist Ren Fai, who passed through three southern villages during the occupation. 99 A.G.
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I'm trapped. Half my body is under rocks. Somehow the Fire Nation has called upon evil spirits to throw the mountain down on us. I pray that the garrison can pull me out in time, but if I don't make it out alive this letter is for my family.
Yan,
Since the day I saw you, I knew you would be the greatest treasure in my life. There is no better woman to carry on my legacy, and I wish I had more time with you and our baby girl. I wanted to watch her grow into the finest woman in the Earth Kingdom.
Know that I will always be waiting for you in the next life. You will never be alone for I will be with you forever. Remember to keep your beautiful smile shining bright, for our daughter will need it most.
The spirits will guide you to me when the time is right. I will ask and plead with them so that you can have a peaceful life, full of laughter and joy even if I'm not there.
I love you, now and forever.
Chen
- Letter recovered from the body of a young woman who died protecting her infant daughter from falling debris, following the fall of Gaoling. 98 A.G
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The newly built trenches at Qinchao were meant to buy us time. We had raised spikes on the ground, stationed archers above the walls, and prepared fallback lines through the village in case the Fire Nation pushed faster than expected. The officers swore the defenses could not be taken in a single day.
At dawn, their cruel weapons opened fire on the village instead of the walls and trenches. There was no wave of enemies yet.
I remember the confusion most of all. We thought at first that it was a distraction for their eventual push and we decided not to leave our defensive positions. Then the second volley struck the grain stores, the third the wells, and the fourth the homes nearest the road. Smoke swallowed the square before our men at the walls had even seen the enemy.
We split our teams in order to defend our homes. That is when the cowards struck and she… finally appeared.
At the head of a charge of the enemy, this young girl ran towards the trenches without fear. I saw our brave soldiers try to bring her down, earth walls, spears, volleys from the rooftops, and still she kept coming. There was metal in her arms and shoulders, and every time she raised a hand another man died.
By midday the village was barely standing, and our lines were gone.
- Deposition of Milu Ren, former clerk of the Qinchao Barracks, recorded in exile. 98 A.G.
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Dear Father,
I'm afraid I cannot possibly report that I'm alright at the moment. Recent events have pushed me to see how terrible and honorless war can be.
I will start from the beginning. Our commander left our unit behind to continue on a secret mission down south. I'm not entirely sure what they are looking for, but almost all of our battalion was integrated into the forces under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lin Renshi. Yesterday, we were ordered to move out from our camp to attack the fortress town of Shen Guan, a military target close to Omashu that had a big enough garrison to be a threat. Our captain and the rest of our officers came up with a plan to take the fortress and she approved of it.
We believed glory awaited us, and we had all of the advantages we thought we needed. But the plan went south quickly. A few hours after we began our offensive, our attack was halted and our position was far from ideal. The Lieutenant Colonel ordered us to retreat but the captain was not having it. He believed we could win the fight if we continued to push, our soldiers were dying and I lost two close squadmates in the blink of an eye. It filled my heart with rage. When the earthbenders began their counter-attack we were not so sure that we could win anymore.
At that moment, apparently our commander thought it wise to bomb our position with explosives fired from a distance. The new weapons of the Fire Nation aimed at our own soldiers. It forced us and the earthbenders to retreat and almost a hundred of our own soldiers died in that attack. But the worst was yet to come. After we returned, my captain was denied an Agni Kai and imprisoned for disobeying orders and our unit was told to remain on standby and just watch. And watch we unfortunately did.
We watched as our commander, a young girl with unnatural looks and metal parts in her body, ordered the annihilation of the entire fortress town. We watched as the weapons that moments ago had devastated our line, tore through the city without stopping. We watched as the Fire Nation conquered the skies, just to burn everything to ash below. It was sickening. They left none alive. There are even rumours that there were civilians inside, but the commander insisted it was a military target anyway.
I can still smell the burning flesh and my stomach hasn't settled since then. I don't know how much more I can take under the command of a monster. I want to desert but I'm scared I won't live to tell the tale.
Please help me.
With love, your son.
- Letter presented as evidence in the trial for treason against Sergeant Wei, intercepted by the war correspondence unit. 98 A.G
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Second day after the capture of Gaoling.
Inventory adjustment as follows:
Rice, eleven sealed barrels missing.
Salt fish, four crates missing.
Lamp oil, two casks diverted by order of command.
City's casualties report:
Combatants
Bodies in the eastern pit, 237 counted before dusk, number incomplete due to delivery.
Bodies in the southern pit, 1009 counted, mostly militia and earthbenders.
Bodies unsuitable for burial due to burning, 4788 counted.
Missing people, uncountable.
Civilians
Bodies in the northern pit, 1121 counted.
Bodies in the western pit, 789 counted.
Bodies unsuitable for burial due to burning, 144 counted.
Missing people, 30000 approximately.
I asked Lieutenant Kaida whether we would be helping them with the people buried under the mountain debris, so that we could report how many were killed. She told me that Commander Lin gave no such order.
Therefore I had to write an approximate number. So I did.
- Quartermaster's field ledger, Gaoling encampment. Entry preserved in military archives after the war. 98 A.G.
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Mother,
You told me not to repeat Fire Nation words as though they were truth, and I have not forgotten who they are. But I want you to know what I have seen with my own eyes.
The school roof no longer leaks. They repaired it with proper beams instead of the rotted wood we had patched year after year. They sent a physician to the village twice this month, not just for their own soldiers stationed here, but for everyone. Old Weng's cough is better, and little Sui did not lose her foot after the cart wheel crushed it because they cleaned the wound and stitched it shut.
The soldiers say this is all because their commander believes sick workers and broken roads waste time and supplies. I suppose that is meant to sound cold, but after so many seasons of being ignored by our own governors, I find I care little for their reasons.
Please do not be angry with me for writing this. I know what we were taught. I only know that things are easier here now.
I miss you.
- Letter from Fen, schoolteacher of Nandao village, to her father in Gaoling. 98 A.G.
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The road through Mishi Pass is safe now.
Caravans travel again, bandits have vanished, and the old washouts that used to trap ox-carts every rainy season have been filled with stone and timber. Even the merchants who curse the occupation admit it is easier to do business under military escort than it ever was under the old district officials.
The only issue is that now we can only trade in the south or by boat to the northern Fire Nation colonies, we can no longer venture to the Earth Kingdom's territories.
But one does not forget how that safety was achieved. So many families have disappeared, and although that gave more business opportunities for us merchants, no one is telling us what happened to them. They are declared as missing, but we all know that is not true.
- Report of traveling merchant Bao Ren, recorded in a customs ledger at Gaoling. 99 A.G.
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We had heard that the Fire Nation commander was some kind of evil spirit, that she burned villages for sport and fed prisoners to her spirit minions. That was the sort of tale refugees and peddlers carried from town to town, and when her army approached, mothers hid their children indoors and men sharpened farming tools as if they might matter.
Then her officers assembled everyone in the square and read out a work schedule: two days for clearing debris, four for resetting the irrigation lines, six for rebuilding the mill wheel, and twelve for repairing the road eastward so that supply wagons and civilian carts could pass in all weather. Then, to my surprise, they told us that labor would be compensated in grain, salt, and lamp oil.
Theft from the village by soldiers was punishable by flogging, and theft from military stores by villagers by hanging. The rules were cruel, but they were rules most of us could follow. By the end of the month, the mill was turning again for the first time since my husband was a boy.
I still do not welcome them. I still do not forgive them for coming. But I cannot deny that the village works better than it did under our own lords.
- Statement of Hema, collected by provincial census takers after the war. 101 A.G.
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Dear aunt,
I have found work again, real work, not just carrying sacks for scraps of copper. The occupiers reopened the quarry and set masons, haulers, and carpenters to build train track foundations. They pay in grain more often than coin, but grain keeps a man alive just the same.
The commander inspected the work herself two days ago. She said very little. She only asked how long the construction would take, how many men could be spared for the steel factory. I must say she looks like a small girl but she carries a lot of authority.
I do not know whether to feel grateful yet when I bring food home. I'm working for the enemy after all. But for once, I feel I can survive.
- Letter from Kang, quarry laborer outside Gaoling, to his aunt in the inner city. 98 A.G.