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The Siege of Dunhuang

Just under twenty years ago the disastrous rebellion of the uncouth foreign general An Lushan, adopted son of Imperial consort Yang Guifei, shook the Tang Dynasty to its foundation. Where previously our empire's reach extended far into the Tarim Basin, we have recently been forced to withdraw to defend the homeland. Sure enough, not long after our garrisons departed eastward, the meddlesome Tibetans took advantage of our predicament and moved in.
Meanwhile, An Lushan's rebels advanced on Luoyang and then Chang-an, sacking the proud cities and forcing our royal family to flee ignominiously under cover of darkness. At one point, to make good their escape, the trapped Emperor Xuansong agreed to the execution of Yang Guifei, his cherished consort. He never recovered from this everlasting wrong, and soon died of heartbreak. Suzong, son of Xuansong, now sits on the Tang throne and has reoccupied Chang-an. Many li to the west, the unruly Tibetans still terrorize our settlements along the Silk Road, leaving a path of ruin in their wake. Their aggressive behaviour must be thwarted!
It is your duty to rebuild Dunhuang, fashioning it into a bastion of Tang power. Only thus can we protect the western trade route and its precious caravans, as Tang China's economy depends upon the revenue from this lifeline. The nearby salt marshes can be tapped for precious salt, and iron ore smelted into stout steel weapons. The Tibetans are out there, and they will surely come if they scent a weakness. Let them come, and let their vile ranks impale themselves recklessly upon the high walls of Dunhuang!

City - Dunhuang
Starts Feb 775 CE
16000 starting cash on Very Hard
(20000 starting cash on Normal)

Requirements:

  • 5 trading partners
  • Produce 10 bars of steel in one year
  • Produce 10 canisters of salt in one year
  • Population of 2500

Difficulty played at - Very Hard

I confess to not being a very good General. I avoided any sort of military activity in the first seven Sui-Tang missions, but this final mission of the campaign didn't give me a choice.

(Note: There was a bug in the game when I prepared this walkthrough. The Tower Guards would not fire on invaders. Therefore, Towers are not a part of my defensive preparations in this walkthrough. When you play the bug will be fixed and you will be able to effectively use the Towers in the defense of your city.)

There is an existing area on the map surrounded by City Walls, Towers and Gate Houses. Since this is going to be a military mission, you would be well advised to construct your city within these walls. Immigrants enter the map from the east near this location. As I have advised before, delete a few of the existing road tiles near the entrance point so that the immigrants will take a more direct route to your houses.

In the northeast corner of the walled compound, I placed a single housing block with 47 houses. I would evolve these houses to Ornate Apartments, which would give me a maximum population of 2961. This will satisfy the population goal of 2500. The mission begins with Kashgar as a trading partner. As soon as you have workers to support it, build a Trading Station and import the maximum amount of Jade. Carved Jade will be your major source of income in this mission. In March of CE 775 Chang-an becomes an ally. Treat them well and they will send you troops to help you defend your city. Chang-an will also buy all of the Carved Jade that you can produce. Your next priority should be Jade Carvers (I placed 3 of them) and the Trading Station for Chang-an. I would advise that you stockpile 8 carved jade before you sell any. (Set a Warehouse to "get" 8 carved jade.) The carved jade can be used as a gift to summon a Hero to help you defend your city.

So that my city would grow, my next goal was food and hemp production. Three food farms, each with a combination of the three available food types, and two hemp farms would be all that I would need. All farms were irrigated. Hunting is also an option in this mission, but I didn't use it. Farming was a better use of available labor. I placed the food farms north of the city, and added a City Gate in the north wall to improve delivery times. Hemp farms were across the river to the west.

In November of CE 775 an Emissary should arrive from Changzhou. Welcome him with open arms. He has a gift of 12 racks of weapons for you. Have a Warehouse ready to accept the gift. You must have these weapons to survive the first invasion. As soon as the weapons are delivered, build an Administrative City and an Infantry Fort. When the Administrative City is staffed, you can also build a Mint.

In March of CE 776 I received the warning that "Lhasa launches invasion". They will arrive in 6 months. I immediately placed a Buddhist Pagoda in my city, and sent a gift of the 8 carved jade that I had stockpiled to Sun Wu Kong. The Monkey King's attitude became "exalted" and would soon arrive to help me defend against the coming invasion. I also called on my ally Chang-an and "requested defensive aid". They sent 2 Infantry, 1 Crossbowman and 1 Horseman. With 12 Infantry of my own plus Mr. Kong, I was ready for the invasion. (Assuming that the Tower bug has been fixed, you would also want to man the Towers at this point. Building a few additional Towers would also be a good idea.)

In September on CE 776 the invasion from Lhasa arrived with 3 Horsemen and 14 Infantry. As I stated earlier, I'm not much of a General, but I'm not a wimp either. I chose to fight. The first invasion came from the south, but it might not originate there for you. I also had an invasion from the northwest. There are therefore at least two possible invasion points on the map. There could be others.

I sent my Hero to face the Horsemen and fed my allies to the enemy Infantry, holding my forces in reserve. The Monkey King was "killed" along with all the allies, but the enemy did suffer some losses. I moved my troops to the front and engaged in battle. It was not looking to good for the home team. A City Gate was broken down and the invasion entered the city. I had almost given up hope of victory, when Sun Wu Kong reappeared. I moved Sun Wu's flag around, mopping up what was left of Tibetans. The battle lasted until March CE 777, but in the end I was victorious. It is not only important to win this battle, but you must win it decisively. If most of your troops are killed, there is a good chance that another city will take advantage of your weakness and launch an invasion of their own.

I went about rebuilding my city. Funds and available labor were low. I started selling carved jade, placed a couple of Paper Makers and a Tax Office. More immigrants soon arrived, housing evolved, taxes were collected and soon I was out of debt and well on my way to recovery. I placed my first two Steel Furnaces, a couple of Weaponsmiths and Logging Sheds. I also built the Palace and a Fort for Horsemen. When I had the funds and labor, I added a couple more Paper Makers. Chang-an will also buy 12 paper each year. This is a good additional source of income. Housing needed ceramics to evolve further. I added Clay Pits and Kilns.

In March CE 778, I received the message that I knew was coming: "Lhasa launches invasion". Again, I had 6 months to get ready. My forts were not filled, and weapon production was not keeping up with demand. I decided to buy weapons from Chang-an. This was a difficult decision because I could not then afford to send another gift of Carved Jade to call the Hero that served me so well in the first battle. I again requested defensive aid from Chang-an, and hoped that our combined forces would be enough to defeat the Tibetans.

Lhasa's forces arrived in September CE 778 and consisted of 1 Horseman and 5 Infantry. I had a full fort of 16 Infantry and 2 Horsemen. Chang-an had sent 3 Infantry, I Horseman, 2 Crossbowmen and a Catapult. The combined force easily defeated the invading army in the first month of battle, even without support from the Towers or a Hero.

I had still not met the production requirement of 10 bars of steel in one year. The problem was a shortage of wood near the Steel Furnaces. I placed two more Logging Sheds west of the city with a Warehouse nearby to accept the wood. I instructed the Warehouse near the Furnaces to "get" wood, and placed a third Steel Furnace to be sure that I would not fall short of the production goal again. I then placed three Salt Mines, disconnected from the rest of the city, with an "accepting" Warehouse for salt nearby. I set a couple of the Warehouses in city to "get" salt, and built a Trading Station for Chengdu so that I could sell salt and the excess cabbage and millet that I was producing.

In January of CE 778 (the last month of CE 778, not the first month) another message that Lhasa would invade in 6 months was received. Again, I called on Chang-an for assistance. They would send 4 Infantry, 2 Horsemen, 2 Crossbowmen and a Catapult. My two forts were full with 16 Infantry and 8 Horsemen. I was sure this time that I could handle the invasion without the assistance of a Hero. The invading army arrived in July of CE 780 and consisted of 9 Infantry and 2 Horsemen. My guys didn't even break a sweat. The Catapult fired on the invaders at long distance and then the Horsemen and Crossbowmen used the survivors for target practice. The last two Tibetan Infantry turned tail and ran without ever engaging my Infantry. I suffered no losses.

I would have to wait the end of the year to see if I met the production goals for steel and salt. Population had exceeded the required 2500. I still needed two more trading partners and there were nine other cities on the empire map. Without sending any gifts, I decided to send a diplomatic request to "open trade" with every city. I even sent one to my archrival Lhasa. Much to my surprise, every city accepted except for Sabi.

My final results were as follows:

Mission Completed: January CE 780
Cash: 1286
Population: 2929
Trading Partners: 12 (5 required)
Bars of Steel produced in a year: 18 (10 required)
Canisters of Salt produced in a year: 24 (10 required)
Score: 1462
Feng Shui: Perfect Harmony

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