Three Kingdoms: Domination of the World

The July heatwave in Xuzhou was sweltering, even the cicadas' chirping tinged with hoarse fatigue. Guo Jia, wrapped in a fox fur coat, curled up on the soft couch in the carriage, his fingertips tracing the cracks in the tortoise shell. The intermittent groans of soldiers suffering from heatstroke drifted into the tent. Suddenly, he began coughing violently, and a dark red blood flower bloomed on his white scarf.

"Military Advisor!" Xu Huang opened the tent curtain and rushed in. There was still dry grass stuck in the gaps of the iron armor.

"Scouts report that Suo Chao's army has captured Donghai County and Pengcheng State, and is heading straight for Xiapi County and Guangling County..."

Before he could finish his words, a sharp whistling sound suddenly echoed from the sky. A blue meteor, trailing a three-meter-long tail of light, streaked across the night sky, illuminating the entire camp as pale as day. Xu Huang's tiger-head helmet shone an eerie blue in the strong light, and the tortoise shell in Guo Jia's hand snapped in two.

"Double overlapping Kans, a very ominous hexagram." Guo Jia muttered to himself as he stared at the hexagram, cold sweat trickling down his pale neck into his collar. The candlelight on the desk suddenly shot up three feet, burning a charred hole in the hanging Yanzhou topographic map.

Xu Huang was about to get water to put out the fire, but Guo Jia grabbed his wristband tightly.

"Inform the three armies immediately! Break camp overnight and return to defend Yanzhou!"

"The Prime Minister's army is attacking Bingzhou... Could it be that the military advisor is worried about the loss of Yanzhou?" Xu Huang asked puzzledly.

"It's true that Suo Chao's army captured Xuzhou, but a surprise attack on Yanzhou is also very likely!" Guo Jia spread out the sheepskin map and carefully analyzed the deployment of Cao's army.

"Suo Chao has been missing for many days and must have sneaked into the heart of Yanzhou. These fortresses must not be lost, otherwise our army will be in danger!" Guo Jia stared at the sheepskin map and analyzed calmly.

As prophecy came true, a sudden rumble like muffled thunder echoed from the southeast. Xu Huang rushed out of the tent and saw a towering fire rising from the horizon, staining half the night sky blood red.

"Not good! The enemy has invaded the Yanzhou fortress." Guo Jia suddenly vomited a mouthful of black blood and fainted.

...

On the Jinyang front, Cao Cao squinted at the massive steel city. Under the moonlight, the thirty-foot-high walls shone with a cold bluish-gray hue. Yan Yan had actually constructed the foundations using a mixture of cement and refined iron, so that even the white marks left by the catapults were pitifully shallow.

"Old man Yan Yan is holding his ground and refusing to come out. Do you have any good ideas?" Cao Cao sighed as he looked at the "city". The cement and steel technology provided by Suo Chao was indeed useful.

"My lord, why don't we secretly transport the bodies of those infected with the plague into Jinyang City?" Cheng Yu said in a cold voice with a flash of cold light in his eyes.

"Zhongde, this matter needs to be considered carefully. Injuring one hundred enemies and losing eight thousand of your own is not a good strategy!" Cao Cao shook his head and smiled bitterly.

In recent years, Cao Cao's intelligence department has made remarkable achievements. Any advanced technology announced by Suo Chao is quickly available to Liu Ye. However, Cao's army has limited financial resources, so they can only be frugal and devote all their efforts to the development of advanced firearms.

"Zi Yang, how long are you going to keep me waiting for your new weapon?" Cao Cao tapped his palm with his horsewhip. Behind him came the creaking sound of wooden wheels rolling over gravel.

Liu Ye wiped the black dust from his forehead, revealing a childlike excitement:

"My lord, please look!" He yanked back the oilcloth, revealing ten enormous bronze beasts in the moonlight. The cannons were covered in yin-yang fish patterns, and the muzzles were polished from a single piece of fine steel.

"This is the 'Yin Yang Thunderbolt Chariot', with saltpeter as Yang and sulfur as Yin..." Liu Ye introduced the various uses of the new artillery in detail, like a treasure trove.

Cao Cao pressed his five fingers hard on Liu Ye's shoulders, the bronze wristbands clashing against the iron armor creating a clanging sound. He gazed at the Yin-Yang Thunderbolt Chariot, gleaming coldly in the moonlight, and suddenly laughed to the heavens, his voice shaking the camp:

"When King Wu of Zhou got Jiang Shang, he had the Eagle of Muye. Now that I have Zi Yang, it is like holding the thunder of the sky!"

"My lord! What virtue and ability has Zi Yang possessed?" Liu Ye said with tears of gratitude.

Suddenly, continuous thunder sounded in the Cao army's formation, and twelve bronze beasts spewed out flames at the same time.

The thunder cannon improved by Liu Ye could actually fire seven bullets in a row. The iron balls wrapped in the smell of sulfur drew red tracks in the night sky and dug a crack about ten feet deep in the wall of Jinyang.

Yan Yan's white beard curled and scorched in the heat. The old general kicked away the stunned crossbowman and turned the capstan himself. The three remaining cannons on the city wall whimpered in their death throes. Iron balls collided with Cao's shells in mid-air, and the exploding iron rain dyed the moat scarlet.

"Pour gold!" Yan Yan's roar mingled with the wail of cracking bricks. Scalding lead poured down the trenches of the city wall, only to be ignited into a cloud of smoke by the phosphorescent fire ignited by Cao's new iron balls the moment it touched the ground.

After several days of fierce fighting, Jinyang City was in imminent danger and would soon be captured by Cao's army. One day, Cao's army camp suddenly heard a report from a scout.

"Report! Urgent message from Yanzhou, eight hundred miles away!" The scout staggered to his knees.

"Tell me in detail." Cao Cao stood up suddenly, his black cloak tied to the command arrow on the case, and his jade-inlaid belt knocked heavily on the bronze tiger talisman.

"Zhou Bo's army raided Yanzhou! Military Advisor Guo fell ill! The general was besieged in Xia Pi City. All thanks to a young general named Han Xin." The scout replied truthfully.

"Good one, Suo Chao. Could this young general Han Xin be my real general?" Cao Cao chuckled, his fingertips stroking the fortress on the map. He suddenly drew his Heavenly Sword with a flash of cold light, and the entire leather case cracked with a sound.

......

Yanzhou.

"Attack them and they will surely rescue them! What a military genius! You and I are thinking alike." Suo Chao smiled knowingly. Before he could make a move, young Han Xin had already breached the city walls and broken through the Yanzhou defenses.

The time has come. Suo Chao chooses an open space and activates three teleportation orders. Three brilliant lights flash by:

"The Australian Eastern Wu Legion has arrived!"

"The Eastern Wu Legion from the Japanese Island has arrived!"

"The North American army has arrived!"

The three armies have been assembled, totaling 30 soldiers and horses. Now that the overseas army has suddenly landed in Yanzhou, Cao's army is temporarily unable to gather enough troops to fight against this army.

Guo Jia had a keen intuition on the battlefield and immediately notified Cao's army in Yanzhou to return to defend.

Upon learning of the situation in Yanzhou, the brave Cao Ang personally led his troops to defend the city. He was accompanied by his father's trusted general Dian Wei and the talented and capable Xun Yu.

"Feng Xiao is indeed worthy of his reputation, but it's a pity that you and I are on opposite sides." Suo Chao learned that his plan to attack Yanzhou had been discovered by Guo Jia, and he had to fight a quick battle to prevent Cao Cao's troops from returning to reinforce.