Three Kingdoms: Domination of the World

February 202 AD.

A north wind whipped fine snow across the Yanzhou plains, causing the white fox fur coat beneath Ma Chao's silver armor to rustle. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the black-armored troops slowly approaching from three miles away, the golden tiger-headed spear in his hand gleaming coldly in the snow.

"Report! Xiahou Dun's vanguard is only two miles away!" The scout's voice was covered with ice.

Ma Chao sneered, and with the tip of his spear he lightly lowered his visor:

"Men of Xiliang, listen up! Deploy the Yanling Formation. Once this general has pierced Xiahou Dun with his spear, the entire army will charge!"

"General, you are the commander-in-chief of the three armies. Your life and property are related to the 70,000 troops in the rear. You must not take risks alone." Tian Feng advised frankly.

Suo Chao recruited Tian Feng from a humble background. Tian Feng's talent made him a perfect assistant to Ma Chao. With one of them, the civil and the other the military, guarding the front lines of Yanzhou and Jizhou, he was able to rest assured in his pursuit of Qingzhou.

However, man proposes, God disposes. The newly arrived strategist Guo Tu understands people's hearts very well and flatters Ma Chao with kindness, which makes him very popular with him.

"Yuan Hao, you worry too much. The Heavenly General is so powerful that no one in Cao's army can defeat him." Guo Tu took advantage of the opportunity and urged Ma Chao to launch a surprise attack on Xiahou Dun's troops.

"Hahaha! You are bold and careful, which is exactly what I want. Erlang and his men, let's defeat the vanguard general of Cao's army today." Ma Chao looked excited and eager to fight.

"General, don't underestimate the enemy," Tian Feng repeatedly warned, urging him not to risk his troops alone. But Ma Chao, complacent and full of ambition, had forgotten all about it.

The snowfield trembled. Three thousand Xiliang cavalrymen, their silver armor like scales, their lances a steel forest reflecting a dazzling gleam in the sunlight. For these men, born in the bitter cold of Longxi, the white mist from their horses blended with the ice crystals on their armor.

Suddenly, a deafening roar of war drums erupted from the other side. Xiahou Dun's single eye glowed crimson, his long sword pointed toward the heavens.

"Soldiers! Show these Xiliang barbarians the true power of the Central Plains cavalry!" The dark mass of heavily armored infantry phalanxes suddenly split apart, and eight hundred armored cavalrymen rushed out like a black torrent, their hooves crushing the snow and mud and splashing it three feet high.

"Disperse!" Ma Chao shouted. The Xiliang cavalry instantly transformed into a sky filled with silver stars, their lightly armored horses drawing strange arcs across the snow. The first wave of arrows grazed the visors of the heavily armored cavalry, but as the two armies met, the formation suddenly changed—the front row of cavalry suddenly dismounted, while the rear row of knights raised their two-foot-long spears from behind their saddles.

The roar of metal clashing resounded through the sky. The tiger-headed golden spear, like a silver snake spitting its tongue, instantly pierced through three suits of heavy armor. Xiahou Dun swept his long sword across, severing the two Xiliang cavalrymen, their horses and riders, into four. His single eye suddenly constricted—a cold star was already three inches from his throat!

"Clang!" The clang of metal knocked the icicles off Xiahou Dun's helmet. Ma Chao, still wielding his spear, backhandedly lashed out, knocking Xiahou Dun's heart guard away. Witnessing the might of their leader, the Xiliang cavalry roared in unison, forcing Cao's vanguard, many times their size, back.

"General! The left wing is retreating!" Deputy General Ma Tie's voice suddenly trembled. Ma Chao looked up and saw that the flank formation that should have been held firmly had been scattered like gravel. A strange black line was spreading across the snow—it was blood-soaked mud!

"I've fallen into a trap!" Ma Chao's heart trembled. A black wave suddenly rose on the distant horizon, and Cao Cao's dark cloak fluttered like a banner in the wind and snow. Twenty thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalrymen, all in armor, their heavy hooves cracked the earth like spiderwebs.

Xiahou Dun suddenly let out a wild laugh like an owl, and blood gushed out of his broken left eye socket:

"Jin Ma Chao! Today is the day when your Xiliang Wolf Riders will be exterminated!" The Cao army infantry, which had been in disarray, suddenly raised their iron shields a meter high, and fired a volley of powerful crossbows with cold light flashing through the gaps between the shields.

Ma Chao's eyes were bloodshot. The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were approaching like a black wave, the heavily armored cavalry maintaining a strict wedge formation as they charged. The arrows of the Western Liang light cavalry clanged against the black iron armor, and in a blink of an eye, the silver-armored knights in the front row were sent flying by heavy spears.

"Change formation! Sharp arrow formation!" Ma Chao thrust his spear through the throat of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry leader, only to find the tip lodged in his neck armor. Screams echoed from all around. The Xiliang cavalry's prided mobility was severely compromised in the snow and mud, while the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's heavily armored armor crushed them like a steel fortress.

Suddenly, a strange red plum blossom bloomed on the snow. A Xiliang warhorse, having lost its master, wailed as it crashed into the torrent of armored soldiers, instantly pierced by over a dozen lances. Ma Chao's white fox fur coat had been dyed scarlet, and the tassel of his tiger-headed golden spear was condensed with a mixture of ice and blood.

"General, move!" The captain of the guard suddenly charged from the side, blocking three crossbow bolts aimed at Ma Chao with his body. Ma Chao gritted his teeth and reined in his horse, realizing that the once open snowfield had been completely encircled by Cao's iron wall. The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's heavy armor was stained with frost and blood, yet they maintained their desperate formation intact.

Upon learning that their commander was in danger, the army in the rear rushed to Ma Chao's aid. However, Cao Cao used the tactics of attacking each one separately and ambushing at different points to defeat Ma Chao's 7 reinforcements one after another.

"Ma Tie died in battle!"

"Tian Feng died in battle!"

.......

As night fell, the remaining Xiliang cavalry finally broke through the encirclement. Ma Chao looked back and saw the interlaced black and silver armor on the snow like the remains of a giant beast.

"I regret not listening to Yuan Hao's advice. My brother died in battle, my military advisor died, and only one tenth of our army survived. I can never redeem myself even if I die a hundred times." Ma Chao said dejectedly, his body covered in blood.

"General, Cao's army is pursuing us relentlessly. We should evacuate quickly." Guo Tu's plan of a hasty attack failed, and he was also worried that Ma Chao would come after him.

"Gong Ze, Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry are fierce, you run for your life. I will fight to the death." Ma Chao said resolutely with the determination to die.

In the distance, Cao Cao's flag was moving slowly, and suddenly a series of torches lit up in the southeast direction - Chen Huan's reinforcements had arrived.

"General, our reinforcements have arrived." The messenger reported.

Cao Cao stationed his horse on a high hill, looking at the blood ice gradually solidifying on the snowfield and Chen Huan's reinforcements, and remained silent for a long time.

Cheng Yu was about to speak when he saw his lord reach out and catch a snowflake:

"Although we won this battle and recovered some of the lost territory in Yanzhou, it's difficult to expand our victory." He suddenly started coughing violently, and his palms were covered in scarlet.

Cao Cao lost his Yanzhou headquarters, and his wife, children, and relatives were captured. He became ill with worry and finally collapsed from exhaustion. Fortunately, the vital passage connecting Jizhou and Yuzhou was opened, and the Jizhou army was no longer isolated, averting the threat of collapse.