The three great dynasties sought to destroy the Great Han and usurp my throne, their malice escalating with each step. Their wickedness is more profound than snake and scorpion venom, their humanity severed from within and without.
This battle, shoulder to shoulder with you, we shall protect our homeland. Those who dare to invade our mighty Han, no matter how distant, shall be vanquished!
...
On the twentieth day of the third month in the second year of Han, as the Great Han's declaration of war sent shockwaves through the ten great dynasties, many martial artists scratched their heads, disbelieving that the Great Han would truly deploy troops against the three great dynasties. But on the evening of the twentieth.
Amidst the mockery of Ying Zhong, the Human Emperor of Great Cloud, and the Human Emperor of Blood Sun, the Great Han's three armies landed on the three great dynasties almost simultaneously. These three armies, like sharp swords, instantly tore away the fig leaves of self-proclaimed top-tier powerhouses from the three great dynasties. The three armies advanced like a broken bamboo, directly occupying numerous coastal cities.
Great Cloud Dynasty.
The Kui Niu Legion, led by Qi Ji Guang, under the secret planning with Li Wen Zhong, advanced with over 300,000 troops in light armor, crossing dozens of cities overnight. They descended like heavenly soldiers and generals, capturing Fengyun Pass, a strategically important coastal city in the west of the Great Cloud Dynasty.
The Great Cloud Dynasty was already the weakest among the ten great dynasties, and its strength was further diminished after the loss of the great general Xiong Feng. With only the Human Emperor of Great Cloud at the fourth layer of the Rong Tian realm and three marquises at the first layer of the Rong Tian realm, this sudden turn of events threw the entire dynasty into turmoil.
The three marquises at the first layer of the Rong Tian realm were leading their armies deep into the Cang Mu Dynasty. Without the three marquises to guard the four directions, the Great Cloud Dynasty found itself in a desperate situation with no generals available.
"Yun Han, have you been able to contact the Human Emperor of Holy Yuan?"
In the grand hall of the Great Cloud Dynasty's imperial palace, the Human Emperor of Great Cloud, with a haggard expression, looked at his only surviving son, Yun Han, and felt his heart bleed.
This Yun Han was more of a hindrance than a help. The Human Emperor of Holy Yuan had woven a web, and with a few words, he had dragged Yun Han, the next Human Emperor of the Great Cloud Dynasty, into it.
The three marquises of the Rong Tian realm were leading troops into the Cang Mu Dynasty, facing the pressure of the armies of both the Cang Mu Dynasty and the Bei Han Dynasty, while constantly having to guard against their good neighbor and ally, the Holy Yuan Dynasty.
The pressure was immense, even bordering on being beyond their capabilities!
The selection of Yun Han was also a flaw of the Great Cloud Dynasty. For the succession of the next Human Emperor, the Great Cloud Dynasty had always adopted a laissez-faire approach, promoting survival of the fittest. The Human Emperor would not interfere in the power struggles between his sons, treating all his children equally. They were expected to fight their way through their siblings based on their own abilities to become the sole heir to the Human Emperor's throne.
But now, the Great Cloud Dynasty had been pulled into the mire by the Holy Yuan Dynasty, and upon stepping into this quagmire, the Great Cloud Dynasty began to collapse instantly. The Great Han was the last straw that broke the camel's back for the Great Cloud Dynasty.
The Holy Yuan Dynasty, under the guise of a two-pronged attack strategy, simultaneously deployed troops against the Bei Han Dynasty and the Tian Yuan Dynasty. They publicly informed the Great Cloud Dynasty and the Blood Sun Dynasty that they were stretched thin with their two-pronged offensive, thus placing the entire pressure of the Tian Yuan Dynasty onto the Blood Sun Dynasty.
The Great Cloud Dynasty, in particular, was the most pitiable, bearing the brunt of the pressure from both the Cang Mu Dynasty and the Bei Han Dynasty.
In the second month of the dynastic war, the purpose behind Ying Zhong's initiation of the dynastic war was slowly uncovered by various factions. The martial artists could not help but give a thumbs-up to Ying Zhong, this young ruler of the dynasty, for his seemingly venomous scheme.
He had intended to use his enthronement ceremony to weaken the Great Han with the help of the forces of the other dynasties, while also weakening the top combat power of other imperial forces. The goal was quite satisfactory, but a minor accident occurred at the end, like picking up a stone to smash his own foot, causing his own Holy Yuan Dynasty to lose a Rong Tian realm expert.
This scheme did not meet Ying Zhong's expectations. He, using Yun Han's anger, devised another plan, seemingly binding the Great Cloud Dynasty and the Blood Sun Dynasty to himself, but in reality, tying these two dynasties to the Cang Mu Dynasty, the Bei Han Dynasty, and the Tian Yuan Dynasty onto a precariously sinking giant ship.
Whether these great dynasties sank or not, the outcome was the same for Ying Zhong.
"Father... your son... your son!" Yun Han opened his mouth, but the words at the tip of his tongue were swallowed back.
"Speak! As the Crown Prince of the Great Cloud Dynasty and the heir to the next Human Emperor, you stammer and falter. How will you govern a dynasty in the future?" the Human Emperor of Great Cloud roared in anger. If he had any other useful son, he would have crippled Yun Han on the spot.
"Yes!"
Yun Han shuddered in fear and immediately said, "Father, the envoys I sent out were intercepted by the soldiers on the border of the Holy Yuan Dynasty. They also said that their Human Emperor..."
"What did they say?" The Human Emperor of Great Cloud's expression turned cold.
"They said that the situation is critical, and their Human Emperor is losing sleep, working tirelessly to handle the major affairs of conquering Bei Han and Tian Yuan, and therefore, cannot be seen!" Yun Han raised his head slightly, observing his father's facial expression.
"Ah!"
"Clang!" The Human Emperor of Great Cloud roared in fury, sweeping all the memorial tablets on the table to the ground.
"Ying Zhong!"
"Well played, Ying Zhong! More ruthless and venomous than his old man, that immortal being! At the enthronement ceremony, he severed one of Great Cloud's arms, and ever since, he has dragged Great Cloud into a swamp-like vortex. Now, all our armies are trapped in the Cang Mu Dynasty, and now the Great Han invades our territory."
"Do any of you have a plan to repel the enemy?"
"Do any of you have a plan to repel the enemy?"
His tone, initially laced with anger, as if he wished to kill Ying Zhong, suddenly turned anxious, with a hint of panic in his words.
The might of the Great Han no longer required probing. Li Bai, the Minister of Personnel alone, outshone all the imperial dynasties. As for the generals and marquises of the Great Han, many factions knew of Zhang Liao and Xu Chu. These three alone were enough to give them a headache, and now, a whole legion was marching into the Great Cloud Dynasty – the Kui Niu Legion.
The Kui Niu Legion had never appeared before. This was the first time the Great Han's Kui Niu Legion had displayed its formidable power to the world. With its first move, it captured numerous coastal cities in the west of the Great Cloud Dynasty, and even seized the vital western fortress – Fengyun Pass.
What caused him even greater dread was that the commander of this legion, Qi Ji Guang, although in the Tian Wu realm, possessed an almost divine skill in military strategy, making the generals of the western cities dance to his tune. While everyone was still searching for the Kui Niu Legion's whereabouts, Qi Ji Guang, with his 300,000 troops, descended like heavenly soldiers and generals, directly capturing Fengyun Pass.
With the army advancing on three fronts, centered around Fengyun Pass, all the western cities were swiftly conquered. The entire central region was like a landslide, and the situation was precarious!