A Precarious Alliance
Liu Chong's army swallowed Jiangdong whole.
The five prefectures of Xu Province.
The nine prefectures of Yang Province.
They had seized a territory vast enough to lack nothing in falsely claiming a royal title.
The King of Chen, Liu Chong, and Crown Prince Liu Seong-hwi hold the Imperial Jade Seal, which symbolizes the Heavenly Fortune and Heavenly Mandate of the imperial house. They even possessed hundreds of thousands of soldiers who had pacified every direction.
It was a brutal expansion.
The speed had far surpassed all expectations.
If the southern rebels were left unchecked, at this rate even Chang'an would be threatened.
"Enfeoff Liu Yu, the Inspector of You Province, as King of Yan; Liu Yan, the Governor of Yi Province, as King of Shu; and Liu Biao, the Governor of Jing Province, as King of Chu. If we enfeoff these cadet imperial clan members who have grown into border warlords as independent kings, the unified empire will fracture, and the realm will revert to an age of chaos..."
King of Yan. King of Shu. King of Chu.
Enfeoffing cadet imperial clan members on the frontier as kings.
It meant that the four-hundred-year unified empire—forged when Emperor Gao of Han, Liu Bang, defeated his hated rival, the Conqueror of Chu, Xiang Yu—would return to the Warring States Period.
If territory was partitioned among the cadet imperial clan members, only the Guanzhong and Guanxi regions would remain. The domain of the Qin state before Qin Shi Huang declared his war of unification.
"Though it is a desperate measure to suppress the southern rebels... the result will sever the lifeblood of four centuries of unified empire. An unforgivable sin!"
"Elder Grand Tutor, you have firmly sealed Tong Pass, have you not?"
Having relocated the capital to Chang'an, Dong Zhuo's forces had opted for strict isolationism. They had gone so far as to boast they would maintain non-engagement against any foe except those attempting to cross Tong Pass, the gateway to Guanzhong.
We will not intervene in outside affairs.
Guanzhong and Guanxi alone suffice as territory for our army to govern.
It was laissez-faire born of extreme self-preservation.
Proving the point, Dong Zhuo had conscripted hundreds of thousands of commoners to construct a dazzlingly resplendent palace named Wansuiwu and was indulging in debauchery and dissolution. Surrounded by hundreds of beautiful dancing girls, Dong Zhuo had already fully delegated military authority to his trusted confidants Li Jue and Guo Si.
"Wansuiwu... The elder intends to spend his remaining years focused solely on women and wealth."
"..."
If the grand enterprise succeeds, he will rule all under heaven; if the grand enterprise fails, he can spend his life relying on Wansuiwu and enjoying wealth and glory.
The walls of an iron fortress over seven zhang high.
Enough provisions to hold out for thirty years.
Gold, silver, and jewels extorted from all of Guanzhong and Guanxi, along with peerless beauties.
The flames of ambition had been utterly extinguished.
A common fellow who sets aside conquest to focus solely on pleasure is nothing more than a walking corpse.
The woman with ash-gray hair flowing down frowned slightly as she lamented the state of affairs. If Dong Zhuo's forces continued pursuing only self-preservation and idle comfort, they would not last a few years before destroying themselves through strife and division.
'Things were fine when we occupied Luoyang and set up the young emperor... but the moment those southern traitors appeared, Xiliang's grand plan went completely awry. And I never imagined that Dong Zhuo, who once aimed for supreme power, would turn into an irredeemable wreck in an instant.'
She had been wrong.
There was no hope left now.
Dong Zhuo's forces would surely plummet into the abyss of ruin.
Barbarian-Suppressing Colonel Jia Xu, her face pale with alarm, stared at Director of the Palace Gentlemen Li Ru, who was worried about the faction's future. She felt gratitude toward Li Ru for having favored her all this time, but also a sense of disappointment at his nervous, indecisive side.
"Elder Director of the Palace Gentlemen."
Just as they were tilting their teacups and conversing,
a third party entered the office.
A military officer attached to the Directorate of the Palace Gentlemen.
"The remnants of the White Wave Bandits are requesting surrender. As you predicted, Elder, they were routed by the combined assault of Cao Cao's and Lü Bu's forces."
"Hmm..."
The White Wave Bandit faction had expelled Yuan Shu's forces from Nanyang Prefecture and begun expanding their power centered on Sili Province. After conquering Yan Province, Cao Cao's army allied with Lü Bu's army in Henei Prefecture to advance into Sili Province and swept away the bandits.
Wu and Yue in the same boat, one might say.
They had forced the alliance through despite considerable backlash.
Cao Cao's army needed fresh strength to advance into the vast Sili Province, while Lü Bu's army, which had betrayed Dong Zhuo's forces and raised an army in Henei Prefecture, was suffering from chronic supply shortages.
"Lü Bu...! So the Bing Province turncoats mean to oppose you after all, Elder."
Liu Chong's army was not the only force gradually threatening Guanzhong.
Cao Cao's army and Lü Bu's army.
The warlords bound by the Wu-and-Yue alliance were conquering Guandong.
A new countermeasure had to be devised.
Li Ru chewed his nails, radiating impatience. Jia Xu, on the other hand, maintained a cool, composed expression and was thinking impudently, 'About time I started looking for a new job.'
* * *
Cao Cao's army took charge of the infantry, Lü Bu's army the cavalry.
They had become an armed collective that complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses.
They had formed their coalition army by prioritizing practicality and utility over trust and moral justification. When Cao Cao, who had conquered Yan Province, and Lü Bu, who boasted the martial power of a Foe of Ten Thousand, moved, the balance of the Central Plains shook.
"Let's ride this momentum and take Tong Pass. We have to make Dong Zhuo tremble."
"No, next we strike Runan Prefecture, where Yuan Shu's army is holed up."
Lü Bu's army's ultimate goal was to destroy Dong Zhuo's forces and liberate the people of Chang'an suffering under tyranny. Cao Cao's army's goal, by contrast, was to rapidly expand their faction and conquer the Central Plains.
Their objectives differed.
So they inevitably clashed every time they decided on a course of action.
"Yuan Shu? You want to waste troops and supplies on some incompetent nobody like him?"
"It is to secure Yu Province safely. If we take Runan Prefecture, we can seize the high ground."
"Because of Dong Zhuo's damned construction project, hundreds of thousands of commoners are in misery. We have to take Chang'an as soon as possible."
"Impossible. Attacking Tong Pass now would be a poor strategy."
After expelling the White Wave Bandits, they had occupied both Hedong Prefecture and Hongnong Prefecture. While Liu Chong's army was conquering Xu Province and Jiangdong, Cao Cao and Lü Bu pushed into Sili Province and expanded their sphere of influence.
Luoyang had fallen into scorched ruin.
But Hedong Prefecture and Hongnong Prefecture, both prefectural seats within Sili Province, were at least still intact.
Dong Zhuo's forces had retreated so hastily they failed to transport all of Sili Province's supplies and population to Chang'an. Cao Cao's army and Lü Bu's army had been wholly absorbed in their campaign to seize Sili Province.
"Just as coarse and dull-witted as you'd expect from a border provincial."
"Petty and small-minded, all right."
What little nutrients were meant for her brain had all gone to her chest.
And that's exactly why you can't be generous, with a chest that meager.
They collided over every matter, demonstrating that they were fundamentally oil and water.
"To think I'd actually join hands with Dong Zhuo's turncoats... Even now, it still feels absurd."
"Says the one who ran away without properly finishing off Dong Zhuo while he was napping."
"Because you bitches interfered and sabotaged the whole thing!"
"If you'd just asked my consent in advance, I wouldn't have interfered at all!"
A slender, elegant beauty with lustrous black hair flowing like ebony.
A warrior woman of violent appeal from whom wild platinum-blonde hair spilled loose.
Their voices rose.
They brought up past grievances and nitpicked every trivial detail.
The two lords of the coalition army, who had been taking a brief stroll through the East Palace, ended up glaring at each other.
"If you follow me obediently, I won't ask about the past."
"You just shut up and nod your head. I'm not interested in the realm."
They clashed every time, but there was at least a minimum of trust.
That was why the alliance held together, however precariously.
'If she were a base coward who only wanted wealth and glory, she wouldn't have betrayed Dong Zhuo. And if she had any ambition to seize the realm, she would've tried to use Dong Zhuo as much as possible. She's coarse and ignorant, but her character isn't underhanded or craven.'
Lü Bu.
Zhang Liao. Gao Shun.
And the Bing Province Iron Cavalry, each rider a match for a hundred.
For Cao Cao's army, which lacked cavalry strength, Lü Bu's army's participation was absolutely necessary.
Had Cao Cao attempted the Sili Province campaign alone, she would have undergone countless trials and errors. Because Lü Bu's troops, hired as mercenaries, broke through the enemy lines at the vanguard, they could rapidly disintegrate the White Wave Bandits and secure Sili Province's prefectures.
"..."
The hour of Shen.
From the middle of their walk, a dark shadow had fallen over them.
Jiggle.
The dark shadow bounced up and down, crudely.
Cao Cao glared at the source that was completely violating her right to sunlight, her brow furrowing.
"Ah."
Lü Bu turned around.
Walking side by side, Cao Cao's face collided with a mass of flesh of monstrous size.
"Sorry, you're so small I couldn't see you."
"Tch! You don't even possess the basic consideration to check who's beside you!"
"Couldn't help it. Who told you to stand in my blind spot? As expected of a eunuch clan's granddaughter—tiny and petite, just like a little kid."
"Tiny and petite? Your insolence leaves me speechless!"
Her chest was bigger than her head.
The obscenely jiggling shadow still eclipsed the warm sunlight.
Cao Cao stabbed the massive mound of flesh sixteen times in rapid pokes and fired back fiercely.