Chapter 786 – Home on Fire
Gaia 4th year, 1st month, 5th day.
Just as Di Chen and the others were hesitating, under Ouyang Shuo's instructions, Shanhai City gave Yanhuang Alliance a massive surprise.
Jingdu Region, Fengtian Prefecture, Stone City.
After the New Year, the cold air in the north was rather chilly. The skies were gloomy and exceedingly cloudy, and it was like the entire sky was about to crash down.
In the wilderness, the wind was like a blade slashing at one's face.
The wilderness in the early morning was utterly silent, and the already withered up trees and plants were covered by a layer of snow. Even birds would not come out to find food now.
Stone City was located at the west of Fengtian Prefecture and right out of it was Zhangwu Prefecture.
7 AM, on the silent border, the rumbling sounds of horse hooves could suddenly be heard. The horses stepped onto the frozen up grass, creating many cracking sounds.
"Handan City territory, who dares enter?"
The soldiers in charge of patrolling the border shouted, but the only reply they received was a rain of arrows.
The entire squad of soldiers ended up like porcupines; their fresh blood poured out and flowed onto the ground. The fresh crimson on the white ground was truly eye-catching.
On this day, 120 thousand Stone City war fighting troops along with 150 thousand mercenaries struck the territory of Handan City.
Wufu, who had always been defending on the back foot, had chosen to take the initiative at this moment. Wufu took this chance when Di Chen was in the Battle of Yunnan to bite off a massive chunk of his flesh.
Jingdu Region was one of the biggest provinces in China and had a total of six prefectures. Apart from the Zhili Prefecture where Jingdu Imperial City was located, Handan City occupied four prefectures while Stone City occupied the other.
The difference between the two was like night and day.
As the land was vast, the overall land area of Handan City exceeded that of Chuannan Province or Lingnan Province. In the China region, Handan City was only smaller than Shanhai City.
Wufu was attacking Zhangwu Prefecture, which was the northwest part of Handan City's territory.
Zhangwu Prefecture was between Fengtian Prefecture and the Zhili Prefecture. It was only connected by a 500 mile narrow strip with Cangzhou Prefecture, where Handan City was located in.
If Stone City took this prefecture down, not only would their strength rise, it would be comparable to Handan City. Furthermore, Stone City could use the Zhili Prefecture as a barrier to separate the two territories.
To Stone City, this was a truly worth it trade.
Di Chen was not a fool, so he had obviously prepared contingencies. In the Zhangwu border, he had housed two War Fighting Legions to defend against them.
However, who would have guessed that Wufu would actually spend so much; he spent two million and also used tens of thousands of armor as a reward to hire 150 thousand mercenaries.
They had spent all of the early payment from Shanhai City for coal.
270 thousand against 140 thousand.
The originally stable Zhangwu Prefecture instantly shook, and they had to ask for reinforcements from the headquarters. The key was that Di Chen and Lianpo was not in Handan City at the moment, so how could reinforcements arrive so quickly?
Handan City was destined to be thrown into chaos.
......
That was not all.
At basically the same time, in Taiyuan Province, the 200 thousand troops from Fallen Phoenix City went up north to attack Fengxiang City.
Fengxiang City only had a prefecture of land. If it was not for the Mongol cavalry, Feng Qiuhuang would not have mobilized 200 thousand troops, 150 thousand men would be sufficient.
The moment she took down the prefecture, Feng Qiuhuang would unify Taiyuan Province.
At that point, she would pose a massive threat to both Di Chen in the east and Sha Pojun and Wandering Magic in the west.
The more terrifying part was since Fallen Phoenix City had sent out troops, Handan City's headquarters did not dare to dispatch troops. If they went to assist Zhangwu Prefecture, if the Fallen Phoenix army turned and attacked Jingdu Region's Dingzhou or Henshui Prefecture, they would face a calamity.
Wufu and Feng Qiuhuang working together had caused the northern situation to become chaotic once more.
If both of them won, it would be massive news for them.
Apart from the strategic advantages, more importantly, the entire northern city would end up staggered in the order of Asura City, Fallen Leaf City, Fallen Phoenix City, Handan City, and Stone City.
With that, if Di Chen worked with Sha Pojun and Wandering Magic to attack Feng Qiuhuang, she could work with Wufu to attack Di Chen.
The situation of Fallen Phoenix City facing enemies from all four sides had been broken.
At the same time, Stone City had gained an ally to defend against Handan City.
The situation in the north for the Shanhai Alliance had undergone a huge change.
The actions of Wufu and Feng Qiuhuang helped get Shanhai City out of a pickle while also achieving their strategic goals.
Anyone who understood it would get that this was a masterstroke.
The various media outlets that were staring seriously at the Yunnan Battlefield were all astonished.
Without a doubt, this was payback from Shanhai Alliance for Yanhuang Alliance interfering in Yunnan.
Before this Shanhai City, was facing against them alone. With Wufu and Feng Qiuhuang acting, if one said that Ouyang Shuo did not orchestrate this matter, no one would believe it.
This coordinate strike meant that the Yanhuang Alliance had truly given Shanhai City a huge problem in Yunnan and forced Ouyang Shuo to ask his allies for help.
On the other side, it also showed the small changes within Shanhai Alliance.
After taking down two provinces and going for his third, Ouyang Shuo started to plan to make the entire China his chessboard and fight against the Yanhuang Alliance.
This news made all the players excited.
The two giants of China were going to butt heads. Who would die and who would win was still unknown.
Thinking about it, the military experts who were biased against Shanhai City could not help but be awed. They could tell that the actions of Stone City and Fallen Phoenix City had been planned long before the Battle of Yunnan.
If not, both sides could not have coordinated so smoothly and had such a good grasp of the timing.
Shanhai City did not even use this trump card when they lost at Yongren City, waiting till the most crucial moment before going all out.
All the experts could not help but feel a chill run down their spine from Ouyang Shuo's ability. Be it because of fear or respect, they all concluded, "Bold, foresight, magnanimity, and ability; the Shanhai City Lord already has the looks of a true ruler."
......
In truth, the media had still underestimated Shanhai Alliance.
Since the Shanhai Alliance was going to strike out, how would it end at just that?
Just as the flames of war rose up in the north, the south fought too. It was not Gong Chengshi or Xunlong Dianxue but the Shanhai City Navy.
On the same day, at the same time.
The Jiaozhou Squadron and Yashan Squadron coordinated with the Tiger Legion Corps 3rd legion's two Infantry Divisions housed in Chaozhou Prefecture and attacked Yizhou Island.
Their main target was the Penghu Squadron that King City had housed on the island.
Because of the presence of this squadron, Shanhai City's coal trade with Stone City and West Chu was affected. Although they had sign agreements, they could not ship large amounts of coal.
Ouyang Shuo had wanted to get rid of them earlier on. However, because of Admiral Zheng He's suggestion, he had held it in till now.
During the Battle of Red Cliff, Xiong Ba had wanted to use to Penghu Squadron to show to the world that the King City Navy could compete against Shanhai City.
Who knew that even before facing off, they had already lost?
Not mentioning the dead soldiers and generals, even a large number of warships were abandoned in the Battle Map.
To them, it was a huge loss. To recover from this loss, Xiong Ba had spent a plentiful amount of resources to recover the Penghu Squadron at the end of the Gaia 3rd year.
Even so, that loss was a massive blow to the Penghu Squadron.
They totally did not have any actual fighting experience. At most, they were just fighting pirates.
Due to the lack of navy generals and experienced sailors, they had a poor training system.
They were not even on the same level as the Nanyang Navy.
Helplessly, Xiong Ba had to use his family relations to hire some federal navy officials in real life to replace the native generals to take charge of the squadrons.
However, ancient squadrons and tactics were totally different from modern-day ones. The backward seafaring techniques had become an enormous bane to the officials.
Between the two, they needed more time to mesh.
But the problem was that Ouyang Shuo was not going to give him that time.
The meeting of the three squadrons in the Yizhou Straits ended with the Penghu Squadron suffering hefty casualties.
The Fleet General of the Jiaozhou Squadron Shu Lang and the Fleet General of the Yashan Squadron Yu Dayou were all elite presences amongst China navy generals.
Yashan Squadron had participated in several battles against Annan, so its soldiers and sailors had all gained plenty of experience.
Under the leadership of these two generals, the two squadrons were both well trained.
All things considered, they were leagues ahead of the Penghu Squadron.
These two were working together. Moreover, they had the help of the P1 Type Cannon, and they were launching a sneak attack, so how could the rookie Penghu Squadron defend against them?
Yizhou Island that Xiong Ba had spent so much to obtain was facing immense danger.