5th of January, 4th year of Gaia.
Just as Di Chen and the rest were hesitating, under Ouyang Shuo's instructions, the surprise that the Alliance of Mountains and Seas had prepared for the Yan Huang Alliance was brought to the table, stirring up the world.
Capital District, Fengtian County, Wan Shi City.
After New Year's Day, the weather in the north was bitterly cold. It was the coldest time of the year, and the sky was covered with dark clouds. The thick clouds rolled and rolled, as if it was about to collapse.
In the wilderness, the cold wind was like a knife, cutting one's face, making one feel pain.
Early in the morning, the wilderness was silent. The mountains, rivers, and grass that had long withered were covered by a thin layer of white frost overnight. Even the birds would not come out to look for food at this time.
Wan Shi City was located in the westernmost part of Fengtian County, and Zhangwu County was just outside the city gate.
At 7 o 'clock in the morning, the sky was bright. Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves could be heard in the quiet border area. The horse stepped on the withered grass that was covered in white frost, making crunching sounds.
"Who dares to break into Handan City?!"
The soldiers in charge of patrolling the border of Zhangwu County shouted for them to stop, but they were answered by a sky full of arrows.
The whole group of soldiers were instantly shot like porcupines, and their faces were almost unrecognizable. Warm blood spurted out and slowly flowed on the ground, staining the white frost on the ground. It was very eye-catching …
On this day, the 120,000 field army of Wan Shi City, together with 150,000 mercenaries, suddenly attacked Handan City, igniting the flames of war in the north.
Lao Ai, who had been passively defending, chose to take the initiative to attack. While Di Chen was trapped in the Yunnan battlefield, he was prepared to take a bite out of Handan City.
The Capital District was the largest province in China, with a total of six prefectures. Other than Zhili Prefecture, where the capital was located, Handan City had four prefectures, while Hardstone City only had one prefecture.
The difference between the two was like heaven and earth.
Because of the vastness of the land, the combined area of the four counties of Handan City had already exceeded any of the Chuannan Province or Lingnan Province. In China, Handan City's area was second only to Shanhai City.
The place Lao Ai is attacking is the northernmost county of Handan, Zhangwu County.
Zhangwu County is sandwiched between Fengtian County and Zhili County, with only a narrow strip of land less than 500 miles wide in the north, connected to Cangzhou County where Handan City is located.
Therefore, if Hardstone City were to take over Zhangwu County, not only would they be on par with Handan City in terms of strength, but they would also be able to use Zhili County as their border to govern Handan City.
It was a very good deal for Hardstone City.
Di Chen was not a fool. How could he not guard against this? At the border of Zhangwu County, Handan City has deployed two field armies to guard against Wan Shi City.
Who would have thought that Lao Ai would spend two million gold coins and tens of thousands of weapons and armors as remuneration to hire 150,000 mercenaries in one go.
The advance payment of coal that Shanhai City had paid to Hardstone City was completely spent.
Two hundred seventy thousand versus one hundred forty thousand.
Zhangwu County, which was originally as stable as Mt. Tai, was on the verge of collapse. They had no choice but to seek help from the headquarters. More importantly, Di Chen and Lian Po were not in Handan City. How could the reinforcements arrive so quickly?
Handan City was bound to experience a period of panic.
… …
That was not all.
Almost at the same time as Hardstone City's army moved out, in Taiyuan Province, Luo Feng City, who had been plotting for a long time, sent out 200,000 troops to the north, ready to remove the nail that was Fengxiang City.
Fengxiang City was only a county. If not for the Mongolian cavalry that the Mongolians trained for Luo Feng City, Feng Qiuhuang would not even need to send out 200,000 troops. 150,000 troops would be enough to take down Fengxiang City.
Once Fengxiang City was taken down, Feng Qiuhuang would unify Taiyuan Province.
In this way, regardless of whether it was Di Chen in the east or Military Kill Ripper and Wandering Linghuan in the west, Fallen Phoenix City would be a great threat.
What was more frightening was that because of Luo Feng City's army, the Handan City headquarters did not dare to act rashly. Because if they rushed to Zhangwu County as reinforcements, once Luo Feng City's army made a feint and broke into the nearby Capital District, Dingzhou County or Hengshui County, it would be a disaster for Handan City.
Lao Ai and Feng Qiuhuang's east-west alliance stirred up the already turbulent northern land, causing the situation in the north to become confusing.
If they won these two battles, it would be great news for both Lao Ai and Feng Qiuhuang.
Apart from the immediate strategic benefits, more importantly, after the war, the entire northern land would be formed into a crisscrossed strategic arrangement of Asura City, Luo Feng City, Handan City and Hardstone City.
In this way, it was hard to say whether Di Chen would join forces with Sha Po and Piao Linghuan to attack Feng Qiuhuang, or whether Feng Qiuhuang would join forces with Lao Ai to attack Di Chen.
The unfavorable situation of Luo Feng City being surrounded by enemies on all sides would be resolved. Facing the aggressiveness of Handan City, Hardstone City also had a reliable ally who could help each other out.
The [Alliance of Mountains and Seas]'s plans in the north would be reversed.
Lao Ai and Feng Qiuhuang's actions could be said to be killing two birds with one stone. Not only did they help Shanhai City out of trouble, but they also achieved their respective strategic goals, maximizing the benefits of this military operation.
Those who understood what was going on would probably be amazed.
The various media outlets that were closely watching the Yunnan battlefield were even more shocked.
Without a doubt, this was the strongest counterattack that the [Alliance of Mountains and Seas] had launched against the [Yan Huang Alliance] for interfering in the Yunnan war. The deeper meaning of this was even more terrifying.
Before this, Shanhai City had to face the combined forces of the [Yan Huang Alliance] alone, and it was one against many. Moreover, they wouldn't believe that Ouyang Shuo wasn't behind Lao Ai and Feng Qiuhuang's actions.
The [Alliance of Mountains and Seas]'s joint operation meant that the [Yan Huang Alliance] had caused a lot of trouble for Shanhai City in the Yunnan battlefield, forcing Ouyang Shuo to ask for help from his allies.
On the other hand, it also reflected the subtle changes within the [Alliance of Mountains and Seas].
Ouyang Shuo, who had already taken down two provinces and was about to take down three provinces, was obviously planning to use the world as a chessboard to face the [Yan Huang Alliance] head-on.
This news made the players who were watching the show excited.
The two giants of the China region were about to clash, and it was still unknown who would emerge victorious.
Thinking about it, the military critics who were biased towards Shanhai City couldn't help but be impressed by the overall plan of Shanhai City. Those with discerning eyes knew that Hardstone City and Luo Feng City's actions were not a spur of the moment plan, but had been decided long before the Yunnan war.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for the two sides to cooperate so closely and grasp the timing so accurately.
It was difficult for Shanhai City to hold back from using these two trump cards when Yong Ren City was at a disadvantage, and instead wait until the most crucial moment of the Yunnan war to use their trump cards.
All the old experts were terrified by Ouyang Shuo's patience, but at the same time, they were deeply in awe. Whether it was fear or awe, in the end, they all converged into one sentence:
"He has courage, foresight, shrewdness, and breadth of mind. The Lord of Mountains and Seas already has the temperament of a world overlord."
… …
In fact, the media's prediction of Shanhai City was still too low.
Since the [Alliance of Mountains and Seas] had made a move, it wouldn't stop there.
Just as the flames of war were ignited in the north, the south also moved. This time, it wasn't the two allies of the [Alliance of Mountains and Seas] that cooperated with the battle in Yunnan, but the Nanyang Navy of Shanhai City.
On the same day, at the same time.
The Nanyang Navy's Jiaozhou Fleet and Cliff Mountain Fleet cooperated with the two infantry divisions of the Brave Tiger Army's third corps stationed in Lingnan Province's Chaozhou County to brazenly attack Yizhou Island.
The focus of the attack was the Penghu Fleet stationed in Yizhou Island.
It was precisely because of the Penghu Fleet that the coal trade between Shanhai City, Hardstone City, and West Chu was affected. Although they had signed an agreement, they couldn't transport coal on a large scale.
Ouyang Shuo had long wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible. It was only after Navy Governor Zheng He's suggestion that he waited until now to attack.
During the Battle of Red Cliffs, Mighty Tyrant had mobilized the Penghu Fleet in an attempt to prove to the world's lords on the battle map that the Overlord City Navy could fight against the Shanhai City Fleet in order to gain control of the sea.
He didn't want to suffer a crushing defeat before a direct confrontation.
Not to mention the loss of soldiers, a large number of warships were also abandoned on the battle map.
For the Penghu Fleet, this was a huge loss. For this reason, Mighty Tyrant didn't hesitate to spend a huge amount of money and finally restored the Penghu Fleet at the end of the third year of Gaia.
Even so, that loss was a huge blow to the Penghu Fleet.
The Penghu Fleet didn't have much combat experience. At most, they only fought against pirates in the coastal waters. They had no experience fighting against a regular fleet.
Moreover, the fleet lacked naval generals and experienced senior sailors, so the entire training was not systematic.
It couldn't be compared to the Nanyang Navy at all.
Helpless, Mighty Tyrant had no choice but to use his family's connections to invite retired senior officers of the Federation Navy to replace the native generals and take charge of the Penghu Fleet.
It was just that the ancient warships and naval warfare tactics were very different from modern tactics. The backward nautical technology became the shackles of the naval officers.
Between the two, there was still a need for more practice.
The problem was that Ouyang Shuo wasn't prepared to give Mighty Tyrant any time.
In the Yizhou Straits, the three fleets unexpectedly met. As soon as they made contact, the Penghu Fleet suffered a huge defeat.
The Jiaozhou Fleet's Navy Admiral Shi Lang and the Cliff Mountain Fleet's Navy Admiral Yu Dayou were considered the most outstanding naval generals in China. Needless to say, they had combat experience.
The Cliff Mountain Fleet had participated in several battles against the Annan Navy. From the navy's top soldiers to the ordinary sailors, they had accumulated a wealth of combat experience.
Moreover, under the command of Shi Lang and Yu Dayou, the two fleets were well-trained and had a tacit understanding.
With all these, they left the Penghu Fleet in the dust.
With these two fleets joining forces, with the advantage of the improved P1 Cannon, coupled with surprise attack tactics, how could the rookie Penghu Fleet be a match?!
The Yizhou Island that Mighty Tyrant had painstakingly taken down was in imminent danger.
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