Chapter 5: Things Are Going to Change in China
When we left off, Gongsun Du had just consolidated his power in the north, crossed the Yellow River and captured Pu Yang, Liu Bei's final stronghold. You all know what that means...
Hellllllllllllllllllllllll yeah!!!!! Guan Yu motherfuckers. You can eat my shit, Lu Bu. Game over, we win.
What's that? The party's not over? We're just getting started?
Yeaaaaaaaaah!!! The three brothers, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei sign on with Gongsun Du. That's not even all we're getting. I hire a bunch more of Liu Bei's prisoners including Jian Yong, Wu Can, Yi Ji and Cui Yan, all of whom are very good political officers.
The best of them is Zhong Yao.
The emperor sends a cherry to put on top of our cake. Thanks pal. You know, we're only two cities away from the emperor now.
Cao Cao's Chen Liu, the city he worked so hard to take back, is under attack from Dong Zhuo. We happen to be right next to it. Right now we've only got about 12,000 men in Pu Yang but we can build quickly. This will put us right next to Dong Zhuo - but also the emperor.
Ping Yuan is fulled developed in about two months. I'm running low on money and troops so I send a convoy from the north. Cao Cao is holding out in Chen Liu because the main general who was attacking died of old age.
I notice something interesting - Yan Xing, one of Dong Zhuo's units attacking Chen Liu has low loyalty...
Chen Liu was one hit away from being captured. Yan Xing takes the city and snatches victory away from Dong Zhuo. Chen Liu is still under attack though, I'll have to send some guys to reinforce.
Guan Yu and Zhang He march out of Pu Yang to defend Chen Liu. Something tells me this is going to be the start of a huge battle.
Haha! In an unexpected twist, Yan Xing switches sides to Chen Gui, giving Chen Gui control of Chen Liu. At the same time, my convoy finally reaches Pu Yang, so I send even more units out toward Chen Liu. Who cares how the battle goes - I just want to fight!
Zhang He and Guan Yu reach Chen Liu. Zhang He attacked Yan Xing, who served us for less than a month. Guan Yu finishes him off.
Guan Yu and Zhang He attack Li Ru, Dong Zhuo's attacking army, and deal tremendous damage. It looks like Dong Zhuo is sending out a few more units to try to take Chen Liu. I'd like to see what they can do against Guan Yu, Zhang He, Zhao Yun and Zhang Yan (when they get here!).
Zhao Yun and Zhang Yan reach Chen Liu and attack. Zhang He takes the city for a second time and captures the traitor Yan Xing. I wonder what we should do with this guy...
Dong Zhuo really wants Chen Liu but he doesn't have the manpower or officers in the region to take it. Most of his forces are concentrated near the border with Sun Jian and Liu Zhang. He didn't expect any serious threats from the north.
Let's do this Dong Zhuo! Let's do this here and now. I've been looking for a good fight so let's do this. Bring everything you've got.
Let's see what your Hua Xiong and Zhang Liao have to say about Guan Yu. You know what Hu Che'er had to say about Guan Yu? Nothing. Guan Yu destroyed him before he even had a chance to attack.
He's still got a number of great generals left, but he's lost a lot too. Xu Rong, Lu Bu, Huang Zhong and Gan Ning have all died or left his service. Right now, top tier personnel are split between all the different forces. Even Kong Rong has a few great generals.
The attack is going extremely poorly for Dong Zhuo. He just doesn't have enough good officers in the region and it's too poorly guarded. Xu Chang and Ru Nan to the south both have under 10,000. Luo Yang to the west has 15,000.
Chen Gui sends a messenger to Chen Liu. I think I know what he wants.
He wants Yan Xing, the officer who defected. I think I'll keep him for a little while longer. His breeding skill increases the number of horses you get, which is very helpful for a cavalry-based army.
Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and Zhang He completely massacre Li Su's unit. Things aren't going so well for Dong Zhuo. Although he is still by far the strongest warlord in China, he's also decisively lost Chen Liu. He's also lost Jiang Ling to Sun Jian in the south, but this city has gone back and forth between him, Sun Jian and Liu Zhang for a while now. Zhang He captures Li Su the next turn and the rest go home. Not even worth my time.
It looks like it's time for round two. Dong Zhuo sends Wei Xu, Yan Xiang and Hu Che-er back to attack Chen Liu. Come on Dong, send more. Send 200,000.
The three destroy Wei Xu and fire at Yan Xiang with their bows. Once again it's a massacre. I also send huge convoys with around 100,000 men total from my northern territories to Chen Liu and Pu Yang.
Guan Yu and Zhao Yun finish off Yan Xiang and Hu Che-er while Zhang He goes home. After the convoys get here, I'll start sending out armies to conquer uh, everything around me.
The first convoy arrives in Pu Yang and Gongsun Zan charges towards Cao Cao's Xiao Pei with a massive army, by far the largest I've fielding. I'm looking for a fight, Cao Cao.
This is what I was looking for! Xiahou Yuan, Cao Xiu and Zang Ba, all very good generals, ride out of Xiao Pei and attack Gongsun Zan, dealing heavy damage. Gao Lan and Gongsun Zan destroy Cao Xiu's unit while the rest focus on Xiahou Yuan.
At the same time, the second convoy reaches Chen Liu. A massive army marches out of Chen Liu with one half, led by Guan Yu, heading toward Luo Yang and the other half, led by Zhao Yun, marching toward Xu Chang.
Zhou Tai and Wen Chou finish off Xiahou Yuan while the rest attack Zang Ba and other minor units on the field. Cao Xiu returns to the battlefield after being defeated and Gao Lan captures him.
He's not bad! He's a relative of Cao Cao's, so he won't join us, but Cao Cao may offer to ransom him later.
Zang Ba just can't hold against my waves of men. Li Tong defeats him and the other generals form a perimeter around the city to attack.
Ju Shou easily takes Hu Lao Gate, the place Qiao Mao and Dong Zhuo battled over for years, allow entry into the poorly defended capital of Luo Yang.
Dong Zhuo personally rides out to defend Xu Chang, but his army is pushed back by Zhao Yun and Zhang Yan.
Guan Yu, Tian Feng and Zhang Yue attack Hu Che-er in Luo Yang. In Xu Chang, Zhang Yan finishes off Dong Zhuo's unit but fails to capture him.
Li Tong, the very first officer we recruited, captures Cao Cao's Xiao Pei. I send a few officers over to build, but we'll want to take advantage of our momentum and attack the neighboring city of Xia Pi. Among the prisoners taken in Xiao Pei is Cao Ang, Cao Cao's first son.
Li Ru rides out from Luo Yang to attack Tian Feng. Tian Feng, Guan Yu and Zhang He all attack Li Ru and deal huge damage. This just shows how badly positioned Dong Zhuo's officers were - Li Ru is a great strategist but a terrible general. The fact that he's defending the city on his own shows how horribly Dong Zhuo miscalculated his positioning.
The battle in Xu Chang is going equally poorly for Dong Zhuo. My four generals attack Fan Chou, dealing heavy damage, and advance toward the city.
Cao Cao sends two top tier generals north from Shou Chun to retake Xiao Pei. Meanwhile, my troops in Xu Chang finish off Fan Chou and begin attacking the city.
Li Ru and Hu Che-Er in Luo Yang are both defeated. Li Ru is taken captive, which is a great blow to Dong Zhuo.
More of Cao Cao's troops advance on Xiao Pei. This is what I was looking for, Cao Cao. A real fight!
Guan Yu finishes off a small unit led by Yang Qiu, which increases his leadership to 96. Awesome. The capital is now surrounded and the emperor will be ours soon. Zhao Yun leads a surround attack on Xu Chang that deals considerable damage to the walls.
Now this is a real battle. Cao Cao has sent his best generals to retake Xiao Pei. I send my men south to block off Xiahou Yuan and the other units from Shou Chun. I'll attack Cao Ren when he gets closer. The men at Luo Yang and Xu Chang attack the walls for heavy damage.
The year changes from 199 to 200 and a new century is upon China. Guan Ping, Guan Yu's adopted son, presents himself to Gongsun Du and pledges his loyalty.
Back in Xiao Pei, Gao Lan challenges Xiahou Yuan to a duel. I sure hope I gave him that bow a while back...
Gao Lan dodges and blocks Xiahou Yuan's attacks, which gives him a huge boost of spirit energy. He also triggers his defense stance which allows him to block a few more hits with impunity.
Xiahou Yuan unleashes a torrent of blows, one of which actually hits. It raises Gao Lan's energy bar to the max.
The maxed spirit bar lets Gao Lan perform a musou attack, which wounds Xiahou Yuan and greatly lowers his war. Gao Lan finishes him off in a few hits.
Xiahou Yuan is captured and one of the biggest threats to Xiao Pei is eliminated. My remaining armies focus on Huang Zhong, who doesn't take much damage because of his high leadership and pike unit. Meanwhile, my armies at Xu Chang and Luo Yang continue to attack the walls.
More men are headed for Xiao Pei! Also, it looks like Xun Yu's face has changed - he's gotten older. This happens to certain famous officers as the game progresses.
Huang Zhong starts a fire on Zhou Tai's unit and tries to trap him in it. Zhou Tai escapes and Yan Liang attacks Huang Zhong from behind, pushing him into the very fire that he started. Li Tong and Gongsun Zan attack Cao Ren as he approaches the city. I'm starting to run out of horses in Xiao Pei!
I finish researching elite cavalry, the final tech on the cavalry tree. It gives a huge boost to the stats of my cavalry units and its effects are immediately noticeable.
Huang Zhong escapes from the fire but Yan Liang pushes him back into it. Wen Chou fires a volley of arrows at Huang Zhong to help out Yan Liang. Yan and Wen are good friends and sometimes friends will automatically help each other out during battles, getting free hits on enemies. Wen Chou immediately attacks Dong Xi's siege tower unit and Yan Liang reciprocates the help by firing a volley of his own. Gongsun Zan and Li Tong push Cao Ren farther away from the city. Man, the new elite cavalry upgrade is great.
Zhang Yan takes down the walls at Xu Chang and captures the city...
Dong Zhuo is taken in the ensuing chaos...
...and executed.
His son-in-law Niu Fu declares himself his successor, which causes a huge drop in loyalty for many of his officers and a number of very important ones, like Han Sui and Pang De, to leave. I cross my fingers and send a few officers out to recruit some of the more desirable ones.
Things are going to change in China.
Wen Chou attacks Dong Xi's siege tower unit and his buddy Yan Liang helps again, finishing him off. Wen Chou says "I can always count on you!" Cute, Wen Chou... Yan Liang finishes off Cao Ren near Xiao Pei but a new wave of men approaches.
Cao Cao's troops are almost completely defeated. My men push them a little further back and deal heavy damage.
After months of attacking its walls, Luo Yang, the capital and seat of imperial power in China, has fallen. Zhang He marches triumphantly into the city into the imperial palace.
The emperor and all of China is finally free from Dong Zhuo's manipulation. Dong Zhuo has been killed and although the remnants of his force is still strong, they no longer hold the sway they did only a few months ago. The emperor is overjoyed to see Zhang He!
Zhang He plunges his sword into the emperor. The Han is over.
Things are going to change in China.
My vassals and everyone throughout China is shocked. Zhang Yang protests the act, but it's too late.
Sun Jian swears to get revenge for my heinous act.
Gongsun Du appoints himself Grand General. A new era has dawned upon China. No longer does China hold a covenant with Heaven. The emperor's mandate now extends to all men and only now can Gongsun Du truly take the land for himself. He has set China free.
Yan Liang wipes out Dian Wei, the last unit Cao Cao sent to take back Xiao Pei and the rest of the men start moving home. After the battle, Yan Liang and Wen Chou get married and kiss on the lips.
I have expanded greatly in the last few years and I will likely continue to do so. Cao Cao and Chen Gui are both very weak now and will be easy taken. Dong Zhuo is dead and his son-in-law Niu Fu has taken his place. Niu Fu is a weak ruler and will handle his forces inefficiently. Sun Jian has lost the city of Jiang Ling for the moment, but he'll likely get it back. Liu Zhang is clinging desperately to his remaining territories but he is too weak to recover now. This is now a battle between Gongsun Du, Niu Fu and Sun Jian. I have 340,000 soldiers, 50,000 less than Niu Fu, but 12 cities. With Dong Zhuo and the emperor dead, China is ours to take.
