Reborn In The Three Kingdoms

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A rocket arrow shot straight at him, he batted it out of the air. Another came, and he smashed it aside, sending it careening downward into the masses of Hengyuan soldiers below. The explosion that followed rocked the battlefield, hurling men and earth alike into the air. The defenders on the walls froze for a moment, then erupted into cheers. ”General Xu Chu!” they shouted. ”The Tiger of Wei!”

Their courage rekindled, they reformed their lines, raising their shields once more despite the flames. Guo Jia’s eyes flickered with pride.

”Well done, General Xu Chu,” he murmured under his breath. ”So long as men like him stand, the spirit of Wei will not fall.”

Sima Yi, watching from afar, tilted his head slightly. ”Interesting,” he said quietly. ”Even chaos can breed unity when anchored by valor. A miscalculation.”

”Shall we pull back, Lord Sima Yi?” an aide asked.

”No,” Sima Yi replied, eyes hardening. ”If we retreat now, we hand them victory. Continue the barrage. Deploy the trebuchets.”

At Sima Yi’s command, Zang Hong raised his signal flag.

”Trebuchets, ready!”

The great engines, their frames creaking like ancient beasts, were drawn back with the strength of dozens of soldiers.

”Fire!”

The ground trembled as the first volley was released. Massive stones hurtled through the air, crashing against Hongnong’s walls with earth shattering force. Dust clouds rose into the sky.

Inside the city, masonry splintered. Cries echoed along the ramparts as chunks of wall fell away.

”Counter them!” Guo Jia roared. ”Bring up the catapults and ballistas! Target their siege lines!”

Bolts the size of spears whistled through the air, striking the siege towers and catapults below. The clash of projectiles turned the field into a storm of destruction.

The roar of the trebuchets mixed with the twang of the ballistas. Fire and stone rained from both sides. The battlefield blurred into smoke and screams.

At the northern front, Huang Zhong had finally taken to the field, after not going to the frontline for quite a while.

His laughter echoed like thunder above the din. ”Come, Wei dogs! Let us see if your swords are as sharp as your tongues!”

Across from him, Zhang He step forward, the plume of his helmet streaming like a comet. ”Old man!” he called. ”You’ve lived long enough. Let this be your final battle!”

Their weapons clashed with a ringing crash, sparks scattering in all directions.

Zhang He was swift, his movements elegant and precise, a dancer’s grace married to a killer’s speed. But Huang Zhong was power incarnate. His strokes were heavy, each swing of his glaive carrying the weight of decades of warfare.

Their duel raged through the chaos, drawing the attention of both armies. Hengyuan soldiers cheered their champion, while Wei warriors bellowed Zhang He’s name.

”Too slow, old fool!” Zhang He sneered, feinting left before spinning his spear upward.

Huang Zhong laughed, parrying with a single hand. ”Too polite, boy! You should hit harder if you mean to kill me!”

The air between them rang with the rhythm of steel on steel. More than hundred bouts passed in heartbeats.

Zhang He’s armor was scuffed, his breath heavy, but Huang Zhong showed no sign of slowing. His laughter only grew louder, booming over the clamor of war.

Finally, Zhang He broke away, backing off from the melee. The Wei soldiers immediately tighten their formations, pressing forward to cover him.

Huang Zhong seeing that immediately step forward, ready to pursue, but when he saw the dense formation closing in, he checked his impulse.

”Tch,” he grunted, spitting aside. ”Clever lad. Knows when to retreat.”

He raised his glaive, signaling his troops to fall back into formation. ”Regroup! Reform the lines! Keep the pressure steady!”

Meanwhile, on the eastern wall, the air was thick with smoke and the roar of men.

Xu Chu, his armor dented and blackened from explosions, now faced two opponents, Zhang Liao and Taishi Ci, both advancing from the siege lines.

The two Hengyuan generals had cut through Wei soldiers like a scythe through grass, their respective halberd and glaive gleaming crimson. When they reached the breach in the wall, they found Xu Chu waiting.

Zhang Liao twirled his twin blades. ”A tiger of Wei, is it? Let’s see if you still roar when surrounded.”

Taishi Ci grinned fiercely beside him. ”I’ll take his left arm, you take his right!”

Xu Chu planted his club in the ground, his chest rising with deep, steady breaths. ”Hmph,” he growled. ”You’ll need more than words to take anything from me.”

Then they collided.

Steel rang out in a blur of motion. Xu Chu’s club swung with crushing force, shattering a shield and denting a spear in one strike. Zhang Liao ducked under the swing, slicing upward, only to meet the iron haft of the club again. Sparks flew.

Taishi Ci thrust his glaive forward, aiming for Xu Chu’s ribs, but the giant twisted aside, the weapon scraping against his armor. Xu Chu retaliated with a sweeping blow that sent both men staggering back several paces.

Their battle raged atop the wall, the stones beneath them cracking from the sheer force of their blows. Soldiers on both sides froze, too awed to interfere.

Zhang Liao lunged again, blades flashing in the morning light. Taishi Ci followed, striking low.

Xu Chu caught both weapons against the head of his club, the impact resounding like a drumbeat. ”Too weak!” he bellowed, hurling them back with a single arm’s sweep.

Even the Hengyuan troops gasped. The man was like a mountain.

Taishi Ci grinned through the dust. ”A beast indeed! This is worth the fight!”

Zhang Liao’s eyes narrowed. ”He’s strong, but even a mountain can be moved if you strike its base.”

They charged again, this time attacking from opposite sides, their weapons flashing in deadly arcs. Xu Chu met them both, grunting, straining, as the veins in his neck standing out like cords.

The sound of steel and iron clashing filled the air, relentless and deafening.

For nearly a hundred exchanges they fought, neither side giving an inch. Blood ran down Xu Chu’s forearm, but he stood unbowed, roaring in defiance.

”Is that all you have!?”

Zhang Liao’s breath came ragged. ”He’s... stronger than I thought.”

”Then we’ll break him together!” Taishi Ci shouted, charging once more.

The three titans met in one final clash that sent a shockwave through the air.

The wall itself groaned under the impact.

Both sides’ soldiers paused in awe as dust and smoke swallowed the scene, then erupted into chaos once more as battle cries rose anew.

From the command ridge, Sima Yi watched, his expression unreadable.

”The time has not yet arrive,” he murmured. ”They resist fiercely, but they bleed first.”

Zang Hong approached, his armor spattered with grime. ”Losses are mounting on both fronts, Master Sima Yi. Shall we commit the reserves?”

Sima Yi shook his head slowly. ”Not yet. Let the storm rage. Their walls may hold, but their hearts will tire. By nightfall, Hongnong will begin to crack, not by our siege engines, but by the weight of their own endurance.”

The echo of war still rolled like distant thunder across Hongnong’s plains, but far away to the east, in the heart of the Hengyuan Empire, the air carried none of that smoke or blood. Instead, within the polished stone walls of Xiapi Palace, the flickering lamplight danced gently across scrolls, books, and the solemn faces of the realm’s brightest minds.

Lie Fan entered the chamber with his usual calm composure, though a trace of weariness clung to his steps. The weeks of reading through reports, decrees, and war bulletins had been unrelenting, yet his eyes still shone with that quiet determination that had carried him from mere warlord to Emperor.

Inside the chamber already waited Jia Xu, Liu Ye, Huang Chengyan, and Zhuge Liang. Each man rose as Lie Fan entered, bowing in unison.

”My apologies for the delay.” Lie Fan smiled faintly and motioned for them to sit. ”No need for such formality, my friends. You’ve all been working tirelessly. If anything, I should apologize for keeping you waiting,I was delayed reviewing the weekly reports.”

Jia Xu, ever the poised courtier, offered a slight, respectful bow of his head. ”Your Majesty does us honor by summoning us at all. We have not been waiting long. The affairs of state must always come first.” The others murmured their agreement, a chorus of deference and shared purpose.

A faint smile touched Lie Fan’s lips. ”Your understanding is appreciated. I am certain you are all curious as to why I have called you here, away from your own vital duties.”

Huang Chengyan, his voice raspy with age but clear with intellect, nodded. ”Indeed, Your Majesty. The summons was marked as a matter of the highest strategic importance. Our curiosity is certainly piqued.”

”Then let us satisfy it,” Lie Fan said. He reached beside his chair and produced a bundle of scrolls and a bound sheaf of papers, placing them gently on the table with a soft thud that seemed to echo in the quiet room. ”What I am about to show you did not come from a dream or a divine vision, though its implications are perhaps worthy of such origins.”

He had prepared his cover story carefully. ”The Oriole Agents, operating in the distant western frontiers, discovered these in an abandoned campsite, hidden within a sealed, weatherproof chest. They appear to be schematics... but for technologies far beyond anything we currently possess.”

The others leaned forward instinctively, eyes narrowing as they studied the intricate sketches and notes before them. The first set of drawings depicted an unfamiliar cart system, a wooden platform on wheels, but the wheels ran along two parallel wooden paths. Beneath the diagram were annotations detailing measurements, gradients, and some vague explanation of ”rolling resistance” and ”axial stability.”

The second scroll was even stranger, it showed a massive cylindrical object made of bronze or iron, with a hollow chamber and what appeared to be spherical projectiles. Alongside it were detailed designs for a type of powder mixture, sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter, and diagrams of the explosive force generated when confined.

He then handed one to Huang Chengyan. The other, he gave to Liu Ye. ”Please,” Lie Fan gestured, ”examine them.”

The two men took the documents. Huang Chengyan unrolled the scroll, his aged eyes widening as they traced the lines. Liu Ye, the engineer, was immediately captivated by the mathematical precision of the cannon schematics. For a long moment, the only sound was the rustle of parchment and their increasingly sharp intakes of breath.

Huang Chengyan was the first to look up, his face alight with a scholar’s fervent excitement. ”Your Majesty... this... this ’wagonway’... it is revolutionary! The concept of a dedicated, smooth path for specialized carts, pulled by horses. The efficiency for moving goods, for transporting troops and supplies over long distances... it would shrink the empire! A journey that takes weeks could be reduced to days!”

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty

Age: 35 (202 AD)

Level: 16

Next Level: 462,000

Renown: 2325

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)

SP: 1,121,700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 966 (+20)

VIT: 623 (+20)

AGI: 623 (+10)

INT: 667

CHR: 98

WIS: 549

WILL: 432

ATR Points: 0