Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

A day later, inside the royal palace of Champa.

After learning the details of the mission from Fan Shang's account, Qu Lian sat alone in his palace for several hours, still wide awake late into the night.

The Han court really intends to conquer the Kingdom of Linyi.

Anxiety filled Qu Lian's heart, making it difficult for him to fall asleep, his mind preoccupied with border affairs.

Now, Qu Lian's greatest hope lay in the Linyi army led by Qu Ba, a man known for his composure and obedience, as long as Qu Ba could firmly defend the border as instructed.

Relying on the advantage of the terrain, it was not impossible to resist the Han army.

"Rumble!"

Unknowingly, thunder rumbled outside, making Qu Lian feel even more disturbed.

Suddenly, a flurry of chaotic footsteps echoed outside the palace, and a voice like a duck's squawk urgently rang out from beyond the door.

"Your Majesty, urgent report from the border, the royal grandson has suffered a great defeat!!"

"Rumble!!!"

Several more flashes of lightning illuminated the entire palace for a moment, making Qu Lian's face even paler.

Soon, the nobles and ministers of the entire Champa, braving the heavy rain, were urgently summoned to the palace late at night to discuss matters.

Qu Lian sat back on his usual throne, and after the battle report from the border was read aloud in the hall, the entire hall fell into a moment of deathly silence.

Only the thunder outside occasionally boomed, making the blood drain from the faces of everyone in the hall.

Defeated!

And defeated utterly!

The forty thousand strong army, concentrating most of the elite forces of the Kingdom of Linyi, invaded Rinan Commandery, and after closely pursuing the vanguard led by Gan Ning, was lured backward by Gan Ning in a fighting retreat.

The already fragmented formation of the Linyi army became a complete mess in this pursuit battle.

Then, the main force of the Han army, which had circled around to both sides of the hills, suddenly emerged from both flanks, cutting the Linyi army in three sections, coupled with Gan Ning's change from defense to offense.

The Linyi army only held out for less than a quarter of an hour before its morale completely collapsed, turning the pursuit battle into a major rout.

The Han army divided and surrounded them, then took advantage of the situation to pursue and kill them into the jungles within the borders of the Kingdom of Linyi before stopping…

Of the forty thousand strong army, less than ten thousand truly escaped back into the borders of the Kingdom of Linyi.

The "Iron Wall of Linyi," on which Qu Lian relied to defend the country, had only about three hundred left, barely managing to protect Qu Ba, who had been seriously wounded by Gan Ning's attack, as he fled the battlefield.

At this point, even the most obtuse person understood that the Kingdom of Linyi had reached a moment of life and death.

The forty thousand strong army was almost completely annihilated, and even the small portion that escaped might not have the courage to face the Han army.

Even if there were still twenty thousand militia available, how many of those twenty thousand militia would dare to face the Han army once the results of the battle spread?

'The Han court… is a great terror!'

The expressions of many noble ministers were somewhat pale.

If the Kingdom of Linyi fell, their interests would also be impossible to guarantee.

"Damn it! I thought I had misjudged Qu Ba in the past, but I didn't expect him to be so useless, a waste! A waste! Even forty thousand pigs wouldn't be almost completely annihilated in one day."

"It's over! Even forty thousand troops were defeated in one battle, how can the remaining twenty thousand militia be a match for the Han court?"

"The only plan now is to seek peace! While the situation hasn't reached its worst, send someone to seek peace with the Han court, and meet the Han court's conditions as much as possible, only then can the Kingdom of Linyi be preserved."

…

For a time, various chaotic voices arose in the council hall.

And at this critical moment, some noble ministers had even disregarded the thoughts of the aging Qu Lian.

Seek peace?

The Han court's condition was to have Qu Lian bind himself and plead guilty.

However, if betraying the King of Linyi could preserve their interests, then for some nobles, it was a choice they could make almost without hesitation.

However, Qu Lian, who had originally been lowering his eyes, slowly sat up straight, his thin body seemed to reveal a bit of ferocity again, and his cloudy eyes constantly swept over those who proposed peace.

As a former枭雄 (xiao xiong - a cunning and ambitious person), Qu Lian knew very well that everyone in the Kingdom of Linyi, from top to bottom, could surrender, but he was the only one who absolutely could not surrender to the Han court.

Moreover, Qu Lian summoned a group of noble ministers not to discuss decisions, but to stabilize the internal situation for a final counterattack.

Immediately, Qu Lian waved his hand, and a group of "Iron Wall of Linyi" members barged in, immediately wielding their blades and killing seven noble ministers who had just proposed peace.

The strong smell of blood made a group of noble ministers shudder, instantly clearing their minds a lot.

At this point, Qu Lian slowly opened his mouth.

"The Han court will not allow the Kingdom of Linyi to seek peace, and the Han court is not invincible. This king was able to win in the past, and this time this king will be able to win as well."

"The Han court's army is on a distant expedition here, and its logistics will definitely not be sustainable. As long as we can delay them for a month or two, the Han army will naturally retreat."

"At present, we only need to boost the morale of the peasant soldiers with heavy rewards, and use the terrain to constantly harass the Han army."

"Announce to the entire country, regardless of men, women, old or young, anyone who obtains a Han soldier's head will receive a pearl, and anyone who obtains ten heads will be ennobled as a noble."

As soon as these words came out, many noble ministers looked at Qu Lian with expressions full of horror.

With such heavy rewards, there would be a constant stream of people who were not afraid of death attacking the Han army, which was undoubtedly using countless people from the Kingdom of Linyi as a barrier to resist the Han army.

Moreover, Qu Lian had extremely high prestige within the Kingdom of Linyi, and as long as Qu Lian did not die, then many people would believe that this promise could be fulfilled.

And the Han army, facing the constant attacks of the people of Linyi, would eventually have to raise their butcher knives against the people of Linyi in order to protect themselves or to save trouble.

Finally, Qu Lian spoke again.

"Furthermore, who is willing to send an envoy to the surrounding countries to explain the power of the Han court and form an alliance to resist the Han army together?"

…

And just as Qu Lian summoned all the noble ministers in Champa for an emergency meeting to make a final desperate resistance.

A five thousand strong Han army, still orderly in its march through the black night and rain, appeared outside of Champa like a divine army descending from the heavens.

Sun Ce looked at the low city walls of Champa, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he discovered that there were very few guards on the city walls.

Especially under the pouring rain, Sun Ce observed for a long time, and only saw two or three figures occasionally appearing on the city walls.

Sun Ce asked. "Gongjin, is this a trap?"

"This is the hinterland of the Kingdom of Linyi, I am afraid that most of the troops have been transferred, coupled with the heavy rain, this is normal."

Zhou Yu wiped the rain off his face, his expression also difficult to hide a bit of excitement as he replied.

Attacking the capital of a barbarian country, for the Han people, there was an unspeakable excitement and sense of accomplishment, and Zhou Yu was no exception.

"Good!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce no longer hesitated.

Immediately, Sun Ce personally led the elite troops to easily cross the low city walls, taking advantage of the night and rain, silently killing the few guards who were huddled up to avoid the rain, and then opened the city gates, heading straight for the royal palace with practiced ease.

(End of chapter)