Chương 595: Look, this is art.

Cao Cao rode his horse behind the valley, gazing at the scenery within, and spoke to those around him in a calm tone, as if he were commenting on a painting:

"Look, this is art. The art of artillery. A symphony woven from steel and fire."

Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, and the others exchanged bewildered glances upon hearing this, and then all looked at Cao Cao with expressions that read, "Is this guy a freak?"

Cao Cao coughed awkwardly a few times, then said, "You don't understand. You'll understand when you've fought more battles."

Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, and the others thought to themselves: We definitely don't understand, because we're not that twisted. This is art? This is more like a battlefield.

The battle lasted only an hour before it ended.

The sun was just beginning to set.

The 50, 000 elite Kushan troops were almost completely wiped out.

Corpses filled the valley, blood flowed like a river, and even the ground was stained dark red.

General Shapur died from a cannonball, leaving not even ashes, except for one boot.

When they found his lieutenant, they only found half a piece of armor.

Su Lie had deliberately instructed Cao Cao to release a few dozen Kushan soldiers, sending them back to inform the Kushan king of the devastation, describing the scene in as much detail as possible.

Dozens of terrified Kushan soldiers scrambled out of the Pamir Mountains and ran toward the Kushans, stumbling and falling along the way, even throwing away their weapons.

A dozen days later, the dozens of Kushan soldiers fled back to the Kushan capital, Purusha, and tearfully recounted the disastrous defeat in the Pamir Valley to the Kushan king, Hubishka. They said that the Han army possessed sorcery and could summon heavenly thunder, which could blast large areas at once, making them impossible to fight.

When Hubiseka heard that his 50, 000 elite troops had been wiped out, he was so frightened that he sat down on the throne and almost slipped off.

He immediately summoned all civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures.

All the civil and military officials were ashen-faced and their legs were trembling. No one dared to suggest sending troops to attack the Han Dynasty for revenge, and they didn't even dare to mention the word "go to war".

"The Han army is too powerful!" a minister exclaimed, his voice trembling.

"They have 'heavenly thunder,' and we are no match for them. The sound, the flash, and the iron bullets are simply beyond human resistance."

If we send troops again, the Han army might actually cross the Pamir Mountains and raze our country to the ground! Then, with our country destroyed and our homes ruined, it will be too late for regrets.

Hubishejia nodded repeatedly, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead:

"That's right. We can no longer be enemies with the Han Dynasty. We should immediately send envoys to Shule to sue for peace. Bring the best gifts: gold, jewels, ivory... bring everything we can. We will never again advance eastward, and we will never set foot in the Western Regions again."

Soon, the Kushan envoys arrived in Shule.

He brought with him a large quantity of gold, jewels, and ivory, filling several carts, and also a white war elephant, which he said was the national treasure of the Kushan Empire.

In front of the Kushan envoy, Xue Rengui inspected the army... and then ordered the soldiers to test-fire a Shenwei Dajiangjun cannon.

The iron bullet whistled as it flew out, blasting a small hill three miles away to smithereens, sending debris flying and dust billowing everywhere.

The Kushan envoy was so frightened that his face turned ashen, and he didn't dare to even breathe...

Su Lie said to the Kushan envoy in a calm tone, "Go back and tell your king that the territory of the Great Han will not be violated by anyone."

"If you dare to cause trouble again, next time it won't be as simple as annihilating 50, 000 troops. We will cross the Pamir Mountains, flatten your capital, and make your Kushan disappear from the map."

The Kushan envoy nodded repeatedly, his voice changing: "Yes, yes, yes! I will certainly convey the general's words to our king."

..................

Because Qi Jiguang and others had taken advantage of the previous month to recover Yizhou, where they settled immigrants and established government offices, it took a little time.

The local people of Yizhou were very cooperative and surrendered as soon as they saw the Han army, without much effort.

In the sixth year of Shenwu's reign, in June.

Outside the harbor of Kuaiji, raging waves surge like snow, and thousands of sails are arrayed, stretching for hundreds of miles, with no end in sight.

The dark Han dragon flag fluttered in the sea breeze, obscuring the sky like a black cloud.

The tent was brightly lit by candlelight, and a map of the East China Sea, about ten feet square, was spread out on the general's desk. The island circled in ink at the far east was the focus of all the generals' attention today.

Qi Jiguang, dressed in a black general's robe with a long sword at his waist, pointed his finger at the land marked "Wo" on the map. His voice was deep and resonant, like a drum. He swept his gaze over the generals standing solemnly below the tent.

Sun Jian stroked his beard and sat upright, Sun Ce stood with his hand on his sword, Zhou Yu waved his feather fan lightly, Cheng Pu and Han Dang stood side by side on the left, Gan Ning leaned against a pillar and wiped the short sword at his waist, Taishi Ci stood with his hands behind his back at the tent entrance, and Cai Mao leaned over and stared at the outline of the island on the map with eyes as sharp as an eagle.

"Gentlemen, today we will focus solely on the Japanese islands beyond the East China Sea." Qi Jiguang's fingertips traced the northern coastline of Kyushu, his voice steady and calm.

"Now is the tenth year since the great chaos in Japan. More than thirty countries have been fighting and killing each other for decades, each attacking the other until they were bloodied and battered. In the end, no one could win the hearts of the people, and no one could subdue anyone else. So they jointly established a woman named Himiko as their queen, and the kingdom was called Yamatai. They sent a woman to act as a peacemaker, and she..."

"A woman as queen?" Gan Ning scoffed, sheathing his short sword with disdain.

"A bunch of barbarians who don't even have a written language, and they actually let a woman be in charge? Aren't they afraid of being laughed at?"

"General Gan, do not underestimate her." Zhou Yu's gaze fell on the three characters "Yamatai," and he gently waved his feather fan.

"As Commander Qi just said, she 'worships the ways of ghosts and can bewitch the masses,' and that's her most formidable quality. These kinds of superstitious people are the hardest to deal with because they can control people's minds."

"Gongjin is right." Qi Jiguang nodded, his expression serious.

"This Himiko was no ordinary woman; she was a shaman and also their goddess. It is said that she lived a secluded life, with a thousand maids, and apart from her younger brother who delivered imperial edicts, almost no one had ever seen her true face."

Relying on supernatural beliefs, she managed to mold over thirty warring tribes into an alliance, which is now the strongest nation in Japan. Anyone who disobeys her is told that the gods will punish them, frightening them into submission.

He picked up the charcoal pencil and drew a circle around the location of Yamatai:

"According to reports from merchants and spies sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Yamatai Kingdom at this time had more than 50, 000 households. Assuming five people per household, the population was nearly 300, 000. The minimum number of soldiers that could be conscripted in wartime was 25, 000, and the maximum was 50, 000."

They established a large-scale oversight system to monitor various countries, with the Great Wa (a type of Japanese tribe) managing trade and the Daifu (a high-ranking official) handling diplomacy. They were beginning to resemble a proper nation, no longer a disorganized tribal group.

"The second strongest nation is called the Touma Kingdom, located south of Yamatai." Qi Jiguang's fingertip moved downwards.

"The number of households is comparable to that of Yamatai, with 50, 000 households and 250, 000 people, and a military force of 20, 000 to 40, 000. During the great chaos of that time, they were rivals of Yamatai for the leadership of the alliance, but they lost and only joined the alliance afterward. They may not be convinced of their loyalty, making them the most unstable piece in the alliance, and they could turn against us at any time."