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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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In that timeline, Batu and Zolgar, the two supreme leaders of the Xiongnu who had just died in the snow, aren't even in such position of power and possibly only tribe chieftain. They here only grew powerful due to butterfly effect, where eventually, they became Cao Cao's vassals when the Emperor of Wei managed to conquer the land beyond the Great Walls during his northern expansion, simply because Cao Cao didn't have any other direction to expand to while locked in a stalemate with him and Liu Zhang at the time.
Lie Fan of course knew that Cao Cao's subjugation of the Xiongnu was a temporary bandage in the past, not a cure. The Xiongnus eventually rebelled after realizing that Wei Dynasty is falling apart, broke off from Wei's control which resulted in Wei losing its territories in the north.
'But they will bow before my power,' Lie Fan thought fiercely, a dark, triumphant satisfaction blooming in his chest.
Because he had unified the continent decades ahead of schedule, the butterfly effect of his rapid conquest had completely destabilized the geopolitics of the steppes. The Xiongnu and Xianbei had fought each other to the death, and the future threats were already dead in the mud.
As for the Xianbei in this current, altered timeline, Lie Fan remembered the specific economic and political maneuvers his forces had executed years prior.
Before the final unification of the Han territories, Lie Fan's forces had previously established highly lucrative, incredibly practical trade relations with the Xianbei tribes. It was a calculated move to keep the northern borders quiet while he focused on destroying his rivals in the south and central plains.
The Xianbei, using the advanced building supplies, the high quality iron tools, and the architectural blueprints they got from Hengyuan merchants, had built surprisingly sturdy, permanent winter fortifications across the steppes.
In exchange, Lie Fan's empire had received their rich steppe resources like heavy furs, incredibly high quality warhorses to breed with his own cavalry mounts, and other essential raw materials.
Lie Fan looked at the map where Kuitou had fallen. He noted internally that it is actually a very, very good thing that Kuitou died in battle. Kuitou was an incredibly ambitious, highly charismatic leader who possessed the vision of his legendary uncle, Tanshihuai.
If Kuitou had survived and successfully defeated the Xiongnu and subjugated them, he would have eventually turned those sturdy Hengyuan built fortifications against Lie Fan, creating a massive, highly organized, and deeply entrenched enemy nation right on the northern border. Lie Fan absolutely didn't want the Xianbei Confederation to be successfully built and stabilized again.
The heavens had done half of his bloody work for him.
Lie Fan placed his gauntleted hands heavily on the table, breaking the silence in the tent. He looked up, his eyes burning with the cold, absolute fire of a man who was about to rewrite the history of the world.
"The intelligence gathered by the Orioles is very good, Lu Xun. It is flawlessly timed," Lie Fan declared to his generals, his voice echoing with the terrifying, inevitable weight of the impending slaughter. "The enemy has bled themselves dry for us. The Khans are dead, the tribes are fractured, and the winter is closing in around their throats."
Lie Fan stepped back from the table, his physical presence dominating the command tent.
"We will not hesitate. We will not allow them a single day to name new leaders or forge new alliances," Lie Fan ordered, his voice ringing with absolute, ruthless authority. "Now, we use this perfect, heaven sent opportunity to utterly tear down the weakened nomadic tribes once and for all. We do not just defeat them in battle, we eradicate their ability to ever threaten the south again. We will break their spirit so entirely that the steppes will whisper the name of Hengyuan in terror for a thousand years."
The generals stood at absolute attention, their blood burning with the intoxicating, violent thrill of the coming conquest. Ma Chao gripped the hilt of his sword, while Zhang Liao's eyes narrowed into slits of pure, lethal focus.
Finally, Lie Fan turned his attention to a highly specific, vital logistical detail regarding the impending invasion. He was a conqueror, but he was also the supreme architect of an empire, and he never destroyed what he could use.
Lie Fan gave a strict, completely non negotiable tactical order to his high command.
"During the initial years of my reign, we traded heavily with the Xianbei," Lie Fan reminded his generals, pointing to the northern territories on the map. "They traded us horses, and we gave them the iron and the masonry required to survive the deep winters. The fortifications previously built by the Xianbeis using our own Hengyuan supplies and architectural techniques are likely of incredibly good, sturdy quality."
He looked directly at Sima Yi and Xun You, ensuring the logistical and tactical commanders understood the mandate.
"As the three prongs of the advancing imperial army push deep into the steppes, you will encounter these stone and timber fortresses," Lie Fan commanded, his voice dropping into a register of absolute, pragmatic efficiency. "You are to capture and use them. They are to become the forward operating bases for our supply lines and our artillery trains."
Lie Fan leaned forward, his dark eyes locking onto the fierce, destructive warriors like Ma Chao and Dian Wei.
"Hear me clearly, generals. If these fortifications can be used as forward bases to shelter our men from the freezing winds, you must secure them intact," Lie Fan ordered strictly. "You will clear them of the enemy, you will slaughter any resistance, but you will absolutely do not destroy the walls or burn the granaries during the conquest. The Hengyuan Dynasty does not burn its own investments. We will use the very walls the Xianbei built to secure their ultimate annihilation."
"It shall be done exactly as you command, Your Imperial Majesty," Xun You bowed deeply, the other generals immediately following suit. "The fortresses will be captured intact. The logistics will flow through their own halls."
"Then the waiting is over," Lie Fan declared, turning toward the heavy canvas flaps of the command tent. The cold, howling wind of the north swept in as the flaps were thrown open by the Yellow Ghost guards.
Lie Fan looked out into the freezing darkness, toward the invisible, vast expanse of the steppes where a million men waited for his word.
"Send the ravens to Taishi Ci and Huang Zhong," the Emperor commanded, his voice carrying the final, apocalyptic judgment of the Black Dragon. "Tell them to unleash the storm. We march at dawn."
Upon hearing the finalized strategy, the heavy, suffocating silence of the war tent was instantly shattered. Everyone present in the war tent immediately voiced their resolute acknowledgment, the sound of their unified voices vibrating against the thick canvas walls.
The heavy thud of gauntleted fists striking breastplates echoed like the first ominous thunderclaps of an approaching storm.
"We receive the mandate!" the generals roared, their eyes reflecting the dancing flames of the iron braziers.
Sima Yi, swift and meticulous, did not waste a single fraction of a second indulging in the intoxicating adrenaline of the moment. The Minister of War immediately broke away from the semicircle of commanders and took his seat behind a sturdy oak field desk situated in the corner of the tent.
He reached for a fresh block of thick, black ink and a fine tipped brush, his mind already shifting from grand strategy to absolute, microscopic execution. He began drafting the vital missives that would be dispatched to Taishi Ci and Huang Zhong.
His calligraphy was flawless, encoding the Emperor's apocalyptic directive into a complex, multi layered cipher that only the highest echelon of the Hengyuan military could translate. Every stroke of his brush sealed the fate of thousands of nomadic souls.
With the council officially concluded and the gears of the war machine turning on their own, Lie Fan exited the tent. The transition from the stifling, heated interior to the freezing, biting wind of the northern night was a physical shock, but the Emperor welcomed the cold. It sharpened his senses.
He was accompanied by Lu Lingqi, her silhouette cutting a sharp, lethal figure in the moonlight, and a detachment of the ever loyal Yellow Ghost Bodyguards trailing closely behind them. The bodyguards moved with the silent, terrifying grace of phantoms, their dark armor absorbing the ambient light of the campfires, forming an impenetrable, moving fortress around their sovereign.
As they walked through the bustling camp, the sheer, incomprehensible scale of the Central Command army laid itself bare. Hundreds of thousands of men were preparing for the dawn.
The air was thick with the scent of woodsmoke, roasting salted meats, and the sharp, metallic tang of whetstones scraping against steel. Blacksmiths worked frantically at portable field forges, repairing armor straps and sharpening halberds. Soldiers sat in tight circles around roaring fires, checking the fletching on their crossbow bolts, their breath pluming in the freezing air like the steam of the newly invented engines back in Xiapi.
Lu Lingqi walked half a pace behind Lie Fan's right shoulder. She watched the men preparing for slaughter, and the fierce, undeniable legacy of her bloodline surged violently within her chest. The daughter of the Flying General, Lu Bu, was not meant to sit idle while history was written in blood.
Lu Lingqi turned to him, the fire of battle already burning in her eyes. The flickering light of a nearby watchfire illuminated the sharp, beautiful contours of her face, highlighting the predatory, martial intensity that she had inherited from her father.
"My Emperor. My husband," Lu Lingqi spoke, her voice low but carrying an unyielding, passionate strength that commanded his immediate attention.
Lie Fan slowed his pace, turning his head to look at her. "Speak, Qi'er. The night is short, and the dawn will demand much of us."
She took a breath, the freezing air filling her lungs. She asked if she and her elite female battalion could be placed on the absolute frontline for the vanguard attack.
"I have trained them for this exact moment," Lu Lingqi pleaded, her hands balling into fists at her sides, her eyes pleading with him not just as a subordinate, but as a warrior desperate to prove her worth. "The Soaring Valkyries are not ceremonial guards meant to look pretty in the capital. They are forged of iron and grief. They hit harder and march longer than half the men in this camp. Let me lead them at the very tip of the spear. Let us be the first to break the Xianbei lines. Let me show the north the wrath of the Lu clan."
Lie Fan stopped walking. The Yellow Ghost Bodyguards instantly halted behind him, granting the royal couple a bubble of absolute privacy amidst the chaotic symphony of the war camp.
Lie Fan fell silent for a short moment, his dark, calculating eyes locked onto hers, heavily weighing the tactical situation.
To place her on the absolute frontline of a vanguard charge was to invite a level of risk that tore at the very fabric of his soul. The vanguard was a meat grinder. It was where the initial, chaotic clash of heavy cavalry and desperate, cornered nomadic warriors would occur.
A single slipped saddle, a stray arrow from a composite bow, or a momentary lapse in defense could result in her death. He had built this empire to protect his family, and placing his wife at the epicenter of the slaughter seemed entirely counterintuitive to that vow.
But as he looked into her eyes, he saw the suffocating cage of her own legacy. If he denied her this, if he kept her safely tucked away behind the heavy infantry lines he would be preserving her body but slowly killing her spirit. She was a warrior. She needed to bleed to feel alive.
Finally, Lie Fan nodded his head.
"You shall have the vanguard," Lie Fan agreed, his voice a low, steady rumble that brokered absolutely no further negotiation. "You and your battalion can take the frontline."
Lu Lingqi's face lit up, a breathtaking smile of pure, martial ecstasy breaking across her features. She opened her mouth to thank him, but Lie Fan raised a gauntleted hand, cutting her off.
"But with a firm condition," Lie Fan added, stepping closer, his presence expanding to completely envelop hers. His eyes burned with the fierce, protective instinct of a dragon guarding its treasure. "You will not ride alone. I will be leading the charge alongside you. We ride at the absolute front together, flanked by the Yellow Ghost Bodyguards and my own personal battalion."
Lu Lingqi blinked, slightly taken aback. The Emperor of the world, riding at the very tip of the vanguard? It was a terrifyingly dangerous proposition. She knew her request was bold, but she hadn't intended to drag the most important man on the continent into the very jaws of the meat grinder just to sate her own martial pride.
Seeing her expression shift into one of sudden, profound worry for his safety, Lie Fan quickly reassured her. He reached out, his heavy, armored hand gently cupping the side of her cold cheek.
"Do not worry, my fierce wife," Lie Fan smiled, a warm, completely unbothered expression that radiated absolute, heaven defying confidence. "I am not doing this merely to protect you, though I would burn the world to keep you safe. I am doing this because the army needs to see their Emperor strike the first blow. She and her warriors would still get their massive share of the battle, just as they had in their previous campaigns. No one will steal your glory, Qi'er. We will simply share the slaughter."
Overjoyed, the heavy burden of anxiety completely lifting from her shoulders, Lu Lingqi nodded happily. The prospect of riding side by side with her husband once again, leading a charge that would shatter the earth, was the ultimate realization of her deepest dreams. She placed her own hand over his gauntlet, her eyes shining with absolute devotion.
"Thank you, husband," she warmly thanked her husband, her voice thick with emotion. "I swear to you, my halberd will not falter. We will paint the snow red together."
Meanwhile, high above the sprawling, smoke-choked encampment, the final, crucial mechanisms of the continental strategy were set into motion.
From the secluded aviaries positioned near the command tent, two black ravens took to the skies. They were magnificent, terrifyingly intelligent creatures, bred specifically for endurance in the harsh, freezing altitudes of the northern mountains. Secured tightly to their legs were the tiny, lightweight silk scrolls carrying Sima Yi's freshly drafted orders.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty
Age: 36 (203 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 2325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 11)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 1,010 (+20)
VIT: 659 (+20)
AGI: 653 (+10)
INT: 691
CHR: 98
WIS: 569
WILL: 436
ATR Points: 0