Conquering Myriad Worlds from the Mythical Three Kingdoms

However, one thing Du Yu didn't expect was that Luoyang was truly in grave danger.

Sima Yi, outside Luoyang, relied on the magical abilities of Houtu's army and managed to breach the city walls during his first siege.

If it weren't for Sima Yi's capture of Hanzhong, which relayed the news to Luoyang and forced Du Yu to return to his army, there might have been a real chance of capturing Luoyang.

Sima Yi was filled with deep regret.

Luoyang in the main world is so powerful that when they discuss attacking Luoyang, they unconsciously overestimate its city defenses.

In the entire Luoyang region, apart from the Military Soul Legion, which is capable of fighting, the other legions are merely there to make up the numbers.

Sima Yi only realized afterward that he had overestimated the defensive strength of Luoyang. The southward advance of Du Yu and Yang Hu's armies had already depleted the Jin Dynasty's resources.

Apart from the Military Soul Legion, even the Central Imperial Guard in Luoyang was not considered a formidable force, and was thoroughly defeated by Wei Yan during the siege.

If it weren't for the fact that the Military Soul Legion forcibly depleted the Empire's 30,000 double-talented soldiers before their siege, Sima Yi might have actually been able to take Luoyang.

These soldiers, who were forcibly promoted, almost collapsed when faced with Sima Yi, a terrifying monster who could suppress the talents of elite soldiers.

It's a pity that Sima Yi had too few men. If he had another 10,000 or 20,000, he would have been able to take Luoyang in one fell swoop, even with the losses.

After the first wave of attacks, Sima Yan sent twelve imperial edicts to Du Yu, ordering him to quickly lead his troops back to the city for reinforcement.

Sima Yan wasn't afraid; rather, he recognized Sima Yi's talent.

He wanted Sima Yi dead.

To him, Sima Yi was nothing more than a scourge who had inherited the spiritual talents of his ancestors.

He filled in the blanks in his mind about the truth of Sima Yi's uprising, and he was a relative of Sima Jia who possessed the spiritual talent of his ancestor Sima Yi.

This is entirely a matter of destiny, and it's not impossible that it could be used to overthrow him and ascend to the throne.

In particular, the various special items in Sima Yi's possession were also considered by Sima Yan to be items brought out by various powerful families.

Sima Yan's thinking went downhill rapidly, and he began to develop in a violent direction.

Sima Yi spent his days idly attacking the city, while Wei Yan spread false information about Du Yu and Yang Hu, slandering them and sowing discord between them and Sima Yan.

For Sima Yi, after failing to capture Luoyang in the first wave, there was no point in continuing to attack Luoyang.

After all, a lose-lose situation is the most unacceptable thing for Sima Yi. If Du Yu were to return to defend, he wouldn't be able to hold the line either.

Therefore, Sima Yi's strategy to preserve his strength was to besiege the enemy's stronghold and then attack their reinforcements.

He ambushed Wei Yan outside Luoyang, waiting for Du Yu and his troops to return in panic.

The cavalry will definitely be the first to return.

The cavalry charge was indeed powerful, but the characteristics of Houtu's army ensured that they could withstand the cavalry charge.

After withstanding the first wave of attacks, Wei Yan would emerge from behind and easily wipe out the entire enemy team.

Sima Yi's current target is Du Yu. As long as Du Yu charges back in the first wave, he will annihilate him in one fell swoop.

It would be best if we could capture Du Yu, but it doesn't matter if we can't. If we destroy the Jin army's cavalry, they can safely retreat to Hanzhong and return to Xiangyang along the Han River.

Du Yu had no idea what was happening. It wasn't until his men from Luoyang received the battle reports that he realized the danger.

If his strategic judgment had been correct and Sima Yan had given reckless orders, he would have been safe and sound after the matter was over.

But things are different now. He made a strategic misjudgment, and Luoyang almost fell. He also refused to obey orders.

Du Yu felt that if he couldn't defeat Sima Yi, he would probably die after returning to Luoyang, and he couldn't find any fault with this outcome.

For a commander of such a large army as him, a misjudgment is no different from death.

Du Yu, harboring resentment, forcefully demanded the return of military power, intending to capture Sima Yi, hoping to die alone in the end.

Otherwise, they might have suffered the fate of having their entire family wiped out...

Oh, his wife is also from the Sima family, so she might be able to survive a little, but he still can't accept the confiscation of their property and the extermination of their entire family.

After a lifetime of hard work, Du Yu's reputation was ruined in his later years, and his family was wiped out. For him, this was like the sky falling.

"So fast? It seems our Emperor Wu of Jin in Luoyang is really in a hurry!"

"Why don't we try to take Luoyang?" Wei Yan asked Sima Yi, puzzled.

“Yes, I wasn’t here last time, but this time I’ve brought the troops here. How can we not take Luoyang?” Xu Huang replied.

Previously, when Sima Yi and Wei Yan launched a night attack on Luoyang, he led infantry troops behind them. This time, their forces are strong, and they have a great chance of winning the attack on Luoyang.

"The reason we were able to break through last time was twofold: firstly, it was a surprise attack, my talent caused them panic, and secondly, the other side was unprepared."

"To try and break in now is a pipe dream. Even if we did manage to take it, at least half of our men would die, and we might even lose the entire Houtu Legion. Luoyang is not worth that much!"

Sima Yi offered a brief explanation, revealing that he genuinely wanted to take Luoyang if possible.

However, the imperial will has been awakened, and coupled with the enemy's tight defenses, they are in real danger.

It would be better to first plan to eliminate Du Yu, the commander of the large army.

By eliminating the Jin Dynasty's left and right arms, their chances of winning would increase significantly.

Wei Yan and Xu Huang were both a little regretful; capturing Luoyang in one battle was a great temptation for both of them.

However, since Sima Yi had said so, they had no choice but to obey. They both knew very well that Sima Yi was much smarter than them and had considered things more thoroughly.

"Marshal, the trap you ordered has been set!"

Ji Jian walked in from outside and spoke to Sima Yi.

Sima Yi ordered Hou Tu's army to dig a brand new moat around Luoyang, and then covered it up, just to make sure the people of Luoyang wouldn't dare to come out and intercept them.

"Will this really work? If we pave a road with clouds, we can get through it in no time?"

Ji Jian was a little confused. After all, traps and the like had long been obsolete. The secret technique of using clouds to pave roads was just too convenient, completely ignoring the terrain.

"My mental talent can eliminate certain things at a specific point. The other side may not have this secret technique. Even if they do, I can still trick them and buy them enough time!" Sima Yi pointed to his head.

He looked at the three generals in front of him and sighed. They were all too foolish and couldn't keep up with his thinking at all, but he still had to rely on these people to fight the war.

"Have you all taken care of everything I arranged?"

"It's done. I've had people spreading rumors outside the city for several days now," Xu Huang said, shaking his head.

He simply couldn't keep up with Sima Yi's thought process; he had no idea what the meaning was of many of the things Sima Yi did.

He could be considered a great general, and he had grown a lot over the years. He was just at the threshold of commanding a large army and could easily lead 50,000 to 60,000 men. But now he is completely unable to keep up with Sima Yi.

Fortunately, his greatest strength is that he listens to advice. "That's good then, Wei Wenchang, find a good spot to ambush them, and this time we'll wipe them all out!"

Sima Yi confidently arranged everything and quietly waited for Du Yu to return.

Meanwhile, fifty miles away from where Sima Yi was encamped, Du Yu ordered his cavalry to halt and rest on the spot.

"General Du, what are you doing?" Sima Yan's trusted confidant looked at Du Yu with a grim expression.

Du Yu took back command because they knew they couldn't lead troops into battle, and they knew they weren't up to the task.

Therefore, all they needed to do was ensure that Du Yu could reach Luoyang quickly, defeat the enemy, and then control him.

They were almost at Luoyang when Du Yu stopped, which made their eyes flash with a cold light.

Sima Yan's orders to them included killing Du Yu.

"Our army has come a long way. If we do not rest and face the enemy with exhausted troops, wouldn't that be like lambs to the slaughter?" Du Yu was not going to tolerate the other side at all.

"You don't understand a principle that even a three-year-old knows?"

"..." The confidant was speechless.

"Now that Luoyang is safe, our army should proceed cautiously and gradually!"

A cold glint flashed in the eyes of the confidant. He didn't understand warfare, but he could tell that Du Yu didn't want a quick victory. He was dragging his feet to wait for the main army behind him, or perhaps he wanted to wait for the main army to attack Luoyang.
"General Du, I must remind you, His Majesty's order is to defeat these enemies immediately!" the confidant emphasized.

"I know how to fight! I don't need anyone to teach me!"

Du Yu looked displeased, thinking that a complete idiot who knew nothing about leading troops dared to give orders.

The opponent is definitely not simple. If he wants to play it safe, he will definitely lead a large army to encircle them.

He now realizes that he is no longer in the emperor's favor, and if he cannot defeat Sima Yi, he will surely die. Therefore, Du Yu speaks more recklessly than before.

"Get lost! I'll call you when I'm rested! Don't bother me now, I need to think about how to defeat the enemy!" Du Yu shooed everyone else away and looked at the map near Luoyang, studying how to defeat the enemy.

This is very likely the last war of his life, so he has to win, and win spectacularly.

"Go, send Du Yu's words and actions back to Luoyang!" After the confidant left, he immediately arranged for someone to send the message back to Luoyang.

"That Du Yu!" Sima Yan flew into a rage and overturned the table in front of him.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Everyone around immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.

Sima Yan calmed himself down for a moment, took a deep breath, and suppressed all his emotions.

"Send someone to deliver a message to Du Yu, telling him that he has full authority to command this battle, and that once the battle begins, the Luoyang garrison will come out of the city to cooperate. He must ensure that the enemy is annihilated!"

Sima Yan suppressed all his dissatisfaction, believing that the most important thing at the moment was the problem with Sima Yi, so he decided to put the issue of Du Yu aside for the time being.

There will be plenty of time to deal with Du Yu later; right now, Sima Yi is the most crucial target.

However, those around Sima Yan knew that Du Yu was doomed.

When an emperor suppresses all his anger and still tries to coax his officers into fighting, those officers are bound to die.

Defeat means death, and returning victorious means death as well.

Sima Yi was unaware that Jia Xu's secret machinations had already sown seeds of discord between Sima Yan and his minister Du Yu.

If Jia Xu hadn't arranged for someone to stir up trouble, even if Sima Yan was dissatisfied with Du Yu, at most he would have just stripped him of his military power and imprisoned him.

Now, Sima Yan is truly determined to kill.

While Du Yu was resting, Wei Yan passed the message to Sima Yi: the Light and Shadow Secret Technique combined with the Fifth Lark's ability could greatly extend the reconnaissance range.

Du Yu's idea was good; fifty li is the limit of ordinary war reconnaissance, which is why he was positioned at fifty li to prepare for action. However, Wei Yan's reconnaissance range was even greater, which caused him to be exposed in advance.

"It's quite capable!"

Sima Yi understood that Du Yu was gathering his strength and recovering his power, intending to launch a full-scale attack on them.

"What's the situation inside the city?"

"The enemy is making a large-scale mobilization, seemingly to coordinate with reinforcements to attack us from both sides."

"Hmph, utterly foolish!" Sima Yi snorted twice.

How could he be so stupid as to actually give the other side a chance to attack from both sides?

"Send troops to prepare for an attack on the city, to make a show of force to alert the defenders inside!"

Sima Yi sent men to feign an attack on the city, creating the illusion that they were about to attack and exposing the rear guard to the cavalry.

In reality, Houtu's army was positioned at the rear headquarters, waiting for the opposing cavalry to launch a forced charge.

If the other side doesn't charge, then Sima Yi will have to give them a good thrashing.

Without infantry support, cavalry that cannot charge is of little value if they are merely harassing with light cavalry. Moreover, Houtu's army has also set up horse traps on both sides.

No matter what the opponent chooses, Sima Yi will always give them a surprise.

"Woo~" The long, drawn-out sound of a horn rang out.

The garrison in Luoyang immediately tensed up. In the past two days, Sima Yi had ordered several catapults to be made. Although they were very simple, they were enough to throw stones.

When stones fall from a great height, most of them only hit open ground, creating a sense of tension and oppression, while only a small number of stones actually hit their target.

Sima Yi didn't care about the success rate; he just wanted to make a show of it.

As soon as Sima Yi made a move, Du Yu immediately received the intelligence.

"Could it be such a coincidence?" Du Yu immediately sensed something was wrong, but he didn't have any more information and could only choose to believe it.

"General Du, His Majesty has entrusted you with an important mission, not for you to stand here idly!" Sima Yi's messenger urged Du Yu.

Du Yu was getting impatient, but given the current situation, it was indeed time to strike immediately.

He instinctively sensed something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

A quarter of an hour later, he led his army toward Sima Yi's army.

Meanwhile, on their flank, Wei Yan led his troops to keep an eye on Du Yu's cavalry.

"Follow them, keep your distance and don't get within ten miles of them. Just follow behind them."

Wei Yan sneered. As long as the enemy didn't have the White Horse Cavalry, they would definitely be able to flank and penetrate the enemy's rear this time.

With Houtu's army attacking from both sides, and the remaining troops flanking them, victory is within reach. (End of Chapter)