I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1114 Encirclement and reinforcements
"My king! Let us surrender!"

"We can't beat them, we simply can't beat them!"

"The Han soldiers are not human; they are heavenly soldiers and generals!"

The general who had escaped knelt on the ground, wailing repeatedly, clearly deeply traumatized.

"Your Majesty! The Han cavalry are less than a day's journey from the capital! They... they are burning villages and dispersing the people along the way, slaughtering anyone who resists... The capital... the capital is in imminent danger!"

"Bullshit!" Himiko's face turned ashen with rage, and he kicked the general to the ground. "Boosting the enemy's morale while diminishing our own! What heavenly soldiers and generals? They're nothing but strange tricks and gimmicks!"

He abruptly drew his sword—a ring-pommel sword captured from the Han envoy, its blade gleaming coldly—pointed it outside the hall, and roared at the surrounding nobles and generals who were frozen in fear:
"Our Dog Slave Royal City is built against the mountain, with high and thick stone walls and ample provisions! There are also tens of thousands of loyal and brave warriors inside the city! Even if the Han people really have three hundred heavenly soldiers, do you think they can fly into the city?!"

"Send the order! All warriors, ascend the city walls to defend! Archers, take up your arrows! Bring all the captured Han prisoners to the city walls! If the Han army dares to attack, cut off their heads and throw them down first!"

"Send another messenger to urgently summon General Yamamoto Kumanao back to reinforce! Tell him to abandon the border and immediately bring his troops back! I intend to attack from both inside and outside, and crush this ignorant Han army beneath the walls of the capital!"

Himiko issued a series of orders, their ferocity masking a cowardly madness. The nobles and generals in the hall exchanged bewildered glances, none daring to offer any further advice, and could only steel themselves and obey.

The Imperial Advisor, Kojihiko, watched this scene, his eyes deepening with despair. He opened his mouth, but in the end, only a silent sigh escaped his lips as he slumped into the shadows. He knew that Himiko had been completely blinded by fear and rage. Recall Yamamoto Kumanao? If the border defenses were left undefended, would the ever-watchful Yamatai army let such an opportunity slip by?
Moreover, the golden divine bird, whose whereabouts remain unknown, and its master are probably the greatest threat...

And this imperial advisor was indeed quite good.

Su Yao kept his bow drawn but did not release it. Besides the fact that the Japanese were utterly incompetent and it would give his men some battle merits, the more important reason was that he did not intend to simply punish that dog-like king and be done with it.

The Han envoy suffered such humiliation and torture, and the Dog Slave Kingdom must pay the price. However, Su Yao's true goal is to maximize the use of this incident to thoroughly intimidate the Japanese island nations and further bring the entire Kyushu Island under the direct rule of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, he needed to instill more fear in these barbarians and eliminate more potential enemies in advance, such as the Dog Slave Kingdom's army that was rushing back to the capital.
"Is Your Highness planning to besiege the enemy's stronghold and then attack their reinforcements?"

Taishi Ci understood instantly.

“That’s right,” Su Yao explained. “That force numbered over ten thousand. It was the last elite force of the Dog Slave Kingdom and the core of the pro-war faction in the country. It was these people who spearheaded the sneak attack on our Han envoys.”

"If we force the Dog Slave Kingdom to surrender too easily, these people will inevitably surrender one after another to avoid being punished, and then it will be difficult to deal with them. Even if we deal with them by force, it is easy to provoke a rebellion and leave hidden dangers."

Su Yao's voice was icy cold and filled with murderous intent:
"What I want is not superficial submission, but a complete reckoning and permanent order! War criminals must be severely punished, and all those who participated in the atrocities and harbored ill intentions will pay the price in blood for their foolish actions!"

"Therefore, we must lure their main force back to reinforce us, then gather them together and annihilate them! We must not only kill their king, but also destroy their army, break their will, and completely shatter their backbone that dares to resist!"

"I will eliminate every single villain who has shed the blood of my Han people!"

Upon hearing this, Taishi Ci's eyes flashed with a chilling light, and he fully understood Su Yao's profound meaning. This was to achieve a decisive victory in one battle, using swift and decisive means to fundamentally destroy the Dog Slave Kingdom's war potential and will to resist, thus clearing the way for long-term stability and peace.

"Your subordinate understands! This battle must be fought to the bitter end, and not a single person will escape!" Taishi Ci clasped his hands, his killing intent palpable. With the plan set, the Han army immediately began to operate efficiently.

Jiang Qin continued to lead three hundred light cavalry, like a persistent leech, constantly harassing the royal city and creating a tense atmosphere of impending invasion. Sometimes they would ride into the dust, feigning a large-scale mobilization; other times they would use crossbows to accurately hurl messages at the city walls, the contents of which were nothing more than psychological warfare phrases such as "only the ringleaders will be executed, surrender and you will be spared death," further exacerbating the panic and suspicion within the city, in order to force the tyrannical king to continuously send messages to the front lines, urging Yamamoto Kumano to return to defend.

Meanwhile, Taishi Ci dispatched a portion of his main force to quietly hide in the mountains and forests near the capital and set up an ambush.

The capital of the Dog Slave Kingdom is located in the mountains in the central part of Kyushu Island, which is extremely advantageous for defense. There are only a few mountain roads leading to the capital, and the narrow valleys are perfect places for ambushes. If a troop of soldiers were to be set up here...
However, Taishi Ci and his men did not set up an ambush, but merely lay in wait to monitor the situation. Under the cover of Su Yao's aerial vision, they avoided the main force of Yamamoto Kumamoto's army, and the two armies did not clash.

"Hahaha!"

After crossing the treacherous valley, Yamamoto Kumano finally burst into laughter.

"These Han people seem to be nothing special. If my Han army leader had set up an ambush here, we would all be finished."

Yamamoto Kumano's words elicited bursts of laughter from the group.

The group, who had been on tenterhooks after crossing the canyon, were overjoyed and responded with jokes.

"Those Han Chinese are nowhere near as capable as our general."

"That's right, that's right. They've come all this way, and it's already quite an achievement that they've managed to reach our capital. How could they possibly have the ability and skill to see through the dangers of this place?"

"Exactly! Although the Han people have powerful weapons, they are unfamiliar with our terrain. To venture deep into our territory rashly would be a path to certain death!"

The crowd chimed in with their opinions. Some said the Han army was an unruly force, unable to find their way and thus unable to set up an ambush. Others said the sea route was too far, and the Han army couldn't possibly send many men; besieging the city was already a full-scale effort.

Amidst the jeers of these people, the last trace of doubt in Yamamoto Kumano's heart vanished, replaced by inflated confidence and a desire to achieve great things.

He urged the army to advance faster, wishing he could fly to the capital immediately and attack the ignorant Han army from both inside and outside, destroying them in one fell swoop.

By then, they will surely acquire more powerful weapons, and unifying the archipelago will be a piece of cake.

However, neither Yamamoto Kumano nor Himiya Yumiko ever considered that all of this was Su Yao's arrangement.

He wanted the king, nobles, and all the people of the Dog Slave Kingdom to witness firsthand how he had destroyed their country's most powerful military force in one fell swoop.

So, a few days later, when Yamamoto Kumano's army of more than 15,000 men returned to the outskirts of the capital, they were not greeted by the expected scene of easily crushing the Han army by coordinating with the city's defenders from the inside, but by a suffocating silence.

Although there were fewer than three thousand Han soldiers arrayed outside the city, their iron armor was like frost, their long halberds like a forest, and each of them wore a crimson battle robe, making them look like burning flames that were too dangerous to look at directly.

What's even more terrifying is that these Han soldiers, facing an enemy force several times their size, showed no panic whatsoever. Instead, each of them had piercing eyes and a murderous aura, as if they were the ones with an absolute advantage.
(End of this chapter)