Post by Cao Pi on Jul 6, 2009 17:31:58 GMT -5
~A Cold Betrayal in the North~[/b]
A majestic palace. A city surrounded by tall walls. A ruler whose voice inspired generations. A general whose ingenuity conquered legions. An army whose might bested thousands.
Wei was the pinnacle of success in 200 AD. Cao Cao was the most well known and feared man in the country. His influence spread from sunset to sunset. In the north, he defeated Yuan Shao. In the south, he defeated Liu Biao. In the west, he sent his most trusted commander, Ba Zeng the Unwavering, to conquer Ma Teng’s legendary horsemen. The campaign was intense, yet Ba Zeng was able to stretch the territories of Wei.
It was in the winter of 202 AD that Ba Zeng struck conflict with his lord. Through a disagreement of ideals, Ba Zeng took the army who looked to him as their leader and the cities which he, and not Cao Cao, conquered, and established the Kingdom of Zen. Liu Bei had previously escaped Wei’s grasp in Jing, and he took refuge in Yizhou after gaining the province from his kin, Liu Zhang. Sun Jian of the mighty Sun family saw this a good time to strike, and with his allies of Shu, he pierced into the lands of Wei and invaded Xu Chang.
At this time, Ba Zeng’s influence had grown. He saw the invasion of Xu Chang as the perfect opportunity to siege Chang An, the capital of the northwestern province. Sun Jian and Liu Bei brought their armies to the very doorstep of Wei’s culture, while Zen would continue to pound away at all standards they held so high.
Sun Jian’s invasion was brilliant, and his army stormed the walls much sooner then even he had predicted. When he entered the city, however, he was a prime witness to the might of Wei’s elite armies, and his combined forces suffered many casualties on the streets of Xu Chang. Ever resilient, Sun Jian himself led the charge up the marble stairway to the Imperial Palace, and inside, as he fought bravely as a true hero, he found his death by way of an ambush of archers.
Even with the city of Wei so close to an ultimate defeat, Sun Ce, the eldest son of Sun Jian, called for a tearful withdrawal as all who bore witness to the events of the palace were distraught. The Tiger of Jiang Dong had been killed.
The death of one hero among the chaos was to be soon followed. Ba Zeng held his siege of Chang An strong for months, insisting on making the cities imminent capture as prolonged as can be. He eventually took the city, and marched his armies around the mountain passes en route to Wei’s establishment in the Central Plains. Cao Cao, so aggravated at his old friend’s presence to destroy his kingdom, was forced to an untimely death.
Cao Pi, the heir to the throne of Wei, took an immediate stance as the greatest warlord of the four remaining. As he took the throne, he also usurped the mantle of Emperor from Liu Xian, despite the Imperial Seal in the possession of the Sun Family. With Cao Pi the self-declared emperor, Ba Zeng set his sights on Han Zhong, declaring war on Shu so that he may gain the city and declare himself King of Han Zhong. Liu Bei, bested by Ba Zeng, declared himself the true heir to the Imperial Throne, while Sun Ce began a search for Liu Xian, who had gone into hiding.
Never before had the state of the country been in such a drowning swirl of chaos.
Liu Bei and Sun Ce again joined forces, Sun Ce searching every province for the emperor and Liu Bei vowing to return the title to the immediate line upon discovery. The two rode white horses upon steel armor once again, pincering Wei’s southern cities into submission, and invading the city of Xu Chang a second time.