Cao Cao, King of Wei, and Liu Bei, King of Chu, both gathered in Jizhou.
Under the slogan "Restore the Han Dynasty, eliminate the kings," Cao Cao denounced Liu Bei and the others for proclaiming themselves kings without the Court's permission, making them rebels in all but name.
Liu Bei, meanwhile, raised the slogan "Restore the Han Dynasty, eliminate the traitors," denouncing Cao Cao as a treacherous minister who had thrown the Court into chaos and intended to usurp the throne-a Han minister in name, but a Han traitor in truth.
Neither side would yield, leaving Yan Lin, Emperor of Yan, feeling rather awkward. They made it sound like an internal dispute within the Han Dynasty. Was it somewhat inappropriate for his Yan State to get involved?
There were few places in the Central Plains where hundreds of thousands of troops could deploy, and the North China Plain happened to be one of them.
The Wei Army was immense. The Chu Army and Yan Army could only hold their camps and search for an opportunity.
Guan Yu and the others each commanded thousands upon thousands of men, fighting back and forth.
Ma Chao, who had surrendered to Cao Cao, had never fought so many masters on his own level, nor had he ever experienced commanding several thousand troops yet only being able to influence one portion of the battlefield.
This was a great battle without precedent since the final years of the Han.
The heavens trembled, the earth shook, banners covered the battlefield, smoke filled every corner, and countless corpses lay strewn across the ground. The carnage was beyond measure.
Almost everyone was bathed in blood. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and the other generals never took off their armor, sleeping in it, ready to rise at any moment and resume