Recaps

Lin Yi used the western empires’ rivalry to secure Great Liang’s advantage while preparing to strike the Zhennan Dynasty and the Yamata Nation. The arc ended with Sun Jian’s fleet defeating Kusakawa Saemon’s ships and taking Saemon prisoner.

• Lin Yi ordered the Great West and Frostwest envoys housed together, then arranged to use Jite’s public execution and the returning army’s ceremony to intimidate them.
• Zhang Fei used a drinking match to draw Ashley into revealing the Frostwest Empire’s plans, then secretly informed the Great West Empire so Great Liang could extract better terms from both sides.
• Lin Yi welcomed Ran Min’s victorious army, executed Jite and the other captives, spared Ase, and promised campaign soldiers lasting rewards and honors in the Heroes Memorial Tower.
• Ashley presented Princess Anne to Lin Yi and offered a marriage alliance, but Lin Yi refused to decide her future for her and let her stay in the palace under Li Mingzhu’s care.
• Morandi urged Lin Yi to partition the Frostwest Empire, and Lin Yi agreed to consider it while Great Liang used the western powers’ rivalry to pursue trade and other advantages.
• Lin Yi reviewed Net’s growing influence in the West and ordered weapons to the Zhennan front, while officials prepared supplies and plans for campaigns on multiple fronts.
• Princess Anne met Li Mingzhu, who challenged her with a sword, and Ma Ling'er then confronted Anne over her wish to marry Lin Yi.
• Sun Jian’s fleet sailed for the Yamata Nation after Great Liang delivered a declaration of war, prompting Emperor Muren to order an interception and claim the sea would protect his country.
• Yu Jin pursued Kusakawa Saemon’s fleet with Great Liang’s warships and crossbows, sank its vessels, captured Saemon and his men, and learned Saemon’s true identity after he tried to pose as Yamada Ichirō.

Great Liang launched a coordinated invasion of the Yamata Nation, using its superior numbers and weapons to seize islands and destroy the armies defending them. As Great Liang’s forces converged on Iai Island, Emperor Muren rejected surrender and vowed to fight on.

• Sun Jian led Great Liang’s invasion, and Ran Min captured Eight Gods Island before pressing on to Great Wind Island and Great Xie Island.
• Ran Min defeated Takemoto Ichiro’s recruited force, then secured Eight Gods Island and advanced against the remaining Yamata forces.
• Fengzhong Longzi refused to rescue Kusakawa Saemon, while Lin Yi received Yamata’s envoys and declared that Great Liang would reclaim the nation as Yingzhou.
• The Yamata court learned that Great Liang’s armies were advancing from several directions, and Emperor Muren ordered a mass conscription to raise its forces.
• Sun Jian used red-clad cannons to rout Fengzhong Longzi’s two-hundred-thousand-man army, killed Fengzhong Longzi, and ordered the surrendering soldiers killed.
• Ran Min and Gan Ning defeated Kusakawa Akio’s army, and Ran Min killed Saemon before marching toward Iai Island.
• Emperor Muren learned that Great Liang had defeated the remaining Yamata armies, then refused to surrender as Yu Jin’s forces and their allies broke into Iai Island.

After conquering Yamata Nation, Great Liang turned its attention to the Zhennan Dynasty, demanding the return of disputed territory and compensation before launching a major invasion. Zhennan became isolated as Frostwest withheld meaningful aid, while Lin Yi kept Great Liang’s westward advance underway.

• Muren led Yamata Nation’s last army against Yu Jin, but Great Liang’s cannons broke the charge, and Muren surrendered before Ran Min killed Baichuan Yuren.
• Sun Jian ordered the pacification of Yamata Nation, and Lin Yi received Qi Jiguang, the Qi Family Army, Hai Rui, and other rewards after the conquest.
• Lin Yi assigned Ma Jun to improve Qi Jiguang’s firearms, established Inside-the-Well Commandery as a naval base, and ordered maritime rules for Great Liang’s new territories.
• Lin Yi demanded that the Zhennan Dynasty return disputed lands and pay compensation, and Nan Ke agreed to pay rather than face Great Liang’s army.
• Zhang Liao, Lü Bu, and Sima Yi invaded Zhennan, captured Daxin Pass with cannon fire, and pressed toward the dynasty’s other passes.
• Bill III refused to commit substantial Frostwest forces to Zhennan, while Lin Yi kept Great Liang’s campaign advancing westward.
• Lin Yi found Zhennan’s delegation fighting representatives of southwestern countries, and Cha’er’s Frostwest guards helped the smaller nations defeat Zhennan’s men.

Lin Yi exposed Zhennan’s plots and used Jiumosong’s death to turn public opinion against Zhennan, while Zhao Zhong’s death became the pretext for Qi Jiguang’s offensive. The Qi Family Army smashed through Pingyu Pass, annihilated the Iron Armor Army, and left Zhennan’s troops scattered.

• Lin Yi learned that Jiumosong planned to assassinate Princess Anne and Ashley, then Zhao Yun exposed Nan Yi’s plot and arrested Jiumosong after the attempt failed.
• Lin Yi confronted Jiumosong with evidence, but Jiumosong killed himself, so Lin Yi used his blood to mark the confessions and made Zhennan’s plot public.
• Zhennan’s King Nan Ke chose to fight Great Liang alone, while Hu Che’er sent Zhao Zhong and a small group of scholars to bluff Pingyu Pass into surrendering.
• Lu Donghongri ordered archers to kill Zhao Zhong, and Qi Jiguang used Zhao Zhong’s death to rally three hundred thousand troops into an attack on Pingyu Pass.
• Qi Jiguang’s Crouching Tiger Cannons blasted apart Pingyu Pass’s walls, and Lu Donghongri called the Iron Armor Army to defend the breach.
• Lu Dongsong led the Iron Armor Army into the attack, but Great Liang’s firearms inflicted severe casualties and broke their advance.
• Lu Donghongri ordered a withdrawal, but the Iron Armor Army was annihilated and the Zhennan troops scattered as the Qi Family Army advanced.