Chapter Summaries

Sun Jian led a 400,000-strong Great Liang fleet toward the Yamata Nation after Ran Min and the other commanders accepted the order to kill. Meanwhile, Emperor Muren ordered more spies to steal Great Liang’s technologies, unaware that the invasion had already begun and that his intelligence chief feared provoking Great Liang.

• Sun Jian had Yamata Nation spies beheaded and gave Ran Min the bloodstained Order to Kill the Hu to send to the Yamata emperor.
• Sun Jian ordered the fleet of 400,000 soldiers to set sail southeast for the Yamata Nation.
• Emperor Muren pressed Jingbian Yilang for news from Great Liang, then ordered him to send more agents to steal potatoes and shipbuilding techniques.
• Emperor Muren asked Baichuan Yuren what other Great Liang technologies the Yamata Nation could borrow, and Baichuan warned that Great Liang was dangerously powerful.

Emperor Muren learned that Great Liang had declared war on the Yamata Nation, then received news that its warships were already approaching. He ordered the Yamata forces to intercept the fleet and sent an envoy to seek a delay, leaving the nation bracing for invasion.

• Emperor Muren and Prime Minister Jingbian Yilang discussed reports that Great Liang had an army of two million.
• A messenger delivered a blood-covered declaration bearing the seals of Great Liang's emperor, Lin Yi, and Jingbian Yilang identified it as a declaration of war.
• Emperor Muren protested that Great Liang was attacking over stolen shipbuilding technology and potatoes, and insisted the sea would protect the Yamata Nation.
• A wounded soldier reported that a large fleet of Great Liang warships was heading toward the Yamata Nation's homeland.
• Emperor Muren ordered all forces to intercept the Great Liang Navy and sent someone to tell Great Liang that the Yamata Nation was its friend.

Kusakawa Saemon rushed out with three thousand men to confront the attackers threatening his fishing boats, only to discover Sun Jian’s enormous fleet. As Saemon tried to retreat, Sun Jian and his officers mistook his advance for extraordinary courage.

• Kusakawa Saemon ignored a messenger’s warning and led his men toward the reported attack on his fishing boats.
• Saemon and his warriors spotted Sun Jian’s fleet, realized the enemy outnumbered them by hundreds of thousands, and decided to flee.
• Sun Jian’s main force moved to meet Saemon’s ships, and Sun Jian praised their commander’s apparent bravery.
• Yue Jin wondered whether the opposing commander had unmatched courage, while Gan Ning doubted that courage could overcome such overwhelming numbers.

Yu Jin led Great Liang’s vanguard in pursuit of Kusakawa Saemon’s fleeing Yamata Nation fleet, using fast centipede ships and powerful crossbows to devastate the enemy. Saemon’s forces panicked under the barrage, and their ships began to capsize as the men crowded toward the bows to escape the bolts.

• Ran Min identified the approaching fleet as possible enemy scouts, and Sun Jian asked his officers to intercept them.
• Yu Jin beat Gan Ning to the vanguard and charged after Kusakawa Saemon with more than ten thousand men aboard centipede ships.
• Kusakawa Saemon ordered his men to row faster as Great Liang’s warships rapidly caught up with his fleet.
• Great Liang’s ship-mounted crossbows and Divine Arm Crossbows struck the Yamata Nation ships, killing men and throwing the fleet into chaos.
• The terrified Yamata Nation soldiers crowded onto the bows to avoid the bolts, causing fishing boats to capsize and warships to list.
• Kusakawa Saemon shouted at his men to move aft and attack, but they refused to risk facing the crossbow fire.

Yu Jin’s forces destroyed Kusakawa Saemon’s fleet and captured him. Saemon first hid his identity, but confessed he was Kusakawa Akio’s son when Sun Jian ordered his execution.

• Yu Jin blasted Saemon’s warship and sank the remaining Yamata Nation vessels with the catapults, deliberately sparing Saemon.
• Saemon decided to surrender, but one of his guards tried to kill him to protect the great general’s reputation.
• Yu Jin’s arrows killed the guard, and Great Liang soldiers captured Saemon and his surviving men.
• Yu Jin ordered sharpshooters to kill the Yamata Nation sailors in the water to keep them from damaging Great Liang’s ships.
• Saemon introduced himself to Sun Jian as a minor officer named Yamada Ichirō, but confessed his true identity as Kusakawa Akio’s son when Sun Jian ordered him killed.

Sun Jian’s army reached Eight Gods Island and learned that its defenders had been warned in advance, apparently through Takayama Ichizawa’s actions. Sun Jian rejected Kusakawa Saemon’s suggestion to seize nearby islands in sequence and revealed he planned to split the four hundred thousand troops to attack many islands at once, alarming Saemon.

• Sun Jian identified Kusakawa Saemon as Kusakawa Akio’s disgraced son, and Saemon begged to be spared and offered to guide the army.
• Ran Min scorned Saemon for his cowardice and learned that he had attacked because he mistook the army for a small force from the Great Flow Nation.
• The fleet sighted Eight Gods Island, where soldiers and defenses were already waiting, prompting Gan Ning to suspect Saemon had been set up.
• Saemon blamed Takayama Ichizawa, his father’s trusted aide, for letting him charge into danger without warning him.
• Sun Jian explained that Great Liang would divide its forces to attack key islands and surrounding territories, and Saemon realized the Yamata Nation could not reinforce them all.

Ran Min and the Great Liang commanders prepared to invade the Yamata Nation, with Sun Jian ordering a five-column assault to destroy its forces and seize its islands. The chapter ended with Saemon realizing the order to kill anyone who threatened the army could leave almost no one alive.

• Ran Min called for the Great Liang army to wipe out all four thousand islands, and Gan Ning, Yu Jin, and Yue Jin eagerly anticipated earning military merits.
• Sun Jian drew the emperor’s Imperial Sword of Authority and announced that the 400,000-strong army would attack from five directions and destroy the Yamata Nation’s capital.
• Ran Min, Gan Ning, Yue Jin, and Yu Jin accepted command of the four assault columns, while Saemon grew anxious about the threat to his country.
• Sun Jian relayed the emperor’s order to kill anyone who posed a threat to the Great Liang army, and the generals vowed to obey.
• Saemon feared the order would lead the invaders to slaughter nearly everyone in the Yamata Nation.

Sun Jian sent the Great Liang armies toward the battlefield after Saemon offered to atone for his crimes. At Eight Gods Island, Takayama Ichizawa learned that a huge Great Liang fleet was approaching and agreed to defend the island while demanding that reinforcements arrive soon.

• Sun Jian kicked Saemon down, then accepted his offer to provide useful information in exchange for atoning through service.
• Sun Jian sent Saemon to be questioned and ordered the five armies to sail toward the battlefield, while Ran Min headed for Eight Gods Island.
• Takayama Ichizawa and Yamaza Ichito identified the approaching fleet as Great Liang's and feared its immense size.
• Takayama Ichizawa complained that his forces could not hold Eight Gods Island against several hundred thousand attackers without reinforcements.
• Yamaza Ichito warned Takayama Ichizawa that he would face the grand general's wrath for Saemon's death and needed the emperor's protection.
• Takayama Ichizawa agreed to do his best to defend the island and urged Yamaza Ichito to hurry the reinforcements.

Takayama Ichizawa and Yamaza Ichito prepared to defend Eight Gods Island as Great Liang’s fleet approached, while Ran Min ordered gunpowder jars to clear the coastal defenses. The obstacles were destroyed and Great Liang’s attack began, leaving the Yamata defenders facing the first devastating ballista strikes.

• Takayama Ichizawa ordered his aide to recruit wave roamers, threatening to kill them if they refused to fight.
• Yamaza Ichito realized Great Liang had split its forces to attack elsewhere and placed his thousand soldiers under Takayama Ichizawa’s command.
• Takayama Ichizawa and Yamaza Ichito recognized the Great Liang fleet and strengthened their defenses around Eight Gods Island.
• Ran Min ordered gunpowder jars thrown at the floating timber and stakes, blasting the coastal obstacles apart.
• Ran Min sent sailors into the water to remove underwater stakes as Great Liang’s warships advanced.
• Takayama Ichizawa ordered his troops to fire, but Great Liang’s ship-mounted ballistae struck first and skewered several Yamata soldiers.

Ran Min’s fleet unleashed a devastating barrage on Eight Gods Island, killing thousands and shattering the Yamata Army’s defenses. After Yamaza Ichito was killed and Great Liang troops landed to the south, Takayama Ichizawa ordered a retreat despite leaving several thousand men behind.

• Ran Min ordered every warship to fire its ballistae and catapults at Eight Gods Island before preparing to land.
• The barrage killed thousands of Yamata soldiers, and Takayama Ichizawa struggled to find cover from the armor-piercing bolts.
• Takayama Ichizawa urged Yamaza Ichito to retreat, but Yamaza Ichito insisted they wait for ronin reinforcements.
• A catapult stone struck Yamaza Ichito and crushed his head.
• A messenger reported that Great Liang troops had landed to the south, so Takayama Ichizawa ordered a retreat despite his deputy’s warning that several thousand men would be left behind.

Takayama Ichizawa abandoned his position on Eight Gods Island, leaving his ten thousand soldiers to face the Qihuo Army. After the Qihuo Army crushed them, Ran Min dealt with the dead and asked what should be done with the Yamata Nation soldiers who surrendered.

• Takayama Ichizawa rejected his deputy general’s protest and fled toward the center of Eight Gods Island with a few dozen followers.
• The Qihuo Army attacked the abandoned position with a devastating rain of arrows and overwhelmed the Yamata Nation soldiers.
• Takayama Ichizawa’s deputy general and a dozen soldiers slit their bellies, while many others surrendered to Great Liang.
• Ran Min remarked on the Yamata Nation’s martial spirit and ordered the corpses thrown into the sea to prevent disease.
• Ran Min asked what should be done with the surrendered soldiers.

Ran Min ordered the surrendered Yamata Nation soldiers killed and prepared to attack Great Wind Island. Takayama Ichizawa joined forces with Takemoto Ichiro’s ronin by promising them an official license to plunder and control of Eight Gods Island if they held out for the reinforcements.

• Ran Min ordered his troops to execute the surrendered soldiers, clear the battlefield, and prepare for a night raid on Great Wind Island.
• Takayama Ichizawa escaped the battlefield and encountered Takemoto Ichiro and forty to fifty thousand ronin.
• Takayama Ichizawa told Takemoto Ichiro that Great Liang had brought nearly a hundred thousand troops and urged the ronin to help resist them.
• Takemoto Ichiro questioned whether the Yamata Nation would reward the ronin for fighting, and Takayama Ichizawa promised an official license to plunder and access to the navy’s weapons and equipment.
• Takayama Ichizawa offered Takemoto Ichiro permission to recruit fighters across Eight Gods Island and promised he could become its next lord if the emperor approved.

Takemoto Ichiro accepted Takayama Ichizawa’s offer to command Eight Gods Island’s forces, hoping to become its ruler, while Takayama secretly treated him as a pawn against Great Liang. As Ran Min’s army approached and Takemoto waited for the enemy, Tamura Tamako returned with nearly seventy thousand recruits of all ages.

• Takemoto Ichiro accepted Takayama Ichizawa’s offer and ordered Tamura Tamako to recruit everyone able to hold a weapon in the emperor’s name.
• Takayama Ichizawa handed authority to Takemoto Ichiro, while privately telling his confidant that Takemoto was a pawn who would need his backing against Great Liang.
• Takayama Ichizawa warned his men that the enemy was near and lay down to rest, while Takemoto Ichiro watched for the approaching army and wondered why it had not arrived.
• Tamura Tamako returned with nearly seventy thousand men and women, young and old, leaving Takemoto Ichiro dismayed by his recruitment.

Takemoto Ichiro and Tamura Tamako gathered a huge force to defend Eight Gods Island, but Takemoto discovered that Takayama Ichizawa had abandoned them. The seafarers charged Great Liang’s army and were devastated by its arrows and siege weapons, leaving Takemoto stunned by the enemy’s strength.

• Takemoto Ichiro ordered Tamura Tamako to send the elderly away, but Great Liang’s forces arrived before they could respond.
• Takemoto learned that Takayama Ichizawa had fled to seek reinforcements and left a letter telling him to hold out.
• Takemoto resolved to fight with nearly a hundred thousand people, and Tamura Tamako arranged for more recruits and weapons.
• The seafarers charged Great Liang’s army, while Ran Min ordered his troops to attack.
• Great Liang’s arrows, catapults, and siege crossbows killed many seafarers, and Takemoto realized he had underestimated the enemy.

Takemoto Ichiro’s army was devastated by Great Liang’s forces on Eight Gods Island, and a rear attack left his men trapped and defeated. Ran Min revealed that hot-air balloons had helped Great Liang navigate the island, while Takemoto Ichiro discovered Kusakawa Saemon had not been the guide.

• Takemoto Ichiro and Tamura Tamako recognized their army could not withstand Great Liang’s arrow and crossbow fire, and Tamura Tamako lost his right arm to a giant bolt.
• Takemoto Ichiro ordered a retreat, but Ran Min’s troops attacked from behind and routed his army.
• Takemoto Ichiro asked why his reinforcements had not arrived, and Xie Hui showed him the severed heads of the men sent to recruit them.
• Ran Min told Takemoto Ichiro that Great Liang had used a guide to reach the rear, prompting Takemoto Ichiro to accuse Kusakawa Saemon.
• Kusakawa Saemon pointed out the hot-air balloons overhead, and Takemoto Ichiro looked up and saw figures aboard them.

Ran Min took control of Eight Gods Island after Takemoto Ichiro and his followers killed themselves, then ordered hidden Yamata Nation resisters killed after a black dog charged at him. He blamed the war on the Yamata Nation’s emperor and began using the island as a base for further attacks.

• Takemoto Ichiro and his followers slit their own bellies, and Ran Min ordered his guards to finish them off and bury them.
• Xie Hui reported that he had taken control of the town and placed the Yamata Nation civilians under guard.
• Ran Min arrived at the town center, where guards shot a black dog that charged at him.
• Ran Min ordered the civilians dealt with after spotting a youth, an archer, and other hidden resisters, and Xie Hui led his troops to kill them.
• Kusakawa Saemon collapsed in despair, and Ran Min blamed the Yamata Nation’s emperor for provoking Great Liang’s campaign.

Ran Min captured Eight Gods Island, ordered the remaining Yamata Nation forces on Great Wind Island and Great Xie Island wiped out, and pressed the invasion forward as islands fell across the archipelago. Fengzhong Longzi learned that Kusakawa Saemon had been captured and faced pressure from his officers to attempt a rescue.

• Ran Min rejected Saemon’s plea for mercy, ordered Eight Gods Island secured as a military base, and commanded his troops to attack the remnants on Great Wind Island and Great Xie Island.
• Ran Min shot down Yamata Nation’s flag and replaced it with Great Liang’s flag, while Great Liang forces captured more than twenty islands in a day.
• Fengzhong Longzi grew furious as reports arrived that seven islands needed aid and numerous others had fallen, leaving his hundred thousand reinforcements stretched too thin.
• A messenger reported that Eight Gods Island had fallen, Kusakawa Saemon was captured, and the enemy’s eighty thousand troops were advancing toward Great Wind Island and Great Xie Island.
• Fengzhong Longzi’s officers urged him to rescue Saemon, but he privately doubted that risking his troops for the captive was worthwhile.

Fengzhong Longzi learned that Great Liang had committed overwhelming forces to its invasion and ordered Yamata Nation to fortify and withdraw where necessary. Meanwhile, Lin Yi enjoyed a pause in Great Liang’s affairs while Princess Anne challenged him to a sword fight.

• Fengzhong Longzi decided against rescuing Kusakawa Saemon and sent for reinforcements, fearing his army could be encircled.
• Takayama Ichizawa arrived at Fengzhong Longzi’s camp and reported that Eight Gods Island had fallen and Kusakawa Saemon’s force had been wiped out.
• Takayama Ichizawa revealed that Great Liang had deployed four hundred thousand troops and thousands of warships, prompting Fengzhong Longzi to order island defenses strengthened and civilians withdrawn.
• Lin Yi remained at ease as Great Liang’s diplomatic and southwestern operations progressed, though Princess Anne repeatedly sought him out for sword practice.
• Lin Yi mocked Princess Anne for failing to defeat Shenle, and Princess Anne indignantly challenged him.

Lin Yi warned Princess Anne to behave, kissed her, and put their alliance talks off until later. He then received reports that Sun Jian and Ran Min had rapidly captured Yamata Nation territory and were approaching its capital, while Yamata’s envoys begged Great Liang to withdraw.

• Zhao Gao threatened Princess Anne, and she apologized to Lin Yi for speaking out of turn.
• Lin Yi warned Anne that she had to behave in Great Liang, then kissed her before turning to official business.
• Zhao Yun arrived with news from the Yamata Nation, and Lin Yi summoned Xun Yu, Gongsun Zan, and the others to hear it.
• Lin Yi read that Sun Jian had captured more than twenty islands, Ran Min had destroyed the Yamata Nation’s spiritual symbol, and Yamata’s envoys had requested a withdrawal.
• Guo Jia and Gongsun Zan praised Sun Jian’s divided attack and predicted that the Yamata Nation would soon fall.

Lin Yi received Yamata Nation ambassador Yamamoto Isoku, who begged Great Liang to withdraw its forces, but Zhao Gao, Cao Mengde, and Zhang Fei argued over how to punish the defeated nation and claim its wealth. As Princess Anne questioned Great Liang’s reputation for peace, Lin Yi rebuked his ministers for talking about treasure.

• Lin Yi learned that Zhang Fei had detained the Yamata Nation’s envoys until they were rid of bad luck, then ordered them admitted.
• Yamamoto Isoku prostrated himself before Lin Yi and apologized on behalf of the Heavenly Emperor, pleading for Great Liang’s forgiveness.
• Zhao Gao accused the Yamata Nation of provoking Great Liang and demanded that it show sincerity with gifts, while Yamamoto Isoku realized Zhang Fei had confiscated them.
• Cao Mengde volunteered to demand tenfold compensation from the Yamata Nation, and Zhang Fei argued that foreign affairs belonged to his Court of Diplomatic Reception.
• Princess Anne began doubting Great Liang’s claims of peaceful propriety, and Lin Yi told Cao Mengde and Zhang Fei to stop speaking about treasure.