Three Kingdoms: Start by buying a governor.

Then, the loud "thump thump thump" of the drums made people's ears ring.

Guan Yu brandished his Green Dragon Crescent Blade and led his troops to charge forward.

He took the lead and was the first to rush to the top of the city wall.

Wherever the Green Dragon Crescent Blade went, the defending soldiers fell to their deaths, crying out for their parents.

With a single slash, a person and their shield were split in two; with a sweeping motion, four or five people were sent flying.

The defenders had never seen anything like this before. They were so frightened that their legs went weak, and some even threw down their weapons and ran away.

When the Han soldiers behind saw that General Guan had charged forward, their morale soared, and they roared and charged forward.

The city was breached in less than an hour.

The stubborn prefect was cut down by Guan Yu with a single stroke, and his head was displayed at the city gate.

The two counties were captured in less than half a month.

Those powerful clans and barbarian tribes who had originally followed Shi Xie in his rebellion were terrified when they saw this scene.

They rushed over to surrender to the Han army, carrying cattle, sheep, and treasures, not daring to even raise their heads.

"General, spare our lives! We are willing to surrender! We are willing to surrender! It was Shi Xie who forced us!"

Yue Fei did not make things difficult for them. He registered them, and they paid their dues and obeyed the rules.

After resting for two days, the army continued south, heading straight for Shi Xie's stronghold, Jiaozhi County.

...

When Shih-hsieh heard that Hepu and Yulin had been lost in just half a month, he turned pale with fright and sat down in a chair, unable to recover for a long time.

"How is this possible? How could it be so fast?" he muttered to himself, his voice trembling.

Shi Yi panicked beside him, but still forced himself to speak:

"Brother, don't be afraid! We still have Jiaozhi! We still have Jiuzhen and Rinan! We still have tens of thousands of troops! We can still fight!"

Shi Xie gritted his teeth and transferred all his troops back to Jiaozhi, deploying them along Longbian City in an attempt to put up a stubborn resistance.

The city walls were densely packed with defenders—archers, swordsmen, and spearmen—layer upon layer, creating a rather spectacular sight.

The city walls were piled high with rolling logs and stones, and the city gates were blocked with sandbags. Even the people in the city were conscripted to build fortifications.

They dug trenches and buried deer antlers around the city, preparing for a decisive battle.

But his soldiers had long been terrified by the prestige of the Han army.

Before the Han army even attacked, the morale of the troops had already collapsed.

Soldiers often sneaked off at night, and dozens were always missing during morning roll call.

Shi Xie was so angry that he beheaded several deserters, but he couldn't control them at all.

Yue Fei and his troops arrived at the city of Longbian.

Longbian City was the seat of Jiaozhi Commandery and the most fortified city in the entire Jiaozhou.

The city wall was two zhang high, the moat was three zhang wide, and several crossbows were mounted on the city tower.

The soldiers standing on the city wall were all ashen-faced and their hands were trembling.

Yue Fei initially tried to persuade Shi Xie to surrender by sending him a letter of appeal.

The letter clearly stated: if you surrender the city, your whole family will be spared, and you will even be given a sinecure to enjoy wealth and honor; if you insist on resisting, the day the city falls will be the day your entire clan is wiped out.

As a result, Shih-hsieh remained stubborn.

He stood atop the city wall, tore the letter to shreds, threw it down from the wall, and shouted to the Han army:

"I, Shi Xie, would rather die than surrender! You northerners, once you arrive in Jiaozhou, the climate and water won't suit you; the miasma alone will kill you! Come and fight if you dare!"

He also sent the messenger back, declaring that he would fight the Han army to the death.

This time, Yue Fei stopped wasting words with him.

He stood at the front of the battle line, staring at the walls of Longbian City, and coldly uttered a single word: "Attack!"

At the command, the general offensive began.

Zhang Fei had been itching to get going for a long time.

He carried a long spear, rode his horse, and shouted to the soldiers behind him:

"Brothers! Charge! The first one to make it to the top gets a drink!"

"kill!!!"

Zhang Fei led his troops in a charge towards the east gate of Longbian City.

The Han army rained down arrows on the city walls as if they were free.

Screams echoed from the city walls as defenders fell in droves.

Catapults continuously hurled stones at the city walls.

The loud "boom boom boom" sound shook the ground.

The walls of Longbian City were not as sturdy as those in the Central Plains, and in no time, several large breaches were smashed into them.

Zhang Fei, wielding his eighteen-foot spear, led his personal guards and was the first to charge into the breach.

He was as tall as an iron tower, his roar was like thunder, and he wielded his spear with great force.

The defending soldiers who stood in front of them died if they were touched or bumped into.

One spear pierced one, another was flung away, leaving corpses strewn everywhere.

As he killed, he shouted, "Zhang Fei of Yan is here! Who dares to stand in my way!"

That voice was so loud that it made the dust on the city wall fall down.

The garrison was terrified of him, and some of them threw down their weapons and ran away.

The Han soldiers swarmed in from behind, their battle cries shaking the heavens.

The garrison of Longbian City collapsed instantly.

They fled in disarray, abandoning their armor and weapons, crying and wailing for their parents.

Some jumped off the city wall and died, some jumped into the river and drowned, and some knelt down and surrendered; it was complete chaos.

In less than half a day, Longbian City was breached.

Shi Xie and his three younger brothers were all cornered in the prefect's mansion by Zhang Fei and Guan Yu.

Shi Xie tried to escape through the back door, but Zhang Fei kicked him to the ground and tied him up tightly.

He grabbed Shi Xie by the collar and lifted him off the chair like he was a chick.

"You're Shi Xie? So you're the one who wants to go head-to-head with us?" Zhang Fei asked, his eyes wide.

Shi Xie was so frightened that he couldn't speak; his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Guan Yu then entered, glanced at Shi Xie, and said calmly:

"Tie him up and take him to see Commander Yue."

The four brothers were brought before Yue Fei, bound hand and foot, and made to kneel on the ground.

Shi Xie's face was ashen, his head was down, and he was trembling all over, not daring to lift his head.

Yue Fei looked at him coldly, his voice neither loud nor soft:

"I gave you a chance to surrender, but you insisted on resisting to the bitter end. Now that the city has fallen and you've been captured, what else do you have to say?"

Shi Xie opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

He never imagined that Jiaozhi, which he had managed for decades, would be captured by the Han army in just half a day.

His proud 50,000 troops were utterly no match for the Han army.

He finally understood a principle: in the face of absolute power, any clever tricks are futile.

Shi Yi, standing to the side, stubbornly shouted, "You can't kill us! We are from the Shi family! We have roots in Jiaozhou!"

Zhang Fei, who was listening nearby, scoffed:

"Foundation? Your foundation now belongs to us."

Yue Fei waved his hand and said, "Take them all away and send them to Luoyang. They will await the lord's decision."

...

Taking Jiaozhi Commandery is tantamount to cutting off the backbone of the Jiaozhou rebels.

The remaining two prefectures, Jiuzhen and Rinan, saw that Shi Xie had been captured alive, so how could they dare to resist?

The prefect, along with his civil and military officials, surrendered the city without even fighting.

The governor of Jiuzhen County was a sensible man. He brought the entire county's household register and knelt at the city gate to welcome the Han army.

The governor of Rinan Commandery went even further, opening the city gates wide and setting up a banquet at the city gates, saying he wanted to welcome the Han army and wash away their dust.

Even the southern kingdom of Linyi, upon hearing that the Han army had pacified Jiaozhou, hurriedly sent an envoy over.