The Han Mandate Comes West: The Marquis of Wu Is Reborn to Bring Peace

In the third year of Zhangwu, Liu Bei dies at Baidi City, and Cao Pi sends five armies to encircle Shu. In the Chengdu prefecture, Zhuge Liang suddenly awakens: he has somehow been reborn at this moment of life and death, carrying the memories of seven failed Northern Expeditions. The regret of his previous life, when he marched on Qishan six times only to fall short at the final hurdle, is still vivid. He knows that another attack on Guanzhong would merely repeat the same mistakes, so he burns his boats and changes course. First, he stabilizes the situation with “Pacifying the Five Armies from Home.” Then he personally leads an expedition into the south. He captures Meng Huo seven times, but does not set him free. Instead, he incorporates Meng Huo’s rattan-armored troops and elite Qingqiang soldiers into the Han army, then takes Meng Huo as his guide and marches west onto the Tibetan Plateau.

He leads his forces through the Bayan Har Pass, subdues the Faqiang and Tangmao tribes, and trains the “Western Wilderness Yak Cavalry,” hardened against altitude sickness. He opens a route through the Qiang heartlands to the Western Regions, captures Cao Wei’s Protectorate General’s Office in Loulan, and forms alliances with Kucha, Khotan, and other kingdoms. He recruits heavy Zhejie cavalry and composite-bow archers, assembling a “Four Kingdoms Coalition” of Han, southern tribes, Qiang, and Western Regions forces. From bamboo spears against iron halberds in the jungles of the south, to slings and light crossbows clashing on the plateau at Xingxiu Sea, to camel corps and cavalry raids in the deserts of the Western Regions, every battle is grounded in the weapons of the Three Kingdoms era: ring-pommel sabers for slashing, repeating crossbows for rapid fire, and mail armor for defense. The story also recreates the logic of “supplies before troops,” with yaks carrying highland barley and camels bearing waterskins to sustain campaigns across vast regions.

At last, Zhuge Liang sends the Western Route Army, made up of Western Regions and plateau troops, through the Hexi Corridor, while the Eastern Route Army, made up of Shu Han and southern troops, advances through the Xie Valley from Hanzhong. The two armies converge on Guanzhong, capture Chencang and Tong Pass, and surround Luoyang, taking Sima Yan alive and restoring a descendant of the Han imperial house to the throne. This time, the Han banners do not fall in the autumn winds of Wuzhang Plains. Instead, they rise above Luoyang, proclaiming to the world: The Han mandate begins in the west and