In the sixth year of Zhongping, in Suanzao, the fate of the refugee Dugu Xin is changed by a banner bearing the character “Cao.” This outsider from Northern Zhou carries the memories of a man who was father-in-law to three emperors, yet he has to start as a squad leader in charge of five soldiers. He brings the ferocity of Northern Dynasties cavalry to Han infantry spear techniques and uses his experience commanding armies to hone a ragtag unit. Amid famine and war in the late Han dynasty, he quietly builds his strength under Cao Cao. From half a millet cake on the Yellow River flats to the cold gleam of blades on the battlefield, Dugu Xin's rise is a hard-hitting collision between a foreign-born general and the chaos of the Central Plains.
