The Northern Expedition to the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun

Iron hooves shatter the ice on the Yellow River; a century of flames illuminates the broken steles. Beneath the stars of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the descendants of the lost lands have passed down their traditions for three generations, yet every Double Ninth Festival they still face north, pour wine in offering, and mourn the fallen prefectures.

A young general from Bianliang grips a yellowed map of the realm. Behind him stand a hundred thousand gleaming spears. Their points aim toward Youzhou Pass, now only a vague memory in their fathers’ words, and the cypress trees of Jimen, their ink faded in the county annals.

This expedition will sing no dirge. It carries just one message:

“Let us give the autumn when we drove out the Khitans back to the land of Yan, to its chestnut-red horses.”

As the smoke of the northern campaign rises once more, every inch of reclaimed land will become part of a new frontier.