The Germanic Kingdom, within the northern pass.
At this time, the sun had just set in Germany, while it was already close to midnight in the Han Dynasty.
At the banquet, Li Ru calculated the time of the Han Dynasty in his mind, and then took out a cloth bag from his bosom.
This cloth bag was brought to Li Ru by Cao Cao through someone from his hometown when Li Ru was in Kushan.
Whenever he missed his hometown, Li Ru would take some out and mix it into his wine.
Many years have passed, and the bag full of soil has been reduced to just a little bit.
Looking at the soil in the bag, Li Ru regarded it as a treasure, and then carefully poured the last bit of soil into his wine glass.
"After you finish these, you can go home..."
Looking at the murky wine, Li Ru turned his head to the east, a smile appearing on his lips.
Meanwhile, Liu Hong, in the palace, held a wine cup and silently gazed westward.
"Knock knock knock..."
As the bells rang, the thirtieth year of the Kaiyuan era arrived.
Although the emperor and his minister were separated by thousands of miles, their hearts were connected, and they raised their wine cups and drank them down at almost the same time.
At the banquet, the German garrison, at the urging of the Xianbei and Xiongnu warriors, drank themselves into a stupor.
After all the guards were drunk, Li Ru made a hand gesture to his trusted confidant.
The confidant understood, and then led his soldiers to slit the throats of the guards.
Early the next morning, Li Ru led 60,000 cavalrymen out of the pass and headed straight for the German capital.
Meanwhile, the expeditionary forces led by Lü Bu and Cao Cao also reached the border of the Arab province.
Faced with the sudden appearance of a massive Han expeditionary force of 300,000, the nobles and warlords of western Rome were utterly shocked.
These people all knew that the Han Dynasty was powerful, but none of them expected that the Han Dynasty's power was so great.
It is almost unimaginable for an army of 300,000 to launch an expedition across tens of thousands of miles.
But the big man actually did it.
Even during Rome's golden age, it might not have been able to withstand an army of 300,000, let alone now.
In an instant, the warlords who had originally been thinking of following Liu Bei, Sun Jian and others to reap benefits also hurriedly put aside their own selfish thoughts, and while sending troops to form an alliance, they also each presented a letter of surrender.
After communicating with Lü Bu, Cao Cao, and others, Liu Bei and Sun Jian led their soldiers southward towards Rome. Lü Bu and Cao Cao were in charge of the east, while the northern part was left to the noble warlords.
As for the west, Liu Bei, Lü Bu, and others tacitly refrained from mentioning it, because Li Ru was there.
With the arrival of the Great Han Expeditionary Force, Kang Maode finally understood the cause and effect behind it all.
It turns out that more than a decade ago, the Han Dynasty had already begun plotting against Rome.
Rome is now in this state, all thanks to the emperor he once admired so much.
Thinking of all this, Commodus lost his mind and, ignoring his subordinates' advice, tore up all the treaties with the Han Dynasty. He then ordered the killing of all Han Chinese in Rome and sent troops to demolish all the Taoist temples of the Taiping Sect in Rome.
Commodus's reckless actions threw the entire city of Rome into chaos.
Within Rome, both the merchants and nobles who relied on trade with the Han Dynasty and the ordinary people who had a devout faith in the Taiping Religion expressed great dissatisfaction with Commodus's actions.
Commodus ignored the discontent of his men and used force to arrest able-bodied men, mobilizing all available soldiers, slaves, and ships.
On February 3rd of the 30th year of the Kaiyuan era, Commodus organized an army of 200,000 men and a navy of 50,000 men, which left Rome and headed toward Egypt and Arabia respectively.
For Commodus, who was warlike by nature, being confined to Rome was not his style.
Even if he were to lose, he would lose on the path of attack; this was Commodus's last bit of pride as the Roman emperor.
On February 8, just as Commodus's navy was about to arrive in Egypt, Yuan Shu's 200,000-strong navy also passed through the ancient Suez Canal, and the two sides met face-to-face in the Mediterranean Sea.
This hastily organized navy of 50,000 men was annihilated in less than two hours in the face of the Han expeditionary fleet.
After this tedious naval battle, Yuan Shu immediately led his army toward the port of Rome.
Meanwhile, Commodus's army of 200,000 men also halted two hundred miles east of Rome.
At this moment, to the east of the Roman army were 100,000 iron cavalry led by Lü Bu and 200,000 infantry led by Cao Cao; to the south were 60,000 elite troops led by Liu Bei and Sun Jian; and to the north was a coalition of 200,000 Roman nobles and warlords.
This situation reminded Kang Maode of the story recorded in the history of the Han Dynasty—"Surrounded by enemies on all sides."
Ultimately, Commodus abandoned the eastern and southern defense lines and led his 200,000-strong army to launch an attack on the warlord coalition in the north.
In his view, while the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei, and Sun Jian were certainly hateful, the most hateful were the Roman nobles and warlords.
It's normal for other countries to plot against you, but betrayal by your own people is the most hateful thing.
Lu Bu, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and others all chose to remain neutral in the face of Kang Maode's actions.
Finally, when Kang Maode and the noble warlords were locked in a fierce battle, Lu Bu and his men launched an attack and wiped out Kang Maode's army.
Kang Maode himself was captured alive by Liu Bei and Sun Jian during the battle.
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