Chapter 585-Out of the Bandit Nest but into the Wolf Den
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
After the battle, the three generals entered Ouyang Shuo's tent to report on the casualties.
Although they had forced back the desert bandits, the alliance army had also paid a price. Consonance City and Xunlong City had lost around five hundred troops each. Even one hundred people from the Divine Martial Guards were lost.
The fierceness and brutality of the desert bandits were not a lie.
After they left, Ouyang Shuo finally had time to check out the token.
War Token: An unknown token that can only be used in a specified location.
The token's description confused Ouyang Shuo, as he had no idea how to use it. The only clue was that it could be used in the battle map.
Everything else was completely unknown.
As for this battle map, there were still many mysteries that Ouyang Shuo did not understand.
Gaia's settings for the Battle of Mobei had overturned all previous norms. Ouyang Shuo could not gain an advantage in every area like the other battles.
On the contrary, he was always on the back foot and had faced many problems.
The blistering sun, the sandstorm, and the desert bandits.
The tests from Gaia came one after another, making him unable to relax. Based on the current scenario, it seemed that less than ten player forces would walk out of the desert.
The next day, the army set off once more.
Probably because they had scared off the two largest bandit organizations, but their journey became exceedingly smooth. On the morning of the 5th day, the army finally crossed the desert and entered the grassland.
The desert that was devoid of life intersected with the green and colorful grassland.
Sudden, but natural.
One side represented death, while the other side represented life.
These two completely different entities perfectly merged at this area.
The line between life and death was drawn incredibly clearly.
Even so, looking out at the boundless green plains, Ouyang Shuo did not feel the slightest hint of happiness.
Gaia was not a philanthropist. Exiting the desert was merely the preliminary test for the Lords. The real test was on this seemingly harmless grassland.
Numerous Xiongnu tribes lived here, so it was difficult for the Lords to defend.
The players would soon face a much crueler test.
They would have to kill each other.
After both tests, only the strongest could walk out as the victor.
How could a god rank general be so easy to recruit?
"Send down my orders; ask the troops to stay on guard!" Ouyang Shuo commanded.
"Yes, my Lord!"
Suddenly moving from an intense environment to a place that made one feel peaceful and at ease would easily cause one to relax.
But the moment they relaxed, only death awaited them.
They were helpless, as the cruel battle map rules forced the troops to travel quickly, not slowly and carefully. As this was a battle of speed, carefulness meant falling back.
Falling back meant that one could not recruit the god general.
Hence, the troops needed to stay on their guard while traveling quickly.
Although Ouyang Shuo was careful, the enemy was craftier than him.
As the army went past a small hill, the rumbling of horse hooves sounded out all around them. In addition to a whistling sound, it did not seem like a friendly hello.
"Not good, we are surrounded!"
The troops in charge of sentry duty on the outskirts immediately waved their flags.
Considering that they were in Xiongnu territory and lacked numbers, the patrolling forces did not dare to spread themselves too thinly in case they alerted the Xiongnu people.
The main force had remained in battle formation, and they were not spread too wide. Moreover, the grassland was boundless and wide, so they did not need to consider entering a narrow space.
Ouyang Shuo led the Divine Martial Guards at the front as the vanguard, Qinqiong led the middle, while Zhang Liao guarded the rear.
"Do not panic, keep calm!"
Ouyang Shuo remained exceedingly calm. He had already expected it to be the Xiongnu people.
Between the two of them, this battle would happen sooner or later.
Facing them earlier was better, as they could put this matter behind them quicker.
However, Ouyang Shuo had completely miscalculated this time.
After a short while, the battle intel spread to Ouyang Shuo.
This sneak attack was actually from a player force, and the preliminary estimations placed their numbers at more than thirty thousand men. As such, at least ten Lords had participated in this movement.
Ten?
Ouyang Shuo was astonished.
Based on his conjectures, not more than ten of the Lords could walk out of the desert. This meant that all the lucky survivors were participating in this attack.
Needless to say, someone was pulling the strings behind this entire affair.
As for their identity, wasn't it obvious?
Ouyang Shuo led the personal guards and quickly rode up a nearby hill. From his vantage point, he could see the thirty thousand enemy cavalry charging toward them from all directions; it seemed like a force that could swallow up mountains and rivers.
At the most north end, right in front of the army, Ouyang Shuo noticed Sha Pojun's forces. The mongol war horse and the curved blades were too easy to identify.
In front of the army, Zhou Yafu stood emotionlessly. Beside him was actually a squadron of Han Army soldiers. Upon closer inspection, they were actually members from the main camp.
On the left, Di Chen's forces appeared.
On the right, Zhan Lang's wolf head flag waved in the wind.
When Ouyang Shuo saw all of this, everything clicked.
Seeing these three together here seemed to explain all the impossible scenarios.
Obviously, this matter was carefully planned.
Their goal was to remove Ouyang Shuo and his group; they wanted to eliminate their greatest opponents.
Ouyang Shuo could not imagine how they had actually convince the other Lords to place down their suspicions and work together.
After all, such a course of action was basically trying to skin a tiger.
Everyone knew about the ambitions of Di Chen and the others!
The greatest possibility would be that they had obtained tangible benefits, which made them decide to give up and instead help the Yanhuang Alliance fulfil their strategic plan.
For example, the Yanhuang Alliance might have bought over these Lords with money.
Thinking back to the achievement value exchange, it was not hard to imagine how rich Di Chen and the others had become.
A questionable point still remained; the enemy was well-prepared, and they had purposely waited at a road that the Shanhai City Army needed to pass. As a result, they had caught Ouyang Shuo off guard.
The Shanhai City army had the living desert map, Huyan Qiu, allowing them to walk out of the desert so smoothly.
Then, what about Sha Pojun and the others?
They had actually exited the desert before Shanhai City, which Ouyang Shuo had not expected.
Apart from guides, the only possibility was Zhou Yafu.
Thinking back to the Han Army beside him, Ouyang Shuo's face turned cold. He had not expected that Zhou Yafu could influence the Han Army of this generation.
What a miscalculation!
It had resulted in the situation at hand.
"Big brother, what now?"
Xunlong Dianxue rushed over from amongst his troops.
"Let's split up and break out of this," Ouyang Shuo replied.
For the current situation, fighting head on would give them little chances of winning.
Eight thousand against thirty thousand.
Ouyang Shuo had confidence in the Divine Martial Guards, but he did not feel the same for the other troops. They were only on the same level as the enemy troops ahead of them.
As for the commanding generals, the enemy held the upper hand with generals such as Lianpo, Zhou Yafu, and Tiandan. Furthermore, the current situation was already against them, so fighting head on would only result in heavy casualties.
Ouyang Shuo would not do something so idiotic just to show off his bravery.
The battle quest was his end goal.
As for the schemes of Di Chen and the others? There would be plenty of time to deal with them in the future.
Ouyang Shuo did not want to allow Di Chen and the others to gain rewards just because he acted on impulse.
Hence, the best method would be to break out of this encirclement before it fully formed.
Of course, his reasoning also contained some slight selfishness.
Ouyang Shuo called Zhang Liao and the three of them to set the meeting point.
Following which, they had to choose the direction to escape in.
Ouyang Shuo took up the task; the Shanhai City Army would charge forward.
Without a doubt, the enemy defended the front the most, so it was the hardest bone to chew on.
The Xunlong City and Consonance City forces would separately break out from the left and right.
As for how many of them would remain, that was all up to the heavens.
"Brother, take care!"
Xunlong Dianxue cupped his fists and left.
"Lord, take care!"
Zhang Liao led his troops and left.
On the battlefield, things changed extremely quickly, so one could not hesitate.
After the discussions, the three forces started to try and break out.
Ouyang Shuo arrived at the front of the Divine Martial Guards, unsheathing his Chixiao Sword with a Shua! sound.
"Boys, step on them and kill our way out!" Ouyang Shuo hollered.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Shouts that reverberated through the heavens replied to his call.
The Divine Martial Guards feared nothing.
Since Ouyang Shuo had chosen to break this encirclement, he wanted to do so while dealing the most damage. He chose to head straight for Sha Pojun' troops, the most elite force ahead of them.
He did not act like this out of arrogance but because he had the ability to do so.
Such an attempt, probably even Zhou Yafu would not have expected it.
Since that was the case, their chases of winning would be higher.
Under the leadership of Ouyang Shuo, the three thousand Divine Martial Guards charged forward fearlessly.
If one looked down from the sky, they would see a truly stunning spectacle.
The Shanhai Alliance Army's front, middle, and back instantly split up. The front army continued to charge forward, while the middle suddenly turned left, and the back abruptly turned right.
The three forces were like sharp arrows, as they shot forward.
In front of them was the alliance army.
This was a breakout attempt that concerned their lives.
Only the courageous would win.
There was no need to exchange words.
The cavalries of both sides seemingly charged at each other at the same time.
On this vast grass plain, the land of the Xiongnu people, the paradise of the cavalry, the remaining player forces of the Huo Qubing line entered a battle.
This was cavalry versus cavalry, elite versus elite.
Blades out of their sheaths; war horses shrieked.
The blood of the warriors boiled.
This was a battle to decide their fates!