Chapter 714-Fall of Jiangling
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Among the Liu Bei Army, the ones who had it hardest was still the player Lords like Chun Shenjun.
General Zhao Yun and General Chen Dao only protected Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei and did not have any time to bother about the players. Furthermore, the player army was huge and was too big a target, so it was impossible for them to smoothly retreat.
In the battle map, to Lords like Chun Shenjun, their army was everything. To ask them to abandon their army to escape alone held no purpose.
Even if he could obtain some benefits from Liu Bei, it could not make up for the losses incurred by the entire army falling.
Rather than that, why not stop the bleeding?
Seeing the intensity of the fire quickly increase, Chun Shenjun could not help but grit his teeth. In the end, he could only commit suicide once again and back out of the battle map.
If this continued to drag on, his army would suffer even heavier losses.
One thing was for sure, he had lived for nothing in the Battle of Red Cliff. The battle contribution points that Pill Sun City had obtained in Changsha were not even enough to revive their fallen forces.
"If I knew this would happen, I would not have even have followed them." Chun Shenjun sighed.
He could only blame Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun for being too tempting.
Luckily, Chun Shenjun was a god-level rich man, so he had many substitute dolls on him. If not, killing himself over and over would cause his combat strength to be too weak.
As the Lords in the Liu Bei Camp had all killed themselves, the player armies all turned into white lights and disappeared from the battle map. The Liu Bei Army became spacious and empty; they were left with less than ten thousand people, but the fire still did not stop.
Warships sank to the bottom of the river due to the flames; the whole scene was tragic to the extreme.
It was only a matter of time till the whole Liu Bei Army fell.
The focus of the battle turned to the chase on the wilderness by the shore.
Regardless of the result of the chase, the Liu Bei Army had lost the ability to fight against the Shanhai City Squadron.
Changjiang was officially in their hands. After a month, the Cao Cao Camp had once again obtained control over the river and could attack Jiangdong at any time.
The strategic goal of the voyage squadron had already been accomplished. Their next step would depend on the Jiangling situation.
If Jiangling wins, the battle map would end.
If Jiangling loses, this battle would be dragged on.
Ouyang Shuo had already turned his eyes to Zhou Yu in Jiangdong. During this battle, Ouyang Shuo did not come here for battle contribution points; he came here to recruit Zhou Yu and Jia Xu.
After this period of hard work, it seemed like Jia Xu would not be a problem.
Zhou Yu, who Ouyang Shuo cared the most about, was not even seen. Apart from his own ability, he was the key to whether Ouyang Shuo could recruit Lu Meng, Gan Ning, and the other generals.
With that, Ouyang Shuo would obviously pay attention to the situation in Jiangling.
Before leaving Jiangling, Ouyang Shuo left a Mengchong Warship. The purpose of this action was to pass the intel of the battle directly to Ouyang Shuo.
Considering the time, the Battle of Jiangling should have ended.
However, till now, Ouyang Shuo still had not seen the warship.
On the battle contribution points ranking, the ranks of Di Chen, Bai Hua, and the others had all changed. Obviously, the situation there was extremely intense. However, based on the rankings, Ouyang Shuo could not deduce the end result.
However, for these past two days, the rankings had been peaceful.
Evidently, either the battle had ended in a stalemate or the result had been decided.
"Let's hope that nothing went wrong!"
Ouyang Shuo looked toward Jiangling; his heart felt uneasy.
Wilderness on the Changjiang West Coast.
After the forces gathered, Zhao Si Hu took out a talisman and grinned.
Troop Movement Talisman: After use, movement speed of troops increase by 50%; lasts for two hours.
With this talisman that the Monarch had handed over to him, Zhao Si Hu felt confident about chasing up to the enemy. He did not hesitate and immediately tore the talisman, which turned into a white light and covered the bodies of every City Protection Legion soldier.
Immediately, the soldiers proceeded forward like they were on steroids.
Even so, to chase up to the White Soldiers was not an easy matter. Their basic speed was greater than them; additionally, they had the buffs of Zhao Yun, Chen Dao, and Zhuge Liang.
In comparison, Zhao Si Hu's buff seemed useless.
Hence, even with the effect of the talisman, the City Protection Legion had to chase for a few hours before they managed to see the Liu Bei Army.
Chen Dao and Zhao Yun were both exceedingly experienced. When escaping, they continued to change their positions. Along the way, they even left misleading signs that put Zhao Si Hu off their trail.
Luckily, they had finally caught up.
Zhao Si Hu looked toward the enemy in front of him and mocked, "Where do you think you're going!"
On the other side, Chen Dao and the rest had all noticed that the enemy had caught up.
"Lord, let me deal with them." At the crucial moment, Chen Dao stepped out and requested to be the backline.
"Be careful!"
Liu Bei had already collected his emotions at this point and immediately gave Chen Dao one thousand White Soldiers.
In history, Chen Dao led just 700 White Soldiers to stop ten thousand Wu soldiers. Who knows whether this one thousand could stop the City Protection Legion.
After a short while, the City Protection Legion had caught up.
When he saw that the enemy had only left one thousand soldiers to block their advance, he was unhappy, "Preposterous!"
Immediately, he wanted to split up the troops to chase the Liu Bei Army. He was exceedingly clear that Liu Bei in the front was the true big fish.
During this battle, Zhao Si Hu really wanted to make a big contribution to the Lord.
"You want to leave? Get past me first." Chen Dao held a spear in his hand and pointed it directly at Zhao Si Hu.
"Kill!"
A thousand White Soldiers immediately gathered into a formation to block the City Protection Legion.
"Since you want to die, I'll let you!"
When Zhao Si Hu saw this scene, his eyes stared, "Kill them; end this!"
"Kill!"
The City Protection Legion under Zhao Si Hu's leadership was also an ambush of tigers.
Zhao Si Hu was always the type to let his actions speak; he raised his blade and charge forward. The cultivation method he trained in was the one he had obtained from Er'Shi ridge.
After two years of cultivation, his blade technique had already reached the mastery through comprehension level. His combat strength was extremely close to breaking through to King Rank.
He only lacked comprehension and the proper opportunity.
The machete he used was a platinum weapon crafted by Ou Zhizi.
Hence, he charged right at Chen Dao. The two generals fought; it was hard to separate them, and sand and stone flew in the air.
The blade swung and the spear pierced, making it hard for normal people to get close.
At this point, the other soldiers had all engaged in slaughter. The White Soldiers were truly elite. Even though they were fighting one against ten, they were only at a slight disadvantage.
Of course, the City Protection Legion was not like the East Wu Army. Without mentioning other aspects, just their weapons alone meant that they were not on the same level.
Hence, although the White Soldiers were strong, they would definitely lose if they met the Divine Martial Guards.
As the battle continued, the City Protection Legion slowly took supremacy. The White Soldiers were strong but the City Protection Legion soldiers broke through their defense lines to continue chasing Liu Bei.
Each time, the White Soldiers would give it their all.
Such morale and determination was difficult for the current City Protection Legion to break through.
The battle slowly entered a stalemate.
The White Soldiers seemed shaky; it was like they were about to fall, but they stubbornly stood. As time dragged on, the more detrimental the battle was to the City Protection Legion. At this point, the talisman's effect had already worn off.
Zhao Si Hu was dealing with Chen Dao while taking looks at the battlefield; the more he looked, the worst his expression got.
Just as the battle was becoming stale, the sounds of horse hooves sounded from behind.
Turning back, it was the Divine Martial Guards led by the Lord.
This time, the White Soldiers were no match. When the Divine Martial Guards and the City Protection Legion worked hand in hand, the White Soldiers were pushed back.
In less than an hour, the one thousand White Soldiers all fell.
In this nameless wilderness, one thousand ferocious soldiers were laid to rest. In the end, only Chen Dao was left, and he was still fighting against Zhao Si Hu.
"General Chen Dao, are you willing to surrender?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
"You wish!"
His reply was similarly clean as he stabbed out with his spear at Zhao Si Hu.
When Ouyang Shuo heard this reply, he sighed in his heart, "Send him on his way!"
"Yes, my Monarch!"
When Zhao Si Hu heard this command, he chopped down with his machete to push aside the enemy's spear; he used this chance to leave.
At the same time, the surrounding Divine Martial Guards held up their god arm crossbows and fired, instantly shooting him and making him look like a porcupine.
After Chen Dao died, he left a book; Ouyang Shuo picked up and smiled when he saw what the item was.
White Soldier Training Manual: After use, grasp the training technique of the White Soldiers.
"That was worth it!" Ouyang Shuo smiled, "Let's return!"
After so long, Liu Bei had already fled far away, finding him was impossible.
"As expected from a cockroach, his life truly cannot be taken easily!" Ouyang Shuo was filled with thoughts. Luckily, in this battle, he had taken several limbs from Liu Bei.
Just as Ouyang Shuo was leading the troops, a Mengchong Warship was sailing toward the Shanhai City Squadron.
"Who are you, stop!"
The warship was stopped by the voyage squadron that was still cleaning up the battlefield.
"Ally!" The Mengchong Warship raised a golden dragon flag, and a soldier on the deck hollered, "Jiangling City emergency intel, I need to send it to the Monarch!"
"Wait up!"
After investigating his background, the messenger was sent to Dragon Head.
"What happened to Jiangling City?" Zheng He asked.
"Admiral, Jiangling City has already fallen, and Lord Feng Qiuhuang ordered me to inform the Monarch." The messenger took out a letter as he spoke.
"What? Jiangling City fell?"
At the side, Jia Xu jumped in shock, "What exactly happened?"
"This...." The messenger was a little hesitant.
"Mister, let's just wait for the Monarch to return."
Jia Xu was stunned and quickly regained his calm, "I was rash!"
Chapter 715-Actions of a Traitor
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
The moment Ouyang Shuo returned, he was rushed by Zheng He into the battle room.
"Monarch, something has happened in Jiangling." Zheng He's expression was solemn as he handed over the letter.
When Ouyang Shuo read the letter that Feng Qiuhuang had sent to him, his brows furrowed. He did not expect that Jiangling City would fall, and it would be a total defeat.
To explain this matter, one had to start from before the week.
By the time Ouyang Shuo killed Guan Yu, the Zhou Yu Army had already led troops down to Jiangling. Close to 300 thousand troops had surrounded Jiangling City.
Outside the city, flags waved; spears and blades were prepared.
The next morning, the army launched a ferocious assault on Jiangling, attacking from all directions. The most large-scale battlefield in the Battle of Red Cliff had exploded and it would decide the fates of both sides.
On the first day of battle, nothing went wrong. After close to 10 thousand casualties, Zhou Yu's army backed down like a flood. Jiangling City stood tall.
The second day was exactly the same.
The situation changed on the third day. Just as the Cao Cao Army started to put down their guards, the west gate of Jiangling suddenly opened from the inside. The player army that was in charge of the west gate had betrayed them.
The Zhou Yu Army that was prepared rushed into Jiangling City like a flood.
Zhou Yu was truly smart; the battle during the first two days was just a ruse. On the third day, Zhou Yu gathered his main force at the west gate while the ones attacking the other three were all false.
The army gathered all their main forces and also had someone on the inside; naturally, it was an easy victory.
Catastrophe had struck.
General Cao Ren, who was in charge of guarding the west gate, died in battle. At the same time, the Cao Cao Army that was caught off guard suffered heavy casualties.
Luckily, he was decisive and Feng Qiuhuang and the others were alert, and they led troops to leave from the north.
Their destination was Yiling.
Who knows how this happened, but they suffered another scheme as they headed up north.
Zhou Yu had predicted that the Cao Cao Army would escape to Yizhou and planned an ambush. During this battle, naturally the Cao Cao Army lost both soldiers and generals.
Facing so many obstacles and paying such a heavy price, the remaining forces finally reached Yizhou. Of the 300 thousand Cao Cao Army, only 150 thousand remained.
Di Chen and the others naturally earned contribution points like crazy, and his points had caught up to Ouyang Shuo; Di Chen was second place now.
Of course, their army suffered loses too.
Be it the City Protection Legion led by Er'Lai or Feng Qiuhuang and Bai Hua's forces, they all led their elite forces. The Zhou Yu Army also lost 50 to 60 thousand troops from their retaliation.
Currently, Zhou Yu was leading the army to surround Yizhou to get ready to annihilate the enemy.
If Yizhou fell, the battle map would immediately end. The Invincible status that Ouyang Shuo had kept would be broken. If that happened, the defeat of Xiong Ba and the others would not mean much anymore.
Of course, this was not easy.
The Zhou Yu Army was able to easily defeat Jiangling only because they had spies within.
The one who opened the gates were the forces of Caiyun Zinan, Qin Feng, and Yuan Ping. Who knows what scheme he had used to obtain Cao Ren's trust, but the general had allowed their armies to guard the west gate.
With that, it created a hidden cancer for the battle.
After learning the defense layout, Feng Qiuhuang and the others objected to Cao Cao and hoped that their forces could be spread around.
Ouyang Shuo had instructed them to be wary of Caiyun Zinan and the rest beforehand. Their current actions were simply too unusual. With how smart Feng Qiuhuang and the rest were, they would obviously be wary.
Helplessly, their power was feeble in front of Cao Cao, and he did not listen to them. More importantly, she did not have proof that Caiyun Zinan and the others would betray them.
Furthermore, Caiyun Zinan had insurance - the trust from Cao Ren.
With Cao Ren's support, the matter ended just like that. Although Feng Qiuhuang and the others were anxious, they could not do anything.
With that, only then could the catastrophe occur.
Cao Ren, who was the cause of all this, received his lesson with his death in the battle.
After the Battle of Jiangling ended, Caiyun Zinan and the others knew their place and knew that they could not do anything else in the battle map. Based on the rules, even if Zhou Yu trusted them, they could not attack their own camp.
They used a loophole in the system to open the city gate.
Furthermore, they were afraid that Cao Cai would try to take revenge. Hence, they decided that after they opened the city gate and completed their mission, they would directly kill themselves and back out of the battle map.
Their actions were the typical harming others but not benefiting themselves. They would rather choose to earn nothing from the battle if they could harm the Shanhai Alliance.
After this battle, Gaia would probably make a system hotfix regarding such actions. After all, if everyone acted like that, the uncertainty factor in the battle map would rise, which was a matter Gaia would not want to see.
Before the hotfix, Shanhai City became the greatest loser.
The player armies in the Cao Cao Camp were mostly made up of Shanhai Alliance Lords. In this battle, including the City Protection Legion, they had all suffered heavy losses.
The City Protection Legion even lost two major generals, so one could see how intense the situation was.
As the Battle of Jiangling came to an end, the direction of the battle became cloudy and uncertain.
Even after taking down Jiangling, the victory of the Sun Liu Alliance Army was still not certain yet. On the other side, Cao Cao still had over a hundred thousand troops, and the city still had sufficient resources.
This was because Yizhou was the grain transfer point of the Cao Cao Army. From the north to various places in Jingzhou, all grain must come through here.
Although the grain storage here could not be compared to Jiangling, it would not be a problem to support them for half a month.
On the contrary, the Zhou Yu Army had a lack of grain. The grain sent from Wulin was intercepted by the City Protection Legion. Even the grain in Jiangling was burned down under Cao Cao's orders.
Things were just so awkward. As the victor, they still had to live on an empty stomach.
Helplessly, Zhou Yu could only arrange the army to the various lands and villages to scour for grain. With the hungry army facing the defenseless people, everyone could guess what would happen.
The hundreds and thousands of villages in Yizhou fell under the horse hooves of the army.
Anyway, Jingzhou was under Liu Biao. Be it Cao Cao or Zhou Yu, they did not empathize them. As a general, feeding their troops was the priority.
If not, who would fight for them?
In such a chaotic world, who would truly pity the common people?
When Liu Bei was not that successful, he actually cared for the people. It was his unusual acts that made Liu Bei famous.
The pitiful Jingzhou people had already given grain to Liu Biao during the autumn sowing season. Cao Cao's arrival meant that they had even given him their food.
Now, the arrival of the Zhou Yu Army meant that even all their emergency rations would be swept clean.
This winter would be a lot colder than usual for the people. What awaited them was either freezing to death or starving to death.
Those that did not want to die could only dig for roots and chew on bark.
During this winter season, even bark was rare. As the army past, all they left behind were refugees that ran for their lives. On the way, who knows how many people suffered due to this tragedy?
Selling kids and women was now a reality.
If they did not have enough grain, it would not be an easy matter for them to take down Yizhou. Apart from that, to the Sun Liu Camp, the Shanhai City Squadron was still a problem.
Along with Liu Bei's escape, only the Jiangdong side was left. Moreover, their navy had nearly completely fallen apart under the successive strikes of the Shanhai City Squadron.
If they did not remove this problem, it would be hard to win this war.
Hence, the key to victory and defeat laid in the Shanhai City Squadron. If Ouyang Shuo was at Jiangling City, it would be nearly impossible for Caiyun Zinan to enact his betrayal.
One could only say that Ouyang Shuo had hurried a landmine for Jiangling because of his selfishness. Now, it was time for him to make it up.
Dragon Head, battle room.
"So, what should we do?"
After understanding the situation, Ouyang Shuo passed the problem to Zheng He and Jia Xu.
Of course, the main person he asked was still Jia Xu.
Zheng He was only a navy admiral. In strategies that affected the entire battle, he needed the help of a top strategist like Jia Xu.
No matter what, this was his backyard.
Ouyang Shuo deciding to bring along Jia Xu was the best decision.
"Mister, please!"
Zheng He directly kicked the ball into Jia Xu's court.
When Jia Xu heard their words, he smiled awkwardly, but he did not push it aside and said slowly, "The Yizhou problem is hard to solve. There's another thing we can do."
Jia Xu immediately rejected helping Yizhou.
Ouyang Shuo agreed on this matter. The navy was obviously good at naval warfare, but in terms of guarding a city, they were pretty much useless.
Assisting Yizhou would be attempting to use their weakness to attack the enemy's strength.
During this period of time, Ouyang Shuo understood Jia Xu's way of making strategy. His way seemed exceedingly unconstrained, but in truth, it was meticulously planned out.
His most obvious specialty was his ability to use generals and troops. Be it assassinating the leader or using fire to burn the Liu Bei Army, these events showed the way he used troops.
His excellent analysis of the battlefield, his vast strategic vision, and his vicious eyes totally saw through the enemy; these were all skills that a strategist needed to have.
Be it Jia Xu or Guo Jia, they were all like that.
Apart from that, another specialty of Jia Xu was his rationality. His goal was to win. As for the process and the price they needed tp pay, it was not within his considerations.
As a result, his intentions were misread, and he was called a vicious strategist.