Throughout the long, recorded history of human warfare, the value of soldiers have always been measured in their skill, not in their numbers!
Due to the need to cater to the majority’s preferred style of narration, many war accounts made exaggerations about how soldiers won battles from a position of weakness.
This exaggerated writing style accustomed people to think that the troops’ advantages were directly proportional to the number of soldiers they had and that to win from a position of weakness was an unbelievable feat!
However, upon reading ‘Collection of Literary & Historical Thoughts & Studies’, which was a statistical analysis of ancient war records by Qing dynasty historian Zhao Yi, it could be observed that…
Battles won from a position of weakness were actually not that uncommon in history!
Back in ancient times, where the only form of communication was by shouting and the only way of making deliveries was walking, the key performance indicator of a military counselor or general was their ability to mobilize an army!
The more people there were, the less forgiving the terrain was and the lower the overall effectiveness of command was, thus increasing the pressure on military logistics.
In that case, why had the ancient people lied and inflated the actual number of people who were a part of the war?
The reason behind it was simple.
Psychological warfare!
A massive number of people could easily scare the enemy!
To a certain extent, this fear could trigger internal conflict within the enemy. Thus, after the battle started, it would not take too much effort before victory was theirs!
However, the reason behind why examples of winning a battle from a position of weakness existed was equally simple…
They viewed death as a way of returning to where they belonged!
Twenty-four minutes past ten, merely twenty minutes later, the first foreign race charge was forcibly stopped by a Tundra Fleet made up of only ten thousand people!
Additionally, the firearms on Tundra One were not utilized at all during this charge.
With only a crossbow in everyone’s hands, and the explosion created by two brave soldiers who had dove underwater with explosive packs in their arms, the Tundra Fleet managed to curb the foreign race’s arrogance!
Compared to the bloody battle from before, the main reason why their performance this time was so impressive was that…
Among the 80 thousand foreign races that had come to assist, practically all of them were foreign terrestrial races!
Which made things different from before, when there had been a hundred thousand foreign marine races. Although the foreign terrestrial races could swim when conflict arose, they were extremely slow swimmers who had no way of keeping up with the boats.
This awkward situation meant that the foreign terrestrial races could not do as the foreign marine races had done, which dive underwater and swim over to the enemy’s boats before they emerged and launched their attack. Instead, they had had to navigate small boats and rafts to pursue them and attack.
They had lost their greatest advantage and had now entered the area where humans had an advantage.
As soon as they started, the number of foreign races rapidly dropped from a hundred and twenty thousand to a hundred and twelve thousand. Eight thousand had fallen into the sea.
After the raft fleet left, the entire fleet managed to sail forth and fight at the same time because there was nothing left for them to worry about. Miraculously, the battlefield situation got better!
Naturally, this change made all the ordinary survivors who had been left behind whoop merrily as morale increased.
However, the fourteen captains who were sitting in Tundra One and frantically giving out commands all had deep frowns on their faces. There was no trace of victorious joy on their faces.
“Team number three. Currently, we still have three thousand bows and arrows and another one thousand and eight hundred crossbow arrows.”
“Team number one. Nine hundred bows and arrows, three thousand and seven hundred crossbow arrows.”
“Team number two. Six thousand and three hundred bows and arrows, and we have used up all our crossbow arrows.”
“…”
Seven large ships and eighteen small ships. Excluding Tundra One, which had not been paired with any ships because it was the commanding vessel, the large ships had all formed squads with three smaller ships each.
It took only three minutes of taking inventory before the remaining ammunition for all the squads was tallied.
Using longbows required much more physical exertion than using a crossbow, which was why there was a three-fold difference between the two things they were supposed to have roughly the same number of at this crucial moment.
The total was thirty-three thousand bows and arrows, and eleven thousand and five hundred crossbows.
The total of that was forty-four thousand and five hundred!
At first glance, this amount seemed like a lot. If a single person were to use them, they would not be able to finish using them even if they battled non-stop for ten days and nights straight.
However, because there were almost ten thousand people currently defending the fleets, it was only enough…
For them to shoot five rounds in unison!
“We still have twenty-four explosive packs and eighty-five packs of homemade dynamite. These things have already been given to the charge team, so we won’t have to worry about their next charge for now.”
“I suggest spreading our forces out across all fronts after the next wave of attacks to prevent a singular area from undergoing too much stress at once.”
“Good idea. We’ll have better mobility if we spread out!”
The captains stood at the bow, using the light from the moon floating high in the sky to guide them as they observed the foreign races’ frontline with binoculars.
The foreign races seemed to become much more ‘docile’ after losing the battle.
Although they did not know what they were preparing for nor what they were waiting for, their current stance made it seem like they had no intention of launching an attack anytime soon.
Since it was a battle that had a level of over one hundred thousand, such behavior was extremely odd.
However, the captains’ questions did not remain unanswered for long.
Merely seven minutes later, wry smiles appeared on everyone’s faces as a scene that seemed like something out of a movie appeared within range of their binoculars.
“Never ever did I imagine that Ying Tianlong would dare take things to this extent. Isn’t he afraid that the Ying Family Fairy will come looking for him?”
“Hahaha, I never expected this either. We avoided the Regional Channel and directed the evacuation ourselves, but we still ended up getting caught by them.”
“Interesting. At the end of the day, it’s one of our people who’s the enemy.”
“My good sir, how could you call him one of our people? Even calling him a scoundrel would be considered high praise!”
Four massive raft ferries slowly sailed out from the foreign race front, which had parted to make way.
On the ferry, one could see that every human had a foreign race holding a weapon in their arms behind them.
They were so far apart that even using binoculars would not show you the foreign races’ movements or the expression on their faces.
However, the captains present could all imagine the sardonic smiles on the foreign races’ faces.
He opened up the game panel and tapped on a Regional Channel that could still be used. Sure enough, Ying Tianlong’s messages immediately appeared there.
[Ying Tianlong: Hello, to all my compatriots in battlefield area 352. I feel deeply regretful that we must meet in this way, and would like to humbly request that you please bear with me.]
[Ying Tianlong: I understand that there were still twenty-two ships left in the majestic Tundra Fleet before the wooden rafts were taken. Although we have now only managed to capture four of them that only contain a total of twenty-six thousand people, that’s alright. After this, I will give you a half-hour’s time to return to where you have just left.]
[Ying Tianlong: Oh, that’s right. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t want to return either. I’m delighted to tell you that the members of Tundra Fleet are all amazing. They stalled us so that you guys had the chance to escape. You guys can continue escaping for as long as you like, but in the time that comes after that, we will get rid of one human every second. We will only stop when all of you return.]
[Ying Tianlong: Also, I forgot, but for the bosses stationed in the ships at the back of the fleet, I have something for you too. Currently, excluding the Tundra Fleet, you still have six large ships and eighteen small ships. If you’re willing to send any of your ships over—it can even be an empty ship—we’ll let you take a thousand people with you in exchange if you agree to sail it over for us.]
[Ying Tianlong: Of course, if you’re willing to give up the Tundra Fleet, we’ll let you take ten thousand people with you at once. You can take another ten thousand people with you if you send Lu Yongyi over. So, what do you think? Are you tempted?]
Due to the previous evacuation and presence of the scoundrel, no one spoke or communicated with one another in the Regional Channels despite it being open, for they were terrified that the scoundrel would see their secrets.
However, now, after reading Ying Tianlong’s arrogant claims and the underlying implications in it as well…
Not only did all the captains begin scoffing in anger, but the members of the raft fleets that had successfully escaped could not help but begin berating him in the chat as well.
Tens of thousands of people were speaking angrily, and there were no game-moderation functions imposed by the game. The instantaneous outpour was even more terrifying than when people had flooded the World Channel.
From the humans’ predicament, to what would happen after they defeated the foreign races.
From Ying Tianlong’s oldest ancestors to the other culprits who also belonged to the Ying family.
Everyone scolded Ying Tianlong with all their might, and he did not say anything else. It was as if he were dead.
Villains died by revealing too much.
Everyone, including Ying Tianlong himself, knew how despicable the nature of the things he was doing now were.
Thus, he needed to get rid of everyone here who knew what was going on before the game upgrade was finalized and the World Channel and private messages were publicized.
The reason he had forced all the rafts to return to where all the fleets were was to disrupt the defense front and provide the foreign race offensive a chance to attack.
He suggested trading ships for hostages so he could mess up the mentality of the soldiers on the defense front and eliminate the defense forces without spilling any blood.
His tactics were extremely shoddy, but he was very smart about them because he had managed to stir up emotions within the Huaxia people.
Aboard the four raft ferries, the killings were not happening once per second as Ying Tianlong had described. The only people who the foreign races had stabbed were the ones who had tried to fight back after hearing Ying Tianlong’s speech.
The rest of the people were merely being watched and did not seem to be in any life-threatening danger.
However, it was precisely because of this that the captains standing and watching from the Tundra Fleet felt immense pressure!
No one knew how many humans Ying Tianlong wanted to get his hands on before he started eliminating each one of them every second.
Additionally, no one knew what sort of crazy, depraved tactics he would pull off.
No one dared to gamble against him unless they decided they were going to give up on these friendly soldiers!
“I’ll go in exchange. Install explosive packs on my ship, then I’ll exchange myself for them!”
Without any hesitation, Tundra One’s deck began bustling with activity after they determined that the people on the ferries within viewing range were the very same people that they had evacuated just now.
Not even one of the fourteen captains flinched! They all yelled that they would drive themselves over in their boats so they could perform the exchange with the foreign races!
None of them flinched, and none of them showed any signs of fear either. The look in their eyes screamed fearlessness!
Even though they knew that Lu Yongyi, who was sitting inside, would not agree to a slow death like this and would not hesitate to…
Hang on…
Where was Shelter Leader Lu?
Before then, as everyone was being an armchair strategist, Shelter Leader Lu had not spoken a word until the very end, when he had abruptly ordered a counter-breakthrough.
This time, when they realized that Shelter Leader Lu had still not said anything…
Everyone immediately flew into a frenzy!
“No, we cannot exchange Shelter Leader Lu for them!”
“Yes, I’ll go instead. We can’t let Shelter Leader Lu go, that b*stard Ying Tianlong!”
“Protect Shelter Leader Lu!”
If this were a movie, the leader would definitely take the lead and choose to sacrifice themselves for the safety of the civilians.
Not having received a complete military education, the captains used their last ounce of stubbornness to deduce what would happen next based on the plots of movies and novels they knew.
Their strides were frantic as they dashed towards the control room. They had decided that no matter the price that needed to be paid, they had to stop Shelter Leader Lu, even if it meant that everyone else had to die!
Zhang Long led the way as Liu Neng brought up the rear. The fourteen of them swarmed into the control room in no particular order, and it was such a squeeze that the makeshift door and walls creaked wildly.
“Shelter Leader Lu, you must not…”
“Shelter Leader Lu, I…”
“Shelter Leader? …!”
Everyone was so tightly crammed together that they were all panting for air, and they did not even pause to get a better look at Lu Yongyi before they began trying to persuade him. However, when they got their bearings and took a clearer look at Lu Yongyi…
They were all stunned!
???
Holy sh*t!
He was laughing maniacally!
Lu Yongyi, who had previously offered to walk into the arms of death himself, had a wide grin on his face as he sat in the center of the command room.
His eyes were unfocused as he stared straight ahead of him, which meant he was using the game panel.
Unlike his previous melancholy aura from when he offered to sacrifice his life, this time, the vitality of life had re-emerged from within his body.
Even his smile looked like one of genuine happiness!
“Hang on, could Shelter Leader Lu be so angry at Ying Tianlong that he lost his marbles?”
“I have a feeling that’s what happened. Shelter Leader Lu has always been a strong-minded person, but now that Ying Tianlong has humiliated him this way…”
“Holy sh*t, Shelter Leader Lu is slandering him in the Regional Channel. His messages are coming in so quickly!”
“What?!”
The captains standing in the control room had their sense of curiosity piqued when they noticed how Lu Yongyi did not pay them any attention and continued using the game panel although he had seen them walk in.
The next second, when they heard Liu Neng’s shout of surprise, they seemed to be moving in unison as they summoned the game panel and joined the Regional Channel.
It was unlike the previous flood of comments because the other survivors in the area had quieted down after seeing Lu Yongyi’s comments.
This meant that as of now, one could only see him and Ying Tianlong hurtling comments at each other as they scrolled downwards and read the messages that had been sent.
[Lu Yongyi: Ying Tianlong, you son of a b*tch, aren’t you scared that the foreign races will get rid of you once you cease to be useful to them? When we aren’t here any longer, aren’t you afraid that they’ll turn onto you and throw you off board into the sea, you ball-less, spineless animal?]
[Ying Tianlong: Dog Lu, I think you should worry more about whether you’ll see the sunrise tomorrow. Even if I die, I’d still die later than you do, you old dog. Very well, so you guys are favoring ships over the humans, right? From now on, I will…]
[Lu Yongyi: Shut your mouth. When did you hear me, Lu Yongyi, say that I’m favoring the ships over the humans? Do you know how much manpower and resources we invest into just one of our ships? And you’re trying to take it in exchange for a thousand humans? Also, you want Tundra One, as well as my head? Do you think I’m an idiot?]
[Lu Yongyi: Show a little sincerity if you’re truly considering a trade. I’ll tell you my numbers now. A ship… in exchange for three thousand people. We’ll begin the trade right now if you agree!]
[Ying Tianlong: Three thousand people? Do you think I’m an idiot? Twelve hundred people at the very most!]
[Lu Yongyi: Twelve hundred people for a small ship, and twelve hundred people for a large ship too. Where do you expect our people to sit if we’ve given you our ships?]
[Ying Tianlong: Twelve hundred people for a small ship, fifteen hundred people for a large ship. Do you want this trade or not?]
…
All the captains secretly gulped when they saw how increasingly bizarre the bargaining in the Regional Channel was becoming.
At that moment, they seemed to understand why Lu Yongyi was smiling now.
In a sense, Ying Tianlong was indeed a b*stard, but in another sense, this time, he…
He had saved everyone!
Good job, Shelter Leader Lu. Not bad for someone like you.
You really are… a f*cking genius!
