Chapter 627-Cruel Methods
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
War; it was slowly becoming a battle of wills.
Whoever wavered first, whichever side showed fear, they would lose.
Fortunately, the east troops had an experienced god general in charge, who made suitable adjustments based on the situation. After the slight adjustments to the cannons, Zheng He ordered, “Deputy Pei!”
“Yes, admiral!”
“Bring your Personal Guards, the reserve forces, and two thousand sword-shield soldiers to cut in from the two wings. You have to one shot them and destroy their mental state. Understood?” Zheng He pushed up all the troops he could use to fight proactively.
“Yes, admiral!”
Pei Donglai fully trusted Admiral Zheng He.
“Remember, you only have half an hour.” Zheng He’s expression was still extremely tense. All the east troops were like a tightly pulled bow; they might break at any moment.
“Understood!” Pei Donglai turned around and left.
Five minutes later, the various troops had gathered up. Like two sharp arrows, they charged out of the camp from left and right to stab into the player forces.
As time was limited, Pei Donglai’s troops went out with an extremely determined and brutal mindset. Meanwhile, Zheng he commanded the archer, cannon, and handgun units to provide cover fire.
Facing the sudden attack, the players panicked. In the end, they were simply a bunch of adventure gamemode players, and this was their first time going to war. They had completely depended on their passion and fighting spirit to hold on until now.
In terms of tactical knowledge, these player troops were not even comparable to a group of newbies.
Their two wings were under attack, while their middle troops were stopped in their tracks. The enemy formation was like a devil, clawing away at the lives of their comrades in a seemingly infallible manner.
Sadness and despair started to permeate the army, as the number of casualties soared.
With that, the morale of the troops reached a freezing point.
“Let’s retreat!” some people suggested.
Anymore fighting would just increase the number of unneeded sacrifices.
“Retreat!”
The players left the battlefield slowly, tearing at the corners of their eyes.
This time, they had not left the battlefield out of fear. They were not deserters, but just people who had chosen to make a strategic retreat due to the unwinnable situation in front of them. They could only back off to Fengshan County to think of new plans.
No one could scold or blame such an army.
“You have already done well enough!”
“Welcome back, our heroes!”
Many Singaporean players cheered out and clapped for the soldiers who returned.
The willpower of Singapore was far from being destroyed.
However, the two successive failures had a massive impact on the confidence of the Singaporean players. After the clash came to a pause, more than half of the combat occupation players in Singapore were buried on the battlefield.
Of the forty thousand players, less than ten thousand were alive.
A solemn and tragic feeling circled Fengshan County, unable to fade away.
Thanks to the current situation, the players naturally grew angrier about the lack of action from the Temasek Mercenary Guild. The voices scolding the mercenary guild were even stronger than those scolding Shanhai City.
Within Fengshan County, emotions such as anxiousness, anger, and sadness lingered. In such an emotional environment, Chen Guang finally led the Temasek Mercenary Guild over to Fengshan County.
When the news arrived, the county was thrown into an uproar.
This time, the Temasek Mercenary Group basically sent out all their elites. A total of fifty thousand combat occupation players had arrived, while ten thousand work occupation players lined up. This count exceeded the number of players from the first two wave of attacks.
Now, there were less than three thousand reserve forces left to defend Lion City.
With that. the rumors naturally died down.
No one could blame the Temasek Mercenary Group anymore.
As the core in the hearts of the Singaporean players, the Temasek Mercenary Guild was an invincible presence. Even the Fengshan County Lord had to submit when he saw Chen Guang.
Without any obstacles, Chen Guang took control over the player army.
From the mouth of the Fengshan County Lord, Chen Guang obtained comprehensive frontline intel. After hearing the description of events, he sank down into silence. The strength and stubbornness of the enemy had far exceeded his expectations.
Chen Guang climbed up the city wall and looked out at the dark, suppressive enemy formation, and his face clenched up. In just an hour, the east troop camp seemed totally renewed.
The entire formation was now a massive arc.
Along the arc, hundreds of cannons were spread out, the cold barrels terrifying. Most crucially, the formation had many people going around working, continuing to strengthen this castle.
Chen Guang was not a normal player, and he definitely would not be rash. Charging out to attack such a base was just sending men to die. The massive arc was like a gaping mouth that could swallow any enemy thrown at it.
It was like the enemy had dug a hole and was waiting for them to jump into it.
Hence, Chen Guang decided to defend the city and not strike out. With that, Singapore would be in an unbeatable situation. The moment the enemy ran out of resources, the formation would be broken without them even needing to attack it.
One had to say that it seemed like Chen Guang had considered everything.
Noon, the east troops camp.
“Phew!”
When he saw the enemy retreat, Zheng He’s white face flashed with a sense of relief. In this battle of wills, the east troops had claimed victory thanks to his decisive actions.
With that, the east troops had managed to obtain some hard to come rest time.
The burning hot cannons were able to rest, while the newly transported cannons could be moved to higher ground.
When the battle came to a pause, it was already 2 PM.
As the winning side, Zheng He ordered the sailors to rush out to the battlefield and collect all the equipment and items that the players had dropped. Most importantly, they had to try and collect the arrows and bolts.
As for the soldiers, they took the time to rest up and recover their energy.
The formation that the players had worn down was repairing at a shocking rate. The Singaporean players on the city walls could only look on as the enemy troops recovered their strength.
By the time Chen Guang led his troops over, everything was over.
“Damn it!” Some people were filled with hate, but there was nothing that they could do.
In truth, the east troops did not simply repair the formation.
Making use of this chance, Zheng He’s east troops not only successfully built up a stronger defense, he even sent out men to scour for food and resources from the nearby villages.
Some of the native villagers were also moved to the battlefield to help the army improve the defenses; these people would help to dig moats and build barricades.
The entire project was growing more and more perfect.
Zheng He even ordered some of the especially strong men to take up arms and form a servant army.
From the perspective of the farmers, a country war and a fight between Lords was the same. Their goal was just to survive, and they would do anything to do so.
After all, they were not soldiers.
Hence, the establishment of the servant army went extremely smooth. However, their combat strength was truly minimal; they were probably even worse than the player’s army.
Naturally, Zheng He did not hope for them to kill the enemy and contribute; he had other plans.
Apart from that, amongst the strong men, there were a few Singaporean adventure gamemode players. Prior to their capture, these players were either killing mobs in the wilderness or doing quests in the villages; the east troops had brought them back to the camp.
They were facing a crisis.
These players included both combat and work occupation players.
During the afternoon, the east troops were busy in the surrounding villages. They brought over three thousand laborers, forming a servant army of two thousand men and two hundred captured players.
Truly a bountiful harvest.
Apart from Fengshan County, the entire territory had become the home of the east troops, and they did what they want.
Their audacious acts left all the players within Fengshan County furious, their eyes bulging out of their sockets. If Chen Guang did not come out to stop them, they would have charged out and fought to the death with the east troops.
Chen Guang was also being pushed to his limit. Rationally, he knew that the enemy’s actions were aimed at baiting them out to fight. However, emotionally, he was still extremely furious.
He could not take it when he saw his comrades, especially the players, being captured and tortured.
The hatred between both sides grew deeper and deeper.
……
The Singaporean players were furious, while Zheng He was also facing a tough situation.
He did not expect the players to remain so calm. No matter how the east troops provoked them, the enemy did not act; they seemed determined to defend all the way. He was not confident in their ability to break through the strong Fengshan County. If this continued, his mission to hold up their attention would end in failure.
Zheng He felt worried just thinking about how the Lord was waiting for them. Seeing the sun slowly setting in the west, and that the first day was about to end, Zheng He could not remain calm any longer.
“Admiral, I have a plan.” Pei Donglai suddenly said, “However, this plan would anger the heavens.”
“Quickly, speak!” Zheng He rushed.
“Didn’t we capture a bunch of players? Why don’t we bring them to the front of the formation and kill them one by one. We will threaten them that every ten minutes, we will execute one person if they don’t come out.” Pei Donglai said coldly, “I don’t believe that the enemy would be able to hold back.”
“….”
When Zheng He heard this suggestion, his face froze up, and he did not give a reply. At the very core, Zheng He could not be considered a passable general, as he was not vicious enough.
In history, Zheng He was a well known pacifist.
If the commander was Baiqi or even Han Xin, they would not have hesitated. They would have directly accepted Pei Donglai’s suggestion.
But Zheng He could not.
If Ouyang Shuo did not give Zheng He a firsthand war lesson during the Battle of Annan, he would face a mind block simply attacking Singapore.
However, he now needed to order his men to kill hostages, which truly placed him in a difficult situation.
“Let me think about it.” Zheng He barely got these words out.
“Admiral, we can’t drag on any longer!” Pei Donglai was a little anxious,”If this continues, it’ll affect the entire battle proceedings. How are we going to answer to the Lord!”
Pei Donglai’s words jolted Zheng He awake.
After a short while, he opened his mouth, “Since that’s the case, I’ll leave this matter to you.”
“Yes, Admiral!” Pei Donglai did not hesitate at all.
