Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 252 - 202: Two Scholars

Chapter 252: Chapter 202: Two Scholars

"Do not retreat! Follow me and charge!"

Li Hongyun shouted loudly, but the scattered soldiers simply did not listen to him.

After all, his current identity was just that of a common soldier, without any official rank or status—who would heed him?

Li Hongyun was at a loss. How could this battle be fought?

You should know, even if it were necessary to replicate Zhao Binfu’s tactics at the time, there were conditions needed for that!

Zhao Binfu had arrived when the Jin Army was planning to cross the river. Although it was also urgent, there was at least some preparation time.

He gathered the generals, rewarded the troops, used stirring words to motivate the soldiers to resist to the death, and organized local militia and civilians for support. He had prearranged the entire defense of Niu Zhu Pier, making proper arrangements for troops on both land and water.

After all these preparations, only then could they strike the Jin soldiers head-on during their river crossing and achieve victory in this battle.

However, Li Hongyun’s appearance on the battlefield was already in a nearing collapse scenario; he simply didn’t have the time to make these preparations.

What was worse, he vaguely felt that these Jin soldiers seemed different.

According to historical records, the battle at Niu Zhu Pier was not solely due to Zhao Binfu’s brilliant military strategies.

As a civilian official, Zhao Binfu’s ability to command and win this battle indeed showed his exceptional military talent, but no matter how, with less than twenty thousand Qi soldiers defeating up to five or six hundred thousand Jin soldiers, it was clear this couldn’t simply be judged by military capability.

You should know, the commander of the Jin soldiers at the time was also the emperor of Jin Country, Wanyan Hailing, who was not a mediocre leader either.

The victory at Niu Zhu battle, apart from Zhao Binfu’s critical intervention, had two other crucial reasons that couldn’t be ignored.

Firstly, the naval strength of the Jin army was not strong.

There’s a claim that although the Jin Army had steamrolled through their campaign, upon arriving at the Yangtze River, they found no boats for crossing and had to hastily build them. Another claim was that although the Jin Army had battle ships, these were flat-bottomed and unstable compared to the Qi naval forces.

Whether it was the Jin ships on the water or the volume of soldiers landing in the first wave, they were lesser than the Qi Army’s forces. After a loss in the first wave, the Qi Army launched a surprise attack and burned their ships, causing the Jin soldiers to be in a greatly disadvantaged position on the battlefield.

Secondly, there were severe internal conflicts within the Jin Army at the time.

Wanyan Hailing, though ambitious, was brutal. While he led his troops south, a coup to overthrow him was already brewing within Jin Country, essentially putting "fire in the backyard."

During the march south, Wanyan Hailing strictly ordered his subordinates to commit no slight offenses, which did win the favor of the Qi dynasty’s civilians and allowed him to swiftly gain a significant advantage. However, this also led to low morale among the aristocracy and many generals in the Jin Army.

After all, for these Jin soldiers, they couldn’t see the great achievement of unifying the world after annihilating Qi; they only knew that despite winning battles, they couldn’t plunder as before, which bred much resentment within them.

Therefore, at this time, not only was there "fire in the backyard," but the Jin Army was also on the verge of disintegration.

If Wanyan Hailing could have broken through the Yangtze River in one fell swoop, using successive victories to quickly suppress the resistance from the Qi Dynasty, he might indeed have been able to fulfill his ambitions, then return to stabilize the situation within Jin Country.

But the major defeat at Niu Zhu Pier led these conflicts to surface and intensify, resulting in Wanyan Hailing being killed by his subordinates. This invasion powered by the entire nation ultimately ended with the Qi Dynasty miraculously prevailing.

These details, Li Hongyun had already studied before; after all, this era had many significant events, and the battle at Niu Zhu Pier was inevitably an incident not to be bypassed, very likely to be utilized by the game.

But comparing this with the situation on the battlefield at the moment, Li Hongyun felt something was seriously wrong.

On one hand, the Jin Army’s warships did not look at all disadvantaged; large and stable, with a large number, they were able to transport over ten thousand Jin soldiers to the opposite bank in one go.

On the other hand, these Jin soldiers seemed to have high combat will; their morale did not appear to be low, which contradicted what Li Hongyun remembered from historical records.

The combat strength of the Jin Army had been strengthened, while the Qi side had completely lost Zhao Binfu, the pivotal figure capable of turning the tides. Under these circumstances, the battle had become inevitably doomed to failure.

Li Hongyun was helpless; in such chaotic battle conditions, the power of one person was indeed limited.

He found a strong crossbow discarded by a soldier, barely managed to kill a few Jin soldiers, then was quickly overwhelmed by the enemy.

...

Fog filled the air, and the surroundings entered a state of stillness.

Just as Li Hongyun thought he had rapidly failed the challenge instance and would have to start over, everything around him began to rapidly rewind.

The Jin soldiers ashore moved back to the ships, which also moved back to the opposite shore...

Subsequently, Li Hongyun’s perspective rapidly ascended from Niu Zhu Pier, to overlooking the Yangtze River, to the highest point where he could see the borders of the Qi Dynasty, until countless clouds obscured his vision...

After a whirlwind of rewinding, a system prompt appeared in his sight.

[11 years to the Battle of Niu Zhu Pier]

Seeing this prompt, Li Hongyun began to understand the situation of this instance.

The battle he had just experienced was not the official content of the instance, but an opening scene kill!

"I directly traveled back ten years, which means, the previous battle was like a rehearsal, letting me preview the tense situation of the future."