Shanhai City, Xia Palace.
In the imperial study, Ouyang Shuo put down the intelligence report presented by the Shanhai Guards and said with a smile, "As you expected, the Yanhuang Alliance has put everything on the line."
On the other side, Zhang Liang listened with a calm expression. As a top-notch strategist, it was his duty to plan for the future of Great Xia, clear the fog and point out the right path for the Emperor.
Ouyang Shuo did not mind. Apparently, he was used to Zhang Liang's coldness. "Since things are developing according to your expectations, let's start the plan on time."
"Understood!"
Zhang Liang nodded. His eyes lit up. Apparently, this plan was very interesting.
Just as the outside world was guessing how Great Xia would react, envoys from the Chamberlain of Dependencies had secretly gone to Xianyang and Chang'an to launch a secret diplomatic operation.
Annan, Ocean Cloud Mountain.
As a mountain range that separated Annan from the north, there was only one ancient road between the north and the south.
The ancient road was located between the mountains and stretched for thousands of miles. On both sides were steep cliffs that were barren. Even the most agile monkeys could not climb up.
It was said that the mountain god of Ocean Cloud Mountain lived on the cliffs, but no one had ever reached the peak. Even the experts in the game could not climb the 400-meter-high mountain, let alone ordinary people.
That morning, the 500,000 mutant troops of Annan entered the mountain without hesitation.
Although according to the art of war, this was a first-class ambush location, the cliffs were too steep. No one would think that anyone could set up an ambush on the top of the mountain.
The vast army marched between the mountains. Although their formation was not very orderly, they were equipped with all kinds of equipment. Some were on foot, some were on horseback, and some were riding on a variety of dire beasts.
However, the long stretch of the army was still daunting.
These players all had excited expressions on their faces. They had the lofty aspiration of pledging their lives to serve their country in the face of a national calamity. They also had an indescribable spirit.
They already knew that Da Nang City had fallen, but they did not feel the slightest bit afraid.
"So what if it's Great Xia? Are they tigers that eat people? How arrogant of them to dare to defend Da Nang City with just a field army. Let's see how we deal with them," someone said.
There were countless people who agreed with him.
It was no longer the early stages of the game. It had been five years since they entered Gaia, and the average combat power of adventurers had exceeded the level of elite soldiers.
Expert adventurers could even go toe-to-toe with King-class generals.
Just the thought of five hundred thousand elite soldiers was terrifying. Even if they didn't have strong discipline, and their combat skills were lacking, so what? In the face of absolute power, all skills were useless.
Therefore, the indignation of the Annan players was understandable when they learned that Great Xia had ulterior motives and was really going to provoke a war.
The 1.6 million combat professional players were the source of their confidence. Even Great Xia, the dragon that crossed the river, had to behave obediently in the Annan region. They were not allowed to be arrogant and despotic in the Annan region.
"Brothers, let's speed up and try to spend the night in Da Nang City before it gets dark." The leader of the [Falcon Legion] encouraged his guild members as if Da Nang City was already in the bag.
"Boss, don't worry. Our [Falcon Group] will be the first guild to enter Da Nang City."
There was competition between guilds, and being the first to enter the city was undoubtedly a great honor. It was worth it for these players to fight for it.
Driven by this, the speed of the army suddenly increased.
The [Falcon Legion] wasn't the only one who coveted this honor. A spectacle appeared in the mountains. The army of five hundred thousand was like a giant dragon, speeding through the mountains, and thick smoke billowed.
By noon, the army of five hundred thousand had entered the mountain road.
This seemed to be a signal.
Just as the army accelerated, almost at the same time, there was a deafening explosion at the end of the mountain road. Boom ~ ~ ~
This explosion was so loud that the entire ground was shaking. Countless small stones were like boiling water droplets, rolling up and down on the ground.
"What's going on? Is it an earthquake?"
This was the subconscious reaction of the players. Such a powerful sound could only be described as an earthquake.
"What bad luck!"
"Speed up and get out of the mountain road as soon as possible to avoid any aftershocks!" The leaders didn't dare to delay. They faintly felt that something was wrong and subconsciously wanted to escape from the mountain road.
Even at this time, the aftermath of the explosion was still surging in the mountains, making people's scalps tingle.
When they marched near the exit of the mountain road, they were completely shocked by the scene in front of them. They saw that the originally spacious mountain road was completely blocked by a pile of rocks, and it became a dead end.
"So, it wasn't an earthquake at all?"
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that it wasn't an earthquake. It was clearly the cliffs on both sides being forcibly blasted and collapsed, and then piled up into a pile of rocks that was three to four hundred meters high.
"We've been tricked!"
At this time, something strange happened again. Hundreds of giant haystacks rolled down from the top of the mountain on both sides. Each haystack was the size of a millstone, and thick smoke billowed all the way to the mountain road.
"It's an ambush! Retreat!"
The smart ones had already reacted and hurriedly turned around and ran back.
Those who were slow immediately let out miserable screams. Even if the players had a body full of skills, they were still not made of copper and iron. Under the fire, they would still die.
Seeing this, the team was completely in chaos.
People pushed and shoved each other as they ran back with all their might.
In fact, the haystacks that rolled down from the top of the mountain were not enough to pose a fatal threat to this army. Only a few players were burned to death. What was more terrifying was that the haystacks were poured with something that kept emitting black smoke. Once inhaled, the players would immediately fall to the ground.
"It's poisonous smoke!"
The Annan players didn't expect the enemy to be so vicious. Under the pursuit of the poisonous smoke, the players ran faster. Each of them was extremely embarrassed. When they finally got rid of the thick smoke, they breathed a sigh of relief.
However, before they could recover from their shock, the player who had been running at the front actually ran back.
"What happened?"
"The mountain road behind is also blocked, and there is poisonous smoke."
"…"
The group of players suddenly turned pale, and they were at a loss.
"The enemy is too vicious. What should we do now?"
"Everyone, don't panic." The leaders were the first to calm down and analyzed, "Although I don't know how the enemy climbed to the top of the mountain, judging from the number of haystacks that rolled down, there are definitely no more than a hundred enemies on the top of the mountain."
This person's speculation was not far from the truth.
The Great Xia soldiers on the top of the mountain were naturally sent up by the pseudo aircraft. However, due to the urgency of time, the pseudo aircraft's carrying capacity was very limited, and only about 200 people could be sent up.
Their main task was to plant explosives on both sides of the cliff and wait for the enemy to enter the center of the mountain before detonating them immediately, blocking the 500,000 soldiers on the mountain road.
As for how to eliminate these 500,000 soldiers, it was a big problem.
"So?" Some people were puzzled.
"There are fewer people on the top of the mountain, and the poisonous smoke is naturally not infinite. It won't kill 500,000 of us just like that." The leader analyzed, "The most important thing now is to maintain order and not to panic."
Who said that, but how many people could remain calm under the threat of the poisonous smoke?
The leaders had no choice but to make up their minds and set up a cordon on both sides. The members outside the cordon unfortunately became victims of the poisonous smoke. Even if they wanted to cross the cordon, they would be killed by their own people.
This internal struggle lasted until the evening before it came to an end.
The originally ambitious southern expedition team became dispirited. In just one day, more than 40,000 people were killed, and a small half of them died in the hands of their own people.
The survivors were not in a good mood either.
They were trapped in the mountain road and had no one to call for help. They wanted to forcefully break through the pile of rocks, but the poisonous smoke filled the air, so they did not dare to approach at all.
Despair spread through the team.
The fate that awaited them seemed to be to die trapped in the valley. During the national war, the adventurers could not open their storage bags. They could not even log into the forum.
Even if they were not killed by the enemy, they would starve to death after a long time.
Unlike the regular army, the adventurers did not have the concept of rations at all. Apart from some dry rations that they carried with them, they could only resupply in the cities along the way.
Now that they were trapped, the food they had on them could only last them for two days at most. Two days later, hunger would spread through the team, and no one knew what kind of tragedy would happen.
The only fortunate thing was that the dead would appear in the Reincarnation Hall of the Royal City and spread the news of what happened in the valley. The survivors could only hope that their compatriots would rescue them.
This night was especially difficult for the survivors.
They were depressed that they had died before achieving victory, but they were also worried about their future. They were worried that their compatriots would not come to rescue them, worried about the fate of the country, worried about their wives and children.
It was destined that no one could sleep that night.
In the Royal City of Hanoi.
The news that 500,000 troops were trapped on the Haiyun Mountain Road was like a magnitude 10 earthquake. It completely shook the entire player circle and triggered a huge tsunami.
The players weren't alone. In Hanoi, they had their families, friends, and guilds. Some people called for the immediate organization of a rescue force to rescue their compatriots.
"They are trapped in the mountains. We just have to throw away the rocks from the outside."
This was indeed not difficult.
The problem was, who could guarantee that Great Xia didn't have a backup plan?!
They could even seal the mountains and release poisonous smoke. What else couldn't Great Xia do?!
They no longer dared to be arrogant and conceited.
However, they couldn't not rescue them. Even if they disregarded their comradeship, Great Xia hadn't lost a single hair since the start of the national war. The Annan Kingdom was already severely injured, and the 500,000 troops were a fresh force.
If they didn't rescue them, the subsequent matters would be even more difficult.
Soon, the Annan Kingdom players reached a consensus. Regardless of whether Great Xia had a backup plan, they had to rescue them quickly. Everyone knew that the trapped players couldn't hold on for more than a few days.
The question now was, how many people should be sent to rescue them?
It wouldn't do much if there were too few people, but if there were too many, they were afraid that there would be another accident.
The players in the capital were in an uproar over this matter. Before the Great Xia army reached Hanoi, they were already in chaos.
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