May 28th, Royal City Drill Ground.
At nine in the morning, Ouyang Shuo, accompanied by Military Affairs Minister Du Ruhui and City Guard Commander Shi Wansui, entered the drill ground and sat in the middle of the viewing platform. Blood Romance, Xie Siyun, and the other guild leaders were led by the Imperial Guard to their designated seats.
The Imperial Guard Drill Ground was a restricted military area. Ordinary people couldn't enter.
Banners fluttered on the drill ground. Every hundred steps, an Imperial Guard in Radiant Armor stood guard. The security was tight. In the middle of the drill ground, two dueling teams were already in position.
This time, Great Xia had sent out the First Battalion of the First Division, First Brigade, and First Battalion, personally led by Zhao Sihu. Just from the designation, it was obvious that this was the strongest battalion of the city guards.
Ouyang Shuo's exclusion of the Divine Guard and Imperial Guard didn't mean that he looked down on the guild's elite team.
The First Battalion was a mixed battalion made up of sword and shield soldiers, pikemen, and archers. This was also the standard configuration of Great Xia's infantry.
Experience in previous wars proved that a single unit wasn't suitable for complex battlefields. It lacked flexibility and toughness. Only a mixed battalion could truly display the advantages of each unit and increase the lethality and survivability of the battlefield.
After everyone was present, the host of the duel, Du Ruhui, read the rules of the duel.
"This duel is a duel to the death. It doesn't matter if one side lives or dies. The duel will end with the destruction or surrender of one side. The location of the duel is limited to the designated area of the drill ground. There are no restrictions on the method of combat …"
After reading the rules, Du Ruhui glanced at the king. Seeing the king nod, she immediately said, "The duel begins!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of the war drums shook the sky, gradually stirring up the blood of the soldiers on the field.
Because it was a duel on the drill ground, there were no tricks to speak of. It was all about strength. Amidst the beating of the war drums, the two teams moved from slow to fast, roaring as they charged at each other.
Just from this alone, one could see the difference between the regular army and the elite team.
Although the elite team was already consciously controlling their formation, when they moved faster, their formation was still not orderly. There was even a slight disconnect between the front and back. On the other hand, the city guards were like a group, maintaining a square formation.
On the stage, Blood Romance could only shake her head helplessly.
This couldn't be helped. No matter how much the players trained, they couldn't get into character without military rules. Even so, Bloody Romance was not worried at all.
Fighting on the battlefield relied on strength, not some damn formation. As long as they could kill the enemy, it didn't matter if their formation was neat or not.
Amidst the high-speed movement, the archers of the elite squad finally revealed their abilities. They could actually shoot while moving. Sharp arrows shot towards the city guards, causing a certain amount of disruption to the city guards.
In the blink of an eye, three or four people were shot and fell to the ground. The entire formation was inevitably affected.
Commander Zhao Sihu saw this and ordered, "Block!"
With a "shua" sound, shields were either placed in front of them or raised high above their heads to block the arrows. As such, even though they managed to block the rain of arrows, their movement speed and formation were unavoidably affected.
In the first round, the elite squad had the upper hand.
As they spoke, the two teams were about to collide.
At this moment, there was a sudden change in the city guards. The two rows of sword-and-shield soldiers at the front suddenly turned from a straight line to an arc. In the blink of an eye, they formed a circle with the sword-and-shield soldiers at the back.
"A formation!" Bloody Romance's expression became solemn.
This formation was the simplified version of the "Three Thousand Revolutions Formation" that Sun Bin had designed for the Divine Guard. The outer perimeter was guarded by sword-and-shield soldiers, the center was guarded by spearmen, and the archers were hidden in the center.
Logically speaking, changing formations while running was a big taboo. If one wasn't careful, they could be scattered by the enemy. However, the city guards were facing an elite squad. They didn't have any cavalry or heavy armor.
In the face of such a steel fortress, the elite squad was somewhat helpless. The solution they came up with was to move to the sides and attempt to surround the city guards.
This seemed like a good idea, but it made a common mistake. The Art of War said, "Surround them when they are ten." The elite squad had the same number of people as the city guards, 500. How could they possibly surround them?
Zhao Sihu stood in the middle of the formation. When he saw the enemy split up, he immediately ordered, "Pierce!"
"Kill!"
In the blink of an eye, over a hundred spears shot out from the shield soldiers like lightning. The entire formation's attack range was instantly extended.
Some of the elite squad players misjudged the range of the spears and got too close. They were immediately hit. These players were also quite strong. They used their movement skills to twist left and right, dodging the spears one by one.
Some of the more valiant ones even took the opportunity to counterattack. Sword light flashed, and a spear was cut in half.
In terms of individual combat power, these elite players had the upper hand over the city guards. Moreover, every one of them had a unique skill. Their speed and agility were above average. They also had a wide variety of skills and techniques. It was quite a headache to deal with.
Seeing this, Bloody Romance nodded his head in satisfaction. His confidence wasn't without reason.
"Withdraw!" Zhao Sihu was unfazed.
Whoosh! The spears were instantly withdrawn. The adventurers let out a sigh of relief when they saw this. Some of the more daring ones even tried to take advantage of this opportunity to attack the sword-and-shield soldiers on the outer perimeter.
"Pierce!"
In less than ten seconds, the spears stabbed out again, as fast as lightning.
This time, the elite players finally miscalculated. In the blink of an eye, five or six players were pierced by the spears. They fell to the ground, heavily injured and bleeding. Some couldn't help but cry out.
In order to deal with the challenges of Planet Hope, the lowest pain threshold in the game was 50. Some elite players even took the initiative to adjust it to 70. Some madmen even had a 100% pain threshold.
For example, Ouyang Shuo's pain threshold had gradually increased from 50. Last year, it was already 100%. After adjusting it, it was very beneficial to the cultivation of skills and techniques.
It was very normal for players to cry out. No one would look down on them.
Seeing this, medics rushed up from the periphery of the drill ground and carried them out of the battlefield for treatment.
Ouyang Shuo's goal was to subdue the elite players, not to increase the slaughter.
Even if it was a life-and-death battle, he would do his best to save those he could. That was why medics were on standby. When Bloody Romance saw this, a complicated look flashed in his eyes. He didn't know that there was such an arrangement.
The slaughter continued on the battlefield.
The elite players were strong, but the city guards weren't to be trifled with. Their moves were extremely simple, and they only used the same few moves. However, each move had been practiced thousands of times.
For example, the spearmen's stabs had long since become a part of their body's memory. Under Zhao Sihu's command, they were like machines, precise and precise.
This kind of offensive power was not something adventurer players possessed.
The combat styles of the regular army and the elite team were well displayed in this battle. One could only say that they each had their own merits. If they could learn from each other's strengths and combine them together, it would be very terrifying.
Bloody Romance was a smart person. Seeing this, he fell into deep thought. Perhaps Ouyang Shuo's true intention in agreeing to the duel was to let the guild leaders see this clearly.
The elite teams joining the army might seem like they were being restricted, but in reality, they were building a solid foundation for their future on Planet Hope. Whether it was for the elite teams or for the individual players, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.
Thinking was one thing, but Bloody Romance still wanted to win this duel.
At this moment, the situation on the battlefield changed. Facing the rotation formation of the city guards, the elite team thought of a way to break it.
They split into groups of five, lifted one of them up, and leaped forward. Like a flying man, they flew past the outer and middle circles of the city guards and headed straight for the core.
This was a different kind of decapitation operation.
The elite players were all skilled. While in the air, they were ready to attack. Like fish, they charged toward the core with unstoppable momentum.
"Fire!"
Although Zhao Sihu was surprised, he didn't slow down in the slightest. Zhao Sihu had never encountered such a "strange" tactic on the battlefield before. The regular army couldn't do something like this.
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