Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors-Chapter 497 - 265: Counter-Encirclement_4

After the new emperor ascended the throne, he employed numerous methods to elevate the status of the military, whether it was the execution of various traitorous, greedy officials, the significant employment of Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan, or the abolition of officials’ hereditary entitlements...

All these measures exhibited the new emperor’s high regard for the military.

If not for such an emperor, then for whom should one wait?

Should the Jin people win, the likely next scenario is that the new emperor would be deposed and the former emperor taken to the Jin Camp would be reinstated. By then, these soldiers would quickly become the lowest of the low, trodden underfoot by those civil officials.

Thus, for these warriors, this battle must be won!

This was a resolute understanding shared by everyone from generals to soldiers.

Even if it meant infantry resisting cavalry, they still believed they could fight.

...

Liu Fa had already reassembled the elite Cavalry of the Western Army, yet he had been waiting in vain for the emperor’s command to encircle and advance.

Meanwhile, the Jin soldiers had already charged the military formation numerous times!

The brutality of combat with cold weapons sometimes manifests as a one-sided slaughter and other times as a slow, torturous cut.

When the strength of the opposing forces is highly uneven, the battle damage ratio can be incredibly exaggerated because once one side routs, the other only needs to pursue and kill; but when their strength is comparable, both sides have low killing efficiency, and after fighting for an hour or two, they need to retreat and regroup before fighting again.

During this relentless back-and-forth, the Jin soldiers had noticeably become more impatient.

They couldn’t understand why the infantry formation in front of them seemed to be on the verge of collapse yet remained impervious to their charges.

This infantry was like a giant quagmire, even mocking in function, firmly trapping the Jin soldiers!

It can only be said that, at this time, the combat effectiveness of this infantry was just right.

Had the infantry been too strong, the Jin would have suffered heavy losses in one charge, leading Wanyan Sheng to stop blindly charging and perhaps consider other strategies;

If the infantry was weaker, the Jin might have already broken through the defense, causing a significant defeat.

Only in the current situation did the Jin soldiers always feel as though the next charge would overwhelm the defenders, yet each time they were held back by the Western Army to the utmost limit.

The previous charges and heavy casualties had all turned into sunken costs for the Jin soldiers.

Under such circumstances, how could the Jin freely give up?

And amid such an intense battle, the surrounding situation was also undergoing subtle changes...

...

"Report! The Qi Army’s reinforcements seem to be approaching our side and may be forming an encirclement!"

Upon hearing the Scout’s report, Wanyan Sheng’s brows furrowed tightly, finally realizing something was amiss.

In fact, Wanyan Sheng had anticipated some movements from these reinforcements but hadn’t been overly concerned.

First, he knew these reinforcements were worthless and easy to defeat, and if he paid them too much attention, he would play right into the hands of the Western Army; second, he confidently believed he could directly crush the Western Army and, after doing so, even if the reinforcements encircled, there would be plenty of ways to deal with them.

But now that he had failed to break the Western Army’s lines, the situation had become troublesome.

Before he could make a decision, the Qi Cavalry attacked again!

Liu Fa had already given the Cavalry ample rest, and at this moment, he finally led the entire elite Cavalry of the Western Army to encircle from the flank, apparently forming an envelopment.

Wanyan Sheng’s expression turned gloomy, his hands tightly gripping the reins: "Retreat!"

...

The Jin soldiers retreated but maintained a good formation.

Liu Fa led the elite Cavalry of the Western Army into battle but did not achieve any decisive victory.

In the past, this might have been considered a "great victory."

But it was evident that for the new emperor, this was still far from the goal.

Emperor Taizu of Sheng certainly knew of the Jin’s tenacity, so he didn’t order Liu Fa to pursue rashly; instead, he advanced steadily and at the same time, began new deployments.

One after another, swift horses, scouts, and messengers took advantage of the lull in the fighting to contact the surrounding loyalist forces.

The commands now issued by Emperor Taizu of Sheng were no longer vague directions or calls to act on one’s own initiative, but unshakable military orders as firm as mountains.

"You are ordered to reach Shuanghe Post and hold position within one hour, not to retreat a step! Failure to arrive within an hour or any retreat, the chief and Deputy General will be beheaded! Arrive within an hour, hold against the Jin, and thrice the military honors will be awarded!"

"You are ordered to reach Sha Men and hold position within one and a half hours, not to retreat a step!"

"You are ordered to reach Hua Sheng Village within an hour..."

Command after command, the unyielding terms of military orders—or indeed, unquestionable imperial edicts—were delivered directly to each of the loyalist armies.

In the past, these loyalist forces had largely played no significant role.

Either a part of them was crushed by the Jin, and the others remained immovable, or everyone just spectated from the sidelines, each only looking out for themselves, with no one to unify and lead.

Their armies were present but ineffective.

But now, under Emperor Taizu of Sheng’s firm command, these loyalist forces finally had to play their part.

The combat effectiveness of these loyalist forces was certainly poor, each one-on-one encounter with the Jin being akin to serving them a meal, but they could still hold their ground and protect themselves for a while.

Their failure to aid each other, ultimately, came down to mutual distrust.

The loyalist forces that attempted to provide support had largely been scattered by the Jin, focusing only on self-preservation, and hence survived.

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