“Is that all there is to this game? Also, an entire day to think of a strategy?”
“Of course that's not all, but I can't possibly give you all the secrets from the get-go, can I? As for the one day of prep, trust me when I say that it’s not nearly enough time.” Yue Fei said grimly.
“Alright, enough talk. All you have to do now is choose the army sizes and then we can start.”
“Ah, yes. Hold on.” Baron checked the interface again and pushed the army size button. A list of options came up. Five hundred against five hundred, all the way to a million versus a million.
“Alright, let's not get too crazy for my first time. It'll be a ten thousand against ten thousand battle.”
“I usually like to go for larger battles, but we'll just do what you want this time.”
“Wait.” Baron suddenly realized something. “How long do these battles usually last?” Baron asked as he pressed the start button, and a minute-and-a-half countdown started.
“Well, for a small battle like this, it’ll usually last one to three months.” Yue Fei replied.
“That long for just one game?”
“Yes, but that’s assuming that one side doesn't make a major mistake, in which case the game would end early. I've tried a few million versus million battles, and let me tell you. Those can take years to resolve. I’ve even seen some last over a decade.”
“Decades? But I can't wait that long- “He started but was interrupted by the system’s announcement.
Game Start.
Chapter 4
Preparing a Strategic Plan
Everything went dark for a few moments. Then, a bright light flashed before his eyes, and Baron found himself standing in the middle of an empty camp, surrounded by forest. He looked down and found that a virtual window named “troop composition” had popped up midair.
In the window, he saw various pictures, names, prices, and statistics for types of troops. It seemed that each troop came with different costs and stats. For example, he would have continuous food costs as days of battle passed. Morale — some troops naturally came with higher morale, as they were more confident in their abilities. Trust — between the armies and the strategist, and the overall “performance” rating of the army.
After browsing for a while, Baron decided on his army’s composition. He’d chosen a thousand cavalrymen, four thousand infantry, two thousand archers, a thousand mounted archers, and two thousand shield troops.
“Hmm.” Baron mused to himself. “Yue Fei said that I had an entire day to formulate a strategy to win the game, I should concentrate and do my best to use this time effectively.
He looked around once more and realized that he was no longer alone in the camp. Thousands of men had appeared out of the blue and were staring at him.
Who even created such a magnificent simulation?
Baron slowly walked up to the front of the army and tried to touch the soldier closest to him.
“Attention, hut!” The soldier suddenly shouted, and as soon as these words fell from his lips all the mounted soldiers behind him dismounted and knelt down before Baron.
“Hello, General. I am to be your lieutenant for the upcoming battle. My name is Ben. My men and I will be under your care.”
“It’s good to meet you, Lieutenant Ben. I am Baron Magellan.”
My goodness, these guys are even more realistic than I’d thought. Do they have some kind of algorithm deciding their actions?
Baron reached forward to touch the Lieutenant’s plate armor. When he made contact with the armor, he felt a jolt of surprise.
“Sir?” Ben was confused as to why his General was touching his armor. What was one supposed to do in this situation? He couldn't get mad at his commanding officer, as there had to be a certain mutual understanding between the two.
“Apologies, I had to... confirm something.” Baron said as he waved the matter away.
“Alright then... does the esteemed general need us to do anything before we siege the city tomorrow?
“For now just have the men rest up. Once the men are settled in, meet me in the large tent.” Baron said as he pointed to the largest tent within the camp.
“Your orders are my command” Ben quickly said before he turned around and ordered the troops to begin settling into the already prepared camp.
Baron proceeded to walk into the large tent, and once inside he found that there was a long table with a few items placed on top. The thing that caught Baron's interest was the map.
He took the map and studied it carefully. After a few moments, he concluded that the map included his current location, the city he needed to siege, and a general outlay of the surrounding land. Now Baron knew why Yue Fei had said that one day of preparation wouldn’t be enough.
It was because checking the surrounding terrain for advantageous warfare alone would cost a great deal of time, never mind spending the time to formulate a solid strategy itself.
He immediately circled points of interest on the map. A few moments later Lieutenant Ben walked in.
“Greetings, General Baron. Is there something that you need?.”
“Greetings, lieutenant. There is indeed an assignment for you.”
“What is it, general?”
“I need you to bring me to these eight spots on this map, as well as the city. I need to study the terrain and the walled city to better understand our situation.
“Yes sir. Allow me a few moments to gather the fastest horses and a few of our elite troops to accompany you.”
“Good, you are dismissed. I will be at the front of the camp in twenty minutes. Don't be late.”
“Of course, sir.” Ben replied respectfully before taking his leave.
Baron once again studied the table but didn't find anything else particularly useful. Pausing in fear, Baron realized that Yue Fei must have received a map of his own. Did that mean that Yue Fei knew where he was at the moment? He quickly dismissed the idea. Even if Yue Fei did know his location, he could always take down camp and move locations.
After all, a map was just a map. It couldn’t track his movements. Still, though, just who was it that made such a game? Could it be that these troops of people that were in this camp actually real, and had free will? A few more minutes passed before Baron remembered what was important.
“Either way, Yue Fei will tell me anything I want to know after this game, so it's best to just focus on beating him first.”
Grabbing the map, Baron quickly made his way to the front of camp, where his lieutenant had already made preparations. Staring up into the sky, Baron frowned. There seem to be a few storm clouds passing by in the sky.
Regardless, he and his men set out to scope the land.
***
Since Yue Fei was already accustomed to the Death Match game, he had already set his men to check their surroundings before Baron even managed to finish picking out his army composition.
Yue Fei had chosen a relatively simple army composition, so as to not overwhelm his rookie opponent. He had chosen to bring in a thousand archers, six thousand infantry, and three thousand cavalry.
After scouting around for a few hours, Yue Fei had returned to his walled city, locked himself in a room and racked his brain to concoct a strategy with which to defeat Baron.
“Know your enemy and know yourself.” Yue Fei recounted Sun Tzu's famous line.
“Although I may not be the best strategist in the Chinese community, defeating a greenhorn like Baron should be a simple task.”
He reviewed his observations for the day and pored over the map in his hands another time. “It seems that much of the geography in this map has densely packed trees. Good cover for sneaking troops around in… and great for setting up ambushes.”
“Other than that, there are only seven points of interest around the city that the both of us must be careful of. His main objective was to defend the walled city, and it is better to not divide up his army so early into the game.
&nbs
p; Yue Fei diligently proceeded to make a strategy he believed would beat Baron. A few hours later, he yelled “Lieutenant En!” towards the door.
His lieutenant quickly stepped inside. “What is it, Sire?”
“Gather the officers. It’s time for briefing.”
“Understood, sir. I’ll call them now.” En left the room and walked down the hall, hollering and knocking on the various officers’ rooms. “The General has formed a plan! War room, now!”
Just a moment later, all of Yue Fei’s officers had lined up in the war room.
“Alright, men. Listen up. This is the plan for the upcoming siege. I will be assigning three of you to each wall, while I will be issuing commands from the central tower. Keep messengers and notify me of any interesting development that may occur on your walls.”
He pointed at the various officers and assigned them to the various walls before issuing additional commands.
***
Back at Baron's camp, he was still forming his strategy. He racked his brain to think of something, anything that could give him the edge in the upcoming battle, but the few ideas he had were risky and not very reliable.
In the end, he dismissed his officers and quietly simulated hundreds of battles in his mind, searching for a surefire way to beat his opponent. After a few hours, he was taking a small break when he suddenly noticed the game window on the edge of his peripheral vision, the one he’d used to choose his army composition. He saw that there was a list in the game window, of which he was at the top.
He scrolled down the list, and blinked a few times. His personal stats were as strong as fifty normal soldiers.
Suddenly, he remembered was Yue Fei had said — if either side’s strategist was taken out, their side would instantly lose. Baron had been making his plans under the assumption that he would have to act as a tabletop strategist, who manipulated from the backlines.
But if his stats were so high… he could take to the battlefield! Baron’s eyes lit up as he considered the new opportunities this suggested. Only just before dawn broke did Baron finally call upon his officers to discuss the battle plan. The half-asleep officers slowly walked into the big tent one by one. After they came in, though, none dared to complain as a stern-faced Lieutenant Ben stared them down.
“General Magellan, all officers are accounted for. Ready when you are.”
Baron looked into his officers’ eyes before grinning. “Morning, men. Let me tell you how we are going to win.”
Chapter 5
The First Day of Battle
“And once we accomplish this task, everything else will fall into place. Remember, Lieutenant Ben, a huge portion of this plan will rely on your precise timing. If I can't stall the enemy for long enough, then we can only retreat, regroup, and make another plan.” Baron warned everyone in the room.
“Understood, sir. Shall we get ready to meet at the rendezvous point?” Ben asked in an impatientent manner.
“Have the men eat their breakfast, if they haven't already, and then have them take down camp. We leave in two hours.”
“Just leave everything to me.” Ben and the other officers left the big tent to complete their tasks. Soon enough, two hours had passed, and Baron’s army had set up in rank and file.
Baron looked back at his troops, then turned around, leading his men.
“All troops, forward march!”
Baron whipped his horse’s reins, and his army marched in pace behind him.
Baron, Lieutenant Ben, and the other officers led the army from the front of the vanguard. Given that they wished to conserve their soldiers’ energy, they set off at a slow walking pace.
Continuing at this speed, they would reach their target location around noon. Then, they would set up camp, and begin their siege of the city in the afternoon.
They had just reached the halfway point to the city when a messenger whispered something in Ben's ears. The latter pondered for a moment before riding up to Baron’s side.
“Sir,” Ben said to get Baron's attention. “It seems our scouts have located a new point of interest in the terrain northeast of our current location, and it doesn’t seem to be shown on the map!” Ben exclaimed excitedly.
“A new point of interest? I'll have to go take a look then. Ben, keep leading the march.”
Lieutenant Ben nodded. “As you command.”
“Messenger, lead the way. Three hundred cavalry on me!” Baron yelled before galloping away with the messenger, accompanied by hundreds of horsemen.
After riding for a short bit, the messenger slowed to a halt.
“We’ve arrived, General Baron.” The messenger respectfully said to Baron as they arrived at the foothills of a U-shaped steep incline only a few meters high. The incline was surrounded by many trees, as it was at the edge of the forest.
“Hmm.” Baron hummed with satisfaction. “Excellent work! This discovery could prove very useful.” Baron continued to survey the land around it and played multiple simulations within his mind to see how best to turn this newfound discovery into an exploitable advantage.
Officer Rick spoke up. “Sir, if this terrain is so advantageous, will we be changing our plans?”
“No, not yet at least. We'll stick to the original plan and use this place as a backup if we have to.” After another little while Baron had finally figured out why this location hadn’t been marked on the map, it's because the other places he had visited were cliffsides and medium-sized hills whereas this place was fairly normal, just with a steep incline.
“This has been a fruitful trip, but it’s time to return. All troops, back to the main army!” Baron shouted.
In the time Baron had used to scout this additional point of interest, his men had already reached the rendezvous point, and were preparing to assault the city.
***
Yue Fei impatiently tapped his foot as he looked upon “Why haven't his forces arrived yet? They've exceeded my estimates by several hours. Could it be that Baron still hasn't thought of a strategy yet? He may be new to this simulation but he shouldn't be this slow, right?” Yue Fei thought aloud.
At this moment, Lieutenant En entered the room. “Sir, we have received word that the enemy army is approaching...but...”
His voice trailed off.
“What is it?”
“Well, our scouts estimate that the incoming army only consists of about five thousand soldiers. The enemy General was spotted at the forefront.”
“Five thousand? What can their five thousand do against us? Is Baron underestimating me...or is something...hm.” Yue Fei’s voice trailed off as he looked out into the distance.
Returning to his senses, he said, “Well, no matter. Even if Baron has some special strategy, I'd very much like to see what he has up his sleeve. Lieutenant En, prepare the soldiers for battle. Although it’s past optimal hours for a siege, it won’t hurt to be safe.”
“Leave it to me, sir.”
As Lieutenant En left, Yue Fei chuckled to himself. “Let's see what you can do, Baron.”
***
In Baron’s camp, they’d just finished setting up camp about three kilometers away from the city walls.
Officer Rick asked Baron, “General, will we launch an offensive today?”
“Yes, I'd like to test the waters before we begin our true offensive,” Baron replied.
“Split the infantry into two groups. Two hundred will stay by my side, while the other twenty-eight hundred will siege the city with me during the daytime.”
Through his day and a half of experience in the simulation, Baron had realized that he didn't want for food or sleep. He just needed to rest his mind occasionally. This meant that he, and Yue Fei, could operate at all hours of the day and night.
But, this perk wasn’t applied to their troops — thus, Baron had to think about how to best utilize his troops around the clock.
Officer Rick left the room, then returned after a short while.
“Sir, the preparations are
complete.”
“Alright, have our troops surround the city walls and mount offenses. Don’t commit the infantry too much, but have the archers fire to their hearts’ content. We have no shortage of arrows.”
“Yes, sir.”
Baron tapped his fingers. “Be quick about it. We have at most three hours of sunlight left.”
“Yes, sir!” Rick left the tent and could be immediately heard barking orders at the top of his lungs. In just thirty minutes, the sounds of war could be heard from the city.
The two sides clashed for hours, until Baron sounded the horn for retreat. This opening clash had told Baron a great deal about Yue Fei’s characteristics and strategy.
Similarly, once Baron's archers were within range they too let loose numerous arrows into the ranks of people on the wall at an astonishing rate. One arrow is unlikely to kill someone unless it hit them in vital organs, but with this many arrows who's to say? The two sides clashed for two hours before Baron sounded the retreat signal. The sun was about to set, and their opening clash had allowed Baron to grasp some of Yue Fei’s characteristics.
Baron had seen that Yue Fei hadn’t appeared on any of the four walls. Baron reckoned that since his stats were that of fifty men, Yue Fei’s strength had been similarly increased. Yet, he hadn’t shown himself on the front lines. This meant that Yue Fei was likely acting as a “Back-line” strategist. If this continued to be the case, then Baron's initial plan would be completely useless.
Baron frowned as he prepared to address his officers. “Night is about to set. Once camp has set down, have the infantrymen you picked out earlier join me at the front of the camp, along with two hundred fresh mounts.”
“Yes, sir!” Officer Rick responded, then quickly left to complete his task. Just moments later, Baron and his soldiers set off quietly from the camp, riding towards the walled city.
Chapter 6
Warfare's Ultimate Frontier 1 Page 2