It was dangerous to send troops out to hunt down the mortar operators, too. Ambushes were frequent, and this ended up almost a trade between their soldiers and the mortars. This was a difficult position to fight the enemy back, even if they knew where the mortars were, there could already be ambushes waiting for any fools that would try.
Eventually, though, they were able to make it to friendly territory — only to see that they had been played. In front of them, an army that was close to half the size of their combined forces was facing them, guns at the ready.
Luckily, they’d discovered this army while still far enough away to not engage in combat — otherwise, they would have taken incredible losses — they could’ve even been wiped out. After debating quickly, they planned to send about a third of their forces far to the right, and they would come in and flank the enemy while the main force pushed forward.
This was the plan, but while sneaking around to surprise the enemy, Baron and his forces caught sight of another army coming to the enemy’s aid. Baron radioed Yue Fei to notify him.
“Yue Fei! There is another army, about fifty thousand strong.”
“Though this is bad news, we shouldn’t be panicking just yet. How long do you think it will take them to get here?”
“At most another day. They’re coming from the southwest.”
“Request aid from the other bases then.” Yue Fei said.
“I don’t think that will be a good idea. I feel that we’ve fallen into Meng Tian and Guan Yu’s trap. How did so many of their soldiers get behind us in the first place?”
“Hmm… a trap. That’s possible. How about we call Meng Yi and ask for his opinion?”
“That’s a good idea. Mess-"
“Sir, Meng Yi on the radio.”
“Meng Yi?”
“Baron, I know that you guys are in a bit of a pickle, but-"
“Did you already get word about the enemies arriving from the southwest?”
“Damn, the southwest? You… alright. Well, there’s another army heading towards you guys from the north. It looks like they’ll arrive in about three days — and my scouts believe that Guan Yu is personally leading this army. They number about a hundred thousand strong.
Baron’s eyes narrowed. Were Meng Tian and Guan Yu trying to wrap them in a snake’s embrace? “How long would it take for you to send us reinforcements? We may be forced to fight a battle on multiple sides, here. We’ll need your help to break out.
“It’ll take a while, given that my troops will have to pass through the mountain range. But I’ll see what I can do.”
Yue Fei cut in. “Just get them here as quickly as possible. Our current army isn’t in position to fight an army twice its size, and given our location, it would be incredibly easy for them to surround us with their entire army if we’re kept here much longer.”
“Alright, I’ll begin moving immediately.”
“Good, I’ll go and see if I can’t do anything about the force coming from the southwest. It’ll be good if I can kill them and return before the army from the north arrives.”
“Good luck, brother.”
“You as well.”
Chapter 63
Quad Feint
Baron had just left to engage an enemy army of 50,000 with his 20,000 when another radio message came. This time it came from one of the assigned captains from one of the bases by the name of Captain Stern.
“Urgent report, sir. My base is under attack.” Captain Stern told Baron.
“What’s the damage?”
“Not too bad, but the army surrounding us is fairly large, and they’ve brought many explosive weapons. I haven’t seen any tanks yet, but at this point it’s only a matter of time before we fall.”
Baron grimaced. “Alright, Captain. Contact the nearby bases and have them send reinforcements. “Have a small detachment from some of the other bases nearest to you circle around the enemy and proceed to attack together.”
“Understood.”
Baron thought to himself how he had fallen for such a basic ploy. It was clear now that their opponents had been waiting for him and Yue Fei to delve a bit too far into their enemy territory.
Once that had happened, they’d quickly moved in from the side, working their way as quickly as they could.
After all, they knew that Yue Fei and Baron were attacking their own territory, so Guan Yu and Meng Tian had free reign in Baron’s and Yue Fei’s. The only difference was that Baron and Yue Fei had needed to proceed with caution, not knowing where their enemy generals were.
That had led to the current situation, where Baron and Yue Fei were surrounded by the enemy’s soldiers, and the rest of their bases were at risk, too.
In such a situation, Baron absolutely had to either completely annihilate the force coming from the southwest, or force them to retreat in a timely manner. Who knew what further surprises the enemy had prepared for them?
His soldiers met the enemy army later that day, close to midnight. Under the cover of darkness, Baron was able to consistently chip at the enemy army’s ranks until they were forced to retreat. He was even able to capture some jeeps and mortars, and even was able to kill off the officers.
An astounding success — but as Baron was returning back to Yue Fei’s army, he received a rather distressing call from Meng Yi.
“The situation’s not good, Baron. The hundred-thousand strong army that we believe is being led by Guan Yu just switched course. They’re heading towards Base Alpha.”
Baron furrowed his brow. “Isn’t that base to our far north? What are they doing there?”
Meng Yi paused before responding. “I’m not sure, but the situation isn’t too bad as of yet. I’ve already ordered my troops to change direction and head direction to Base Alpha. You and Yue Fei will have to push through the troops before you yourselves.”
Baron leaned back in the jeep as he tapped the radio twice against the side of his head. “Aish… I honestly can’t comprehend what those two are planning. It’s unlikely that they’ll be able to take over base alpha unless they bring more reinforcements.”
Then, Baron suddenly sat up as he suddenly realized what was happening. “Unless -”
Meng Yi interrupted. “Yes Baron. Unless they plan to ignore our other bases and strike our main base. If we lose it, we lose the sim.”
Chapter 64
Battle Plan
Meng Yi had just finished his thoughts when a report arrived, stating that there was an army fast closing in on the main base.
“Baron — we’re out of time. I just received a report of another army heading for my location.”
Baron frowned. “I’m quite surprised that your brother and Guan Yu would be so bold as to ignore all the other bases along the way and go straight for the main base. It is a plan that makes no sense and is hardly ever used since it would expose them to a myriad of flanking maneuvers.”
“I believe that my judgments are to blame for this.” Meng Yi had already realized what was going on. “It’s because I chose to have our outposts on the mountain peaks. It’s hard for them to attack our bases, but it’s also difficult for us to move our troops around to support each of the other bases. If it wasn’t so, they’d never have the gall to try such a crazy tactic.”
Upon hearing Meng Yi’s words, Baron immediately understood. Their enemies had taken what should have been their greatest strength and turned it against them.
But, that wasn’t something they could worry about, now. “That doesn’t matter anymore. If they reach you first, try your best to stall their advance. It’s a dangerous time for us, but this is a dangerous ploy for them, as well. If they’re unable to take our main base, they’ll be in our territory, surrounded by our soldiers.”
“Indeed. I know this is less than ideal, but I will have to recall the troops I’d previously sent out. This will mean that our other bases will be vulnerable to their attacks.”
“Don’t worry about it. Yue Fei and I will manage wi
th what we have, and the bases will have to do the same. Focus on keeping the base, and yourself, safe. Yue Fei and I will make our way back.”
“Be careful. If they’ve planned to attack our main base, it means that they’re confident enough about it if they are attacking me, then that surely means they are confident in being able to stall you and Yue Fei long enough to do so.”
“I understand. If Guan Yu is leading the force attacking you, I’m sure Meng Tian is in charge of stalling us. Yue Fei and I will try to move as quickly as we can.”
The two of them immediately sprang into action. Meng Yi recalled his forces and also moved to call troops from bases not in the path of Guan Yu’s forces to bolster his defenses.
As for Yue Fei and Baron, their forces numbered less than a hundred thousand, but if they could break past the forces before them, they could reunite and recoordinate with the rest of their forces.
On the way back to Yue Fei’s position, though, Baron suddenly had an epiphany. True, their main camp was about to be attacked — but the enemy had clearly bought the vast majority of their soldiers for this offensive. There was Guan Yu’s army, the force that Baron had repelled, and the soldiers before them, blocking their way back to assist their main base…
Baron quickly ordered for a recon unit to be sent to assess Guan Yu and Meng Tian’s defenses. Even if his guess was correct, they only had a small window of time to operate with. But even with their quickest speed, it would take a few hours for their scouting planes, namely the B-2 Bombers, to fully canvas the enemy’s territory. In the meantime, though, Baron sent messages to all of their outposts that still housed troops.
There was still a way to win the simulation.
Baron and Yue Fei worked hard to break through the opposing side’s defenses, and things were going well until another force, about fifteen hundred strong, cut in from behind them. The sudden attack had resulted in substantial casualties, but even worse, their army’s morale sharply fell in the aftermath.
And just as they were beginning to make progress again, another force approached. This time, they were able to catch wind and confront the new army before damage was done, but still, the continued harassment greatly shook the will of Baron and Yue Fei’s troops.
Things were not going well for Baron and Yue Fei. The enemy clearly had them in the palm of their hand. the enemy was playing them in the palm of their hands. Their casualty count could have been much worse, all things considered. But, the fact remained that if things didn’t improve, and soon, they wouldn’t be able to survive much longer, nevermind breaking through the enemy’s defenses to assist Meng Yi.
But then, the report from Baron’s scouts arrived. Just as he’d expected, many of the enemy’s bases had been emptied, and most had been sent to stall Yue Fei and Baron. However, a sizable army had been stationed in the enemy’s main base, for its protection.
Yue Fei was in the midst of commanding the troops, so Baron made preparations first, then told his ally of his plan once everything was in motion.
The plan: scrounge up forces from where they could, and target the enemy’s main base. Given that Guan Yu’s troops would have to pass through the mountain range to reach their base, if Baron was able to move quickly, he would be able to arrive at Guan Yu and Meng Tian’s main base with an army in tow, at about the same time Guan Yu’s would arrive at their own main base.
“Are you sure it will work? You’ll be able to scrounge up some soldiers from our outposts, sure, but will it be enough?” Yue Fei asked.
“I’ve already ordered all the bases that can spare men to make their way to a rendezvous point near the enemy’s main base. I’ll sneak out of here with a few guards and take command of that army, and smash the enemy where it hurts. If my calculations are correct, I should have time to do this. It’ll come down to how long Meng Yi can hold out against Guan Yu.”
“Seems like you’ve been planning this for a while.”
“Not quite — but I had been thinking that we should keep some troops on standby in order to allow our battleworn soldiers a chance to rest. It seems that you’ll have to keep fighting here, but the reinforcements will serve another purpose.”
“Alright, Baron. I’ll do my best here. I’ll let you know if the situation changes.”
“Same here, Yue Fei. Good luck.”
With that, Baron and a few others slipped into the darkness of the night and disappeared from sight. The only one who knew was Yue Fei.
Chapter 65
End of Battle
There were two things that needed to happen for Baron’s plan to succeed. The first thing was that Meng Yi and Yue Fei would each need to be able to hold on for about another week. Maybe two.
The second was that Baron needed to be able to push through the enemy’s defenses in a fairly timely manner. But, there was one thing that bothered Baron — aerial warfare was supposed to have been a big part of this map, so where was the enemy’s aircraft?
Though Baron, Meng Yi, and Yue Fei had also refrained from using aircraft in this sim so far, that was only because they’d wanted to give their pilots to train, and they had been doing fairly well without air support. Of course, with Yue Fei and Meng Yi’s current situations, they would have to put their air force to good use.
As for the pilots under Baron’s command, Baron contacted them and had all the pilots on standby, ready to move at a moment’s notice.
By morning, Baron had rendezvoused with his army, and they headed towards Guan Yu and Meng Tian’s base at breakneck pace.
Even by Baron’s fastest estimates, it would take another two days for him and his forces to reach their destination. And, that was assuming that they weren’t slowed down along the way.
There shouldn’t be, as the bases they were passing were nowhere near strong enough to pose a threat. But Baron didn’t want to leave anything to chance at such an important juncture. He kept his army on high lookout, with vehicles such as tanks and jeeps on the outside. They would provide a first line of cover in the event of an enemy ambush.
In the end, they only had to fight through two fortified outposts before they were able to reach the main base. Thanks to the refueling they’d performed at the two felled outposts, they’d been able to move faster than the enemy had predicted.
Still though, Baron waited an hour for his soldiers to rest before commencing attacks.
At this point, Baron was out of radio distance of his allies, but he could still feel that something was up. He was attacking the enemy’s main base, yet none of the enemy’s planes had shown up. If they weren’t showing up for this, then they had to be elsewhere — so where were they?
Despite his worries, Baron was too deep in enemy territory and had invested too much into his plan to turn back. Given the base’s defenses, they were able to hold out against his forces for a few days, until a messenger from Yue Fei arrived — on a motorbike, no less.
“Sir, bad news. As of the sending of this message, we’ve lost over half of our fortifications and outposts.” The messenger reported.
“Over half?”
“Yes, sir. The enemy was somehow able to create and hide a base in our territory. It’s where they placed the majority of their aircraft, and many of their soldiers. They were able to conduct a full scale raid of our bases in short order.”
“No wonder. I was wondering how the enemy was able to bring such a large force behind us. It seems that the stalemate between our and their forces was nothing but a ploy for us to commit more of our forces to that conflict.”
“Indeed. They also targeted bases where we were keeping prisoners of war. With the previously captured troops returned to their service, their army has grown massively.”
Baron scratched his chin as he contemplated the situation. “That must mean that Meng Tian was there, as we’d predicted. No matter. Is there anything else?”
“Yes… it’s the estimated number of troops the enemy has in our territory — it's over six hundred thousand.”
<
br /> “Damn! How did they manage that?”
Baron now had more questions than answers, but it didn’t matter as his goal was the same — to destroy the base before him. If he destroyed it in time, it didn’t matter how many enemy troops were stomping around his territory, how many of their outposts were taken.
All that mattered was victory.
Baron turned back to command his troops, and their bombardment of the base continued well into the night.
As a base designed by Meng Tian, a son born to a family of architects that had even assisted in designing the Great Wall of China, its defenses were nigh impregnable. But still, it fell — and a few minutes later, a system announcement sounded in everyone’s ears.
“The simulation has ended due to a main base’s destruction. The winners of this simulation are Guan Yu and Meng Tian.”
Baron and the others were quickly brought back to their headquarters, and Baron couldn’t stare at Guan Yu and Meng Tian’s victorious grins with a mix of confusion and surprise.
Chapter 66
Surprise, Surprise
Baron couldn’t really be blamed — after all, from his point of view, he’d just won the simulation by destroying Guan Yu and Meng Tian’s base of operations. After shaking himself off though, he approached his opponents for a handshake.
“Congratulations on your win, Meng Tian and Guan Yu. How did you manage it?”
Guan Yu softly chuckled. “Surprised, Baron? We actually played a rather simple trick on you. The base you targeted, that was so heavily defended, was actually not our main base of operations. We disguised our main one a few kilometers to the west, and pretended it was a simple outpost.”
Meng Tian cut in, trying to comfort Baron. “Don’t worry though, Baron. It was only because that base was located in an area fit for defense, and was leagues above the others in terms of defenses that you made such an assumption. It was a reasonable guess.”
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