The World Online

Chapter 1025 – Three Heroes of Later Song

In the blink of an eye, it was already the 5th month, 19th day, and it was time for the Battle of Yashan.

As Ouyang Shuo was not exactly sure about the battle, for the 100 thousand troops he sent out, Ouyang Shuo chose the Emperor Squadron, the only infantry and cavalry mixed legion-the Guards Legion Corps 4th legion, and the three thousand Divine Martial Guards.

Compared to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd legions of the Guards Legion Corps who had gone through successive tough battles, in the Battle of Annan, the 4th legion followed Baiqi to directly take down Hanoi. During the process, they did not suffer many casualties, and they did not even have to fight much and the battle had ended.

Along with the fact that they were a mixed legion, it made them a lot more adaptive, which was why Ouyang Shuo chose them for this Battle Map.

At 9 AM, the System Notification sounded out punctually.

“System Notification: 1279 AD, the Mongol army went down south to wipe out Song. After taking down South Song Capital City Lin’an, they continued south to wipe out the remaining South Song forces. Both sides had their finally battle at Yashan, ending with the total destruction of South Song. 9th Battle Map – Battle of Yashan, officially begins!”

Checking battle requirements, selecting troops…

“System Notification: Battle of Yashan, player forces automatically listed as South Song camp, no need to choose.”

Ouyang Shuo nodded; he was already mentally prepared for that.

“System Notification: Teleportation start?”

After a short while of twisting and turning, Ouyang Shuo and his men appeared on the battlefield.

“System Notification: Welcome player Qiyue Wuqi to South Song camp Lin’an.”

“Lin’an?”

Ouyang Shuo was instantly stunned. How could it be Lin’an? During the Battle of Yashan, it had long since fell, so what was Gaia doing with this Battle Map?

Very quickly, Ouyang Shuo had his answer.

At this very moment, a notification sounded out.

“Battle Map Notification: Battle of Yashan is listed as a time limit city defense battle. It has nothing to do with real history. Players need to defend Lin’an for a month from the Mongol army attacks to win. If one succeeds, one will obtain great rewards. If not, all battle contribution points will be removed.”

“Vicious!”

Gaia was trying to force their hands and push their backs against the wall. They were only allowed to win and could not lose.

If they failed, they would not even earn a single battle contribution point, much less any rewards. The soldiers they lost naturally could not be revived.

The part that made Ouyang Shuo depressed was that since it was a time limit defense battle, the Emperor Squadron he brought was useless and could only do nothing in the nearby ocean region.

Ouyang Shuo temporarily suppressed his thoughts. Looking around, he found that the location they appeared in was not the outer city camps like in previous city maps. Instead, they appeared within Lin’an city.

Did this mean that the Mongol army had already arrived?

In history, Lin’an surrendered without putting up a fight.

“Battle Map Notification: Battle of Yashan has a total of six Lords participating, a total of 400 thousand troops. Based on rank and merit points, the player representative is Qiyue Wuyi, prince.”

…

Since there was only one camp, the Shanhai Alliance and the Yanhuang Alliance had to work together this time. On the military side, Ouyang Shuo and Di Chen each brought 100 thousand troops.

The other four all brought 50 thousand. In terms of military strength, the Yanhuang Alliance still had an advantage.

Luckily, Ouyang Shuo was the player representative.

Compared to the An Lushan rebellion, there were two less Lords – Wandering Magic and Sha Pojun were both gone, making the battle a little colder. If nothing went wrong, the next Battle Map would only have two to three Lords.

The training that a Battle Map could provide to a Lord was greatly reducing, and to a larger extent, it was to lead another dynasty into the wilderness to complete the entire historical timeline.

The two sides of the Battle of Yashan, one was South Song, while the other was Mongol Yuan. Who knows whether Gaia would allow them both to enter the wilderness progression or not.

Perhaps, the next Battle Map would be the Yuan Dynasty.

If it were the first case, the China Region would only be left with the Ming and Qing Dynasty Battle Maps. Just like that, they were about to zoom past five thousand years of history.

…

Whilst registering, Ouyang Shuo saw Di Chen and his group.

In the Battle of West Chu that had just ended, Ouyang Shuo had conned the Yanhuang Alliance twice, causing Di Chen to hate Ouyang Shuo to the bone.

As they say, ‘When enemies come face to face, their eyes blaze with hate.’

Although they were in the same camp, Di Chen did not treat Ouyang Shuo courteously.

Looking at the expressions of Di Chen and the others, Feng Qiuhuang walked over from behind Ouyang Shuo. Although the Yanhuang Alliance had 100 thousand more troops than them, Feng Qiuhuang was not afraid.

Following behind her was the Great Tang famous general, Guo Ziyi.

This slowly formed into a faceoff between both parties, making the atmosphere a little tense. Ouyang Shuo did not want to have a war of words and was about to leave. At this very moment, Xiong Ba suddenly spoke, “Brother Ouyang, how have you been?”

Since they were going to be fighting on the same side, Xiong Ba, who was a formidable character, did not want the relationship between the two sides to be so tense, which would affect the battle.

Furthermore, Ouyang Shuo was the player representative. Without him passing the message, it would be even tougher for the Yanhuang Alliance in this battle.

Similar to Great Xia, Handan City, Blood Red City, and King City had all brought their navies, which would all be useless.

Before the Battle Map had even begun, 60 thousand player troops of the South Song Camp had already ‘died’.

As a result, they had to work together.

Seeing that, Ouyang Shuo cupped his fists and greeted Xiong Ba. He did not wish to have any internal conflict in the Battle Map because that had no style.

When Xiong Ba saw that, his smile grew wider. He was delighted that Ouyang Shuo was showing him face and purposely joked, “Brother Ouyang is not kind, picking the peach in West Chu and taking away the beauty Yuji!”

This was where Xiong Ba was smart.

The Battle of West Chu was crucial to both sides. He was not trying to pour salt onto Di Chen’s wounds. Rather, he wanted to lightly thread across the topic such that it would not affect the cooperation between their sides.

Not mentioning it showed that they actually cared about it in their hearts.

Seeing that, Ouyang Shuo looked at him with praise, and his face suddenly showed a smile, “No choice, Yuji’s maiden home is Great Xia.”

When Di Chen and the others heard that, they were speechless, as they had never seen such a thick-skinned person. Even if he wanted to find a reason, he should find a more logical one, “Maiden home? What bullshit!”

Luckily, with such an icebreaker, the relationship between the two sides warmed up. Di Chen and the others did not continue to have that look and greeted Ouyang Shuo and Feng Qiuhuang warmly.

Of course, that was the end of it.

To make both sides working together sincerely was impossible. Not mentioning the Battle Map, but even during the counter war, the Yanhuang Alliance was not going to listen to Ouyang Shuo, this country war leader.

The best situation would be for them to each focus on a side.

Ouyang Shuo was not willing to stay for long. He said to Xiong Ba, “The situation is uncertain. Once I meet the Song Dynasty emperor, I need Brother Xiong to come over to discuss matters.”

“Obedience is better than politeness!”

Xiong Ba was delighted. He had done so much just to hear those words.

…

The place where the players landed in was a small military barracks in the west of the city where the Song Guards lived in. After Gaia changed it, it became a super barracks that could fit 450 thousand troops.

Settling his troops, Ouyang Shuo led the Personal Guards. Under the lead of a South Song soldier, they went toward the palace to meet the emperor.

In history, the one that took charge of Lin’an was Zhao Xian, but Ouyang Shuo learned that Gaia had changed the entire history.

The current emperor was the one that died together with Lu Xiufu – Zhao Bing.

Assisting Zhao Bing were the famous three heroes of later Song, Lu Xiufu, Zhang Shijie, and Wen Tianxiang. Apart from that, there were 100 thousand Song troops in the city; these were the last military force of South Song.

It seemed like defending would not be that hard.

However, Ouyang Shuo did not dare let his guard down. Since the situation with the defending troops had changed, the situation with the attacking ones definitely did too. Gaia would not let them complete the mission so easily.

Palace, Qinzheng Hall.

“Player Qiyue Wuyi greets your majesty!”

Under the leadership of an official, Ouyang Shuo finally saw Zhao Bing. The young emperor who was only eight displayed a fierce demeanor. However, his eyes could not help but reveal fear and unease.

Especially in front of Ouyang Shuo, who was a true ruler. Zhao Bing did not know what to do.

Obviously, this small emperor would not be the one making decisions. The real decision makers were the three heroes.

Out of them, Lu Xiufu was a civil servant, whike Zhang Shijie and Wen Tianxiang were generals. During the Battle of Yashan in history, the three of them had different experiences.

Lu Xiufu did not need to be mentioned. After they lost the battle, he carried the emperor and jumped into the ocean.

During the Battle of Yashan, at the final moments, Zhang Shijie hoped that as long as people survived, they could rise up once more. He led his troops to get out of the encirclement but met a storm and died from it.

The most tragic one was Wen Tianxiang.

Before the Battle of Yashan, he was captured and was escorted to Yashan by Mongol general Zhang Hongfan, who wanted Wen Tianxiang to write a letter to ask Zhang Shijie to surrender.

On the Mongol warship, Wen Tianxiang looked at the Song Army being destroyed by the Mongol army, and it was like his heart was being cut apart by a blade. He hated himself for being weak and getting defeated, causing the defeat of the dynasty.

It was at that moment that Wen Tianxiang wrote the famous ‘Crossing Linding Ocean’.

I’ve taken pains reading classics to be an official,

Four bleak years have been spent in thick battles.

Our land is broken like catkins drifting in the wind,

I roam here and there as duckweed buffeted by the rain.

How panic-stricken I was retreating before the Tartars!

Being a captive, I lamented over my solitary confinement.

Who can avert his death since time immemorial?

Let my heart remain true to shine in the annals.

After the Battle of Yashan ended, Wen Tianxiang was sent to Yanjing. Although he was asked to surrender many times, in the end, he chose to kill himself at only 47 years of age.

Looking at the three heroes of later Song standing there, Ouyang Shuo was filled with emotion.