The World Online
chapter-1012

Shanhai City, Xia Palace.

Within the Imperial Reading Room, Ouyang Shuo placed down the intel that the Shanhai Guards had just submitted and smiled, "Like you expected, the Yanhuang Alliance took a gamble."

When Zhang Liang heard that, he was really calm. As the highest grade strategist, for the future of Great Xia, his job was to clear the fog for the king.

Ouyang Shuo did not mind, as he was already used to Zhang Liang's prideful and cold nature, "Since it has developed the way you said it would, it is time for us to start on the plan we prepared."

"Understood!"

Zhang Liang nodded as a light shone in his eyes. He was really interested in this plan.

Just as the outside world was guessing how Great Xia would react, the Honglu Temple envoys had already proceeded toward Xianyang and Chang An to hold a secret diplomatic operation.

************

Annan, Hai Van mountain.

As the mountain range that separated the north and south of Annan, there was only one path between the two.

This ancient path was located between the ridges and stretched for thousands of miles. The two sides had really steep cliffs that nothing grew on. Even the most flexible monkeys could not climb up from there.

Legends had it that the mountain God of Hai Van mountain lived above it, but there was no one who had managed to reach the peak. More than 400 meters of steep cliff was not something experts in the game could climb up, much less normal civilians.

On this morning, the 500 thousand Annan players did not hesitate and directly entered the mountains.

Although based on military strategy, this was the best ambush location, the cliffs were really too steep such that no one would even think that anyone would be able to set up an ambush here.

The huge army proceeded between the mountain ridges. Although their formation was not really orderly, their equipment had a broad range. Some of them were more walking, while some of them were riding.

However, this gigantic army still filled one with fear.

These players were all really excited. They all had the desire to fight for their country.

They had already learned of the fall of Danang City, but they still felt no fear.

"So what if it's Great Xia? To think they can defend Danang City with one War Fighting Legion, watch how we take care of them," some people said.

Many people agreed.

Now was not the starting parts of the game. It was already the 5th year, and the overall strength of adventure gamemode players had already exceeded that of elite troops and could be compared to war elite soldiers.

The experts amongst them could compare with King Rank generals.

500 thousand war elite soldiers, just thinking about it would leave one terrified. Even if their discipline was not strong and their war abilities were weaker, so what? In front of absolute strength, all skills and techniques were useless.

Hence, after learning about the arrogance of Great Xia to start a country war, the furiousness of the Annan players was understandable.

1.6 million combat occupation players were where their confidence laid in. Even Great Xia, this dragon, had to lie down quiet in Annan and could not act so arrogantly.

"Brothers, let's quicken our speed. Let's try to spend the night in Danang City." Hunting Eagle Group leader motivated his brothers in the guild. He already viewed Danang City as theirs.

"Do not worry boss, we will be the first guild that charges in."

There was competition between the guilds. The 'First to enter the city' was undoubtedly a huge glory that was worth the players fighting for.

Being motivated by that, the troops quickened their pace.

The Hunting Eagle Group was not the only ones that craved this glory. A magical sight appeared as the 500 thousand army quickened their paces. Smoke bellowed.

At noon, most of the troops had entered the mountain pass.

This was a signal.

Just as they picked up their pace, at the front and the ends of the pass, a deafening explosion could be heard, 'Honglong~~~'

This explosion was so huge that the entire surface was shaking. Numerous rocks were like boiling water, jumping up and down.

"What happened, is it an earthquake?"

This was their subconscious reaction. Such a sound could only be described as an earthquake.

"How unlucky!"

"Quicken our speed and try to walk out of this pass soon in case there are aftershocks!" The leaders did not dare to take this matter lightly. They felt that something was up, and they just wanted to escape from the path.

At this current moment, the aftershock of the explosion still reverberated through the mountains, making one feel numb.

When they arrived near the exit of the mountain path, they were shocked by what they saw. The originally vast and wide exit was blocked by rocks, and there was no way out.

"So it was not an earthquake?"

The smart people among them could already see that it was not an earthquake, as the two sides were clearly blown apart to make it collapse.

"We've fallen for a trap!"

At this very moment, the worse happened. Hundreds of large-sized hay stacks rolled down from the two sides, each pile was smoking as they rolled down the mountain pass.

"It's an ambush, retreat!"

The quick-thinking ones reacted and tried to run back.

Those who were slow to react were lit up by the flames, screaming in pain. Even with their skills, they were not made of iron and metal, so they would only die in the flames.

Seeing that, the formation became total chaos.

People pushing people, people squeezing into people, trying their best to run back.

In truth, the haystacks rolling down were not enough to cause such fatal threat. Only a few of the players were burned to death. The terrifying part was that the haystack was giving out a black smoke, which would cause one to faint if inhaled.

"It's a poisonous smoke!"

The Annan players did not expect the enemy to be so vicious. With the smoke chasing them, the players fled even quicker. Only after they ran away from the smoke did they heave a sigh of relief.

However, before they could calm themselves down, the players in front of them actually ran back.

"What happened?"

"The entrance is also blocked, and there is poisonous smoke there too."

"...."

All the players were ashen white, losing their senses.

"The enemy is too vicious. What should we do now?"

"Guys, do not panic." The guild leaders were the first to calm down and analyzed, "Although we do not know how the enemy climbed up, from the numbers of haystacks, their numbers do not exceed 100."

This person's guess was really close.

The troops on the mountains were naturally sent up there with the mimicry flying devices. However, as time was of the essence, and the mimicry flying devices had limited capacity, they could only send 200 people up.

Their main job was to set up explosives at both sides and ignite it after the enemy troops had entered the pass, trapping them all in the mountain path.

As for how to destroy the 500 thousand troops, it was a huge problem.

"So?" Some people did not understand.

"They have a limited amount of men up there, so the amount of poisonous smoke is not unlimited. It is not enough to kill all of us." The guild leader analyzed, "The important part is to maintain law and order and not panic."

However, this was more easily said than done, as under the threat of the smoke, few could remain calm.

Helplessly, the guild leaders could only make the decision to set up lines at the two sides. Anyone that crossed it would become sacrifices to the smoke. Even if they wanted to cross over, they would be killed by their own men.

This internal battle lasted till night before it came to an end.

The originally confident army was in a bad state. In just one day, 40 thousand of them were killed, half of which were done in by their own hands.

The lucky survivors were not feeling any better.

They were trapped in the mountain path. To forcefully remove the stones was impossible as there was still poisonous smoke, so they did not dare to even get close.

Desperation spread amongst the troops.

The only thing they could do was be trapped in the valley. During a country war period, adventure gamemode players could not open up their storage bags and could not even go on the forums.

Even if they were not killed by their enemies, if this continued, they would starve to death.

Different from proper armies, adventure gamemode players did not have the concept of grain. Apart from some dry rations, they did not bring anything.

Now that they were trapped, the food on them could only last for two days. After which, starvation would spread amongst the troops, and who knows what they would do.

The only fortunate thing was that the dead would appear in the reincarnation hall and spread the word. As such, the lucky survivors could only place their hopes on their brothers to save them.

This night was exceptionally tough for the lucky survivors.

Some of them felt depressed about their situation, some of them were worried for their fates, some were anxious about whether their brothers would arrive in time or not, while some were worried about the fate of the country.

This night was destined to be a sleepless one.

************

Imperial City Hanoi.

The news of the 500 thousand player force being trapped spread out, totally shaking the entire player circle and causing a huge tsunami.

The players who left were not alone. In Hanoi, they had families, friends, and the guilds that they were from. Some people sought to immediately form a rescue squad to save their friends.

"They are only trapped in the mountains. We just need to remove the rocks from the outside."

This was not difficult.

However, who could say for sure that Great Xia did not have anything else planned?

They were already willing to block the mountains and release poisonous gas, so what else would Great Xia not dare to do?

The players did not dare underestimate their opponent anymore.

However, they could not just leave their brothers to die. Since the country war till now, Great Xia did not lose anything while Annan had suffered heavy casualties.

If they did not save them, this battle would only get harder.

Very quickly, the Annan players came to a common consensus. Whether Great Xia had something planned or not, they still had to save their friends. They also had to be quick as everyone knew how long they could last inside.

The problem was how many men to send to save them.

If they sent too little, it might be useless, and if they sent too many, accidents might occur.

Hence, this matter threw the players into chaos. Before the Great Xia Army had reached Hanoi, they already had problems internally.