Chapter 3

"Is that all there 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." Neo 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 attempt. It will be ten thousand against ten thousand battles."

" I usually like to go for larger battles but we'll just do what you want this time."

" wait." Neo suddenly realized something. How long do these battles usually last?" Neo asked as he pressed the start button, and a minute-and-a-half countdown started.

" Well, for a small battle like this, it will usually last one to three months." Yue Fei replied.

" That long for one game?"

"Yes, but that's assuming that one size doesn't make a major mistake, in which case the game would end early. I have tried a few million versus million battles and let me tell you. Those can take years to resolve. I have even seen some last over a decade."

" Decades? But I can't wait that long..." He asked but was interrupted by the announcement of the system.

Game starts.

...

"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." Neo warned everyone in the room

" Understood, sir. Shall we get ready to meet at the rendezvous point?" When asked impatiently. "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 Neo's army had set up in rank and file.

Neo looked back at his troops, then turned around, leading his men. "All troops, forward march!" Neo whipped his horse's reins, and his army marched in pace behind him.

Neo, lieutenant Ben, and the other officers led the army from the front of the vanguard. Given that they wished to conserve their soldier' 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 Neo's side.

"Sir," Ben said to get Neo'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?" Neo 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 have arrived, general Neo." The messenger respectfully said to Neo 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 spoke up. "Sir, if this terrain is so advantageous, will we be changing our plans?"

"No, not yet at least. We will stick to the original plan and use this place as a backup if we have to."

After another little while, Neo had finally figured out why this location hadn't been marked on the map, it was because the other places he had visited were cliff sites and medium-sized hills whereas this place was fairly normal, just with a steep incline.

"This has been a faithful trip, but it's time to return. All troops, back to the main army!" Neo shouted,

In the time Neo 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 Neo 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 Neo underestimating me.... or is something...hm." Yue Fei's voice trailed off as he looked out into the distance.

Returning to his sense, he said, "Well, no matter. Even if Neo 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 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,

Neo."

__

In Neo's camp, they'd just finished setting up camp about three kilometers away from the city walls.

Officer Rick asked Neo, "General, will we launch an offensive today?"