Southern Gate

To gather the forces of the Yu Province's NPCs and resist this Yellow Turban influence, preventing their power from growing stronger.

Over time, the Wu Ba faction is showing a tendency to increase in number, causing unrest among the people of Yu Province.

At this time, Long Chen led the Dragon Village troops to make camp and rest for the night.

In his spare time, Long Chen opened the provincial chat box.

One, to collect local information within Yu Province for better understanding, and two, to see if other players accepted this province-level task.

As soon as he checked, the information was overwhelming, reaching 99+. Long Chen quickly perused through, specifically looking for valuable details, skipping the less relevant ones.

"Hey folks, has anyone accepted the Yu Province's province-level task? Let's team up!"

"Yes, yes, how many troops do you have?"

"I have a hundred civilian troops!"

"Oh my, that's a lot! Can you take me along? I only have about twenty civilian troops!"

"Alright, alright, stick with me. Living the high life!"

...

Long Chen read this message and couldn't help thinking: "Is a hundred civilian troops considered a lot? Then what am I?"

Thinking this, he couldn't help but look back at the nine hundred valiant soldiers behind him.

These were battle-hardened troops, far superior to civilians who hadn't seen real combat.

Additionally, with his "Dragon And Phoenix Among Men" golden talent, which boosts all attributes by 30%, their strength was enhanced.

He estimated that one valiant soldier could hold off five or six regular civilian troops!

Doing the math, Long Chen was essentially the equivalent of 4,500 civilian troops, even conservatively.

Returning to the provincial chat box, he noticed a green caption. Only players above level 20 could use green text; those below used white.

Green text: "Wind Rules the World" alliance is recruiting mercenaries to collectively attack a small Yellow Turban unit (about two to three thousand troops) under Wu Ba's command, with a thousand slots available on a first-come, first-served basis.

This news immediately drew the attention of numerous players, with many signing up.

The reasoning was simple: strength in numbers for effective cooperation!

Unifying under Wind Rules the World's power could ensure they shared in the spoils. Otherwise, they couldn't stand against Wu Ba's thousands-strong units independently.

After reading this, Long Chen pondered.

He didn't need to join them because he had nine hundred valiant soldiers under his command, enough to challenge Wu Ba's smaller units.

He didn't want to team up with these players as he believed they were cunning, and since NPCs couldn't see each other's attributes, it was hard to judge their intentions based on mutual fondness.

This is why Long Chen preferred to go it alone. After all, he had earned the right to do so.

.....

The second day.

Long Chen led nearly a thousand troops to Ruyin County.

Ruyin County was the most active area for Wu Ba's faction.

The terrain here was rugged, with dense vegetation, making it suitable for the Yellow Turbans to employ guerrilla tactics.

"My Lord, in my opinion, we should head directly into the forest and find their stronghold. Wouldn't it be best to attack them all at once?" Zhou Tai exclaimed, raising his fist.

"I'd like to do that, but have you considered the high likelihood of ambushes in the dense forest?" replied Long Chen.

"Moreover, we're not familiar with the terrain here. Reckless actions will only lead to heavy casualties."

Long Chen cared deeply for his nine hundred soldiers, as they were all elite troops. If nurtured further, they would become an elite army.

Therefore, Long Chen had to proceed with caution, not only for his sake but also considering the lives of his soldiers. As the commander, the pressure was immense.

"Jiang Qin, immediately send out five scout teams to explore the forest," Long Chen ordered calmly.

"Understood," Jiang Qin responded with a salute.

Knowing the enemy and knowing oneself results in a hundred victories.

It was necessary to become familiar with the local terrain and to investigate the presence of Yellow Turban forces in the area.

One should choose the ripest persimmons.

Long Chen didn't want to provoke the main Yellow Turban force; otherwise, he might be pursued by tens of thousands of them.

In the provincial chat box, several squads encountered the main Yellow Turban forces and were sent back to the newbie village.

"Hey, everyone, Wind Rules the World has already stationed three thousand troops in Ruyin County!"

"So many?"

In the early stages of the game, being able to rally three thousand players was quite an achievement.

"They're already engaged in battle, no time for more details..."

After a few hours, one of the scout teams returned.

"Report—"

"Did you find anything?" Long Chen asked, sitting upright.

"Lord, there's a group of Yellow Turbans about several kilometers from here, numbering around three thousand Yellow Turban soldiers."

"Alright... Did you manage to clarify their outer defenses and the direction of their defense?" Long Chen leaned forward.

Despite the enemy's numbers, he was not concerned, as his troops were strong, and he had two fierce generals. As long as the enemy force was not over ten thousand strong, Long Chen was not afraid.

"Lord, the Yellow Turbans have gathered in a stronghold. The northern and eastern gates of the stronghold are well defended, and there are two defense towers!"

"How about the western and southern gates?" Long Chen furrowed his brow.

If these gates were similarly well defended, they would have to launch a forced assault.

However, a forced assault would result in significant losses. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Long Chen wouldn't allow his people to launch such an attack.

Kneeling on the ground, the scout team leader saluted, "Lord, the western gate has strong defenses but no defense towers, while the southern gate appears to have less guarding with fewer Yellow Turbans defending it."

"However, the southern gate is on a steep slope, making it difficult for troops to enter."

It turned out that the southern gate's weak defense was due to a natural barrier guarding it.

Long Chen thought to himself.

"My Lord, how about letting me break open their southern gate?" Zhou Tai suggested with a salute.

Excitement gleamed in his eyes.

Observing Zhou Tai's robust physique, Long Chen found the idea feasible.

He said, "Jiang Qin, go with him. You can watch each other's backs."

Zhou Tai hastily nodded, bobbing his head like a buoy. "It's not a good idea. We should both go. Who will protect you, my Lord? We must leave someone behind!"

Although Long Chen was touched by his concern, he remained stern. "This is a military order, and it must not be disobeyed. Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai, the two of you need to return to me alive!"

In the end, both of them had no choice but to look at Long Chen with concern before quickly heading to the Yellow Turban stronghold.

"Let's move faster! We can't let our Lord be away from us for too long!" Zhou Tai muttered to Jiang Qin.

"Agreed!"

The two of them moved through the dense forest like agile monkeys, their speed astonishingly fast. In fact, they moved so swiftly that Long Chen could only see their fading silhouettes.

After a quarter of an hour, the remaining four scout teams returned.

They had become somewhat familiar with the terrain in various directions, even though they couldn't be considered experts.

"Full army, advance!"

Long Chen murmured softly, raising his Blood-Drinking Blade.

Behind him, the nine hundred soldiers closely followed Long Chen's steps. Several dozen guards with shields and armor surrounded him.