The World Online

Chapter 447- Losing All Face

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

"Keming, what's your opinion?"

Ouyang Shuo placed down the letter and looked toward Du Ruhui, expressionless.

In the truth, the fall of Tianshuang County surprised Ouyang Shuo; it also infuriated him. This loss was too huge. The extent of the loss was something that even Baiqi and Du Ruhui probably did not understand.

On the surface, because the Lord of Tianshuang County was Song Jia's brother, the fall of county made him lose face.

Ouyang Shuo could imagine that some would laugh at Shanhai City after this battle.

A few days ago, Ouyang Shuo had just discussed with his father-in-law about the post-battle situation. Who knew that a few days later, he would receive a slap to his face. The humiliation from within was not something an outsider could imagine.

Arrogance would lead to defeat.

In the end, this loss stemmed from Ouyang Shuo underestimating South Alliance.

Black Snake had reported to Ouyang Shuo that South Alliance was making some weird moves, but it did not raise Ouyang Shuo’s suspicions. In his view, such a scattered regional alliance could not do anything.

In truth, the powers of South Alliance were much stronger than Ouyang Shuo had imagined. Evidently, the alliance leader was not a total scrub, and he had his methods too.

Baiqi and the others were NPCs after all, so they could not completely understand the players’ motives. However, Ouyang Shuo was different, as the number one Lord in the China region, he should not have acted so arrogant.

The consecutive victories had really clouded his mind.

Before this, Ouyang Shuo had thought that taking down Zhaoqing was just a matter of time. He did not expect South Alliance to actually have such courage and strategic foresight.

He was too careless!

Tianshuang County was a hugely important territory in his plans. It was not because of any special properties, but because he could control the Lord of the county.

Hence in his plans, Tianshuang County had a similar role to Mulan territory. He planned to merge it into the Shanhai City system. With that, Shanhai City would gain one more teleportation point in Lingnan Province.

After all, compared to real life, the in game map was ten times larger.

This meant that if one wanted to rule a territory effectively, they had to make use of teleportation formations.

If not, solely one trip around the Lingnan Province would take one to two months.

Tianshuang County was at the center of the future Lingnan Province. Unfortunately, he failed to protect this core. This loss was not something that one could measure in gold.

Despite the self blame and anger, Ouyang Shuo remained calm on the surface.

During this period of time, his cultivation had improved.

Du Ruhui was unable to see any signs from the words or expression of the Lord. As an official, he needed to understand and think like his Lord. However, in this case, he did not know what Ouyang Shuo was thinking.

Whether the Lord would choose to fight or retreat, he could not see a decision.

"I feel that we should gather up our troops."

In the end, Du Ruhui chose to describe his own opinion. After receiving the letter, he had made contact with Zhao Kuo. Combining the information in the letter with the intel from the Military Intelligence Division, they made a battle simulation.

Ouyang Shuo remained unmoved.

"On the battlefield, we will move the 2nd division and the 4th division of the Tiger Legion and seven divisions to prepare for a final battle. Meanwhile, we will arrange two squadrons out to attack Jade Buddha County from the sea. It’s the brain of South Alliance. The moment it falls, South Alliance will fall into chaos. The moment the alliance grows disorderly, the time for the final battle will arrive."

Du Ruhui was in charge of strategic planning, while specific battle commands were left to the commander-in-chief.

Ouyang Shuo nodded; Du Ruhui had described his intentions accurately.

He had to grab back the face he had lost.

The only way now was to show his strength in battle.

If Shanhai City chose to retreat, the drop in morale would allow the enemy to see a weak point.

The moment they exposed a level of weakness to their enemies, they would face more problems that just alliances like South Alliance in the future.

The pack of wolves in Yanhuang Alliance definitely would not give up such an opportunity. In such a scenario, Shanhai City would have to face enemies from all four sides.

They needed to fight, and they needed to act fast as well.

"Sneak attack Jade Buddha County. Apart from the two squadrons, send out the Divine Martial Guards. We must take down the county before they notice. Apart from that, immediately gather the Guards Division and send them to assist the troops on the main battlefield."

Ouyang Shuo did not just agree with his plan, he even upped the stakes. In this battle, Shanhai City could be considered to have gone all out, as Ouyang Shuo even threw out all his trump cards.

The entire Shanhai City only had its city protection division left to defend them.

Luckily, they had totally cleaned out the Lianzhou Prefecture. Enemies could not use teleportation formations to directly enter the Lianzhou Basin.

If not, with just one legion, they could take down Shanhai City.

"Yes, my Lord!"

Du Ruhui knew of the importance of this battle; he nodded solemnly.

"On the side of the Divine Martial Guards, we need to send a military advisor. Keming, do you have anyone in mind?"

Wang Feng was a really strong general, but in terms of strategy, he was truly lacking. Asking him to lead an army, Ouyang Shuo would not feel at ease.

Especially a sneak attack, where any sort of situation could occur; they needed a commander that could adapt.

Originally, Ouyang Shuo personally leading them would be the best choice. However, the philosophers debate had started, so many people had swarmed into the city.

It was not appropriate for him to leave in this situation.

Apart from Ouyang Shuo, Du Ruhui was also a suitable choice.

However, similarly, as the Military Affairs Director, he could not leave during war time. He needed to prepare and arrange logistics, personnel movement, strategic planning, and related affairs.

"Zhao Kuo can handle it."

Du Ruhui's choice surprised Ouyang Shuo.

"Zhao Kuo?"

"That's right!"

Ouyang Shuo looked at Du Ruhui, deep in thought.

Du Ruhui was a really calm and stable person; he could clearly judge a person's character. If he said that Zhao Kuo could do it, there was an 80% chance that he really could.

It seems like Zhao Kuo had really changed a lot in the Military Affairs Department. With his past personality, it would have been hard for him to take up such a role.

The only possibility was that he had completely changed.

In his impression of Zhao Kuo, the only shining moment was in the strategic planning of the Battle of Chiyou City, where he suggested they use Zhaoqing as a base to launch their attack.

As for other moments, Ouyang Shuo did not have much time to meet him.

Du Ruhui was different. Both of them worked in the Military Affairs Department, so they probably bumped into one another everyday.

"Okay, that's settled."

Ouyang Shuo immediately made the decision without hesitation.

When Du Ruhui saw his decisiveness, he nodded his head happily. Ouyang Shuo’s swift decision could be said to be trust in Zhao Kuo, but it was more so his trust in Du Ruhui.

Zhao Kuo's performance would be his own personal test, as well as a test of Du Ruhui's ability to judge a person.

If the situation went south, Du Ruhui could only resign and seclude himself.

After settling all the matters, Du Ruhui stood up and went to plan everything.

This involved three divisions, two squadrons, and the Divine Martial Guards. The only happy matter was that they had finished the first grain harvesting season in Leizhou, so they had enough grain.

If not, they would need to transport grain over from Lianzhou. In such a situation, they should just surrender and not fight at all.

After Du Ruhui left, Ouyang Shuo sat alone in the reading room, closing his eyes, as he fell into deep thought.

Through one failure, one gains knowledge.

The fall of Tianshuang County was something that Ouyang Shuo had to be blamed for.

The strategy set out before was probably overconfident. Would Chiyou City and Taiping Country really follow their set plan like a script?

Probably not.

Let us talk about Chiyou City first. The entire Chiyou City was being constantly constructed. The situation in it was not something spies from the Military Intelligence Division or the Black Snake Guards could find out.

The black bird of Chiyou City was simply too scary.

The entire city was a mystery.

Chiyou, after one year, who knows what scary thing they would have prepared inside.

Chiyou City was not purely composed of mountain barbarians. From other areas of Wuzhou, Chiyou accepted tribes and commoners.

However, the higher ranked people in the territory were all mountain barbarians.

If one said that Chiyou City was a small illness, Taiping Country was a cancer. Ouyang Shuo really did not have the confidence of taking them down alone anymore.

With their current strength, it did not seem possible.

At such a stage, he would probably need to rely on his allies.

Thinking up to this point, Ouyang Shuo let out a sigh.

Thorns and problems covered the road to becoming an Overlord. Using his advantage, he had built a solid base. However, this preparatory work only allowed him to get on the same starting line as Di Chen and the others.

There were still many changes in the China region.

Apart from their enemy, Yanhuang Alliance, there were other local strengths that he could not underestimate.

At this point, Ouyang Shuo thought of Caiyun Alliance.

It seems like they needed to increase their infiltration of Caiyun Alliance.

Although the Black Snake Guards had formed an intel network, they had just built it after all, so they could not come into contact with high-level secrets. As for core information, that was needless to mention.

The appearance of South Alliance, including them sending troops, didn't they avoid the Black Snake Guard’s detection?

In the future, Ouyang Shuo would not allow such matters to happen. The fund to the Black Snake Guards could not be stopped and must be increased instead. Even if they had limited funds, he must support their expansion.

In the afternoon, Ouyang Shuo asked to meet Black Snake.

Apart from the matters of the Black Snake Guards, most importantly, he needed to inform them to work together with the Divine Martial Guards to attack Jade Buddha County.

As people would say, ‘A sneak attack without internal information is very difficult.’

Black Snake nodded; his face incredibly solemn. This time, they did not investigate properly and failed to notice the movements of South Alliance. Although the Lord did not say anything, Black Snake himself felt pissed off to the extreme.

It was time to display their skills.