Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

After issuing a military order that said, "Anyone who dares to speak of battle again will be beheaded," Li Hongyun began to shrink his forces.

Liu Heita, flattered, selected thirty thousand elite troops from the army and split them up, heading towards Zhi Pass with the intention of crossing Taihang Mountain and entering the River East area to open a second front.

If Liu Heita could perform to the established level of "unbeatable under Lord Qin" and quickly capture Zhi Pass and create turmoil in River East, then even if he couldn't reach Pu Jin Crossing or threaten Chang'an, the Liang Army would inevitably be shaken.

By then, it would have a significant positive impact on the main battlefield.

However, to the generals, this strategy of splitting the forces clearly seemed foolish.

After all, there were only three thousand five hundred men defending Hulaoguan Pass on Lord Qin's side, and at this time, most of the generals were not thinking about how to attack Hulaoguan Pass but rather about how, after taking Hulaoguan Pass, they should fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Liang Army.

After all, they believed that once the Xia Army launched a fierce attack on Hulaoguan Pass, Lord Qin would eventually have to retreat.

And once they arrived below Luoyang City, they would undoubtedly have to fight a massive battle with the tens of thousands of the Liang Army besieging Luoyang City.

Naturally, they did not wish to split the forces.

With only a hundred thousand men in total, assigning thirty thousand, all elite, seemed like an operation completely disregarding a future main battle.

Moreover, Liu Heita was not a candidate that could convince the many generals. The arrangement seemed more like Dou Jiande forcibly promoting his fellow villager and childhood friend.

And what was even more unacceptable to them was that after Liu Heita left, Dou Jiande ordered the Xia Army to strictly guard their camp and simultaneously ordered all the food transportation troops to heighten their vigilance to avoid being plundered by the powerful cavalry of the Liang Army.

Thus, the standoff continued.

Many generals of the Xia Army found this unbelievable.

We are tens of thousands against a few thousand! Facing off against the Liang Army, we are at a huge disadvantage!

Generals would request to fight daily.

It wasn't until Li Hongyun grew angry and declared, "Anyone else who dares speak of battle will be executed immediately" that he was able to suppress these men.

Naturally, Li Hongyun was also very displeased.

This displeasure, besides coming from the immense pressure created by the powerful Lord Qin, was significantly due to the reliability of his generals – there really were not many dependable ones!

Aside from Liu Heita, whom he could confidently delegate responsibilities to after the 'god's-eye view' reassurance, there was also an SSR-ranked Divine General, Su Dingfang.

However, Su Dingfang was relatively young at this time. He truly came into his own seven or eight years later, and it would be another twenty years before he could stand on his own.

So, compared to Liu Heita, who could be entrusted with major responsibilities immediately, it was questionable whether Su Dingfang could be relied on as a main support at this time.

Though other generals seemed plentiful, each one had their complications.

For example, the Great General Zhang Qingte, who appeared reliable, but historically, he was in charge of transporting supplies and his guard was very lax, resulting in Lord Qin's Wang Junkuo leading more than a thousand light cavalry to seize a large supply of food and capturing Zhang Qingte as well.

Similarly, General Wang Wan, who seemed to be a top-notch fierce general to whom Dou Jiande had even gifted Emperor Suiyang's Qingcong Horse. Yet, when Wang Wan took three hundred cavalry to the bottom of Hulaoguan Pass to seek battle, he was directly captured by Yuchi Jingde with only two followers, even gifting the horse as well.

These are just the ones named in the history books; those unnamed are even more unreliable!

These generals had majorly failed Dou Jiande at least twice.

The first time was when Ling Jing proposed the strategy of taking Zhi Pass to enter River East, many generals, bribed by Wang Shichong's envoy, dismissed Ling Jing's suggestions as mere scholar's words, and each one was indignantly eager for battle, misleading Dou Jiande into believing that his troops had high morale and oddly confident in a showdown at Hulaoguan Pass.

The second time was on the eve of the final decision to launch a full-scale attack on Hulaoguan Pass, when Lord Qin received spies' reports and learned about this plan.

Clearly, among the high-ranking generals, there were spies from Lord Qin.

But history did not specify who, and at this time, it seemed impossible for Li Hongyun to root out the spy.

How could he trust such a group of people?

In fact, historically, Dou Jiande had already suffered multiple defeats before the final battle,

First, Lord Qin, with just dozens of cavalry, came to scout the situation, and the Xia Army's several thousand cavalry pursued them but fell into an ambush and suffered heavy losses;

Then, seizing the opportunity when the food supply troops' guard was down, Lord Qin's Wang Junkuo led a thousand cavalry to steal a large supply of food;

Lastly, Dou Jiande wavered for over a month below Hulaoguan Pass before finally deciding to launch a large-scale attack on the city.

These minor errors gradually accumulated, making Dou Jiande increasingly impatient and psychologically unstable, setting the stage for his eventual downfall.

As for Li Hongyun, his thought was simple: I'll just stay idle and wait for Liu Heita!

After all, originally Dou Jiande had also wavered for over a month at Hulaoguan Pass before starting the siege, meaning Wang Shichong could at least last another two months in Luoyang City without food.

Now that the Liang Army was determined to hold their position firmly, why should he exert himself?

Just maintain our own supply lines and wait it out.

After all, victory or defeat all depended on Liu Heita's results at Zhi Pass.

...

Meanwhile, Hulaoguan Pass.

"Lord Qin, the latest military report!"

Lord Qin took the military report and quickly scanned it, then his brow only slightly furrowed.

This was the first time he had encountered such an elusive and tricky situation.

Liu Heita leading thirty thousand elite troops, heading north to attack Huaizhou State, was naturally something that couldn't be hidden from the Liang Army's scouts.

And from their movements, it was not difficult to guess that their purpose was indeed to head for River East, to take over the territory.

As to whether after taking over, they intended to attack the whole of River East directly or cross westwards to attack Pu Jin and threaten Chang'an, that was hard to discern.

If Dou Jiande were to take the entire hundred thousand troops and march through Zhi Pass, then Lord Qin would certainly burst with laughter.

Because he was able to confront Dou Jiande at Hulaoguan Pass, he naturally could also choose the timing to continuously attack from behind and raid food supplies during Dou Jiande's attack on Zhi Pass.

After all, Lord Qin did not need to personally guard Hulaoguan Pass and could entirely go about his own business.

But now, Dou Jiande had only sent thirty thousand troops to attack Zhi Pass while the remaining seventy thousand were still focusing on Hulaoguan Pass.

Thus, Lord Qin could not leave, he could not even afford to be away.

Because he was quite sure that only he could hold Hulaoguan Pass. If anyone else were to take over, facing the main force of Dou Jiande, it would be difficult to hold out for long, let alone defeat and capture Dou Jiande.

Although Lord Qin had not seen the script of the future, clearly, his initial strategic goal was not just to hold Hulaoguan Pass. His aim was "to kill two birds with one stone," which he had made very clear when he decided to send three thousand five hundred cavalry to Hulaoguan Pass.

So, if Dou Jiande's main forces didn't leave, he couldn't leave either.

"Dividing the forces to fight in River East ...

"It is indeed a somewhat tricky choice beyond expectations."

Lord Qin was not at all afraid of Dou Jiande clashing fiercely with him at Hulaoguan Pass.

Because in his view, his chances of winning at Hulaoguan Pass were actually quite high.

Despite the disparity in troop numbers, the three thousand five hundred men he commanded were the elite of the Black Armor Army. As long as they could hold the strong city and wear down the enemy's vigor, a decisive battle could break them afterward.

The initiative was entirely in the hands of the Liang Army.

But with Dou Jiande dividing his forces, it created uncontrollable factors for him.

After all, however powerful Lord Qin was, he could not remotely command the Liang Army in River East. If the Liang Army there weren't strong enough and couldn't hold Zhi Pass, it would indeed be quite troublesome.

He wasn't really worried that this surprise troop could actually march all the way to Chang'an as unstoppable as breaking bamboo, but losing River East, and considering getting it back in the future, wouldn't be easy.

By then, the process of the Liang Army unifying the country might be delayed for many years.

But at this time, he couldn't do anything, neither could he go to rescue River East nor leave Hulaoguan Pass to attack Dou Jiande's heavily defended army camp.

He could only patiently await the arrival of the decisive moment here.

...

In the game, due to Li Hongyun's long time of inactivity, the whole historical segment began to operate at an extremely fast pace.

Li Hongyun almost did nothing every day, just stood by, repeatedly ordering Su Dingfang and other absolutely trustworthy generals to escort the supplies, secure the food supply routes, scout the movements of the Liang Army, and then wait.

Five days, ten days, a month ...

As time passed by day by day, finally, military reports from Liu Heita started coming in one after another.

Places like Huaizhou State obviously didn't pose much of a challenge to Liu Heita, who displayed his powerful military capabilities. Under the attack of the thirty thousand elite troops, the small number of Liang Army troops stationed there were quickly dispersed.

But Zhi Pass was indeed easy to defend and hard to attack, creating significant issues for Liu Heita.

Prolonged intense battles erupted at Zhi Pass lasting more than ten days, but ultimately, Liu Heita successfully captured Zhi Pass and continued to advance towards Shangdang.

Clearly, the Liang Army had been careless.

Liu Heita leading thirty thousand soldiers northward from Dou Jiande's main army was clearly witnessed by the Liang Army at Hulaoguan Pass.

But this intelligence from Hulaoguan Pass had to travel back to Chang'an, then delivered to the Liang Army in River East, which took a long time.

Moreover, Chang'an likely did not pay special attention to this information and did not actually send significant reinforcements to River East.

Making this judgment was, of course, reasonable, based on three considerations.

First, the main force of the Liang Army was originally besieging Luoyang City, and Lord Qin also took a significant risk to pull out three thousand five hundred elites to defend Hulaoguan Pass. Under these circumstances, gathering a large army again to support River East was inherently difficult.

Second, at this time, Liu Heita was still an unknown figure, and he only took thirty thousand summer troops with him, so everyone's focus remained on Dou Jiande's main army, and no one thought Liu Heita was some incredible military genius. Chang'an evidently believed the defending generals in River East were sufficient to handle it.

Third, Zhi Pass was naturally a perilous terrain, favoring defense.

With all these factors combined, even if Chang'an had received this intelligence, it would be hard to decide to divert a large number of troops to defend River East within a short period.

And Li Hongyun, using a godlike perspective to utilize Liu Heita, this SSR card plus the advantage of military speed, ultimately allowed his plan to attack River East to proceed unobstructed!

Finally, after crossing Zhi Pass, Liu Heita's advance became unstoppable.

Conquering Shangdang, then continuing west, on this route there were no longer any dangerous passes that could stop the summer troops he led.

After consuming a large area of River East, Pu Jin Crossing was the only obstacle in front.

And once Pu Jin Crossing was crossed, Chang'an was nearly within reach.

Or even if not attacking Chang'an directly but continuing northwards after consuming the whole River East, Hebei and River East could be united.

This way, he could integrate both regions, and continuously threatening Chang'an from Pu Jin, creating a vantage point of superiority.

By then, even if the summer army couldn't capture Hulaoguan Pass and the Liang Army captured Luoyang, this result would still be difficult for the Liang Army to accept.

Seeing Liu Heita's military report, Li Hongyun couldn't help but get up and slam the table.

"Good!

"Actually, it succeeded!"

Li Hongyun was tremendously excited.

The success rate of this plan wasn't high, and one might even say it was entirely a gamble on luck, but evidently, he was lucky, and this gamble paid off again.

Li Hongyun was sure that Lord Qin had also received this military report by now.

Thinking of this, he ordered a gathering of the generals.

"Order issued, battle tomorrow, to capture Hulaoguan Pass!"