Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 696 "Game Era 2" (Part 1)
Game Age 2!
After the large lettering of the film title fades away, the camera sweeps across the vast land before focusing on a city.

At the city gate, Xia Feng, the male lead of the film, was dressed in rags and had unkempt hair, as if he had returned to his original state in the first film, completing a cycle.

To escape the Jin army's pursuers, he jumped into the river to escape, losing all his valuables. Now that he had finally found a populated area, he could only pretend to be a beggar.

However, just as Xia Feng was wandering through the bustling streets, rubbing his rumbling stomach, a sound from afar caught his eye.

"We're hiring artisans at huge sums of money to go south and make a fortune!"

Beside an inconspicuous notice on a street corner, a middle-aged man was shouting loudly.

However, the local residents passing by didn't seem very interested in what he was saying.

Xia Feng was different. The generous reward mentioned by the other party was secondary; he didn't believe that the reward was really that generous. The main thing that caught his attention was the word "South".

Why wouldn't someone provide him with food and lodging and even take him to his destination?
Xia Feng struck up a conversation with the person in charge of recruitment, followed him to a secluded alley, knocked on a courtyard gate, and was greeted by another sleazy man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks.

Before Xia Feng could explain his purpose, the other party patted his chest happily and assured him that he would not only have good food and drink along the way, but also make a lot of money.

Afterwards, the man waited for several other men who also intended to work, and then led them out of the city, all the way to a heavily guarded military camp on the outskirts of the city, and went inside.

"Sir, that's all."

The leader led Xia Feng and his group to a tent, where a Jin centurion greeted them.

It was only then, through their conversation, that Xia Feng suddenly realized that he had been kidnapped like a fool!
But by the time they realized it, it was too late. Once you're in the military camp, it's not so easy to leave.

And so, Xia Feng once again became a laborer conscripted by the Jin Dynasty's expeditionary force.

Yes, once again, because in the previous game, "Game of Thrones 1," he also started as a caravan laborer.

Of course, not all laborers are the same. To be more precise, Xia Feng was serving a labor service, and a military one at that, which was even more miserable than being a laborer for a caravan.

This is why the city residents remained unmoved by the job postings.

Xia Feng, who joined the Jin army as a laborer in a daze, was soon assigned to a grain transport team and escorted grain southward under the whip of the Jin soldiers.

Wanyan Liang was about to lead a large army on a distant expedition against the Southern Song Dynasty. As the saying goes, "an army marches on its stomach," so Xia Feng and the other laborers had to transport the grain and supplies to the front lines in advance.

From this perspective, although Xia Feng was tricked into becoming a laborer, at least he was on the right track. Now, all that's left is to wait until he reaches his destination and then figure out how to escape the Jin army.

However, Xia Feng underestimated the difficulty of this labor. Unlike the previous crossing of the "Sea of ​​Death" desert, the northern land was now in early winter, with cold winds blowing across the fields and a thin layer of white frost visible on the ground every morning.

Moreover, it was raining all the way, and Xia Feng and the other captured laborers struggled to push carts full of grain along the muddy roads. In addition, the food provided by the Jin soldiers was scarce, so they were cold and hungry along the way.

Later on, the situation became so dire that not only were the civilian laborers transporting the grain complaining, but even the Jin soldiers escorting the grain were full of grievances.

Xia Feng remained hidden among the group, constantly monitoring the surrounding situation, while feeling a sense of sadness and distress.

Although he perceived these things as just games, virtual games, it was still hard not to be moved when he was actually in the game. Perhaps this is the great charm of the game "Real Illusion".

Even if you know it's fake, you can still be affected by the emotions you feel while immersed in it.

At least after Xia Feng experienced the life of a soldier and civilian laborer, he finally understood how precious the word "peace" was.

Here, the peace between the Jin and Song dynasties for more than 20 years has become a kind of happiness that ordinary people can hardly imagine.

Now, a madman like Wanyan Liang, who is ambitious and fantasizes about becoming an emperor for all time, has emerged, which is truly a misfortune for the people.

However, as a result, Xia Feng could also hear news of soldiers deserting and mutinying from time to time during his journey and work. As for the civilians who risked their lives to escape, there were even more.

This shows how much Wanyan Liang's actions alienated both the army and the people.

Unfortunately, compared to the war-weariness of the Jin soldiers, the situation on the Southern Song side was even worse.

As Xia Feng and his men crossed the Huai River and approached the Yangtze River, the vanguard of the Jin army encountered no effective resistance from the Song army.

Yes, the little resistance they offered was almost immediately crushed. It can only be said that the success of this southern expedition eased the war-weariness within the Jin army.

Therefore, Xia Feng did not find a suitable opportunity to escape the Jin army and could only take things one step at a time.

Finally, after more than half a month of stopping and starting along the way, Xia Feng's grain transport army finally stopped in Yangzhou, thirty miles away from the Yangtze River.

At this time, the garrison in Yangzhou had already abandoned the city and fled to the other side of the river before the Jin army arrived. The Song army's fighting spirit was so weak that even Xia Feng was somewhat surprised.

On the contrary, the Jin army was not surprised by this. Since they dared to place their supplies on such a front line, they probably calculated that the Southern Song army was no longer capable of crossing the Yangtze River to launch a proactive attack.

After delivering the grain, Xia Feng and his men were unable to return to their hometowns as the Jin soldiers had promised them.

Large groups of laborers were escorted overnight to the outskirts of Hezhou City on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Here, the river faces Caishiji on the opposite bank. The river is relatively narrow, shallow, and the waves are gentle. Even Xia Feng, who has little experience in naval warfare, knew at a glance that this place was a good location for crossing the river to fight.

At this time, the Jin army had already regarded this place as a bridgehead for attacking the Southern Song Dynasty across the Yangtze River. In addition to collecting ferries from all over the place, the Jin state also set up a large number of shipyards at Hezhou Wharf.

After all, when the Southern Song army withdrew across the river, they were not completely out of their minds. They either took all the riverboats they could collect with them or burned them.

Xia Feng and his men were driven here by the Jin soldiers for this reason, and were ordered to work day and night to help build new warships.

At this point, Xia Feng realized that the Jin soldiers could only take him this far, and he should find a way to continue the journey.

So while working at the shipyard, Xia Feng also observed the Jin soldiers patrolling the surrounding area.

Many of those who worked with him shared the same idea.

The plot of the movie "Game Era 2" moves quite quickly here, without showing Xia Feng connecting with others, and it's straight to a late night.

The sky in the distance was still some time before dawn, in the darkest part of the day. Xia Feng single-handedly dealt with the Jin soldiers guarding them, and then easily led more than ten others of the same identity...
A group of Han Chinese, led by the leader, sneaked out of the military camp and secretly came to the riverbank, where they found a raft that they had built and hidden with leftover materials from shipbuilding.

At this moment, a faint light had already appeared on the distant horizon, and a thin mist swirled over the river, with calm waves, making it the perfect time to cross.

Without hesitation, the group quietly carried the raft into the water. At this time, the Jin soldiers on guard were all on guard against a sneak attack by the Song army on the opposite bank, so no one noticed them.

Everything went so smoothly. The twelve people sat on either side of the raft, using planks as oars to row haphazardly.

Although their movements were not perfectly synchronized, each of them was strong due to their backgrounds, and in this way, the raft continued to slowly move towards Caishiji on the opposite bank.

After they had rowed their boat for twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters), a faint white light began to appear in the east.

As dawn broke, the thin mist over the river gradually dissipated. At this time, Xia Feng and his companions on the river finally attracted the attention of the Jin soldiers.

Angry shouts and curses came from the shore behind them, and soon, more than a dozen speedboats sped up to catch up with them.

This is where the difference in transportation becomes apparent; Xia Feng and his companions' small wooden raft is no match for the other people's small boat.

They can't escape!

How to do?
The people on the ship panicked and all looked at Xia Feng, because it was he who had suggested the idea of ​​escaping.

At this moment, arrows from the Jin soldiers flew past them one after another. Xia Feng acted decisively and shouted, "Raise your shields!"

The people on the boat quickly picked up planks from under them and put them on their backs.

Just as Xia Feng had predicted, these Jin soldiers were not good at naval warfare. On the swaying ship, their arrows were weak and their force was greatly reduced, unable to penetrate the wooden shields and harm Xia Feng and his men.

Only one or two were truly unlucky, getting pierced by Jin soldiers' arrows and screaming as they tumbled into the water.

Despite the barrage of arrows from the Jin soldiers, Xia Feng and the others continued rowing forward for another dozen or so feet. The Jin soldiers' ships were getting closer and closer, so close that they could almost see their faces clearly.

"Abandon ship!"

Xia Feng shouted, and then he and another old boatman jumped into the water with a "plop".

Seeing this, everyone on the raft followed suit.

Fortunately, they had already crossed the middle of the river by then. The Jin soldiers had no intention of pursuing them too far, after all, it was just a small boat, and it wasn't worth getting into trouble for them.

So when they saw the people on the raft jump into the river, they stopped their pursuit. They laughed and pointed at the people struggling in the water, while casually shooting a few arrows, watching Xia Feng and the others struggle and sink into the river.

The icy river water quickly submerged Xia Feng and the others. What the Jin soldiers couldn't see was that these Han Chinese who had fallen into the water were pulling out bulging leather bags and swimming towards the shore not far away, while breathing in and out of the water.

After several men who were not good swimmers were swept away by the current, Xia Feng and the remaining seven or eight laborers finally made it safely to the other side of the river.

After escaping death, these people couldn't help but cry tears of joy. Some of them didn't say anything, but first kowtowed three times to the roaring and rolling river, and then kowtowed several times to Xia Feng, who had led them out of the river. This made Xia Feng, who considered himself a "player," feel a mix of emotions.

However, before Xia Feng and his companions could even breathe a sigh of relief, another group of Song soldiers patrolling the riverbank approached with weapons.

The laborers trembled with fear upon seeing this, but fortunately Xia Feng stepped forward and gave a prepared explanation, stating that they were Song Dynasty civilians who had fled from Jiangbei and had brought intelligence about the Jin army to the Song army.

Upon hearing this, the Song soldiers were not wary and casually led a few men back to the Song army camp below Caishiji.

Upon entering the military camp, not only Xia Feng, but even the audience in front of the big screen couldn't help but frown.

There was no other reason than that the situation in the Song army camp was extremely bad.

However, the camp showed no signs of being heavily guarded or tense, and there was no sense of urgency before a major battle was about to break out.

Some Song soldiers, who were clearly quite old and whose hair was even gray, sat on the ground in twos and threes, their armor disheveled, using their saddles as drinking tables, and reeking of cheap alcohol.

Besides these heavy drinkers, some Song soldiers were gambling in groups, some were fast asleep in their tents, but most were like wandering ghosts, listless and looking worried, wandering aimlessly around the camp, not knowing what they were doing.

Seeing this scene, even Xia Feng couldn't help but sigh.

It can only be said that this world is truly a huge makeshift operation, and the Jin army leader across the river is a mad emperor who is fond of grandiose achievements.

Even if their Jin soldiers didn't want to fight, and were war-weary, their military discipline and combat effectiveness were still maintained to some extent; they would never have become so lax.

It's no wonder that both Emperor Li Renxiao of Western Xia and Emperor Wanyan Liang of Jin, when mentioning the Southern Song Dynasty, expressed both admiration for its brilliant culture and contempt for its military strength.

However, this situation did have one advantage: Xia Feng and his group easily met the officer in charge of the military camp, who was a very young-looking officer.

However, after listening to Xia Feng's intelligence about the Jin soldiers in Jiangbei, a hint of worry and fear flashed in the young officer's eyes, but he immediately acted as if nothing had happened.

It was only then that Xia Feng realized something was wrong. Upon inquiring, he discovered that these people were not the officers in charge of the camp, but rather officers of the Jianghuai Army who had also been withdrawn from Hangzhou, Jiangbei.

As for the camp's manager, General Wang, who had previously led the troops, had just been dismissed from his post and sent back to the capital for trial on charges of provoking border conflicts without authorization.

As for the newly appointed General Li, he is still on his way and it is unknown when he will take office.

It can be said that while the Jin army was sharpening its swords and preparing to cross the river day and night, the Song army on this side of the river was still in a state of leaderlessness.

Faced with such soldiers, even Xia Feng didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

However, he was also a decisive person. Seeing that the situation was beyond repair and that this was just a game, Xia Feng immediately turned around and left. He did not intend to stay here for long and prepared to go directly to the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty to meet Tony and the Saintess.

Just as Xia Feng was about to leave, he turned around and saw several strong horses galloping in from outside the camp gate. The one leading the group was a middle-aged man dressed as a civil official, but his features were dignified and imposing, and his gentle and refined demeanor revealed an undeniable heroic spirit.

(End of this chapter)