We promised to develop a game called Candy Crush, what the hell is the Third Reich?

Chapter 141 Summer of 1942 in Stalingrad: A Key Turning Point (6.1k words combined)

at this time.

Stalingrad, south of the central station.

The Empire's offensive here has never stopped. The central station, which was barely held at the beginning, has now been occupied by the Empire to the south.

The two sides repeatedly pulled at each other south of the central station.

Theodore's team rushed towards Central Station without stopping, and dark clouds gradually gathered in the sky, looking like it was about to rain.

As the buildings of Central Station drew closer, the sounds of intense gunfire could be heard.

Theodore was a little intimidated and joined in the live stream's complaints:
"I've never seen what the enemies look like in this game."

"That's incredibly outrageous."

A flurry of question marks appeared in Theodore's live stream chat.

Only longtime fans know that this is indeed the case.

After all, he was a novice. At first, he died on the battlefield before he could even see anyone. Then he was assigned to the tractor factory.

It was only after they hailed his father that things started to get interesting.

All the subsequent bombings resulted in death.

I've never actually seen what the enemy looks like.

A player next to Theodore chuckled as he listened to his complaints.
"You'll see it soon."

Theodore looked puzzled, and the viewers in the live stream, wanting to see some entertainment, remained silent.

A bewildered Theodore followed the crowd toward Central Station.

Having just entered the station, I was ordered to proceed to the plaza south of the station.

Chug tug tug——

The bullets came from who-knows-where.

After wiping out the first rank of soldiers, the surrounding Blue Star players and Soviet Federation NPCs, unfazed, immediately launched a counterattack, suppressing the enemy with firepower.

Theodore was lucky; he was in the middle of the group.

They have now taken cover behind a bunker.

Theodore, panting heavily, calmed his pounding heart and said to the live stream:

"It's so scary."

At this moment, the live stream chat erupted in laughter.

Netizens in the Antarctic Federation found this novice's actions quite amusing.

Theodore paused for a moment, then quietly peeked out.

The Soviet soldiers and Earth players ahead were also hiding behind cover, but they would peek out to engage in firefights with the Imperial soldiers who were nowhere to be seen.

Although Theodore's perspective doesn't show the Imperial soldiers.

But
boom--! ! !
A Blue Star player's head was blown off just a dozen meters away.

The bullet pierced the back of Theodore's head and struck the wall he was leaning against, sending sparks flying. Blood from the bullet splattered across Theodore's face.

Theodore was so frightened that he quickly shrank back, his heart pounding with anxiety.

Theodore turned his head and looked around.

Many bodies were already lying on the ground, and the target was the building in front of them, which had been bombarded beyond recognition and had exposed steel bars.

That's said to be the south station of Central Station.
So many people died fighting over a dilapidated ruin?

Theodore took a few deep breaths, mentally preparing himself to charge out into battle.

The viewers of the Antarctic Star Federation in the live stream were amused and cheered him on.

however.

Just as Theodore hesitated for half a minute, finally preparing to rush out...

In the sky.

Stuka's 'death whistle' rang out.

Boom boom boom boom——! ! !
Explosions continued to rise in the distance, making Theodore's hair stand on end, but it was too late to take cover, as he was right in the path of the falling bombs.

The screen fell into darkness.

Antarctic Star Federation, Source Star Live Streaming Platform.

Inside Theodore's live stream, looking at the main screen, Theodore looked utterly bewildered.

We were all ready to fight, but it all came to nothing.

Theodore, watching the comments in the live stream, could only sigh helplessly:

"Alright, we'll have to start from the beginning."

"I hope I can visit the tractor factory this time."

He then clicked the start button.

The screen flashed.

Subsequently
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Keep up!"

Theodore looked completely bewildered:

"What the hell?!"

"Why is it a bug again?"

Looking at the distant Central Station, had he just experienced this scene?

However, upon hearing the fading 'death whistle,' Theodore realized that he hadn't exploited a bug and had indeed ended up back here.

What the hell? !

They could only passively follow the crowd as they rushed toward the central station.

Half a day later.

"What kind of lousy game is this?!"

"They made me die four hours ago!"

"I've died over 40 times!"

Theodore grabbed his hair, a look of impending collapse on his face, then opened the Polaris website:
"No, no, there's something wrong with this game."

"I have to report this to customer service."

"Such a huge vulnerability, shouldn't it be fixed?"

Why make the player die so many times?

Theodore filed a complaint on the official website, while at the same time, many players on the Polaris official website's player forum also noticed something was wrong.

The most important thing is that it starts from August 1st.

They won't randomly go to the tractor factory anymore. Except for a few who will randomly go to the entire front line, most of the time they will randomly go to the central station.

Then they often didn't survive more than a few minutes, being killed in battle with the Empire under the command of their superiors.

Moreover, this is not only the case for players in the Federation faction, but also for players in the Empire faction.

The main reopening point became Central Station.

The two sides began fighting over the central station, and the struggle continued even at night.

This has completely redefined the concept of combat difficulty for players on Earth. Many people now refer to the Central Station battle as a hellish level of attack and defense.

However, what the Blue Star players didn't know was...

This is just the initial battle for Central Station. When the full version of the Central Station battle is released in October, we will be able to experience a storyline where even the Northern Army of the Great Xia Federation cannot defeat it.

After the complaint was completed.

Theodore couldn't wait for Polaris to reply immediately, so he started another game.

Entered the game.

The destination was still Central Station, but this time the group didn't rush there to their deaths.

Instead, the leaders were discussing something.

Theodore casually strolled around the group, then approached them. As he listened to their discussion and exchange, his eyes widened, and the live stream chat erupted in excitement.

[These look like soldiers from the military.]

[That's right, some of the terms used are tactical jargon; they must be soldiers from an armored division.]

[Does the person upstairs know so much?]

[A ten-year veteran, anyone? He's probably from some unit in our Antarctic Federation, right?]

[Official no-stream, playing secretly?]

[Who knows? Other federations haven't started broadcasting either, have they?]

[This is getting exciting! Theodore, come closer and see what they're saying!]

Then, gifts started flying up in the live stream.

Theodore was expressing his gratitude in the live stream, but he didn't dare get too close for fear of being discovered, so he could only pretend to be indifferent from behind and listen attentively.

He was also curious as to why none of the major federations were broadcasting live, while the soldiers were playing by themselves.

However, I didn't hear anything useful.

This team of armored soldiers from the Antarctic Federation was primarily focused on how to capture the station.

After discussing the tactics...

He then ordered his Soviet soldier NPCs and the players to set off for the central station.

Theodore was quietly streaming his own broadcast.

At this moment, several squads of soldiers from an armored brigade of the Antarctic Federation were completely unaware that they had been broadcast live online.

Theodore followed behind the group, watching as soldiers from the Antarctic Federation led their attack on the southern part of the central station.

Soldiers in the military are indeed more powerful than ordinary players when they fight.

Theodore, who had just died countless times, discovered that under the command of soldiers, they had actually managed to temporarily suppress the Imperial soldiers on the other side.

This instantly ignited the live stream.

Gifts kept flying around.

Meanwhile, netizens from the Antarctic Federation were spreading links everywhere, boasting about how powerful their soldiers were.

The trending topics all went to other federal software.

at this time.

Great Xia Federation, Songgor Icefield.

Inside the 7th Special Operations Brigade.

Shen Yan had just led his team out of the solo training session for the Xiajin Campaign when he saw Qu Guang sitting in the training field watching some kind of live stream, so he went over to him.
"What are you looking at?"

Qu Guang then projected the live stream from his phone onto a projector:

"Over from the Antarctic Federation, several new recruits are leading an attack on the Central Station."

It was Theodore's live stream playing.

Shen Yan was somewhat surprised:

"Just them?"

Liu Feng, Fang Hui, and the others gathered around, but lost interest after a glance. Shen Yan shook his head.

"What's so interesting about this?"

"I thought it was something else, an early station."

They couldn't even capture the later stations, so they were surprised to hear that the Antarctic Federation was attacking the central station.

Upon inspection, it turned out that the fighting had only just begun, and most of the station buildings still retained their original appearance.

What's so difficult about that?
Qu Guang said with a smile:

"Live streaming is fine."

"It's these netizens from the Antarctic Star Federation who are stirring up trouble everywhere."

Everyone then looked at the live chat.

really.

At this moment, various boastful comments floated across the screen, and some even declared that the soldiers of the Antarctic Federation were invincible based solely on these few platoons of soldiers.

Some even went so far as to tag other federal officials in various ways.

Shen Yan, Liu Feng, and the others were speechless with astonishment.

"When the Federation starts broadcasting, they'll be slapping us in the face."

I don't know about other federations.

However, the Great Xia Federation is actually practicing the later-stage "Battle for the Central Station," which is completely different from the current early-stage scenario.

Qu Guang said with a smile:

"Who knows."

"Anyway, we'll wait for news from above and only start broadcasting when they give us permission."

"I reckon the other federations are practicing secretly too." "Otherwise, why isn't anyone streaming? The Antarctic Federation just happened to run into a streamer, and once the stream went live, it spread all over the internet."

“Look at them now, they are already struggling a lot.”

"They've only occupied the station for five minutes, I reckon they'll take it back soon."

As the words fell.

Sure enough, within two minutes, reinforcements from the Empire arrived and began bombarding the group from the Antarctic Federation.

From the perspective of the live stream, all that could be heard were a few curses.

Then the screen went completely dark.

They seem to be saying things like the game is too outrageous.

The game started again in the live stream room.

However, this time they were not randomly grouped with the soldiers of the Antarctic Federation forces.

Theodore's live stream viewership dropped significantly.

However, videos of this offensive and defensive battle had already spread and remained highly popular.

It was all players from the Antarctic Federation who pushed it up.

As the video spread, fewer posts complaining about the difficulty appeared on game forums. Instead, disgruntled players began to organize themselves.

Based on the terrain and situational analysis around Central Station, Central Station has been designated as a target for the strategy.

Instead, nobody cared about the difficulty anymore.

Players from other federations, including the Great Xia Alliance, as well as top streamers, all started the challenge to see who could hold the Central Station the longest.

They also tagged their own official accounts, asking when they would step in.

As public opinion ferments.

The Antarctic Federation was pressured by netizens and had no choice but to start a live stream.

A large number of elites were selected to enter the game, which quickly made headlines in various federations.

Other federations initially intended to wait and see.

The results were surprisingly good; the game competition turned into something comparable to a sporting event, with many people going out to eat and drink.

The live stream I was watching turned into a live stream of the battle for Central Station.

Zhao Ming also noticed this situation.

Inside Polaris Corporation.

Shen Qinghan was in her office, talking with Zhao Ming:

"The current frenzy surrounding the 'Central Station' bid has been very positive; we must seize this opportunity."

Looking at the various comments online, Zhao Ming spoke up:
"It has been arranged."

"All restaurants in the [Huaxia Series] are now open for live streaming via projector, and you can also watch set menus, etc."

"How about it?"

Shen Qinghan nodded:

"no problem."

"But the focus is on the craze this has sparked."

"The Federation originally intended to move the military exercises into the game, which would not only save time and effort, but also allow for flexible environment settings."

"However, I'm worried about not being accepted, so I've been considering it."

"But this time it was started by the Antarctic Star Federation, and the netizens of various federations have reacted very well, with many tagging the official accounts and urging the troops to get involved."

"The federal military exercises taking place in our game are basically a done deal."

"We need to seize this opportunity and make good use of it."

"Consider it a heads-up for the federal military exercises."

Zhao Ming nodded and said:
"I think so too."

"We'll have to issue an announcement later to let people know."

"The game mechanics also need to be changed, and a system specifically for the Federation forces needs to be created."

"But this time it's become so popular."

"It's also thanks to these players from the Antarctic Star Federation, who talked their way out of the whole place."

If it weren't for these netizens from the Antarctic Star Federation stirring up hatred, things might not have turned out this way.

As videos of the Antarctic Federation capturing the Central Station surfaced, netizens from the Antarctic Federation went wild, tagging official accounts of other federations everywhere.

The official accounts aren't getting involved, but ordinary players can't stand it.

What started as a complaint about the difficulty gradually turned into various guides, discussions and research on how to conquer Central Station and give those people from the Antarctic Federation a good slap in the face.

The various federations were initially worried that bringing military exercises into the game would be criticized as childish.

The result is now
Their own fans eagerly urged them to join the game.

The concerns about the federal military exercises vanished instantly.

As for Polaris, as long as they seize the opportunity and do a good job in this PK competition, they can take advantage of the situation once the battle of Stalingrad in the game is almost over.

It can seamlessly connect with federal military exercises; it couldn't be smoother.

Zhao Ming looked at Shen Qinghan and asked:
"In which months do federal military exercises usually take place?"

Shen Qinghan thought for a moment and then said:
"It's usually in October."

Zhao Mingsi leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment:
October

Then he said:
"more or less."

"With nearly three months to go, we can slow down the flow of time in the game."

"Currently, the game is set in August, and the focus is on the southern part of [Central Station]."

"The focus in September is the battle for Mamayev Kurgan, which will be the starting point for separating ordinary players from the Federation forces."

Zhao Ming was actually aware of the reasons why the various federal forces were not broadcasting live.

Because of the game's allocation issues, they initially didn't plan to stream, so they each started their own streams due to the limited number of players.

The number of people in each session is limited, and due to the order of events, participants are not assigned to a single session.

But subsequent deaths and restarts will all occur within that single game.

Therefore, no matter how many times Mo Xiaomo, Fang Ming, Theodore, and others drive, they will always run into each other in one game.

But placed in the federal forces
This company was in the 975th Battle of Stalingrad, and that company was in the 1073rd Battle of Stalingrad; they couldn't even field a complete unit.

Where should I start a live stream?

After the Antarctic Federation was put on hold by public opinion, he also saw the 'elites' they sent out. They were indeed very strong, but they had no previous game records.

I reckon it's some kind of secret unit that was forced to temporarily step in as a replacement.

However, Zhao Ming was too lazy to change it now. After all, it wasn't the Great Xia Federation.

The key is to ask them for the list of soldiers in the army and get it for them; they have to be willing to do it.

What would a game company like you need the list of federal troops for?
Entering the Federation's exclusive battlefield on your own is a completely different matter from a game company asking someone else for a roster of soldiers.

Let's wait until next month's battle for Mamayev Kurgan and then directly separate the battlefields for players and military soldiers.

Zhao Ming continued speaking:

"October is the full-fledged battle for Central Station."

"November is the month of the Battle of Pavlov's Building."

"There are four months in total, with four different key regions. In reality, it's half a month, and in the game, it's a month."

"Four months will allow players to watch the Federations compete against each other in real life for two months."

"When these are almost done."

"We'll leave the remaining month for the Federation military exercises as a buffer to alleviate the players' fatigue until the exercises begin."

"Players' interest will increase significantly because they haven't watched it for a month."

"Moreover, the Battle of Stalingrad was a key turning point in World War II on Earth."

"We need to find ways to make a deeper impression on the players."

"When players recall the entire history of World War II in the future, they will discover everything that happened in Stalingrad in the summer of 1942."

"A war that concerns the entire world."

"Everything they did was meaningful."

"Even though it's just a game, I can still talk about what happened at [Central Station] when I'm chatting with other players in the future."

"So that even games can have the ability to be boasted about."

Shen Qinghan became interested and said:
"Do we need to give it a title?"

"for example?"

"Turning point or something like that?"

Zhao Ming nodded:
"Of course, but that will have to wait until after World War II ends."

"To reveal this now would be tantamount to telling the players that the Empire has lost."

"After the Battle of Stalingrad, there were many other classic battles."

"The Battle of Kharkiv, the Battle of Kursk."

"[Normandy Landings]"

"Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, etc."

"These battles have victories for the Empire and victories for the Federation. Only by constantly reversing the outcome and having winners and losers can players be kept curious. Knowing the ending would make it boring."

Up to the Battle of Stalingrad.

The Soviet Union was constantly being attacked, and only Moscow was able to defend itself. To say that Stalingrad was a turning point at this time would obviously mean that the empire would eventually fall.

Who would play a game where they already know the ending?

Only repeated victories by the Empire and the Federation can attract players.

Shen Qinghan had no objection to this, since Zhao Ming could handle the game matters.

The two then discussed the developments for the second half of the year. Shen Qinghan planned to contact the Federation to see if the military exercises should be put on the agenda, while Zhao Ming began editing the announcement.

soon.

An update announcement was posted on the Polestar website.

Daxia Federation.

In Mo Xiaomo's live stream room on the Tiansha live streaming platform.

The bombing continues in the game.

Having already gotten used to being bombed, the well-trained Mo Xiaomo crawled under the steel equipment. Such tough equipment shouldn't be damaged by the bomb, right?
At this point, Mo Xiaomo also realized that she wouldn't be able to drive to the tractor factory again in the next game, so she didn't dare to take any risks.

After all, every person who dies here is one less to lose.

If you die, you'll have to go outside and become cannon fodder. Compared to being cannon fodder, it's better to be a worker.

Mo Xiaomo opened the 'real-time map' to check the situation, but suddenly found that the announcement on the Polaris official website had been updated.

"what?"

"Another update?"

Mo Xiaomo clicked on it and her eyes gradually widened:

"."

"."

"Due to some confusion between regular players and troop players in the game, the game timeline will be updated on the last day of August."

"The focus of the battlefield in September will shift to Mamayev Kurgan."

"Players can enter the instance normally, while troop players can enter the exclusive battlefield instance through a certified invitation."

Note: The timeline of the battlefield is consistent.

"And the same goes for the key battlefields in October, namely the Central Station, and in November, the Pavlov Building."

Mo Xiaomo understood:
"So the reason the tractor factory can't be reopened is because this month's focus isn't on it? Is it Central Station? But in October it's still Central Station, I don't understand."

"But Polaris moves so fast."

"The Antarctic Star Federation just started a live broadcast, and we've already arranged for them to be differentiated here."

"In this case."

"Will we soon be able to see live streams of our Great Xia Federation's warriors?"

"The focus for September is [Mamaevskaya Sopka]. Let me see where that is?"

Mo Xiaomo was on the official website, and she opened the "real-time map" and searched for it three or four times but still couldn't find it.

It was only after viewers in the live stream pointed it out that Mo Xiaomo finally found it. Looking at the small hill that was practically invisible unless zoomed in to the maximum, Mo Xiaomo began to question her existence.
"This little hill isn't even two square kilometers, is it?"

Is this a key battlefield?

(End of this chapter)