Late Ming Dynasty: Summoning players from Liaodong to support the Ming Dynasty

Outside the city gate of Guangning.

The cold wind cut my face. Ice shards mixed in with the wind, stinging my face.

Muddy water dripped down Lu Jian's tattered flying fish robe. Blood mixed with mud splattered onto the frozen clods of earth.

Lu Jian struggled to stand up straight. He held the half of the cold bronze tiger tally in his hands.

The surface of the copper block is carved with ferocious beasts.

Lu Jian presented the item with both hands.

"General Chu."

His voice was extremely hoarse. Thick phlegm and bloody foam were stuck in his throat. The voice conveyed a sense of resolute determination, like burning one's bridges.

"The safety of the capital, the survival of the nation, rests entirely on your shoulders."

Chu Ze reached out his hand.

The tiger tally fell into his palm.

heavy.

Lu Jian lifted his blood-stained sleeve and roughly wiped his face. He turned around and grabbed the saddle with one hand. His movements were extremely awkward due to exhaustion.

He mounted his horse.

He leaned down on the horse.

"I will immediately lead my personal guards ahead," Lu Jian said, panting heavily. "I will use the Embroidered Uniform Guard's insignia to smash open all the garrisons and post stations along the way at Shanhaiguan. There will be absolutely no obstruction as our army passes through."

He swallowed hard, his voice urgent.

"It takes time for the army to assemble. The allocation of provisions and weapons is even more complicated. I am well aware of the court's rules; breaking camp within half a month is already the limit."

Lu Jian gripped the reins tightly, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

"General, please remember that even if you arrive a few days late, you must bring enough provisions. The area around the capital has surely been looted by the Jurchens, and we cannot expect to obtain food locally."

Half a month?

The rules of the Ming Dynasty were indeed cumbersome. The Ministry of War issued documents, the Ministry of Revenue calculated them, and the Ministry of Works allocated the funds. There were layers of approvals and layers of skimming. Those bloated officials could argue for half a month over a few taels of silver. It would have taken Emperor Chongzhen holding a knife to the Minister of War's throat to get a 100,000-strong army to break camp in fifteen days.

But this is Guangning.

There are no rules like those of the Ming Dynasty here.

This is where you'll find system announcements.

Chu Ze put the tiger tally into his pocket, a cold smile curving his lips.

"Three days."

Lu Jian was stunned.

"Three days later, the army will set off on time," Chu Ze said calmly.

Lu Jian suddenly raised his voice: "Three days? Tens of thousands of troops are going to war, how can three days be enough! Without a grain officer to calculate the costs, without registering the soldiers, just distributing weapons will be chaos!"

Chu Ze did not refute. He raised his hand and pointed to the base of the city wall.

Lu Jian turned his head to look.

The previously chaotic crowd had spontaneously dispersed. Tens of thousands of lunatics with strange names were operating with a chilling efficiency.

"Shenzhou Guild! Heavy infantry, go to the West Warehouse to collect the fine steel armor plates! Two sets per person! Don't take more than that, it'll take up weight!" Wang Han roared at the top of his lungs as he stood on a broken cart.

"The Arrogant Assassin Guild, head over to Old Man Li for your poison! Don't push! Line up! Anyone who cuts in line will be kicked out of the guild!"

On the other side, Tian Qianhe, along with hundreds of life skill players, was frantically filling bags with potatoes from the cellar. Wheelbarrows were crammed full.

A long line formed in front of Anji's medical camp. Players were queuing to receive hemostatic powder wrapped in coarse cloth.

There was no shirking of responsibility, no procrastination. There were no bureaucrats withholding military pay, and no deserters fleeing in fear of battle.

This group of people, for the sake of something called "merit," unleashed a terrifying efficiency that far surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty's bureaucratic system.

Lu Jian's Adam's apple bobbed. He swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva.

There's absolutely no need for mobilization. These monsters are a machine born for war.

"I'll be ahead, waiting for your army!" Lu Jian jerked the reins. A dozen or so Imperial Guards rode off in a cloud of dust, their backs fluttering in panic.

The main hall of the garrison commander's residence.

Chu Ze sat in the main seat with an air of authority.

Standing on the left are local players such as Wang Erniu, Li Xunyi, and Su Qingying. On the right are core players from several major guilds, including Wang Han, Xiao Ran, and Zhou Keke.

Chu Ze's thoughts stirred slightly.

Suddenly, a dazzling golden light burst forth from the blue brick floor in the center of the hall.

Light intertwined and outlined. An extremely detailed miniature sand table appeared out of thin air.

The mountains rise and fall, the rivers meander. Every gap in the Great Wall passes is clearly visible. Even in the Zunhua and Jizhou areas, large patches of scarlet red are writhing wildly, heading straight for the golden city that represents the capital.

Li Xunyi was so frightened that he stumbled backward, his frail body crashing into a pillar. His lips trembled as he stared intently at the holographic map on the ground.

"Immortal magic...this is definitely immortal magic!"

Wang Erniu's eyes widened like copper bells, and his rough hands instinctively reached for the hilt of the knife at his waist.

The players on the other side were in an uproar.

"Holy crap! This holographic map UI is amazing!" Wang Han frantically took screenshots. "That red marker must be Huang Taiji's 100,000-strong army, right? And it even updates dynamically!"

Zhou Keke leaned closer to the sand table, carefully studying the terrain: "Three bridges have collapsed along the several hundred miles from Guangning to Shanhaiguan. The construction team needs to set off early, otherwise the heavy crossbows won't be able to be transported."

Chu Ze reached out and pointed to a node on the sand table.

"Wang Erniu!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"You will lead the remaining thousand Guangning Iron Cavalry, each with two horses, as the vanguard!" Chu Ze's voice was cold and hard. "Clear the way through mountains, build bridges over rivers. If you encounter Jurchen cavalry, crush them all, leave no one alive!"

"I've been waiting for this for ages!" Wang Erniu slapped his chest, the sound of his nails ringing out loud.

Chu Ze turned to look at Su Qingying.

"Su Qingying, the logistics and supplies are yours. Potatoes, kerosene, and gunpowder packs will be transported in three batches. The supply to the front lines must not be cut off."

Su Qingying stepped forward, her hands clasped in front of her. Her frail body stood ramrod straight: "General, rest assured, even if it costs me my life, I will not let the front lines lack a single grain of food."

Chu Ze's gaze swept over the player representatives on his right.

"Shenzhou Guild, Aoshi Guild," Chu Ze said, his tone carrying the authority he would when issuing a quest.

"Here!" Wang Han and President Ao Shi straightened their backs at the same time.

"You two will take charge of the main force of the central army. The heavy infantry will be at the forefront, with archers and crossbowmen providing support. When we reach the capital, the Jurchen cavalry charge will be entirely your responsibility to hold them off."

"No problem! The heavy infantry of Shenzhou will not retreat a single step!" Wang Han patted his chest and assured them.

"Aoshi's ballistae will nail those white-armored soldiers to the city walls!" Guild Master Aoshi retorted defiantly.

Chu Ze looked at Xiao Ran.

"Xiao Ran, the Valkyrie battle formation you're leading is responsible for protecting the flanks. The Jurchens love to outflank and encircle; your mission is to annihilate those light cavalry that try to flank them."

Xiao Ran paused, his spear striking the blue bricks with a crisp sound. "Leave it to us! The sisters have been itching to grind proficiency with Jurchen heads for ages!"

Chu Ze finally looked at Zhou Keke and Cheng Huaxue.

"The engineering team and the chemical engineering team will follow the logistics convoy. Once we reach the front lines, I want you to construct defensive fortifications and explosive positions around the capital's city walls in the shortest possible time, enough to instill despair in the Jurchens."

Zhou Keke pushed up her safety helmet: "As long as there are enough materials, I can turn the outskirts of the capital into an ironclad fortress."

Cheng Huaxue played with the glass bottle in her hand.

A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips: "A dense formation of 100,000—this is practically the perfect firing range for testing explosive yields."

"Prepare yourselves. The entire army will break camp in three days!" Chu Ze declared decisively.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

All civilian production in Guangning City came to a complete halt. The blast furnaces were shut down, and the ashes from the blacksmith shops were scattered by the cold wind.

All the city's resources were transformed into cold, deadly killing machines.

At dawn, a crack appeared in the leaden-gray clouds.

The gates of Guangning City were suddenly flung open.

The war drums thundered. The dull thud caused shards of ice to fall from the city walls.

An unprecedented army, treading on the frozen mud, slowly drove out of this isolated city.

Leading the way were tens of thousands of players with all sorts of equipment.

Shi Dali, with his two thick, bare arms, carried the heavy, broad-bladed greatsword at the head of the group. With each step he took, the ground trembled.

"Brothers! Charge! The first kill in the defense of Beijing is mine!" Shi Dali roared in his hoarse voice.

Xiao Ran, dressed in a red robe and silver armor, rode a tall horse. Behind her was a neatly arranged battle formation of female players, their spears densely packed together, their tips gleaming with a chilling killing intent in the morning light.

At the center of the player ranks stood Wang Erniu's three thousand veteran soldiers from Guangning. These Liaodong men, who had survived countless battles, were now all clad in lamellar armor made of fine steel. New-style double-barreled muskets hung from their horses.

Further on, there was a long, seemingly endless convoy of logistics vehicles stretching for miles.

Countless wheelbarrows left deep ruts in the mud. The wheels were piled high with bags of potatoes, sealed earthenware jars of fire-making oil, and makeshift explosive packs that Cheng Huaxue had hastily made overnight.

Chu Ze was clad in heavy black armor, with a long sword hanging at his waist.

He did not ride a horse, but stood alone on a high slope outside the city gate.

The cold wind whipped his cloak, making it flutter loudly.

Qian Lele, holding a black cube, squatted on a mound of earth not far away, frantically recording Chu Ze.

"Family members! Look at this composition! Look at this aura! Boss Chu is personally seeing us off! The sense of oppression is simply overwhelming!"

The live stream chat was instantly flooded with comments.

"This scene is absolutely stunning! Such is the spirit of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Chu Ze is such a charming NPC, he's even more of a male lead than the main character!"

"The epic scale of a 100,000-strong army on the march! The art team for this game deserves a bonus!"

Chu Ze ignored the noise around him.

He placed his hands on the hilt of his sword, his gaze sweeping over the massive army, across the vast Liaodong land, and straight towards the distant south.

Huang Taiji's 100,000 iron cavalry were rampaging there.

The powerful officials of the Ming Dynasty trembled in fear within the Forbidden City.

The emperor's edict to defend the capital gave him a sharp blade to cut through all shackles.

He wanted to unleash this power, known as the "Fourth Calamity," completely onto this decaying land.

Beneath the walls of Beijing, it will be more than just the blood of the Jurchens that will flow.

That high and mighty dragon throne, those self-proclaimed upright officials should also see what a true upheaval is.

This evil dragon, which has been lurking under the frozen soil of Liaodong for five years, is finally about to bare its sharpest fangs to the whole world.

"All troops, attack!"

Chu Ze suddenly drew his longsword and pointed it straight at the sky.

"kill!"

The roar of tens of thousands of people converged into a thunderclap, completely tearing apart the gloom over Liaodong.

Iron hooves clanged, wheels rolled.

This terrifying war machine, armed with modern thinking and driven by the Fourth Calamity, officially revealed its ferocious face towards the heart of the Ming Empire. The snow along the way was trampled into mud, and the cold wind carried the chilling sounds of clashing weapons.

On the city wall of Guangning, Li Xunyi stood quietly. He watched the vast army marching away below, his aged fingers gripping the city bricks tightly.

"I don't know if this trip to the capital will bring me good fortune or misfortune," Li Xunyi muttered to himself.

Su Qingying walked to his side and draped a cloak over the old scholar's shoulders.

"Old Li, since the general has decided to go on the expedition, he must have his reasons. What we can do is to defend this city and ensure that the general has no worries about the rear."

Li Xunyi sighed and shook his head.

"You don't understand. The general's aura has changed." The old scholar turned to look south. "The general of the past was a sword hidden in its sheath. The general of today is a fire that will burn everything."

The army moved at an extremely fast pace.

The players didn't need to rest at all. When their stamina was depleted, they would down a poorly made stamina potion. When they couldn't run anymore, they would help each other drag forward.

Some players even invented a "rotating offline method" to speed up their journey. One person logs off to sleep, while the other uses a cart to pull their in-game character along the way. They then log back in to take over when the other wakes up.

This method of marching, which goes against the limits of human physiology, made the three thousand veterans from Guangning who accompanied the troops feel their scalps tingle.

Wang Erniu, riding on horseback, watched several heavenly soldiers beside him galloping wildly while gnawing on raw potatoes, his eyes twitching.

"These lunatics, they really don't value their own lives," Wang Erniu muttered.

A player nearby, nicknamed "Parkour Master," overheard this, turned around, and grinned at Wang Erniu.

"Brother Niu, you don't understand. This is called having the awareness to secure the first kill! If you're even a second late, you might not even get a chance to touch a single hair on the Jurchens' heads!"

Wang Erniu rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay attention to these guys spouting nonsense. He spurred his horse and charged to the front of the column, shouting loudly to get the formation in order.

As the army passed through, the garrisons and post stations along the way had already been arranged by Lu Jian's Imperial Guards.

The Ming generals guarding the pass stood on the city wall, looking down at the vast, strangely equipped army below, which exuded a terrifying killing intent. They were all speechless with shock.

Without demanding provisions or looting along the way, this army swept through like a whirlwind, heading straight for Shanhaiguan.

Chu Ze rode a black warhorse, positioned in the center of the army.

He opened the interface of the "Map of Mountains and Rivers".

The blue dots representing the player army are moving rapidly across the map at an incredible speed.

The red patches representing Huang Taiji's 100,000-strong army had completely surrounded the capital.

The Forbidden City is in imminent danger.

Chu Ze closed the interface and looked up ahead.

The outline of Shanhaiguan was already faintly visible on the horizon.

Beyond Shanhaiguan lies the vast, flat North China Plain, the hunting grounds of Huang Taiji's 100,000 iron cavalry.

"Pass down the order," Chu Ze said coldly. "The entire army must accelerate. Once inside the pass, engage the enemy immediately upon encountering them. I want Huang Taiji to know that this Ming Dynasty is not his place to run wild."

The messenger waved the command flag, quickly relaying the order to the entire army.

Another burst of excited roars erupted from the player group.

"Faster! Faster! We'll be able to slay monsters soon!"

"Brothers of the Divine Continent Guild, drink all your stamina potions! Let's sprint!"

"You arrogant fools, don't let China steal the spotlight! Get running!"

The footsteps of tens of thousands of people converged into an unstoppable torrent, sweeping towards Shanhaiguan.

A bloody battle that will determine the fate of the world is about to unfold at the foot of the capital.

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