Warhammer Fantasy: I Have Total War System

Li Lin rode the black lion "Laifu" towards the center of the camp.

A large number of soldiers watched the gladiatorial combat as if they had gone mad.

Despite the deafening sound of the two stone lions stomping on the ground, they remained completely still.

Ok!

Now we know how Rome fell!

Ahead, Xinqi was fighting two shirtless officers, one wielding twin swords and the other a bronze mace.

Unlike other lewd creatures, the two seemed genuinely defiant towards Xin Qi, their teamwork was skillful, and their attacks were exceptionally ruthless.

Attacked from both sides, their combined energy transformed into a raging storm, severely suppressing Xin Qi.

It seems they were truly enraged.

Xin Qi's blood-red aura began to churn violently, forming a dark red vortex like a sandstorm. Within the vortex, crimson flames crackled and popped, indicating a highly unusual activity.

She dodged the incoming double blades by sidestepping, and with a flick of her right arm, her elbow, wreathed in murderous aura, struck the opponent's forearm.

With a sickeningly sharp crack, the officer's twin knives fell from his hands, and his arms were twisted at an extremely unnatural angle, clearly rendered useless.

The officer wielding the bronze mace seized the moment when she was retracting her attack, roared, and brought the mace down on her head with the force of a landslide.

Unexpectedly, the blood-red vortex around Xin Qi suddenly expanded, shattering the man's protective aura and forcibly pushing him back several steps.

Xin Qi turned her head, twisted her waist, and threw a punch. The movement was clean and swift. The punch landed squarely on the officer's chest, and the officer flew like a tattered sack into the crowd twenty or thirty meters away, his fate unknown.

"Is there anyone else who disagrees?!"

Xin Qi clenched his fists and roared at the soldiers and officers around him. His voice was hoarse and violent, yet it also concealed a bloodthirsty pleasure.

But as soon as she turned around, she met Li Lin's dark eyes.

He sat atop a jet-black stone lion, looking down with a cold gaze, like an adult catching a naughty child who, instead of going home to do his homework after school, went to the park to be the king of the kids.

"New general, have you had enough fun?"

His tone and eyes were equally cold; he was genuinely angry.

Xin Qi felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head; the exhilaration and surging fighting spirit in her heart instantly vanished.

"Manager Li, how could you—I'm sorry to have made you laugh, I'm just—" She hurriedly clasped her hands in a fist and bow, embarrassed and trying to explain herself.

"I won't interfere with how you manage your troops," Li Lin waved his hand to interrupt her, "but with an imminent enemy attack, this is no time for child's play. Quickly organize the soldiers and prepare to meet the enemy."

He Xu and Jian Ping huddled behind a rock not far from Li Lin, afraid that Xin Qi would see them and make things difficult for them later.

"Manager Li is impressive!" He Xu said in a low voice, "Even that tigress has to give him some face."

Jian Ping nodded, finding it somewhat strange.

Why does it feel like this mysterious General Xinqi is a bit inferior to Li Lin?

If she is related to the family of the Southern Li Military Governor, then why has no one ever heard of her?

"It was Commandant Hou who told me to focus on dealing with the troublemakers in the army, and not to worry about the enemies outside," Xinqi explained, bowing her head.

Li Lin frowned even more deeply.

Although Hou Rong is a reliable fighter, his inherent arrogance as a spoiled rich kid occasionally surfaces and causes a ruckus.

The cavalry's greatest role was not to engage the enemy, but to scout, intercept artillery, and temporarily fill in the gaps in the battle line.

Going out directly to trade one for one with the enemy, or even three for one, would be a huge loss.

"Contact him, immediately," Li Lin said seriously.

Xinqi took out a palm-sized sound transmission compass from the Qiankun bag at her waist and touched the Taiji diagram in the center with her fingertip.

The five elements talismanic patterns on the compass flickered, then suddenly went out.

"What's going on?" Xinqi frowned and tried several more times, but the compass still didn't respond.

"Steward Li, my magic weapon is broken. Can I borrow yours?"

Li Lin didn't have any telepathic magic devices; his entire army was equipped with Yi Ge's Pro Max upgraded wireless Bluetooth magic devices, which were just a layer of dark green magic patterns in the earlobes.

So he turned around and called to He Xu and Jian Ping, "Do you two have any telepathic devices? Bring them here quickly."

The two hurriedly stepped forward and each took out their personal magical artifacts, but the result was the same: complete silence.

Jian Ping stared in disbelief, muttering, "This is impossible. Our magical artifacts are constructed using the Zhen Dan Dragon Vein. How could the rebels possibly have a way to block the Dragon Vein?"

"If they were truly so capable, they would have been wiped out by the combined efforts of all the dragon princes long ago. How could they still be so arrogant now?"

Everyone was in a state of utter confusion.

Li Lin lowered his head in deep thought, quickly going through his experience playing Total War in his mind.

The magical artifact has malfunctioned... the magic has failed?

and many more.

Ink lion?

He brought up the system interface and quickly checked the attribute panel of the Ink Lion "Laifu".

[Guardian Shield: The Ink Lion suppresses magic within a 55-meter radius and grants allies 20% magic resistance.]

Holy crap, no wonder the description of "removing magical weapons" in the game is different. Here, the Ink Lion has directly become all magical items within the suppression range.

Will it have the same effect on mages?

"Laifu, retreat a hundred paces away," Li Lin commanded as he jumped off the black lion.

The black lion let out a low growl like the clinking of jade stones, and left the camp with light steps.

Sure enough, as soon as it left, the compasses in everyone's hands suddenly shone brightly.

"It's working!" Xinqi looked in surprise at the black lion leisurely licking its paws in the distance. "This stone beast actually has the ability to block magic?"

"These are just some exotic items that my elders have accumulated over the years while trading in the Western Regions," Li Lin waved his hand dismissively, offering a casual excuse. "They're just little gadgets that happen to be able to counter some low-level spells; they're nothing special."

Upon hearing this, everyone had an "I see" expression.

They marveled at Li Lin's immense wealth.

Xinqi composed herself and once again manipulated the Five Elements Compass.

A moment later, Hou Rong's voice came out intermittently from the compass.

"—The situation...to the north...is currently—"

The sound seemed to come through a screen, the words were fragmented, and there were occasional harsh, snowy sounds.

Xinqi frowned and repeatedly adjusted the compass needle, but with little effect.

"Commander Hou is probably too far away from us," He Xu said.

Jian Ping nodded and added, "It's also possible that he was riding too fast, which interfered with the compass needle. It seems we'll have to organize scouts ourselves to make contact."

Li Lin suddenly had a flash of inspiration and called over the jade lion that was licking its paws not far away.

"May wealth come!"

The jade lion, with its emerald green form, leaped to Li Lin's side in a few bounds.

As soon as it entered the sensing range of the sound transmission device, the spiritual light on the compass immediately became dazzling.

Hou Rong's intermittent voice gradually became clearer.

Li Lin quickly said, "Hou Rong! Don't rush to engage the enemy!"

"—I told you not to yell! Do you think I'm some kind of reckless fool?"

Hou Rong's impatient voice echoed for several meters, drawing the attention of several soldiers who were lining up.

Li Lin's lips twitched, but now was not the time to argue.

"It's good that you're acting responsibly. What's the situation on the enemy's side?"

"Some farm labor cavalry and a large number of long-armed chariots should be a feint," Hou Rong said, his tone becoming serious.

Upon hearing the words "Changwu carriage," Li Lin turned his head and whispered to Jian Ping, "What is a Changwu carriage?"

Jian Ping was taken aback, clearly not expecting that Li Lin would not know such a basic unit, but he quickly explained: "It is a war chariot, a three-horse chariot, with a driver, a halberd bearer, and an archer on board."

Li Lin's eyes widened as he mentally reviewed the entire list of Cinnamon units in Total War, and he was absolutely certain that the Cinnamon unit did not exist in the game.

Good heavens! Aurora has actually developed armored vehicle units specifically designed to counter infantry!

If the attributes are good, wouldn't it be a god-tier character in civil wars?

"Don't rush to engage the enemy," Hou Rong continued. "Most of their chariots only have grooms, no archers or spearmen, and no sharp blades on the chariot hubs. They are all hastily disguised fakes."

"They're probably here to test us, or as decoys."

"I'll lead a team to scout further north to see if the enemy has any backup plans. You guys handle things yourselves."

The light on the compass dimmed, and the communication was lost.

Xin Qi put away the compass, turned to Li Lin, and said crisply, "General Li, the gunpowder troops of the rear guard are under your command. Why not just bring up a few cannons and wipe out these feints?"

Li Lin nodded, agreeing that this was a good idea.

"We can't fight." A hoarse voice suddenly came from afar.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.

Suddenly, Qian Tang rode up on horseback. He was wearing a rumpled camp uniform and his hair was casually tied back.

His face was haggard, his eyes were sunken, and he was holding a well-worn military book in his arms, the edges of which were frayed.

He dismounted, first saluted Li Lin and Xin Qi, and then said in a hoarse voice, "The enemy is testing the waters."

"If we are misled by feints and launch a preemptive attack, the enemy will think we intend to attack Nanli."

"Then next time, the enemy will surely send a large army to wipe them out."

Li Lin thought for a moment and felt that what he said made sense, so he asked, "So we just do nothing? Wait for them to leave on their own?"

Qian Tang shook his head: "Han Cheng has the reputation of being a 'military genius.' If he was the one behind the scenes, things would definitely not be this simple."

"I suspect that, most likely, an elite force is hidden among these feints."

"Whether we launch an attack or not, these elite troops will attempt to charge and test the true condition of the coalition forces—whether the soldiers are exhausted, how many generals are in command, and whether the command system is functioning properly."

"If they think we are weak and easy to bully, they will try to send troops to encircle and suppress us."

"Therefore, we cannot take the initiative to attack, nor can we slack off in defense; we must drive the invading enemy back hard."