Warhammer Fantasy: I Have Total War System

He Xu arrived after about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. He then brought Wei Zheng and the others over.

Beside the young master stood a burly man in his early thirties, dressed in the Jade Warrior standard mountain armor, holding a heavy crossbow, and carrying a jade shield half a person's height on his back.

Wei Zheng had met Li Lin at the pass before and knew everyone present.

He dismounted and first introduced the people around him to Li Lin.

"This is my uncle, Feng Yuan, a Zhenwei Captain under Qiao Xiao, the 'Forging Master' of Nangao, a high-ranking official of the sixth rank!"

Feng Yuan looked embarrassed after being praised by his nephew.

Boasting about one's official position in front of a military commissioner personally appointed by the Dragon Emperor is akin to showing off one's limited skills before an expert, but Li Lin and the others present didn't mind such a trivial matter. He Xu even laughed heartily, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

Feng Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone present was a promising young talent, the future pillars of Aurora University. Having such an opportunity to get to know them might mean that this unexpected disaster wasn't all bad.

"This humble servant, Feng Yuan, greets Chief Steward Li." Feng Yuan dismounted, knelt on one knee, and spoke in a loud voice.

Li Lin nodded and told him to get up.

Wei Zheng and He Xu shoved each other for a bit, then came over with big smiles to greet Li Lin, their two canine teeth showing, full of youthful charm and frankness: "Greetings, Steward Li! Tell me, who do you want to beat up!"

He swung the two short guns at his waist, the barrels clanging against the brass buckles with a sharp, clattering sound.

Feng Yuan couldn't help but pat his nephew on the shoulder, and Wei Zheng calmed down a bit, but he still couldn't hide his excitement about the battlefield.

Strange? Why does this kid seem like he's never been to a battlefield?

How did he achieve his previous military merits?

Putting aside the unimportant details, Li Lin turned to inspect the Iron Hail Gunners unit brought by Wei Zheng.

This unit consisted of ninety women, arranged in three rows of thirty women each, with a distance of about twenty paces between each row.

From the very beginning, the formation is quite different from the Iron Hail Gunner in the game.

In the game, the Iron Hail Gunners are in a dense square formation and can fire at will, ignoring the cover of their own teammates.

Moreover, he was always dressed in plain clothes, holding a musket as thick as an arm, and there wasn't even a pouch for ammunition on his body, as if the bullets appeared out of thin air.

The female soldiers in front of us are completely different.

The formation was a standard three-rank rotational firing, like the firing squad formation of the 15th and 16th centuries.

In addition to carrying muskets, each person also wore a wide leather belt around their waist with six cow horn powder cartridges hanging from it, the mouths of which were sealed tightly with wax.

A deerskin ammunition pouch hung alone from his right hip. Li Lin could see that people would occasionally fiddle with the densely packed lead pellets inside to pass the time.

"My unit uses only our own muskets and gunpowder bullets—"

As Li Lin listened to Wei Zheng's boasting, the system interface in front of him suddenly flickered.

His gaze sharpened slightly as he noticed four new soldier badges in his troop inventory: Wei Zheng's Iron Hail Gunner, He Xu's Jade Courage Sword and Shield, Jian Ping's Jade Courage Halberd, and Feng Yuan's own Disciple Supervisor badge.

Each soldier's badge has a small mark floating in the upper right corner, indicating the name of their commander.

For example, Feng Yuan's officer's badge has the character "Wei" in the upper right corner.

It's exactly the same as renting allied troops in the game.

My ally's troops have moved to my unit inventory... Can I benefit from their skill bonuses?

To be honest, this actually touched on a blind spot in Li Lin's knowledge. The design of calling on allied troops in the game is rather annoying. It's a stupid design that can't be used in the early game and is unnecessary in the late game.

He casually clicked on the attribute panel of a Jade Warrior Sword and Shield unit to check.

Hey! Not bad!

I've received numerous buffs, including [Tactical Expert] and [Unyielding Lv1].

The fact that the leased troops can also receive the full skill bonus is truly a pleasant surprise.

"Chief Steward Li, the position is ready." Jian Ping's voice brought Li Lin back to reality.

Jianping's soldiers had already set up barricades around the selected position.

The base of the chevaux-de-frise was placed in the ditch, covered with a thin layer of straw mat, and then covered with a layer of sand. Without careful observation, it was impossible to tell that some kind of ironware was buried inside.

"Let's go, proceed according to plan." Li Lin mounted his horse, took a few steps forward, and found that no one around him was moving.

Turning around, I saw that He Xu, Jian Ping, and Wei Zheng showed no sign of leaving.

"Aren't you coming along?"

"Oh dear! Steward Li! I've had to hire people to protect me on this trip to Shangyang!" He Xu quickly waved his hand. "It's fine if you let me command the army and manage the supplies, but sending me to the front lines would be the death of me."

"Is it okay?" Wei Zheng seemed eager to try, but he was quickly pulled behind by his uncle and scolded. It seems that the young master will not go to the battlefield.

"I'll go," Jian Ping suddenly said, then mounted his mount.

"Xiaoping, you..." He Xu said worriedly.

"I was originally going to take the martial arts exam anyway, and I'll be going to the front lines sooner or later, so I might as well follow Steward Li and gain some experience first." Jian Ping stood up straight.

"Alright then... Be careful in everything you do."

Hey! I'm really puzzled!

None of you go to the front lines, so where will you get military merit?

Does commanding troops from the rear count?

I go!

Why did I risk my life back then?

With their minds in turmoil, Li Lin, Jian Ping, and Feng Yuan rode their horses and directed the three armies toward the hills and high slopes where the enemy was located.

On the way, Feng Yuan cupped his hands in flattery and said, "I have been a soldier for more than ten years and have seen forty or fifty young soldiers in high positions, but those who can lead from the front like Commander Li can be counted on one hand."

"Chief Steward Li is truly a young prodigy; the future of Nanli is bright!"

Li Lin felt a little uncomfortable being praised.

This battle wasn't particularly dangerous to begin with, and individual lords naturally have high armor and high health, making them less likely to be focused down and killed.

Standing still provides an aura of leadership and can also stop high-threat enemy units at crucial moments.

In addition, Li Lin needs to gain experience to reach Lv8, so going to the battlefield is entirely beneficial for him, and it has nothing to do with being brave or not.

"It's my job, nothing to brag about," he replied perfunctorily.

Jian Ping and Feng Yuan were both impressed by his humble yet self-assured manner, marveling at how someone so young could serve as a military commissioner.

The three units, with the iron hail gunners in the middle, the jade-wielding swordsmen on the left, and the halberds on the right, moved out of their way, spaced twenty or thirty paces apart, steadily advancing towards the enemy troops on the slope.

The enemy didn't react much, seemingly either unaware of the situation or suspecting that the three teams that had taken the initiative to attack were bait.

"I'll leave the backup to you later," Li Lin instructed Jian Ping. Then, as planned, he flicked the reins and charged towards the enemy lines from both sides with Feng Yuan.

The objective is not to attack, but to conduct reconnaissance.

Approach at a distance close enough to see through the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, forcing them to react.

The horses' hooves clattered on the gravel.

Li Lin crouched low, controlling his horse while keeping an eye on the enemy's movements on the large map.

When they were about three hundred paces away, the enemy's elite troops moved.

Whoosh whoosh!

"An arrow!"

Li Lin almost instinctively yanked the reins sharply to the right, and the warhorse neighed and spun sharply to the side.

Several arrows grazed his shoulder guard and embedded themselves in the gravel behind him, their fletching buzzing.

Not daring to linger for even a moment, Li Lin continued to urge his horse to dodge in irregular, serpentine patterns.

Sixth Captain Wu Cheyu was turning towards him, and the crossbowmen on the cart were keeping a close eye on him.

The arrows were scattered and far from being densely packed.

The problem is that he was charging uphill from a low position, with no obstacles to bypass, making him a sitting duck.

There's no need to get injured in skirmishes; as the commander-in-chief, his health will also affect the morale of the allied forces.

"Retreat!" Li Lin made a quick decision, turning his horse around and galloping back.

He failed to engage the enemy, but he did share the firepower with Feng Yuan.

Holding a jade shield and riding a heavily armored warhorse, Feng Yuan braved a hail of arrows and rushed up the slope to get a clear view of the entire enemy formation.

He then spurred the horse's belly, executed a beautiful turn, and successfully retreated.

Upon seeing the two return, Jian Ping immediately issued orders, and the slowly advancing army quickly ran to the prepared positions, pretending to be going forward to provide support.

"General Li is right!" Feng Yuan reined in his horse and shouted, "The rest of them are fake! Those war chariots only have drivers; the archers and halberdiers are just straw men in armor! The only ones that can actually fight are probably a dozen or so chariots and those farm laborers!"

"Barricades! Quickly!" Jian Ping's roar echoed across the battlefield.

More than a dozen halberd soldiers pulled on the ropes at the same time.

The iron base buried under the sand suddenly flipped up, and then a prepared iron spear was placed on it, the spear tip pointing diagonally forward, gleaming coldly in the setting sun.

The female soldiers quickly formed ranks, with the front row kneeling, the middle row squatting, and the back row standing, all ninety short guns aimed at the enemy troops on the slope.

Suddenly, He Xu's voice came through the telepathic communication system: "Chief Steward Li! Four troops from Lushun have volunteered to come and support you!"

Without a second thought, Li Lin ordered, "Tell them to stay put and not come any closer!"

Are they coming out to provide support now?

Is it a speed bump?

"But--"

Before He Xu could finish speaking, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves shook the earth, crashing against everyone's chests in waves.

A dense mass of cavalrymen, kicking up clouds of dust, charged toward the crowd below!