The World Online
Page 583Chapter 583-Desert Bandit Ambush
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
"Lord, there are some stone structures ahead. We can use those to avoid the sandstorm."
As expected from the living map of the desert. Huyan Qiu had paid attention to the unassuming landmarks and knew their exact location in the desert.
When Ouyang Shuo heard that, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Just this point alone was worth the 250 battle resource points.
He immediately asked Huyan Qiu to lead the way, so they could settle the army before the sandstorm arrived.
The tail at the back also wanted to follow them.
This time, Ouyang Shuo did not remain courteous.
He asked the Divine Martial Guards to give those behind them a rain of arrows as a warning.
After this warning, as expected, they did not dare to get close. They only arranged a few scouts to keep a lookout. As for their main force, they trudged on slowly behind.
In their eyes, there were still many days to go, so they did not need to rush. As long as they knew the location of the Shanhai City Army, they would not be afraid of getting lost in the desert.
Little did they know that Ouyang Shuo was digging a hole for them using the sandstorm.
Half an hour later, they really saw the stone structures.
Ouyang Shuo ordered everyone to dismount and act like they were resting.
In truth, the army was silently getting into formation and setting up camp.
At this time, the sky above the desert suddenly became gloomy and dark.
The terrifying sandstorm had arrived as expected.
Dust suddenly flew about the desert, which was calm moments ago. Further away, a huge sandstorm swept forth like a wave.
The beautiful sky instantly turned pitch black.
Only the sounds of strong winds filled the entire vicinity.
Only at this moment did the players following the Shanhai Army notice the arrival of the sandstorm. They also wanted to copy the Shanhai Army and hide at the stone structures, but it was too late.
A nine thousand elite cavalry strictly guarded the stone structures. Any enemy that tried to rush over was met with an arrow rain.
This time, the player armies were left in total desperation.
No matter how they moved, they would face a dead end.
The crazy sandstorm was like a cavalry soldier, sweeping toward them.
In the desert, horses and people flipped.
The players finally learned of the brutal and cruel side of the desert.
Even the Shanhai City Army, who had their backs against the stone structures, were barely holding on. If they did not pay attention, the sandstorm would also sweep them away.
The Shanhai City Army surrounded Ouyang Shuo, who stood in the middle. He could not open his eyes at all. When he tried to open his eyes to look around, he only saw the sandstorm. It was like he was in the middle of an apocalypse.
Occasionally, one would still hear painful screams.
In front of the might of the Earth, a single person seemed so small and powerless.
Who knows how long they waited before the sandstorm finally swept past and disappeared into the distance.
Ouyang Shuo tried his best to open his eyes; his whole body was dusty and covered in sand.
Moreover, he could be considered lucky.
Further away from them, the players who were unfortunate enough to get caught up in the sandstorm were left in terrible states.
However, Ouyang Shuo did not feel any sympathy for them at all.
"Generals where are you?"
Ouyang Shuo raised his energy and shouted.
"I'm here!"
Wang Feng, Zhang Liao, and Qinqiong stepped out.
Before leaving, it was settled that Ouyang Shuo would take the position of sole commander of the army.
He was going to lead all three armies.
Hence, Zhang Liao and Qinqiong, these two generals, also followed his instructions with the utmost respect.
"Immediately gather up our forces and destroy the enemy, as they are unstable and all over the place."
Ouyang Shuo unsheathed his sword and pointed it forward.
"Roger!"
The three generals felt their blood boil.
They liked this kind of clean and direct warfare.
As for striking the enemy while they were down?
This was war and not a game; it was not a place to talk about manners and morals.
After a short while, the army had formed up neatly.
"Kill!"
Under the guidance of the three generals, the army swarmed out.
On the other hand, Ouyang Shuo remained under the protection of the personal guards and commanded the troops from the backlines.
To the other players, this was simply the worst situation.
The sandstorm had caused them to lose more than half of their soldiers. A large portion were either dead or swept away, buried under the sand dunes.
If they saved them in time, they could probably recover a large number of their troops.
Unfortunately for them, Ouyang Shuo did not give them such a chance.
The strong Shanhai City Army directly charged toward them.
To these Lords, this moment felt like the heavens were collapsing on them.
Regret!
A quick battle in the desert ended without any surprises. In less than two hours, the five to six player forces that had followed behind them collapsed.
Even those soldier that scattered and tried to escape were chased down and killed.
On the desolate grounds of the Gobi Desert, many corpses laid strewn.
As the wind blew, these bodies would be quickly buried.
A month later, no one would know that a battle had occurred here. Only the white bones buried deep under the sand would tell of this piece of human history.
This was the calm, violent, gentle, and viciousness of the desert.
Each and every side was its true self.
The part that made Ouyang Shuo feel weird was that during the massacre, he could actually see his battle contribution points swelling, "Killing people of the same camp also gives me battle contribution points?"
Gaia, Gaia was really evil!
This battle totally did not have any camps!
As long as you were from different territories, you were enemies.
There would only be one winner.
Ouyang Shuo started to understand the intentions of Gaia.
With that, it seemed like the killing between Lords would grow more and more cruel. Even if they were unable to recruit Huo Qubing, earning some contribution points and merit points was good.
After the battle, as they were still rushing, Ouyang Shuo did not even clean up the battlefield. Instead, he directly led them forward. They still needed to cover a distance before the sun set.
The period before night was the best time to travel. At this time, the weather was cooling, and it was not too hot or too cold. If night arrived, they would have no choice but to sleep in their tents.
After getting rid of their tail, the army could finally travel at ease.
‘Plumes of smoke rise up into the evening sky of the Great Desert, while the Yellow River dims, as the setting sun goes down.’
Looking at the orange sun, Ouyang Shuo thought of this old poem.
Did the poet Wang Wei also have this kind of thought?
The glow of the setting sun cast out onto the golden yellow sand dunes. The army that had traveled for the entire day chose a suitable spot to set up camp, following Huyan Qiu’s instructions.
Shortly after they stopped, Huyan Qiu brought a squad to fetch water.
The cavalry were equipped with water bags. If they used the water wisely, it could last for two days.
The battle in the day placed an intense toll on the water supply. Hence, they needed to replenish their supplies during this break period. If not, they could not travel tomorrow.
Ouyang Shuo could not imagine how they would be able to smoothly find water in the desert without Huyan Qiu.
Would it be the same case for Di Chen and the others?
Who knows if they had managed to escape the sandstorm that occurred during the day.
Malicious thoughts appeared in Ouyang Shuo’s mind.
……
The following two days were peaceful and without action.
Ouyang Shuo did not even see any player squads. He guessed that after entering deep into the desert, the players that were lucky to survive had scattered.
After setting up camp, Huyan Qiu reported to Ouyang Shuo as usual about their progress.
Ouyang Shuo smiled and nodded, “It has been tough on you!" Ouyang Shuo was not saying this out of courtesy. If they did not have Huyan Qiu, their journey would not have been so smooth.
Huyan Qiu was able to find a water source basically every day.
The ten thousand troops had never lacked water even once.
One had to say that this itself was a small miracle.
Apart from finding drinking water, they also noticed marks left by the Han Army along the way.
This made Ouyang Shuo extremely excited.
Just thinking about Huo Qubing's forces being not far away caused Ouyang Shuo's excitement to burn brightly.
Accidents often happen without one noticing.
On this night, Shanhai City Army would face a massive test.
On the sand dunes not far from their camp, two people suddenly appeared.
These two people were dressed in tattered clothings and were fully wrapped with clothes. Their grey wear made it hard for one to notice them in the desert.
They had been tracking the Shanhai City Army for more than a day.
"Big Brother, look at their formation, it does not look like the normal Han Army." One of them said with a hoarse voice.
"It really is not normal." The slightly older man replied.
"Then should be book it?" The younger one was a little hesitant.
"Book it? I also want to." In his tone, there was an indescribable sadness and bitterness, "Unfortunately, our stronghold has no more grain, and if we do not do anything, we will have nothing to eat."
"Isn’t this too risky?"
The Han Army was a force that these desert bandits could not easily mess with. The moment they stabbed the bee's nest, if they did not pay attention, they would get killed instead.
Hence, not attacking soldiers had basically become a hidden rule amongst the bandit circle.
Of course, there were exceptions to everything.
For example, when one had no other options.
During this period of time, the Han Army had frequently used troops on Xiongnu, cutting off their merchant routes.
As a result, the lives of the desert bandits became extremely tough.
In the end, these bandits got by through their blades and stealing. If they had no way to live, they could make any crazy moves.
Wasn’t it the case right now? A group of desert bandits had set their sights on the Shanhai City Army. They desired the military grain pills that the cavalry carried. These miraculous pills caused the desert bandits to drool after they noticed it.
They had not acted yet because they were still gathering reinforcements.
This time, the two strongest desert bandit groups in the desert were going to work together.
The two people on the sand dune were just the sentries in charge of monitoring the army.
The real force numbered in the tens of thousands. They were behind them, secretly gathering up.
They had set the time to act to that evening.