Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

After all, the ultimate challenge at the beginning was only a hardcore challenge that a very few players could experience.

Seeing the number of people, many players felt somewhat regretful.

It looks like there's no chance this time!

If a hundred people were selected, many players might still harbor the illusion "if I try hard, I still have a chance," but now with only ten people being selected, players could almost count on their fingers those who were far better than themselves.

However, the players weren't too disappointed because the ultimate challenge wasn't meant for everyone anyway; cutting off the idea early allowed them to spend time on other things.

Such as passing the Husband Trial or going to the Return Order City Fortress to fetch bricks, waiting to buy new equipment.

Although the weapon technology of the Liang Dynasty had slightly regressed compared to the Qi Dynasty, the game had its balance; the earlier the dynasty, the more the military strength leaned towards the fantastical.

By then, weapons and armor would carry extra lethality against demons.

This change in combat power couldn't be seen in the simulation trials, as they were more about reenacting real historical scenarios.

But it should become apparent in the Return Order Expedition.

Talking about the weapons from the Liang Dynasty that players most anticipated, they were just a few types: horizontal swords, long swords, and Ming Guang Armor!

Thinking about appearing on the battlefield wielding these weapons was very cool.

The top players couldn't wait to start their intense and thrilling rush up the leaderboard, while other players pursued their goals in other domains.

The next evening at 10 p.m.

In the Husband Trial, Luo Ying was still fighting bloodily.

This battle at Xiangji Temple had been ongoing intermittently for five days, and today was the sixth day.

Although he had also temporarily switched to Emperor Taizong of Liang's instance due to significant setbacks, he ultimately returned to the Husband Trial.

Because, at this point, he was just one step away from winning the Battle of Xiangji Temple!

As for the details of his attempts to pass the trial, there wasn't much drama; in fact, it could even be described as somewhat boring.

Luo Ying had watched the recordings of others passing Emperor Taizong's instance and could clearly feel that the methods were entirely different from the Husband Trial.

Although Emperor Taizong's instance also involved many battle scenes, players generally solved these battles from a tactical perspective.

For example, playing as Dou Jiande at Hulaoguan Pass, one could arrange their troops in the main camp to lure Lord Qin into charging, or playing as Xue Ju, they could calculate his death time to launch a sudden attack, and so on.

However, these tactics were completely useless in the Battle of Xiangji Temple!

Because the confrontation of two high-quality, strong armies was generally very dull, and at first glance, it seemed devoid of any tactics.

The battles involving Lord Qin were often full of drama, usually captured the moment an opponent showed a slight flaw, which might be fleeting, but Lord Qin would seize it instantly and pursue fiercely.

Yet, what if neither side made any mistakes?

The Battle of Xiangji Temple was such an extremely brutal fight.

This battle pitted peak Liang Army against peak Liang Army, top world class against top world class.

The tactics, organization, morale, etc., of both sides were all maxed out.

Setting aside what the historical records stated, if Luo Ying were to narrate what he saw on the battlefield himself, it would go something like this:

The rebel cavalry charged, only to be repelled by the official army's formation; the official army pursued, the rebels organized a counter encirclement to strike at the official army's formation, almost succeeding; the official army desperately held their ground, as the rebels saw they were failing, hence the vanguard units alternately covered their retreat, then the second echelon came up to continue the fight; the official army could barely hold on anymore, after the first echelon retreated, another reserve echelon came up…

It was like a meat grinder, on a vast battlefield of over two hundred thousand, countless elites repeatedly charged, orderly retreated, no one showing any flaws, neither side getting the upper hand over the other.

Why not flank or outmaneuver for a surprise attack?

The reason was simple, such basic tactics were obviously anticipated by commanders on both sides, but once troops meant for flanking or enveloping started moving, they were spotted by the opponent's scouts, and immediate countermeasures with reserve troops were deployed by the opposing side.

Both sides did this, so while initially thinking of flanking or enveloping, once discovered, it just turned back into a hard clash on the front lines.

This continued throughout the wide expanse of the Battle at Xiangji Temple, both sides maintaining the tightest formations, neither able to do anything decisive against the other.

And ultimately, the official army won, successfully beheading sixty thousand, just for one reason: the official army had more men.

Since the official army had more men, even after all attempts at surprise attacks and flanking failed, they were still able to pull forces to create a broader frontal line and gradually encircle the rebels.

If it were a regular quality army, it would have quickly collapsed once encircled.

But after being encircled, the rebel forces continued to fight to the death for half a day's time, until after suffering sixty thousand beheaded, with casualty rates exceeding sixty percent did they finally collapse.

Overall, in this great battle, tactics from both sides were almost used to their limits.

Even if the rebel forces got a better military leader, reversing the situation tactically in this battle would have been nearly impossible; the decision not to fight would have to be made beforehand.

And if the official army got a better military leader, using a smaller price or shorter time to win would also be nearly impossible.

Thus, no opportunistic tactics were essentially feasible.