As the players triumphantly won the great battle, their perspective gradually began to elevate.

A series of system notifications appeared in everyone's view.

[Ultimate Challenge: The Universe is Now at Peace]

[Cleared!]

[The historical segment occupied by demons has been conquered!]

[But the battle isn't over yet.]

[The barriers of this historical segment have been shattered, and the Return Order's power can now penetrate deep into this segment, but the demons won't hand over control of this historical segment so easily.]

[The Return Order fortress has successfully connected to this historical segment.]

[Resist the demon onslaught, and purge all demons from this historical segment!]

Players began leaving the roles they were playing and reappeared in their own images within this historical segment.

Many still felt an eagerness for more.

Luo Ying looked somewhat melancholic, "That's it? The difficulty of this ultimate challenge seems easier than the identity trial of a commoner…"

Li Hongyun chuckled, "Be confident, remove the 'seems'. The ultimate challenge is indeed easier than the identity trials."

All these players had cleared the identity trials, whether as Cavalry or Divine Machine player identities. In their view, those were more difficult than the ultimate challenge.

Zhao Haiping reflected, "Still, this ultimate challenge was quite thrilling, completing the unification without Lord Qin."

Li Hongyun displayed even more admiration for Emperor Taizong of Liang, "That's why Emperor Taizhong is so awesome!

"We players are a bunch of travelers, getting our hands on the future script beforehand, and we could even use the placement of a powerful mole to incite defection. This significantly lowered the difficulty.

"Emperor Taizong, on the other hand, had neither cooperation from anyone nor hindrance from within, and yet he barely lagged behind the players in unification, and didn't miss the nation-defining battle against the Turkic, actually delaying nothing at all. That's incredible!"

Yun Ying nodded in agreement, "Yeah, in comparison, the process of our clearing the ultimate challenge seems a bit too simple."

Chu Ge smiled, "That's normal.

"Even though the ultimate challenge sounds menacing at the beginning, with 100% pain sensation, one can still repeatedly experience it in the simulated environment and find the optimal solution.

"Moreover, it's many famous players traveling together in the ultimate challenge, able to cooperate and not struggle alone.

"Additionally, having fought from the Great Sheng Dynasty all the way to this point, everyone has become battle-hardened, and have well-rounded qualities, making it naturally easier to clear the ultimate challenge as we go.

"However, just clearing the ultimate challenge isn't the end. There's the grander Return Order Expedition to look forward to."

Everyone looked towards the changes throughout the entire historical segment.

The once nearby Chang'an City disappeared, and it was as if they had instantly traversed an unknown distance, arriving at a completely unfamiliar land.

The scene continued to advance swiftly; their sights passed over boundless marshlands, towering mountains, deep valleys, and dense forests, eventually resting on a distant city.

Everyone simultaneously turned to Chu Ge.

"Where is this?"

Chu Ge's face darkened, "How would I know, do you really think I'm an encyclopedia?"

Evidently, solely based on the nearby mountains and rivers, it was too difficult to ascertain exactly what place this was.

Moreover, this was a depiction of ancient times; these cities might have already been destroyed in the incessant wars that followed. How could one recognize them?

However, Li Weiyi, looking at the distant city and stroking his chin, said, "It looks… somewhat like the architectural style of Korea?"

Upon these words, everyone suddenly realized.

Korea!

Indeed, the more they looked, the more it resembled it.

Previously, their view had passed over a large expanse of marshlands, which very likely could be the Liao marshes.

The Liao marshes, or the marshlands in the Liaodong region, were not a prosperous and fertile area in ancient times, especially the Liao marsh area, stretching over two hundred miles and impassable for men and horses.

This was also an important reason why the Central Plains dynasties repeatedly failed to triumph over Korea in the past.

The ancestors of Liao Country originally lived near the Liao marshes. At that time, the people there mainly lived a nomadic and hunting-fishing life, with few engaging in agriculture, which was due to the land being unsuitable for farming at the time.

Of course, Korea had a much larger territory, so there was a significant presence of farming.

Chu Ge soon deduced their mission, "Could it be that our goal this time is to assist Emperor Taizong in the conquest of Korea?"

Everyone suddenly realized.

The battlefield being set here was unexpected, yet made perfect sense.

The unexpectedness lay in the fact that this was far from the toughest battle Emperor Taizong of Liang had ever fought, and the opponent wasn't exactly a match worthy of the same banner.

Militarily, the enemy was completely dominated and ground into the earth. Their attempt to send over a hundred thousand troops for a mobile rescue was shattered by the Liang Army, posing no significant threat.

The sensibility of the location stemmed from the fact that at that time, it was indeed a very tough battle to fight.

The difficulty wasn't attributed to the enemy's command abilities or their valor in combat; in that regard, Korea's soldiers were utterly crushed by those of Liang.

The main challenges were logistical support, terrain, and weather.

Speaking of logistics, the Liang Dynasty had to move supplies through Liaodong, especially through the difficult-to-navigate regions around Liaoze, and a vast amount of food had to be transported by the Grand Canal—a detour spanning a thousand miles.

Of course, not long after the war began, Emperor Taizong of Liang successfully conquered several cities, securing a massive amount of food from Korea, achieving the strategy of "using the enemy's resources."

But initially, they had to transport their own supplies.

From a geographic perspective, the region was mountainous, and Korea's ability to build mountain fortresses was considered a unique skill at the time.

During the Liang Dynasty, siege equipment was not advanced enough, and often, taking a strong city required building earthen mounds outside the city walls. However, such tasks took a long time. And then came the third issue: the weather.

Winters in Korea were bitterly cold, and Liang's preparations for warmth were inadequate; hence, although only two thousand Liang soldiers died in battle, a large number of horses froze to death.

So when winter was approaching, they had no choice but to withdraw.

In terms of military achievements, Emperor Taizong's personal command of the campaign against Korea couldn't be considered a failure, as the actual results were: the capture of Xuantu, the defeat of Gaemou, the attack on Beisha, the retaking of Liaodong, the entry into Baiyan, the pacification of Wugu, and the expansion of territory by a thousand miles.

The Liang Army, numbering a hundred thousand, fought against a hundred and fifty thousand, losing only two thousand men but slaughtered forty thousand of Korea's forces, captured a hundred thousand, acquired fifty thousand horses and cattle, captivated sixty thousand households and a hundred and sixty thousand people, and executed two high-ranking generals and three thousand five hundred officers and tribal chieftains.

They pushed Korea back to the south of the Yalu River and prevented their unification of the peninsula, destroyed all of Korea's field forces, and recovered the Liaodong Peninsula.

Why would such results be considered a failure?

Because, in the eyes of Emperor Taizong and Li Jing, the campaign was a failure as it didn't result in the annihilation of Korea or bring Korea's king to dance in Chang'an, an obvious defeat.

It would be more appropriate to say that deeming the campaign against Korea a failure was like the War God performing an exceptional feat at Versailles.

And now, the players aimed to achieve the War God's level of accomplishment at Versailles.

Li Hongyun couldn't help but feel invigorated, "Good, let's teach those Koreans a lesson! Always producing those godly dramas, saying that Emperor Taizong was blinded in one eye, they have no shame!"

Chu Ge smiled faintly, "Heh, strictly speaking, Korea doesn't really have any connection to the current Koreans; they're just forcibly gilding their own face."

"The reason they now claim Korea as their ancestor is mainly to justify their occupation of the entire peninsula and even covet the territorial sovereignty of our Liaodong."

"In fact, Korea has no succession link to Goryeo. Korea was founded by the Fuyu people, and after Liang extinguished Korea, the An Dong Protectorate was established in its territory. Most of the wealthy households and hundreds of thousands of common people were relocated to various places in the Central Plains, fully integrating into the diverse ethnic groups there."

"A small portion became subjects of Bohai State, and the rest merged with the Turkic and Silla. Thus, Korea was completely erased from history, and its establishment and demise have nothing to do with the modern Koreans—only due to geographical proximity is it forcibly claimed as an ancestor, completing a political aspiration in reality."

Everyone was eager to try their hands, "So how do we fight? Hurry up, can't wait any longer!"

Chu Ge pondered for a bit, "If we follow the historical campaign against Korea, then it's quite simple."

"Firstly, in field battles, the Korean army was totally crushed by the Liang Army."

"What we need to resolve is the siege warfare, how to quickly conquer Korea's strong cities under the conditions of ancient times."

"This shouldn't be too hard actually, since we have the Divine Machine players who can create various large siege engines."

"Besides, Emperor Taizong was actually very close to taking Anshi City, but luck was indeed somewhat ludicrous."

"At that time, the Liang Army put in great effort to build earthen mounds outside, intending to use these mounds to scale the city walls. But when the mounds collapsed halfway, they crushed the city walls."

"At that moment, if the Liang Army had surged forward, they could have broken through. Unfortunately, the officer responsible for building the mounds was neglecting his duty and not present, resulting in Korea's troops charging out from the city and occupying the mounds, making the Liang Army's efforts in vain."

"Had there been a reliable person there, Anshi City would have been captured."

"Of course, since this is the Return Order Expedition, it definitely won't be that simple. Perhaps the demons will present some new challenges."

As they were discussing, they felt the whole earth begin to tremble violently!

An enveloping darkness spread in an instant, covering the mountains, rivers, and cities in front.

The power of the demons spread rapidly, this overwhelming force compared to the previous battles between the players and the demons was unprecedentedly formidable!

Yet, at the same time, the city fortress of the Return Order rose like a ship cutting through waves, tearing out of the earth and soil from Liaoze, confronting the territory occupied by the demons!

Naturally, these two locations were actually very far apart, with Liaoze considered to be the starting point for Emperor Taizong of Liang's campaign route against Korea.

In other words, both sides were destined to decide the victor on this vast land!

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