In other words, for every ten people recruited, there would be a hundred signing up; for every hundred people recruited, a thousand would enroll.

The officials had no choice but to select the best of the best in the end, while those who didn't make the cut could only sigh in frustration.

There were even many who completely disregarded the recruitment orders, forming their own private armies to offer their services, actively applying to enter the battlefield.

Why was there such a difference?

On one hand, everyone knew that following Lord Qin meant a guaranteed win, with no possibility of defeat. On the other hand, every campaign would result in a substantial amount of treasures and rewards, as well as military honors and titles.

During his campaigns in the south and north, Lord Qin always distinguished clearly between rewards and punishments, being generous and open-handed, so the people had no doubt about the gains of this expedition.

Soon, the players looked down from high within the Order Restorers' fortress and saw a large army crossing the Liao River, beginning to arrive at the foot of Liaodong City.

In fact, before Emperor Taizong of Liang's grand army truly arrived at Liaodong, the war here had already begun.

Li Ji had started to prepare ahead of time before the grand army arrived, taking precautions.

On the surface, he made a lot of noise in Liu City of Yingzhou, leading Korea to believe he would cross the Liao River south of Liaodong at Huaiyuan Town.

But in reality, Li Ji chose to cross the Liao River north of Liaodong from Tongding Town, attacking Xuantu City, catching Korea by surprise.

With Li Ji and Li Daozong employing deception tactics, the great wall that Korea had built along the Liao River east of Liaodong was bypassed without serving any purpose, turning into a Maginot Line.

The Korean defenders shut themselves within their walls, not daring to come out and fight.

As a result, Li Ji and Li Daozong quickly captured Xuantu City, then Gaimou City, gaining over twenty thousand people and more than a hundred thousand stones of grain.

At this time, Korea's main forces still believed that Liang Army would cross the river from Huaiyuan Town south of Liaodong, so their main forces were still concentrated east of Liaodong City, Baiyan City, and Anshi City in anticipation.

And these three cities were precisely the key targets that Emperor Taizong of Liang needed to conquer during his campaign against Korea.

At this point, however, the players were... somewhat unhappy.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Why aren't we allowed to go out yet?"

"Hey, hey, hey? Is there a bug in the game! Why can't we join the battle?"

The players were all jumping up and down with frustration within the Order Restorers' fortress, but there was nothing they could do; it was as if there was a barrier surrounding the fortress, holding everyone back.

They could only watch as mere spectators, providing the atmosphere while watching the performance of Liang Army.

Many people were puzzled by the marching route of Emperor Taizong's army.

"Eh, why not take the corridor west of Liao instead?"

At this time, the players were essentially in a godlike perspective, with a massive map of the battlefield situation in front of them, clearly seeing the movements of both armies.

After Li Ji and Li Dao successfully captured Xuantu City and Gaimou City, breaking through Korea's Great Wall defense line, Emperor Taizong led the main army across Liaodong.

But the act of crossing Liaodong itself was somewhat odd.

Since many players were quite familiar with ancient geography, they knew there was an easier route from the Central Plains to Liaodong, specifically the corridor west of Liao.

The so-called corridor west of Liao is the line through Shanhai Pass and Jinzhou.

This area had flat and open terrain, suitable for marching armies, and seemingly a much easier route than the one Emperor Taizong had chosen.

Chuge explained, "It's simple, because the corridor west of Liao, with its terrain changes and the eastward shift of the coastline, only emerged after the Qi Dynasty."

The players then had a sudden realization.

Emperor Taizong's route through Jizhou State, Yingzhou, and Liaodong was not because he purposely took a detour over treacherous mountains and ridges, but merely because at the time this was the only viable route to campaign against Korea.

Soon, Liang Army crossed the Liao River and arrived under Liaodong City. Meanwhile, Li Daozong and Li Ji's vanguard also moved southward, in support from afar.

Korea's reinforcement force of forty thousand men followed the Tang River towards Liaodong City for a rescue.

Without saying another word, Li Daozong charged with four thousand cavalry.

After an intense battle, at the critical moment, Li Ji led his forces to reinforce and managed to block the forty thousand men outside Liaodong City.

If these forty thousand men had entered Liaodong City, with its abundance of food and supplies, taking the city would have been exceedingly difficult.

Soon, Emperor Taizong arrived at Liaodong City, rewarded Li Ji and Li Daozong, then personally commanded the siege, and quickly breached Liaodong City, killing over ten thousand Korean defenders, capturing over fifty thousand, and seizing five hundred thousand stones of rice.

This grain directly realized the strategy of "feeding off the enemy," alleviating the need for Liang Army to depend on a long supply line from the rear.

The rice was enough to feed the Liang Army for over half a year, effectively solving the complete food requirements needed for the campaign against Korea.

To be able to take down Liaodong City, Li Ji decided that blocking the Korean reinforcements of 40,000 outside Liaodong City with just 4,000 men was key. Otherwise, if he let those 40,000 enter the city, capturing it would become even more difficult.

Immediately after, the Liang Army began their assault on Baiyan City.

Korea sent over 10,000 troops from Wugu City as reinforcements to Baiyan City, but the defected Eastern Turk officer, Qielie Heli, charged with 800 cavalry to intercept them.

In the fierce battle, Qielie Heli was struck in the waist by a lance, almost dying on the battlefield, but luckily he was rescued by the Liang Army and taken back to the main camp.

However, after going back, the angrier Qielie Heli thought about it, the more he fumed. He quickly dressed his wound and headed back into the fray.

This time, over 10,000 Korean troops were defeated and scattered by the Liang cavalry, with Qielie Heli leading a pursuit for dozens of miles, beheading over a thousand before stopping.

Upon his return, Emperor Taizhong personally applied medicine to Qielie Heli's wound and captured the young soldier who had stabbed him, handing him over for judgement.

As a result, Qielie Heli said, "In battle, soldiers fight for their sovereigns, and this soldier showed bravery and unwavering loyalty to Korea, a righteous man indeed."

And so, he set him free.

Watching the relief forces being routed by the Liang Army, the Lord of Baiyan City simply opened the gates and surrendered.

However, this displeased the Liang Army.

For they would have been able to loot plenty of treasures and spoils of war upon storming the city, with each kill counting towards their merit.

But with Baiyan City surrendering, such treasures and spoils were now out of the question.

Hence, Emperor Taizong of Liang decided to distribute rewards to his soldiers from his own imperial treasury.

After the smooth surrender of Baiyan City, the Liang Army took a brief respite and then advanced towards Anshi City in the south.

The conquest of Anshi City would generally signify the complete loss of Korea's entire western defense line, therefore, Korea would surely mobilize the whole nation in support.

Here, Emperor Taizong of Liang would meet Korea's entire available field force of 150,000 with just 30,000 men.

...

But for the players who had been watching all this unfold, they truly couldn't sit still any longer.

Because they'd only been watching the Liang Army put on a show and had had no chance to take action themselves, still sealed within the City of Order.

Had there not been a complete absence of bugs in the game, and had there been customer service, they would have lodged their complaints long ago.

"So, are we supposed to follow the Liang Army's example first?"

"First there's Li Daozong, 4,000 against 40,000, then Qielie Heli, 800 against 10,000... Does that mean we should follow their standard? That we're incompetent if we don't meet this standard?"

"...Your point makes sense."

The players began to guess why they were allowed to watch this opening sequence.

This was clearly a form of motivation!

If you battle-hardened players take to the field and can't do better than these historical Liang soldiers, wouldn't you be embarrassed?

If the Liang Army can use 4,000 to fight 40,000, and 800 to overcome 10,000, then it's up to you players to see how you fare in battle!

Finally, just as a major battle was about to break out outside Anshi City, the City of Order opened!

The players immediately left the City of Order like wild dogs slipping their leads, rushing towards the battlefield ahead.

Each player displayed their unique skills, with cavalry players considering taking another player with them, and those without horses simply proceeding on foot.

But they quickly realized they need not travel by themselves, as they had the power of the Orderers to aid them.

As quick as light, they became streaks of illumination, instantly arriving on the battlefield.

In the Liang Army's main camp, Emperor Taizhong looked utterly bewildered.

Where did my hundred thousand troops go?

Just a moment ago, they were ready and roaring for the attack on Anshi City, and now they've vanished in the blink of an eye??

Then, he saw the distant Korean forces being possessed by demons, their numbers vastly inflating again.

And a motley army clad in all manners of light, medium, and heavy armor joyously entered the Liang camp and happily stared at him, their faces beaming with the thrill of meeting their star.

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