Chapter 259
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Chapter 259: Total War
After a period of time, the forged bronze swords were sufficient to arm a unit of over 400 people.
Regarding the formation of the sword-shield unit, Luo Ji directly handed the task over to Liu Meng, the future general of the sword-shield unit, to handle himself.
Anyway, during his recovery, he had a relatively leisurely time.
He also didn’t forget to use the ‘Sword-Shield Mastery’ skill book on him.
Liu Meng, with his 4-star growth in both martial prowess and leadership, did not disgrace this Gold-tier skill book.
Moreover, his ‘Vanguard General’ talent effect was quite suitable for the sword-shield troop type, so Liu Meng had actually always been on his consideration list.
This time, Luo Ji had simply made up his mind.
He was clearly fully supportive of the establishment of this new unit.
He didn’t make Liu Meng start from scratch, quite simply allowing him to select talents from the existing shield-axemen unit.
The shield-axemen’s attack method was primarily chopping, which was also true for the sword-shield soldiers.
Presumably, after switching weapons, they should be able to easily complete the troop type conversion.
So, there was basically no need to worry about the establishment of the sword-shield unit.
After signaling Liu Meng to go busy himself, Luo Ji called Liu Shu and went outside.
He also had some things to instruct the Armament Forging Department about.
“From today onwards, the forging of ordinary bronze battle axes can basically stop.”
“Transfer 60% of the artisans in the forging department to forge bronze swords, the remaining 20% to forge bronze halberds and bronze spears, and the other 20% will be responsible for forging the new type of battle axe.”
This entire development plan had long been laid out by Luo Ji, so giving instructions now was quite clear.
The so-called new type of battle axe, while having a lengthened handle, also had its axe blade part enlarged to a certain extent.
A larger axe blade, while increasing destructive power and attack range, would obviously also increase the weapon’s weight.
However, Luo Ji had already resolved to build the shield-axemen unit into an elite force.
Since he was going the elite route, why would he care about a bit of weight?
Strength, to a certain extent, could be trained.
If they couldn’t even wield a slightly heavier weapon, what kind of elite soldiers would they be?
At the same time, due to this change, Luo Ji also issued an order for Luo Yong to withdraw from the Wild Horse Tribe.
He had initially transferred Luo Yong to an environment where shield-axemen could not utilize their advantages at all, precisely to temper him.
And now, he estimated that the tempering was almost complete.
Considering his subsequent plans, it was no longer suitable to keep Luo Yong there.
It was a good opportunity to call him back and discuss the matter of the elite unit.
Luo Ji had truly worried a lot for his trusted and beloved general.
To be honest, his sudden flash of inspiration to convert the shield-axemen unit into a small elite unit was also partly due to his consideration of Luo Yong’s leadership level, which was only 3-stars.
The level of leadership directly manifested in the control over a unit.
The larger the unit, the harder it was to control.
Having someone with the ability to lead only a thousand troops lead an army of ten thousand would certainly lead to collapse.
But from another perspective, were smaller units necessarily weak?
From ancient times to the present, the number of elite troops has never been large.
Those chosen from hundreds, or even thousands, were truly called elites!
It was the birth of this idea that made Luo Ji conceive of building the shield-axemen unit into an ace elite unit!
Of course, building this ace elite unit was not as easy as converting shield-axemen into sword-shield soldiers.
It was estimated that after selecting a sufficient number of excellent soldiers, they would all have to be sent back to the military camp for at least 3 months of hellish training before they could be deployed.
It was not going to happen in the short term, and they would take it slowly.
Thus, time passed quietly.
On Luo Ji’s side, after spending 5 days repairing the city walls and gate mechanisms of West Plains City, and re-deploying forces to each city in a relatively reasonable manner, he took out the Declaration of War from his inventory.
Yes, he was going to activate it now.
A loss of 5,000 troops would take a relatively long time to replenish.
The faster Luo Ji initiated total war now, the more he could catch Zhou Dongnan off guard.
Conversely, the more he delayed, the more disadvantageous it would be for him!
[System notification: Are you sure you want to consume a Gold-tier ‘Declaration of War (Total War)’ to initiate total war against player ‘Zhou Dongnan?’]
“Confirm!”
Luo Ji’s determined tone carried strong resolve!
A Gold-tier Declaration of War had 2 characteristics, the first was ignoring ‘Truce Token’ effects, and the second was that the declared player could not refuse or avoid battle!
After all, it was a priceless Gold-tier item, so it had to have these effects!
Meanwhile, in another world, Zhou Dongnan was leaning weakly on his bed.
Zhou Jie had died in battle, and nearly 5,000 troops were almost completely annihilated.
This series of blows was too heavy for him, directly causing him, who was already physically weak at the time, to fall into a serious illness from the inability to withstand the shock.
After several days of continuous recuperation, he finally caught his breath.
“Zhou Jie…”
His voice was noticeably weak and hoarse.
Zhou Dongnan, leaning on his bed, his pale lips trembling slightly.
No man is made of stone, how can one be without feelings?
Unlike his other generals, Zhou Jie was one of his earliest fierce generals, loyal to him, and his outstanding strength made Zhou Dongnan extremely reliant on him.
He never imagined that invading a newcomer would directly cost him this trusted and beloved general!
Thinking of that hateful face, Zhou Dongnan’s expression uncontrollably began to twist.
His eyes, filled with anger, carried immense hatred.
“Luo Ji! You just wait, if I don’t get revenge, I, Zhou Dongnan, swear I am not a man!!”
“Cough, cough, cough!!”
Hearing the commotion inside the room, the violent coughing frightened the maids outside, who rushed in.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please take care of your health!”
“Imperial physician! Quick, summon the Imperial physician!”
Zhou Dongnan’s condition truly terrified the maids attending to him, fearing he would cough up blood.
If anything untoward happened, they would all face inevitable death!
Under the maids’ soothing, Zhou Dongnan’s emotions calmed down slightly.
However, at this moment, the system’s notification sound suddenly echoed in his mind.
[System notification: Player ‘Luo Ji’ has activated the Gold-tier item ‘Declaration of War (Total War)’ against you!]
[System notification: Player ‘Luo Ji’ has initiated total war against you!]
[System notification: In 10 seconds, your civilization will be teleported into the battlefield. Please be mentally prepared.]
10, 9, 8, 7…
A series of system notifications somewhat stunned him.
Then, Zhou Dongnan, who had reacted, instantly changed his expression.
Without time to think further, he pushed away the maids supporting him and shouted repeatedly.
“Quick! Quickly dispatch more troops to the border cities!”
However, the 10-second countdown was not enough for him to do this.
In the void, a brand new planar battlefield was being born!
A crimson twin-tailed comet streaked across the sky.
On the originally empty wilderness, majestic cities appeared out of thin air.
The two players, resolved to fight to the death, had now entered the arena!
