So That Was It

"See? This Great Wall was just a vanity project. People will break through it in no time. What are you going to use to stop them?"

All eyes were on the nomadic cavalrymen who were plundering.

Then, someone with sharp eyes suddenly pointed to a corner of the light screen and shouted, "Look!"

It was an inconspicuous, simple platform on the Great Wall.

At that moment, a ball of eerie blue flame suddenly ignited at the top of the platform and shot into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, beacon fires were also lit on the adjacent high platform.

Next to the next, then the next.

One beacon fire after another spread along the entire Great Wall, like a sleeping fire dragon suddenly awakening, drawing a dazzling blue arc under the gray sky.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the entire eastern section of the Great Wall was lit up with beacon fires.

Meanwhile, at the pass closest to the attacked village, five thousand heavily armored infantry and three thousand crossbowmen had already lined up and were rapidly advancing in the direction indicated by the beacon fire.

On the platform, a teacher suddenly sat up straight.

"Is this... a message relay? A beacon tower?"

"The relay was extremely efficient, one person passing the message on to the next. From the discovery of the enemy situation to the deployment of the main force, it took less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

"The reason those nomadic cavalrymen succeeded so often before was because information traveled too slowly. By the time the territorial armies received the news and arrived, the nomads had already looted and fled. But now..."

A moment of silence fell over everyone.

In the light screen, the territory's army was rapidly maneuvering along the road inside the Great Wall.

Heavy infantry advanced in formation, followed closely by crossbowmen, with new troops constantly joining from various passes along the way.

Meanwhile, the three thousand cavalrymen of the Azure Wolf Tribe were still looting the villages. They clearly hadn't expected the territory's army to arrive so quickly.

By the time they heard the heavy footsteps approaching from afar, the crossbowmen had already formed their ranks three hundred paces away.

"Put."

Three thousand crossbow bolts were released simultaneously, swarming down like locusts, darkening the sky, and raining down on the cavalry.

Wildebeest neighed, cavalrymen screamed, and a single volley felled nearly half of the warhorses.

The remaining cavalrymen hurriedly mounted their horses, attempting to break through the encirclement. However, the route they had taken was blocked by heavily armored infantry. Five thousand heavily armored soldiers formed a dense square formation, with spears like a forest and shields like a wall, forming an iron dam that stood in front of the cavalrymen.

The cavalry charged, crashing into the heavily armored phalanx like waves crashing against rocks, shattering completely.

Of the three thousand Canglang cavalry, less than five hundred returned alive.

On the platform, the teachers watched this scene, and their previous doubts disappeared.

"That's not enough," a teacher said after a moment of silence. "This battle shows that he wasn't acting recklessly; he did some thinking. The beacon towers relayed information, the main force moved quickly, heavy infantry blocked the breaches, and crossbowmen provided firepower. This tactic was indeed effective. But it's still lacking something."

What's missing?

"Look at those cavalrymen who escaped. Although they were ambushed, more than five hundred of them still managed to get away. Why? Because the wildebeests are too fast. The territory's army didn't have any cavalry, so they couldn't catch up. With just infantry and crossbowmen, they could repel the enemy, but they couldn't hold them off. If they suffered a loss this time, they would come back from a different direction next time. You can't always stop them in time."

"And look at the Great Wall. When the Azure Wolf Tribe came, the Great Wall wasn't damaged. They came around from the dense forest at the eastern end. This shows that the Great Wall didn't truly seal off the border; it only increased the difficulty of detouring. The nomadic cavalry's mobility still exists."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So Su Mu's design has potential, but it's not perfect yet. If we could add some more pursuit-type monster cards, or increase the number of cavalry units, perhaps..."

Before the first teacher could finish speaking, he was interrupted by another teacher.

"Wait, look."

Everyone looked at the light screen again.

The remaining five hundred cavalrymen of the Azure Wolf Tribe are fleeing north in panic. They are following the route they came from, passing through dense forests, and trying to escape from the eastern end of the Great Wall.

Then they stopped.

At the edge of the dense forest ahead, the Great Wall, which had been damaged, has now been restored.

It was impossible to clear a path for their horses in a short time, and abandoning the horses would only hasten their demise.

The cavalrymen panicked.

They turned their horses around, attempting to break out in another direction. But that direction was also blocked by heavily armored infantry.

The remaining 500 cavalrymen were forced into a narrow valley, with city walls in front, pursuers behind, and steep mountain walls on both sides.

They were trapped like fish in a barrel.

The teachers on the platform were stunned.

"Isn't there a gap at the eastern end of the Great Wall? That's where they came in."

"Watch the replay." Someone pulled up previous footage. "When the Azure Wolf Tribe entered, there was indeed a gap at the eastern end of the Great Wall. But after they entered, that gap was repaired."

The scene rewinds to the moment when the Azure Wolf Tribe cavalry broke through the eastern end of the Great Wall.

A squad of soldiers was patrolling near the breach. They discovered it and immediately began repairing it with their tools.

The rammed earth city wall was already quick to repair, and with the "self-repairing after damage" feature that Su Mu had specifically chosen, the gap was filled back in less than half an hour.

When the Azure Wolf Tribe cavalry finished looting and tried to return the way they came, the eastern end of the Great Wall was already intact.

The route they came by was blocked.

On the platform, everyone's expression froze.

"I see... I see!"

A teacher slammed his hand on the armrest, his voice trembling, "He chose that self-repairing rammed earth wall precisely for this! The wall doesn't need to completely block the enemy; it only needs to seal the breaches after the enemy enters! Keep the enemy inside!"

"The Great Wall, stretching for 80,000 li, cannot be manned at every point. But as soon as a beacon tower sounds an alarm, the nearest patrol can rush to the breach to repair it. The rammed earth wall can be repaired quickly; while the enemy is still looting, their retreat will already be blocked."

"Then it was a matter of trapping the enemy. The territory's army moved out from the nearest pass to block the front. The Great Wall was repaired to block the rear. The nomadic cavalry were trapped in the territory, without supplies or a way out, and could only be worn down to death."

"This line of thinking... this line of thinking..."

The older teacher took a deep breath, his voice filled with an almost awe-inspiring exclamation.

"His choice of heavy infantry and crossbowmen was for the same purpose. The heavy infantry blocked the entrance, while the crossbowmen provided firepower. The nomadic cavalry's charge was stopped by the heavy infantry phalanx, and the crossbowmen cleaned up from the rear. With no way to retreat and no supplies, even the best mobility was useless."

"One thing leads to another," someone murmured. "When he designed this dungeon, every step was meticulously planned."

"Didn't you all notice?" another teacher suddenly spoke up, her voice tinged with disbelief, "When he made his choices, he hardly hesitated at all. Buying the city walls, the high platform, the professional cards, naming them, confirming completion—the whole process was seamless. It was as if he had already planned all of this."

"You mean..."

"His understanding of this tactic is ingrained in his very being. He doesn't need to think, because he already knows how to play it."

Everyone fell silent.