Chapter 135: Sandbox Simulation

Following a day of practical combat assessments, the most significant event in the Military Strategy curriculum—the sand table simulation—took place the next day as scheduled.

Du Long, a student of the Martial Arts department, was naturally required to participate in this military strategy sand table assessment.

The simulation began with simple one-on-one matchups, overseen by two military strategy instructors acting as judges. Students competed in a knockout tournament, where winners advanced to face other victors, with their final scores calculated based on these performances. Due to the high number of participants, it was impossible to use the main Military Strategy Hall for the preliminary rounds. Instead, classrooms across every grade level were divided into three sections: two contestants competed on the sides, while a judge presided in the middle.

Du Long fought his way through the ranks. With the brilliant and unconventional strategies provided by the beautiful spirit within his ring, he defeated opponent after opponent, finally reaching the grade-level finals, which would determine the top two ranking students.

In the final, Du Long’s opponent was quite capable, but still no match for the guidance of the spirit within the ring. He was dealt with swiftly and efficiently.

With this victory, Du Long secured first place in his grade for the comprehensive assessment. This earned him the right to compete in the Military Strategy Hall against the top-ranked students from all other grades of both the Martial Arts and Military Strategy departments.

To be honest, for a freshman who had only joined the Royal Academy a year ago, this level of competition was highly unfair. However, this had been the custom every year, and every senior had come up through the same process. Since the founding of the Royal Academy, those who achieved first place in the academy-wide sand table simulation were almost always upperclassmen from the Military Strategy department; students from the Martial Arts department were generally considered a notch weaker in military strategy.

However, this year, with the addition of Du Long and his previous performance in the practical combat assessment, no one dared to make any hasty judgments about his prospects in the military strategy sand table simulation. Especially after he effortlessly defeated every student in his grade to take first place, many were curious to see what kind of outstanding performance he would put on in the upcoming academy-wide finals.

There were thirteen classes in the Military Strategy department. Since the first-year freshmen of the Martial Arts department had only been enrolled for a month, they were ineligible. Thus, only the top students from the second through fourth grades of the Martial Arts department were qualified to compete. Consequently, only sixteen contestants were selected for the annual sand table simulation finals.

Due to tight scheduling, the sixteen winners, including Du Long, were quickly gathered to begin the final showdown. For Du Long, this simulation was effortless; he possessed a "super cheat" and simply had to follow the instructions given by the beautiful spirit in the ring.

On the sand table in the Military Strategy Hall, Du Long once again easily dispatched three opponents, successfully advancing to the final round. Many people were beginning to feel numb to his success, viewing him as nothing short of a monster.

The next day, during the final round, a group of old men arrived who drew the attention of everyone present: the Old Emperor, Fan Kun, Wei Xuan, Du Fengzhong, and others. That these elders of the Haotian Empire were drawn to an annual student sand table simulation was, to say the least, peculiar.

Inside the Military Strategy Hall, the audience stood and bowed respectfully. Only after the group of elders had taken their seats did the others sit down, feeling anxious and restless.

"Don't be nervous! Proceed as you would in a regular match; pretend we aren't even here," the Old Emperor said with a beaming smile, sensing the tension in the room. His words were primarily directed at the judging instructors.

The Haotian Royal Academy attached great importance to this final, and it was rare for the Old Dean himself to preside over the proceedings.

"I hereby announce! The final of the annual military strategy sand table simulation for the end of the 1007th year of the Star Calendar officially begins! The terrain for this simulation is the Shimen Mountain Fortress on the south bank of the Weishui River in the Haotian Empire! Both sides will now draw lots to determine the attacker and the defender. The attacker is allocated 60,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry! The defender is allocated 30,000 infantry and 10,000 archers! Each side is provided with one month's worth of rations! Begin!" the Old Dean announced loudly.

A buzz of conversation rippled through the hall. Many were puzzled as to why the final was set up as an asymmetrical siege rather than a balanced, fair-play mode. This format was inherently unfair; the attacker had more troops and, consequently, more rations. If the attacker simply laid siege without launching a full assault, or diverted part of their force while leaving their supplies, they could simply starve the defenders out. Most defenders would not dare to sally forth, leaving them with no choice but to wait for their rations to run out and face certain defeat.

Beside the draw box, Du Long looked at his serious-looking opponent and smiled. "No need to draw. I am willing to cede the choice; my opponent may choose the attacker or defender role."

Another wave of commotion swept through the audience. They couldn't tell if Du Long was exceptionally skilled and daring, or merely arrogant. None of them knew that this was the idea of the spirit within the ring, not Du Long's own intent.

"Heh! Fengzhong, your grandson has guts!" the Old Emperor said with a chuckle to Old Master Du.

"That brat! He's become hopelessly reckless. Let's see how he handles this! Please forgive his insolence, Your Majesty," Old Master Du said, shaking his head with a bitter smile.

"I don't think it's necessarily reckless," Old man Wei remarked pointedly. "Do you think he's so confident because of that strange ability of his? If he uses that ability in a military simulation, breaking into the finals wouldn't be difficult at all."

"What strange ability?" Fan Kun asked curiously.

The other three elders, who had reached the Spirit Realm, did not answer Fan Kun’s question. They exchanged meaningful glances and shared knowing smiles, but none offered to enlighten the old man.

"If he uses that ability to win, then it is simply a testament to his talent! As long as we have no way to prevent him from using it, we should watch closely. Speculating is useless," the Old Emperor said with a shrug.

Because Du Long had voluntarily given up the choice, his opponent, Fan Jun, a fourth-year senior from the Military Strategy department, did not stand on ceremony and immediately chose to be the attacker.

The match began, and both sides started issuing commands, directing their respective legions to execute their strategic goals.

Fan Jun was a cousin of Fan Tong. While his talent for martial arts was mediocre, he had a particular passion for military strategy and had devoted himself entirely to it. He had managed to make a name for himself in the academy’s Military Strategy department, and this time, he had fought his way to the finals.

His keen strategic instinct told him that choosing the attacking side gave him over an 80% chance of victory. As soon as the match started, he sent his 60,000 infantry to press forward and launch a fierce assault on Shimen Mountain Fortress.

Du Long, however, remained calm. He deployed his 10,000 archers and 30,000 infantry almost entirely on the walls for defense. Beyond this, he secretly sent hundreds of men into Shimen Mountain to harvest three types of local herbs, with specific instructions to gather at least 500 jin of a primary ingredient called "Gut-Eroding Fruit."

In the hall, the audience was baffled as to why he would send men on such an odd mission. The elders were even more puzzled—how did the boy know that these herbs grew in the vicinity of Shimen Mountain? Of course, the combatants were unaware of each other's hidden intelligence; they only knew what was visible on the surface or what their scouts could report. Otherwise, it would not be a sand table simulation.

Shimen Mountain Fortress was a small town with fewer than 10,000 residents and walls only six meters high. Its west side bordered Shimen Mountain, while the other three sides were open plains. Fortunately, the simulation rules stated that the attacker did not have heavy siege equipment, otherwise, the battle would have been impossible to fight.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Under Fan Jun’s command, the siege had been relentless. The 60,000 infantry were divided into three waves of 20,000, rotating to attack the fortress continuously. The defenders fought with all their might. With a casualty ratio of 1 to 2.5, after three days, the defenders had lost 10,000 men, while the attackers had lost 25,000.

Du Long's 40,000 troops were reduced to 30,000, while Fan Jun's 80,000 were down to 55,000. At this point, the attacker ordered the 15,000 wounded to withdraw. This left 40,000 troops surrounding the town: 20,000 infantry and 20,000 elite cavalry that had remained untouched from the start. With these cavalry, Fan Jun was not afraid of the infantry in the town attempting a desperate charge.

The hundreds of men Du Long had sent to the mountain finally returned. According to the judging panel, the Shimen Mountain area was indeed rich in the herbs Du Long had mentioned, and three days were sufficient to complete the task.

Under the curious gaze of the audience, Du Long issued his latest command: have the herbs boiled together in a large vat according to his instructions to refine a deadly poison known as "Heart-Breaking Water."

At this point, many realized what he was planning, but only those familiar with the terrain of Shimen Mountain truly understood his intent, and they were left stunned.

True to their expectations, Du Long ordered all the poison to be poured into the water source in the mountain behind the town. This stream flowed down to the plains, serving as the only source of drinking water for the enemy army. Naturally, he had timed the release of the poison to coincide with the enemy's water collection and cooking time. To ensure precision, he had even released paper lanterns into the water the night before to observe the current and calculate the exact timing.

With this, Du Long, the defender, wiped out the entire enemy force in a single, unexpected stroke. When Fan Jun received the notification that his entire army had been annihilated, he could not fathom how his force had been so inexplicably destroyed. He was so enraged that he stormed out onto the sand table to demand an explanation from the judges.

Seeing the result, the Old Emperor made a meaningful remark: "Wei Xuan! I didn't see that boy use any 'strange ability'! Given his familiarity with the terrain near Shimen Mountain, his victory seems to have had very little to do with any such power."