World Conquest Online

Ling Tong lay on the ground, his body low and out of sight. The ground shook beneath him, with the small stones he lay on bouncing against his body as the sound of a mass of hooves approached. His sword was already drawn and in his hand as he waited for the signal from Wu Dang Archer Zhang Sui who was on far left of his position.

He lay with seven Phalanx of Hoplite against the side of the naturally formed embankment, awaiting the fleeing Player Cavalry to appear and then pass them. The sounds of shouting could be heard above the hooves as the ground continued to shake, thousands of horsemen approaching at full speed.

Beside him, Iason was also lay down. Iason had his Dory Spear in his hand, ready to lift and charge forwards in to the flank of the Cavalry on his signal. Beside him was nearly one hundred and eighty Hoplite from Megara, the rest of them having left with the Cavalry earlier. They seemed the most excited for this battle, to fight and destroy the enemy Cavalry as they had been captives of a branch of this Cavalry at the beginning of the war. On his other side was the Spartan’s under Aristodemus, with the Skiritai hoplite at the far end.

"It will be soon." Iason commented, as his other hand beside his shield grabbed a collection of stones and gripped them tightly. The ground now shaking harder and harder as the sound of charging hooves and shouting became closer and closer.

"It will be." Ling Tong agreed as he listened as well, calmness in his young voice, "Starbo will charge first, then we will go. Be prepared to retreat if this doesn’t work out."

"Even if we loose our lives, if we can cause the Persians to loose the battle and save our homes, then it is worthwhile." Iason replied seriously, acknowledging the big task in front of them.

"That may be the case, but I have a place I am taking you after this and I want you all to come with me." Ling Tong smiled in response, the two of them sharing an acknowledgement between them.

The sound of a loud whistle interrupted them, as an arrow launched by Zhang Sui flew high in the air across the battlefield in front of them. The arrow had a small wooden tube attached to it, that pulled in air causing a loud whistly noise at it flew, a signal agreed earlier that the enemy were in position to attack. Andrew was also aware of the signal and would have let the Player’s know that it was time to turn and attack their chasers as well.

"Attack!" Ling Tong shouted as he pushed himself to his feet, the Hoplite at the far edge under Strabo charging over the embankment before he had chance to move. The four Skiritae Phalanx moved with eagerness, as the Spartans under Aristodemus follow, with Ling Tong, Iason and the Megaran’s last.

The Enemy Cavalry were close to the heels of Andrew and the Player Cavalry, with the back lines of the Players having been engaged with them as they flee’d. However the Players now began to turn as the sight of the Hoplite could be seen on the left flank, their Dory spears in front of them as they charged forwards in a loose formation at first. Those at the front stabbed in to the exposed Cavalry flank as the rest joined them, their normal formation forming as they stabbed forwards, pulled back and stabbed again. They aimed for the riders on the back of the horses, trying to cause more chaos with charging horses without riders.

"Drop Spears and Charge!" Ling Tong shouted as over six hundred men stabbed one last time, before charging forwards with their short swords, the Cavalry alongside Andrew now turning themselves and clashing against their foe. The Persians didn’t attempt to fight back, instead the rear lines beginning to turn and flee at the first moments of the ambush.

Ling Tong himself ran through the lines, grabbing the side of a Persian horse and pulling the rider free before climbing on himself. He swung his sword at a passing Persian, taking his head on the first swing, before a Hoplite beside him did the same thing on that horse. Soon the Hoplite were all pulling Persian’s from their horses, killing their riders in the motion.

"General, look there!" Iason shouted, pointing towards a better armoured Persian who seemed to be caught near the front of the enemy formation, tangled with the rear lines of the Player Cavalry and unable to pull loose as of yet.

"Mardonius!" Ling Tong grinned, before looking for one of his Archers. They had stayed on the edge of the embankment, loosing Arrows at any targets as they had in the previous battle. With a group aimed at protecting Aristodemus again, without him knowing. He noticed Zhang Sui looking in his direction, so he pointed towards the armour Persian that Iason had showed him.

Zhang Sui nodded in response, as he let loose an arrow in the Armoured Persians location. An other Persian took the arrow as he rode past in the fighting, clear frustration showing on Zhang Sui’s face.

"It seems we’ll have to do it the hard way then!" Iason commented as he also saw what had happened, signalling for some of his Megaran Hoplite nearby to follow him. The Hoplite who were mainly now on horseback were stabbing at the Persian’s who were squashed between the two forces, their rear line still escaping. The Hoplite fought againt their counterparts, and Ling Tong could see that whilst they currently had the advantage, a caged predator was still a predator.

"Have the men maintain the line and prepare for them to retreat when needed, I want the horsewoman here to help claim us some more horses before we leave here." Ling Tong ordered, holding back his greed slightly so he could continue with his main objectives. He knew that Gan Ning and Sun Ce would most likely have charged directly towards the Enemy Commander, but Cheng Pu had trained him to be more reserved and he struggled to keep back his youthful excitement.

"General, we could get him right now, we just need to push through a few lines." Iason commented in response as he stabbed at a Persian who was trying to retreat, his horse pulling him away as he bled badly from a wound in his side.

"Take over here and make sure everyone gets back, I’ll take ten men and go for him!" Ling Tong laughed, ignoring Cheng Pu’s words and deciding to be more like Gan Ning. Iason smiled in response as he signalled for some of those nearby to form a guard around Ling Tong who created a small arrow formation as he pushed forwards towards the Enemy Commander.

Zhang Sui and his Archers continued to target the Enemy Commander as well, who now realised he was being targeted and tried his best to disengage and push through his own lines that were currently being slaughtered around him. The six hundred Hoplite had caused enough disruption and damage in their initial charge, disrupting his formation and causing fear, that he had lost the momentum he needed. The Persian’s would have expected more enemies ambushing them, which caused them to flee, if they had known it was only six hundred men, they would most likely have fought harder.

Ling Tong ducked under a wild swing from an enemy spear, before grabbing the shaft with his free hand and pushing it back to dislodge it’s holder. The Hoplite beside him, riding a newly caught horse, stabbed in to the enemy rider, whilst the one beside him protected him with his shield.

"Let’s get him quick!" Ling Tong ordered as he could see the Enemy Commander heading in his direction, the Player Cavalry also approaching him as his options became smaller and smaller. Ling Tong could see some Players within earshot, the battlefield seemingly feeling smaller and smaller. "Don’t let him escape!"

The Players seemed to hear him, looking in his direction as he pointed towards the Enemy Commander that was now pushing closer through the lines of his own men. Ling Tong directed his horse and the ten men following him, trying to cut through the lines as the Persian’s all tried to escape from the net they had been caught in.

The enemies around them continued to fight them, but most of them aimed at escaping and ignored the ten hoplite and Ling Tong that swung at them. An Arrow lodged itself in one that was nearby, catching Ling Tong off guard as the Wu Dang Archers continued to give him some protection as the Enemy Commander was now only a few horses away from him.

Nearby, some Players also approached, cutting through the lines themselves towards the Enemy Commander. One of the Players wore heavy armour himself, much thicker than anything Ling Tong had seen before. The weapons of the Persian’s seemed to cause little damage as the Player got closer and closer.

"General Ling Tong?" The Player shouted towards Ling Tong as they both neared the Enemy Commander who was trying his best to push away from the battle.

"That is correct, we need to catch him before he escapes." Ling Tong replied to the Armoured Player.

"BlackHawk said to help you if we found you." The Player replied, referring to Andrew’s game name. Before introducing himself, "My name is DragonKnight123!"

"Bit of a strange name, but the help is appreciated!" Ling Tong replied as the Players took down the rear of the General’s guard and Ling Tong worked through the flank, both groups having cut through lines of Persian’s in their way. Both exposed to the enemies that surrounded them but mainly prioritised fleeing.

Suddenly, they seemed to flee faster, as the Player Cavalry that had them squeezed in began to give them more lines to escape. The pressure on the Persian’s began to disappear as they were able to escape, with the Enemy Commander seeming to be given some more space and began moving away from them again.

"What are they doing?" DragonKnight123 exclaimed angrily, seeing that the battle that they were clearly winning was suddenly changing.

"Greed I bet." A Player beside him replied, with Ling Tong understanding that they were here to loot as many enemies as possible, a similar aim of his own. They had no permanent structure with a real Commander and had done enough to win this part of the Battle without having lost their own lives and opportunities.

"He’s going to escape though!" DragonKnight123 shouted in frustration as he understood the wider part of the battle and alongside the Players with him was fully role playing the Character, rather than fighting for loot and other gains.

"He won’t." Ling Tong stated, grabbing a small knife that was strapped to his calf. He pulled it loose and grabbed the blade, aiming it towards the Enemy Commander. He breathed and threw it, the knife spinning in the air before stabbing in to the back of the Enemy Commander. The Knife was made by Ou Yezi and was of a quality and metal that wouldn’t have been in this era. Whilst the Enemy Commander was wearing better armour, the blade was much stronger and pierced through. He slumped forwards, however his horse continued to pull him forwards as he was dragged by the fleeing Persians beside him.

"Mardonius has been killed, Mardonius has been killed!" One of the Hoplite shouted as they fled, but Ling Tong wasn’t confident it was a killing throw, and would have most likely just removed him from this battle instead.

"That was a good throw." The Player beside DragonKnight123 commented, as they approached each other. Ling Tong pulling his horse back so he didn’t chase any further, allowing the Persians to be chased by the other Players.

"I only did it to annoy the Archers." Ling Tong replied, looking towards the embankment were Zhang Sui shook his bow at him with a grin on his face, showing that he had seen what Ling Tong had done.

"Will you join us in clearing the enemy Infantry?" DragonKnight123 offered Ling Tong, politeness in his voice.

"Thanks for the offer, but our men have other tasks." Ling Tong replied, knowing that he had to prepare for what was to come after the battle. He noticed Andrew in the distance, waving at him with a big smile as he approached.