Chapter 115: Cavalry Skill — Relentless Advance

The players’ special skills were assigned completely at random. Chen Hao received the individual soldier skill "Bloody Battle," which offered no advantage in team combat.

Within the regular leveling squad, White Phantom and Lin Xiaofeng drew leadership-type skills. White Phantom’s skill was "Siege," which boosted the base stats of troops by 3% when attacking fortifications. Lin Xiaofeng’s skill was "Unyielding," enhancing the base stats of his troops by 20% when defending with only one-tenth of their original numbers remaining.

Both of these leadership skills were decent for a C-tier skill but were not particularly useful in the early stages. For this mission, Chen Hao led the cavalry on a dual-purpose task requiring mobility. Had he possessed the "Long Drive" skill, he could have easily withdrawn after killing opposing players, without fear of being chased by enemy horsemen.

To Chen Hao’s surprise, a player nearby known as Dollface from the "Harmony of Shuanghui" guild stepped forward and said, “Brother Chen, my leadership skill is Long Drive.”

Long Drive was a cavalry leadership skill that increased the movement speed of cavalry units with fewer than 100 men by 10%, greatly enhancing their mobility. Chen Hao had asked casually, not expecting anyone in his team to have drawn this skill. Even if it wasn’t immediately useful for the current task, it would prove invaluable once they headed northeast.

The Dollface player’s real name was Huluwa. Upon entering the game, he drew the Long Drive leadership skill. However, he had chosen a solo leveling path, assigning his free attribute points to shooting, which didn’t align well with his cavalry skill. Since Long Drive only benefited cavalry, and the four players earned just enough to level up without affording horses, Huluwa’s skill had never been put to use.

Leadership skills only took effect when troops were organized into units. Ten or more men formed a squad, allowing the squad leader’s and deputy leader’s leadership skills to activate. In battles involving regiments or larger units, the leadership skills of the commanding officer, deputy commander, and chief of staff applied—with the commander’s skill fully effective, but those of the deputy and chief of staff reduced by 50%.

For large armies, when troops were dispatched for specific tasks, the leadership skill that took effect was that of the subordinate military commander. For instance, if a player led an army for a guild war, the army’s direct units followed the army headquarters’ orders, with the army commander’s skills fully applied and the deputy commander’s and chief of staff’s at half effectiveness.

If a division was assigned an independent task and separated from the army’s command, then the division commander, deputy commander, and chief of staff’s leadership skills would apply. Should the division commander assign different tasks to each regiment, and the three regiments fought independently, the soldiers would receive leadership skill buffs from their regimental commander, deputy commander, and chief of staff.

The game "War" closely mirrored reality in this respect. A military commander could not personally command every soldier, so trust in appointed officers was essential.

Imagine a large-scale defensive battle: the army commander could not personally oversee the front lines but would assign division commanders to defend specific sectors. Those division commanders, in turn, would assign regiments to hold particular hills, with regimental commanders organizing battalion tasks. The leadership skills’ influence trickled down, sometimes leaving soldiers receiving only the company commander’s leadership skill buff.

Division commanders, beyond their own leadership skill bonuses, also benefited from the direct command of the army headquarters and the leadership skills of the three top officers there. Similarly, regimental commanders gained buffs from their own skills plus those of the division’s officers, and company commanders received buffs from their own skills alongside those of the regiment’s officers.

In summary: junior officers commanded troops directly, whereas senior officers commanded those junior officers. Therefore, senior officers were best suited to have strategic analysis skills, while junior officers benefited more from tactical execution skills.

An army was like a finely tuned machine; every component had to cooperate seamlessly. Junior officers who blindly trusted their own strategic analysis and altered their superiors’ battle plans could cause an entire campaign’s failure—the fate of Ma Su was a classic example.

Each unit’s structure varied, so command protocols differed. For example, some divisions had brigades beneath them. In such cases, the brigade headquarters took orders from the division, and regiments reported to the brigade rather than directly to the division.

Chen Hao’s team comprised only twelve members. For routine leveling, they would form two squads, but for large missions, they could merge into one small unit. Twelve men equaled a squad, a sub-regimental formation, where the leader’s and deputy leader’s leadership skills applied. Chen Hao took the role of leader and appointed Huluwa as his deputy.

Chen Hao’s leadership attribute was 23 points, while Huluwa’s paled at a mere 13 points. Such low leadership stats would spell disaster if they were commanding NPCs, since an NPC soldier’s combat effectiveness depended heavily on their military commander. Low leadership stats led to poor discipline and morale, severely weakening combat capability.

With players leading, however, this issue vanished. Player soldiers benefited from their commander’s leadership skill bonuses, and their combat effectiveness depended on the player’s own skill. High leadership stats made NPC-dominated armies stronger; low leadership stats meant the commander had to rely on players, as leading NPCs might even trigger mutiny.

The mission to protect the railway telegraph lines was issued by the Zhili Governor, Nie Shicheng. During the task, the governor himself led the garrison stationed at Langfang. Chen Hao’s twelve men entered the barracks.

Approaching Nie Shicheng, the governor spoke passionately: “Bandits of the Boxer Rebellion bring ruin upon the people and endanger the nation. As the Zhili Governor, I would be ashamed before the court if bandits flourished under my watch. If I must risk my life to suppress them, so be it. Stranger Chen Baxian, the Boxer bandits have become rampant, destroying railway telegraph lines. Will you aid me in eradicating them?”

“I am willing to serve, sir.”

“Player Chen Baxian, you have accepted the dual-purpose mission ‘Guard the Railway Telegraph Lines’ from NPC Nie Shicheng. The objective: eliminate players who are part of the Boxer rebels sabotaging the railway telegraphs. Rewards: experience points for each player killed; upon reaching 100 kills, you may claim an additional reward from Nie Shicheng.”

White Phantom and several others also accepted the mission. The twelve mounted their horses and, under Chen Hao’s leadership, rode along the Jingshan Railway toward the capital.

The Jingshan Railway ran from the capital through Fengtai, Langfang, Tianjing, Tangshan, and onward to Shanhaiguan in northern Hebei. Nie Shicheng’s jurisdiction covered the segment from the capital to Tianjing, with Langfang roughly in the middle.

If Chen Hao chose to defend the section from Langfang to Tianjing, he would inevitably clash with players taking missions from Lin Heier. Unwilling to create conflict with Lin Heier, Chen Hao opted to operate between the capital and Langfang. This segment was assigned by NPCs loyal to the Qilu Boxer faction; even if Chen Hao killed many opposing players here, the NPCs would despise him, but that was of no concern.

After riding swiftly for over ten kilometers, Chen Hao reined in his azure-maned horse. “For the next few days, we’ll operate in this section. When our hunger and thirst fall to seventy-five percent, Lin Xiaofeng will be responsible for procuring grain and poultry from the farmers to prepare meals. The rest of you will continue the mission. Lin Xiaofeng will receive twenty percent more of the loot as compensation.”

Lin Xiaofeng shook his head. “Cooking is my profession; it’s only right for me to prepare meals. There’s no need to give me extra reward.”

Chen Hao waved his hand. “Our leveling speed will be fast this time. Cooking slows down our progress, so you must be compensated. Otherwise, no one will want to handle logistics next time.”

The others nodded in agreement, and Lin Xiaofeng relented. At that moment, Xia Weiwei rode forward and suggested, “Brother Chen, hostile NPCs might encounter us whenever we approach the railway. Should we first seize a remote segment and build defenses?”