Chapter 80: [Operation Barbarossa] Unlocked (3.6k)

Because the main battlefield of the [Battle of Songgufeng] at the time involved over a hundred soldiers from the 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, 335th Regiment of the 112th Division of the Republic’s Volunteer Army, Zhao Ming only opened 150 slots when creating it. Each round allows 150 soldiers from the Great Xia Federation to experience that battle. Just like [Bloody Battle of Sanso-ri], once they truly cannot hold the line,

Zhao Ming will then unlock the Republic Volunteer Army’s data.

The Great Xia Federation’s Northern Army, while able to unlock the prerequisites by integrating their elite forces,

can only face the enemy head-on in the [Battle of Songgufeng] due to the participant limit.

Once the Great Xia Federation soldiers enter the [Battle of Songgufeng],

they will have to defend a small hillside only 200 meters above sea level with a force of 150 men, blocking over 2,000 enemy troops—including the US 2nd Division and the Turkish Brigade—from retreating south along the main road toward Longyuanli.

The [Battle of Songgufeng] is a positional battle.

Therefore, after it is unlocked, both Northern elites and regular soldiers can participate alongside those who unlocked it; there is no 14-hour forced march to test their will.

There is only a 6-hour fierce battle on the front lines to test combat effectiveness.

Zhao Ming is curious how long the Northern Army can hold out when the numbers are similar to the Republic Volunteer Army, and whether they can repel the US military’s charges. After all, they are the Northern Army’s Special Operations Brigade.

[Bloody Battle of Sanso-ri] tests the limits of willpower, while [Battle of Songgufeng] is a true test of combat capability.

Right there on that tiny front line.

Only by fighting for 6 hours, repelling five large-scale US charges, and holding out until reinforcements arrive can the Great Xia Federation soldiers who entered the [Battle of Songgufeng] complete the mission.

Zhao Ming glanced at the ongoing data for [Bloody Battle of Sanso-ri].

If the Northern Army holds out for another 21 hours, they will complete the prerequisites to unlock the [Battle of Songgufeng].

Zhao Ming set a reminder in the database backend.

Once the Northern Army meets the conditions, a notification will be sent to him upon entering the [Battle of Songgufeng], and he then exited the game database.

It will be at least tomorrow before there are results from that side.

He then checked the progress of all current immersive plot players. In some players' immersive plots, the Empire is preparing to launch "Operation Barbarossa," splitting into three prongs to blitz the Soviet Federation.

But the players don't know this yet.

Zhao Ming pondered for a moment and began operating within the database.

The shock of individual players triggering the "Eastern Front" is far less than the shock of everyone experiencing the "Eastern Front." Moreover, this earth-shattering strike by the Empire shouldn't just shock the few players with fast progress.

Zhao Ming added a judgment condition to the game database.

He made the plot-skipping frequency for fast-progressing players decrease, making time pass more slowly.

He let slower-progressing players skip more time when skipping the plot.

After continuing this silently for a period, the time for all players in [Immersive Plot] mode will synchronize to a single point. Once most players are synchronized, he will unlock the progress.

Letting the Empire in the vast majority of players' immersive plots launch "Operation Barbarossa" simultaneously will certainly generate plenty of emotional value.

But that is not enough.

Zhao Ming thought for a moment, and his eyes lit up.

He then opened the Federation Headlines and logged into his account.

Soon.

A message was edited and sent:

[Polar Star Games Zhao Ming: To celebrate "World War II: Rise of the Empire" landing on other Federation platforms,

the company has decided to launch a celebratory event.]

[We will launch an experience module on the official Polar Star Games website.]

[As long as players trigger plots in "Earth" or learn touching, shocking, or sad stories after interacting with NPCs, they can upload them to the experience module on the official website for other players to watch.]

[Each work will be voted on by players to select the top 100 plot videos.]

[Once they win, the uploading player will receive exquisite peripheral products from our company's "Earth" IP series, and perhaps even keys to hidden plots?]

[PS: It is said that many recipes in "Earth" can be replicated in the reality of Blue Star~]

Send!

Zhao Ming nodded with satisfaction; this would do.

First, use the event to encourage players to interact more with NPCs and understand the game, and after they experience the novel gameplay, the "Eastern Front" will open...

Players in the Empire and the Anglo-French Federation have nothing to worry about.

It is the players currently in the Soviet Federation who might have it worse, because familiar plots, characters, and buildings might all be destroyed by the Empire.

Miserable... it is quite miserable.

Consider it a contribution of emotional value for the development of subsequent plots.

Under Zhao Ming's operation, the Polar Star official website also opened the [Experience Plot] module.

It was divided into detailed modules based on the nature of the plot.

There were over thirty categories of varying sizes, such as [Combat], [Scenery], [Tear-jerker], [Air Combat], and [Story]. Players could upload thrilling battle footage, strange stories heard from NPCs, or the game's stunning scenery.

After choosing a category and uploading, the players who uploaded the top 100 voted works would receive customized "Earth" IP peripherals.

After Zhao Ming's message was sent out,

it quickly sparked a new round of discussion, and the number of players in [Immersive Plot] mode was trending upward daily.

Ten days later.

Sky Shark Live, Gaming Section.

A life-sim player of "World War II: Rise of the Empire" was earnestly learning from the bakery owner in the game.

Streamer Xia Ling, wearing an apprentice's outfit, after watching just once,

under the shocked gaze of the bakery owner,

completed the production process of potato bread without a single error, and the finished product looked even better than what she had made. Seeing this, the bakery owner praised her in shock.

Xia Ling smiled and then exited the game.

A small kitchen appeared in the live stream room, and Xia Ling appeared, starting to make potato bread according to the steps in the game. She finished quickly and put it into the oven.

Having succeeded, Xia Ling showed a satisfied expression and chatted with the viewers in the live stream room during the gap.

"The recipes in this game are quite outrageous."

"Besides this potato bread, other things like black bread and carrot tea can be made to taste exactly like they do in the game."

"I also made some vodka, but it hasn't finished brewing yet."

"Once it's brewed, I'll send it for testing to make sure there are no problems before I try it."

"After all, it's alcohol from a game; I don't know if it's reliable."

"But this bread is definitely edible."

Looking at the question marks in the live stream chat, Xia Ling replied:

"Why do I say it's outrageous?"

"Because many games just copy the flavor data of real-world food and just change the name."

"If you try to pursue the production process,"

"the NPCs will be clueless because they are just given data and flavors, with no production process."

"But this game actually has the production process for all food."

"Although the taste is average... it's quite novel."

"I'll have to try the delicacies from other regions later and make them all."

While replying to the chat, Xia Ling entered the Polar Star official website and logged into her account.

She uploaded the process of making potato bread in the game and in reality. Her account interface had several other videos, but they didn't have many votes in the [Gourmet] category.

Currently, some of the food with more votes included [Flavorful Egg Custard], [French Foie Gras], and [Coconut Cookies].

Compared to these, the Soviet-style potato bread and black bread Xia Ling made... were indeed not at an advantage.

On the other side.

Streamer Duan Yu, who was also in the immersive plot on the Soviet side, was building a fire outside a dilapidated wooden hut. A deer leg was propped over the fire, sizzling with oil and emitting a meaty aroma.

Duan Yu watched the deer leg roasting over the fire.

Sitting across from the fire was an old hunter with a flushed face and a stubbly beard, holding a knife, taking a bite of venison and a sip of wine, already somewhat intoxicated.

Duan Yu poked at the fire.

He had randomly rolled the identity of a village hunter, but there were too few NPCs in this village. He had played a few times with no interest, and he couldn't aim while hunting, so he didn't continue playing.

It wasn't until a few days ago that a friend pulled him to play.

They even mentioned some event where you could upload stories or plots from the game, and those with high votes could win customized rewards.

Only then did he gain a bit of interest, thinking of the old hunter in the village.

He had heard NPCs in the game say that the old hunter seemed to have been a soldier before, participating in many great battles, until his leg was injured and he returned.

But he never spoke about the battlefield, and over time, people became skeptical.

As a veteran player of the game, Duan Yu sensed there must be a hidden story, but he hadn't been interested at the time, so he didn't look into it. After returning this time, Duan Yu came over every day to bring the old hunter wine.

When this old hunter got drunk, he would indeed reveal some war stories, which directly attracted many viewers.

In just a few days,

the number of people in his live stream room had increased seven or eight times, all squatting to listen to the old hunter tell stories.

At this time, the old hunter was already drunk and picked up the hunting rifle beside him, gesturing:

"Back when I was at the Battle of Tannenberg, fighting those Imperial bastards, it was one shot, one kill..."

"Bang!"

"At a distance of over two hundred meters, I directly..."

Duan Yu's mouth twitched, and he dodged.

He was almost hit in the head by the muzzle, which gave Duan Yu a headache. This old hunter loved to move around when drunk, and the viewers just wanted to hear stories.

Just endure it...

The old hunter saw Duan Yu dodging and couldn't help but laugh loudly:

"Little Olga, your courage is not enough."

"Back then, I faced the machine guns of those Imperial bastards and charged without blinking."

"One shot and I took out that machine gunner..."

The chat in the live stream room scrolled: [This old man really hates the Imperials. Could it be that his leg was crippled by them?]

[Definitely. According to the story the old hunter told, he should have participated in the World War I in the background, otherwise why call them bastards every other word?]

[The old hunter said quite a bit, but it's all over the place, and there's too little useful information.]

[It's not that little. At least we know that the Empire was already fighting the Soviet Federation during World War I.]

[Took out a machine gunner with one shot during a charge? This guy is bragging, right?]

The live stream room was discussing the old hunter's story.

At this moment, a slight tremor came from under their feet. The old hunter, numbed by alcohol, had no reaction, but Duan Yu had already sensed something was wrong.

An earthquake?

Doesn't seem like it... Duan Yu stood up from in front of the fire and looked around.

Suddenly.

Duan Yu's pupils shrank violently.

He saw at the end of his line of sight one, two, three... until countless dense tank armored clusters appeared, visibly growing larger, rapidly driving toward here.

What the hell is going on?!

Duan Yu immediately picked up the hunting rifle at his feet, looked at the drunken old hunter, and shouted hurriedly:

"Run!"

This is the border of the Soviet Federation, and further west is the Empire. These tanks are charging from the west; what else could they be doing?

The old hunter was still confused, looking at Duan Yu's actions, thinking some beast had scared him like this, and stood up with the hunting rifle, laughing:

"Let me see what kind of beast scared you like this, a tiger?"

Saying this, he turned to look.

He saw the dense tank clusters charging toward them.

The old hunter instantly sobered up, shocked and angry:

"Damn it?!"

"It's those Imperial bastards! How did they get here?!"