Chapter 12 The Orcs Arrive

On the fourth day after Soros and his party left, the Eighth Battalion received a military order to go to the fortress group in the Pratos Mountains to garrison.

The Pratos Mountains are 40 kilometers away from the Flame Fortress and are located in the northeast of the Flame Fortress.

There is a mountain valley in the middle of the mountains that leads directly to the Flame Fortress.

Defending this valley is equivalent to defending the flank of the Flame Fortress.

If the Pratos Fortress cannot be breached and the troops are stationed under the Flame Fortress, the food supply of the orc army may be cut off at any time.

To bypass the Pratos Mountains, you need to walk an extra 300 kilometers of mountain roads.

The orc army consumes a lot of food and fodder every day, and adding 300 kilometers of transportation lines makes it difficult for the orc army to bear.

Decades ago, the Mad Lion Legion built a solid fortress in the Pratos Mountains. Unfortunately, in the last orc invasion, the fortress group was lost and a battalion of soldiers was wiped out.

After the orc army retreated, the fortress group was destroyed. Although it has been repaired in recent years, only half of the castles can be defended.

The Pratos Fortress Group has six squadrons of city defense troops stationed in it, and two nearby baronies.

These two baronies belong to different provinces. Baron Harden belongs to Gascoigne Province, south of the Pratos Mountains. Baron Stopa is located in the Gedda Province, southeast of the Pratos Mountains.

The combat effectiveness of the city defense army is very average, far inferior to the three main legions. The equipment is relatively weak, and the number of professionals is also small.

There are only seven professionals in the six squadrons. In previous wars, they can only barely undertake garrison tasks. They cannot fight against orcs in the field.

On the contrary, the troops directly under Baron Harden are very powerful.

Although the knights under the baron have only more than a hundred people, the number of professionals exceeds thirty. The remaining soldiers are also elite, and the number of Warcraft mounts is more than half. In a head-on fight, the combat effectiveness is comparable to the main brigade of the Mad Lion Legion.

The unformed brigade of the Eighth Brigade is not as good as the Baron Knights.

After receiving the order, the Eighth Battalion set out immediately, and arrived at the Pratos Fortress Group after walking from morning to night for a day.

This world has extraordinary power and magic factors. Ordinary humans in the Dawn Continent are stronger than those on Blue Star. According to Richard's observations over the years, the average strength of middle-aged men in the North is more than 1.5.

Some warriors with better talents can reach 4 to 5 points of strength, which is enough to be on par with the strongmen of Blue Star.

They are also physically stronger than men on Blue Star. If they march in heavy armor and have supplies and military stations along the way, the main army can easily travel hundreds of miles a day.

Nine large and small camps were built on the Pratos Mountains.

The nine castles are located on both sides of the valley between the mountains. The castles are relatively close to each other, and can support each other with crossbows and catapults.

The nine castles are of different sizes, and different numbers of city defense troops are stationed.

In wartime, the castles will be taken over by the main army.

Including the Seventh Squadron, which has just been organized for more than half, the Eighth Battalion has less than eight squadrons of soldiers.

Among them, the combat effectiveness of the seventh squadron is weak, which is only slightly better than the city defense army.

The sixth squadron has been formed for more than half a year. Some backbones have been drawn from several old squadrons. The combat effectiveness is not very strong, which is slightly weaker than several main squadrons.

After taking over the castle and settling the soldiers, the main officers of the sixth squadron received orders to go to the third castle for a meeting.

The person who presided over the meeting was Baron Harden, who was also the commander of the Pratos defense line.

"I led a team to investigate these days and found that the orc army was not far from the defense line.

Our city defense army, the main army, and the two baron private army command systems are not subordinate to each other. We don't train together all year round. There is no tacit understanding and it is not suitable to be mixed with each other.

The castle is not too large and the food storage is limited. I decided to withdraw the city defense army and stay in Baron Harden's castle in the rear. The Eighth Brigade is stationed in nine castles. My cavalry is cruising outside, sneaking on the orcs' food routes, cooperating with the soldiers of the Eighth Brigade to guard the defense line.

Do you have any opinions?"

Baron Harden is over seventy years old and has served as the commander of the Flying Swallow Legion.

He was born into a declining noble family. After awakening his bloodline, he advanced to the seventh-level silver knight. He made military achievements and won the title, and gradually became a heavyweight commander in the North.

The king placed his fiefdom near the Pratos fortress group, just to rely on his power to stabilize the Pratos defense line.

After the battle broke out, Baron Harden personally led the team to investigate. In recent days, he had killed more than 20 orc scouts and had a better understanding of the enemy situation.

Although his tactical arrangements were not surprising, they were quite stable.

The Eighth Brigade had just arrived and was still unfamiliar with the enemy situation, so naturally no one would make random suggestions.

The day after the meeting, Richard was preparing to practice archery when he suddenly heard the sound of a horn from afar.

Richard ran quickly to the foot of the city wall.

Climbing up the city wall, he found that a stream of smoke and dust was approaching the castle group quickly.

Richard took a closer look and found that thousands of orcs had arrived nearby.

These orcs should be the vanguard of the army. They quickly dispersed into three teams and began to attack castles one to three without preparation.

Castle No. 1 is located in the northernmost part of the valley, at the foot of the Platos Mountains. It is an outpost castle with a relatively large scale.

Castle No. 2 is located on the hillside above Castle No. 1. It is smaller in scale, but the arrows shot from Castle No. 2 can effectively reinforce Castle No. 1.

Castle No. 3 is located on the mountains on the east side of the valley.

The mountains on the east side are low and gentle, about tens of meters high, and continuous in depth, more than ten kilometers, which is a typical hilly terrain.

The three castles also formed the first line of defense, among which Castle No. 1 is the focus of defense. Captain Sharp Valla arranged the third squadron to garrison.

The third squadron is one of the main squadrons, with more than 80% of veterans, and its combat effectiveness is considerable.

The three squads of the fifth squadron are stationed at Castle No. 2, and more than ten archers are strengthened. Castle No. 3 is guarded by the sixth squadron, which is less stressful than Castle No. 1.

When the orc army approaches, the sixth squadron has made preparations, and each squad is standing at the designated position. The reserve team is in place and ready to support at any time.

Richard is the deputy squadron leader, and his command position is at the forefront.

Squadron leader Diara coordinates the overall situation and deploys troops, and another deputy squadron leader Brown is responsible for commanding the reserve team to check for leaks and make up for the gaps. Military judge Owen stood motionless on the top of the city, looking not at all flustered.

Under the protection of his direct team, the military chaplain Ed has built a simple battlefield first aid station, ready to treat the wounded at any time.

Ed is a second-level chaplain, and his mental power can release six healing spells for minor injuries every day.

Although it is called healing minor injuries, the effect is very outstanding. Richard has seen with his own eyes that a two-inch long and one-inch deep knife wound can be stopped bleeding instantly by releasing a healing spell for minor injuries.

Even if the internal organs are injured, the bleeding can also be stopped quickly. Richard feels that the effect of the fourth-ring magic to treat serious injuries is better than going to a tertiary hospital for rescue.

The healing skills of the military chaplain will only treat important officers.

Ordinary soldiers can only get simple bandages when they are injured. If the wound becomes inflamed, they can only bear it. If they can't bear it, they will be amputated or even lose their lives.

Ordinary people in the Dawn Continent, their lives are as cheap as grass