Chapter 296 Orc Night Raid

The orcs were huddled together in the flood discharge channel and were slaughtered by long-range projectile weapons. The defenders had almost no casualties and repelled the orcs' carefully prepared attack.

Seeing the orcs retreating, Perrin decisively rushed out of the city gate with his elite troops and slaughtered the retreating orcs.

In a war, the heaviest casualties are always during the retreat. Only those who can organize a retreat well can be considered an elite army.

However, because the orcs were negligent in their preparations for the siege, the orc captain took the lead in retreating after heavy casualties, causing the troops to fall into chaos and it was difficult to organize an effective resistance.

There were only 300 soldiers leaving the city. They followed the orcs slowly, shooting feather arrows one by one, and shot the fleeing orcs to death on the roadside and in the trenches.

The focus of the pursuers' attack was the orcs who tried to organize themselves. Many orc officers wanted to organize an army, but were targeted and killed by Perrin and the pursuers.

Under the rhythmic rain of arrows from the pursuers, the defeated orc brigade could not organize a counterattack at all. They were defeated all the way and actually gave up the sixth and fifth fortresses.

The orcs lost only 500 people during the siege, but more than 600 orcs were killed in the escape, including 11 snake-bodied people. In addition, more than 300 orcs died in their own trampling.

Seeing the chaos on the orc front line, the defenders stationed in the fortress of the No. 3 city also bravely rushed out and attacked the orcs from the side.

Being attacked from both sides, the losses of the orc vanguard brigade were even more serious.

After the defeat on the front line, the orc legion leader Grodan immediately sent reinforcements to support.

The main force of the orcs in the direction of Pratos had a total of seven battalions and 14,000 soldiers, which was far more powerful than the defenders. However, due to the terrain restrictions, they could not set up an attack formation, so they could only adopt the tactic of adding fuel, and constantly sent orc battalions to consume the human defenders.

The orcs in the front were defeated, and the main force of the orcs in the rear reacted quickly. They sent troops to attack the No. 3 fortress while sending troops to climb the mountain ridge in an attempt to attack the pursuers from behind.

Seeing that the orcs had sent reinforcements, Perrin and Lothar were both experienced commanders. They gave orders almost at the same time and quickly retreated back to the castle.

In an environment where the enemy was strong and we were weak, the defenders were unable to fight the orcs to death. The biggest task of the Pratos defenders was to delay time, hold the defense line and wait for reinforcements.

The siege failed. The orc legion commander Grodan had a gloomy face and ordered the orc adjutant beside him: "You go to the fifth battalion and count the casualties."

In the afternoon, seeing the casualty statistics sent up, Grodan thought to himself: "The fifth battalion suffered as many as 1,400 casualties, and more than 900 soldiers were killed. The battle lasted only two and a half days, and the casualties exceeded 3,000 to 6,000. According to intelligence, humans have added a thousand soldiers. I wonder how many soldiers will be sacrificed to capture the last three fortresses? Seeing that morale has declined, we must think of a way as soon as possible."

Throughout the afternoon, Grodan kept sending harpies to conduct aerial reconnaissance and did not attack blindly. He kept going to the battalions below and went to the wounded camp to comfort him.

The orc camp was gloomy. For the defenders of Platos Castle, today was a double blessing. In the morning, they seized the opportunity to inflict heavy damage on the orcs, and in the afternoon, they received 500 reinforcements from Baron Soros.

Baron Soros, with the support of Earl Harland, has developed very rapidly in recent years and has armed 500 soldiers. These soldiers are wearing steel armor, and many of the backbones are veterans who have followed Soros for many years, and their combat effectiveness is not weak.

In the morning, they repelled the enemy, and in the afternoon, reinforcements arrived. Two consecutive good news made the defenders relax their vigilance.

The eagles kept watching the human defenders in the air and found that the defenders were somewhat sending encounters. The orc legion leader Grodan took the lead, drew 3,000 elite soldiers, and personally led the team to launch a night attack.

More than a hundred orc elite soldiers suddenly rushed to the bottom of Fort No. 7. They carried wooden boards, easily crossed the trench, and set up a human wall to prepare to climb the wall.

Although the sentinels on the city wall were relatively lax, they were on the battlefield after all. When the orcs approached the city wall, they finally discovered the movement. He hurriedly blew the horn, and the high-pitched horn sound broke the tranquility of the night. =

Seeing that the action had been exposed, the orcs shouted hoarsely: "Kill all the enemies!"

As the orcs shouted, figures appeared in the darkness in the distance. A large number of elite orcs rushed up with weapons in hand, launching a full-scale attack on the last line of defense of Pratos.

Through the harpy reconnaissance, Grodan focused the attack direction on Fortress No. 7.

Because Fortress No. 7 is equipped with a large number of catapults, it poses the greatest threat to the orcs. After breaking through Fortress No. 7, the orcs can pass through the Pratos Mountains unimpeded. In addition, there are a large number of auxiliary soldiers in Fortress No. 7, and the hand-to-hand combat is weak, so it is easier for the orcs to achieve their strategic goals.

Hearing the horn shouting, the defenders resting on the city wall immediately got up, picked up bows and arrows in a panic, and shot crossbows in the direction of the sound.

"Don't panic, light the brazier, keep your hands steady when shooting arrows, and aim at the enemy."

When fighting with humans, in order to prevent arrows, the defenders often extinguish the torches on the top of the city. But when fighting with orcs, because the orcs have weak long-range projection capabilities, the defenders will light the brazier and aim at the enemy with the firelight.

When the horn sounded, the grassroots officers immediately organized the team and gave orders loudly. Their voices could stop the panic of the soldiers under their command and stabilize their emotions.

The long arrows were shot out densely, and the screams of the orcs were heard immediately.

The shields raised by the orc soldiers made a bang bang bang sound, and many arrows shot through the shields, directly killing the shieldmen.

The orcs climbed up the wall with difficulty, and were soon stabbed into blood by the spears on the wall. Even if they were mid-level professionals, they would still die if stabbed in the vitals by ordinary people.

Even if you are wearing enchanted armor and have amazing defense, facing dozens of spears, the consumption of fighting spirit is also very serious.

Even if you are a legendary knight, you can't defeat thousands of troops in a frontal battle.

The bodies of the orcs kept falling under the wall, but the successors didn't care. They bravely climbed up the wall and killed the enemy fiercely.

Because their legion leader Grodan had already been on the battlefield.

Grodan was a ninth-level werewolf. He was wearing ordinary enchanted armor and was very agile. He took a few steps to run and stepped on the shoulders of a minotaur. He easily jumped onto the twelve-meter wall. With a long sword in his hand, two soldiers had already lost their lives.

Grodan was extremely brave after climbing the wall. More than a dozen soldiers were slaughtered by him in the blink of an eye.

In just a moment, Grodan opened a gap, and more and more orcs climbed up the city wall with the help of this gap. The casualties of the defenders were getting bigger and bigger, and the pressure was increasing.

However, the hatred between the humans in the northern border and the orcs was as deep as the sea. Even an ordinary person would hug an orc professional and fall off the city wall to die together.

Even though the orcs had the upper hand, the soldiers in the castle were still fighting desperately.

In the dark castle, swords and axes were waving, spears were stabbing, arrows made a puffing sound, and lives disappeared in the night wind of the northern border.

Most of the soldiers in Castle No. 7 were led by Harland. Although they were good at operating catapults, they were not strong enough to fight face to face with orcs.

Soon the soldiers could not bear the blood because of too many casualties.

Finally, seeing that the reinforcements were delayed, the commander took some soldiers to escape through the back door of the castle and retreated to the mountains.

Of the 700 soldiers stationed in Castle No. 7, only more than 200 were able to save their lives.

Most of these people were auxiliary soldiers of Harland. Under the leadership of the officers, they sent messengers to report to the rear.

The military law in Harland was strict. If you escape from the battlefield, you would not only lose your life, but also your family.

Once the crime of desertion was confirmed, your family would be demoted to slaves, and it would be impossible for them to turn over within three generations.

Generally speaking, soldiers would fight to the last moment because of the harsh military law. Moreover, this was a war with orcs, and many people would fight with orcs because of hatred. As a northerner, many people's parents, wives, children, brothers and sisters, and friends died at the hands of orcs.

Although they failed to defend the castle and were forced to retreat, they were unwilling to become deserters and still fulfilled their responsibilities.

After dawn, the war calmed down.

The orcs' night attack in this battle was very successful. Not only did they capture the No. 7 fortress, they also killed more than 800 human defenders. And their own casualties were only more than a thousand people.

There were only more than 400 orcs killed in the battle, and most of the injured orcs were able to save their lives.

When the war calmed down, the remnants of the No. 7 castle retreated to the No. 9 castle.

After the night attack, the orcs had controlled six castles and successfully opened a gap in the Pratos defense line.

But the most critical No. 9 and No. 3 castles were still in the hands of human soldiers.

The strongholds of both sides were already intertwined. Without conquering No. 9 and No. 3 castles, the orcs did not dare to easily risk crossing the Pratos defense line and entering the rear of Harland Territory.

The sun rose slowly from the east. Perrin stood on the city wall, looking at the slowly retreating orcs with a serious face.

At this moment, he felt a little guilty. He should actually bear some responsibility for the failure of this battle.

Perrin had rich war experience and was a veteran with more than 20 years of military service. Before joining the Harland Territory, he had served in the Delong Kingdom for several years.

But his battlefield sense was very average, and he had no talent in the art of military command.

Among the officers in the Harland Territory, Perrin is a qualified low-level officer, but when he is asked to lead a side alone, it is difficult for him to take on the heavy responsibility.

It was his laxity as a commander that affected some of the soldiers below, allowing the orcs to conquer the No. 7 Fortress and win a great victory. However, the imbalance in the strength of the enemy and us is the key reason for the failure of this battle.

Perrin brought only 1,000 reinforcements, the last line of defense of Platos added up to 1,300 defenders, and Baron Soros led 500 private soldiers.

Although Perrin had 2,800 soldiers, the only ones who were really good at fighting were the 160 Harland elite soldiers under his direct command. The remaining soldiers were either auxiliary soldiers or second-line armed personnel, and the most elite were Baron Soros's 500 private soldiers.

These soldiers encountered the elite orcs. Although they fought bravely, they killed and injured many orcs by relying on the natural defense of the city and long-range weapons.

But once the orcs fight desperately, they will definitely achieve their strategic goals.

Even if Perrin did not relax, the sentinels of Castle No. 7 spotted the orcs in the distance, and the castle was still doomed to fall, but the orcs would suffer two or three hundred more casualties.

After dawn, Perrin immediately sent a messenger to the rear for help, and asked his adjutant to count the casualties.

"Since we entered the Pratos defense line, we have fought two battles. We won the first battle, and only sixteen soldiers died in the three castles combined. We lost the night attack yesterday, with 673 deaths and 142 wounded. The main casualties were in Fort No. 7, because the defenders resisted fiercely, and the orcs slaughtered our prisoners and wounded."

After yesterday's night raid, Perrin was under great psychological pressure. However, as a commander, he remembered Richard's teachings and could not pass on his decline to his soldiers. Although he was in a very heavy mood, Perrin still cheered up and said, "How many of the soldiers who died in battle and were injured are ours."

"More than 400 of our people have been killed or injured."

The soldiers of the Harland Territory, whether they are field troops or auxiliary troops, will receive pensions if they die in battle.

The pension system of the territory has been reformed two or three times, and different pensions will be issued according to military service and position. Generally speaking, the pensions of field army soldiers will be a little higher, and the pensions of auxiliary troops will be a little lower.

Even the most junior recruits can receive a pension of 18 silver coins every year. In addition to coins, the territory will also have material pensions, and food, woolen cloth, brown sugar, etc. will be issued before the New Year.

All soldiers who died in battle can receive pensions for 15 years, which costs about 30 gold coins. As long as the disabled soldiers are alive, they can continue to receive pensions.

The soldiers of Harland Territory are elite and good at fighting, and they are fearless of death. The pension system is also the reason for maintaining their combat effectiveness.

Perrin is already a middle-level soldier in the army. When he heard the number of 400 casualties, his mood was extremely bad. This means that Harland Territory has to pay nearly 1,000 gold coins more in pensions every year.

Pensions are still a small matter. The most troublesome thing is that the defense line of Pratos has been penetrated by the orcs.

Castle No. 7 was occupied by the orcs, and the orcs could pass through the mountain ridge on the west side of the Pratos Canyon.

Perrin knew that there were no soldiers stationed in Sophia Castle and Iron Mountain Castle on the east side of the Pratos Canyon. There were only a small number of auxiliary troops in Vick Castle, Iron Lion Castle, and Rom Castle in the south.

The counties of the Two Rivers Basin, the eastern counties of the Canyon, and the southern counties of Pratos are about to face the attack of the orcs. The most troublesome thing is that these three counties have a population of more than 200,000. Even if the order to fortify the walls and clear the fields is implemented, the economic losses of this battle are extremely serious.

Moreover, the appearance of orcs in the rear of Harland Territory will seriously affect the morale and military spirit of the front line.

Perrin was worried that the orcs would rush into the heartland of Harland, and the orc legion commander Grodan was also caught in a dilemma.