Chapter 365 Main Force Decisive Battle
North of Hurricane Castle, the Harland Legion and the Orc Army have been confronting each other for more than ten days.
During these ten days, both sides launched several tentative attacks.
After more than ten days of contact, Richard found that the Orc Legion with the front number was indeed stronger.
According to Richard's many years of war experience, the Orc Legion with the back number was not as strong as the Northern Legion, let alone the main legion of the Harland Territory.
The Orc Legion with the front number was strengthened by the Snake Heavy Infantry Battalion, the Silver Moon Wolf Cavalry Battalion, and the number of Eagle Scouts was also fully staffed, and its combat effectiveness was obviously stronger than the Northern Legion.
According to the intelligence from Soros's unit, the Thirteenth Legion also had Orc Archers participating in the battle. This elite Orc soldier is good at long-range projection and can be on par with the professional officers of the Harland Territory.
If Soros had not had the help of heavy catapults and scorching ray guns, he might not have been able to stop this Orc Legion.
Although the Eastern Front Army of the Grassland Governor's District could not transfer a legendary commander this time, it strengthened an elite legion and transferred the orc legion used to attack Duke Jonathan's territory to the Harland territory.
On the first day of April, there was no April Fool's Day in this world. Richard actually led the army to slowly walk out of the Hurricane Castle fortifications and took the initiative to fight a decisive battle with the orcs.
When the commander of the 17th Legion of the Orcs, the mad wolf Somir, saw this scene, he was a little suspicious. He didn't know why the other party gave up the advantageous terrain and wanted to fight a field battle with him?
After more than ten days of testing, both sides gradually weighed the details of their opponents.
With the same number of troops, if the orcs were to fight a field battle, they could play a better advantage, and the elite orc legion would have a better chance of winning.
However, since the enemy was going to take the initiative to fight a decisive battle, the mad wolf Somir would certainly not be afraid of the opponent. He immediately began to deploy troops, and the elite snake-bodied brigade was at the forefront. Next were two powerful tauren brigades, ready to follow the snake-bodied heavy infantry to expand the gap and tear the defense line.
On the Harland territory side, almost all of them came out, draining the troops in the rear.
The first Warcraft Cavalry Battalion was in formation at the back to guard against the flank attack of the Silver Moon Wolf Cavalry, and could bypass the formation to fight the Silver Moon Wolf Cavalry at any time.
The third battalion, the fourth battalion, and the guard battalion were relatively strong in combat effectiveness and had been tested for a long time. They were in formation in the middle. The headquarters command agency, the Harland Territory Mage Corps, followed the central army to fight.
The seventh battalion, the twelfth battalion, and the twenty-first battalion were on the left wing.
The eighth battalion, the ninth battalion, and the twenty-second battalion were on the right wing.
The first squadron of the magic hot air balloon, the sixth squadron, the eighth squadron, and the Harland Lion Cavalry Squadron all took off and fought against the harpy scouts.
Only the twenty-sixth battalion and 7,000 second-line troops remained in the rear. In addition to guarding the rear castle, their task was to cooperate with Archbishop Senna to watch over the undead stronghold.
In a field battle between the main forces, the second-line corps with weaker combat effectiveness cannot be used rashly.
Because the weak combat effectiveness of the troops can be easily penetrated by the elite orcs, and at that time, they will not only be unable to help, but also distract the main force to take care of them.
The collapse of the second-line corps on the battlefield will also affect the morale of the main force.
When two elite forces fight, the key moment is to fight with one breath.
If this breath is lost in advance, failure will be difficult to avoid.
Richard, Sofia, and Wendy all followed the central army to fight, watching the snake-bodied heavy infantry slowly move forward. The iron spears they held were more than 100 kilograms, and the spear heads and spear shafts were as thick as a bowl and six meters long, like a jungle of iron spears.
Even the most elite first battalion of the infantry in Harland Territory had a weaker frontal impact than the snake-bodied heavy infantry.
If the third battalion hit the snake-bodied people head-on, there would be heavy casualties.
Seeing that the two sides were getting closer and closer and about to enter the archer's range, the snake-man raised the giant shield in his hand, apparently preparing to block the arrows.
Before the main battle, Richard had adjusted his tactics and was ready to use the starlight bomb on the orcs' heads.
Anyway, the starlight bomb had been used twice near the tomb of Princess O'Farland, and it could not be hidden from the church staff. Since this legendary fourth-level magic prop had been leaked, Richard was ready to let the people in the dark take a look.
As soon as the snake-man raised the giant shield, Richard handed the starlight necklace to Wendy.
In an instant, a thick beam of light fell into the orc army formation, and with a rumble, a loud sound shook the earth. A dazzling white ball of light appeared in the orc army formation.
The strong white light was extremely dazzling, and it was accompanied by a scorching temperature. Even at a distance of two hundred meters, there was still a burning and stinging feeling. The soldiers raised their shields and protected themselves behind the shields to reduce radiation damage.
The orc army was at the center of the explosion, and countless snake-bodied people were wiped out in an instant.
A 600-man snake-bodied heavy infantry battalion, 260 snake-bodied people turned into ashes on the spot, and the rest were also seriously damaged by radiation and basically unable to fight.
The tauren battalion, which was very close to the snake-bodied people, was also not spared. Even without statistics, Richard could see that the casualties had exceeded a thousand.
It was just that they were farther away from the center of the explosion, so there were fewer direct deaths and more lightly injured.
After using the Starlight Necklace, Wendy consumed 360 points of magic power, and the magic power in her body was basically exhausted. The magic power consumption was too great, and Wendy became very tired, as if she was about to fall asleep. Wendy forced herself to cheer up and handed the Starlight Necklace to Sofia.
Sofia did not hold back and immediately released the second starlight bomb.
This one was aimed at the orc center army, and a thick beam of light hit the orc guard battalion fiercely.
After the first round of attacks, the Mad Wolf Somir had a bad feeling in his heart.
He wanted to order the soldiers to disperse to avoid being killed by the starlight bombs, but if they dispersed on the battlefield, they would not be able to match the enemy in a tight formation, and they would be slaughtered by the enemy. The defeat of this battle was inevitable.
The Mad Wolf hesitated a little, and the second starlight bomb had already hit his command organ.
Once the starlight bomb was launched, the speed was extremely fast. This powerful energy was as fast as the speed of light. Although the Mad Wolf Somir was a ninth-level professional, he was also unable to react, let alone dodge in advance.
In an instant, there was another explosion of shocking power, and more than half of the guard squadron was immediately killed or injured, with more than 600 killed directly and nearly 1,000 injured.
Even the leader of the orc army, Somir, could not avoid this attack.
Because Sophia's target was aimed at him, Somir was immediately wiped out.
After the second starlight bomb landed, Richard took the starlight necklace from Sophia, launched the third attack, and decisively released the third starlight bomb.
This time, Richard aimed at the Silver Moon Wolf Cavalry in the rear. The cavalry's army formation was relatively scattered, and the casualties from the starlight bomb attack were smaller.
Although the one released by Richard was the most powerful and had the largest coverage, it only killed more than 120 and injured more than 200 Silver Moon Wolf Cavalry, with casualties just over half.
Three rounds of starlight bombs directly hit and annihilated the Snake-Body Heavy Infantry Battalion and the Guard Battalion, and severely damaged the Silver Moon Wolf Cavalry Battalion and two Minotaur Battalions.
Before the two sides met, the casualties of the orc elite had exceeded 3,000.
The 17th Orc Legion is a large-scale legion with a total of 15 battalions. Even if the Silver Moon Wolf Cavalry and the Snake-Body Heavy Infantry Battalion are relatively small, the total strength is 27,000.
In theory, 3,000 casualties should not affect the battle.
However, the three thousand orcs who were killed and wounded today were the trump cards of the 17th Legion. These three trump cards lost their combat effectiveness, and the combat effectiveness of the orc army has been reduced by half.
In addition, the powerful power of the starlight bomb has been deeply imprinted in the minds of the orcs. The three thousand casualties in an instant have broken the will of the orcs. In addition, some orc troops have begun to disintegrate due to the loss of the command agency.
Although the mad wolf Somir died in battle, the 17th Legion was the elite of the orcs after all. After realizing that the situation was not good, the remaining middle-level officers immediately dealt with the deserters and organized the orc soldiers who had lost their will to fight.
However, without the command of the headquarters, the dispatch was obviously ineffective, and the orc formation had become chaotic.
Taking advantage of the chaos in the orc army formation, the soldiers of the Harland territory immediately drew their bows and arrows and released the first round of feather arrows.
The biggest advantage of ordinary human legions in fighting against orcs is archery.
Most of the orc legions cannot shoot arrows, and half-orc archers are a scarce type of soldiers. The entire orc empire has only 30,000 to 40,000 in total. Scattered in a vast territory, they can only be placed in the main attack direction and serve as a killer.
And every freeman in the Northern Frontier, when he grows up to seven or eight years old, begins to learn archery under the guidance of his father.
After soldiers enter the army, archery is also the most important combat skill. After years of fighting, the archery skills of soldiers in the Northern Frontier are generally good.
Coupled with excellent physical fitness, the lethality of the rain of arrows is extraordinary.
More than 10,000 soldiers shot arrows at the same time, and the rain of arrows suddenly covered the sky and the sun, looking dark and overwhelming, which made people feel shocked.
After the rain of arrows fell into the orc army formation, it achieved a very good killing effect.
The speed of the soldiers in the Harland territory shooting arrows is very fast. In just one minute, three rounds of volleys were fired, and more than a thousand orcs were hit by arrows.
Seeing that the Harland territory army had to keep a distance and use long-range projection to enhance the killing effect, the commanders of the orc army issued orders at the same time to speed up the march and fight with the Harland territory army in close combat.
The quality of the 17th Legion was very good. This part of the orcs marched very fast. It took only one minute to break through the distance of more than 100 meters and entered the attack range of their own side. They used slingshots to launch stone bombs at the army formation of Harland Territory.
Occasionally, there were some orcs with great strength who launched alchemical bombs at the army formation of Harland Territory.
The original alchemical bombs, because of the use of fire crystals, were twice as powerful as the knockoffs of Harland Territory. A large number of alchemical bombs were thrown into the army formation, and a large number of casualties began to appear.
Seeing that the orcs suffered three rounds of starlight bombs, they did not collapse. Instead, under the command of middle-level officers, they exerted their subjective initiative to continue fighting with themselves.
Richard waved his hand fiercely, played the second trump card, opened the bottle of starlight, and used the Iron Golem Legion.
Under the control of the Mage Corps of Harland Territory, 18 Iron Golems launched an attack, instantly defeated the Orc Vanguard Squadron, and fiercely embedded in the Orc Army.
Although the Golem Corps has some weaknesses, the ability it can display in the positional battle between the two armies is stronger than that of the ninth-level knights.
Moreover, the level of orc magic civilization is very low. Only a very small number of orc shamans have spells. They are not proficient in spells such as soul strikes, and they cannot grasp the weaknesses of the Iron Golem Corps.
Eighteen Iron Golems, like eighteen sharp arrows, fiercely nailed into the interior of the orc army formation and penetrated the formation of an orc brigade.
The vanguard brigade was penetrated by the Golem Corps, and the second echelon also had no good way to face the Golem Corps.
The Iron Golem is six meters tall and has a strong resistance to physical attacks. Even a ninth-level orc would find it difficult to defeat it with physical attacks. Moreover, with the death of Somir, the orc headquarters was destroyed, and it was impossible to mobilize enough high-level professionals to intercept.
The central army commanded by Richard followed the Iron Golem, constantly tearing and expanding the breakthrough. The three infantry battalions of the central army are all capable veterans. They have been in the army for more than ten years and their combat effectiveness is stronger than that of the orc battalion.
With the Iron Golem acting as the arrowhead and equipped with a large number of alchemical bombs, in just over ten minutes, the three echelons of the orcs, a total of four battalions, were penetrated.
At the same time, the Harland Territory Warcraft Cavalry Battalion had defeated the Orc Silver Moon Wolf Cavalry Battalion and began to flank the orcs' left wing.
After the failure of the central army, the defeat of the left and right wings was inevitable.
Richard and the Warcraft Cavalry directly surrounded the left and right wings of the orcs.
The orcs were already at a disadvantage, and now they were attacked from both sides, and the situation was extremely bad.
However, this orc army was very tenacious. After being attacked from both sides, they did not collapse, but fought until they ran out of ammunition and food, and were completely annihilated by the soldiers of Harland Territory.
This battle lasted for more than six hours, from 10 am to 4 pm. Although it took Richard some time to annihilate the orcs, he had not used up his trump card. At least Richard's remaining magic power could still release two rounds of starlight bombs.
At 4 pm, the orcs' resistance was finally over. The soldiers began to clean up the battlefield and treat the wounded.
Richard smelled the smoke drifting over the battlefield, and watched the auxiliary soldiers in the rear acting as stretchers, constantly carrying the wounded, and the wounded groaned. Some people could not bear the severe pain, and the shouts were very tragic.
The medical staff of each brigade simply treated the wounds, and all the seriously injured were sent to the Hurricane Castle Field Hospital.
Until nightfall, the battlefield had not been cleaned up.
The next morning, Richard asked the officers of the General Staff directly.
"Have we counted our casualties?"
"In yesterday's battle, we lost 383 people, 609 were injured, and the total casualties were less than 1,000."
Although Richard had some estimates in his mind, the pressure in his heart was reduced when he heard the exact number of casualties.
The southwest of the territory was still being plundered by the orcs. Richard immediately ordered the division of troops. He decided to personally command the Warcraft Cavalry Battalion, the Third Battalion, the 21st Battalion, and the 22nd Battalion to reinforce Baron Harden's territory.
The Fourth Battalion, the Guard Battalion, the Seventh Battalion, the Eighth Battalion, the Ninth Battalion, and the Twelfth Battalion formed a northbound detachment, with Marcus as the commander, to attack the orcs' logistics line and cooperate with the defenders of Nit Valley.
Because there were supply stations in the Harland Territory along the way, the Warcraft Cavalry Battalion was very fast. It marched more than 200 kilometers in a day and a half and arrived at the former Baron Harden's territory.
The Warcraft Cavalry Brigade's action was very sudden this time. Because of the Lion Cavalry's cover in the sky, the orcs did not notice their whereabouts.
Captain Soran was very decisive and immediately launched a surprise attack on the orcs who were split up to plunder. He fought four small-scale battles and annihilated more than a thousand orc troops.
After realizing that the situation was not good, some orcs immediately gathered.
The orcs gathered together and immediately reduced the threat to the local area.
After discovering that reinforcements had arrived, Viscount Romen and the dean of the Knight Academy, Conde, mobilized the legion and took the initiative to fight against this orc army.
As the reinforcements arrived, the situation was reversed in an instant.