Chapter 371: Besiege and Attack Reinforcements

After Richard was promoted to the seventh-level warrior, his physical attributes improved in all aspects. His strength increased by four points, and his mental strength, agility, and physical strength each increased by one point. Now his strength is 23 points, mental strength is 53 points, agility is 5.6 points, and physical strength is 7.8 points. Compared with ordinary humans, his physical fitness is like that of a superman.

In addition to various talents, even without using starlight bombs, Richard's combat effectiveness is no less than that of a legendary knight, enough to fight a regular army of the Grant Kingdom head-on.

If he lets go and engages in guerrilla warfare and assault warfare, the destructive power will increase a lot. Even for a kingdom, it is very troublesome to provoke such an enemy.

Not long after Richard was promoted to the seventh-level warrior, heavy snow fell in the Eagle Mountains.

After the heavy snow closed the mountains, the south and north of the Eagle Mountains could hardly communicate. At least it will take until early March next year for the snow to melt before supplies can be sent from the south of the Eagle Mountains.

Now there are 40,000 regular troops, 16,000 city defense troops, security troops, and 4,000 auxiliary troops operating catapults in the northern part of the Eagle Mountains, with a total force of 60,000, accounting for three-quarters of the army of the Duke of Harland.

The local area of ​​50,000 square kilometers has almost no population. The supply is completely dependent on the SND area, which is actually very fragile. Fortunately, the supply line is relatively short, with the longer ones being 170 to 80 kilometers and the shorter ones only 30 to 40 kilometers. Even if the supply road is rugged, it can finally be delivered to the front-line military station smoothly.

Before the beginning of winter this year, the Harland territory desperately transported supplies to the northern part of the mountain, totaling about 90,000 tons.

Among them, 60,000 tons are food.

60,000 tons of food are enough for 60,000 soldiers, 1,400 iron-horned horses, 3,000 war horses, and tens of thousands of pack animals to eat for a year.

The garrison on the front line also allocated personnel to cut 20,000 tons of fodder in the autumn, reducing the amount of food consumption. After counting the amount of food stored in military stations in various places, Richard found that food supply was not a problem for the time being, and it could be eaten until August next year. By then, the snow had melted and the summer grain had been stored. It would not be too difficult to obtain supplies from the SND area.

The food consumed 60,000 tons of transportation, and the remaining 30,000 tons of supplies, more than 25,000 tons of which were building materials, mainly reinforced concrete.

25,000 tons of reinforced concrete sounds like a lot, but scattered over a width of nearly 600 kilometers and more than a dozen large military strongholds, it is actually a drop in the bucket, and can only strengthen important strongholds.

Most of the front-line military stations are defended by civil walls built with mud and logs. Only in key areas, steel bars, cement, and stones are used to build stone walls.

The remaining 5,000 tons are mainly weapons, ammunition, cotton clothes, tents and other logistics supplies.

After half a year of intensive transportation and the consumption of hundreds of thousands of gold coins, the logistics supplies on the front line are relatively sufficient, the main strongholds have been reinforced, the food can be eaten for ten months, and the logistics ammunition can also last for more than half a year.

This year, due to the discovery of the Snow Crystal Lake, the number of Tenghui potions refined by the Harland Territory increased greatly, and the supply to the army reached 15,000 bottles.

Richard used all of this batch of Tenghui potions in the Shanbei area. As of late October, the Shanbei garrison had added 863 professional officers.

According to previous statistics, about ten Tenghui potions can train one professional.

The Harland Territory consumed 15,000 Tenghui potions to train 863 professionals, which is much lower than normal, and the proportion is just over half of the normal situation.

In previous years, the Harland Territory was in short supply of Tenghui potions like other nobles. Users had to be carefully selected, and those who took the potion were all elite warriors, so the probability of breakthrough could reach the best value, usually about one in ten.

The Tenghui potions issued this year are already in oversupply.

According to the standards of the past few years, many soldiers who did not meet the conditions were eligible for exchange. Because of their insufficient physical talent, although a few people could rely on Tenghui potions to break the shackles, the probability of advancement was seriously lowered, only slightly higher than 5.7%.

Although the probability was low, it greatly increased the number of professionals in the Harland army. With the addition of 863 professionals, Richard could organize half a battalion of all-professional troops.

Nowadays, Harland has only a few establishments for all-professional troops, such as the Wyvern Knights, the Lion Cavalry, the Special Squadron, the Elf Squadron, the First Squadron of the First Battalion, and the Demon Hunter Squadron. Adding up the large and small troops, the total number of all-professional troops is only more than 500 people.

These more than 500 people gathered together to form the Sutton Detachment, which played a very critical role in the war.

With the addition of more than 800 professionals, Richard could not only make up for the shortage of elite troops, but also reorganize the three infantry squadrons of the First Squadron of the Headquarters Guard Battalion, the Third Squadron of the Second Battalion, and the First Squadron of the Third Battalion into all-professional troops. The remaining 400 professionals were added to the basic forces. The city defense army and the public security army received special attention and were assigned 300 backbones.

300 professional officers were added. There are already more than 700 professional officers among the 16,000 city defense army and public security army, and professionals account for nearly 5% of the total number of people.

In terms of the quality of the soldiers, the city defense army and public security army of Harland are no less than the 8th Battalion of the Mad Lion Legion where Richard served in the past, and the quality of the personnel is far superior to the second-line legions such as the Flying Eagle and Flying Swallow. As for weapons and equipment, Harland produced a large number of alchemical bombs, enchanted swords, and steel armor. Even if the equipment of the city defense army is average, it is a little better than the 8th Battalion where Richard served in the past.

Of course, the city defense army and the security army have not been tested by brutal battles, so their combat experience and fighting will are inferior to those of the Eighth Battalion.

Overall, both sides have their own advantages. The 16,000 elite troops selected by Harland from the city defense army and the security army are already comparable to the weaker battalions of the Mad Lion Legion.

By next year, Richard plans to incorporate all these 16,000 troops into the main army. In addition to the new recruits trained this year, the number of Harland's main army will exceed 70,000.

With 70,000 regular troops, it is enough for Harland to defend the northern defense line and even expand the buffer zone.

As soon as the heavy snow closed the mountain, the orc army braved the severe cold and went south from the northern grassland to attack the northern defense line of Harland, trying to remove the nail that pierced the northern grassland.

Especially the orcs in the Prilan area, they used hundreds of thousands of sheep-bodied people and dog-headed people as food. In the severe winter season, they assembled three legions of troops, crossed the 200-kilometer supply line, and surrounded the No. 10 military station, the core stronghold of the North Mountain Defense Line.

On the third day of November, the southern region of the Duke of Harland was still holding a commodity fair. People were laughing and chatting, and many big deals were negotiated, which seemed stable and peaceful. However, on the northern front of the Eagle Mountains, in the ice and snow, the soldiers and the orcs broke out in a fierce battle, and the situation was already very bad.

Outside the No. 10 military station, the orcs were all over the mountains, and 80,000 troops swarmed out and besieged the No. 10 military station from all directions.

The orcs didn't care about casualties at all. The battle was very fierce on the first day.

The siege lasted less than half a day, and the main force of the orcs suffered 5,000 to 6,000 casualties. Because the orcs used elite soldiers to attack the city, the casualties of the defenders were also close to 1,000.

Jennings' eyes were red as he looked up at the corner of the city wall and found that the orcs had left a large number of corpses. The orcs' desperate spirit frightened Jennings, who had led soldiers for many years.

Although the orcs were repelled again, Jennings still saw fear in the eyes of the soldiers.

Seeing this scene, Jennings shook off the guards' obstruction, stood at the highest point of the city wall, roared hard, gave a speech to the soldiers, and mobilized them for the battlefield.

"Behind our line of defense are parents, brothers and sisters, wives and friends. No matter how fierce the orcs are, our mission is to defend this stronghold. Only if we defend this place can we protect the safety of our families. Even if we die in battle and sacrifice, as long as Harland is still there, the Duke will give us pensions, so that our families can have food and clothing, and our children can grow up.

As a soldier, I will give my loyalty and blood to the respected lord. Please bear witness. As long as the order to retreat is not issued, I, Jennings, will never step back.

If my left foot retreats, please cut off my left foot. If my right foot retreats, cut off my right foot. If my body retreats, please cut off my head.

This line of defense starts with me. Everyone is only allowed to move forward and not retreat. After the war, I will count every body. Anyone who dies in battle with a wound in the back will stop paying pensions, and his family will be demoted to contract servants."

After mobilizing on the battlefield, Jennings did his promise very well. In the next two battles, he stood at the forefront.

Jennings's leading by example greatly boosted morale. Even though the casualties of the defenders of Fort No. 10 were close to a thousand, they still blocked the orcs' violent attack and interrupted the orcs' offensive momentum.

After two days of fierce attack, they still failed to capture Fort No. 10, and the orcs were forced to adopt a siege.

Under the command of Commander Giant Owl, eight battalions surrounded Fort No. 10, and then led more than 20 battalions south to attack the No. 5 and No. 6 military stations in the south of Fort No. 10.

The No. 5 military station had only about 3,000 defenders. Facing the main force of the orcs, they could not fight in the field at all and could only guard the core stronghold. It was only by the No. 6 military station in the rear that the orcs' offensive was stopped.

Jennings' defense line was about 50 kilometers wide, with 14,000 troops, mainly stationed at the No. 10, No. 5, and No. 6 military stations.

Among them, Fort No. 10 was the focus of defense, with a total of 6,500 defenders. The No. 5 military station is located in the middle, with the least number of garrison troops, about 3,000. The No. 6 military station is located 50 kilometers north of Nitburg, with 4,500 garrison troops.

Because most of the garrison troops were mobilized to the military station defense line, Nitburg was very empty, with only more than a thousand city defense troops responsible for protecting the transportation line.

Richard was inspecting the No. 7 military station. After receiving Jennings's letter for help, he decisively mobilized the garrison troops of the No. 7 military station to reinforce the No. 5 castle.

The No. 7 military station is located to the west of the No. 5 military station. The two places are about 50 kilometers apart. If the infantry marches quickly, the journey will take less than a day.

However, marching in winter is often not so fast in the cold weather. Humans are not as good as orcs in their ability to withstand severe cold. A short distance of 50 kilometers takes at least two days in winter.

In order to be fast, Richard directly led the soldiers of the First Battalion of Warcraft Cavalry and the Guard Battalion on horseback.

The area from the No. 7 to the No. 5 military station has left the mountainous area. The road is flat. Although it is very hard to travel on a warhorse in winter, it only takes half a day.

Warcraft warhorses are fast and have strong endurance, especially the iron-horned horses, which are a specialty of the Eagle Mountains. They like the cold climate and soon left the guards riding ordinary warhorses far behind.

Starting in the morning, just after noon, the wall of the No. 5 military station is already in sight.

Above the Warcraft cavalry, the Lion Knights kept circling in the sky and sent reconnaissance intelligence to Richard.

"It seems that the orcs have become smarter. They changed their commander and even learned the tactics of siege and attack."

After receiving the news detected by the Lion Knight, Richard rode on the tall iron-horned horse and took out the map from the cowhide belt. He jumped off the warhorse, spread the map on the suitcase, pointed to the direction of the No. 5 military station and said: "The orcs set up two traps, one in the east and one in the west, with the No. 5 military station as the center, trying to trap us and the Soros tribe.

Relying only on 24 battalions, I don’t know why the orcs are so arrogant and think they have such a good mouth? Since the orcs want to fight with us, we will meet their requirements."

The orcs used four battalions, about 8,000 people, to besiege the No. 5 military station.

The ambush in the west of the No. 5 military station is divided into two parts, about eight battalions in the north, mainly targeting the reinforcements of the No. 7 military station. There are about five battalions in the south, and the main opponent is the reinforcements of the No. 6 castle.

The ambush in the east of the No. 5 castle has a total of nine battalions, with the Soros tribe as the main opponent.

Because both sides have flying reconnaissance troops, the opponent knows each other's deployment of troops. It's like playing an open card, and the strategy and tactics are basically useless.

Richard let the Warcraft Cavalry rest for a while, cut down some trees and lit a bonfire. After recovering his energy, he led the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade to charge fiercely at the opponent.

Even though the orcs had eight battalions of soldiers, more than ten times the number of the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade, Harland led the charge of the Warcraft Cavalry without hesitation.

"Charge forward, defeat the enemy, and defeat the opponent."

Richard stretched out his left hand, waving the enchanted long sword, and seeing that he had entered the attack range, he decisively urged the magic power and released the starlight bomb.

In an instant, a thick starlight fell into the orc army formation, and suddenly exploded in the orc army formation with a loud bang, as if the mountains collapsed and the earth cracked, blowing up dust hundreds of meters high.

In an instant, the orc vanguard brigade was completely collapsed, with more than 500 people killed directly, and about a thousand people with minor and serious injuries.

The commander of the giant owl was flying high in the sky. When he saw this scene, he couldn't believe his eyes. Although he had heard the fleeing soldiers talk about the power of the starlight bomb, he didn't believe it in his heart. He thought that the fleeing soldiers were shirking responsibility and exaggerating. Now that he saw the power of the starlight bomb with his own eyes, the commander of the giant owl was immediately terrified and sweating.

"The power of this attack is no weaker than the legendary fourth-level spell. Could it be that this Duke Harland actually has a legendary fourth-level magic treasure? I don't know if the use restrictions of this treasure are large. If the use restrictions are low, it will be bad."

Taking advantage of the collapse of the orc vanguard brigade, Richard led the Warcraft cavalry to easily crush the opponent.

Rushing through the obstruction of the orc vanguard brigade, Richard ignored the arrows shot by the half-orc brigade on both wings, and suddenly let the nine hundred iron-horned horses launch magic missiles together, hitting the second echelon of the orc central army.

Nine hundred magic missiles came over, almost destroying the second echelon of the orcs.

The second echelon of the orcs had just recovered from the attack of the starlight bombs, and was hit by 900 magic missiles, and about 500 to 600 people were killed or wounded in an instant.

A quarter of the soldiers were killed or wounded, and there must have been a big gap in the formation. Richard led the soldiers to rush in frantically, and instantly defeated the orcs' will to resist and defeated the opponents of the second echelon of the orcs' central army.