(This chapter pays homage to the short story of the same name by Mountain Ranger Glade!) ）

…………

On the first day, it was sunny

The weather was fine today, and after the first glass of Thunder Ale of the day in the morning, I sent the lads of the convoy on their way.

They took with them thirty battle axes and an equal number of round shields, as well as twenty sets of fine chain mail, hoping to meet the needs of the Thunderspear camp. The weapons attrition over there has been increasing lately, and it seems that I need to write to Ironforge and ask for some more from there. In fact, if it weren't for the Jasper Mine to the west of Nanhai Town being attacked by the Syndicate Gangs, we could have used the iron ore supplied there to make do for a while, although it was a little worse than the iron ore of Danmoro, but it was better than letting the blacksmiths sit idle. If the fire is turned off for too long, the furnace has completely cooled down, and when the furnace is turned on again, it takes a lot of work to light a fire to heat up.

At noon, Redpass, the sheriff of Southsea, came to visit, and he said that the Syndicate had been dishonest lately, and that the spies of Southsea had found that they had assembled in large numbers at the ruins of Dunhold Castle, and there were several hundred people, and it seemed that they were trying to make some big news. Redpass wants to be with us to help each other and defend together. I agreed, because the dwarves had been in the alliance since the time of the Second Orc War, and it was our duty and obligation.

As a token of my gratitude for his briefing, I have taken twenty swords and ten shields from the quartermaster depot of Dangalok and put them at the disposal of the militia of Nanhai Town, and if they are not completely unable to fit themselves into the dwarven armor, I intend to lend them a batch of armor.

Respard left gratefully. Immediately after he left, I ordered the whole of Tangalok to be put into combat readiness, and then sent spies to the north.

In accordance with Article 51 of the Dwarven Ranger Rules of Battle—well, I went through the broken booklet, and it was true—I marked today as the first day of combat readiness.

The next day, it was cloudy

Towards noon, the spies sent out yesterday returned, and there were two people missing. They were discovered during their infiltration of the ruins of Dunhold, dead by the Blade. Still, the others found out about the Syndicate's intentions, and they wanted to attack Dangalok, perhaps the truckload of supplies sent to the Thunderspear camp caught their attention, and the greedy thieves finally coveted the supply point.

But I'm not surprised, as a famous place of chaos, the hills of Hillsbrad have never been peaceful for a day, today I will hit you, tomorrow he will beat me, if one day there is no bloody battle in this land, then it will surprise me! Come on, scavenging hyenas, and I'll let them know who they're messing with.

I raised the fort's defenses, and the boys began to build fortifications on the perimeter of the fort, and the thunderspear cavalry were asked to scatter at least twenty miles away.

On the third day, it was cloudy

The atmosphere of the battle is getting stronger and stronger, and the thunderspear cavalry who have been scattered out have begun to fight with the syndicate forwards who are pressing this way. In this scout battle, the brave lads won four wins and one loss, but their casualties were a bit heavy, seven people were killed, the rest were also wounded, and what was more serious was that the syndicates sprinkled poison on the grass, and several greedy goats suffered from acute diarrhea and could not even stand on their feet. As a last resort, I ordered the Thunderspear Cavalry to begin to shrink the line.

However, I still didn't feel that nervous, because some time ago Ironforge had already written to inform me that a company would come from Minethil Harbor to change the guard in the near future, and with them, we have enough men!

On the fourth day, it was cloudy

A large number of syndicates finally appeared at the end of sight, and there were more of them than the spies had said, about four hundred and fifty to five hundred.

Behind them, there stood four or five newly-built ballistae, and with the help of monoculars, I could see that they were very crudely made, and in some places there was still white stubble of bark and axes, but it was undeniable that these crude heavy weapons still caused us a lot of damage.

At noon, the enemy attacked. The attack was clearly tentative, as the lads repelled them with ease. They didn't even break through the outermost belt of stakes.

The musketeers in the semicircular fortifications used their muskets alone to kill more than twenty of the rushing bandits. Probably hurt by this head-on blow, the syndicate did not attack again until the evening.

On the fifth day, it was cloudy

There has been a stalemate on the battlefield, the syndicates can't get in, and we can't get out.

It was nearly noon when Redpass, the sheriff of Southsea arrived, he had come from the southern side of the coast, and the Syndicate had not yet had time to cordon off the area.

He was joined by twelve dwarven warriors and the uncompromising bad news - the company I was hoping for from Minethil Harbor was gone!

The Naga Siren of the South Seas attacked the Harbinger and sank it! The dwarven company that was on this boat was all in front of me now, twelve, the maximum number a lifeboat could fit! Damn, I said those Naga were going to get into big trouble sooner or later!

Redpas asked if he needed to send someone to help, but I refused, and it wasn't that time. But we made an appointment, and if we sent someone for help, they would rush to help!

On the sixth day, it was cloudy

The syndicates attacked again, this time more violently than before, and they threw in an entire company, but with the help of the fortifications, the boys stubbornly withstood their attacks.

In order to support them, I used two bronze mortars at the bottom of the bottom of the box in the bottom of the warehouse on the ground floor, unlike ordinary dwarven artillery, the flowering shells fired by this short-barreled mortar were extremely lethal to living targets, almost every cannon could kill more than ten people, but the rate of fire was so impressive because it needed to be cooled down - they fired a total of nine shells all morning, about one shot per gun an hour on average.

On the seventh day, it rained

Since the morning, it has been raining in the sky, and it is getting heavier and heavier. This was to add insult to injury, for the damp gunpowder was damp, and the dwarven musketeers in the semicircular fortifications were all silent, and I had to order them to withdraw from the fortifications and retreat to the main entrance of the fort, where at least the powder in the underground powder magazines was dry.

If I had known this, I should have asked the Iron Fort to send more new copper shell bombs. This new type of copper-shelled bullet is said to have been invented by a human named Diego Asnar, the cost is extremely high, only the more expensive new musket can be fired, and the chamber pressure is very large, even the new musket can not shoot a few shots to replace the barrel, but it has an advantage that the old bullet can not match, not afraid of water, the most suitable for today's weather.

On the eighth day, it rained heavily

The difficulties caused by the heavy rain were equal for both sides, and the Syndicate clearly did not want to brave the pouring rain to attack. For us, the rain was not all bad - the trenches were completely flooded with rainwater. From a distance, the waterlogged ground is so vast that you can't tell where the trench with pointed stakes at the bottom of the ditch is.

On the ninth day, moderate rain

The rain was lighter today, but the ground was still muddy and difficult to walk, and there was no movement outside the fortress.

Towards evening, the sound of dwarven muskets could be heard from the direction of the East Point watchtower, and although there were only sixteen men and twelve goats left in the cavalry, I decided to send them over there to find out, in case it was ours.

My guess was correct, our convoy carrying supplies to Thunderspear Camp has returned. However, the wagon was not empty, and it was loaded with twenty wounded—wounded in the battle with the frostwolf orcs. If it weren't for the cavalry team, they would not have been able to break through the syndicate's defenses at all!

The wounded were all badly wounded, most of them missing arms and legs, but they had all been carefully treated, and Vandal Thunderspear's plan was to send them to Dhangarok to recuperate, waiting for the dwarf craftsmen of Ironforge to come and fit them with prosthetics. I have to say, the gnomes make very good prosthetic limbs, and there have been some wounded people who have picked up their war hammers and rushed back into battle after loading their products!

But for us now, the arrival of so many wounded is a real headache. But the only good news was that along with the wounded came two priests of the Father God Kazgros! The brothers who had been suffering from bandages and herbs in the fortress were finally saved!

On the 10th day, it was fine

The sky finally cleared. Early in the morning, the syndicate bandits, who had been holding back for a few days, launched a fierce attack impatiently, and they no longer attacked one company after another like before, but directly pressed half of the people - two and a half companies!

After only one morning, we had lost the outermost belt of stakes, and by late evening the trench which had been the second line of defense had also fallen, and the Syndicate had filled it with bundles of twigs.

We had to retreat into the last stone wall. However, before closing the gates of the stone wall, I sent the last six Thunderspear Cavalry to the direction of Nanhai Town, the East Point Watchtower, and the Thunderspear Camp. I didn't have much hope on the side of the East Point Guard Tower, because there was only one squadron of human troops stationed there, and the total number of people was no more than thirty, so I am afraid that I would not be able to take care of myself at the moment, and the Thunderspear camp was a little too far away. Only the town of Nanhai is our greatest hope!

I have to admit that my arrogance caused me to misjudge the situation, and I should have called for help sooner.

Day 11, cloudy

Our good fortune has finally run out, and bad news has followed.

Two bronze mortars finally cracked in the barrel due to the long and frequent firing of the gun, and one of them blew up during the last fire, and the two heroic dwarven gunners paid with their lives. The gunner, who operated the other gun, put on his armor and stood on the stone wall with his hammer and shield.

In the afternoon, a gap was made in the stone wall by a ballista. The syndicates swarmed out of the breach, and we drove them out at the cost of more than thirty men, and then replugged the breach with everything we could find—stones, wood, stone benches, and cracked artillery.

On the twelfth day, it was cloudy

The Stonewall line could no longer be held, and throughout the morning it was bombarded three times, in different places. Without its protection, our casualties skyrocketed. We were not stupid enough to fight a war of attrition with the enemy, and under my orders, we retreated to the fortress and held the main gate to the death.

I quickly regretted making this decision, and we should have stuck with it for a while longer. For it was almost evening, and I heard the sound of fierce fighting coming from the direction of the south coast, and I saw the light of the fire on that side. It could be that reinforcements from Nanhai Town had finally arrived.

The fighting continued for more than an hour before it faded away, and although I organized a massive counterattack and tried to rush out of the gate to meet them, it failed. The Syndicate also held the main entrance to the fort.

I looked helplessly in the direction of the coast, and sincerely hoped that Redpass and the others would be able to retreat to Nanhai Town smoothly. He was a strong soldier and a brilliant commander, and I always thought that he should join the regular army, where he could be useful, and not waste time among the militia.

On the thirteenth day, it was cloudy

I took an inventory of the manpower, and there were fifty-five brothers in the company who were intact. We didn't have any wounded, because all the wounded brothers rushed out with a bomb in their arms. We still have a lot of this thing in our material warehouse, and I specially kept one for myself.

There were too many enemies, and all morning they were crowding into the gates by crowd tactics. By noon, the main line of defense had finally been breached.

My boys left the atrium on the first floor and retreated to the second basement floor. There is nothing of value on the second floor above, it is the brothers' dormitory, and even if it is occupied, there is nothing to be sorry for. Only the second basement floor, which was used as a storehouse, could not be abandoned, and that was also the place that the Syndicate bandits wanted to enter the most, and there were enough materials in it to allow them to expand half of their legion.

There were nearly half fewer people, mainly because too many people had died in the battle for the main entrance.

On the fourteenth day, it was cloudy

These syndicate bandits are so despicable!

They were all in a ball of their own, pretending to be there like a play, so that we mistakenly thought that reinforcements had arrived from the Thunderspear camp, and then attacked us while we rushed out to meet them!

We lost nine men in this short but fierce battle, all of them seasoned and good! They didn't deserve to die, it was all because of my stupidity! Such a simple strategy has not been seen through!

Even though everyone said they didn't blame me, and they didn't see it, I still couldn't forgive myself!

I secretly made up my mind that I would absolutely, absolutely, never fall for it again!

On the fifteenth, I don't know what the weather is!

We were crushed to the second basement floor.

The syndicate launched two assaults, but we were both driven out. But we lost six more companions in those two battles, leaving only twelve! Everyone knows that we can't stand another attack! It's time to make a final decision!

"Alright, let's get started!" I looked everyone in the eye, and they nodded at me firmly.

We moved the last three barrels of gunpowder to the three pillars, and if the syndicates came in, we would detonate them and completely destroy the fortress. Each dwarven fortress was built with the problem of loss in mind, and three of the dozens of ground support pillars were the last means of defense, a secret that only successive defense commanders would know, and if they were blown up, the load-bearing structure of the entire fortress would be unbalanced and then completely collapse instead of falling into the hands of the enemy.

There was another fierce fight on the basement, and the Syndicate was playing the same old tricks as yesterday, pretending that reinforcements had arrived, trying to lure us out. I won't be fooled again, they underestimate my IQ!

Maybe seeing that we weren't fooled, the sound of fighting outside gradually became quieter. I know the time has come!

…… Dividing line ............

Captain Darren Iron Hill shoved his battle diary into the gap between the two stone slabs and stood up. If one day, Ironforge recaptures this fortress, this diary will be proof that they fought to the death. They didn't discredit the honor of Ironforge!

He stepped up the steps, lined up with his men, and raised his shield.

"As soon as the fight starts, you will light the fuse!" He turned back and said to Glade, who was behind him with a torch in hand. The dwarf was only thirty-nine years old, still a child, but as brave as the others.

The sound of fighting upstairs finally stopped completely, and a sound of footsteps came towards the staircase. It seems that the syndicate finally realized that their trick was not working and decided to storm it. Iron Mountain gripped the handle of the hammer, ready to strike a thunderous blow at any moment.

At the moment when the enemy walked down the stairs, the captain let out a roar of rage.

"For Kazmodan!"

He swung his hammer hard and slammed it down at the thick, short figure.

But the next moment, he had to use all his strength to hold on to the hammer, because by the dazzling light from the burning fuse, he recognized who it was!

"Hell, Brian Copperbeard! How are you? ”

"Of course it's me, guys, be surprised! I have brought reinforcements, rejoice, you are saved! ”

"Damn it, put out the fire and put out the fuse!"

"Just pull them out!"

"Hell, why can't this root be pulled out?"

"Chop it with a knife, cut it off with a knife!"

"We don't have knives, only hammers!"

"Don't use a hammer, use a hammer and blow it up!"

"Douse it with urine, douse it with urine!"

"Damn, my belt is dead-buttoned, I can't take off my pants, I thought I'll never have to take off my pants after today!"

"Get out of the way! Do you do it with blood? ”

"Hell, the armor is so thick, it's the first time I've hated dwarf armor so strong!"

"Oh my God, there's only a little left in the barrel, and we're done!"

"Ha, that's amazing, this. Soak. The pee came just in time, oh man, who are you? ”