A person who does not have a sense of the overall situation cannot serve as the commander of the main corps.

In particular, the commander of the main army in the north is more demanding because he often faces wars.

At this moment, Stein did not know that King Roger had plans to change people.

On the fifth day after Stein arrived at Harden Castle with his troops, it suddenly began to rain heavily.

At dusk, Stein led the guards to patrol the city, and found that many of the veterans were hiding under the eaves to avoid the rain, and the queue was in a mess.

Stein opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't punish the soldier. In this kind of bad rainy weather, it is too unkind to require the military to be neat and tidy, and the morale is high.

A large part of the combat effectiveness of soldiers depends on morale.

Morale is also a state of mind with great fluctuations.

Only those who can mobilize and boost morale in adversity can be regarded as an excellent commanding officer.

Stein has not been in the Northern Army for a long time, and he has punished many soldiers in the army for not making an inch, which has made many officers and soldiers complain. Although the officers and soldiers at the grassroots level can't mess with him, it is more difficult for him to get into the hearts of the soldiers than the former regiment commander Zackery.

So Stein can only govern the army with a tolerant attitude.

Once it is too strict and its own prestige is not high, and then the officers and men are punished for some trivial matters, causing the officers and men to rebel and commit a mutiny, it will become particularly troublesome to deal with it.

Stein was circling the city wall and was about to retreat when he heard a shout. The sound came from the lookout post.

Hearing this shout, Stein looked up at the lookout and asked, "What are you panicking about, what's going on?" ”

"Three miles away from the city, it seems that a large group of orcs is approaching!" The sentry's voice was a little frightened, and he wiped his eyes to sober himself up.

"Quick, climb up to the lookout post and have a look, and get the soldiers to assemble at once."

Stein's reaction was quick, and he immediately commanded his own soldiers, let them climb the lookout post to observe the enemy's situation, and ordered the soldiers to notify the reserve to assemble.

The quality of the Northern Legion was very good, and after hearing the assembly order, despite the heavy rain outside, it did not delay and quickly completed the assembly.

There was another thunderclap in the air, and a bolt of lightning struck down, twisting and turning, and the thick clouds in the sky seemed to be torn apart.

It is not good to light wolf smoke on rainy days, and it is also difficult to convey messages with voices and flags. The news of the orc siege is difficult to convey to William in the big village outside the city.

The Orcs began to assemble outside the city gates, and important officers from Harden's castle ascended to the top of the city. Zachary and Rabe roughly estimated the number of orcs, and when they found that Stein had no next order, they immediately teamed up to find the top officer of the defenders.

The situation was urgent, Rabe was not polite, and directly grabbed Stein's arm and said: "The Warcraft cavalry is not suitable for defending the city, and I also ask the legion commander to order the soldiers to open the city gate, put down the drawbridge, let the Warcraft cavalry brigade go out of the city, flank the orcs to cooperate with the defenders to fight, after we leave the city, we will send troops to inform William." ”

"It's very threatening to lower the drawbridge now, will the orcs rush over immediately and disrupt your formation?"

"The Warcraft cavalry has very strong combat effectiveness, the quality of officers and soldiers is very high, as long as it takes a short time to break out of the city gate, when the time comes, there is room for the Warcraft cavalry to fight, and it is not difficult to defeat one or two orc brigades."

Seeing that the orcs were already making the final assembly, and time could not be delayed, Zachary also stepped forward to advise.

Although Stein was a little suspicious and indecisive, he listened to the opinions of the two at a critical time. He immediately ordered the Monster Cavalry Brigade to go out of the city to fight, and passed the news to William outside the castle.

As soon as the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade left the city, the orcs completed their assembly.

The speed of the orc's advance was very fast, and in a short time it was already two or three hundred steps away from the head of the city, and it was within range of the trebuchet.

Although it is possible to use a counterweight trebuchet on rainy days, it will greatly affect the accuracy and range of the trebuchet.

Dozens of catapults in Harden Castle continued to throw stone projectiles, heavy stone projectiles falling from the sky, occasionally hitting the advancing orc array, smashing the besieging orcs into meatloaf.

Seeing this tragic situation, the orc army formation was not chaotic at all.

Although Stein has little experience in warfare, he is also a noble officer with a family heritage, and after seeing this scene, he immediately found that the orcs besieging the city were elite soldiers.

The most elite soldiers of the Northern Legion were outside the city, and the defenders at the head of the city were slightly weaker.

Seeing the orcs so ferocious, the strong soldiers in Waistein suddenly felt a little frightened.

On the contrary, it was Zachary, whose face did not show joy and anger, and commanded the soldiers to fire feathered arrows like a robot.

Seeing that the Atonement Legionnaires began to release arrows, the Northern Legionnaires also followed the rhythm of the Toning Legionnaires, firing feathered arrows one after another.

The garrison of Harden Castle was 26,000, and the number of front-line troops guarding the city was as high as 19,000.

More than half of the 19,000 soldiers were armed with bows and arrows. There were two or three thousand archers on each wall.

This round of arrow rain was very dense, and some orcs in the front row were knocked down.

The orc elite reacted quickly and entered the range of the archers, and the minotaur showed a diamond-shaped shield, these shields were extremely wide and thick, weighing hundreds of pounds on one side, and only the powerful orcs such as the minotaur and the snake man could lift it.

The orcs connected their shields together, as if out of thin air, building a wall of shields to block the arrows.

A moat about ten meters wide was dug outside Harden Castle, and the water of the moat was relatively shallow, about two meters deep, and it was not possible to pass large boats.

In the blink of an eye, the orcs had braved the heavy rain and rushed to the moat. The kobolds were so fast that they came out from behind the shield, jumped off the moat, and swam across the river bank at great speed.

Arrows rained down on the city, but the orcs didn't care, and they continued to rush up, and the corpses of the kobolds floated on the moat, filling the moat over time.

For a while, the rain poured down, and the sound of killing on the battlefield shook the sky.

The kobolds who crossed the river set up bunkers from the corpses of their companions, and then used long wooden poles to lay planks and build improvised pontoon bridges.

Some of the tall minotaurs jumped off the moat and let their bodies act as piers to support the pontoons.

After crossing the moat, the orc soldiers used slings to throw stone projectiles, and some orcs who could shoot arrows began to use the corpses of their companions as cover to shoot at the city's heads.

Despite the very bad exchange ratio, there were still casualties in the city. Many soldiers were killed and wounded by stones, and a terrible cry came from the city walls.

The grassroots officers cooperated tacitly, while organizing a rain of arrows to suppress the orcs, and at the same time allowing the auxiliaries to quickly transfer the wounded, so as not to affect the morale of the front line.

After three thousand casualties, the orcs fought bravely, and finally cleared the obstacles to the siege, filled the trenches, and built a wide pontoon bridge.

By this time, it was late afternoon, and the rain had finally stopped.

The dark clouds had gradually dispersed, and the setting sun was shining on the city, and the dark red walls seemed to be bleeding.

Stein came to the front line in person, his face gloomy, and shouted to the herald: "Notify the catapult crew, exchange for alchemy bombs, oil bombs." ”、

Of course, the Grant Kingdom has alchemy bombs, but these alchemy bombs are all purchased, and the price is also very expensive, and the main army will equip some of them.

Within the Northern Legion, if there is no war, the reserve of alchemy bombs is between one and two hundred.

If it is consumed in the war, it will not be replenished in a short time.

In addition to alchemy bombs, the main army will also stock up on bursting arrows and oil bombs.

The Burst Arrow Grant Mage Guild can be refined, and the power is greater than that of the Alchemy Bomb, but the cost of making it is very high, exceeding two hundred gold coins.

However, because the Grant Mage Association can refine it itself, the reserves of the main legion are a little higher. The corps headquarters, brigades, squadrons combined, the reserves amounted to more than five hundred.

If it is used all at once, it is enough to severely damage several teams of orcs.

As the name suggests, oil bombs are mainly made of light oil, which is mixed with a certain proportion of flammable substances such as sulfur, asphalt, rosin, and resin, and then loaded into a sealed crockpot.

To use it, ignite the oil bomb and throw it out with a trebuchet.

Seeing that the weather was clear, Stein immediately ordered the use of oil fire bombs and alchemy bombs.

Dozens of trebuchets thuded, and dozens of fireballs flew up directly, crossing an arc and falling into the orc formation.

The oil bomb shattered at the slightest touch, and the flames flew everywhere, igniting the armor and hair on the orc's body.

The raw materials used in oil bombs are special, not only light in weight and very flammable, but also difficult to extinguish even if they hit the water surface.

These splashing flames were like appendages. The burning ghost cried wolf, and it was extremely miserable.

Even the orcs' siege engines were ignited by oil bombs.

Seeing that the siege was blocked, the orcs immediately changed their tactics, and the serpent heavy infantry appeared on a large scale.

In order to avoid the blows of the trebuchet, the ranks of the serpent heavy infantry were very scattered and mixed among the orcs. At the same time, the Harpies began to circle the city, looking for an opportunity to launch a surprise battle.

Discovering that the Serpents had changed their tactics, Stein reacted quickly and adjusted his tactics, abandoning the use of trebuchet projectiles and instead handing over the alchemy bomb to the Northside Legion Professional officers.

Let them choose the timing of their throws and specialize in hunting orc professionals.

At the foot of the city walls, explosions rang out incessantly.

The Alchemy Bomb used by the Legion of the North, due to the use of fire crystal, is twice as powerful as the version made by Richard.

An alchemy bomb exploded beside him, and even a third-order snake-bodied person would hardly survive the explosion.

The alchemy bomb was constantly used at any time, and the orc profession suddenly suffered heavy casualties. Only a few snake-clad men broke under the walls and began to climb them.

Seeing that the snake man broke through the blockade line at the end of his life, the harpy also lowered his altitude and launched an energy missile.

In an instant, hundreds of energy missiles exploded on the city wall, causing more than 200 soldiers to be attrited in an instant.

More than 200 people were killed and wounded, and a certain amount of chaos was caused in an instant.

Seeing that the Harpy had lowered its height, the archers of the Northern Legion aimed their bows and arrows at the Harpy and fired burst arrows.

Two or three hundred archers fired arrows together, shooting more than two hundred bursting arrows, and hunting and killing more than eighty harpies.

Such heavy casualties immediately frightened the harpy and made the harpy dare not hover at a low altitude.

Serpents are good at climbing, and once they get close to the walls, they can climb very quickly.

Some of the serpents climbed the city walls, causing a certain amount of confusion.

Stein noticed that the Serpents had climbed the city wall and immediately organized professional officers to drive them away.

Zachary drew the elite from the reserves, like a fire brigade, constantly extinguishing the danger.

Just when Harden Castle was in a bitter battle, Captain Rabe, with a team of Warcraft cavalry, defeated the orc wolf cavalry and began to flank the right flank of the orcs.

After leaving the city, Rab informed William of the news.

After receiving the battle report, William took the initiative with three large groups of soldiers to attack the left flank of the orc army.

The orcs had a large number of troops, and after discovering that there were enemies on both flanks, the orcs decisively mobilized five brigades to block them. Two brigades blocked the Warcraft cavalry, and three brigades intercepted William.

The reason why the Northern Legion was able to annihilate a legion of orcs was because of the surprise attack.

Braving the heavy rain, the orcs also carried out a surprise attack, only to encounter Stein, a cautious commander.

The unsuccessful surprise attack is equivalent to kicking down the iron plate and turning it into a siege battle with clear swords and guns.

Although the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade is strong in combat, it is too small in numbers. On the contrary, William commanded the elite infantry of the Northern Legion, and first broke through the orc line and routed the orc reinforcements.

Although the orcs have more troops, they are at a disadvantage in siege warfare.

Seeing that the reinforcements had broken through the interception and the siege battle failed, the orcs immediately sounded the retreating trumpet.

The orcs besieging the city were elite, and when they retreated, they were forbidden to do so, and they were very fast, and they disappeared out of sight in a blink of an eye.

After repelling the orc siege, Stein immediately sent the Warcraft cavalry to chase after him.

As a result, the orcs had already taken precautions, and the two orc brigades desperately blocked it, and the remaining wolf cavalry also mustered up the courage to fight against the monster cavalry.

Although the Warcraft Cavalry Brigade killed four hundred orc soldiers, it also had thirty of its own attrition.

This exchange ratio is a bit of a loss for the Warcraft cavalry.

It is difficult to form the Warcraft cavalry, but it is relatively easy to train the soldiers of the orcs, even if it is ten for one, it is still the Warcraft cavalry who suffers.

Seeing that the Warcraft cavalry had suffered a loss, Stein immediately ordered, sounded the horn of retreat, and chose to accept it when he saw it.

In this surprise attack, the orcs suffered a big loss, losing 8,000 soldiers. The defenders of Baron Harden's castle suffered lighter casualties, with losses of two thousand three.

After this battle, the superiority of the orcs in strength has been weakened a lot, and the situation in the entire northern frontier has gradually reversed.

Although the Orc Empire is very strong, half of its strength is placed on the 6,000-kilometer border with the Divine Radiance Empire.

The remaining half has to be divided into some and stares at the undead contaminated areas in the territory.

In addition, key areas such as the Orc King Capital should also be garrisoned.

The forces that can be used in the direction of invading the Kingdom of Grant, the Kingdom of Lane, the Duchy of Lal, the Duchy of Crimea, and the Grand Duchy of Starnik are only three or four percent of the strength.

But these three or four percent of the strength alone makes it very difficult for the five human countries to deal with it.

(End of chapter)