Section 26 Preparations

The third envoy in charge of negotiations returned.

This is an older old dwarf with a beard that droops down to the instep. In the view of the dwarves, a long beard is itself an outward proof of one's status and wisdom. However, the current situation seems to be a little bad, and even this bearded and experienced envoy has not been able to reach a reliable agreement with the ogre tribe.

This may prove a message that the rangers brought to Prince Hoga before - at this moment, there are many forces trying to make contact with the ogre. Although according to the general opinion, ogres are not a race with outstanding intelligence, but in this case, they at least know how to wait for the price to sell.

The envoy gave the prince a detailed report of what he had seen in the ogre camp. In particular, he mentions several peculiar traces that he found by accident. He highlighted the traces of greenskins he had found in the camp – in particular, a wild boar that apparently belonged to a greenskinned orc. You must know that with the gluttonous nature of an ogre, if a wild boar is hunted in the wild, it is impossible for the wild boar to be safely and completely chained to the edge of the camp, let alone equipped with a rough and simple saddle.

It wasn't clear if it was the ogre's fussy or deliberate actions, but the old dwarf was pretty sure that while Prince Hoga was trying to make a deal with the ogre, the greenskins were doing the same. Since Greenskin is also doing it, no one can rule out whether there are other third parties, such as nezumi, who are also making similar attempts.

Prince Hoga listened calmly on the surface, but in fact there was an almost uncontrollable anxiety deep inside. I haven't heard a single piece of good news in this time. The dwarven rangers who served as scouts fought several battles in a row with the greenskins, and suffered heavy losses. On the contrary, the exact location of the Greenskins' camp remains an unknown mystery to this day.

"Do they dismiss our advice?" Prince Hoga interrupted his men abruptly.

"It's not dismissive, but they say they don't agree with the hiring price. ”

Prince Hoga waved his hand and motioned for the other to leave. Just as he was about to sit down and think about the details, a soldier hurried in. Prince Hoga recognized this as one of the officers in charge of the defense of the underground part. Although the officer's armor showed no signs of battle, his panting look was a sign that something big had taken place underground in Karak-Grom.

"Prince, something has happened, and we all think we must report it to you. The officer said hurriedly.

"What did those nezumi do?"

"It's not the rat man, it's the mysterious digging sound from before...... It's gone. ”

"Gone?" Truth be told, this matter has always been a hidden problem on Prince Hoga's heart.

"In fact, the sound was getting quieter a few days ago, and now it's completely gone. The officer paused, seemingly recalling the details of time. "Now everything is back to its original state. ”

"There is no ...... in between"

"There were no suspicious accidents. Your Royal Highness," replied the dwarven officer. "Every patrol returned safe and sound, and there was no alarm coming from every outpost. There are no records of any engagement with the nezumi, or even any reports of sightings. Many soldiers thought the rats had given up. Everyone said that the voice before might be some kind of ...... Natural phenomena just sound like digging sounds. ”

This may be the only good news Prince Okah has heard in recent times. Perhaps he could draw some troops from the underground line to the surface, but he resisted the temptation at best.

"Call my advisors. After the officer who had reported the good news had left, Prince Hoga finally made up his mind. Before he set out on the war to regain the lost lands, his father found some older, more experienced advisers for him. It's time to gather all the bright minds and think carefully about ogres and greenskins.

As Prince Hoga and his advisors begin their discussion, in a tunnel on the edge of the Underworld, a nezumi clan warrior captain is trying to increase the speed of his men's march by screaming, swearing, and most effectively of all.

"Hurry up, you bitch! This is war! You know, this is war! Fight for the Rat God! Don't stop!"

Now, in this underground realm composed of countless tunnels and cavities, the same situation has been everywhere. Under the control of a strong will, the entire nezumi society is running for an unprecedented war. Their armies of millions are pouring out from every corner of the Underworld, gathering together.

"Hurry up, waste! It's almost time to get to the storehouse, and those who walk slowly are not allowed to eat!" shouted the captain. The sudden appearance of a shadow around him startled him, causing him to stop screaming. A small group of black-clad assassins passed by the ordinary nezumi warriors, who did not deliberately hide their figures, but still seemed silent, dark, and dangerous.

If it were the usual situation, this group of clan warriors from small clans would probably be finished. This is because the Assassins of the Essien clan never reveal their own course of action, lest their targets be prepared with a warning in advance. But this time the situation was different, and the black-clad assassins silently overtook the team, moving forward quickly, ignoring each other.

The entire team of clan warriors moved out of the way in terror, and it was not until the black-clad assassin completely disappeared that they regained their composure. The squad leader snapped his whip again. "What are you afraid of! You shit! That's our allies, and this time all the rat people will fight for the rat god!"

They ran forward a little further. Here, the tunnel and a natural cavity that is not very large combine to form a small open area.

Now, a huge machine is docked here.

Even the powerful squad leader stopped, hesitating whether he should approach or not. It was a wheel-mounted machine, a sickly green light pulsating inside it. Beside this machine, a small group of slaves in charge of carts were resting. An engineer warlock was standing beside the slaves, looking at the group of clan warriors with a look of ill will.

The leader of the last squad plucked up his courage. They knew that these magical machines and people from the Scurry clan were just like them, and that they were also here for the great war ahead. Under his command, the clan warriors began to move on, avoiding the flickering war machine as much as possible, of course.

The Engineer Warlock kept an eye on the squad's movements. This made the squad leader subconsciously stare at the opponent's left arm when urging his subordinates to march the army. The arm is not flesh and blood, but a mysterious mechanical device. The sharp blades of the mechanical arm flashed with a faint and strange green electric light, and the mere look at it felt dangerous.

But until they all left, the Engineer Warlock didn't make any dangerous moves.

"What are you afraid of! I told you don't have to be afraid of anyone!" As soon as he left, the squad leader immediately regained his presence. The goal of their plan is not very far away. At the front, there should have been a temporary warehouse of supplies for the soldiers with food and a short rest. However, at this time, the team leader slowed down, because he remembered the team of black-clothed assassins who passed by before. He didn't want to rush to the rest point, only to find a group of black-clad assassins eating and resting there.

Instead of that, you might as well slow down a bit.

......

"Sure enough, the more the army, the better. Ashrufat sighed inwardly. He had already spent a great deal of time and effort arranging the build-up of his army, but it proved to be a great challenge to prepare the logistics for a multimillion-strong army.

This is also the reason why the war has not been able to start for a long time. Because mobilizing, assembling, and establishing a basic chain of command is an extremely time-consuming and laborious task for an army of up to millions. Fortunately, with Carrie's help, Ashrufat would have probably made many mistakes. Things like getting the number of troops wrong and choosing the wrong location for supply points are bound to happen.

In fact, from the perspective of a general, every general knows the benefits of superiority in troops on the battlefield. In war, an enemy who is overwhelmingly numerically superior is extremely difficult to confront against. But again, as the number of troops increases, the logistical problems become more and more serious. From this point of view, the smaller the force, the more flexible it can be. It is difficult for any general to catch a small group of enemies, while a large force is easy to judge the course of action. As Thomas taught, the larger the army, the less free it is to move (with the exception of the undead legions, of course).

When Ashrufat was the elven prince, although his men were short of troops and lacked the ability to attack and deplete, he was given great mobility. Now the situation is reversed. Ashrufat had an army beyond the reach of the enemy, and was not afraid of any attack and attrition, but its mobilization was extremely cumbersome.

"Master, it's time for the meeting. In her mind, Carrie reminded. As the nezumi army assembles, they must decide on their next move. Ashrufat has been elected commander-in-chief, but this is only a superficial phenomenon, at most it has more to say, in fact, it is still the Abyss Council of thirteen people who really commands the army.

According to an easy-to-understand version, Ashrufat was promoted to general, and the other twelve men naturally became lieutenants. Back and forth, it's the Abyss Council that controls everything.

"I got it. Ashrufat replied. He sat down and closed his eyes. The magic of the nezumi has some special spells that other races don't have, such as this one. With the Great Grey Prophet as the main body, the thirteen Abyss Lords can use this magic to carry out a collective communication of hearts. It's as if they came together for a meeting. Of course, the effect is not as good as getting together face-to-face. At least you can't see whether the other person's expression is overjoyed or gritted teeth.

However, the current situation is that in order to be able to put such a large army into the war, the thirteen Abyss Lords have been scattered into different positions to ensure that the various preliminary preparations are carried out well.

Sure enough, the meeting had already begun. After a pointless polite remark and a false greeting, they began to exchange information on all sides. The scouts on the ground have reported that the dwarves have been holding out in the fortress and that the Greenskins have not attempted to attack Karak-Grom in recent times.