Although the orcs were as fierce as a mountain on the top, the defenders of Anku Fortress were the most elite troops in the Empire, and they were clearly inferior to hold off the first wave of attacks.

Of course, half of the credit goes to Count Banda, who was right in the first place in his decision to give up the narrow outer line.

Fortress Command,

The old duke of Baoge, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened by the sudden explosion of shouts of killing, and he asked what was happening outside, and Hu Cong told him that he was attacking the defense line of the fortress by the orcs.

When he asked about the specific situation, Hu Cong said that no information had come.

When the old duke heard this, he suddenly burst into a rage, and he yelled at his servant: "I can even clearly hear the voice of the orcs conveying military orders, and you actually told me that there is no information coming. ”

"I'm so sorry, my lord!" said Hu Cong, bowing his head.

The duke grabbed a two-handed sword from the weapon rack next to him, and strode towards the outside of the command post, and the noble generals who came to inquire hurriedly made way for a passage.

When the old duke came to the command post lookout to look, everything that caught his eyes almost made him unsteady on his feet.

I saw that countless torches were surging under the dark night sky outside the fortress, impacting the walls of the fortress, and the tall siege towers were like huge beasts tearing on the battlements in the night.

Everywhere there are battles,

Wolf smoke is everywhere,

The shouts of murder in both languages mingled.

The old duke suddenly turned his head to look at the generals behind him, "Take your soldiers and press them on me!"

Most of the generals who rushed to the old duke's side had just been woken up by the shouts of killing, not that they were sleeping to death, but that during the day they had been fighting all day, and some were even more tired than the soldiers.

The generals were also shocked, they were shocked why the orc soldiers had already stormed the fortress, after all, during the day, the outer defense line was as strong as an iron barrel.

"Get Count Banda!" Then the old duke instructed the herald beside him, but when the herald was about to go down to deliver the order, the old duke stopped him, because he decided to go to the front command in person.

...

At the front-line command post, the old Duke Baoge was wearing armor and holding a sword, and the nearest battle site was less than a hundred meters away from him.

"My perimeter was lost in half an hour?" Duke Baoge's anger rose, "Can anyone tell me how the battle is going now?"

No one answered him,

In addition to his servants, he had only one squad of personal guards.

But soon, the person who could answer the Duke of Baoge appeared,

The front commander, Count Banda, inspected the entire front and returned to the headquarters.

"What about my paladins and magicians?" the old duke's two-handed greatsword struck the command post's hardstone floor.

"The mage unit was attacked in the station, and most of them were killed and injured in less than ten minutes, if it weren't for the 'forbidden magic' that several mages later overdrew their lives to launch the 'forbidden magic', maybe now the mage force has been completely wiped out, and I have ordered them to retreat to the rear to rest. Count Banda explained, "As for the Paladins..."

The Count stopped talking.

"How's the paladin troop?" shouted Duke Baogue, "cough!cough!cough!" The old duke coughed violently from excitement, and his face was gloomy and terrible.

Count Banda wanted to step forward to support the old duke, but was stopped by the old duke, he looked at the old duke's bloodshot eyes, gritted his teeth and said: "There is a squadron of paladins who mutinied, they attacked and occupied the forward paladin station, at the same time, they also attacked the left flank stronghold of the front line of defense, opened the gate of the left flank of the fortress, they..."

"Poof—" Before Count Banda could finish his words, the old duke spurted out a mouthful of blood.

"Your Excellency!" Count Banda's face changed.

Duke Baoge grabbed the soft armor on Count Banda's body with one hand, "Tell me, how long can I hold on?"

Banda dodged the old duke's gaze, and after a few seconds of silence, he said: "It won't be more than a day, although it seems that the battle situation has been stabilized now, but the orcs have invested too many troops, and if it continues to be consumed like this, our defense line will collapse sooner or later,

Besides, at this time, half of the left flank position is already in the hands of the orcs, plus our troops are now without the assistance of paladins and the cover of magicians, and fighting against the orcs head-on is simply filling with their lives!"

"One day?" whispered the old duke, his voice as soft as when he prayed.

"You go!" the Duke suddenly pushed Count Banda away, "Retreat with the rest of the troops and retreat to Crane City!" After a pause, he added, "Call Count Anth, he shouldn't have died here." ”

"My ancestors swore that this would be my best home!" Count Banda shook his head.

"I will stay and keep the oath of the ancestors on your behalf!" the old duke said solemnly, "now is not the time to pay attention to honor, if these 250,000 orcs cross the defense line of Anku Fortress, what will be the consequences, have you ever thought about it?"

If you don't think about it, then think about it now,

Think of our realm ravaged by orcs, of our people enslaved under the whip of orcs, and of the fires that burned down your homeland!

So, neither you nor your people can die, you need to be responsible for what follows,

Return to your territory, reassemble your army, and fight the orcs to the death!"

"But—" Count Banda hesitated.

"No, but, this is an order!" the old duke's momentum soared, and the essence of holy power poured around his upright body, "Leave the team that has been broken for me, it doesn't take too much, don't worry, I will definitely buy you enough time!"

...

In the end, Count Banda led the young noble generals to evacuate the fortress of Anku.

The old duke took the place of Count Banda and personally commanded the battle on the front line of the fortress.

Two hours later, the left flank of the fortress was completely lost, and Count Anse, who was in charge of commanding the troops on the left flank, was forced to retreat to the headquarters.

Half an hour later, Count Anse led a thousand remnants of his army out of the defensive battle of Anku Fortress and retreated towards the city of Kran.

At ten o'clock in the morning on May 18,

After a night of fighting, the offensive and defensive battle of the fortress of Anku was nearing its end,

With the exception of the fortress headquarters, which was the strongest defensive building in the middle of the fort, the rest of the area had fallen.

Two hours later,

The last defensive ramparts of the fortress have fallen,

In the end, the old Duke of Bogue was killed in a duel with an orc overseer due to physical exhaustion.

The old duke's body was returned to Crane the next day by the human slaves captured by the orcs, but the procession carrying the old duke's body had changed by the time they crossed the Kemir River, and the knights who had arrived to inquire about it had replaced the slaves.

At 8 a.m. on the 19th,

The 10,000 soldiers newly assembled by the nobles of the Klan and the 20,000 men of the orcs who had gone south met at the Kemir River, and after six hours of fighting, there was no decisive victory, and the men and horses of each side retreated ten miles to camp in camp.

At noon on the 19th, the imperial capital.

Emperor Laubert received news of the fall of the fortress of Anku in his private chamber, and Duke Eric, the Minister of War, and the Earl of Stu, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, were urgently summoned respectively.

"What about the money and equipment I want?" the emperor asked his finance minister.

"Still raising!" replied Count Stu, looking at the scalp.

When Emperor Laubert heard this, a furious shout and curse spread throughout the Lion Castle,

Immediately afterwards, Count Stu, whose forehead was covered with blood, withdrew from the emperor's bedchamber!

An hour later,

When Count Stu came to the Emperor's chamber again with a bandage, he made a purchase list,

It reads:

iron swords, 20,000;

shields, 20,000 pairs;

armor, 50,000 sets;

spears, fifty thousand;

leather, 50,000 packs;

bows and arrows, five thousand pairs;

heavy crossbows, two hundred;

Arrows, javelins, etc.

When Emperor Laubert asked where these supplies were,

Count Stu hurriedly said: "They are hoarded in the major warehouses of the imperial capital. ”

"Anything else?" the Emperor asked again.

"Yes!" Count Stu nodded, "in two months you will have five times as much." ”

Emperor Laubert laughed with satisfaction, and said to Duke Eric, the Minister of War next to him: "Equip the 10,000 recruits recruited in advance, and tomorrow, I will personally lead them on the expedition!"

"Your Majesty, if I heard me correctly, do you want to go out against the orcs yourself?" Duke Eric looked earnestly at the Emperor sitting on the high platform.

"Of course, it's my duty. The Emperor replied affirmatively, and then he asked, "Karenling is really just watching, and now that the fortress of Anku has fallen! You tell them that if they don't do something, don't blame us for being ruthless when the orcs enter their ancestral graveyards!"

"No less than 10 summons have been issued, but no positive response has been received. Duke Eric shook his head.

"Oh?" the Emperor raised his eyebrows slightly, and then asked, "What about our Prime Minister, where is he now?"

Duke Eric thought for a moment and said: "According to the itinerary, it should be in the south of Fort Norma now, and it should arrive at the fortress of Bandara in three days, I have asked my son to inform the elves, and when Duke Nick arrives at the fortress, he can directly enter the Narun Forest." ”

"When will the troops from all over the country be assembled?"

"It will take at least half a month. ”

"I'll wait for your reinforcements in Kwyn Town!"

...

On the morning of May 20,

Emperor Laubert led the latest 10,000 new troops, and after hastily arming them, he marched towards the town of Kwyn.

On this day, the commoners of the imperial capital lost their work and gathered on both sides of the central avenue to congratulate their emperor on his return in the most enthusiastic way.

As the party reached the Ancestral Graveyard, a legion of paladins joined the army of Emperor Laubert under the leadership of Bishop Geoffreyd.

When the troops arrived in the town of Hatis, the lords from all over the country who came to inquire joined the emperor's army with five thousand knights and private soldiers of their own families.

When the troops were drawn from the town of Hatis again, the speculative mercenaries from all over the country, and the civilians who did not want to be satisfied with the status quo took up their weapons and knelt down in front of the emperor, asking to join the army, and the emperor gladly agreed.

so

By the time the Emperor's troops arrived in Kwyn, the number of troops had exceeded 30,000.