There had been no news of Warlord Godard ever since he entered Elsen City. After three days, a dozen wounded Wolf Riders staggered back to the main camp on the grassland and brought the news of Godard's "annihilation" to Great Chief Sauron.
Sauron was so angry that his nose was almost crooked. He was not afraid of failure, but these Orcs were generally brainless. Their voices were getting louder and louder, as if they wanted everyone to know that hundreds of Wolf Riders had died in battle.
As long as it was an army, one could not ignore the impact of "morale" on the troops. Sauron was very clear that he was trying his best to "lead" all the Orcs forward, but he could not "command" them. Any small setback could affect his prestige and make it more difficult for him to give orders.
Now, the mighty Military Governor had actually been completely annihilated in the Kallon Kingdom's borders without any warning. It would have been fine if they had died in battle, but the cause of their deaths was inexplicably blown to pieces …
If this rumor spread, how could they fight the next battle?
It was said that the Orcs were brave, but that was just the nature of beasts. Beasts had the instinct to "seek luck and avoid danger." If everyone thought that they would be blown to pieces after entering the Kingdom of Karen, who would fight well? It was better to disband as soon as possible!
"Don't talk nonsense! I have already heard from another group of warriors … Warlord Godard was brave and unparalleled. He led his troops to break through the human fortress defense, but because the enemy's reinforcements arrived in time, he died a heroic death! You bunch of deserters are not only cowardly, but also full of lies. The tribe does not need cowards like you! "
Sauron roared these words, then immediately took out his chain hammer and smashed the heads of several soldiers. The unlucky Orcs were still wondering who had reported to Sauron, but in the next second, their brains were splattered all over the ground.
Sauron glanced around with a gloomy gaze and said to his trusted subordinates, "Go tell Lacor and Warlord Duda to increase the speed of their advance! Tell them that Godard found many humans retreating in a hurry. We must launch an all-out attack before they retreat into the fortress! "
"The strength of Godard's tribe has been damaged. We can't let his son be the Warlord now. Secretly inform Casa … Tell him that when he completely controls Godard's tribe, I will let him be the Warlord."
"Yes! Great Chief! "
Sauron was not very good at commanding, but compared to the other Beastmen, he was much better. Even so, Sauron still felt a headache coming on. The war had not even begun, and he had already lost two warlords and more than 800 Wolf Riders. And he did not even know the specific distribution of the Kingdom of Karen's forces.
Were these humans really as weak as he had imagined?
Or are they as valiant as Rody's subordinates?
Rulers were all lonely, and Sauron was constantly moving forward in self-doubt and denial. If Sarota's outpost could stand firm back then, the situation would definitely not be like this. But Sauron also knew that there were not too many "ifs" in this world. The death of some Orcs now was not a bad thing for his personal rule. There would always be a group of disobedient Orcs who would be used as cannon fodder.
"But … what if they are all hiding in the stronghold …"
Zoro rubbed the chain hammer in his hand and fell into silence.
*****
"Your Grace, this is news from Baron Sodelor," the Duke said.
In the Count's mansion in Hollier, Sally, who was dressed simply, received the letter. After a simple reading, she directly lit the candle and destroyed it. She then got up and went to a newly made simple sand table in the center of the study. She placed two small wooden dolls and a wooden horse head on the model of the stronghold called "Tucker."
On the sand table, there were many similar dolls placed on the border stronghold. Each doll represented 500 official infantrymen who could go to the battlefield, and each horse head represented about 100 armed knights.
"It seems that Efta has mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers in a short period of time."
In this era, it was difficult for the noble lords to calculate how many troops they could bring to war. If they encountered a knight who did not give them face and asked to bring 200 people, it was possible that even 30 people would come. Although Roddy had begun to recruit and train professional soldiers before he established the "cabinet", he could not change the military structure of the territory in a short period of time. Therefore, the current military composition was still mainly "nobles, private soldiers, and temporary soldiers."
There were a total of 12,000 soldiers recruited through the cabinet, of which there were 300 knights with fiefs in the traditional sense. They brought a total of more than 7,000 attendants and infantrymen, who were distributed to various strongholds according to their combat effectiveness.
For the upcoming war, as the "cabinet prime minister," Roddy was naturally the main policymaker, but he did not hold the specific command of the war in his hands. Roddy was very clear that his ability to control local battles was unparalleled, but in a large-scale war, it was difficult for him to take care of everything.
Therefore, Roddy only proposed the general direction of "active defense, waiting at ease", and the specific implementation was handled by the experienced Knight Titus.
After all, Knight Titus was a great knight of Efta who had been famous for a long time. He knew the strength of the troops participating in the war in the territory, and it was easy for him to command. And as Duke, Sally was not just for show. She had the "decision-making power" of all of Efta's supplies. In a sense, Sally's participation in the war was no less than Titus's.
This was a power distribution method that Roddy was familiar with, and at the same time, it allowed Sally, as the lord, to have great control over the war.
"The evacuation work has basically been carried out. Those who have not yet hidden in the stronghold can only pray for the best," Knight Titus's voice sounded from the side.
As the "commander" of this war, he did not need to personally oversee the front line. In order to let Sally gain knowledge about the war as soon as possible, he stayed in Hollier to explain the various details to Sally.
"The strength of Sodelor's soldiers cannot be compared with the other knights, so he placed them in this stronghold with the worst conditions. Is it to make up for the shortcomings of the defense line?"
Thanks to the teachings of the Dukes Of Angmar when they were young, Sally had a very clear concept of strongholds due to her experience of patrolling the borders. Now that the name of the stronghold was mentioned, she could immediately make a general judgment.
"Your point is correct, but whether it is a shortcoming of a bucket or not is actually a gamble. Sodelor reported to me that the combat power of his troops is ten times that of ordinary troops. To be honest, if he had said this a year ago, I would not have believed it. But with the equipment that Lord Roddy provided, I believe he would not lie to me. Therefore, I let them guard the most crucial point of the defense line … If the orcs can see the situation of the Efta defense line clearly, then they will definitely attack here. "
Titus pointed to the stronghold where Sodelor was, and then pointed to the several strongholds next to it. "The total number of soldiers is more than ten thousand. In fact, more than seventy percent of them are recruits who have not been on the battlefield. Most of them have not experienced war, and even the most basic training is lacking …"
He continued with a serious face, "Perhaps only about three thousand people really have qualified combat power. Half of them are brought by Sodelor, and the rest are Wellington's group of veterans. Although the other lords have many elite soldiers under their command, they all have their own masters, and there is no way for them to act together. They can only display their skills in the defense line. "
These words gave Sally a lot of insight. She looked at the sand table and thought for a moment, and then thought of Roddy's next plan. From the letter sent by Sodelor, she knew that the baron had split a team of about a hundred people while leading the army north, and they quietly went to Elsen City.
Counting the days, this team should be the elites who set off with Roddy, right?
*****
Thirty elite cavalrymen were selected, and sixty strong barbarian "auxiliary soldiers" arrived in Elsen City on the second of May.
They did not come here simply to wait for Roddy to set off, but to receive a "training" order. Roddy asked them to learn how to build and lay down simple magic slabs in two days, and then they could set off.
Roddy, who was in the lord's mansion, did not seem to be worried about the orcs' attack at all. For the past few days, he had been running between the magic laboratory, the study, and an experimental field outside the city. The word "running" was because he had completely forgotten to eat and sleep for the past few days. Even Akasha, who was closest to Roddy, had a hard time keeping track of his whereabouts.
Often, he would be in the study with Natha holding a stack of parchment to confirm something, and five minutes later, he would run outside the city to cause a small earthquake or an explosion.
However, if one looked closely, they would find that the tense expression on Roddy's face had disappeared, and he even seemed to have relaxed a little.
Merinsera was very curious about what Roddy had been doing, but Roddy clearly refused to reveal it. "You don't have to take the risk for this. Maintaining your position in Houdini's eyes is obviously more important. I have a lot of things to ask of Lassman in the future, and it's all up to you. "
Roddy's reason barely made Merinsera stop asking, and his preparations came to an end with the arrival of the third of May. When the team of ninety finished their "training", Roddy began to check the equipment that he would be bringing with him for the trip.
But at this moment, Houdini, who had suddenly returned to Elsen City, made Roddy frown.
Houdini obviously did not bring good news. Even if he did not speak, Roddy could see it from his haggard and thin face.
"Is there a problem? Mage Houdini? "
He glanced at Houdini's entourage, who were bowing their heads in silence, and realized that the situation might be more serious than he had imagined. So, after welcoming Houdini into the guest hall, he dismissed the entourage and waited for the mage to organize his words.
Houdini's eyes were still bloodshot, but when he opened his mouth, there was no hesitation in his tone. "There's no use apologizing, Lord Roddy. Previously, I was negotiating with you as Lassman's envoy.
But now, I'm afraid I can only represent the leader of this fleet. "
Roddy frowned, but after thinking for a while, he smiled faintly.
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