Suddenly, an alarm bell was rung, echoing throughout the city of Rayena in Bergen territory.
The people had yet to recover from their initial confusion. War was too far away from them, so much so that they did not believe that there would be any emergency. However, when the guards belonging to the Milnor family rushed to the city wall, the people gradually sensed the danger.
The captain of the city guards gave out orders loudly, and the few city gates that were originally open began to close slowly. The drawbridge over the moat was also lifted, and the only remaining north gate was completely closed after a group of people rushed into the city. The entire city immediately declared a state of defense.
As everything had happened in such a hurry, many civilians and even seven or eight nobles were locked outside the city. However, no matter how much the people below shouted, the captain on the city wall was indifferent. He refused to lower the drawbridge and open the city gate no matter what.
The captain who knew the inside story turned pale, and some of the soldiers were so nervous that they were trembling. Who would have thought that the Orc army would suddenly cross thousands of miles and appear in Bergen territory?
Count Milnor, who had just escaped into the city, could not find an answer to this question at all.
His face was covered in sweat, and he no longer had the shrewd look he used to have. As he had been planning various plans against Efta, he had been staying in the westernmost town of the territory, Morrel Town. Morrel Town was the transportation hub between Bergen territory and several other important territories in the Kingdom of Karen. It also had a lot of courier stations and pigeon cages. Although it was a "town", its size was no different from a small city.
This was the hinterland of the Kingdom of Karen, so there were not many armed forces in the town. Because of this, when more than 3,000 Orcs suddenly rushed out of the forest, the entire Morrel Town was annihilated without any ability to resist.
Because of the protection of the guards, Milnor finally escaped at the cost of more than 20 lives. Although he was unharmed, his mind was completely shaken. He had not recovered from the shock until now.
"How … How did they appear here …"
Count Milnor knew that he had really demonstrated the meaning of "nurturing a tiger only to invite disaster".
What Charles II wanted him to do was to "drive the tigers to swallow the wolves." Who would have thought that this group of "tigers" who couldn't bite through Efta's tortoise shell would dare to take the risk of being besieged and bite back!
If they tasted the sweetness of the technology he had given to the construction machinery and the defense map of Efta, they would definitely bite on it like a blood-sucking leech. But why did they change their target to him?
His carelessness made Mirno regret it. However, the huge difference in strength made him feel cold all over!
It was not that the Kingdom of Karen did not have any military strength, and it was not that they could not gather a group of knights that could confront the orcs head-on. But the key problem was that these soldiers and knights usually stayed in their own fiefs. Without a conscription order, no lord could gather a team of over a thousand soldiers to fight.
This wasn't Efta. Not only was there no recruitment, there wasn't even any pre-war preparations to clear the fields. Therefore, after the Orc army surged in, their momentum was completely unstoppable, as if they were cutting melons and vegetables.
There was no lack of those arrogant knights with real strength. But what was the use of having only one knight in a fief? The Farmer Auxiliary Army didn't even have time to put on their equipment before they were massacred by the Orc army.
Mirno's mind was in a mess. He wanted to recruit soldiers, but he didn't know where to start. Half of the knights under him had already been killed by the orcs. Even if he ordered the rest to assemble now, it would probably take five days before he could see them.
However, there was no other way. Hence, he immediately ordered his men to assemble the rest of the army. Then, he wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and rushed into his study room to write a report to Charles II.
"Count Mirno! The orcs have rushed to the city wall! "
The sudden military report made his hand tremble. The tip of the quill broke, and the ink stained the entire parchment black.
Mirno froze for a long time. Suddenly, he started to think about the root of everything.
Why would the orcs rush here?
If my son had been on good terms with Efta, would this have happened?
But now, there was no room for regret. He slumped against the back of the chair and did not speak anymore. He silently waited for the judgment of fate.
*****
"Great chief, the four towns are already under our control! The surrounding villages are not defended at all! "
The adjutant reported the results of the battle excitedly. His voice was so loud that he wanted all the soldiers in the town to hear him. As a matter of fact, he had done it. The Orcs around him cheered loudly.
This was the right way to attack! If Efta was a tortoise that had nowhere to bite, then the places outside of Efta were simply delicacies that were already cooked and waiting for them to feast on!
From the beginning to the end, the orcs felt that they had not encountered a decent army. Occasionally, some nobles would try to resist with their own guards. However, these soldiers who had been in a greenhouse for a long time were no different from civilians in front of the orcs. They were basically defeated with just one attack and had no combat power to speak of.
The only tough ones they encountered were all drowned out by the Great Chieftain's Shaman Magic Enhancement Army. Among them were two low-level mages, two Grand Knights, and one middle-level mage who had been smashed into meat paste by Sauron himself. At least so far, the soldiers had not suffered any defeat. Everyone's morale was high, and they even felt that they were invincible …
"Let the soldiers besieging the city retreat. Don't waste time there. We need to conserve our strength."
Sauron's calm words were like a bucket of cold water splashed on him. The adjutant's excited expression cooled down. He scratched the back of his head and hesitantly said, "Great chief, that city is obviously not guarded by many guards. If you believe me, I promise to break through it before dark tomorrow!"
"I believe in your ability, Capinci. But have you thought about … what are we going to do after we take down this city?" Sauron slowly paced and pointed to the south. "We have not fought with the real elite forces of this country. Our biggest advantage now is to charge in when they are unguarded."
"When we were in the Nehemiah Grassland, the humans did something similar. Have you forgotten?"
Rody and his army had massacred several tribes. As long as it was a direct descendant of Sauron, they would know about it. So, these words immediately woke the adjutant up.
"This is not a heaven for them to take what they want. If they react, this place will sink you and I into a swamp of death. Do you understand? "
Capinci nodded dispiritedly. "I understand, great chief."
"Is there any harvest in the city?"
This topic immediately made the latter excited. Capinci said excitedly, "Great chief, we seized more than 500 horses and countless grains. The inventory of the 13 blacksmith shops is enough for the entire army to upgrade their equipment! "
"Not bad."
This was only the harvest on the surface. The massacre of the population and the blow to the nobles would also have a very serious impact on the Kingdom of Karen. However, this was not something that Sauron had to consider. After sending out scouts to report the news of the eastern part of the kingdom, he had already begun to plan the next step of the route.
Sauron knew the advantage of his troops, so he would definitely not do something stupid like besieging and defending the city. The morale of the soldiers seemed to be high, but in fact, "physical strength" would eventually become a problem that could not be ignored. No matter how weak the enemy was, they were not wooden dummies. Although the results of the battle were good, it was an indisputable fact that the entire main force was exhausted.
Moreover, the existence of the mages gave Sauron a bad premonition. He could clearly sense that more than ten mages had blocked his attack route, but most of these mages were obviously not loyal and had chosen to protect themselves and leave.
But what if they chose to collectively stop him?
In a situation where there were enemies on all sides, one wrong step could result in eternal damnation. "Using war to nurture war" was a good method, but he must leave room for himself. Nothing good would come out of blindly rushing around blindly.
He took out the map of the Kingdom of Karen that he found in a noble's house and calculated the next attack plan in his mind. Although his eyes would occasionally glance at the sign of the palace in the south, after thinking about it again and again, he finally gave up on the idea of advancing rashly …
"There will be a chance eventually."
He slowly closed the map, got up, and walked out of the house.
… …
While Sauron's attack was a great success, the Beastmen outside Elsen City were also preparing for the upcoming general attack.
These days, a large number of Beastmen were sent to cut wood, and siege ladders and siege wagons were made one after another. The number far exceeded any previous attack. Obviously, the results of the prolonged attack and the strenuous logistics had made Overseer Lacor and Duda determined — they could not fail again. This attack must be fully confident!
These Sirius cavalry scouts continued to bypass the outside of Elsen City and were quickly driven away by the Dragon Lances. However, they had clearly observed this "dilapidated" city from afar and reported their conclusion to the overseer: the city walls were poorly repaired, and there was nothing special about them other than the fact that the walls were taller.
The only thing that puzzled the overseers was the floating stones in the sky. No one could explain what the floating space tower was. After getting used to it, they realized that this thing would not affect them, so in the end, they left it at that.
After all, the Beastmen knew nothing about magic, so this result was not surprising.
As for Elsen City, these days, the city gates were still wide open, and the farmers on the outskirts of the city were still farming. The existence of the "Phantom Barrier" made it so that what the Beastmen scouts saw was always an illusion.
There was no longer any suspense in this kind of war. Even Houdini silently felt sorry for the Beastmen.
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