The ominous dragon that looked like a giant bat was circling in the air, roaring, with a burly orc warrior sitting on its back. The two of them looked around, with a doubt lingering in their minds.
"Where on earth is that Saint-level expert from the human race?"
148. Their Blood, Their Land
"This is my first time to this far north. It's really cold."
On the deck of the paddle steamer, Dick and a group of Northern Alliance lords looked out at the coastal scenery of the wasteland. Everyone lamented the cold and desolation here, and felt incredible that the orcs could survive in such a hellish place.
"Actually, the orcs probably don't want to live in such a hellhole. I've read some ancient books left over from the Holy Kingdom of the Elves. In the Middle Ages more than 2,000 years ago, the orcs were widely distributed throughout the continent. It was the elves who drove them to the north of the Central Mountain Range, and then we humans, who rose up later, drove them further to the wasteland with even worse conditions."
"Oh! So they want to recover the lost territory?"
"That's bullshit, losing land happened over a thousand years ago. Now I just want to kill their whole family!"
Several lords were chatting with each other to pass the time, while Dick was flying in the sky with Lukoya, looking for the most suitable landing point along the coastline.
The two of them quickly found a shallow beach with suitable terrain. Dick landed directly and used earth magic to transform the terrain, creating three piers leading into the sea. Lukoya flew inland to scout the enemy situation.
With the strength of a holy magician as the civil engineer, Dick built three large piers more than ten meters wide in less than half an hour. Lukoya also returned after patrolling and said that there was no sign of any orc activity within a radius of ten kilometers from the landing site.
"The land around here is so poor that only lichens can grow on it, not even for grazing. But why don't they fish along the coast?"
“I think the reason might be there.”
Dick pointed his finger at the sea in the distance, and just in time he could see some groups of black shadows surging out from under the water. They seemed to be some giant marine creatures with a body length of more than fifty meters.
The marine species in this world are much more ferocious than those on Earth. Some legendary overlord-level sea monsters can grow to several thousand meters long and can fight against giant dragons from ancient times without losing. They are truly extremely fierce.
It is precisely because of the existence of these giants that the ocean exploration here is severely restricted. Ships can only sail near the coast and must be equipped with some magical devices that have the effect of exorcising monsters.
This type of magic device can effectively scare away dangerous creatures in shallow waters by simulating the magic wavelengths of dominant marine creatures, keeping them away from ships. However, if you drive the device into the deep sea, the arrogant magic fluctuations will most likely be regarded by real dominant sea monsters as an invasion and provocation by monsters of the same level, and they will rush up to kill you without any discussion.
The ocean is so mysterious and dangerous.
After completing the preparations for landing, Dick took out a folding table and chairs from his space bracelet, and had a tea and rest on the pier while enjoying the "warm" sea breeze which was only minus 20 degrees Celsius at noon.
In order to ensure that the expeditionary force would not suffer casualties due to frostbite while fighting in the cold zone, Dick prepared 12,000 warming amulets in advance to ensure that the army had both men and horses.
This is a low-level magic item with an extremely simple production method. Even a magic apprentice who has just started learning for half a year can easily use it. Just wearing the amulet can effectively block the cold wind. The effect of one amulet can last for one to two months. Therefore, it is very popular in the northern region in winter. Anyone who has a little spare money and goes out frequently will buy one.
The price of a single amulet is indeed not expensive, but the total price of twelve thousand amulets is not a small number.
The amulets Dick hoarded were originally prepared for the miners and prisoners in the territory. As a kind-hearted lord, he hated to see his criminals being too idle in the winter.
The two sat on the beach for a long time, and finally, just before Lukoya could no longer hold back and take further action against Dick, they saw the fleet.
This made Lukeya feel quite regretful, and when he pulled his hand back, he did not forget to suck his fingers twice.
Soon, the fleet arrived at the landing point. The fleet led by Belfa jumped onto the sea and temporarily acted as a tugboat, pushing the paddle steamer to the pier for docking.
The sight of several beautiful girls gliding on the sea and easily pushing a giant ship weighing thousands of tons made many people who saw the ship girls for the first time marvel.
"What kind of magic is this?"
"Could it be the legendary siren?"
"If all sirens looked like this, I wouldn't even need to sing, I'd obey just by waving my finger."
"Ah~! Another day of envying Earl Best."
After the ships were docked, the soldiers and horses quickly disembarked from the pier. The first thing many people did after landing was to find a conspicuous place to release water, which was an abstract act symbolizing conquest.
After Old Banner and other lords got off the boat, they let out some water and immediately found Dick, asking whether they could start the march as planned?
Judging from the map, their current location is about 130 kilometers away from the Orc City. Considering that the information provided by the captives may have errors and the location may not be absolutely accurate, if they set out now, there is a certain possibility that they will get lost at night.
Therefore, Dick's plan was to have the troops wait near the landing site first, so that both the people and the horses could slightly relieve the negative effects of the boat ride, and then he would lead the elite troops to scout and confirm the exact location of the orc city before advancing. A little delay was better than taking a risk and causing a bigger problem.
The landing of the troops would take some time, so Dick, who had already rested, immediately called Lukoya and prepared to fly inland for reconnaissance. As the commander of the expeditionary force, Dick should not have personally carried out such a dangerous reconnaissance mission, but who said he was now a Saint-level magician!
After Dick set off, he flew westward. Along the way, he would take out the map from time to time, mark some conspicuous landmarks on it, and constantly correct and complete some terrain.
The two Saint-level masters were flying in the air several hundred meters high. From the ground, they looked like two flying birds. Even with excellent eyesight, it was difficult to see them clearly without careful observation.
After going more than thirty kilometers inland, the two finally discovered some scattered orc tribes. These tribes on the periphery were very small, with a population ranging from one hundred to several hundred, and they lived in extremely simple tents.
It is worth mentioning that although the winter in the wilderness is extremely cold, with the highest daytime temperature being around minus ten to twenty degrees Celsius, there are many unfrozen springs, which are an important source of water for the orc tribes to survive.
According to the information provided by the captives, Ramon tricked many young and strong orcs from small tribes into joining the invading army during this attack on the empire. He promised these orcs that they would fight with him to the human territory and everything they robbed would belong to them.
Ramon obviously regarded these small tribes as objects that could be won over and absorbed, so most of these orcs were pulled into his main army, while those "traditionalists" who disagreed with him were mostly assigned to the mopping-up corps, in order to weaken them with the help of the human army.
Looking at these small tribes below, Dick suddenly had a vicious plan in his mind. He wanted to add some extra "costs" to Ramon's rule over the entire wasteland orcs.
After flying for more than an hour, Dick and Lukoya finally saw the rumored "Orc Capital" from afar. Although most of the buildings were large tents like yurts, the overall shape of a city had already been formed. The nearby Holy Lake was also larger than expected. No wonder the Orcs gave the largest lake in the wilderness the nickname "Sea of Sky Mirror".
Since he was unsure how many Saint-level masters were in the Orc City, Dick did not risk flying directly above the Orc City for a close observation. Instead, he watched carefully from the periphery to avoid alerting the enemy.
It was already evening when Dick and Lukoa returned to the coastal landing point.
At this time, all 6,000 cavalrymen of the expeditionary force had landed and set up camp on the shore to rest.
After Dick brought back the reconnaissance intelligence, everyone discussed the marching route overnight. Not only were they going to raid the orc city hundreds of kilometers away, they also planned to persecute all the orc settlements along the way.
As for these small tribes, Dick's advice was to try not to kill anyone, but except for the orcs, no other living creatures should be spared, and the camp should be burned to the ground. The slaughtered beasts should not be wasted, but thrown into their spring water, which would become undrinkable after soaking for three to five days.
Dick knew very well that they had traveled thousands of miles to the wilderness not for any humanitarian reasons. From the moment the orcs ripped open the human captives and put them into the pot, the two races had been at war to the death.
Mutual understanding? I understand your grandmother's legs!
"We will do whatever it takes to destroy it. We are here for revenge!"
Dick's words were unanimously agreed upon by all the generals of the expeditionary force.
The next morning, before dawn, the expeditionary force started a fire to cook, and after eating and drinking their fill, they began to march inland.
The medical team stayed at the seaside with the fleet, and all the soldiers participating in the battle were informed before the operation began that this would be a quick-in-quick-out blitzkrieg. The military doctors would not move with the main force, and the medical kits issued to each person contained enough bandages and medicines for them to treat minor injuries on their own, but if someone was seriously injured in the battle and could not move with the team, then his comrades would do their best to ensure that he would not fall into the hands of the enemy alive.
The seemingly ruthless finishing blow is actually the last kindness between comrades.
In addition to the medical team and the armed sailors of the fleet, Dick also left two sailing ship girls, the Golden Deer and the Royal Fortune, at the seaside to protect the fleet.
The power and range of their muzzle-loading smoothbore guns are not very good. Even if they go to the Orc City with the team, they may not be able to provide effective fire support. It is better for them to stay at the seaside to protect the convoy.
Before the troops set off, the Golden Deer took the initiative to find Dick and gave him a passionate kiss to bless him. The Royal Fortune was not to be outdone and rushed up with a "quack", hugged Dick and took a bite.
Then came two beautiful female doctors, Shizuka Marikawa and Natasha, who also kissed each other in public. Shizuka even whispered in Dick's ear, saying that when Dick returned triumphantly, she would persuade the shy Natasha to give Dick an in-depth "physical examination" together.
Dick suddenly felt like he was hit by a powerful BUFF that increased his damage and attack speed!
"Let's go! It's time to let the blood of the orcs flow on their own land."
149. Drive straight into
In the early morning, the white-bearded chief of the Bone Mountain tribe came out of his leaky tent and, as usual, bowed in the direction of the holy mountain to thank the gods for their protection, so that the cold wind from last night did not directly cool his old bones, which had been starting to deteriorate a long time ago.
The Gushan Tribe is a small tribe with a sparse population, with only a little over 300 members. Looking across the entire wilderness, it is almost impossible to find a tribe weaker than theirs.
In the past, when the various tribes of the wasteland orcs had not yet been unified, the Bone Mountain Tribe could only wander around, because the land with abundant water and grass was occupied by powerful large tribes. Even if they tried to become their vassal, the other tribes might not be willing to accept them. Therefore, they lived a very difficult life, and were bullied by other tribes from time to time, and were always on the verge of extinction.
But later, Ramon's sudden appearance not only unified the wasteland orcs, but also gave these weak tribes a way to survive.
Ramon conquered many powerful large tribes and distributed their pastures and water sources to these weaker tribes. The Bone Mountain Tribe got the spring of the unfrozen spring. Although the spring water is not big and can only nourish a small grassland, it is enough for the two or three hundred people of the Bone Mountain Tribe to live.
Because they really benefited from it, the Bone Mountain Tribe naturally became Ramon's die-hard supporters. When they learned that the great Beast King was going to form an army to "hunt" in the human territory, the Bone Mountain Tribe responded actively and sent almost all the young and middle-aged men in the tribe to Ramon's army.
They firmly believed that the extremely powerful Lord Ramon would definitely fulfill his promise and take back the "promised land" that originally belonged to them, the orcs, from the hateful but delicious human race.
After praying, the old orc stood up and was about to check on the livestock, but at this moment he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet shaking, and the amplitude was getting bigger and bigger. It felt like a large number of beasts were rushing towards him. So he looked around and soon saw smoke and dust rising on the eastern horizon. He squinted his dim old eyes and looked for a long time before he could barely see what it was.
Damn it! Am I being too excited? Why did I see human cavalry in the northern part of the wasteland?
The old orc rubbed his eyes vigorously, confirming again and again that he was not seeing things. The increasingly strong vibrations had awakened the other orcs in the tribe. They all ran out to check, and then they saw a scene that they would never forget.
"Yes, it's the human race!!!"
As the orcs cried out in surprise, 6,000 cavalrymen of the human expeditionary force suddenly charged in their faces, destroying the Bone Mountain Tribe's camp like a howling tornado.
The old orc tried to resist. When he was young, he had participated in more than one looting expedition to the south and had fought against the human army. He faced the siege of seven or eight human soldiers without losing the upper hand and even tore several unlucky guys to pieces with his bare hands.
But he is old after all, and the human cavalry he faces are not the rookies he encountered back then.
A knight whose armor was obviously more gorgeous than the other cavalrymen cut off his head with just one sword. The hard bones that the orcs were proud of were no match for the sharpness of the enchanted sword.
After the old orc's head was separated from his neck, it flew several meters high. In the last moment before he was about to fall into darkness, he seemed to see the eyes under the helmet of the human cavalryman. The contempt and disdain in the other's eyes were exactly the same as when he looked at those human militiamen back then.
Banner's youngest son had no idea that he had beheaded the chief of this small orc tribe with one sword. He was shouting excitedly on his horse, and was very satisfied with the sword in his hand that he had won from his eldest brother last night.
The expeditionary force, composed entirely of cavalry, ran right over the top of the Bone Mountain Tribe. Most of the horses continued to advance without stopping, leaving only a small number of troops to "deal with" the tribe afterwards, to ensure that the Unfrozen Spring could no longer be used as a settlement in the next few years.
The tents were burned, the livestock were killed, the springs were blocked, and I wished I could shake the eggs to separate the yolks and dig out the earthworms in the ground and cut them vertically.
The expeditionary force intends to create a horror legend of their own in the wilderness, making the sound of the human cavalry's hooves an indelible nightmare for generations of orcs.
The six thousand cavalrymen swept through like a whirlwind. In the first two-thirds of the journey, they tried to avoid the scattered tribes in order to avoid alerting the enemy.
But the last third of the journey was close to the orc capital, and there was no room for their 6,000 cavalry to maneuver if they wanted to go around it. So they followed the shortest route between two points and charged in an unstoppable mass, destroying all the tribes that blocked their way.
Some tribes wanted to send people to the orc capital to report the news, but their messengers could not run faster than the expeditionary cavalry, and were often caught up and killed after running for a while.
Facts have proved that being careless and underestimating the enemy is not a racial thing. The human race in the northern border of the empire was beaten so badly in the early stages of the war because they did not believe that the orcs could organize an army of 100,000 to invade. Now, the human race's 6,000 cavalry are galloping in the heart of the northern wilderness, which is also beyond the orcs' expectations.
The expeditionary cavalry were unstoppable, and no orc tribe along the way could stop their charging hooves.
Different from the 100,000-strong army organized by Marquis Richard by conscripting young men, the expeditionary force of the Northern Alliance is composed of pure elite soldiers. Many knights have received formal knight training since childhood. They have strong physiques and superb martial arts. They are true masters who can fight against a hundred people alone!
There were hundreds of such experts in the expeditionary force. Dick organized them as the spearhead of the cavalry unit. They could always easily tear through the enemy's formation and create a gap for the follow-up troops.
At this time, Dick and other magicians were in the middle of the army. In the absence of strong enemies blocking them, the magicians were required to retain their magic power as much as possible for use at critical moments.
It is worth mentioning that Behemoth cannot ride a horse, but he has a magic flying carpet which is said to have been brought from the southern desert country. He is now lying on the flying carpet leisurely taking a nap, so comfortable that he seems a little out of place with the surrounding cavalrymen who are marching quickly.
"How far are we from the orc capital?"
"It's coming soon!"
The sun had not yet set when the expeditionary cavalry arrived at the outskirts of the orc capital. This city, which meant so much to the orcs, was like a naked fat man bending over to pick up soap in the bathroom, unaware of a muscular man sliding towards him at high speed from behind.
And the wicked fate has now set its sights on a half-orc prince who is unlucky.
At the same time that the expeditionary force arrived at the Orc City, Neg, who was ordered to escort the first batch of human captives back to the rear, also arrived at the Orc City from the south.
It was a distance of more than a thousand kilometers from the human territory in the south to here. It took Neg more than a month to lead his men on the journey, mainly to take care of the "delicate" human captives in the team.
This group of captives could be said to be "strictly selected by Ramon", mainly some healthy human women and skilled craftsmen, and even a few so-called "cultured people".
Nag knew the importance of these captives, so he didn't dare to beat or scold them, and would rather starve than let them go hungry. Under his careful protection and care, less than 50 of these captives died of illness along the way, and most of them were escorted to the orc capital in one piece.
At this time, Naige looked towards the direction of the orc capital, his heart filled with excitement. He had already fulfilled his mission and successfully completed the task assigned to him by the Lord Beast King. The next step was the second order from the honorable Ramon, which was to recruit soldiers to form the Fourth Legion and to raise another 20,000-man army to support the front within a month.
As the commander-in-chief of this legion, Neg will personally avenge himself.
However, just as Neg was getting excited and ready to make a big move, a buzzing sound different in tone from the orc horns suddenly sounded from the east of the orc capital.
This sound was not unfamiliar to Neg. It was the signal for the human army to launch a charge.
"Human race! Why are you here?"
Before Neg could figure out what was happening, a large group of cavalry had already crossed the hillside and launched a charge towards the Orc City. Along with the surging black clouds, there were bursts of rumbling explosions. Not long after the sound, explosions occurred one after another in the city area of the Orc City, causing many orcs who did not know the truth to think that this was a punishment from God who had suddenly become angry.
The entire Orc Capital is said to be a city, but in fact it is just a huge tent area. There is no decent city wall around it, only a circle of wooden fences.
Such crude defensive measures could not stop the impact of the human cavalry, not to mention that there were many magicians in their team.
Without any preparation, six thousand cavalrymen rushed directly into the orc city under the cover of extended artillery fire.
Although the orcs were fierce and everyone was a soldier, they were unable to organize an effective defense against the premeditated surprise attack by the human army. After all, the overall numerical advantage was not as useful as the local advantage on the battlefield, and once chaos occurred, it would become very difficult to quell it.
After the expeditionary force broke into the city, Dick, Lukoa and Behemoth flew into the air. The three did not join in conventional combat, but instead fully activated their perception in the air.
The three were very sure that there was indeed more than one Saint-level expert in this orc city with a population of hundreds of thousands. Although they had intentionally concealed their auras, there was induction between experts of the same level. Both sides had actually noticed each other, but out of caution, they did not dare to easily reveal their exact locations.
"Two... No, three. It seems there are no sub-gods, otherwise they wouldn't hide first."
"Three? Then it seems we have the advantage in numbers."
"Don't be careless. At the Saint level, any mistake can be fatal."
Behemoth said as he pulled out a black scroll from his space ring and handed it to Dick. Dick took it and found that the scroll felt like some kind of leather and the magic contained in it was very restrained. He knew at first glance that it was a "good thing".
"What kind of magic is this?"
"The high-level wide-area attack magic 'Fire Cloud', you activate it and throw it directly downwards."
