Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

"Finally here! If you hadn't come, I would've rusted!"

Li Wei waved his hand, signaling the two gnolls to return to the ranks.

Hogg was still scouting ahead to observe the movements of the coalition army, so he hadn't returned yet.

Fortunately, Li Wei had trained this scouting team, currently consisting of only three members, to gather essential intelligence about the enemy.

This coalition army numbered over six hundred, mainly composed of goblins and kobolds, with some trolls mixed in.

Hearing about the trolls surprised Li Wei.

These creatures are over three 'ren' tall when they reach adulthood, and some tribal chiefs can even reach four 'ren,' making them true behemoths.

A troll tribe typically consists of only thirty to forty individuals, and excluding the female trolls and cubs, only about ten or so young adults can truly serve as combatants.

If there were hundreds of trolls, Li Wei might have been wary, but the gnoll scouts specifically paid attention to the presence of this powerful race and found that there were only about ten trolls.

He could take care of all ten of them alone.

A desolate and deep horn sounded from the simple watchtower on the hill, and the troops of High Cliff Stronghold began to gather in an orderly manner.

Swords were drawn, armor donned, and the heavy footsteps on the open ground of High Cliff Stronghold were noisy before returning to silence.

Apart from the orcs still on duty in the watchtower, fifty-one orc barbarians were neatly arranged into a small square formation.

A silent, grim aura enveloped High Cliff Stronghold, and even the warm morning sun seemed to carry a hint of coldness.

Zat, wearing an exaggerated horned helmet, stood at the forefront with a solemn expression, followed by the murderous orc barbarians.

"Boss, all forty-nine Burning Legion warriors are present and accounted for!"

Thanks to Li Wei's mandatory requirements, Zat's arithmetic had improved rapidly.

"My Lord, the Feder warriors are also all present," Joss said, placing a hand over his chest in salute, behind him were Feder warriors with pursed lips and longbows on their backs.

The difference between novices and veterans was evident at this moment, the orc barbarians were excited and eager to try.

Some of the Feder warriors, whose faces were still somewhat immature, looked flustered and fidgeted, clearly not having experienced real warfare.

Li Wei was being helped by two Feder warriors to put on three layers of heavy armor, the innermost layer was a chainmail, then a coat of lamellar armor made of small iron plates connected together from the system store, and finally a large plate armor on the outside.

A layer of cotton cloth was added between the three to prevent collisions and increase cushioning.

He was completely armed to the teeth.

The three layers of armor weighed more than two hundred pounds, enough to bend a packhorse, but it had no effect on Li Wei, whose legs remained agile and nimble.

Out of the fifty-one orcs, only ten barbarians, including Zat, wore iron armor, the remaining orcs only wore tattered leather armor.

It wasn't that Li Wei didn't want them all to wear iron armor, but the gold 'ker' he had acquired from clearing out wilderness tribes during this time was only enough to buy equipment for ten orcs.

As for those bronzes, because no merchants passed by High Cliff Stronghold, and with the matter of the wilderness coalition army, it had been delayed and not yet sold.

The system store's recycling price for weapons and equipment was reasonable, but the price for these antiques was very low.

After all, antiques are only valuable to the right person, and in the system's evaluation, they are just scrap metal.

"Li Wei, do you have a plan?" Bai Ruisi Tina's small face was tense, she was also affected by the solemn atmosphere and worried about the upcoming battle.

"Plan? First, let the warriors fire a few rounds of arrows, shoot dead dozens, then a round of javelin throws, and then start charging, kill one or two hundred, and the rest will naturally collapse, then clean up the mess and that's it!"

Li Wei shook his body, adjusting the position of the armor to make it fit his body better.

"Huh?" Bai Ruisi Tina wanted to look through the helmet to see if the person inside the armor was still Li Wei.

Anyone who wasn't a military idiot would never directly engage in a frontal battle in the face of such a huge difference in numbers.

"Otherwise?"

Li Wei took the giant sword carried by two Feder warriors and walked step by step to the front of the two formations.

The giant sword, taller than himself and as wide as a palm, was easily carried on his shoulder.

This was a giant sword made of refined steel that he had specially bought from the system store, weighing more than a hundred pounds, the blade alone was two 'ren' long and as wide as a palm, it was no exaggeration to call it a door panel.

"According to intelligence, the enemy numbers a full six hundred, which is five times our number, do you think that's a lot?"

Li Wei's voice came through the cross helmet.

Joss didn't quite understand Li Wei's approach, telling the soldiers the exact number of enemies was not something a commanding officer would do.

This huge difference in numbers would undoubtedly affect morale, the common practice was to reduce the number of enemies to a more acceptable number for the soldiers, or not tell the soldiers at all.

Compared to the Feder warriors who mostly looked flustered upon hearing the specific number, the orc barbarians laughed loudly.

"Not much, we even think it's too little!"

"That's right, not much at all! If we kill five people each, we can kill them all, and generally this group of hastily assembled troops will collapse after killing two or three hundred of them."

"In other words, if we each kill two enemies, we will win this war."

"Can't you even handle two enemies?!"

"A bunch of wild rats, I'll kill at least twenty!"

Zat was the first to roar out in response to Li Wei's slightly mocking tone.

"I can kill ten too!"

A group of orc barbarians raised their weapons and roared out in unison.

They were proud, arrogant, and extremely confident in their martial strength, if they couldn't even handle two enemies, they might as well go back to the tribe and herd livestock.

This scene stunned both Joss and Bai Ruisi Tina.

Huh? Is that how you count?

But it somehow felt like there was nothing wrong with what they were saying.

The Feder warriors, who were initially a little uneasy, were also motivated by the confidence of the orc barbarians, from initially whispering in agreement to shouting loudly with the orc barbarians.

"The morale is high."

Li Wei said to Bai Ruisi Tina with a smile, pointing his long sword towards the front of High Cliff Stronghold: "Let's go!"

The wilderness is not all flat grassland, some places still have slopes.

It would be foolish not to take advantage of these terrains, attacking from a high position is a very important advantage for the defending side.

"Form ranks here!"

The High Cliff Stronghold's troops arrived on a hillside, Li Wei arranged the orc barbarians in the front, and the Feder warriors with bows in the back.

To be honest, Li Wei didn't even want to bring the Feder warriors, after all, most of these soldiers were still greenhorns, completely incomparable to the experienced orc barbarians.

Casualties were bound to occur in battle.

He would feel sorry for a long time if one of them died, but after much consideration, he ultimately brought them along.