The King

  Chapter 460 Army Soul

   "Marshal, the enemy has just left, shall we pursue?"

  After listening to the general's question, Duke Daniel hesitated. Several times in a row, they were all in vain, but this time they caught up with a tail. Could it be the enemy's conspiracy?

   Soon he dismissed the idea again. To display conspiracies and tricks, there must be room to play.

  The battlefield is in the Orc Empire, and there is neither the right time nor the right place, nor the enemy. Even if it is an ambush, the expeditionary army does not have enough troops.

   "Leave five thousand soldiers and horses to clean up the undead, and the rest follow me to chase the enemy!"

  The army had just set off, when the smoke suddenly rose in the sky. Looking in the direction of the smoke, it was clearly the route they had come from.

   "Oops, the enemy is targeting the infantry corps behind, deliberately leading us over!

   Send the order down, and the whole army immediately turns around and goes back to rescue the infantry regiment! "

  The flustered Duke Daniel hurriedly ordered.

  The infantry corps in the rear are all improvised mobs, and their combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the cavalry corps. Once they are attacked by the enemy, the consequences can be imagined.

  However, mobs also have value as mobs. One hundred thousand troops are thrown into the battlefield, even if they are used as cannon fodder, they can still play a big role.

   On one's own territory, failing to take down the infiltrating enemy is already embarrassing enough. If he is swallowed by another 100,000 troops, he, the commander, will be put on the pillar of shame.

  Ordinary orcs don't know about it, but Daniel knows it very well. A similar scene had happened on the Great Plains of Warhammer before.

  The tragic coalition of the ancient survivors was defeated because of lack of experience in dealing with it, and fell into the enemy's tricks.

  …

  Above the clouds, Hudson, who is used to riding a dragon, has no love for galloping horses.

   "Hudson, your men are about to collide with the enemy."

   Maxim said gloatingly.

  For a long time, Hudson has played an exhaustive role on the battlefield, and this is the first time that he has made a mistake in judgment.

  Following the direction Maxim pointed out, Hudson didn't see anything. Obviously, the eyesight of humans and dragons is not on the same level.

   "Go and have a look!"

   Hudson ordered immediately.

  The marching route was chosen temporarily by him. In order to confuse the enemy, he changed it halfway. It is impossible for the enemy to determine their route in advance and to lay an ambush halfway.

  In the blink of an eye, Hudson breathed a sigh of relief when he appeared above the enemy.

  Although there are a lot of orc cavalry below, they are obviously not strong enough to deal with the expeditionary army.

   Judging from the marching route, these guys seem to be enemy troops who have seen the smoke and rushed over to support them.

  According to previous investigations, apart from the army led by Daniel, there were no other cavalry units nearby.

   Unable to understand why the enemy divided up their forces, Hudson simply didn't bother to waste time. With the strength of the expeditionary army, it is not difficult to defeat the enemy in front of them.

  The only problem is that after this battle, if you want to go back to clean up the enemy's infantry regiment, you will have no chance.

  War is fought by surprise. If the enemy is prepared, Hudson will not attack.

   It's not that you can't win, but it's not worth it at all to exchange elites for cannon fodder.

   itself launched this campaign to mobilize the enemy forces, confuse the enemy's sight, make them make strategic misjudgments, and create opportunities for the expeditionary force to withdraw from the prairie.

   Without Hudson's command, the two armies met on the prairie in a few moments. When the enemies met each other, they were extremely jealous, and immediately fought together.

   The Expeditionary Corps is nothing but the orcs. Originally, they deliberately took a detour to arrive late just for paddling, but they didn't expect to collide with the expeditionary army.

  It's impossible to leave in full view. A slight deviation from the route on the battlefield and arriving at the destination a few hours late can also be explained as an accident.

   When you encounter the enemy head-on, if you don't fight a battle, the coach will not be able to explain it.

  As soon as they confronted each other, the monster cavalry rushed into their formation, causing chaos in their formation.

  To be precise, these orc cavalry had no formation. The so-called cooperation is also limited to the cavalry of the tribe.

   If it exceeds this limit, don't consider it. Everyone was not familiar with each other, and it was all because of the order of the empire that they were able to gather together.

  The conflicts among the tribes are far deeper than friendship. Because of resource issues, there are very few conflicts between neighboring tribes.

  Elite VS cannon fodder, from the beginning of the battle, the expeditionary army has the upper hand. Countless orc cavalry were killed before they could adapt.

  The tragic scene made all the orc chiefs cry secretly. Now they just hope that the reinforcements will come soon, so that the enemies in front of them know that the orcs are not easy to mess with.

  Dozens of Eagles landed just as they took off. I didn't know what happened, so I was sent to see the beast **** in a daze.

  The rest of the Ying people were dumbfounded when they saw it. As a member of the royal family, acting with these vassal races is only for the convenience of communication, not to die.

  Since the Expeditionary Corps entered the prairie, the Day of Good Friday for the Eagle Clan has arrived. Whether it is going out to investigate or pass on information, it has become a high-risk job.

  In less than two months, nearly Qianying people unfortunately died in the process of carrying out their missions.

  In order to save their lives, the Yingman soldiers also learned to be good. As long as it is not a clear task that cannot be refused, the rest will be fished when they can.

   Often lose the position of the expeditionary legion, a large part of the reason is that the eagle soldiers are afraid of being tossed.

   Not only ordinary soldiers suffered heavy casualties, but even two eighth-rank Yingren powerhouses lost their lives during the mission.

   "Captain Lemuel, what are you still doing in a daze, send someone to ask for help!"

  The tiger chief roared.

   In the past, he would never have dared to speak like that to members of the royal family, but times have changed now.

  Under a series of blows, the strength of the five royal families whose strength has plummeted, it is difficult to continue to adopt high-handed rule over the vassal races below.

  In order to fight against the great enemy of the human race, the five royal families had to win over the powerful factions in the empire, and some stronger races gradually gained a certain right to speak.

   "No matter how fast we are, we can't go as fast as the smoke. I know you don't have smoke, just create some smoke to spread the news.

   Judging from the distance, your route has deviated by tens of miles, and Marshal Daniel should be able to receive the news. "

  Lemuel said angrily.

   Finally found an excuse to fool the past. It's not easy to be a messenger. If he knew it was so dangerous, he would just stay on the front line.

  The regiment was full at the time of departure, but now it has lost one-third of its strength, and the morale of the army has long since disappeared.

  Our own tribe suffered heavy losses this time. If the losses continue, they might not be able to escape the fate of being annexed after the war.

  In the orc empire, a tribe that has lost a large number of young and strong tribes is not qualified to continue to exist. Once absorbed by other tribes, the best ending for those in power is to become marginal figures.

  If not, he wouldn't be able to cooperate with the vassal races below. As members of the five royal families, in addition to playing the role of messengers, they are also "supervisors" sent by the empire.

  The tiger chief who reacted didn't bother to pay attention to Lamuer's hidden threats, and hurriedly rushed to the guards in front of him and ordered: "You guys hurry up and find something, create smoke, and be fast!"

  …

  Eighty miles away, Daniel, who was rushing back with the army, was running wildly, when the voice of the guard suddenly sounded in his ear.

   "Marshal, there is smoke!"

   Hurriedly stabilized the mount, turned his head and looked around, Daniel was dumbfounded. There were wolf smoke in all directions, and there were more than ten strands of smoke from what he saw.

  In a split second he knew something was wrong. The enemy is also less likely to split up and attack in multiple directions, and there are not so dense orc tribes nearby.

   There is a high probability that the enemy is aware of the threat of the wolf smoke message, and directly plays it as a fake, trying to confuse the line of sight in this way.

   Sorry to know that doesn't make any sense. Under the dense wolf smoke, no one can accurately judge the real attack direction of the enemy.

   You can't divide your troops to reinforce multiple directions at the same time, right?

   "The order is passed down, and the army stops and rests in place.

  I ordered all the Eagles to go out to investigate. Be sure to find out the location of the enemy. Anyone who violates the law will be killed without mercy! "

  Daniel ordered indifferently.

  This arrangement will definitely offend the Eagle Court, but there is no way, war always requires someone to sacrifice.

  Daniel didn't want to make any omissions at the crucial moment of fighting wits with Hudson.

   It doesn't matter if you are temporarily at a disadvantage, this is the Orc Empire. No matter how powerful the expeditionary army is, it is impossible to last for a long time.

  Time is on their side, as long as the enemy is not allowed to run away. The longer they wait, the better their chances of winning.

  Daniel clung to the expeditionary army, not because he was worried that the orc tribe would be killed, but because he was afraid that Hudson would run away with the team.

   Being disturbed by the expeditionary army in the country, the loss of the orc empire has been immeasurable. If the enemy cannot be kept, he will have no way to explain to the five emperors above.

  …

   "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

  Arrow rain flew out again, and countless orc cavalry fell in response. This is already the last arrow reserve of the expeditionary legion. Once it is exhausted, the magic crossbow will become a decoration.

  It was originally prepared for the main force of the orcs, but now for a quick victory, Hudson can only use it in advance.

  The second-rate cavalry is also a cavalry, which is barely enough. If it is used on cannon fodder infantry, it will be a real blood loss.

   To put it bluntly, many orc slaves are not as expensive as a special arrow. It seems that what is shot is a rain of arrows, but what is actually shot is money.

  In the era of purely handmade, the cost of arrows was not cheap, and the price of arrows specially used for magic crossbows was even higher.

you get what you pay for. These arrows are expensive, and for a reason.

  Ordinary arrows cannot penetrate armor. The high penetrating power of crossbow bolts is based on the premise that the arrows are strong and sharp enough.

   Every time there is a big war, it costs money like water. One-fifth of the kingdom's financial holes are caused by disposable ordnance consumables such as arrows, knight spears, and throwing spears.

  Soldiers are expensive on the battlefield, and the enemy did not send reinforcements immediately, which created opportunities for the expeditionary army.

   It seems to be 35,000 VS 50,000, but in fact, when it comes to some battlefields, the human race has more troops.

  The five legion commanders all took office recently, and the longest incumbent took office for less than a time, so he was forced to go to the battlefield before he had time to follow the internal command.

  The commander-in-chief was not there, and the prestige of the several legion commanders was not enough. The troops below quickly fought on their own with tribes as units.

   "Idiots, get married..."

  Before the word "he" was spoken, the orc general received the boxed lunch. This was already the seventy-sixth victim on the battlefield.

  Hudson, who patrolled the battlefield, is like the sickle of death. As long as there are orcs standing out, they will be harvested immediately.

  The tribes fight on their own. The biggest advantage is that they have strong centripetal force and can trust each other with the greatest trust, but the premise is that no accidents will happen to the chief.

  In most of the orc tribes, the chiefs hold the military and political power, and the deputy does not exist.

   Priests who are second only to the status of chieftains are respected, relying more on personal prestige than military command ability.

  Because of power checks and balances, any rational chief will not allow religious leaders to control the military power of the tribe.

   The smaller the tribe, the more obvious this situation is.

   After all, there are many priests in the big tribe, and the influence is divided between each other. Only the chief high priest can threaten the power of the chief, and he is not so wary of ordinary priests.

   This kind of army, which is condensed by the chief's personal charm, often ends with the death of the chief.

   Aware of the shortcomings of the orcs, Hudson became even more excited.

  If he didn't consider his identity inappropriate, he would have wanted to train some powerful sharpshooters to target the enemy's tribal chiefs.

  The armies of one tribe after another were defeated, and the number of defeated orcs on the battlefield was increasing sharply at an extraordinary speed.

  The scurrying orc rout did not cause any trouble to the expeditionary army, but instead became the last straw that crushed the morale of the orc army.

  The corpses all over the ground kept piling up, and the blood flowed on the prairie, constantly watering the earth. Reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun, the whole world became depressing.

   Seeing that the reinforcements were delayed, the orc cavalry, unable to bear the casualties, kept retreating under the attack of the expeditionary force.

   "Alternate cover, orderly retreat!"

   I don't know who gave the order. Anyway, the orc soldiers who heard the voice only had the word "withdraw" in their minds, and they all turned around and ran away. No matter how the commander called, they couldn't pull them back to the battlefield.

  Pandora's Box was opened, and nearby orc soldiers followed. Soon the tide of retreat turned into a tide of rout.

   "Alternate cover, orderly retreat", that is pure idealism.

  Can live, no orc wants to die. From choosing to paddle on the battlefield, all tribes have a consensus - to preserve their strength.

  In the face of life and death, no one is willing to stay behind. Then you can only compare the speed. As long as you run past your teammates, the enemy will have no time to chase them down.

   The orc soldiers who reacted quickly became the lucky ones in this war, and quickly left the battlefield successfully.

   It will be miserable for the orcs who are belatedly aware. When they evacuate, they just leave their backs to the expeditionary army.

   Chasing down routs and beating dogs in the water will always be everyone's favorite.

  Even after two battles today and dozens of miles of raids, everyone’s bodies are exhausted, but it’s still hard to stop everyone’s enthusiasm.

   Supported by the strength of the spirit, the expeditionary force exploded with unparalleled strength, which shocked the commander-in-chief Hudson.

   This is completely crazy rhythm.

   It was expected to defeat the enemy, but after defeating the enemy, a sudden wave broke out when expanding the results of the battle, which was beyond his expectation.

   Judging from the performance on the battlefield, the expeditionary army seems to have created a military soul.

  There are many powerful armies in history, but there are very few troops that can give birth to military spirits. Any army with a military soul is the pinnacle of the era.

  How to create a military soul, no one can answer this topic. Some troops forged military spirits through continuous victories and directly stepped onto the altar; there were also troops who persevered in failure and gave birth to military spirits, and finally completed the counterattack.

  Each army that is born with a military soul is unique, and it is difficult to replicate it again.

  Looking down at the battlefield, countless fleeing orc soldiers sacrificed their lives for the sublimation sacrifice of the expeditionary force.

   Killing, killing as much as you want.

   It was not until the sky gradually dimmed that Hudson ordered Mingjin to withdraw his troops. The battlefield at this moment is already littered with corpses.

   No statistics were made, but judging from the situation on the battlefield, Hudson can be sure that the orc army suffered no less than 30,000 casualties.

  In the field battle of the cavalry, it can be called a miracle to be able to kill 60% of the enemy's troops.

  Usually this kind of record will only appear when the two sides are deadlocked, or when one side surrounds the other.

   After all, if you can't beat the enemy, can you still outrun your teammates?

  On the vast prairie, as long as the side with more troops wants to escape, most of the soldiers can escape.

  …

   As night fell, Daniel finally received the news from the expeditionary army, but it came too late.

  If he knew that the battlefield was less than a hundred miles away, he would have brought his troops there to reinforce, and it would not have caused the current tragedy.

   Fifty thousand cavalrymen were defeated by the enemy just under his nose.

   The specific losses will not be available for a while, but the mental state of the soldiers who escaped by chance has collapsed. It is obvious that this is due to a major stimulus.

  Even if he didn't appear on the battlefield, Daniel could still guess how tragic the battle was. If it wasn't for the darkening weather, it would be difficult to find the exact location of the enemy army, and he wished he could lead his troops to take revenge immediately.

  Deep in his heart, his dissatisfaction with Yingren has also accumulated to the limit.

  If it weren't for these guys who were greedy for life and afraid of death, and didn't pass the information back in time, they wouldn't be so passive.

   The defeated soldiers have no morale, and their combat effectiveness is about zero. This meant that in a short period of time, he had lost 50,000 cavalry, even if it was only the second-line cavalry, it was enough to cause him pain.

   Raising troops, mobilizing troops, losing troops and destroying generals, but not even a decent record. Daniel is also under a lot of pressure. At this moment, he has no idea how to explain to the emperors.

  Shake it off?

  It's not his style. What's more, except for him, the coach, no one can carry the blame now.

   "Send an order to call the five legion commanders over for a meeting."

  (end of this chapter)