In the west, a ray of setting sun was like blood, shining on the battlefield of Longxiguan where corpses were strewn across the field.
"Dumb, dumb, dumb..."
The carrion-eating birds were attracted by the dead bodies on the battlefield. The strong rotten and dead air was a great temptation for them. At first, the orc soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield had to drive away one or two, but later there were too many corpses.
Now, the orc soldiers are too busy, so they can only let these disgusting black birds feast. After a while, wolves and wild dogs will also be attracted, and the living people are not yet found. They are in
No time to work hard for the dead...
Broken weapons, dense corpses, mutilated corpses, broken battle flags blackened by fireworks, and the ground that has turned dark red due to blood soaking, even veterans will occasionally be in a trance while walking, thinking that
I have left the human world and entered hell...
The fighting at the first gate of Longxing Pass finally came to an end as the sun set in the west. The two sides fought for several days. Although the time was not long, the battle was extremely fierce. The two sides combined at least covered an area of more than ten square kilometers.
More than 200,000 corpses were dumped there.
Between the first pass and the second pass captured by the orcs, there is a long road of more than 20 miles. In the original layout, camps were built on the cliffs on both sides, and a large number of ballistas and thunderbolts were deployed.
For long-range weapons such as cars, even if the orcs attack, they should make the opponent peel off their skin.
But all this is based on the fact that the orcs have no air superiority. With the white dragon clearing the way, the human camps on the cliffs on both sides are as vulnerable as those orc camps in the northern dense forest facing Richard's army.
Fortunately, although Taize was unable to reverse the situation of such a huge disparity in strength, he still did what a qualified commander should do and led his troops to successfully break away from the orcs and return to the second pass of Longxi Pass.
Although it only took some time for the orcs to clear the mountain stronghold on both sides, only the trench traps and fire walls on the ground had some effect. After the human soldiers passed through the hidden safe passage, the pursuing orcs were anxious and fell into the
During the long trap, a lot of losses were suffered.
And when they were unwilling to let the human soldiers escape and crawled through the trap ditch on the corpses of their companions, they soon faced a wall of fire four to five meters high. No one dared to continue rushing up, because of their fear of fire.
It should be the instinct of living creatures. I can only watch the defeated human army calmly retreat...
"Hua Hua Hua..."
What a coincidence, just after the human army escaped from the pursuit range of the orcs, it started to rain again. The rain was not heavy. It is difficult to see any decent heavy rain in winter, but it still rained down.
The smell of gunpowder smoke on the battlefield was suppressed, and the wall of fire that was still burning fiercely was suppressed.
Seeing this scene, the commander of the orc army in charge of the pursuit was filled with hatred.
If the rain had come ten minutes earlier, it would have entangled the retreating human soldiers. Although the humans suffered heavy losses in the battle at the first pass, at least more than 200,000 people were withdrawn. Of these more than 200,000
The army retreated to the last pass of Longxing Pass, not knowing how many more casualties it would cause to its men.
"Master Great Shaman, if you don't let the wolf cavalry chase you, maybe you can still catch up..."
Unwilling to give up, the commander of the orc army simply suggested to Gro that he would send wolf cavalry to pursue him and keep Taize in retreat.
But Gro looked at the human army in the distance that was already as big as ants and shook his head.
"The wolf cavalry is still of great use and should not be wasted here. Letting them retreat will only cause more casualties to the infantry."
Gro thought further. The loss of tens of thousands more infantry was no longer a big problem for the now fully mobilized Orc Kingdom. If the decline in the quality of the army was not considered, the fully mobilized Orc Kingdom could at least pull
Send out tens of millions of infantry.
The racial advantages of orcs are still very obvious in front of humans. Even orc recruits who have never experienced fighting can still overwhelm human soldiers after picking up weapons and wearing armor.
The wolf cavalry is already considered a valuable technical unit. Unlike infantry who can be used as cannon fodder, the wolf cavalry not only needs to train and exercise their riding skills all year round, but also cultivates feelings and tacit understanding with the giant wolf from time to time. The giant wolf is a ferocious beast.
Carnivores are much more difficult to tame than horses, and the number of giant wolves is limited. It is difficult to recognize a new owner after the death of a wolf knight. It is more troublesome than replenishing human cavalry. The value of a wolf cavalry is probably in Gro's eyes.
It's worth more than a dozen infantry.
There are only about a hundred thousand wolf cavalry in the entire orc kingdom. Originally, most of them had to be placed in the grasslands to the north to guard against attacks by centaurs, but now almost all of them have been transferred to Gro's command.
Gro has been holding them down, waiting for them to break through the Dragon's Breath Pass and enter the Central Plains before they can really play their role. The Wolf Cavalry is his trump card against the human cavalry on the Central Plains...
"There is no need to think about the pursuit anymore. Let them retreat. It's starting to rain. Set up camp and rest as soon as possible. Don't be careless in the camp. Be careful of human sneak attacks..."
"Yes, Great Shaman!"
Seeing that the Great Shaman had no intention of sending troops to continue the pursuit, the commander of the orc army also gave up his thoughts and immediately led his people to set up a camp at a suitable place. The orc army that broke through the first pass could not keep spinning. It was best to take a short rest.
necessary.
…
"Lord Taize, the orcs are not chasing us."
Taize's retreat work was definitely not a simple retreat. As an excellent general, when retreating, Taize also made plans to bite the opponent. He had already laid out ambushes on the long road between the two passes.
If an orc army is greedy for attack and dares to break away from the larger army, Taize will command an ambush to teach the opponent a lesson.
It's just that the orcs didn't give Taize another chance to show off. After a little trial, he started to camp on the spot. This was because he was preparing to fight steadily and rely entirely on his strength to defeat the Dragon's Breath Pass.
"call"
After heaving a sigh of relief, Taize no longer planned to stay here and do useless work.
"Withdraw!"
"withdraw!"
Following Taize's order, several caves appeared on the originally flat ground, and several stone gates were opened on the cliffs on both sides. A large number of human soldiers filed out of them. These were originally arranged to wait for the orcs to pursue them.
At this time, he could only do nothing but follow Taize and retreat to the last pass of Longxing Pass.
…
Longxiguan main city
The soldiers in the city are being mobilized urgently. Dark clouds are pressing on everyone's hearts here. The orcs have never been so close to the last pass of Dragon's Breath Pass.
Although the orcs have attacked Longxing Pass in the past, they usually stopped at the Dongling defense line. After all, it was extremely difficult for the orcs without air superiority at that time to break through the first pass. Instead of their main attack in the middle section,
If we are locked in a fight, we might as well look for opportunities on the north and south fronts.
But this time, the orcs had already broken through the first barrier, and were only one barrier away from the main city. The soldiers and civilians in the city with better eyesight could already see the white dragon raging in the sky.
If it were an ordinary city, it would probably be in chaos by now, but Longxiguan is a military city after all. In addition to the army, there are also civilians serving the army. However, there is not much panic about the upcoming war.
Instead, everyone performed their duties in a depressing atmosphere and prepared for war.
An important military discussion was also taking place in the main city's meeting hall at this time. A dozen senior officers from Longxingguan were sitting together, including Richard and Moriel, but Richard's status was higher.
Gao, and Ross sat on the main seat together.
The military at Longxingguan at this time actually had a very strange command system. Ross was nominally the commander, but Richard controlled part of the military power, as well as almost all high-end military forces. It was basically a situation of two military orders. If the two were at odds with each other,
, I am afraid that the entire Longxingguan garrison will fall into chaos.
Fortunately, Ross and Richard cooperated quite well, so the worst situation did not occur. However, no matter how well the two cooperated at this time, they could not change the overall situation. Compared with the concerns of ordinary people and soldiers outside, the senior officers here actually
I realized more clearly that the Dragon Breathing Pass could not be defended this time.
"Currently, our total military strength at Longxi Pass is more than 3.5 million, but the number that can be put into the decisive battle before the pass is only over one million."
Although the number of defenders at Longxi Pass is large, they are spread over thousands of miles, with eighteen large cities and dozens of small and medium-sized cities. It is not bad to be able to gather millions of elite troops after losing a lot of troops in a few battles.
It’s just that everyone knows that to stop the attack of the orcs, more than one million people are definitely not enough. The orc army currently gathered alone has exceeded this number, not to mention the continuous attacks from the orc kingdom.
Reinforcements were mobilized on the front line, and the help of the white dragon greatly offset the advantage of humans in defending the city. This battle was somewhat unsolvable.
"Sir, the current strength of the main pass alone may not be able to stop the orcs' attack. Please continue to mobilize reinforcements."
"From where? Longxing Pass? Central Plains? Where can we mobilize reinforcements?"
The officer who made the suggestion remained silent, and almost all the reinforcements that could be mobilized arrived. There was really no place to mobilize reinforcements in a short time. Faced with this inevitable failure, the officers in the hall either frowned or looked expressionless.
Or he has a determined look in his eyes, as if he is ready to sacrifice.
Even Richard felt a little depressed. Although Richard had prepared a retreat from the Dragon's Breath Pass from the beginning. As long as the Beidi Foundation was still there, time was on his side. But from Richard's heart,
He hoped that the Dragon's Breath Pass would be defended. If the pass was broken, he could imagine what the humans behind would have to go through.
"I'm not sure I can hold this Dragon's Breath Pass."
When Ross said another word, the officers below all looked up at him. The truth is correct, but as a coach, isn't it bad to say it like this?
However, Ross did not pay attention to the looks from the officers below and continued:
"But I am confident that if the orcs break through, I will definitely fight the enemy with weapons and move forward to die."
"Lord Ross!"
The following officer of the Western Border Army was a little anxious when he heard Ross say this. Compared with other legions in Longxing Pass, their Western Border Army actually has a retreat. They have more than 100,000 cavalry. At worst, they will directly join Ross when the orcs break through.
Run, there is the central plain behind them, which is perfect for them to escape. Now Ross's words are more like cutting off his own retreat first.
However, Ross just waved his hand, indicating that the other party did not need to say anything.
"You are all senior generals of Longxing Pass. You must not give up any city. All the cities in Longxing Pass must be competed with the orcs city by city to buy more time for your wives and children on the great plains and in the royal capital.
."
"yes!"
Several officers stood up and answered. Everyone seemed to be infected by the sad atmosphere brewing in Ross. In addition, this battle was against orcs, and there was also some blessing from human righteousness. Almost all the officers in the hall made a decision to live and die with Long Xinguan.
The preparations made even Richard a little excited.
At this time, the war was urgent. The senior officers present and even Peggy quickly left after receiving their assigned tasks to make final preparations for the battle. Soon only Richard and Ross were left in the hall.
"Sir Richard, in accordance with your Majesty's order, the cavalry and some elites of the Western Border Army are to be taken away, and they do not need to be consumed at Longxi Pass. However, after Lord Saul dies in the battle, one of you and I must be left to take charge of the defense work."
"Um…"
Richard nodded subconsciously, and Ross' next words made Richard a little embarrassed.
"But I know that Master Richard is definitely not willing to stay, so he made his own decision and left it to me to live or die with this dragon..."