Author: Arion's Dolphins

The combat literacy of the humans in front of them is indeed not bad, but it is of no avail. Their situation is quite passive. No matter how tight the formation is, they cannot block the firing of the ballistae. The defense network of the casters is torn apart, and the kobolds and elves in the forest are

Feel free to throw arrows at them.

Although there is shield protection, it cannot protect all the mercenaries present. Even if these mercenaries are equipped with metal armor, they will still pay casualties and their strength will continue to be wasted.

From ancient times to the present, fighting enemies in the forest has been a big problem. The combat capabilities and equipment of these mercenaries are not bad, but facing this kind of terrain, they cannot give full play to their advantages. Their movement speed is already slow, no matter what

Regardless of how deep you go, you will be defeated one by one, and if you advance cautiously in formation, you will be kited. Many great powers in history have suffered this kind of loss.

There is really no good way except to let the overpowered strong take action. Humans in this era are not capable of developing large areas of forest into wasteland and open space in a short period of time.

Obviously, these mercenaries, or the employers behind them, misjudged the strength of Tang Zhao's side, which led to very troublesome consequences.

They believe that "goblins" are not a threat, and even if there are sporadic elves, they can only cause harassment. After all, since Sula is not an elven settlement, their number "should" not be very large.

I thought that relying on a large number of mages would be enough to deal with the situation, but I didn't expect that Tang Zhao had counter-weapons, so he was caught off guard.

It's not their fault, anti-magic weapons are not something that every force can produce, especially for unknown forces in the mountains.

The mercenary commander has basic judgment, and there is no way to continue being beaten like this. There are only two choices before him: run or fight, first kill the ballista not far away in front of him, and then try to disperse the enemy

's front.

If this is a war to protect the homeland, then I am afraid many people will choose the former, but it is not worthwhile to work so hard for money.

He glanced at the deputy, who immediately understood and took out the horn from his waist. A low and penetrating sound sounded on the battlefield.

The mercenaries who had been prepared immediately took action, raised their shields, raised their spears, maintained a tight formation, and began to retreat slowly.

At the same time, the surviving mages who were still capable of fighting also reacted, dispersed, and merged into the team to avoid being focused on the opponent's weapons.

It is true that this will reduce the efficiency of spell casting, but it is still countless times better than losing your life.

Once the opponent moves, it is difficult for the ballista to maintain shooting accuracy. The forest terrain is undulating and there are many obstacles blocking the field of vision.

Lilith, who was in charge of the command, was also very straightforward. She just threw away the ballistae and let the kobolds and elves chase the team. They only used bows and arrows. As soon as the opponent had the intention of launching a charge, they would immediately pull it.

Keep a distance and don't give them a chance to fight hand-to-hand.

Tang Zhao stayed close to the position less than 20 meters in front of the mercenary team, and was not in a hurry to launch an attack. He could put a considerable amount of mental pressure on these mercenaries just by standing here, without the need to take action.

Now he just wants to stimulate these people and keep their spirits in a state of tension. There is a limit to human endurance. When this limit is approached, things will fall into place naturally.

The horns on the human side kept blowing to cheer them up, but other than that, the only sounds on the field were heavy breathing and the sound of arrows bouncing off after hitting hard objects.

They have gone deep enough. They are twenty or thirty kilometers away from the border of the forest. It is impossible to escape in a short time. The confrontation has become a test of pure willpower. Most of the mercenaries are staring at Tang Zhao nervously, for fear of him.

Do something in the next second.

In fact, if these mercenaries showed enough flaws, Tang Zhao would not mind seizing the opportunity and launching a surprise attack on them.

This went on for nearly half an hour, and in the end the soldiers' arrows were almost exhausted.

Tang Zhao observed the expressions of these mercenaries - they were nervous but also tired. Marching with heavy objects in the mountains and forests was not easy. In addition, they had to raise shields and guns to guard against the threats in front of them. Their physical strength

All were severely consumed.

After thinking about it in his mind, he felt that it was almost time.

The tail slapped a small tree beside him, and the tree broke in response, and the clear cracking sound was transmitted.

"charge."

These words were specially spoken in Common Language. Lilith's voice was not loud, but it had an inexplicable penetrating power in the forest, and everyone present could hear it clearly.

The soldiers who received the signal did not hesitate, immediately replaced the bows in their hands with short spears and long swords, and fought out of the forest not far from the mercenaries.

Tang Zhao also used his spiritual power at this time, targeting the scattered mercenaries and spellcasters who had mixed in.

These people suddenly felt their heads buzzing, and at the same time, Tang Zhao's words also came.

【Drop your weapons, get down and surrender, or die.】

No matter how these people reacted, Tang Zhao stopped delaying and immediately took the lead and rushed towards the mercenaries' position.

The mercenaries raised their spears in response, but their spears were severely deformed and then broke all together. Tang Zhao's powerful impact pushed the spearmen in the front row back several steps.

Then, Tang Zhao's body slammed into them, and the front line was directly torn apart, making Tang Zhao feel like he was in a deserted state.

The mercenaries, like most of their opponents, lacked the weapons and equipment to deal with extremely large creatures. They wanted to rely on their numerical superiority to surround and subdue Tang Zhao, but at the same time, the kobolds and elves behind him also rushed forward.

The hole opened by Tang Zhao became useful at this time. A sharp knife composed of elves and a few elite armored kobold warriors inserted themselves into the gap, using Tang Zhao as the tip of the knife, and quickly further tore the mercenaries' line.

The commander of the mercenaries on the opposite side chose to gather the remnants of the scattered mercenaries. This was understandable, but it also brought a lot of hidden dangers to the entire team.

These are ordinary adventurers. They may be capable of fighting alone or even in small groups, but war is not an adventure. What is required is teamwork and mental endurance.

Perhaps it is some of the thinking of modern people at work. When Tang Zhao fought, his priority was not to kill the enemy, but to demoralize the enemy. He accumulated advantages with small victories one after another, and finally defeated the enemy's morale with a wave of attacks.

.

The psychological quality of these adventurers is still far behind. The real battlefield is not as bloody as fighting Warcraft to hunt for treasures. Tang Zhao has been weakening the morale of his enemies before, and these stragglers are his focus. Their morale

They were already overwhelmed, but after Tang Zhao's two-pronged attack of spiritual energy and body, they were completely frightened. Their enthusiasm could last for a while, but it couldn't last forever.

Not long after Tang Zhao's words spread, some timid adventurers dropped their weapons and lay prone on the ground like those before.

Tang Zhao did keep his promise and deliberately avoided them. This gave the adventurers a reassurance, and more adventurers followed suit.

It is not unreasonable that there are war supervisory teams in ancient times and even in modern times. Even a highly professional army still has the possibility of being defeated. If a soldier loses his will to resist, he will soon infect others.

.A small local defeat is likely to turn into a large-scale defeat of the entire battle if the hidden danger is not nipped in the cradle.

These are mercenaries, but there is no such thing as a war team. The "adverse investment" of these adventurers soon infected other mercenaries, and their actions became somewhat hesitant.

Seeing that things were not going well, the leader began to shout loudly and even shot two deserters with crossbow arrows, but this did not help the situation and even contributed to the chaos.

Seeing that the sharp knife composed of Tang Zhao and his men was soon approaching his "heart", the torn hole was also expanding, and it was only a matter of time before the frontal front collapsed.

At this time, Tang Zhao's cold and somewhat sarcastic voice came into his mind.

[My promise is still effective. I will guarantee your life safety. Think carefully about who is more important, your employer or your life.]

The leader, who was already a little shaken, almost made up his mind after hearing these words.

Tang Zhao unhurriedly advanced another dozen meters, and now the other party no longer hesitated and blew the horn with another melody.

"Drop your weapons! Get down! Get down!"

The leader's loud voice spread throughout the battlefield, and Tang Zhao glanced at the opponent with satisfaction. At this point, the overall situation was decided.

——

Judging from the standards of mercenaries, these people are dedicated enough, and the casualty ratio is very worthy of their employer. Even if their command thinking is not very good, it is not surprising, otherwise these people would not work as mercenaries.

Oran is a relatively typical feudal country, with no internal wars and a strong military. This kind of country does not have the soil for mercenaries to survive. Most of the capable and powerful people must join the army and become a cog in the feudal system.

There are almost 500 mercenaries in total, and 200 prisoners have been captured so far. More than 200 people were killed on the spot by various methods, and 50 people ran away and their whereabouts are unknown.

The losses on his side were relatively small. The total number of dead and seriously wounded was only thirty or forty, and almost all of them came from the last wave of charges.

Thanks to their obscene combat mode and Tang Zhao standing in front, they acted as a shield and attracted most of the attention.

Even so, nearly three hundred corpses lined up in a row still have a lot of visual impact. A few hundred people may sound like that, but it actually looks different.

Tang Zhao knew that his mental endurance in this regard was not very strong, so the Jackal didn't look at it that time, and he committed a self-deception. This time he couldn't avoid it.

[Bury your own people, cremate your enemies, and let them handle the relics by themselves.]

After giving these two instructions, Tang Zhao turned around and left, walking up to the mercenary leader.

[You and your men have caused me a lot of trouble. Let’s discuss two things first. Who instigated you to do this? 】

Tang Zhao was in a bad mood and was too lazy to talk to him. He went straight to the topic and asked for an explanation.

"Enrique Chamber of Commerce, Marfa Chamber of Commerce, Silver Coast Chamber of Commerce"

The leader had long been prepared to betray his employer. He did not need to be tortured by Tang Zhao to extract a confession. He consciously said his employer's name with sincerity and did not look like he was lying.

Tang Zhao basically had an impression of the names of these chambers of commerce, which further confirmed this point. Of course, it still needs to be verified. This matter will be left to Andrea.

[Yeah, very good professional ethics. You have to pay a price for this matter, but I can't decide the details. In addition, you and your companions should also consider how to compensate for our losses. 】

"How about this? We will compensate you with two hundred royal gold coins."

[The lives of residents cannot be bought with gold! Gold can kill people, but it cannot save people. I hope you can understand this. 】

In the eyes of this leader, most of his subordinates and opponents only represented money, but Tang Zhao was different from him. Human life was of course valuable to him, but it could not be wasted with a few gold coins stained with human blood.

Tang Zhao was a little angry and his tone was a little excited. At the same time, he also used the power of psychic energy, which caused the leader's mind to buzz continuously, seriously affecting his thinking.

"Then, you make the decision, and I will obey your orders."

After waiting for a while, the leader stuttered and said these words.

[I have an idea that really requires your strength. The specific results will depend on your performance.]

——

About a week later, the episode of mercenary invasion disappeared in Insula. Apart from a lot of strengthened patrols, it seemed to be no different from before.

During this period, Andrea came to deliver goods again, the quantity was similar to last time, and the goods were all grain.

Most of these grains were bought by the elves, half of the transactions were barter, and the other half used elves' coins as necessary reserves.

The casting level of elven currency is very high. At the same time, these humans on the mainland are greatly influenced by elven civilization and are more willing to accept elven currency, so the exchange rate of this currency is pretty good.

There was still a lot of food left, but Tang Zhao did not choose to sell it to the dwarves this time, but instead gave priority to meeting the needs of his own people.

Of course there are dwarves in his settlement, and these dwarves also need wheat to make wine.

Dwarf beer was a very magical thing in Tang Zhao's eyes. It was no longer an ordinary beer. It could be called a specialized military food, just like elf food.

This kind of wine is very strong and almost looks like a paste. It contains a lot of energy and can be used in battle most of the time.

Among the dwarves, there is a tradition of storing strong liquor. On the one hand, it is to satisfy the appetite. On the other hand, this thing is really a strategic material. One pot can last for a day.

The most important point is that the dwarves don't care about their technology being spread out. In other words, this thing can be used as military rations.

There is only one thing that needs to be overcome now - this thing is too strong, other races cannot enter it at all, and it may even be dangerous.
Chapter completed!