Chapter 9 Parting ways! Good news or national tragedy?
Braving the cold wind and enduring hunger, the remnants of the orc army marching westward are gritting their teeth and holding on. What to do if there is no food! Dig up the snow and look for frozen animal carcasses. If it is not enough! Then look for bark, moss, and even
Even bitter grass roots are eaten! But can this satisfy the stomachs of nearly 150,000 troops? The answer is no.
For three days in a row, nearly ten thousand orc soldiers stayed behind forever. The cruel reality made Thor look like he was dozens of years older! He led the army forward in a daze, and in his eyes, he could not see anything.
A trace of anger. He didn't know where the future of the orcs was. He didn't know if he could lead the remnants of the army behind him out of the snow. He didn't know how to face his relatives who were waiting in the far north! The only thing he could do
Yes, it just leads them forward mechanically.
Grom followed Thor, enduring the pain of a broken arm and walking against the cold wind. In the battle three days ago, the human general cut off his right arm. If it hadn't been for his tenacious support,
Come over, I am afraid that he will sleep here forever like the fallen orcs.
Grom frowned and looked at Thor ahead. The orc leader had lost hope. He had to do something, just for the future of the tribe.
When the team stopped, Grom found Thor who was in a daze.
Without saying a word, Grom used his remaining left hand to punch Thor hard. Suddenly suffering a heavy blow, Thor fell and flew away with the fist.
But Grom was not done yet. He walked to the fallen Thor in two steps and kept waving with his left hand, completely ignoring the blood dripping out of the missing part of his right arm.
One punch! Two punches! Thor lay silently on the ground, bearing Grom's heavy punch!
The surrounding orcs looked at Grom who was beating the leader, and just stood silently. The gray and desperate look in their eyes did not waver at all.
"Asshole! Asshole! Cheer up!" Grom had finished beating him. He picked up Thor with his left hand and looked at the dumb orcs. "Do you see clearly! They! They are following you with hope.
Get out of the far north! Now! Ah! You are talking! Even you have given up, what will they do!"
Grom was so excited that he didn't notice the tears flowing from his eyes at all. He grabbed Thor and roared in his ear!
Thor glanced at the dumb orcs in confusion.
"Did you see it! You coward! Are you worthy of being the leader of the tribe?" Grom continued to roar until Thor grabbed his fist and said slightly inarticulately: "I am not a coward!"
"Then stand up! Take them back!" Grom let go of Thor and pointed at the watching orcs.
"Go back...go back, yes, I will take you back!" Thor suddenly roared out of confusion!
Grom wiped the tears on his face and said calmly: "Yes, you have to take them back. You are the leader of the tribe! Even if you want to die! You will die for the tribe!"
Thor regained his composure and shouted at the numb orcs: "Warriors! We have failed! However, such a blow will not make us surrender! Think of our relatives far away! They are waiting for us to go back! Ahead,
There is an army of humans, and they want to kill us! But, warriors! Tell me, are you afraid? Are the great orc warriors afraid?"
The roar echoed in the cold winter night sky, and the remnant orc army stood up one after another. Slowly, a "Don't be afraid!" sounded. Then, the cry resounded through the sky. The remnant army found the goal of living and went home.
, we want to go home!
Grom looked at Thor silently and suddenly said: "Not all warriors can go back. Only with blood can we pave the way home. Leader, I will lead a detachment to lead away the human army! And you,
We will go back with our hope!"
Thor stared blankly at the one-armed Grom, the hero of the tribe, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him at the moment.
Grom did not wait for Thor to agree, but turned to the army and said: "Warriors who are willing to die with me, come out! Follow me, let the blood of the great tribe witness our bravery! Let the hope of the tribe continue!"
As soon as he finished speaking, "Wow!" The ten thousand warriors who had followed Grom to capture the Karst City took a step forward almost at the same time. They would follow Grom to their death. However, there was a look on their faces.
Smile!
"Okay! Let us work together to prove our courage with blood! For the tribe!" Grom grabbed his giant ax with one arm, turned around resolutely, and led 10,000 soldiers with no dry food at all.
Go towards the road you came from and face death!
Thor watched them leave blankly. After a long time, he covered his face with his hands in pain and choked silently. He didn't want the tribe to see his tears, but he couldn't help but shed tears.
Some of the orcs around were howling loudly, some were looking blankly in the direction the warriors were leaving, and more were shouting towards the sky with red eyes.
Thor wiped away the remaining tears on his face and stood up firmly. He could not live up to the expectations of the warriors. They sacrificed their lives in exchange for the hope of Thor and others returning home.
"Warriors! We can't let them down! Let's go! Let's go home!" After Thor said this, he stood up and walked toward the northeast. Behind him, the orcs went home with hope.
If you look down from the sky, you will find that Grom is heading towards the northern human coalition pursuing them, while most of Thor's remaining troops are heading towards the Far North Fortress!
At this time, in the camp of the Imperial Northern Army.
Uhtred Cantelo, the commander-in-chief of the army and the Imperial Marshal, is looking at the map in his hand.
It was late at night, and snoring could be heard in the camp. Uhtred put down the map in his hand, walked outside the tent, and looked at the bright moonlit sky. His thoughts went back to three days ago.
.....................
"Hurry! Hurry! Ahead is the Far North Fortress! Hurry up! We're almost there!" A general was shouting to the team, speeding up.
Uhtred has sent a large number of scouts to investigate. He is only afraid that the army will arrive too late and the fortress will be captured by the orcs. The consequences will be very serious. The Northern Army, which lacks siege equipment, faces a solid fortress and will look forward to it.
The wall sighed.
"Report! There is news from the Far North Fortress!"
Uhtred trembled violently and immediately shouted: "Quick! Where is it! Where is the person!"
The soldiers who came back from the front reconnaissance ran up to him panting and took a deep breath, "Sir! The fortress is held! The orcs have escaped! But they are so miserable! They are all dead."
Uhtred only heard the words "Hold", "Escape" and "All dead". He let out a long breath and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, the guards around him had quick eyes and quick hands.
Supported him.
For half a month, I have been working non-stop, so busy that I only have one or two hours to sleep every day, not to mention worrying about the safety of the Far North Fortress every day, and the guilt caused by abandoning 300,000 soldiers in the north. These are all
It tortured him, and he felt like he was carrying a huge mountain on his shoulders all the time. When he heard that the Far North Fortress was not lost, the pressure instantly disappeared, and he almost collapsed.
Fortunately, he managed to steady himself and stood still with the help of the guards, and continued to ask: "All are dead? How many people are there in the fortress! Where are the orcs! Where are they going? Is it the northwest or the northeast! Are they going back to the extreme north?
Land or south?" After asking so many questions at once, the scout didn't know how to answer.
Fortunately, a general nearby saw this and said, "Let's talk about the situation of the fortress first!"
"Yes! I learned that after two days, there were more than 54,000 people in the fortress. After the war, only less than 6,000 people were left. Moreover, almost everyone was injured, with nearly 3,000 people left.
If he doesn’t get help, he won’t survive these few days.”
The generals who were still immersed in the fact that the fortress was not lost just now were breathless after being hit by this desperate loss.
If you include the losses of the orcs, it would have been two days! Just two days! In front of the not too big fortress, nearly 200,000 lives were lost there!
Uhtred guessed that if the fortress had not been lost, the losses would have been huge, but he never expected that it would be almost completely destroyed! The fortress army is the top elite of the empire! What now? There are only less than 6,000 people, let alone more than 6,000 people.
More than three thousand wounded people will die without help! What does this mean? It means that the most elite fortress army in the empire will no longer exist!
"What are you still doing? Didn't you hear us? The heroes in front are waiting for us! Let's go!" Uhtred looked at the people around him and the stopped army, and yelled like crazy.
After regaining consciousness, everyone ran forward. As they ran, they urged the soldiers around them to hurry up! The heroes are waiting for us!
The news spread among the army. Fifty thousand heroes blocked the attack of 300,000 orcs and were almost completely destroyed! They are bleeding! They are enduring the cold! They are enduring hunger! They are waiting for us.
!
Regardless of the fatigue of the past few days, the soldiers ran towards the fortress made of blood at an unprecedented speed.
Close! Close! Saw it!
What a scene that is! Blood radiates outward from the corners of the wall, and the snow within a few hundred meters is dark red!
From a distance, I saw the tall red city wall in front of me. It was completely covered with ice crystals made of blood! It made the entire southern city wall look as if it were originally red!
There is also the wall of corpses that looks like a city wall! You can see orcs and humans inside. Some of them hugged each other tightly, keeping their faces as they did before they died. Why was there a smile on the face of the human soldier?
Are you happy that you can drag down an orc before you die?
There is also the huge gap at the entrance of the city wall, and the sad human wall!
On the stiff faces, one can still see the pride of these seriously wounded soldiers before they died! They used their bodies and souls to build the strongest wall of the Far North Fortress!
When I walked into the city, I saw the wounded soldiers leaning on each other. Why were there no expressions on their faces? Aren't they happy for the arrival of reinforcements?
Yes, the remaining three thousand injured soldiers in the Far North Fortress who were still able to move, when they saw the reinforcements arriving, they just expressed their gratitude lightly and asked them to treat the wounded, and then continued to do what they should do. In their hearts, they had already
Integrate with this fortress, including the city walls made of souls!
Uhtred looked at the cruel battlefield in the Far North Fortress and was deeply shocked by these soldiers. He now didn't know how to write the report in his hand that he was going to send to the imperial capital.
A great victory? Fighting against an army of 300,000 orcs, holding on to the fortress, and killing 150,000 orcs. If this is not a great victory, then what kind of victory counts?
However, looking at the remaining soldiers in the Far North Fortress, do they care about this honor? Just as Ian Sale, who has completely changed as a person, said, if honor can bring back the dead robe, then we will
Yes, but only those of us who survived receive honors. What does this mean? Our lives were all bought with blood by Pao Ze! We cannot afford such honors! (The empire stipulates that only living soldiers and generals can receive honors.
, and received rewards, the dead soldiers did not even receive basic pensions)
For the Byvost Empire, the loss of the elite fortress army, these iron-clad heroes, is a national tragedy! It is an indelible pain for the entire empire! Not to mention the two thousand defenders and three people who died in Karst City.
Thousands of people, not to mention the 300,000 defenders and countless civilians who were unable to rescue! This is a pain that is engraved in the bone marrow!
For a moment, Uhtred didn't know how to start writing. Finally, he sighed and wrote a few words:
"The soul of heroes builds the ten thousand year city, and the fortress is intact!"