Chapter 295: Battle for the City Gate.
The main force of the orcs was aimed at the Harland territory. The two legions of the central route army entered the Gascoigne province along the edge of the Earl of Downey Martins and along the Kea River.
One Orc Legion restrained the Wild Lion Legion, and another Orc Legion continued eastward along the upper reaches of the Black River, preventing the Northern Legion from daring to move rashly.
The Orcs have a total of sixteen legions in the direction of Grant Kingdom. In addition to the three legions of the Eastern Route Army, the six legions of the Central Route Army, and the four legions of the West Route Army also appeared in the two duchies of Edward and Fox.
The remaining three legions are not only the general reserve of the orcs, but also bear the heavy responsibility of rear defense and cannot be easily mobilized.
Once there are no regular troops behind the orcs, the human slaves may riot.
The orcs came out in full force, and four armies approached Harland's territory. However, in a short period of time, the battle line was relatively stable. The only place at a disadvantage was Platos Canyon, and the power in this area was also the most unbalanced.
In Platos Fortress, there is only one brigade of the Northern Army with 1,500 regular troops, 1,000 Gedda provincial auxiliary troops, plus several hundred soldiers left by Baron Sharp.
Since obtaining the fief of the Grand Duchy of Stanik, Baron Sharp has passed the territory to his eldest son, and brought his child with Viscount Raphael to the Grand Duchy of Stanik, shifting the focus of managing the territory.
Baron Sharp's strength was average, and its logistics relied on the support of Viscount Raphael to maintain five to six hundred elite troops. Now Baron Sharp went to the Grand Duchy of Stanik and took away most of the soldiers. The soldiers left to his eldest son were of average quality and could not bear the heavy responsibility.
Although there is a geographical advantage in the direction of Platos, there are too few elite soldiers to stop the orcs' onslaught. Even with the help of heavy trebuchets and alchemical bombs, hundreds of people were killed or injured in just one day, and a letter for help was sent to Fort William.
Harland is also under great pressure from the other three directions, and Richard doesn't have many reinforcements at all. Therefore, he could only ask the commander of the Arab Army to urge the rear to gather reinforcements quickly.
The Northern Army had to defend against the main orc army and was no longer able to send reinforcements. The noble private troops from the nearby counties of Heihe and Luomen were all transferred to Salt Lake County.
The fastest one to assemble was the Grant Kingdom Knight Academy, but they needed three days to assemble, collect logistical supplies, and four days of marching to get reinforcements near the Platos Mountains.
Depending on the intensity of the orc attack, the Pratos defenders could hold out for a day or two at most. After all, the orcs have seven brigades, which can continuously rotate and launch multiple attacks a day.
However, the defenders lacked strength and had great difficulty in repelling every enemy attack.
The situation became very tense, and Richard could only devote any bit of strength to the war.
He personally wrote an order, requiring all 500 auxiliary troops from Fort Sophia, the garrison squadron of Iron Mountain Fort, and the secret police protecting the enchanted armor manufacturing factory to be mobilized to form the first wave of reinforcements.
Then he ordered his cousin Kent to lead soldiers from the Baron of Thoros to reinforce Platos Castle.
In addition, Richard also issued an order to strengthen the walls and clear the country, ordering the soldiers to massacre all the orc slaves in the iron mines, and the entire population of border castles such as Fort Sophia and Tieshan Fort to retreat to prevent the worst case scenario.
Sophia Fort and Tieshan Fort are more than ten kilometers away from the Platos Fortress Group. After receiving the order, the reinforcements stationed in Platos Castle that night.
Although they withstood the orcs' onslaught for a day and a half, the Platos defenders suffered heavy casualties, especially the ninth battalion of the Northern Legion, which served as the main force. Even the battalion captain was killed in the battle.
The morale of the defenders was already barely supported, but one thousand reinforcements finally arrived in the evening. These one thousand reinforcements gave the soldiers the confidence to persevere.
After all, this is a racial war, and the ability of soldiers to withstand casualties is very high. Even the serf soldiers with weak fighting ability can sometimes fight against the orcs out of hatred.
The reinforcements consisted of three parts, with the largest number being the 500 auxiliary soldiers of Fort Sophia.
The Haaland territorial auxiliary soldiers train for two to three months every year. The core backbone is older veterans. The most training they undergo is to operate heavy trebuchets to fire stone projectiles according to the shooting table.
If fighting in the field, the combat effectiveness of Harland's territorial auxiliary troops is very average, and they cannot even defeat the private armies of nobles. But in defensive warfare, this auxiliary team can play a key role.
The first squadron of the second battalion is stationed at Iron Mountain Fort, and the squadron leader is Perrin, a veteran of the Harland territory. He is a professional who was promoted in the same batch as Jennings, and his talent is also very good. He has worked hard in the Harland territory for more than ten years. Last year, he was promoted to the deputy captain of the second team, and his professional level was also promoted to the fourth level.
Iron Mountain Fort is the only iron ore producing area in Harland Territory. There are many secret-related units in the castle. Basically half of the territory's military production department is concentrated in Iron Mountain Fort.
For this reason, although Tieshan Fort has a small garrison, its combat effectiveness is very powerful.
Although the first squadron of the second battalion only has 160 people, there are eight professional officers in it, and 120 soldiers have more than five years of military service. All the veterans wear ogre leather armor, and those of the third level and above There were six archers in total, and they were also equipped with sixty searing ray guns.
The combat effectiveness of this squadron is comparable to the most powerful First Squadron among the infantry in Haaland Territory.
There are more than 200 spies protecting the arsenal, and their organization is under the responsibility of the intelligence department.
Intelligence department personnel are considered second-line armed personnel in the Haaland territory. In addition to being recruited from society, the main members are selected from the army. Especially the personnel in the operations department are carefully selected and their combat effectiveness is not weak.
It's just that the personnel of the intelligence department are better at fighting alone and subduing opponents. When encountering fierce positional battles, they actually don't have much experience to use.
If the situation hadn't changed suddenly, Richard would have been reluctant to send the intelligence personnel he had trained for many years to the cruel front line to fight against the orcs.
But when the situation develops here, every force is crucial.
By guarding Platos Canyon, Richard did not need to draw troops from the front line. The pressure on the front line is already heavy. Once troops are withdrawn from the front line, it may cause an overall collapse.
The top priority is to concentrate superior forces to break the balance.
Under the command of Thoros, the eastern region of Harland Territory has cut off half of the Orc legion's path. William and Thoros joined forces to prepare to encircle and annihilate this enemy.
In the Pratos fortress group in the west, the orcs have the upper hand. Once the orc army overcomes the defense line and flanks the Harland Territory, it will cause a comprehensive passivity to the northern defense line.
After the reinforcements entered the Pratos fortress group, Perrin immediately shouted: "Is Captain Bock here?"
"The captain died in the afternoon."
After hearing this, Perrin was shocked and had an intuitive understanding of the cruelty of war. learn.
In just one and a half days after the orcs attacked the city, the top commander was killed in the battle.
"Who is the commander in the castle now?"
"It's Captain Lothar."
"Where is Captain Lothar?"
"Captain Lothar is in Castle No. 3. It has been cut off by the orcs and may fall at any time."
There are nine fortresses in the Pratos fortress complex, forming three lines of defense.
When Perrin arrived with reinforcements, all five forts No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 had fallen.
Bock, the captain of the Ninth Brigade of the Northern Army, died in the battle, and Lothar, the deputy captain, was besieged in Fortress No. 3 and could be surrounded and annihilated at any time.
Now the only complete line of defense remains is the third line of defense, which is mainly defended by soldiers from Baron Sharp's department. These soldiers are all locals. Although their combat effectiveness is weaker than that of the soldiers of the Northern Legion, their will to fight is very determined and they have no intention of retreating or escaping.
After hearing the soldier's answer, Perrin said decisively: "Since Captain Bock died in the battle, from now on, I am the commander of Platos Castle. Now I order to deploy a squadron of auxiliary soldiers and send the wounded soldiers to In the rear, the scattered soldiers immediately reorganized and were ready to fight at any time.
As long as we survive tonight, the 500 reinforcements from Baron Soros will arrive tomorrow. Reinforcements will come intermittently in the next few days, seven In the future, the powerful Knight Academy Cavalry Regiment will arrive for reinforcements.
As long as we are confident, we will be able to block the orcs in the northern part of the Platos Mountains and protect our homeland."
Perrin entered Platos's last line of defense at night and immediately deployed reinforcements at the forefront without rest.
Castle No. 9 is the focus of the third line of defense. Perrin directly ordered the First Squadron of the Second Battalion to garrison it.
The terrain of Castle No. 7 was difficult and as many as six heavy trebuchets were installed. Perrin arranged for Harland to lead 500 trebuchet men to be stationed inside.
Castle No. 8 is located closest to the rear and has the lightest defensive pressure. It is the location where intelligence department personnel and integrated troops are stationed.
In order to find out how many soldiers he had, Perrin sent several staff officers to go down to count the troops overnight.
Seeing the information sent by his staff before dawn, Perlan's mood suddenly became extremely bad.
"In just one and a half days, we collected 469 corpses and 630 wounded soldiers, of which more than 300 were seriously injured. This statistics does not include missing persons. The defenders of Fortress No. 3.
In other words, there are 3,000 soldiers on the Platos front, not counting the defenders of Fortress No. 3. After fighting for a day and a half, only more than 300 regular troops and 400 noble private troops were left. Send four hundred auxiliary troops."
Seeing the statistics, Perlan made a secret calculation. If the orc does not weaken his attack strength, the reinforcements he brings can be consumed for up to one day.
Perrin took the time to take a nap, and the sun gradually appeared above the horizon.
Before the soldiers had breakfast, the orcs walked out of the fourth, fifth, and sixth fortresses, organized the attack formation, and began to attack the last line of defense of the Platos fortress group.
Fortress No. 9 was built in the middle of the canyon.
This castle only has three walls built. The front is about 200 meters long, and the east and west sides add up to more than 130 meters until it is connected to the cliff.
There is no city wall to the south of Fortress No. 9, and some military barracks were built.
The Platos fortress complex is completely a military fortress. There are not many people nearby, and civilians are relatively far away.
In the middle of Fortress No. 9, there is a flood channel washed by rain. If there is a flood season, a water gate is set up in the middle of the castle and there is a water village at the back.
During the dry season, only a wooden gate was erected. This wooden door is considered the defensive weakness of Fortress No. 9.
The flood channel is sixteen meters wide and three meters deep. With wooden doors and wooden fences, it cannot stop the orcs for too long. Relying on the day and a half gained by the two front lines of defense, the defenders of Fortress No. 9 blocked most of the flood channel.
After the orcs adjusted their formation, they focused their attack on the flood channel. In just a minute or two, the orc army dispatched four echelons and launched an attack along the flood channel.
The flood channel is only a dozen meters wide. In such a narrow terrain, the orcs cannot form a formation at all.
Even if one echelon dispatches one or two squadrons, they are still tightly packed together.
Seeing this scene, Perrin immediately ordered the trebuchets in Castle No. 7 to fire stone bombs, and then ordered the defenders of Castle No. 9 to spare no expense in alchemy bombs.
The marksman and searing ray gunner hunt down the key personnel of the orcs.
As the flag waved, the trebuchetmen in Castle No. 7 cut the ropes and began throwing stone projectiles.
Although the auxiliary soldiers in Harland's territory are not good at field combat, they are very experienced in operating trebuchets. Their training also focuses on operating trebuchets, which is equivalent to a weakened version of artillery.
The same trebuchet, in the hands of experienced soldiers, can cause extraordinary damage.
In the first round alone, two of the six stone bullets hit the orc formation, killing or injuring seven or eight orc soldiers in an instant, causing considerable chaos.
Although the trebuchet launch speed is slow, it is like a reminder.
Every time it was thrown, one or two stone bullets hit the orcs.
The orcs were squeezed into the narrow flood channel and could not dodge at all.
Seeing this scene, the orc commander went crazy and kept urging the orcs to speed up and rush through the trebuchet's range.
The heavy trebuchet is a projectile weapon and cannot kill people at a relatively close distance. According to the firing chart in Haaland's territory, the range of the heavy trebuchet varies with the weight of the stone projectiles, ranging from about one hundred to four hundred meters. Beyond four hundred meters, the impact points of the stone bullets are uncontrollable and very scattered.
Within a hundred meters, it is difficult for heavy trebuchets to hit enemy personnel. Unless the counterweight is replaced, or non-standard stone bullets are used.
But in this way, the landing point can only be controlled based on experience, which is also particularly troublesome during the battle.
In the tactics of the soldiers in Harland's territory, after entering a hundred meters, killing the enemy mainly relies on alchemy bombs and bows and arrows.
The first echelon of orcs had just broken through the interception of the trebuchet when it was attacked by an alchemy bomb.
In an instant, twenty or thirty alchemy bombs were thrown over and exploded above the Orc squadron. The scattered shrapnel swept over, killing and wounding a large number of people in an instant.
Because they were too close, more than half of the squadron suffered casualties immediately.
Originally suffering heavy casualties from the trebuchet, they were attacked by alchemy bombs, which instantly broke the will of the orcs. Let the first echelon of orcs retreat back.
Normally, when the orcs retreat, most of them will collapse in all directions. But the orcs were in the flood channel and had no room to break up.
The retreating orcs huddled with the second echelon, causing great chaos.
The defenders of Fortress No. 7 seized the opportunity and fired stone bullets continuously.
The stone bullets fell into the dense orc army formation, and the huge kinetic energy instantly smashed the orcs into meat patties. The stone bullets that fell to the ground continued to roll, breaking the orc's legs.
The fallen orc was very pitiful. He was trampled on by his panicked companions and let out pitiful cries. These cries made the orcs run even more frightened.
The orcs originally planned to use the flood channel to conquer Fortress No. 9 in one fell swoop, but they did not expect that the human long-range projection power would be so powerful. Before they even got close to the city wall, the four offensive echelons had completely collapsed, losing more than ten professionals and more than 500 soldiers.
(End of chapter)