Rise of the Horde

Khao’khen frowned as he observed the battlefield, “Looks like the one in-charge of the enemy’s right flank grasped the weakness of the Drakhars’ formation.”

The absence of screening units to aid the Drakhars was a mistake on his judgement. They needed other units to aid them specifically their wings as the chaos of battle wouldn’t ensure that they can keep their foes in front of them at all times. The Drakhars’ weren’t as powerful and durable as the Rakshas who could just keep moving forward and drill a hole in the enemy’s formation.

Unlike his warriors who want to fight as many enemies as possible, the Drakhars were the opposite.

Adhalia nodded her head in agreement, “They are weaker than your kin, and they lack training and experience. It will take more than a year for them to even be able to be as effective as your warriors.”

She knew that no matter how many years they trained, how many more experience they gained, her Drakhars wouldn’t hold a candle against the might of the horde. That was not only due to the innate advantage of the orcs when it comes to physical prowess but also their mentality. The orcs loved to fight and don’t fear dying in battle.

What they fear was that dying without doing any battle to accumulate glory to their name. While her forces were almost the exact opposite of the orcs, so it was understandable in her point of view.

Faynah turned her head towards her cousin and couldn’t help but ask, “How much stronger are the orcs compared to the forces under you?” If her estimation was correct, there was only about a thousand of the orcs in the camp or perhaps just slight over it. The trolls and ogres weren’t included in her estimation.

Adhalia smiled at her cousin, “The Rakshas alone would send the fielded army of the enemy running in no time. That is how much stronger they are,” she replied with great confidence.

“The Rakshas?” her cousin couldn’t help but be confused.

“The remaining orcs who in the camp,” a swift reply of Adhalia.

“But there is only about a thousand of them,” she can’t help but be astonish.

“They are enough to send the enemy army running.”

Her cousin’s reply further increased Faynah’s confusion. Yes, the orcs are far stronger than them but they were up against a portion of the Ereian Royal Army and they were up against a ratio of 5 to 1.

‘No matter how strong they were, they can’t fight continuously without getting exhausted,’ that was what was on Faynah’s mind. Little did she know of the inhuman training that the Rakshas went through in order to become one.

With the reserves sent out by Zaraki, their left flank stabilized and they began gained back their advantage. Slowly, the enemy right flank was starting to buckle which forced a reaction from the enemy commander. Sending in half of their reserves, their crumbling right flank managed to hold their ground.

At the center of the battlefield, both armies were at a stalemate as they traded blows. Both sides fought each other at a controlled pace. The officers in charge of the center commanded their men efficiently and fought with cautiousness. There was not much difference from the center on the last flanks of the two armies.

The stalemate lasted for some time until a cloud of dust came from the far right of the enemy’s right flank. It didn’t take long for the identity of the ones causing the dust cloud to be revealed. The cavalry belonging to the side of the Drakhars made a beeline towards the rear of the enemy army.

Hammered from the front and rear while being outnumbered, the Ereian right flank began to show signs of crumbling.

Almost being surrounded, the Ereian right flank shattered and started to flee the battlefield. Instead of chasing after the fleeing enemies, the Drakhars’ left flank along with their cavalry aimed at the enemy’s center.

The enemy commander took noticed of their defeated right flank and was about to send out the rest of the reserves when their center crumbled. Seeing the enemy left flank charging at them, the Ereian soldiers at the center began to panic and the rear line began to retreat which was soon followed by the rest. A slaughter soon followed as the Drakhars’ chased after their fleeing foes.

The Ereian left flank was left with no choice but to also withdraw from the battlefield less they be surrounded and slaughtered to the last man. The battle was won but it wasn’t over yet. The Drakhars’ wanted to reduce the number of their enemy as much as possible either by capture or death.

This was the first battle that the Drakhars fought on their own without aid from the horde, and they won. This made Adhalia beam with a proud smile.

“We w-won,” Faynah still can’t believe that they actually won against the Ereian Royal Army which she thought to be very powerful. A new army, established not even half a year actually won against the long standing army of Ereia.

“It’s all thanks to the quick thinking of the one in command of the Drakhars’ left flank. Instead of chasing after the fleeing enemies, he chose to strike at the enemy’s center which caused them to panic and ultimately led to the downfall of the enemy army.” Khao’khen commented.

“Given more time, the Drakhars would become a strong force not to be messed with. Well, at least against other armies and not mine,” he continued as he shrugged his shoulders then stayed in place to welcome their victorious allies.

The victory of the Drakhars calls for a celebration. The night after the battle, the camp was filled with sounds of celebration but there were some who weren’t very happy during the celebration. The orc warriors seemed to be sulking in the corners of the festive atmosphere.

Not being included in the previous battle left a bitter taste in their mouth, much more bitter than the drink that they were having.

On the side of the defeated army, the atmosphere was a very gloomy. Not far from the camp was the head of the previous commander on a pike. Barika got so mad that he outright beheaded the man as soon as he returned. The officers of the defeated army were also whipped 10 times as a punishment.

There casualties amounted to close than half of their initial numbers. The number of wounded also exceeded a thousand which meant that the fielded army just lost close to three quarters of their strength.

On the side of the Drakhars, they sustained just a bit of over five hundred in casualties and the number of wounded didn’t go over a thousand.

After learning of their defeat, Ishaq can’t help but shake his head in disappointment at the result. The soldiers he sent accompanied by the proud Ereian Royal Army was easily defeated by an army that was established not even for more than half a year.

“I can’t believe that they were defeated,” Isma clicked his tongue in disappointment.

Menna just shrugged his shoulders, “You do know that they are a prideful bunch and if I am not mistaken, the leader sent by the commander was demoted by that bast*rd in terms of overall command. He would then have sent his own man to be in-charge of the total army.”

“At least now we know that the new army of the Darkhariss isn’t your typical band of rookies. They have some battle prowess and we shouldn’t continue to underestimate them.” Ishaq sighed as he stared at the strategic map in front of them.

According to the scouts that they have dispatched, the orcish army that left their camp was nowhere to be found. There were no traces of them in the immediate surroundings which made Ishaq believe that the rumour circulating around was true.

“Are we certain that the gossip is true? Menna was sceptical of its truthfulness. He doesn’t believe in such things unless it was supported by evidence.

“Reports from the scouts that we had sent out supported its reliability, why do you ask?” Isma replied.

“It just doesn’t feel right to me. My intuition is telling me that there is something going on that we are not aware of.”

The intuition of Menna was spot on. The scouts that they have sent out were not able to find the presence of the three quarters of the Yohan First Horde was because they were hiding on the other side of the river. And they didn’t erect any camp. They weren’t going to stay there for a long period of time which is why they didn’t do so.

At a moment’s notice they would move out and were just waiting for the command.

“So, should we launch a pincer attack at the enemy camp?” Menna continued.

“No, we will do it according to the previous plan.” Ishaq replied after his silence.

Although they could, he was against it since there is a possibility of the enemy army to survive after they manage to defeat them. His plan was to eradicate the invading forces in one fell swoop and launching an attack right now at their camp would affect his goal.

He wanted to surround the invaders and cut off their escape route by pinning them up against the walls of the fort as soon as they commit all their numbers in the siege. He was just waiting for that moment to come and he would annihilate them all down to the last monster. But would Khao’khen give him that chance after learning of the presence of another enemy army at play.