Chapter 196: Night Attack

Night fell quickly. After dinner, Su Lun did not rest. Instead, he took a few Guards and walked around the camp. He checked the condition of the Soldiers, comforted the wounded, and boosted the Soldiers’ morale. Su Lun was now very familiar with these tasks.

By 11 p.m., Su Lun finally finished his inspection and returned to his tent. At this time, except for the Soldiers on night watch, everyone else in the camp was asleep. Su Lun felt no sleepiness. The rise of every city or tribe was accompanied by the decline of other races.

To truly occupy this land, he needed to completely defeat all competitors. Karlt City had been like that back in the day. For his Zhenbei City to rise, it also needed to go through such a wave.

If Zhenbei City could defeat the Orc Army on the battlefield, then the small and medium-sized tribes around would give Zhenbei City a wide berth. Only by defeating them would the other tribes become fearful.

…

In the camp of the Blademaw Orc clan’s army, a powerfully built Orc sat in a spacious tent. In the center of the tent was a pile of brightly burning firewood, roasting a fat pig weighing at least two to three hundred jin. A rich meaty aroma filled the tent.

“Did you find any trace of the Centaurs army?” the Orc asked as he cut the roast pig with a small knife. Thick fat dripped onto the firewood, causing a burst of flame.

“We’ve searched the surrounding thirty li. No trace of the Centaurs was found,” another Orc reported.

“Could those Centaurs have taken the chance to escape?”

“Probably not,” Gordon shook his head.

“Should we proceed with tonight’s operation?” another older Orc, who seemed to be a Shaman, asked.

Gordon took a big bite of the roast meat and then said, “The plan remains unchanged! Even if those Centaurs are really hiding nearby, we’ll leave some people behind to wait for them.”

“Great Shaman, tonight is up to you all. I want to completely tear those humans apart to avenge our boys.”

“Cough… Leave it to us,” the aged Great Shaman coughed twice, his voice hoarse.

Time passed quickly, and it was already 1 a.m.

The Wilderness was very quiet at this time. Even the nocturnal animals avoided this area. The Orc camp looked messy and disorganized. Some Orcs on night watch were dozing off. The torches around the camp flickered in the night wind, casting various twisted and strange shadows.

In the quiet of the night, a group of Orcs emerged from their Territory. These Orcs did not stop but headed directly towards the forest on the other side of the camp. Deep in the forest, two thousand elite Orcs crouched silently on the ground. There was no fire here, only some moonlight filtering through the leaves.

These Orcs made no sound. The two thousand Orcs were like two thousand statues. After a long time, the strongest Orc looked at the sky and made a gesture to the Orc beside him. The surrounding Orcs began to take out dry rations and chew slowly.

Even while eating, these Orcs did not make much noise. The lead Orc sat back down, took a wineskin from a strong Orc Warrior beside him, took a big gulp, and then passed the wineskin to another Orc.

In the dim forest, a group of Orcs arrived here.

“Great Shaman!”

“Is everything ready?”

“Ready.”

“Then let’s begin.”

With a faint magical fluctuation, an intangible shadow enveloped these Orcs. As the shadow spread, the figures of the Orcs within it became extremely blurred. The shadows stopped expanding quickly, and then the Shamans continued to cast spells.

After about ten minutes, all two thousand elite Orcs were covered by the shadow. With the cover of night, these Orcs looked almost invisible from a distance.

The Orcs did not cross the river at the daytime location. Instead, they marched downstream for another kilometer. They planned to cross the river from here.

…

“Warning! Warning! A large number of enemies are moving.”

Su Lun was suddenly awakened by the alarm sound in his mind. He opened the Strategic Map and immediately saw that the Orcs originally hiding in the forest were moving towards the downstream of the White Water River. Clearly, these Orcs planned to cross the river downstream.

Seeing this situation, Su Lun immediately got up and sent people to notify everyone to assemble immediately. It took fifteen minutes for all the Soldiers to assemble. After seeing all the Soldiers gathered, Su Lun took out the Shadow Mirror Sky Lantern and activated its ability.

“Group Invisibility!”

Something like a glass dome rapidly expanded from Su Lun’s hand. The glass dome quickly enveloped the entire army in the Military Camp. Once everyone was covered, from the outside, the camp appeared completely empty.

“Everyone, silent march!”

At Su Lun’s command, the entire army of Zhenbei City moved silently towards the downstream direction of the White Water River. Over two thousand people were all under the effect of Invisibility. The Orc scouts on the opposite side noticed nothing unusual.

A distance of one kilometer was neither very close nor very far. Soon, the Zhenbei City army arrived at the river section where the Orcs were crossing.

The night was hazy. Mist rose over the river surface, and a fog began to spread across the water. The Orcs under the blurring spell became even harder to distinguish. The night completely concealed their figures.

If not for the display on the Strategic Map, Su Lun would have overlooked them too. Although the Orcs’ method wasn’t particularly clever, it was effective.

Two thousand Orc soldiers were crossing the river on rafts. Su Lun did not attack immediately. Instead, he waited for more Orcs to cross. He intended to take this opportunity to completely destroy the Orc army before him.

All the Spearmen were lined up at the very front. These Spearmen formed a massive Spear Formation. The Archers followed closely behind the Spear Formation. The front row of the Spear Formation consisted of elite Spearmen. These Spearmen were clad in heavy armor, holding large shields in one hand and long spears in the other. The forest of spears and wall of shields formed a solid front. At Su Lun’s command, it would advance directly forward.

On both flanks of the Spearmen were thirty Ballistas each. The Ballistas were angled towards the Orc Army. Each Ballista was loaded with a powerful weapon – a three-meter-long heavy javelin. At such close range, a volley from these could potentially skewer several Orcs on a single javelin.

All the Archers were ready. Su Lun stared intently at the red dots on the Strategic Map. Soon, about one-third of the red dots had reached the shore. The remaining red dots were quickly approaching across the river. Su Lun’s eyes turned cold. He took out the Shadow Mirror Sky Lantern and used its other function.

“Dispel Invisibility!”

An invisible wave of energy spread out from Su Lun in a fan-shaped arc forward. The energy wave moved extremely fast. In just a breath, the blurring spells on the Orc army on the shore and those on the river were instantly dispelled.

All the Orcs were suddenly exposed before the eyes of the Zhenbei City army. These Orc soldiers had ferocious faces and were full of murderous intent. All the Orcs wore armor, and about five to six hundred of them wore Iron Armor. Without a doubt, these were the most elite Warriors of the Blademaw clan. Annihilating these elite Soldiers would definitely be good news for Zhenbei City.

“Longbowmen, ready!”

Su Lun raised his right hand. Over seven hundred Longbowmen immediately drew their bows. They were only fifty meters away from the Orc army. However, these fifty meters consisted of four full defensive lines. It would not be easy for the Orcs to break through.

“Ballistas, ready!”

“Fire!!!”

At Su Lun’s command, the already prepared Ballistas immediately launched their volley. At the same time, all the Longbowmen also fired instantly.

“Boom!”

The Orc Warriors crowded on the shore fell like wheat before a scythe, dropping in large numbers. But what was most shocking were the javelins fired from the sixty Ballistas.

The three-meter-long giant javelins were like the most terrifying messengers of death. They pierced through the first Orc and continued forward, piercing through the Orcs behind them as well, like skewering candied haws.

The simultaneous volley from sixty Ballistas caused heavy losses to the Orcs on the periphery. Combined with the arrows from over seven hundred Longbowmen, the Orc forces on the shore suffered severe casualties in that moment.

The Ballistas had a range of four to five hundred meters. Su Lun had waited until they were only two hundred meters away before ordering the attack, precisely to maximize the Ballistas’ power.

After the attack began, the Invisibility effect on everyone disappeared. The Spear Formation began to advance towards the riverbank with uniform steps. The Orcs were stunned by this sudden attack. However, upon seeing the Zhenbei City army, these Orcs immediately charged forward.

“Longbowmen, ready!”

“Forward direction, three-stage volley!”

An endless rain of arrows fell continuously. Many Orcs died, yet many still charged towards the Zhenbei City army. Although these Orcs were strong, they faced a pre-arranged shield wall.

Throwing Spears and Hand Axes flew forward, rattling against the shields loudly. Then, some Orcs wielding Spiked Clubs and great axes smashed fiercely against the shields. The powerful impacts made the shields wobble precariously.

The spears from the sides darted out like venomous snakes, swiftly stabbing and then retracting. Many Orcs were stabbed, bleeding profusely.

The Orcs on the shore suffered heavy casualties for a time. However, soon fresh reinforcements joined the fray. These were the Orcs who had just finished crossing the river. As soon as they reached the shore, they immediately joined the other Orcs. As elites of the Orc army, although disoriented by the initial attack, they quickly adjusted.

Seeing that a frontal breakthrough was difficult, many Orcs took advantage of the interval while the Ballistas were being reloaded. Braving the arrow rain, they charged towards the Ballista positions on the flanks.

Unfortunately for them, anticipating this, Su Lun had specifically assigned most of the Barbarian Guard to protect the Ballista positions. Those Orcs who managed to get through the arrow rain, hoping to wreak havoc, instead ran headlong into the eager Barbarian Warriors who were waiting for them.