Chapter 162: The Orcs Came

The New Year celebration went ahead as planned. Although Zhenbei City was newly established and many things were still simple, the New Year celebration was very lively.

Su Lun had Heatherway make some magic fireworks. When the beautiful fireworks lit up the night sky, it was truly a stunning sight. The central square of the territory turned into a sea of joy. For the celebration, food was given out without limits, but wasting it was not allowed. To keep order, Su Lun took half the soldiers and had them work together with the Militia.

It was lucky that Su Lun did not allow any alcohol. Otherwise, some drunkards would surely have caused trouble. Though Zhenbei City had many strict rules, there were always people who wanted to test them. Some tried to cause trouble during the celebration, so Su Lun told Harrison to take his men and put those people in the Prison. They would deal with them after the celebration.

The Halfling Frodo prepared a lot of food. Of course, most of the food was made by other cooks under his guidance. Only the food for Su Lun and a few others was personally made by him.

What surprised Su Lun was that some skilled people in the territory, who had a good sense for business, made many small items. They sold them during the holiday. Su Lun did not stop this. Their actions made the celebration even more lively.

Soon, more people copied what they did. So during the celebration, small vendors appeared in the territory.

The New Year celebration lasted for three days. After the celebration ended, Su Lun heard a prompt sound again.

“Congratulations, host. Your territory, Zhenbei City, has successfully added a new holiday [New Year]. This holiday takes place every year on January 1st and lasts for three days.” At the same time, in Su Lun’s System interface, a new [New Year] holiday appeared under the holiday section.

[New Year: The start of a new year. It is one of the most important holidays of the year. Every year on this day, grand celebrations are held. Holiday atmosphere +10, Happiness +20, Prosperity +5, Order -3.]

Though the New Year celebration was over, its effects had not yet faded. For the slaves and common people, this holiday brought them true joy from the heart. After coming to this city, their once difficult lives finally saw a glimmer of hope. After this holiday, they felt even more passion for life.

This was a land full of life.

Hope was a wonderful thing. Sometimes it was small and weak, as if a gust of wind could blow it out. But given a chance, it could burst forth with astonishing power.

After the New Year, if this were in the Southern Provinces, it would already be considered spring. But here in the Northern Wasteland, the ground was still covered in snow, and the weather remained cold. This period was actually the hardest time in the Northern Wasteland.

By this time, many tribes living in the Wilderness had used up most of their stored food. The tribes were at their most dangerous then. Starving and desperate, their eyes turned toward other tribes. Given any opportunity, they would not hesitate to attack.

In fact, Su Lun’s territory had already drawn the attention of other tribes in the Wilderness. After all, the conditions here were very good, and almost all races knew that humans were the best at growing crops. They had plenty of food. Before, under Su Lun’s leadership, Zhenbei City launched a series of wars against the surrounding areas, which scared those tribes. But facing hunger, they once again turned their eyes here.

The biggest conflict between humans and other intelligent creatures had always been over land. Land was a resource, the most important element for a race to thrive.

After the celebration, Su Lun did not let his guard down. All the Scouts were sent out. Soldier training did not slack off at all. Even some Refugees were forced to undergo military training.

In the Military Camp interface, besides training regular Soldiers, there was an option for Militia. Militia had very low combat ability, but Su Lun did not plan to have them fight directly. Instead, they would serve as support troops, helping defend the city or transport supplies.

After Zhenbei City upgraded this time, each side of the city wall was one kilometer long. With such long walls, even if Zhenbei City’s army and Garrison Forces stood on them, they would not fill the walls. If other tribes really attacked, using the Militia to help defend the city was the only way.

After ordering the recruitment of Militia, Harrison quickly recruited one thousand from the Refugees. He also recruited one thousand from the slaves, forming a two-thousand-strong Militia force.

Actually, the population structure in Northguard Keep was very unbalanced. In Zhenbei City, over seventy percent of the population were men. The number of women was less than thirty percent. This was because, whether among Refugees or Serfs, the number of women was very small. There was nothing that could be done about it.

Though it caused some problems, the benefit was that there were many adult men. This kept theTerritory’s workforce strong.

All two thousand Militia underwent basic military training. They were not required to be very skilled, but they had to understand all commands clearly. Taking so many people for military training did not heavily impact theTerritory’s construction. The bottleneck for Zhenbei City’s development was still population.

After Northguard Keep upgraded to Zhenbei City, more people were needed to fill it. To develop in the Northern Wilderness, population support was essential.

In fact, Su Lun had already decided that after the snow melted, he would start large-scale immigration from Karlt City. Though the Northern Provinces were not as developed as the south, they still had many people. For example, in Karlt City, though Su Lun had not seen the City Hall’s population records, he estimated the city’s population to be at least two hundred thousand.

Other northern cities had populations as low as ten or twenty thousand, and as high as seventy or eighty thousand. The total population of all the Northern Provinces was between one and a half to two million.

During this time, Zhenbei City gained much wealth through trade. If Zhenbei City were not isolated in the Northern Wasteland, the Nobles would have already tried to take it. Now, to get many immigrants from their territories, he would have to pay a lot of money. He planned to both buy many slaves from these cities and cooperate with the local Nobles. He would pay the Nobles to buy people.

Military training in Zhenbei City went very smoothly. Especially with the addition of Drow Elf instructors, the training speed doubled. Though these Drow Elves followed the Dark Maiden and were of a good alignment, that did not mean they were soft. Their military training was just as harsh and strict.

Anyone who failed to complete training or broke the rules was cruelly punished by the Drow Elf instructors. Su Lun’s rule for them was that as long as the trainees were not crippled or seriously injured, the instructors could do as they saw fit.

This harsh training allowed the Militia to complete their training in the shortest time possible. After the Militia finished their training, Zhenbei City had the ability to support a large-scale war.

The watchful eyes of the surrounding tribes grew more numerous. As time passed, they were nearing their limits.

Half a month after the New Year celebration, Su Lun got another report from the Scouts. Traces of Orcs were found in the forest ten kilometers north of Zhenbei City. At the same time, the numbers of Gnolls, Goblins, and Kobolds around the territory were clearly increasing. All signs pointed to an approaching war.

At the same time, in the Orc Tribe, groups of Orc Warriors began moving toward Zhenbei City. The tribe’s food was running low, but their war with the Centaurs was at a stalemate. To get more food and weapons, they turned their attention to Zhenbei City.

According to their scouting, the number of humans in this new city was not large. Though they had built walls, that would not stop them.

For the Orc Tribe, sending out some Orc Warriors would reduce the tribe’s food consumption. Even if those Orcs failed in the end, it would still ease the food pressure.

The Orc Warriors gathered many Gnolls, Kobolds, and Goblins along the way. These monsters were not very strong, but they made good cannon fodder. After all, a human city was not easy to break. The Orc Tribe, because they had to deal with the Centaurs, could only send one thousand Orcs. But by the time they reached Zhenbei City, their numbers had grown to over six thousand.

Besides the Orcs, many small tribes in the Wilderness that could not survive on their own were gathered up. Goblins, Bugbears, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, Gnolls, and a few Trolls, tempted by the promise of food, formed a huge Alliance.

By the time Su Lun got the news, it was already five days later. Upon learning that a large monster Alliance was preparing to attack, Zhenbei City immediately closed its gates. The whole city went on high alert. Su Lun also led many Archers and Barbarian Warriors to guard the riverbanks.

Zhenbei City’s left side was bordered by the Red Sand River and White Water River. To attack from the north, they had to cross these two rivers. After Zhenbei City got the Harvest Altar, the rivers near the city had all thawed. The only way to cross was by boat.

The Orc Army cut down many pine trees and made rafts to cross the rivers by force. But they underestimated Su Lun’s army. Nearly one hundred Longbowmen and elite Archers blocked their way. Before the rafts of the monster army even reached the shore, they suffered heavy losses.

Enduring the rain of arrows and paying a huge price in casualties, the monster army finally managed to land. But what awaited them was a ready Spearman formation and eager Barbarians.

The outcome was no surprise. The monsters that had just landed had no time to celebrate before the Barbarian Guard charged and broke them. The Orc leaders were directly beheaded by the Barbarians. The remaining scattered Kobolds, various Goblins, and Gnolls could not do anything against the Spearman formation. They were all wiped out.

The first clash between Northguard Keep and the Orc Alliance ended in a complete victory for Northguard Keep.