Warhammer

The most warlike angry-horned beast is just charging forward and cannot stand any retreat or cowardice in front of it.

However, Ai'er still assured them and personally announced to the new army that this was a noble legion in which everyone had sworn to fight to the death, and they would not be allowed to choose to join just because of momentary bravery - and not allow cowardly acts on the battlefield to tarnish its glory.

In addition, the treatment of the National Salvation Army at the Tomb of the Kings was also extremely good. When joining the army, the new soldiers, like the veterans, left detailed personal and family information to ensure that their families would receive the most generous pensions after their death in battle.

Al does not ask the new army to do this because this kind of thing depends on spontaneity. Soldiers can fight to the death for you, but you cannot ask them to fight to the death.

As well as some scattered volunteers and mercenaries who brought their own food.

A human army of 30,000 in size.

And the absolute main force of the coalition forces.

Fourteen horned beast legions of 1,408 people each, a team of spellcasters up to 200 people (although most of them were not up to standard by the standards of regular human magic academies and were considered wild armies), a troll legion, a flying monster legion, a centaur legion, a shadow servant legion...

As well as El's own personal guards, there are also the personal soldiers of his descendants, such as the centaur relatives who spontaneously follow the pony Alia. These followers due to personal charm, blood relationship, ethnicity and other reasons are generally not counted in the number of the army. The large army may not be as strong as the angry-horned beasts in combat and are smaller in scale, but they are more efficient.

It is customary to round off the decimal point and get an integer.

Twenty-four thousand.

Now, under El's command, he has gathered such a huge army of about 54,000 people, a number that has never been reached before.

Chapter 65: Confrontation between the two armies

If we calculate according to the tribal inequality of Ai'er:

7,000 Beastmen > About 30,000 Greenskins > Tens of thousands of human troops

His 24,000 main forces can create four times the number of greenskins, that is, 96,000 greenskin orks. With the assistance of 30,000 human troops, it is not a problem to defeat the enemy of more than 100,000. It is also possible to go directly north and violently bombard the warlord... No way.

If wars were decided solely by combat power and numbers, both sides would hold a meeting before the fight to reveal their soldier card data and put the soldier cards together for comparison.

Even for tabletop players, there are still key determining factors such as terrain, tactics, and dice rolling.

What's more, with the inertia of the Middle Ages...Al has always been very stable.

But it is undeniable that on the battlefield, Ai'er's beastman army is a decisive and powerful force.

On the other side, there was an estimated army of about 100,000 greenskins, pirates, and their human servants.

The latter accounted for more than half of the total number, with a ratio of more than one to one between the main force and the puppet army. Most of them were militiamen from various cities who were forcibly conscripted. In Margarita alone, nearly 10,000 people were forcibly conscripted, and an even larger number of civilians were responsible for transporting supplies and carrying out construction work for the army.

For Al, who holds the righteous side, the huge puppet army on the opposite side is both a trouble and an opportunity. The trouble is that no matter how strong their fighting spirit is, this force will hinder the coalition forces to a certain extent.

And if he can win this decisive battle, then tens of thousands of puppet soldiers with weak fighting will will instantly turn against the coalition forces and become the "rebels", abandoning darkness and joining the light, and will be absorbed and annexed by the coalition forces.

But this time, it was very difficult to instigate the other side to launch an uprising. According to the intelligence received, the pirates took extreme measures this time. When they forcibly conscripted civilians to work with the army, they publicly announced to the puppet parliaments and soldiers in various places:

If an army deserts, surrenders to the enemy, or switches sides on the battlefield, then their remaining troops in the rear, as well as the Skaven allies who have long disappeared and are beginning to return to this land, will immediately massacre and spread plague in a certain place or city to ensure that there is no survivors in the area and that no grass will grow for ten or even a hundred years.

Then the soldiers were organized into teams according to their place of origin and origin, and those with weak wills who were easily bribed and controlled were selected as officers. People from the same place of origin were asked to monitor each other, because people from the same place were more or less related to each other. At the same time, even if 90% of them did not want to work for the conquerors, as long as there was one in ten who cared about his wife and children in his hometown, they would not risk the extinction of their hometown by supporting such an action.

As long as such people exist, they will be like the shortest board in a barrel, directly restraining the entire team's rebellion.

Such an order would undoubtedly lead to extremely serious consequences, causing great dissatisfaction among the military and civilians. The soldiers were clamoring and the vassal puppets were secretly resentful. But the same thing happened. If this battle was lost, then everything in the South would have nothing to do with the pirates, at least before the warlords ended the war in the north and marched south.

And if they win, they will have enough power to suppress and eliminate discontent and rebellion in various places.

As long as I have no bottom line, I will not be constrained by it.jpg

Therefore, before the balance of war completely tips towards El's side, the puppet army, whose weak spot is firmly grasped, cannot expect the other side to "revolt in the battlefront and turn against them".

Let's just regard it as a huge cannon fodder force.

And the sheer number itself is a threat.

The number of greenskins is relatively small, and the warlords are not very confident about leaving these fellow tribesmen in the south. Without their constraints, it is difficult to guarantee that these greenskins will not run away one day to form war gangs and treat this place as a wasteland to burn, kill and loot everywhere.

The warlord's original plan was to completely defeat the Estalia, and after achieving the initial victory of the Waaaaagh, establish a general and rough national regime, and begin to try to integrate other races into this "greenskin warlord country", such as the conquered Estalia, to govern the country for the warlord, and the greenskins would act as a hammer to smash wherever there was a problem.

But all this will have to wait until after the war.

Al didn't know the specific idea of ​​​​the warlord Mao Liang, but he could roughly guess the direction. It has to be said that between a greenskin with a bottom line and a human (pirate) without a bottom line, the former is easier to deal with.

The number of greenskins fluctuates around 10,000. If Aiel had not taken away nearly one-fifth of the greenskins' size in two consecutive bites, the warlords might have stationed more troops in Weiling and the southwest, making the battle in Aiel even more difficult.

The core of the enemy's army is undoubtedly the pirate coalition numbering about 30,000.

Muskets, cannons, zombie pirates, and various undead and aquatic monster troops.

This is an opponent that Al has never faced before.

Gunpowder and steel, as well as the extraordinary powers of the undead, the pirates who drive the corrupted and undead creatures also have unique advantages in dealing with monster troops. They may not be able to win for sure, but at least they can fight against the monster armies of one or two tribes.

It has only been a year since El's monster army was officially established. He uses the high affinity of the beastmen and his own persuasiveness - both physical and spiritual. If that doesn't work, then he will use physical methods. There is also the Pina Forest, which is close to the Inara Mountains. There are rich wild monster resources, and because it is located deep in the area, it has not been developed.

Without the long-term accumulation of time of domestication, cultivation, and reproduction—this repetitive process—it seems that the overwhelming group of monsters is very large, but in fact, with today's productivity and the rapid reproduction of various races brought about by the continuous recovery of the environment, this monster army that has just broken through the scale of 100 beasts may not be as large as the giant zoo built by a certain extravagant elector of the empire for himself.

The pirates came from all over the world, and could be understood as a coalition composed of a large number of small, medium and large war gangs and teams.

A ship can be regarded as a troop, a base, or a force.

They would equip their ships with powerful artillery and add more weapons. After all, the economy is now developed and robbery is a job that requires strength. Without strong strength, they cannot even catch up with or defeat merchant ships, and can only starve to death or find a way to become a good person.

There is also the issue of environmental recovery mentioned above, such as the one that Al left a deep impression on: the Corrupted Crab, a giant crab-like monster that is distributed in shallow sea areas. In the past, it was often hunted by pirates, resurrected as undead creatures, and then joined their fleets to be used as mounts and soldiers.

And in Lustria, the new continent formed after the shattering, there are many species like this, potential combat forces that can be domesticated and enslaved.

From the perspective of the sky, Al discovered that there were hundreds of corrupted crabs driven by pirates and mixed in with the zombie army. Among them were some crabs that were obviously still "alive" and not fresh crabs that had been resurrected after death and enslaved.

And a lizard monster that looks like a crocodile, with a lizard body but a crocodile head, short limbs, thick skin, and a bloody mouth full of fangs and sharp teeth; slimy frogmen and the huge toads they cling to and ride on; lizard monsters that look very much like the lizardmen in Al's impression, but look more barbaric, have lower IQ, are more irritable, and fight among themselves from time to time like the greenskins...

Even Al saw upright, half-human, half-snake, multi-armed, beautiful Nagas in the pirate alliance, as well as the army of multi-headed hydras they had tamed.

A pirate coalition estimated to consist of less than half of the original Satusa people.

It is obvious that frogmen and lizard monsters are troops brought by pirate forces from the New World. The Naga's activities are mainly in the North and South New Worlds, and their main connection with the Sartosa people is probably selling and buying stolen goods.

This is normal. Pirates are profit-driven. Don't expect any morality. They will go wherever there is wealth. The Sartosa Pirates' cooperation with the greenskins and support for Waaaaagh to disrupt the southern world does not mean that pirates from other regions cannot come and get a piece of the pie.

Anyway, the flag of the Satusa people is hanging over their heads, and all the hatred is directed at the Satusa people.

Even if the war failed in the end and the southerners were furious and wanted to settle accounts, they would only target the Free City of Sartosa first. Those who came from other places would have already sailed back to their hometowns to continue working.

The main purpose is to make money, and the fighting spirit is not particularly high.

But they will still fight the battles that are left to them and will be able to endure losses and bloodshed.

Al had a headache.

After receiving the revelation that seemed to be from the gods, he quickened his pace, but after reaching the place "Tolosa" hinted by the gods, he was very cautious and did not move forward any further. Instead, he camped in an area with a wide view outside the ruins of Tolosa.

Just wait anyway.

He had some ideas in his mind and was not in a hurry for the time being. After all, at this point it was no longer a matter of war, but a bloody battle.

After gathering in Margarita, the pirate coalition, which was much slower than Al, was actually not too far away from Tolosa. The distances between the two seemed to be similar to this critical location. It seemed that whichever side tried harder could seize the bridgehead first and establish a favorable geographical location with the help of the city's infrastructure.

But the pirates just couldn't move faster, apparently because they were transporting cannons and gathering baggage.

They finally arrived two days after Al had been stationed in Tolosa, and began to use their strong logistical and labor advantages. They did not rush to launch an attack, but instead found a favorable terrain and began to build fortifications.

It seems that they are clearly determined to fight a defensive battle and a war of attrition with Al.

The enemies who are close to Margarita and control the sea power have supply advantages and initiative. The baggage of the Aiel army must be transported through the line of Bermoz-Uflik. Not only is the route longer, but every day of delay increases the threat of the enemy landing in the rear, harassment, or even cutting off the supply route.

So Al had a headache.

He is not afraid of a tough battle right away. He is not afraid of a head-on confrontation. This is the strength of the tribe, which can defeat the strength of the greenskins.

I'm afraid of this situation: the enemy is very steady, quietly hammering out fortifications, waiting for you to launch an attack.

The pirates, who had a large number of long-range weapons and mixed in a number of undead troops, such as zombie sailors and musketeers, were not worried about the beastmen's attacks.

They divided their troops into three lines, placing the conscripted Estalia vassal troops in the front line, clearly intending to use these unwilling to fight cannon fodder to deplete the coalition's strength.

The second part is the main force of the pirate coalition, while the greenskins are placed on the last line, together with the reserve troops.

This made Al's idea of ​​using strong attack to attract and then defeat the greenskins, one of the main components of the enemy, and seriously weaken the enemy fail.

Chapter 66: First Battle of Tolosa

The pirates obviously didn't want to have to face the tribe after having lost two wars and suffered three major losses. The third time was this time, when the warlord ignored the forest (although he couldn't do anything about it), and were then cut off by Al's troops.

The greenskins, who had suffered three serious losses, continued to defeat Al and gave away kills.

I don’t know how they restrained the greenskins, but this question obviously has to be considered after the war.

The longer the confrontation between the two armies lasts, the more disadvantageous it will be for Al.

The pirates knew for sure that the tribe was trying to race against time and would definitely attack, so the tactic they adopted was to defend and delay.

If this continues, if the attack fails, the enemy will be anxious and lose patience. Then, if we expose a flaw to them, the attacker will most likely see it as an opportunity to turn the tide and start placing bets. In the end, we, who were well prepared, will give them the lead.

But although Al had a headache, he did not act on his own or be arbitrary. He was good at listening to opinions and adopting the strengths of everyone, which was an advantage.

.........

During the three days of confrontation, the coalition forces that Al was a member of launched several attacks one after another, but the momentum was not strong. The three new army legions were the main force, and the Angry Horned Beast Legion was only dispatched twice.

The first was during the second offensive, when the Wrathhorn Beasts fought against the Estalia vassal army and achieved remarkable results. With Aiel's feet covered in blood, the roaring Wrathhorn Beasts successively chopped down three lines of the vassal army, forcing them to retreat under the enemy's long-range threat.

The casualties caused by breaking the formation in close combat were only in the single digits, but the long-range killing made the number soar to nearly a hundred.

Although the results achieved were equally fruitful, the Estalia puppet army who served the enemy did not feel sorry for dying in Doel, but one less angry-horned beast under their command meant one less!

After all, Ai'er's tribe was built in less than three years. Through the power of the Four Mothers, he transformed the chaotic beasts that filled the Pina Forest and whose minds were filled with the desire for destruction into a force under his command.

Among the population obtained in this way, at least one out of three or four would become an angry-horned orc after conversion and be directly added to the army.

This is the decisive factor that allows Aiur to maintain an extremely terrifying ratio of soldiers to civilians in the tribe, second only to the greenskins who all become soldiers. Because the Wrathhorn, a unique subspecies of beastmen, is one of the blessings brought by the worship of the Four Mothers (gods), it is really useless if it is not pulled into the war and allowed to join the legion.

They eat a lot and have a bad temper, and may not work as well as ordinary ones. The relatively weak and skinny horned beasts and inferior horned beasts are active and reliable.

He is the type of person who, when he doesn't vent his excess energy, just stays at home drinking, playing cards, swearing, and sometimes banging the table, glaring, throwing bowls and pots.

It is very powerful and reliable to be pulled onto the battlefield.

.......

But the number is still small!

Twenty thousand of them. Even if one angry-horned beast can be exchanged for four green-skinned giants, the tribe will be almost finished after that. It may take until the next batch or the next batch of new generations grow up before the tribe can recover to its current size.

This is almost a small battle group being sacrificed. How can Al not feel sad?

But he still understood the truth that "kindness cannot command an army, and righteousness cannot accumulate wealth."

If they could break, capture, and annihilate this enemy, even if half of his troops suffered casualties, it would be enough to support Al's next action!

Then on the third day, with the help of the preparations in the previous two days, Ai'er let the spellcaster team fully cooperate with the attacking force, and directly sent out the three main elite forces of the Heavy Horned Beasts, the Troll Legion, and the Bull Legion in a left-empty and right-real manner. The left wing of the vassal army almost collapsed, and the speed was so fast that the pirate governors could not even take the approach of firing at the deserters with muskets and cannons as they did last time, forcing them to turn around and continue to face the tribe to stabilize the front line. At the front, the most terrifying and powerful monster in the tribe, judging from its appearance, the six-armed blessed bull, Alastair had turned into a blood-red hurricane and rushed into the pirate array.

Gunpowder bullets did not hurt this giant of flesh and blood war. Just to make her armor, an astronomical amount of materials was used, which was enough to arm at least an entire regiment.

Ordinary bullets and crossbows could only leave a tiny dot on the armor that was doubly protected by steel and faith. Even if one was lucky enough to hit the gap, they would encounter the outer defense line that was harder than stone.

Alastair, the silly one under El's command, would feel aggrieved because the boy broke his fishing rod, squatting behind the boy and watching El fishing motionlessly. He was the first Tauren to embark on the path of blood sacrifice to the Blood Mother and bow to the Eternal Chosen. When facing the enemy, he showed a brutality and bloodthirstiness that was beyond anything that could still be described in words in the wilderness.

It was a killing colossus that was beyond description and comprehension, composed entirely of furious desire for destruction.

The clumsy and huge magic crabs and corrupted magic crabs that looked like small tanks were like hermit crabs crawling by Alastair's feet on the beach. The Bull Commander only needed one axe, a hammer, a knife or a powerful "war tramp" to smash or crush the hard shells of the magic crabs and some zombie shooters standing on their backs.

With the support of the shaman's spells and divine arts, the Barbarian Bull troops and the heavily armored Raging Horns almost ignored the enemy's muskets. As Alastair disrupted the enemy's formation, they turned into sharp spear heads, following the Barbarian Bull's traces of destruction and piercing into the enemy, enlarging the wounds and tearing them apart.

Al was just one step away from completely tearing apart the enemy's flank, launching an all-out attack, and even winning the battle outright.

From his omniscient perspective, he could clearly see that other parts of the enemy's lines had begun to become uneasy and were showing signs of instability.

After all, as long as a mortal soldier raises his head, he can see a monster on the other side of his team - imagine the scene of a warrior in the cold weapon era seeing a weakened version of Ultraman, probably a giant monster as tall as seven or eight floors, wreaking havoc in his team.

The situation at that time was:

If the enemy cannot stop the troops led by Alastair, then the left wing will be defeated. Ai'er will take advantage of the situation to launch a full-scale attack and defeat the main force of the pirates from both sides.

Alternatively, the enemy could withdraw its reserve forces, or even directly transfer troops from the center or the right wing, to fill in the line and use human lives to delay Alastair's attack. Even if ten people could only buy a one-second breathing space, the left wing must be stabilized to prevent collapse.

But the changing front line and other weak spots also gave El the opportunity to launch an attack. Then, with the left wing barely holding on and the reserves already moved and morale crushed, El sent the Wrath Horn Army, Centaur Cavalry, Flying Monster Legion and others to push forward, and similarly, was able to defeat the enemy's other front lines.

However, this battle was obviously not going so smoothly. The enemy was of a high level and would not let Al reap the fruits of victory so easily.

Just that little bit.

The “little bit” that’s almost there.