Warhammer

Upon learning that the fourth brother was seriously injured, Al could not hide his grief, and he poured all his anger on the enemy in front of him. He rode on the back of the Griffin Queen, and found the right opportunity to use his own strength to force open a tiny crack under the power suppression of the dwarf Valaya's guardian rune, summoning the disordered primordial magic wind, turning it into the power of the pious gate and blowing it towards the enemy in front of him.

The power of the metal wind hardens the fur, wings, and bodies of the greenskins' wyverns, scorpion-tailed lions, and the huge number of vampire bats driven by the undead. This will certainly enhance their defense, but it is indeed fatal to flying units.

They could no longer flap their wings to maintain their balance, and their flesh, blood, and joints began to transform into metal under the influence of the Wind of Piety.

As a result, the greenskins' air force suffered a severe blow. They fell from the sky and turned into a mass of half blurred flesh and blood, and half hard fragments. Ai'er ordered the dwarf airship troops to immediately fill the cleared airspace, launch fire attacks on the greenskins inside the fortress to suppress the enemy, and then returned to the military camp without stopping.

The sun was about to set, and today's battle could no longer achieve further results.

There are too many greenskins. It's okay on the outside because they have the support of the dwarves' firepower. Under the cover of artillery fire, they can use their mass advantage to quickly open a gap and tear apart the opponent's defense. But when the battle line reaches the inner ring of Black Rock Fort, near the underground passage of the central river of the fortress, the collapsed ruins and uneven terrain hinder the vision of long-range firepower, making it impossible for the dwarves to provide projectile fire support for the front line. The greenskins can rely on their endless numbers to withstand the Alliance's offensive.

Being in a fortress, with narrow terrain and extremely limited width of the battlefield, it is impossible to quickly penetrate and divide the enemy like in a field battle, to defeat the enemy's troops, undermine the enemy's morale and ultimately form a chain reaction to cause their total collapse.

As Al hurried towards the place where Hera was being healed, he was thinking about the next development of the battle.

Things cannot be allowed to develop in a direction he does not want to see.

If they fought a bloody battle with the greenskins in Black Rock Castle through this street fighting meat grinder mode, although victory would most likely belong to the Alliance and the dwarves, the casualties would definitely not be acceptable to Aiur.

Chapter 185: All men are mortal.

This is already the most difficult part of the siege of Black Rock Castle, and the third day of the struggle within the fortress has begun.

There are too many greenskins, as if they are constantly emerging from the ground. Fortunately, the dwarven runes have bound the magical winds around Black Rock Castle. This has certainly weakened the Alliance's magical advantage, but it has also prevented the Undead mages who are mingling with the greenskins from casting evil death spells on a large scale. Although there are too many dead creatures on the battlefield, the pervasive breath of the dead means that their power will not be completely suppressed like the Alliance's mages, and the resurrected undead will only act at night.

Otherwise, their attack during the day would have to face the double resistance of the ferocious greenskins and the undead army, making it even more difficult to advance.

The battle for control of the fortress was fought almost on a piece of land at a time. Every step forward and every position captured required the killing or repelling of thousands of enemies before it could be successfully brought under the control of the coalition forces.

Because of the terrain of Black Rock Castle, the support provided by the dwarven artillery can only reach the periphery. Further inside, there are ruins and buildings blocking the firing range. If they want to clear them all, not only will they waste ammunition, but the new ruins created will also give the greenskins room to fight street battles.

In addition, when entering the street fighting stage, the infantry lines of both sides were intertwined, and continuing to use long-range attacks would easily cause accidental injuries. Therefore, on the second day of the battle, after most of the outer positions had fallen into the hands of the coalition forces, the dwarfs' artillery, catapults, crossbows and other long-range equipment temporarily stopped attacking.

But if the next war had to rely on mincing meat to forge a path to victory, the price to pay would be too high. Aiel only brought 30,000 people on the eastern expedition, and the subsequent reinforcements were all left at home to prevent Mao Liang from going south. The troops under his command were indeed elite, and if they fought hard, they could rush to the enemy leader, the so-called "big warlord" WaBOSS, and kill him, thereby crushing the morale of the greenskins, but it was too much of a loss.

Magic is no longer effective, so we still have to let the dwarf's war machine continue to play a role...

While thinking about many questions about the war, Al opened the curtain and entered the tent set up by Hera.

His eyes turned red at the first sight, which was an almost unfamiliar feeling for Al, who had not felt the emotion of "sadness" for a long time.

The seriously injured wolf girl was still in a coma. Because of multiple injuries on her back, she couldn't even lie directly on the bed. She had to prop up the bed frame and use bandages and gauze to support the injured areas to avoid compression.

Almost two-thirds of her body had been bandaged, treated for wounds, and medicated to varying degrees, and the air was filled with a strong smell of medicine mixed with blood.

One can imagine how badly the body was injured.

In the past, when Hera followed El to fight all over the world, the wolf girl was injured many times. Although she had the best fighting ability among all the heirs and the exquisite armor made for her by El, and was surrounded by loyal and brave wolves to protect her, as a warrior whose main duty was to break through the formation and pursue the enemy, the wolf girl was inevitably injured in frequent battles.

But this is the first time that such a serious injury has occurred, which has brought someone to the brink of death.

El stood by the bed and looked at his wolf daughter, fierce, cute and naive... the two external expressions of battle and peacetime appeared back and forth on that face which was a little pale due to excessive blood loss, and finally merged into the present, becoming the current appearance that made El feel his heart palpitating and his teeth gritting with bitterness at just one look.

If all those blood-donating descendants who shouted "Reverend Father Ai'er", killed for him, and died for him calmly were regarded as Ai'er's children, then he was definitely not a very responsible "father".

His descendants are numerous and huge, but Al's emotions are extremely limited. Apart from the "love" and "blessings" to all his descendants on a macro level, only a very small number of people have the opportunity to actually share this "love" and "blessings" to individuals.

And most of them are the earliest original offspring.

And only the most outstanding and excellent ones among them can truly obtain the "father's love" given by "Respected Father Al", the noble, young human god.

The wolf girl Hera is undoubtedly one of them, and she is one of the heirs who has received the most emotional trust from El.

A brave son, a well-behaved daughter, a simple-minded pet...all these senses are intertwined together to eventually form an emotion called "fatherly love".

El likes Hera very much, the kind of father and son relationship he has.

Since he was born in the cave, he has never experienced the situation of someone close to him being on the verge of death since he could remember the medieval world. Shaman Thrall entrusted the tribe to him, but they had only known each other for a short time and there was no emotional connection between them.

This was the first time Hera was seriously injured.

Al looked at the familiar face that once showed various looks, such as perverse, fierce, naive...but now only had broken beauty and dying grief.

For the first time, he almost lost the daughter of someone who could be said to be his "closest relative".

This suddenly reminded him of the two funerals he had held in the Pina Forest:

The first one is a collective dedication to the warriors who died fighting the greenskins, and the second one is for the first of his descendants, who died due to weakness due to "old age".

Silence, sorrow, the passing of life...

Although the original offspring had no lifespan defects, Al moved lightly, and touched the wolf girl's face with his virtual touch, and suddenly realized:

The wars he had experienced in the past actually seemed a little immature compared to the truly brutal fights.

When the real test comes, bloodshed, death, failure... the inevitable darkness will erode the world, and the people he loves, the people he favors, and all the things he seeks will find it difficult to escape the future dark trial for the entire world.

He once had a nightmare that Alina died in battle. On the eve of the final battle between the Northern Expedition and the Greenskins, Al could hardly imagine what would happen if such a thing really happened one day and how much of a blow it would be to him.

Alina will die, Elune, Marlena...Misha, Kael'thas, Barbatos, Hera...

It would be unbearable pain for Al to have any of these people harmed.

He stood in front of his daughter's window, staring at the familiar face, his heartbeat gradually accelerating.

A bold idea, an idea that may have been brewing in his brain for a long time, but was suppressed by his subconscious for various reasons and had no chance to come out, suddenly surfaced in his mind.

All men are mortal;

As a mortal being, it is impossible to escape pain!

But if...

186: Bayonet on the Cannon

After confirming Hera's condition, Al stayed in the house for a while, and soon went to the command center to discuss the next day's battle strategy with the High King and others.

He had already drawn a lot for his loving mother. After confirming that the fourth child would not die due to a sudden worsening of injuries, he had to focus his main energy on the current war.

Actually, Ai'er wanted to directly ask the Four Mothers (Mother of Kindness or Mother of Blood) to bless and heal Hera to ensure that everything would be safe. However, the Valaya Guardian Rune Array used by the dwarves to prevent chaos and the undead from disrupting the situation happened to actually prevent "chaos".

But this Chaos is an ally of the Dwarves...

The suppression of the dwarven runes invisibly weakened their own combat effectiveness. The wisent spellcasters could no longer guide the magic wind and link up their spells as before. It was also difficult for Ai'er to communicate directly with the chaos realm. Not only was the magic wind suppressed, but more importantly, if he wanted to get "blessings" from the four mothers to deal with the greenskins in a big way, there would inevitably be corruption, which would inevitably be noticed by the dwarves and would inevitably cause a rift between the allies.

Therefore, in Black Rock Castle, Ai'er was temporarily unable to use power beyond his current status. He could not even exchange the power of forbidden spells for the Omniscient One by paying a price. Moreover, the influence and protection of the Four Mothers on his army were still fine, but it would be troublesome to make additional interference under the restriction of runes. For example, a certain Wrathhorn warrior performed particularly well, but was originally seriously injured or was about to be seriously injured or even died.

The Blood Mother who has been watching the mortal believers could directly reach out and grab some from other places to restore the opponent's physical injuries, or slightly deflect the attack, but it is very difficult to do so now, which is equivalent to high latency and expensive traffic.

Al himself is a mobile node, so it might be better if he were by my side.

It wasn't particularly difficult to bless and heal Hera, who had El as a signal station, and was considered a lay follower of the Four Mothers (but Hera rarely prayed or sacrificed). However, considering that Hera would inevitably have to go to the battlefield again after being healed so suddenly, and the various consequences that might cause the dwarf runes to sense the corrosion and issue an alarm, after confirming that Hera's life was not in danger, El simply chose to let the fourth one withdraw from this battle.

If it happened again, if Kael'thas was a little slower, the fourth daughter would have been buried in the crowd.

He had already made up his mind not to let Kael'thas and Barbatos lead their troops to attack outside his perception range.

Six legions, seven cubs, Al would be heartbroken if any of them was lost.

At least, before he realizes that idea, it is better not to take this risk...

The next day was also the fourth day when the battle for territory within Black Rock Fortress officially began.

The dwarf war machines roared as usual and began to fire at those parts of the fortress that were not controlled by the coalition forces.

The greenskins of Black Rock Castle, who had already "adapted" to the enemy's tactics, screamed and huddled together, hiding in tunnels and caves dug in advance, or staying in places covered by ruins and buildings.

Although it is impossible to completely avoid being hit on the head by shells or stones, it is much better than being hit unilaterally and unavoidably in a field battle.

Of course, there are also some greenskins who are not afraid of death. When they hear the sound of enemy attack, they immediately rush outside screaming, wanting to fight the enemy. They don’t even need to waste ammunition and arrows. The well-trained Alliance soldiers can easily strangle these greenskins in the defensive battle.

This is also a manifestation of the fact that the greenskin gang is too loose and the warlords do not have sufficient control.

The greenskin warlord whose name Ai'er still doesn't know, and the goblins behind him, simply cannot control such a large number of greenskin warbands without a legendary warlord who is powerful enough, waaaaagh enough, famous enough, able to fight, and able to control the situation.

Some attack when they should defend, some defend when they should attack, some run away when they find it boring, some start fights when they find it boring... there are simply too many of them.

There was even a greenskin general in Black Rock who led his men to defend a place. As a result, every day they were either hit or shot into hedgehogs when they rushed forward. They didn't feel Waaaagh at all. After being depressed, suddenly a "flash of inspiration" appeared, and my thinking power exploded. I took my subordinates to find the dwarves, to follow the dwarves to find the weird thing that "Waaaaagh" happened.

The thinking process of this green-skinned warrior who "surrendered to the enemy" was very simple:

It's boring to fight with the short guys, and I'll be punished if I fight with other greenskins... I might as well fight with the short guys.

So they came running over with more than a thousand boys, shouting that they wanted to join the dwarves in fighting the greenskins of Black Rock Hold, which surprised the dwarves. Although they did not trust them, they tentatively let the other side be the vanguard and fight in the front row to seize a position. As a result, the greenskins did not ask for anything, and did not even consider whether the dwarves had sent troops to "support" them behind. After getting a response, they excitedly led the rebellious boys to rush towards their own people and had a good time chopping them.

Something like this might only happen in special circumstances like Black Rock Castle. It reminded Al of the ancient Tyrells who had hired greenskins to attack another greenskin warband, setting a precedent for greenskin mercenaries.

That is, the goblins eliminated many opponents for the warlord through assassination and bragging, and at the same time exaggerated the deeds, making many greenskins subconsciously think that the boss was very Waaaagh. Whoever failed in the challenge today and tomorrow will fail in the challenge, and the day after tomorrow he will eat a Squig in one bite, and he used false prestige to barely unify the surrounding greenskins. Otherwise, in the absence of any results, the greenskins of Black Rock Castle would have dispersed long ago.

......

Although the greenskins have become "accustomed" to the dwarves' attack methods and have discovered some countermeasures driven by instinct, these races that are scolded as "brainless" by the dwarves are not without reason. After getting used to the sound of artillery, they will subconsciously make some countermeasures, but they do not think about anything more deeply.

For example, the sound today sounds very sparse, and the density is completely different from the previous few days.

The greenskins gathered together as usual, in places that had not been attacked by the dwarves or had been "visited" by the dwarves. This was the best thing they could do before the enemy approached and they would not rush out.

There is no point in charging at this time. You won't be able to swing your sword if it's gone. This is what the boss has always told them, so they have to wait until they can see the enemy before rushing out. Only then can they Waaaagh.

When the enemy's bugle call sounded and the sound of footsteps approached the area controlled by the greenskins within the central ring of the city, the situation was the same as the previous two or three days.

A large number of greenskins couldn't wait to rush out from various places where they were idle, and rushed forward frantically like a school of piranhas smelling blood.

But this time, what they faced first was not the enemy's armor, shields, and swords, but the black gun barrels and the allied soldiers who were ready to take up their positions and prepare for defense.

Previously, in order to avoid accidental injuries and interference with vision, the support that the dwarves could provide after entering the inner city was extremely limited.

However, their guardian runes limited the Alliance's ability to cast spells. Faced with the huge number of greenskins and the crowded battle lines, they lacked the ability to kill the enemies efficiently. After all, no matter how ferocious the Wrathhorns were, they were not the tireless Chosen Ones or champion warriors.

With the number of greenskins, it's really like a sea of ​​people rushing towards your face. If you make the slightest mistake, you'll be in danger of being swallowed and smashed.

So after careful consideration, the coalition decided:

Bayonet the cannon!

Pull the artillery directly into the city and onto the streets!

Get in the enemy's face and shoot!

187: Artillery Street Fighting

As the outer positions and urban areas in the west basically fell into the control of the coalition forces, the remaining large number of greenskins crowded into the inner ring area of ​​Black Rock Castle and the underground passages that they continued to expand based on the remains of the dwarves.

This makes Black Rock Castle almost one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

They relied on ruins and buildings as positions to fight against the coalition forces.

Under such a dense line of battle, conventional close combat means have lost their most useful mode of attack. The interspersed encirclement and greenskin reserve forces are almost endless. And "thanks to" the powerful combat power of the Alliance soldiers, the greenskins who come into contact with them are often killed before their morale collapses, or they are pushed forward by the human wall behind them, leaving no room for retreat.

So when Ai'er realized that the fierce attack launched by his troops had, to some extent, expanded the width of the battlefield for the greenskins, the physical strength of the soldiers was limited after all, but the number of greenskins seemed endless. They could always fight on the battlefield with "new" morale and energy, and the soldiers' weapons would eventually become dull and rolled.

After that, he ordered the army to advance in another way, cooperating with the dwarf troops on the front line with cannons.

Shield wall and spear formation.

The warriors of all races in the Alliance are aggressive and fierce when attacking, and their attempts to defend a place may be slightly inferior to the dwarfs' iron box, but they are definitely not something that the greenskins can easily shake.

During the fourth day's siege, the Alliance army fought fiercely and the greenskins felt very "Waaaagh". In contrast to its attitude in the previous few days, it adopted a step-by-step and steady offensive method.

In the front, the Alliance army formed a shield formation and pressed forward, while in the rear, the dwarf engineering team and auxiliary soldiers used the construction waste materials that were now everywhere in the fortress as raw materials to build a platform to observe the terrain and place equipment.

Because the terrain inside the city is relatively inconvenient for artillery fire, every shell must be precisely measured by the dwarf engineers to ensure that it can be effective without accidentally injuring advancing friendly forces.

You have to know that even in a total peace game, artillery shells will do damage to both friend and foe alike when fired.

A misfired artillery round could also pose a huge threat to the densely packed coalition soldiers.

......

"Waaaaagh!!!"

When the coalition forces began to attack and the enemy appeared in their field of vision, the greenskins who had been hiding and waiting for a long time could not wait to rush up with roars.

Their wisdom can only be used to this extent without unified command. They know to avoid enemy shells and not rush out when they can't see the enemy. That's all.

Greenskins with unified command and an authoritative warlord as the "hub" are not the same as greenskins that are large but loose.

The former may be called: Legion;

The latter can only be called a "war gang";

However, the coalition forces, which had adjusted their attack methods, moved forward steadily in a shield formation. Although they were the attacking side, once the savage greenskins were stimulated by the battle and aroused their bloodiness, they would rush forward recklessly before their morale collapsed. As a result, the greenskins, who were originally on the defensive, became the "mobile position" that fiercely attacked the coalition forces' defense on multiple fronts.