Capítulo 28: Preparations Before The Big Clash
"It has been argued that it was the fall of Nadron after the Battle of Brunag which allowed the Chavarian Empire to be born."
"Shame how the empire treated those who fought so hard to create it."
"With suspicion, then for some ridicule, as they are swept up and slowly decay away in the murky world of imperial political strife.
"Though for me, it was a blessing in disguise, for it brought my successor.
"Railius Aurellion."
Ranier Lantier, Great General in the kingdom of Nathia and known as the King's Sword.
….
"I request to speak to Wurgoth! I have something important to tell him!"
Gerindin shouted, a cunning smile plastered on his face as he approached the allied army.
"I take it the information I gave last night was good?"
Gerindin asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, it was. Thank you for that. Why have you come now?"
Wurgoth asked with interest starting to trust this man more but still could not shake off a feeling of uneasiness when dealing with him.
"I am sure intelligent people like yourselves know that General Lucius plans to attack you as you set up camp."
Gerindin said matter of factly.
"Yes, we gathered that much; he's not the type of person to miss such a good opportunity."
Wurgoth replied, his face showing a look of annoyance, wanting to cut through this small talk and get straight to the point.
"My young master has asked me to relay you a message. He is most disappointed that you could not dispose of our good general and failed to kill him even with our help."
The cunning servant said, embellishing the disappointment of his master.
"Who are you to be disappointed with us? That army had 2 masters in it! Two! Each has great skill and are obviously not new masters, as I imagine they have been master-level fighters for a few years now! The younger one will almost definitely be able to reach the grandmaster level! Also, how were we to know that Lucius' leadership would lead to that captain of the royal knights breaking through to the master level as well!"
Wurgoth said firmly, rage-laced words coming from his mouth.
"The person you are working with and one who can give you an advantage in the battles to come anyway, my young master is worried about the capability of the leadership of this army and so has created a test for you which, if passed, will give you an advantage in the fight to come and will give my young master confidence in your intelligence."
The cunning man said, not seeming as weak as before, surprising Wurgoth, who thought that fear of him would allow him to control the conversation.
"What's the test?"
The disgruntled orc general asked.
Decipher the meaning behind this poem, and you will find out.
"A bright red flaming spear to the left."
"In the centre, stout men fight abreast."
"Protecting their general from distress."
"The reserves, a man leads with hands most deft."
"In a tent, a noble seen as a pest must rest."
"A stubborn old man seeks only to protect."
"Finding the weakness is your quest."
Gerindin said, slowly cupping his fists respectfully to Wurgoth before turning to leave, not waiting for the reaction from the orcish general.
"My young master will look forward to a positive outcome, farewell General."
Geridin commented cunningly as he left, confident that he would be allowed to leave as the allied army would not want to lose any advantages that his young master could give them in the future.
After the cunning servant left, Wurgoth immediately called out to the two muscled orcs guarding the outside of his tent.
"Send a message to general Bardornus! We need to discuss our strategy going forward!"
….
Chavarian main camp.
Men and horses were rushing around the camp as soldiers grabbed weapons and ate what may be their last meal before entering the flames of war.
Just as Lucius was about to set out with the main Chavarian army, a scout rushed into the camp.
"I have an urgent report to give to the general!"
The scout shouted, swiftly riding into the Chavarian mini hill fort, which had become their main camp, his laboured breathing a sign of the exhaustion suffered while gathering the information.
Jumping up to his saddled horse Lucius called out to the knights around him to bring the scout to him. Quickly a Chavarian knight 10-man team set out and brought the scout to Lucius cautiously, as many generals in the past had been assassinated thinking that one of his men had an urgent report for him when instead, all they had was a dagger for the general's heart. Lucius is even known for using such tactics, so of course, he would guard against them.
"Give your report, soldier!"
Lucius said in an authoritative voice, looking at the slightly shaking young scout who nervously saluted him respectfully.
"Calm down! I don't bite. Well, except for arrogant nobles who don't know their place, so take a deep breath and give your report. I don't beat people for giving me reports I don't like."
Seeing the nervous young man in front of him, Lucius decided to speak in a kinder, more encouraging voice, as it was not every day that a regular soldier got to meet the person with control of all life and death within the camp.
"Yes, general! The allied army has split into two parts, the smaller part numbering approximately 10,000 men, seemed to be accompanied by a large wagon train while the main army is heading here."
The young scout said, mustering up his courage as his voice which started off shaky, became firm by the time he finished his sentence.
"Do we know the exact composition of those 10,000 men?"
Lucius asked, wanting to know if it would be worth attacking the supply convoy of the army.
"No, general, we could not get close enough to confirm the troop composition."
"What about their armour? What did it look like, well crafted or crude?
"Well crafted, sir. It seemed to be similar to our own arms and armour."
'That would be Plurians, then. They are the only ones equipped in a similar fashion to us.'
Lucius thought to himself before asking the final, most important question.
"Were any of them mounted?"
"No general, none of them were mounted."
'That would be the infantry. It appears we will not be able to raid their supplies. Those Plurian infantry are the best defence against our cavalry, but it does mean that they are down 10,000 men, and with them, those damnable crossbows.'
"Set up the army in the agreed-upon defensive formation just in front of the camp!"
Lucius shouted, mounting his horse as he rode to the outer fortifications, which were on the incline of the hill, and put himself in a position where he could observe the entire battlefield from a birds-eye view.
While riding towards his position, a newly formed 200-man knight guard led by the Knight Captain clustered around him to protect him from anyone wanting to come for his head when Leon and Lyndon approached Lucius.
The army began to get into their positions, running like a wave across the hill was 5,000 Chavarian infantry with 5000 archers led by Lyndon just behind them, higher on the hill, on stout wooden fortifications, stood 5000 Chavarian crossbowmen and the remaining 5,000 heavy infantry being held in these men were led by Archtorius. These men, while further behind and holding the entrance to the camp, were still in range of the enemy when they crashed with the front line allowing them to use their increased elevation to deal large amounts of damage. The longer range of their crossbows allowing them to shoot enemies who were just in front of the infantry holding the hill.
On the left side of the Chavarian formation, ready to charge down the hill, were the Chavarian knights and horse archers led by Leon. Sorrell was with Archtorius standing by his side, more of a fighter than a strategist and stubborn from seeing his young master injured decided that he would stay with him especially considering that Archtorius was just in front of Lucius, who the allied army was desperate to kill.
It surprised people that Lucius seemed to have no issue with this and seemed too confident in his abilities and plan.
"General, please reconsider the army's formation!"
They both loudly requested, bowing respectfully towards Lucius.
"Was Lindoruses example not enough for you? Do you want to be beaten? The orders stand! Now get your asses into formation!"
Lucius roared, oddly angry with being questioned, as usually, he was more than happy to share his strategy with others.
"General, I would gladly get beaten as long as we change the formation! Please, general, I implore you to put Archtorius on the right the way it is now will lead to the enemy taking advantage of where our strongest fighters and officers are. If the enemy cavalry charged into us from the right side, it would cause chaos within our ranks. We are already outnumbered in this battle! We cannot afford such a weakness!"
Lyndon shouted, kneeling before Lucius, his wide green eyes looking desperately at Lucius.
"The formation will not change, but you can be slightly to the right, so if anything unexpected happens, you can respond quickly. How about that?"
"Why don't we put some cavalry on the right? It would help to protect our flank!"
"And who would lead them?"
Lucius asked calmly.
At that, Lyndon was stumped for a second before answering.
"What about the Knight Captain or Sorell General."
"While they are skilled combatants, they are not like you or me, who have a large amount of experience commanding troops in war or come from a noble background. Primarily they are fighters, and Sorell will not take my orders anyway."
"The captain is needed to protect me as I am no match in a direct confrontation with many of our enemies. Instead, I use my mind to defeat my enemies, putting men on the right flank would only make them a target for Bardornus to eat up. I hope you didn't forget how that man nearly took my life, and his terrifying abilities allowed him to punish me for using a diamond formation to break through his lines last night."
"Archtorius is talented at scouting, and with the bow, while he has Sorell to protect him, he is not an expert in using cavalry, unlike Leon and would not have the numbers to allow him to fight both Bardornus and his talented vice general if they decided to work together. One would hold off Sorrell while the other breaks through the cavalry to take Archtorius' head. You have fought him yourself, Leon, and you are the best fighter in the army currently, and even you took a good amount of time to begin to get the upper hand."
"Also, with his excellent archery, Archtorius is far more deadly, sniping enemies from a high position. I would be a fool to use him to lead cavalry instead of using him to snipe enemy officers and invite confusion within the enemy ranks."
"I hope you haven't forgotten our knights who became porcupines last night, javelins protruding from their pierced flesh as their unburied corpses rot on the steppe."
"Anyway, this is all part of the plan. I will need you, Lyndon, to endure this pressure from the enemy. Do you have confidence you can resist the enemy?"
Lucius finished his little lecture raising his voice when saying the last sentence, which was told with passion motivating the kneeling vice general.
"Yes, general, I will do my best to hold out and keep our centre together!"
The vice general said Lucius' passionate words, lighting a fire in his heart."
"Anyway, if the enemy decides to do that, we can also use our cavalry to flank them, and we have far more raw pushing power as our heavy cavalry outnumber theirs at least 2 to 1, so do not concern yourself too much with a cavalry charge to our right. Only a fool would allow our heavy cavalry to run amok amongst their men."
"General, doesn't this leave our right side vulnerable? Could we not also split our cavalry and have the enemy focus on fighting one while the other flanks their main force?"
"It does, but we don't have much choice. If we split our cavalry, Bardornus will destroy the one not commanded by Leon, and the threat of our cavalry running amok should keep them in check."
Also, we may not be able to break through their lines in the time it takes Bardornus to finish off or rout the cavalry that we would place on the left, and if we can't deal with the orcish pikemen or spear-armed heavy infantry in time, then not only would we have lost half our cavalry but now the other half would be occupied while the orcs bring their superior numbers to bear against us. Right now, we have the advantage of a defensive position and a more supplied army, so…."
"Why would I risk that position for a decisive battle when one may not be necessary? Do you think I'm stupid or one of those Generals driven by glory? As long as we win, I am content!"
"We just need to hold out and wait for them to starve. Also, make sure to send our extra supplies back. No point giving them a chance at free food, especially after all the effort I put in to make the enemy barren of them."
Lucius said, dismounting and lifting Lyndon up from his knees before remounting his horse and bidding farewell to the two vice generals who went to take up their positions as two horns blasted through the flat steppe below the one crude one more refined as a mass of green-skinned iron clan tall muscled figures marched forward a cloud of smoke being created from their chaotic steps as they walked like a rabble towards the neatly formed Chavarians on the hill.
Unlike before, there was no parley, no offer of surrender, as the Allied army got closer. All that Lucius could see was the allied army setting up their men in a way that he expected the Plurain cavalry and wolf riders were set up to fight the Chavarian cavalry. The allied army unwilling to allow the Chavarian cavalry to run amok amongst their army as expected. Both sides understood the other, neither willing to back down, the steppe becoming deathly quiet as the allied army came to stop only the breathing of men packed tightly together in formations of battle could be heard as a roar came from Wurgoth.
"CHARGE! avenge our brothers who have died at the hands of these cowardly Chavarians!"
[Skill Bloodlust activated]
[Attack of all orcs increased by 20%, but their defence is reduced by 10%]
[Some orcs may become unresponsive to orders, especially orders to retreat]
Three notifications appeared in the top right-hand corner of Wurgoth, the orcish player's screen, as some blood-eyed, more disciplined orcs stayed by his side while he called out to one of the large orcs guarding him.
"Get me, Naguk! We need him to bat a few more home runs for us!"
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
LaziestDragon
LaziestDragon Here we are back again after dealing with a bunch of personal issues though the good news is that in a few months, I will be able to spend much more time on this novel in a more full-time capacity I just need to get there.
By the end of July, updates should be becoming more consistent again sorry for the unstable updates as I work on myself and sorting my life out this is currently still a passion project that I can only work on in my spare time.
hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you for your support especially the support of you long-time readers who have had to deal with this lazy author!
The next chapter is scheduled for next weekend though we all know how good I am at keeping to schedules. But we should have at least another chapter coming either at the weekend or very soon after.
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https://discord.gg/kzT7hrnFYp
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