Not long ago, the garrison of Thor Fortress released a task called "Intelligence Collection" in the Mercenary Guild, which became a topic of discussion among the mercenaries. The task of "Intelligence Collection" is an open task, and it does not specify what is required. This kind of information, there is no detailed information about what kind of information and how much remuneration is paid, but it is roughly said to collect all the information north of the Thunder God Fortress. As long as it is the first to provide it and finally verifies it, the information can be paid according to the importance of the information. Pay gold coins,
At the beginning, the mercenaries didn't pay attention to it at all, because it was difficult to define specific rewards for such open-ended tasks. If the employer was stingy, even if the mercenaries who completed the task risked their lives, what would they really gain? He could also send the information with just one copper coin without breaking any rules.
Many times, a turning point in a matter is often just due to an accident. The open-ended task of "intelligence collection" went from no one paying attention to all personnel being mobilized. It also originated from an unlucky mercenary. This unlucky mercenary was in a bar. He drank and gambled with other people. He was really unlucky. He quickly lost all his money and owed a foreign debt. With no other choice, this guy had no choice but to go to the mercenary guild, hoping to complete a mission. , two tasks, get some reward to pay off the debt,
It was the second day after the "Intelligence Collection" task was released. This unlucky mercenary only had one person, and it was basically impossible to complete other tasks that required a large number of manpower issued by the Thunder God Fortress garrison, such as transporting supplies, etc., so he hugged Wanting to try his luck, he accepted this open-ended mission with almost no restrictions. After devouring the cheapest breakfast of potato stew and diced meat he had borrowed on credit, the mercenary mustered up the courage to pass The gondola on the wall of Thor Fortress enters the Beitalon Prairie,
The gates on the walls of Thor Fortress are generally not opened until critical moments. If someone wants to enter the Beitalon Prairie, they will usually set up a hanging basket with pulleys on the city wall, twist the rope with a winch, and sit on it. The people in the hanging baskets were placed under the city wall.
Although this mercenary was unlucky, his professional ethics were quite good. He spent most of the day carefully recording the terrain conditions within about three kilometers north of the Thunder God Fortress, and then returned to the Thunder God Fortress in the evening. , handed these things to the Mercenary Guild, and then the Mercenary Guild handed them over to the garrison of Thor Fortress,
One day later, the mercenary was rewarded: five hundred shining gold coins. This guy, who didn’t know whether he was unlucky or lucky, used this large sum of money to pay off his gambling debt, and even invited him to join the team in a ostentatious manner. The companion who came was drinking. After he was drunk, he told the story of how he got rich.
This incident spread from ten to ten, and it spread in Camp 2 of Thunder God Fortress that night. Of course, this was indispensable with the help of some people. When the sun rose the next day, more than a hundred mercenaries They flocked to the mercenary guild and took on this open mission together, and then used the hanging baskets on the city wall in batches to enter the North Talon Prairie.
In fact, the topographic map drawn by the first mercenary who received the reward was not even worth a copper coin. Even if General Keenst closed his eyes, he could easily draw a topographic map about thirty kilometers north of the Thunder God Fortress. , that is the result of the continuous efforts of the scouts stationed in Thor Fortress in the past ten years. Unfortunately, humans did not pay much attention to the dynamics of the orcs in the past, and almost did not focus on this aspect. But now the orcs have strengthened the blockade, so General Keenst always has to Without detailed information about forty kilometers north of Thor Fortress, that is where the real focus of this "intelligence gathering" mission lies, and the reward that mercenary received was nothing more than what General Kyenst used to stimulate other mercenaries. bait,
In the face of generous rewards, the mercenaries who went north sent back all kinds of intelligence. General Keenst didn't care whether the intelligence was useful or not. He didn't even read it and threw them all in the fireplace, but every one of them provided some valuable information. The mercenaries who provide intelligence received a certain amount of remuneration. The quartermaster directly paid the reward according to the thickness of the intelligence. Those who were thicker were given more, about a hundred gold coins, or as little as a dozen gold coins.
Stimulated by money, the mercenaries walked further and further, and finally reached 30 kilometers north of the Thunder God Fortress, where was the first blockade laid by the orcs. On a sunny afternoon, a famous man A dozen mercenaries called the "Power" mercenary group inevitably encountered a squadron of wolf cavalry patrolling by orcs.
The bloody battle began,
In this kind of head-on confrontation, the mercenaries on foot could not possibly be the opponent of the well-trained orc wolf cavalry. What's more, these more than ten mercenaries faced an enemy that was ten times more than their own. The battle soon became It was a one-sided massacre. This group of mercenaries killed seven or eight enemies, and finally the entire army was wiped out.
The war soon spread, and more mercenaries followed in the footsteps of the Power Mercenary Group. The human mercenaries suffered heavy losses, and the intelligence sent back in those days also dropped by 80%.
But mercenaries also have their own countermeasures. Since they can't fight head-on, they can give full play to the characteristics of their own small team, break them into parts, avoid the wolf cavalry patrolling the orcs, and go deeper than 30 meters north of the Thunder God Fortress. km area,
So after a few days of silence, General Kyenst was once again filled with all kinds of intelligence. These contents corroborated with the intelligence General Kyenst had obtained before, and immediately filled in many gaps that had appeared in the previous intelligence collection work. blank,
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Soon, the orcs became aware of the practices of the human mercenaries. They adopted more stringent measures and increased the intensity of inspections. They also deliberately set up many traps to ambush and kill human secrets. Infiltrated mercenaries,
Infiltration and reverse osmosis, humans and orcs, Beast Blood Castle and Thunder God Fortress, thrilling battles are staged every day. In this performance, the human mercenaries may have won. They cleverly deceived the orc scouts, Sneaked into the opponent's territory, but in the next battle, it is likely that more wolf cavalry from the orcs will surround these mercenaries who have successfully infiltrated into a certain range, and then slowly compress their activity space, and finally annihilate them in one fell swoop.
The biggest disadvantage for mercenaries is that it is difficult to conceal their whereabouts in the vast prairie. Humans and orcs are two completely different races. They have nothing in common in appearance or language. Two hundred years ago, The war has caused the two sides to be on absolute opposite sides. It is impossible to get close to the opponent. Moreover, it is only spring. The grassland is full of life but the water grass is growing. There is no dense grass for the mercenaries to hide their bodies. Once they are attacked by the enemy, I noticed that what followed closely behind were wolf cavalry ten times larger than myself.
On the vast grassland, mercenaries on foot have no way to compete with the wolf cavalry, which has excellent maneuverability and impact. Once they fall into the encirclement of the orcs, it means stepping into the arms of death. No matter how good the mercenary is, , no matter how tacit cooperation is, it can only prolong life for a few days and survive.
After three mercenary groups with more than 500 people announced that they had given up on their missions, the task of "gathering intelligence" once again left the mercenaries' sight and was shelved by the mercenary guild. General Keenster looked at the loss records in front of him with a wry smile. , in just seventeen days, human mercenaries lost nearly 300 people, but their footprints were never able to set foot within ten kilometers of the Beast Blood Castle, and they were unable to provide themselves with the dynamics of the main orc army.
General Kyenst couldn't help but feel lucky that he was able to defend the Thor Fortress. If his army had been on the grassland with no defense facilities, it would have been completely defeated. He would not be able to get the enemy's intelligence, and there would be no way to contain the opponent's Wolf Cavalry. The mobility of his own army is completely passive and being beaten.
The Thunder God Fortress is not without cavalry, but General Kyenst did not dare to use it easily.
The Thunder God Fortress has a total of 200,000 elite troops, of which there are only 10,000 cavalry, and they are all heavily armored knights who charge forward. It is impossible to use them to fight against the opponent's scout troops. If General Keenst really did that, , the happiest person is the commander of the orc army. Even if the five orc wolf cavalry are replaced by a human heavy knight, the orcs readily agree, but humans cannot withstand such a big loss, because once the Thunder God Fortress loses these 10,000 heavy By equipping cavalry, the orcs no longer have to worry about human raids and counterattacks. No matter whether they attack or retreat, they have no worries.
In addition to the 10,000 knights, the Thunder God Fortress also has 40,000 archers and 150,000 infantrymen. If General Keenst and these troops fight the orcs on the vast prairie, they will inevitably fall into a situation where they cannot advance, attack, retreat or defend. Passively beaten,
Since ancient times, on the prairie, cavalry can defeat ten against one by relying on their mobility. However, if infantry wants to gain the upper hand, it must rely on several times or even ten times its military strength to encroach on the opponent's possible supply locations and force the enemy and its own main force. A decisive battle, but if the orcs would rather give up the land than fight, the human army will end up eating the last food and retreat in despair. At that time, it will be the best opportunity for the orcs to fight back.
Therefore, General Genster has always admired the courage of Fernando I. On the premise that the mainland was full of waste, he actually spent all his efforts to build the Thunder God Fortress to prevent the orcs from circling the prairie and use this solid fortress to block the orcs. The march south forced the orcs to give up their advantage and fight the humans under the walls of the Thunder God Fortress.
Now, all General Kyenst has to do is hope that the reinforcements from the Imperial Capital can arrive earlier. He has already sent five letters asking for help. In the most recent letter, General Kyenst elaborated on the advantages of the Thor Fortress garrison. and disadvantages, hoping to get support from the Royal Knights of the Imperial Capital,
Unfortunately, there was no news after these letters were delivered to the imperial capital. This made General Kyenst anxious, but there was nothing he could do. After all, he didn't even know where the opponent's main army was stationed. It had been three months since he sent the emergency message. We haven’t seen any orc troops arrive at Thunder God Fortress yet. If reinforcements from the Imperial City do arrive, General Kyenst doesn’t know how to explain everything in front of them.
Perhaps the only thing that can be done now is to wait patiently. Whether it is reinforcements from the Imperial Capital or the orc army, what is supposed to come will always come.