For the ogre army who waged war numerous times with other tribes, this was a kind of sport for them. In this forty five thousand strong army, you wouldn't find even a single ogre who stopped their rush after seeing the one next to them fall down after getting injured.
On the contrary, the expression the black ogre army had on their face was that of pure joy and exhilaration. It was as if they did not know the meaning of pain or fear as they rushed even while bleeding from their bodies.
The three divisions led by the three Gir brothers paraded through the Blackfield and soon met with the wall that was erected with magic by the orcs.
Manning the wall and behind it, was the orc army ready to intercept those that passed through. Berigard and his army were manning the left side of the wall.
After the enemy closed the distance, the siege weapons were useless, if they the breached through the wall too, it would become a full frontal fight. That is why, they needed to stall the enemy for as long as they could, exhaust their stamina while they try to climb or break over the wall and kill a few if possible.
Berigard standing with his two commanders, Bellock and Belmarch on the wall, surveyed the situation all around.
"This won't do.." he suddenly muttered.
"My lord… what are you talking about" Bellock asked perplexed by the sudden remark of his general.
"Look around you and look at the approaching ogre army. One side is filled with the intent to battle while the other side is anxious and afraid of what is to come. Even without the need to fight, I can already tell that the orc tribe would fall if the morale of the entire army isn't raised. Our side looks like we have already given up, there is no hope in their eyes"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBerigard assessed. While it pained him to say all that, it was the hard truth.
"The orc king…" Belmarch started, he wanted to say that if the orc king arrives here, it would surely increase the morale of the orcs. However he was quickly shut down by the comment made by Bellock.
"He is not coming. Belmarch don't be an idiot and keep false hope, that traitor has already run away by now. In this crucial moment when the entire orc tribe's fate is involved, whatever that is keeping him busy shouldn't matter anymore. If he was coming, he would have already been here. The fact that he is not here is proof that he has deserted his tribe members".
The orc commander was much more composed when facing the ogre army. He believed his general was not wrong when trying to overthrow the rule of the orc king. In fact, if their actions had succeeded that day, they would have had a much better chance at survival if led by Berigard who he thought was appropriate to become the king. Also, the orc army wouldn't be this demoralised.
"There is nothing we can do about it other than give it our all. This day might very well be the last day of our orc tribe so I want all of you to give more than your hundred percent on the battlefield" Berigard gave them a few more words of encouragement before dismissing them.
They were to join the army that was behind the wall and command them when the enemy breaches through the wall. While he along with a few groups of orcs would remain on the wall dishing our skills and magic on their enemies for as long as they could.
On the other areas of the wall, the two orc generals also did the same. The black ogre army like a black tide, soon reached the thirty meters tall wall and just like the orcs had expected, tried to climb the wall with their beasts.
But how could the orcs just allow them to do so knowing that this was their last line of defence? All sorts of skills and magic came targeting the ogre army.
The ogre army on the other hand did not just stay still and received the attacks of the enemy. Now that their enemy was at a distance that they could see, they used their own skills and magic in return.
The beasts used as the mounts by the ogres, activated their [Wind Claws], [Electric Rush], [Fire Envelop] and other various elemental skills to destroy or climb up the wall. Thus a series of fierce battle started near the wall.
The orcs ready to defend their territories, fired one skill after another until they were tired or out of mana. They would take turns to rest and start firing again as soon as they recovered a little.
Berigard, Berirock and Belmond who were also standing on the wall, would support the areas that seemed like they would be breached at any moment. Especially Berigard, his magic had come in clutch many times when it seemed like somebody would leap over the wall or break through one side.
His newly risen advanced magic and tremor magic were both elements that were very good for crowd control. Even the ogres couldn't take on his attacks wilily-nilly.
The situation came to standstill for a while, the ogre army's march finally stopped at the wall with none being able to breach it. The orcs would have liked the situation to go on so like that; however, how could it be so easy to stop the ogre army?
The first wave of the three divisions of black army that was simultaneously attacking the left right and middle sides of the wall, was just the footsoldiers, the weakest force of their army. The stronger ones were only just arriving near the wall.
Instead of trying to climb the wall from the base, they used the ogres that were trying to do so as the foothold to climb up the wall. They jumped on top of the ogres that doggedly latched onto the wall, and soon made it to the top.
The others behind copied them and soon after, one by one the ogre army started breaching the top.
"Attack" the orcs immediately grouped up onto the ogres that made it to the wall and tried to push them back. But were barely able to push their mounts back.
Those ogres that fell down, were replaced by the ones behind them. A single orc mounted on his beast, was powerful enough to contend against more than two Diluvian High Orcs. So how could a small number of them stop the ogres when they were starting to climb the wall?
"Allow them to pass" the orcs on the wall were stunned when they heard these words. They turned around to look at who it was that gave such a ridiculous order only to find out that it was none other than general Berigard who had given that order.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Berigard have you .lost your mind?" Although the volume that Berigard spoke in, wasn't particularly loud, it was still heard by Berirock who was guarding the middle side of the wall.
The wall was their last line of defence, beyond it was the orc army and their camp. If the enemy passes through that easily, they would have a hard time ahead.
Berigard did not bother explaining his intentions to Berirock and simply ordered his subordinates to allow the ogre to pass through. The ogre taking this chance broke through and jumped at the other side of the wall.
It was not only ogre, quite a few were allowed to pass through. After more than ten of them got through, Berigard asked the orcs on the wall to stop any other incoming ogres and turned towards the orc army who stood ready behind to attack the ten ogres.
Getting the cue with just the look from their general, the two commanders immediately understood what their master intended. They quickly ordered the orcs and rallied the army who quickly encircled the ten ogres who were separated from their army.
Individually, the black ogres might be stronger than any orc. However, when pitted against this big of a number even they can be brought down.
In a full-on frontal fight, the ordinary orcs and the high orcs would be rendered to nothing but meat shields. The presence they had on the battlefield was negligible and they would have only one job and that was to charge towards their enemy and make them spend their stamina on you.
The same was the case even now; however, the presence of the ordinary orcs and high orcs increased due to the limited number of their enemy. They weren't just rendered to simple meat shields but were actually having an effect.
They could land blows and last a lot longer against the strong ogres. Although a few might have died, that was a loss that they were willing to accept given that their enemy was from the ogre tribe and far stronger than them.
With them depleting their enemy's strength, it was an easy task for the diluvian high orcs to do the rest and dispose of them.
After the first ten ogres and their mounts died at the hands of Berigard's army, he then ordered the orcs in the wall to allow another batch of ten or so ogres to pass through. Like that, they repeated the tactic for a while and defeated quite a few ogres.
Seeing Berigard's strategy work, the other orc generals adopted a similar tactic. For the orc tribe, when it comes to the number of warriors that they could deploy, they had an absolute advantage.
Thus this tactic which allowed them to switch their soldiers after each exchange not only prevented needless loss, but it also gave others time to recover while they slowly chipped away at the strength of the black ogre army.