Rise of the Horde - Chapter 339: Chapter 339:

General Trakaros followed after the guards that took the poor servant away. There was still a few hours left before the first light shines upon the expanse of the vast desert, tired and covered in blood, the old general went to wash himself and headed straight towards his new quarters as his previous quarters was taken by the duke.

When morning came, the duke’s favored commander went towards his master to hear his general direction for the war. He knew that securing victory over their foes was already possible with the amount of warriors that he could utilized even if the upstart army of the Darkhariss family enlisted the aid of the orcs. ‘If they bleed… They die.’ That was what was running inside the head of the old general but he had to admit that dealing with those warmongering creatures is troublesome.

*****

“What? Delay a full encounter and slowly withdraw towards the capital?” General Trakaros’ face was full of confusion after hearing the words of the duke on how the war should be fought. Winning against their foes was very possible with the current resources that they had in hand which is why he was confused on why would the duke is employing such a battle plan.

“Are we going to whittle down their numbers while we delay a full confrontation?” the commander asked as that was the most obvious plan that he can see if they will delay a full pitch battle against their foes while slowly retreating towards the capital of the kingdom.

The duke responded by shaking his head with an odd smile on his face which resulted in the general to be even more mystified by the plan that the duke had inside his head.

“What do you think would be the response of those in the capital if the war is at their doorsteps?” the duke threw a question at his commander while still maintaining the odd smile that was on his face.

“Well… The nobles who are close by would be force to mobilize their forces and the king would have to respond to the danger by sending in the Royal Army along with his most abled and trusted people to repel the threat.” General Trakaros answered after giving it some careful thought. He didn’t know what the purpose of the duke’s plan was but he can’t see anything good about it. If the war reaches the capital of the kingdom, the king would lose trust in the capability of the duke and might just stripped him of his noble title right there and then because of it which would do them no good.

“But the king might take back all the power and privileges that he had bestowed upon you if the war gets within the boundaries of the capital. We know how he can easily make rash decisions and I doubt if the opposition within the kingdom wouldn’t jump at the opportunity of kicking you out of the power circle of the kingdom.” The experienced general was worried about the consequences of the duke’s plan since he had been subjected to the cruelty of power struggles among the nobility and people of great influence within the kingdom in his younger years. The credit for his successes were stolen way from him and when thing go south, he would be the one who will take the blame for it.

“What you said is most likely going to happen. The king can be easily read like an open book… But that is why I want you to delay a full engagement against our foes as we pull back towards the direction of the Ishtar. We will drag them all to battle, every single one of them.”

“But that will put your power and influence at risk.” The favored commander of Duke Hanbal was opposed against his plan.

“That has all been included in my calculation. We delaying a full fight against our foes will allow us to preserve the strength of our army while we drag the war towards the doorsteps of the kingdom’s center. I might lose most of my power and influence but the loyalty of the soldiers that are in my current army are to me and my wealth that is why I wasn’t stingy in providing them with plenty of coins to secure their allegiance. They will fight for me and my cause and neither for the kingdom nor the king.” The duke let out a small chuckle as he explained the current situation.

“If the war reaches Ishtar, the king will strip me of my power and influence but my soldiers will remain with me. He doesn’t have any control over them since they are my soldiers and they belong to me. We will withdraw far to the east and let them slug it out with the Darkhariss’ army and the warmongering creatures. No matter the result, both sides would sustain massive casualties which will then allow us to sweep them aside with our preserved strength.” The duke felt pride for his well thought out plan to that he was smiling from ear to ear.

General Trakaros was a bit alarmed by the plan of the duke. After giving it some careful thought, he finally got the true aim of the duke.

“Are we aiming for the throne?” he already had a hunch but he wanted to be certain and asked the duke for confirmation.

“What do you think? Won’t I make a better ruler than that useless brat?” the duke spoke words that certainly will get him executed without trial if the king hears about it. The general had worry written all over his face after hearing the questions of the duke but after remembering that they had taken out all the spies and possible informants of other powers in their camp, he was relieved.

“You certainly will, Your Grace.” General Trakaros agreed that the duke would make a better monarch compared to their impulsive king who they suspected to have gone crazy because of his newfound power as the new sovereign of the kingdom.

“Formulate a battle plan that will not make it obvious to our enemies and the people of the kingdom that we are luring them towards the capital.” The duke commanded as he leaned against the back of his chair while feeling good about himself.

“As you wish…Your Grace.” The old general bowed his head and saluted before heading out of the central tent to act upon what the duke had instructed him to do.

*****

To the side of Khao’khen and their allies, the orcs were pumped up and raring to go to battle after hearing that they would spearhead the next battle against their foes while their Drakhar allies would serve as their reserves. Before the first light shone upon their camp, the orcs were already in full combat gear as they had already donned their equipment after hearing from their commanders that they will lead the charge against their foes.

Khao’khen wanted to hide the existence of his horde from their enemies but with the report of the current numbers of the enemy army’s reinforcement, it would be too farfetched for him to keep their presence a secret. And the Drakhars would be absolutely pummeled to submission by the enemy army if they would face against them with the absence of his horde.

Slaughtering them all to keep the others in the dark was also impossible because of the scale of the battles that were about to unfold. A forty thousand army along with the survivors of their previous encounter, the number alone was staggering and he had greatly doubted that they will be able to completely defeat them in a single confrontation.

The enemy commander seemed to be also capable as he sounded their retreat in their previous clash as soon as the eventual outcome of the battle was not in their favor. Khao’khen was counting on the lack of intelligence on the side of their foes. But little did he know that the enemy commander already knew of the presence of his horde.

*****

The heat of the blazing sun high up in the sky was intense as it was nearing noon. Khao’khen planned that they will set out for the enemy camp at the peak of the day’s heat. But their foes were a stepped ahead as the sound of battle horns sounded first from Duke Hanbal’s side.

The sentries of the horde responded to the call as they sounded their battle horns, calling their comrades for battle. Eager to the fight, the Yurakks and Rakshas quickly exited their camp and formed their battle line with haste.

The central part of their battle line was made up of the Rakshas while both flanks were secured by the Yurakks who were divided equally on both sides. Khao’khen had their battle line to be as long as possible to somehow negate the numbers of their foes since he was almost certain that the enemy commander would take advantage of their numerical advantage to go for their flanks.

A tumultuous amount of dust was kicked up by the portion of the enemy army that was heading towards their direction and judging by the size of the cloud of dust that was formed in their wake, the vanguards of the enemy army is more than ten thousand or perhaps over twenty thousand.

After the Drakhars finally formed up their battle lines along with their other allies at the rear of their frontline, Khao’khen gave the command for them to set out. At a steady pace, the Yohan First Horde with their allies in tow made their way towards the vanguards of the enemy army that was heading towards their direction.

Chants, heavy stomps and the sound of metal clashing against metal accompanied the march of the orcs. Thirsty for some bloodshed and hungry for a good fight, the orcs marched in a menacing manner as the aura of their combined bloodlust seemingly materialized around them like a hazy red fog.

The Drakhars who were following after their allies marveled upon the strange phenomenon that was conjured by their orcish comrades. They were surprised and understandably by their instinct felt fear towards the bizarre spectacle but they also felt relief because they are on the same side.