Rise of the Horde - Chapter 340:

The orcs were expecting an epic battle since they have been denied a lot of opportunity to participate in the previous fights with their foes. Prepared and eager for a good fight, the orcish horde was expecting a satisfying engagement with their foes.

Khao’khen himself was expecting a huge battle with their foes especially after learning that their foes received such a huge number of reinforcement which is why he was prepared to expose the presence of his horde to their enemies since he had no choice but to mobilized them since the capability of the Drakhars was by far subpar against such a huge number foes. The Drakhars might be almost invincible against a frontal assault but their formation was without a weakness, a flanking maneuver or an attack from their rear would greatly devastate them which was why they need the aid of their light cavalry to deny their foes of such an opportunity or repel them from fully executing one.

The orcish infantry with great intimidation marched forward without fear, they didn’t know what kind of units their foes had in stock for them but they all had the same thing running in their mind which was to take them all out in the most glorious way possible.

“The heavy cavalry and the rest of the army had already moved out” Naberes came in a hurry to report the status of their camp. The duke himself was leading the retreat and according to his plans they were to make it look like they are fully committed to battle.

Nodding his head in acknowledgement of the report, the old commander’s gaze remained with the novice riders of their army which were tasked in convincing their foes and any other powers who were observing the battle that his side were truly devoted in engaging the orcish threat that made their existence to the war known at the moment.

More than twelve thousand light cavalry armed with bows and arrows with the aid of more than six thousand light cavalry equipped with spears were mobilized for the first phase of the duke’s plan. They had to truly convince both foe and ally alike that they were doing their best in the war. Although most of them were forcefully conscripted at first by the royal decree of their current monarch, the normal people weren’t able to refuse as it was either served or be accused of treason and executed on the spot.

Many were planning at first to desert the army as soon as the chance was presented but with proper carrot and stick method employed by Duke Hanbal toward his newly assembled army, most of those who were unwilling at first were convinced that it wasn’t that bad to dedicate their loyalty to him. The duke had proved that with enough coins, even the loyalty of the most unwilling humans can be bought.

dα- |m

Armed with enough wealth to splurge in order to support his ambition to rise among the ranks of the most powerful and influential entity of the kingdom, the duke was ready to risk it all for the chance to do so. But with the thought of becoming the nation’s sovereign plaguing his thoughts and with the persuasion of his wife, he aimed higher.

“Chief! There is something wrong with the configuration of our foes. Most of them are riders.” Trot’thar was quick to report his findings after he was able to distinguish the structure of their foe army for the upcoming battle.

“Mostly cavalry?” Khao’khen was puzzled with the arrangement of the enemy commander. He was convinced that the current head commander of the enemy army was not someone who was new to such events basing on the response of the enemy army during their previous encounter. They only won because their cavalry that was sent by the enemy commander to repel or deny them of the flanking maneuver which was employed by their side. If by chance they lost that skirmish with the enemy cavalry then they would be the ones who will be at the backend of the battle and he was sure that the enemy commander would press hard to take advantage of such a momentum to drive them away.

Khao’khen was at first adamant to make the presence of his horde remain a secret from their foes since the Verakhs were able to best the enemy scouts in almost all their engagements with only the exception of their failure of not being able to eliminate all their targets but they coped up for their failure by denying their foes of any chance to head back to their camp and make a report of what actually transpire. By far, General Trakaros assumed that all the scouts that he kept sending out were being utterly eliminated by their foes but he didn’t have any other choice but to send them out since even with the smallest possibility of being able to obtain crucial information from their foes existed, he must do so despite knowing that the rate of complete failure was high.

Armed with weapons that were meant to do battle against their foes from a distance, the rookies of the duke’s army galloped forward towards the battlefield under the lead of the veterans that survived the previous encounter with their foes. Although they were outnumbered by those who they lead, the original light cavalry that was under the command of the old commander were able to maintain discipline among the rookies.

The resounding chants of the orcs as they moved forward echoed through the vast plain of the wide battlefield that had nothing to offer but an expansive filed of flatlands. Cavalry against infantry, the plausible outcome of the engagement was already decide but the type or kind of infantry and cavalry involved would greatly influence it’s outcome.

The orcs were to be considered to be heavy infantry according to the equipment that donned on for the battle. Metal armour that covered almost every single portion of their bodies and with shields large enough to cover for more than forty of their body’s total percentage. Unlike their foes that were geared with equipment that prioritizes speed and manoeuvrability rather than protection.

Light cavalry versus heavy infantry, the result was obvious but both sides had an advantage that was easily ignored by others. Although the side of Duke Hanbal employed mostly light cavalry for the initial clash, they were a missile cavalry although most of the time considered as a light cavalry since any missile cavalry would have no choice but to engage in melee combat if their missile ammo runs out.

On the side of Khao’khen, although the Yurakks weren’t very effective against a cavalry charge, they would be able to hold their ground against them while the Rakshas would be the ones that any enemy cavalry, armoured or not would have to avoid since they were equipped with gears that great countered them. The heavy long spears at the hands of the Rakshas was enough of a deterrent against a rider, with armor or none and with their formation that was almost or thoroughly identical with their Drakhar allies would spell doom for any enemy rider that was dumb enough to charge at them.

Without any warning or whatsoever, the enemy cavalry that was kicking up a thick amount of dust in their wake suddenly split in four groups as the moved forward. Two groups remained at the forefront and rode along the frontal lines while the other two groups headed for the flanks of the horde’s battle line. The enemy infantry that accompanied the employment the enemy riders halted more than a kilometre away, safe and far from the immediate reach of the orcish infantry that was dying for them to clash against them in one satisfying epic fight.

It didn’t take long for the enemy cavalry to rain down arrows upon the horde, from the front and the sides, arrows came without any warning.

“Tortherra!” the commanders of the Yurakks shouted their commands and the unique formation of the Yurakks was quickly presented to their foes. Unlike the Yurakks, the Rakshas didn’t have any specific formation to utilize against the heavy arrow rain.

The number of arrows that rained upon them was even able to blanket the skies as they created a dark shadow upon their release. Khao’khen was helpless against the heavy rain of arrows since he didn’t have anything good to deal with it.

“Haguk!” he shouted to request the aid of the Warghen Clan and their well-known Warg Cavalry to the horde.

“Yes chief!” the clan chief of the Warghen Clan quickly came towards his side to listen to his instructions.

“Go and try to chase them away or chase them out of the battlefield.” That was the request that he had given to the huge wolf riding allies of theirs.

“But chief…” Haguk protested but didn’t continue since he knew that the outcome of such a thing would be very disastrous towards his clan. If the Yurakks were forced to make used of their unique formation to repel the arrow fire and the Rakshas can’t do anything but to wait it out, what else can they who were only equipped with leather amour do against such a dense arrow fire.