You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 379: Outnumbered and Enemy
On the march.

Mercenary Jorah was somewhat surprised when he learned that the fortress garrisons of Leicester and Shane had come out in full force.

The messenger who escaped from the rear was frustrated: "The blasphemers have also stationed troops at the third fortress."

How many of them are there?

"There were probably several hundred people."

To prevent their supply lines from being cut off, they stationed tens of thousands of troops outside the two fortresses—most of whom were fishermen and farmers with no combat experience, making them the least combat-effective army.

But their duties are also very simple.

Block the gates of the two fortresses, preventing the garrison inside from getting out—if the garrison of the third fortress does not appear.

One of the mercenary leaders said, "I told you we should surround the third fortress too!"

“Then our forces are even more scattered,” said Lord East of Hot Summer Island, riding his finest warhorse. “We have time, but time will not wait for us!”

Another mercenary gritted his teeth and said, "Where are the scouts? Someone is heading straight for your camp and you know nothing about it?"

The escaped messenger said, “Our scouts have gone missing. My lords, you all know that our scouts are all skilled riders, riding fast horses. The war knights couldn’t take them down. Yet they died so silently. I have reason to suspect that the one who did it was not a war knight.”

"Hmph, we all know that blasphemers keep witches. Those sorcerer bitches are no pushovers. Jorah, I think you have the right to speak on this. The wildcats have hunted them down!"

Jorah, once the leader of the Wildcat Mercenary Group, is now all alone. His face is grim as he says, "That's right, all my brothers died at their hands."

The scene from that night was still vivid in his mind: his mercenary group and bounty hunters joined forces to chase the witch... but the witch just walked over like that, her blood-red hair dancing wildly... looking like a scarlet queen from hell.

Witches deserve to die! Jorah cursed inwardly. All witches deserve to die! They're not even human!
Although witches are all extraordinary beings, they are not very useful on the front lines.

According to the survivors, the third garrison force held high their banners, which were embroidered with thorny iron rings containing a heavy shield—a unique symbol of the Valley Army's heavy armor.

By the time the besieging army discovered them, it was too late.

The heavy infantry force swept through the valley, cutting down the fences, destroying the camp, and liberating the garrison of the other two fortresses.

Now, the three valley armies are hot on their heels, or rather, by the time the messenger brought the battle situation from the rear camp, those valley armies had most likely taken a shortcut and gotten ahead of them.

After a brief discussion, the island leaders and mercenary captains reached a consensus.

Easton ordered, "The witches are irrelevant to the overall situation. Pass on my orders: full speed ahead!"

The troops on the road are numerous and come from diverse backgrounds, including different mercenary groups and islands. Normally, they are difficult to manage, and a forced march would inevitably have a significant impact on the army's structure.

Some people couldn't keep up with the pace of the forced march, and some would take advantage of the chaos to desert.

Not everyone was willing to confront the River Valley Army head-on—they had the right to plunder freely promised by the Lord of Blackburg, and could easily raid ordinary villages.

But Jorah also knew that the smaller mercenary groups had this choice because no one was using them as the main force, but the larger mercenary groups had no choice because the new king Ionis was watching them from Blackburg.

The battlefield situation is dynamic. The lower lane has been defeated, and Lord Macol's central army is engaged in a head-on confrontation with the River Valley army led by the Blasphemer. The city of Plenty is vulnerable, which is the perfect opportunity for them.

Once the main army advances into Plenty and cuts off the valley army's retreat, Roman the Blasphemer will have no chance of recovery. They relayed this message to everyone, and initially no one objected; they simply quickened their pace.

But less than ten miles later, some people collapsed from exhaustion on the side of the Black Iron Avenue, while others disappeared into the bushes in groups.

"Lord East, the River Valley army is catching up!" a scout reported on horseback.

Forced marches are a process of eliminating weaker allies; only the main force can keep up. However, the Valley Army marched even faster than them.

East ordered, "Keep up if you can, and if you can't, slow down the enemy's advance from behind."

Jorah secretly doubted how effective this order would be—the mediocre mercenaries and island sailors were falling behind one after another, either resting where they were or turning away elsewhere. These people were good at bullying the weak, but did they really have the courage to face a powerful enemy?
The Black Iron Avenue was unobstructed and in good condition; it took only half a day to cover the distance that was expected to take a whole day.

But they still encountered obstacles.

A formation from the valley brigade stood like a rock in front of them.

The accompanying priest shouted, "Lord East, I can see it! That's the last of the Blasphemers' forces in the City of Abundance! Their rear is completely exposed. If we break through, we can cut off the Blasphemers' retreat."

……

Ed stood on the Black Iron Road, silently looking ahead. The enemy troops rushing from the Black Iron Road looked like a colorful swarm of snakes.

The various forces combined had more than ten banners, with emblems such as black fish, wolf heads, spears, and greatswords vying for attention, like a multitude of ferocious beasts charging down the main road.

"Form ranks!!" the thirteenth captain roared.

"Hah!" The spearmen in the first rank moved in unison, taking a step forward to steady themselves and pointing their spears outward.

Ed asked himself if, in a strategic pass or a mountain path, he could use three hundred men to hold off tens of thousands of enemy soldiers until His Highness returned in triumph, without any risk of losing the pass.

But this was not a narrow path; it was the Black Iron Road, flanked by open fields.

This terrain is extremely disadvantageous to them, offering no natural defenses.

Ed knew that the Thirteenth Squadron was an indestructible reef, but when the waves surged from the sea, how could a single reef possibly stop the boundless tide?
When he saw that the mercenaries had come out in full force and had no intention of wiping them all out before advancing, he knew that he had to find another way to deal with the situation!
"Each squad disperses and operates independently."

Outnumbered, outgunned!

……

With a sharp "swoosh," Ister drew his weapon from his waist. His beard was thick, his curly hair flowing down his shoulders, and he roared with extraordinary ferocity, "My lords! Let's charge in together!!"

No one can fight the River Valley Army on the front lines!
This is a bloody lesson that the lords of the land have learned from the Tianma Plain and from past battles!
The knights were no good. Neither were the combined forces of mercenaries and islanders.

No one wanted to engage in a one-on-one knightly duel with the River Valley Army!
The river valley army in front of them numbered only three hundred, while they themselves numbered in the thousands, countless in number, all elites from various mercenary groups and skilled sailors from the Hot Summer Islands.

The central army has the most nobles and the largest number of knights, making it the strongest.

However, the overall quality of the top laners is second only to that of the mid laners.

(End of this chapter)