Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 168 The Wise General's Scheme and the Vast Ocean's Plan

Great lords have their busy lives, and foreign academicians have their own triumphant moments.

Meanwhile, in the camp of the Han Hai Territory's combat command center amidst the endless yellow sand, the lights shone brightly all night long.

The desert night wind whipped up sand and pattered against the tents, making a soft, rustling sound. The sounds of radio communications, the tapping of sand tables, and the staff's debates rose and fell.

Everyone is making a final effort to bring this war to a close, and they have quite a few things to worry about.

First, they need to coordinate the manpower of Tianshuang City to sort out and classify a large number of battlefield remnants, and send some of them to Hanhai.

This was one of the conditions Chen Mo had proposed to Tianshuang City from the very beginning.

The lord's bloodline altar cannot only receive but not give; it must try to send more things back to its homeland.

To gather the sacrificial materials, Lord Chen collected all sorts of resources from all over the country, even sending back a considerable amount of sand from the Vast Ocean and seawater from the Gulf. Now, with such a large quantity of orc, wyvern, and dire wolf corpses, there should be enough for Dongxia to open quite a few new academic disciplines.

For Skyfrost City, the fact that the Vast Ocean Territory agreed to leave them the orc camp's food supplies, baggage, leather and iron armor, and some weapons that they couldn't take with them—all the truly valuable items—while only taking the worthless corpses, was indeed... too kind.

Without a doubt, this must be clear evidence that the other lord is coveting our lord.

The delegation visiting the Han Hai territory needs to make arrangements as soon as possible!
However, one cannot simply go without proper preparation. Even if it's just to escort a bride, one must dress up nicely and prepare a sufficient dowry.

Several government officials in Cloud Mist Frost City are carefully planning to provide their young lord with a substantial new bargaining chip.

With the coordination of Han Hai Territory and Tian Shuang City, transport teams pulling horse-drawn or ox-drawn carts shuttled back and forth like worker ants moving house along the transport line between Tian Shuang City and the desert outposts designated by Han Hai Territory.

The heavy wooden wheels creaked and groaned as they ground over the gravel, while the oxen and horses pulling the carts puffed out thick white breaths as they dragged loads of shocking "trophies."

The city's magicians produced large quantities of ice to maintain the preservation environment of these corpses, preventing them from decomposing too quickly at the current temperature.

The officials of Skyfrost City were still somewhat puzzled by this.

"You said the scales of this wyvern are quite sturdy, and we can make a few pieces of leather armor from them. I can understand that we should store them carefully, but why are we freezing those orc corpses?"

"The Han Hai Territory has provided us with so much food, we shouldn't be short of food!"

Another minor official quickly interrupted him: "Don't talk nonsense! Orc meat is terribly disgusting, the Vast Ocean would never want it!"

"They have their reasons for doing this, so don't just blindly guess!"

However, as he turned away, he muttered to himself, "You forgot, that lord is a necromancer. These corpses might be very useful if we take them back."

"There are rumors outside that the Lord of the Vast Ocean has a penchant for building... exquisite structures!"

"These corpses' heads will be used to build walls, and their bodies will be used to make skeleton soldiers. Not a single thing will be wasted!"

A chubby logistics officer from Skyfrost City wiped his sweat and sighed in a low voice, "Tsk tsk, I knew it! They've got real skills!"

The second task at the Hanhai Operations Command Center not only seemed meaningless but also posed a certain degree of danger, and even its own personnel had many misunderstandings about it.

As required by the command, wounded soldiers abandoned by the enemy should be identified and treated by the field troops' medics. Those who could be rescued should be rescued as much as possible. Only those whose injuries were too severe and who could not be saved would be killed and thrown into the corpse transport team.

This was something that not only the officials and civilians of Tianshuang City found difficult to accept, but even the warriors of Hanhai Territory themselves found hard to accept.

This is a blood feud between humans for generations. We're already being polite by not cutting them down with a single blow, yet we're also treating the orcs?
Crucially, during this process, a large number of orc prisoners remained stubborn and resisted, greatly delaying and wasting the warriors' time.

However, regardless of the circumstances, Lord Chen Mo's will must be carried out without fail.

In Kaga's words, you must execute whether you understand or not, and gradually understand through execution!
Thus, the wounded soldiers abandoned by the orc army gradually became prisoners of the Vast Ocean Territory, were tightly bound, closely guarded, and escorted all the way to the Vast Ocean Territory.

Soon, the orcs also discovered this.

After carefully studying the enemy's tactics, Sargeras Bloodhowl immediately made the most "correct" response.

He intensified the efforts to abandon the wounded.

Prior to this, the orc army had abandoned only the seriously wounded who were unable to move independently and whose ability to join the army was unlikely to be restored in a short period of time.

As for the lightly wounded who could barely keep up with the group and continue to advance with the help of other orc warriors, the orc troops still kept them in the ranks, which has always been a tradition of orc marching.

It has shed the habits of wild beasts, but has retained some of their instincts.

These wounded soldiers slowed down the orc army's advance to some extent, forcing the outer forces to devote more energy to repelling the enemy's elusive raiding squads and paying a greater price to protect the slowly advancing central army.

Those who can still fight under the enemy's attacks are all the elite troops directly under Sargeris' command.

Now that the enemy wanted to wound the wounded, Sargeris quickly realized that there was an excellent opportunity.

The enemy has captured these wounded soldiers; we need to assign people to guard them and transport them.

Especially if there are some lightly wounded orc warriors among them who still have basic combat capabilities, then the number of warriors the opponent needs to keep an eye on them will have to increase accordingly.

What is a burden on one's own side will transform into a burden on the other side.

Of course, this kind of thing can't be done openly, as it would have too much of an impact on the morale of the troops.

Once the subordinate generals realize this, the army will likely collapse even before the enemy takes action.

After a moment's thought, Sagris chose to speed up his advance.

During the remaining journey to the Qishan base camp, in order to prevent enemy attacks and avoid danger, Sagris suddenly began long, continuous forced marches on certain sections of the route.

Undoubtedly, batches of wounded orcs were passively abandoned from the ranks, falling far behind the main orc force.

Sargeris, who was bringing up the rear, looked reluctant to leave with tears in his eyes. He instructed his generals to thoughtfully leave food and water for the wounded soldiers and repeatedly gave them instructions.

"The battle situation is critical at this moment. If the Qishan base camp is captured by the enemy, not only will my expeditionary army be unable to return, but the tribes on the Bailu Plain will also be in danger and never have peace again."

"The army needs to speed up its return to defense. You should try your best to keep up. If... you encounter a strong enemy force, you are allowed to lay down your weapons. The general will try to ransom you!"

Yes, the "wise general" Sagris had a clear plan. He needed these wounded soldiers to put up a reasonable resistance, but not to resist too fiercely.

If the enemy gets angry and starts a massacre, then our plan to slow down the pursuing army by using wounded soldiers will be ruined.

All I can say is that he truly deserves to be called a renowned strategist!

With this "magical" adjustment, the orc forces not only greatly increased their movement speed, but also significantly delayed the pursuit efforts of the Vast Sea Territory forces.

However, some things, like Pandora's box, can never be closed once opened.

When it was discovered that enemy lightly wounded soldiers were beginning to scramble to avoid the enemy, some of the more astute commanders of the Vast Ocean were the first to realize that the enemy had acted intentionally.

Their first reaction was that an opportunity seemed to have arisen, and they hoped to accomplish a special objective.

"A golden opportunity! We must capture a batch of live shamans for the lord!"

The vanguard excitedly proposed this idea at the military meeting: "Attack! Find an opportunity to wound the shaman. As long as we put more pressure on the enemy, they will definitely abandon these wounded!" "The lord once said that once the bottom line is lowered, it will be lowered a second and a third time!"

"Now, these orcs are in a panic."

Let's help lighten their burden a little more!

Soon, with the lord's special authorization, the high-altitude reconnaissance system of the Vast Ocean Territory began to conduct high-precision reconnaissance of the orc central army, and quickly locked the location of the orc shaman cluster under the directional scanning of synthetic aperture radar.

Those creatures with long feathers stuck in their heads and brightly colored bodies are so easy to spot.

Even during the hasty retreat, these shamans were still closely guarded by elite orc warriors. Even when many orc wounded were abandoned, this group of orcs was still able to ride in carts pulled by earth dragons and follow the team all the way.

Next comes the crucial moment for Han Hai Ling's attack.

In order to conceal their purpose, the Vast Ocean Territory did not deliberately target the shamans, but instead used a variety of different attack methods to launch a comprehensive offensive.

Long-range sniping, tripwire mines, sensor mines, man-portable artillery, recoilless rifles, high-altitude bombs, loitering munitions, and even air-to-ground missiles on the [Jinghong] were all targeted one by one.

Regardless of day or night, I can fire it whenever I feel like it.

The orcs' casualty rate rose rapidly. In these intermittent attacks, there were always some unintentional attacks that landed on the heavily protected shaman squads.

The shamans inevitably suffered a large number of casualties.

The most spectacular attack came from a vast sea attack team personally led by Ma Qianzu.

The young officer patiently followed the orc forces, secretly tracking their opponents in various ways, until he finally found an excellent opportunity.

As is customary, the orcs arranged for the dragons to drink water when they passed through a river bend.

Across the river lies a range of rolling mountains.

The vanguard moved the artillery and weapons to the back of the mountain a day in advance, and launched a surprise attack on the transport beasts using curved trajectory bullets.

The Earth Dragon, like the Wyvern, has the word "dragon" in its name, but it is actually almost unrelated to dragons.

The reason orcs call it a dragon is probably because they were beaten up by dragons many times in the past, so much so that anything that orcs can ride under their hooves has to be called a "dragon".

At least they regained some face psychologically.

These creatures originated from the rift valleys deep in the northern wilderness and were domesticated by the orc tribes for generations. With their amazing endurance and load-bearing capacity, they became important pack animals in tribal migrations and wars.

On the human side, it is generally believed that the earth dragons are close relatives of the kodo dragons kept by the minotaur tribes.

These creatures are robust, with rough, rock-like grayish-brown skin covered by a thick outer layer. Ordinary swords and knives have difficulty penetrating their tough exterior in one go.

The earth dragon has strong limbs and thick hooves, enabling it to move on various complex terrains. It is gentle in nature, good at carrying and pulling, and its body is extremely good at storing energy. Its daily maintenance only requires drinking water once every ten days or so and eating some leaves and branches periodically, making it a model of pragmatism.

Although the earth dragons are resilient, they still need to be supplied. Orcs cannot feed these big creatures with their own food and fresh water, so when they encounter rivers, they will try to arrange for the earth dragons to replenish their water supply.

Just as this group of earth dragons gathered by the river, stretching out their long necks to gulp down water, the National Protection Group launched an attack.

The attack position was chosen at the rear of the mountain. Several skilled soldiers, using aerial positioning equipment and guidance from scouts hidden nearby, located the riverbank where the earth dragon drank water.

The vanguard personally went to the front lines to guide the firepower.

The young centaur held his breath and focused intently, adjusting the wind speed, distance, and the coordinates of the group of earth-dwelling dragons according to the guidance of the fire control system.

"Adjust the angle by two micrometers... Wind direction shifting east, adjust by half a micrometer..."

"Attack positions should stagger their coverage areas!"

"Ready—Fire!!!"

With a muffled bang, the shell, trailing a long plume of flame, traced a graceful arc and struck precisely the area designated by the vanguard!
An orange-red fireball soared into the sky, instantly engulfing the target point and a large area around it, turning the riverbank into a sea of ​​fire filled with smoke.

Through the pawn's binoculars, the firepower was slightly off, but the quantity of weapons was sufficient and the attack area was large enough that 80% of the target area was caught up in this barrage.

Some fell into the water, some lay flat on the spot, and some, although not seriously injured, were too frightened to be held back, no matter how docile the earth dragon was. They began to flee in all directions, and some even rushed into the river in a panic.

After quickly completing two rounds of firing and seeing that the target had been basically achieved, the vanguard ordered without hesitation: "Withdraw!"

The centaur squad quickly carried the cannon barrels and ran away. A dozen minutes later, the orc infantry, their faces contorted with rage, swept through the area, only to find a scene of devastation.

There are also a few landmines, as expected.

Upon receiving the news, Sagris found himself in a difficult situation, unable to make a decision.

His face was pale as he approached the tent of Karl, the great shaman who was guiding him on this expedition.

"Revered High Shaman Karl, I need your guidance!"

General Bloodhowl briefly explained the situation, then knelt before Old Karl, muttering, "We have lost more than forty earth dragons. On the road ahead, the spellcasters from the Ancestral Mountain will lose their docile mounts."

"I don't know what to do!"

Old Karl's cloudy eyes were lowered, staring motionlessly at Sagris before him. His withered, retracted lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

Sagris waited a while, and when he heard no reply, he lowered his head even further, his forehead touching the shaman's foot, and continued:
“I have ordered the cavalry to clear some dire wolves so that the shamans can continue their advance, but it’s not enough…it’s definitely not enough!”

"The cavalry on the outer perimeter are protecting the troops with their lives. If we continue to remove their mounts, the enemy will get closer to the main camp, which will have even more serious consequences."

"I'm sorry, esteemed Shaman Karl, but some shamans may only be able to move forward on foot..."

"A lost child needs guidance from his ancestors. Respected Karma Shaman, where should I go from here?"

Old Karl handed the Staff of the Ancestral to his left hand, stroked the orc general buried in his knees with his withered palm, and let out a deep sigh.

“Child, when you came to me, you already had the answer in your heart, didn’t you?”

Sargeris trembled, and a low, incoherent groan escaped his throat.

"Go, do whatever you want to do."

The old shaman closed his eyes and prayed softly.

"Ancestral God's blessing!"

The officers of the Vast Ocean were absolutely right in their calculations. With a large number of Earth Dragon Beasts killed and some shamans forced to use their staffs as crutches to walk, the wounded shamans became a new burden.

As expected, Sagris once again lowered his standards and abandoned them.

They left behind the same basic survival supplies, the same gentle words of comfort, the same promise of redemption, and the same departure, never to look back!
(End of this chapter)