Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 345 False Teeth, Real Cannon: Combined Strike Firepower Judgment
The "Long-Toothed" tribe of the White Deer Plains is jokingly called "Little Long-Toothed" by the ancient and massive war clans of the genuine orc lineage.

On the one hand, the tusks of the boar-beastmen race can't grow very long. After taking humanoid form, they hardly need to use tusks as weapons in combat, and their size has even decreased further.

The claim that it "grows teeth" is somewhat misleading.

On the other hand, the real "Long-Toothed" tribe is a large orc tribe that dwells in the harsh wasteland and deep in the Blackmane Mountains, and is one of the mainstays of the orc race.

Those who were placed on the White Deer Plain were merely a branch of the "Long Teeth" tribe, and at that time they were the most miserable and had the lowest status, almost like the branch that had been exiled.

But no matter what, you can't argue that it's not "growing teeth"!
Time can change many things! Thanks to the Bailu Plain, a fertile grain-producing area nourished by the river network, even though a large amount of food and supplies need to be transported to the barren wilderness tribes every year, the orc tribes living on the plains still experienced rapid growth in numbers due to sufficient nutrition.

After several generations of reproduction and growth, this "Little Long Teeth" or "Pseudo-Long Teeth" tribe on the Bailu Plain has more than 70,000 members, more than half of whom are soldiers. The remaining elderly, weak, women and children can also be pulled out at any time to form a fairly strong auxiliary army.

Orcs are always soldiers; that has always been the case.

Besides these main orcs, there were nearly an equal number of orc laborers. What distinguished them significantly from the smaller orc tribes below was that the small "Longtooth" tribe also maintained a fighting force of over 20,000 men.

A henchman force composed entirely of humans!
Below this thug force, there was an even larger number of human slaves, so numerous they were as insignificant as ants.

Such a behemoth with a complete war system is strong enough to confront a count or even a marquis in the human world.

According to the plan to restore the Han Hai Territory, after defeating the Black Mouth Tribe, the enemy should be drawn into an attack. At least two or three waves of attacks from "Little Long Tooth" should be taken out to weaken the enemy's strength before turning defense into offense and taking down this nut.

In other words, this was originally supposed to be part of the second phase of the restoration plan.

But now, the Vast Ocean Territory is preparing to confront this powerful orc tribe head-on! The plan has been brought forward by more than six months.

This is the benefit of reaching an agreement with the Misty Moon Divine Court.

The Misty Moon Divine Court was intimately familiar with the White Deer Plains, knowing every hidden path and the patrol patterns and boundaries of every tribe. Leveraging this thorough knowledge, and using the massive caravans of the Seven Luminaries Flower Ring as cover, the Vast Ocean Territory executed a textbook-perfect battlefield infiltration.

They broke into smaller units and, without anyone noticing, transported a force of over 20,000 from the Hanhai region into the Bailu Plain via the main road.

Is it strange? Actually, it's not strange. If caravans can repeatedly smuggle hundreds or thousands of slaves out of Bailu Plain, they naturally have the ability to send their own people, disguised as slaves, in batches.

So, where did such a massive human army come from?

captive!

The prisoners captured by the Vast Ocean after the invading army of Zircon Territory was completely defeated!
These veterans of the Zircon Territory were far superior to the soldiers trained by the Han Hai Territory from among slaves, both in terms of individual ability and combat experience. Therefore, a core task of the Han Hai Territory during this period was to spare no effort in "reforming" these prisoners.

Currently, basic disciplinary reform and troop reorganization have been barely completed; at least they can basically obey orders and fight in formation. However, deeper "ideological reform" is still a long way off.

According to Lord Chen Mo himself, while these professional soldiers in the Starry World are an oppressed group under the rule of nobles, they themselves are part of the oppressive system for ordinary civilians at the bottom.

This unique ecological position makes them naturally lack the soil for ideological awakening. It is unrealistic to expect them to undergo a complete transformation in a short period of time. To complete a thorough ideological transformation would be a long and arduous process.

Therefore, the Han Hai Command classifies this force as an "old army" under the Han Hai "new system," which can be deployed to fight, but its effectiveness depends on the environment and the opponent.

Using them to fight orcs is actually a good choice. After all, everyone knows about the orcs' notorious treatment of human prisoners, so there's no need to worry about them defecting and surrendering.

In preparation for this major battle, which arrived ahead of schedule and involved over 70% mobilization of the territory, Lord Chen Mo personally traveled by boat to the White Deer Plain after quickly arranging the affairs at hand.

It's not that I want to go to the battlefield myself, but I feel like something's missing if I'm not there for the first battle of this large-scale counterattack against the beasts.

At this moment, he was in a field command post more than 40 kilometers away from the front line. The command post was covered with a thick layer of soil and camouflage netting, with layers upon layers of defenses carefully reinforced by engineering troops. A large screen and reconnaissance cameras stretched out in front of him, clearly displaying real-time images of the front-line battlefield.

Several staff officers lowered their voices to conduct final communication confirmations, the lights of various indicator lights flickering on their faces.

With everything ready, the lord issued the final order before the all-out attack.

"Kaga, the cannon directly in front of you, slightly to the left, move it to the left... move it to the right, five centimeters to the right!"

"Let's start the fight!"

Kaga saluted the camera, then turned and roared like an explosion: "Fire!"

The sharp shrieks tore through the sky above the White Deer Plain.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

This is the first checkpoint south of the Little Long Tooth Tribe, called Linshui Village.

Nearby was the large swampy area where the Black Mouth Tribe was hiding.

When the First Brigade of the Hanhai attacked the Blackmouth Tribe, the orc garrison there had already had several minor skirmishes with the Hanhai troops. During the interactions between the scouts, they suffered considerable losses and simply closed the gates of the village, adopting a defensive posture.

They were waiting for the battlefield situation to become clearer, and for the arrival of the main army to crush these arrogant fools.

Then, as a fixed unit, they were subjected to the first large-scale artillery bombardment in the recorded history of the Starry Continent.

For a long time, the Han Hai Territory mainly used guns, rifle grenades, and even drones to drop bombs from the air, but never really used artillery, the king of war. The reason for this was that at that time, they were always fighting against a larger force with a smaller one, and needed to use firepower while maintaining a high degree of mobility.

Artillery, as the king of war, is indeed formidable, but its mobility is extremely poor, especially in places like Fanxing where there are no roads or paved ground. It relies entirely on horses and shoulders to carry it, which is too heavy a burden. Now that our side can hold the position, we can certainly bring out the artillery to use as battering rams.

To reduce logistical burden, the artillery positions in Hanhailing use 120mm mortars.

Why use this thing? First of all, the manufacturing process, from the cannon barrel to the shell, is relatively simple, and the Han Hai Territory can manufacture it itself. Just by adding the integrated fire control system introduced from Dong Xia, it can immediately form a considerable combat force without occupying the altar's transport capacity.

Secondly, in the current battlefield where the main combat is with cold weapons, a range of tens or even hundreds of kilometers is unnecessary. A mortar that can fire at eight to ten kilometers and can fire indirect fire is a very cost-effective option.

Finally, this cannon weighs about 200 kilograms, which can be carried by rank-3 soldiers. The shells weigh about 10 kilograms and can be carried by the troops, meaning it is basically not limited by terrain.

Therefore, Linshui Village had the misfortune of becoming the first unlucky victim.

"Thump! Thump! -- Thump! Thump!"

A series of dull, powerful strikes rang out, like a group of giant thunder lizards from ancient times trudging across the plain, violently pounding the earth with their incredibly thick legs, causing a clear tremor in the ground.

Each 120mm mortar spews out a large cloud of scorching gas at the moment of firing, instantly evaporating the moisture in the surrounding cold air and forming short-lived, rolling white shockwaves.

A series of chilling shrieks tore through the sky, approaching from afar and crashing down upon Linshui Village.

The first flower lit up inside the fence of Linshui Village, then the second, the third...

The explosion rang out instantly.

"Boom! Rumble—!"

The deafening roar instantly engulfed most of Linshui Village. The high explosives, made with modern fine chemical processes, and the crude gunpowder produced locally by Fanxing produced a strange chemical reaction. White light and black smoke intertwined, releasing wild shockwaves that spread in all directions from every point of explosion.

The wooden fences built with large logs, the simple sentry watchtowers, and the huts and barracks covered with furs and grass in the village were torn apart, thrown away, and dismembered like paper toys in the firelight!

Scattered figures of orc warriors rolled helplessly in the shockwave of the explosion.

Arriving simultaneously with the shockwave were the fragments of the shell.

A 120mm shell isn't particularly powerful, and with the gunpowder being downgraded, its lethality becomes quite limited when facing these tough-skinned orcs beyond a certain range.

Therefore, the dwarf masters of the Vast Ocean Territory and the chief weapon engineer of the Eastern Xia Empire worked together to develop a highly cost-effective method—installing standardized, consumable magical runes inside the cannonballs.

Yes, the Han Hai Territory also captured a group of mages last time.

Chen Mo couldn't bear to send the captured Zircon Territory Mage Chariot Corps out to fight.

Aside from selecting a group of mages with good spellcasting and communication skills to take turns attending magic classes at the territory's schools, the main task for the other mages was to be organized and put together at the Vast Ocean Magic Equipment Processing Center to produce these magic scrolls, runes, and simple magic items.

They bid farewell to the sword fights and uncertainties of the battlefield, and entered the safe and warm 996 workshop. The magicians all shed tears of gratitude.

In order to control costs and increase production, most of the magical items they made did not involve any advanced technology.

Fire element is primary, with Arcane element as secondary.

The Starry Continent lacks everything except spiritual energy! The lords lavishly spend their money, and all sorts of magical materials are continuously transported to the Vast Ocean, where they are transformed into standardized magical items by these mage "industrial workers".

Now, it has been given to these "toothed" orcs.

Physical damage shrapnel, thermal damage [Flame Jet], and piercing damage [Arcane Torrent] churned into a chaotic yet rhythmic torrent on the field, like a celestial maiden scattering flowers or mercury spilling across the ground, penetrating rudimentary physical cover and protection, and wreaking havoc in areas densely populated with orc soldiers.

No matter what type of armor an orc wears, there's bound to be one that suits you!
Orcs hit at close range by shrapnel show the most obvious effects. Their bodies are instantly torn open with wounds, and amidst painful roars, their blood pressure rises due to stress, causing blood to be pumped out more forcefully, forming small, moving showerheads.

As he continued sprinkling the water, he lay down.

Orcs affected by the [Flame Jet] spell fared much worse. Although the boar tribe was not particularly hairy compared to other long-haired orcs, they still could not escape the disadvantage of being relatively weak against fire.

Fire magic has always been one of the best methods humans use to fight orcs.

Hit by fire magic at such close range, the air was soon filled with the stench of roasted fur. One by one, the bright red orc torches rolled around on the ground. The lucky ones could barely stand up after completing the "hair removal process," while the unlucky ones could only gradually turn into charred carbonized bodies.

As for those Arcane Torrents...

Arcane attacks are characterized by high penetration and high corrosiveness. Each 120mm mortar shell carries a magical rune and can fire five arcane missiles. The pale purple arcane energy beams silently create ping-pong ball-sized holes in the orc's leather armor or muscles.

The wound edges were neat, exhibiting a shiny, crystallized appearance. The surrounding blood vessels contracted and closed due to this unique effect, resulting in minimal gushing of blood.

Sometimes, you can even see the white bones beneath the skin through this hole.

Although the power of the shells diminishes rapidly beyond the kill radius, and although the orcs' robust physiques allowed many of them to still stagger and draw their swords and roar even after suffering heavy blows, this was ultimately a one-sided attack from eight kilometers away, one that the orcs could not retaliate against.

Guided by the high-altitude reconnaissance airship, the artillery group continuously fine-tuned its firing angles, meticulously and evenly covering every corner of Linshui Village.

As the artillery barrage unleashed its third salvo, the ground forces of the Han Hai Territory moved out in front of the position.

(End of this chapter)