The next morning, the soldiers arrived at Auhus Bridge.
This was a stone bridge about thirty meters long, with a guard post due to Albert's emphasis on trade and commerce routes.
Under the officers' guidance, the soldiers immediately began placing large amounts of explosives on the bridge. Nickle and Ryan approached the guard post to inquire about the battle situation. "How is the battle at Oak Pass?"
Before the words were out, the sound of hooves came from afar. A human force of about seventy men, almost all wounded, galloped towards Auhus Bridge. "Sir Nickle! We're barely holding on; Oak Pass is about to fall!"
"What?!" Everyone was shocked and quickly inquired about the situation.
"The barbarians attacked again and again without regard for their losses. We fought desperately, but there were just too many of them!" The leading soldier wiped the sweat off his face. "We had no choice but to retreat. The enemy numbers are overwhelming."
"How long until the barbarians arrive here?" Ryan stepped forward and asked.
"We sealed the gates with boulders and iron. The barbarians have only basic siege weapons... the gates should hold for another twenty minutes." If Ryan was not mistaken, the leader was the commanding officer of Oak Pass.
"Very well! You've done well. Retreat now; we'll handle things here!" Nickle waved, signaling them to retreat quickly. "Go get some rest. We will hold Birrig and his bear tribe here!"
"Thank you, sir!" The commanding officer saluted the two knights and led his seventy remaining soldiers away.
The situation was urgent. The soldiers sped up the placement of explosives. The heavy atmosphere spread among the soldiers. When the distant horizon revealed the dense horde of barbarians, Miyodenhaven's army finally finished placing the explosives.
"Form ranks! Form ranks! Prepare to engage!" Nickle commanded the soldiers, setting up defenses at the bridgehead. The shielded pikemen formed two rows, with the elite greatswordsmen behind them.
These greatswordsmen wore breastplates and tight-fitting clothes, with round helmets. They were the elite of Miyodenhaven. In fact, the Empire's main forces were also composed of these two-handed greatswordsmen and knights.
The greatsword had a large damage range and lethality. Against barbarians, greenskins, and undead armies, which lacked heavy armor, the greatsword was extremely effective. It was especially powerful against long weapons, causing devastating damage to armies that relied heavily on spears and pikes.
Thus, these greatswordsmen were the real backbone of this battle.
Gradually, the dense horde of barbarians appeared.
The bear tribe of northern wasteland barbarians appeared on the distant horizon.
"They're here."
Most barbarians wore simple fur coats, wielding axes and round shields, with some holding spears. Their heads were shaved clean, leaving only a strip in the middle.
They were raiders.
Raiders were born warriors, raised in the harsh and unforgiving conditions of the northern wastelands, where only the strong survived. The weak had long perished in the brutal survival of the fittest.
Barbarians never farmed, nor did they have time to harvest crops. Their tools of production were axes, swords, and shields. Whatever they wanted? The southerners had it! Go and take it!
Everything we desire can be obtained from the inferior southern humans!
Thousands of barbarians marched toward Auhus Bridge, their ranks disorderly and ragged. However, the neatly arrayed and better-equipped Nord army was very nervous.
A stark contrast.
The barbarian leader Birrig stepped forward in front of everyone. He was a tall and strong man, his muscular body covered in blood-red leather armor. His thick braids and brown beard hung from his head, with various skulls dangling from the ends, creating a chilling sight.
"Another slaughter, another victory. The southerners are too weak; they bore me," Birrig laughed loudly, raising his axe to signal his tribe to halt. "Now, another group of foolish southerners blocks our path. Tell me, my warriors, what should we do?"
"Kill them all! Kill them all! Kill them all!" All the barbarians roared, their faces filled with bloodlust and frenzy.
"Then... at my command... I will count to three, and we attack!" Birrig shouted indifferently, not even bothering to take the soldiers across the bridge seriously.
"Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle! Nord warriors! Grip your spears tightly, raise your shields! Your home is behind you! Show your courage!" Ryan walked through the ranks of soldiers, holding his warhammer aloft. "Those who flee will die! Those who face death will live! Today, I will fight alongside you! Together, we will march from one victory to another! Long live Nord!"
"Long live Nord!" The soldiers stood ready at the bridgehead. The frontmost pikemen were deployed at the bridgehead, with the greatswordsmen behind them. The elite crossbowmen were positioned in cover behind the bridge, fingers on triggers, ready to shoot at any moment.
"At least these ones have some backbone," Birrig saw the enemy's orderly formation and dropped his contempt. Although he didn't understand why such elite troops were at this bridge, it didn't matter.
The Blood God would enjoy this performance.
"Advance! Advance!" The barbarian soldiers charged at the Nord army at the bridgehead.
Leading the charge were the lowest-level barbarians—raiders.
"Shoot!" Nickle, positioned behind cover, drew his great bow first. Pulling an arrow from his quiver, he took a deep breath and drew the bowstring.
"Whoosh!" The first barbarian raider at the front was shot in the face and fell with a scream.
The crossbowmen followed Nickle's lead and began shooting. In an instant, several barbarian raiders fell dead. However, the horde numbered in the thousands. The vast army wouldn't scatter due to a few casualties. Instead, their deaths only doubled the barbarians' ferocity. They rushed to join the battle line, ignoring their fallen comrades.
But the narrow bridge limited the number of barbarians who could rush to the front. The pikemen used simple thrusts to take the lives of one raider after another.
More barbarians were stuck in a crush, unable to reach the bridge. In the crowd, the barbarians' individual strength was nullified, greatly limiting their combat effectiveness. Each time a barbarian reached the front line, a simple thrust from the Nord pikemen brought pain and death.
Some raiders tried to cross the thin ice of the Aufre River, quickly realizing their mistake. The ice was thinner than paper, breaking upon contact. After a few unfortunate ones fell into the water and became easy targets for the crossbowmen, no more barbarians dared venture onto the ice.
"Come on!" Ryan wielded his warhammer with both hands, sending three barbarians flying with one strike. The White Wolf Knight's warhammer struck with open and closed swings, smashing one raider's head so hard it spun around, then single-handedly forcing the remaining raiders at the bridgehead to retreat.
"Fight!" Ike and Lopes followed Ryan. Ike's eyes were blood-red, desperate for glory to wash away his shame. The wandering knight didn't even use a shield, gripping his longsword with both hands as he bravely charged into the enemy lines.
Ike faced a barbarian with a Mohawk and a necklace of teeth. He swung his sword in a sweeping motion, which was blocked by the barbarian's wooden shield. He then struck the barbarian's head, decapitating him as the raider's axe neared Ike's face.
Lopes, on the other hand, adopted a more cautious approach, hiding behind his shield. Using his sturdy kite shield to block incoming axes, he then pierced another barbarian with his halberd.
The first wave of barbarians left over fifty corpses but failed to push back the Nord line even an inch.
"Relay my order! Have the warriors fall back!" Birrig quickly realized that this wasn't working and ordered the raiders to retreat. From the mass of barbarians emerged warriors clad in black fur, carrying numerous javelins and axes on their backs.
Seeing these warriors emerge, Ryan sensed trouble and immediately shouted to the soldiers, "Raise your shields! Take cover!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the sound of whistling axes and javelins filled the air. Standing firm, Ryan deflected all incoming projectiles with ease.
On the other side of the river, a barrage of javelins and axes rained down on the Nord formations. Several crossbowmen were hit before they could duck and fell immediately. On the bridge, the pikemen raised their shields for defense, and the greatswordsmen, along with Ike, took cover behind the shield wall. Despite this, a few pikemen died, and many shields were deformed by the impact.
"Counterattack!" After dodging several waves of attacks, Nickle ordered the crossbowmen to fire back. He himself drew and loosed an arrow. The crossbowmen, following his command, fired at the barbarians on the other side of the river. The lightly armored javelin and axe throwers fell in droves.
The battle reached a stalemate. The barbarians couldn't breach the Nord defense at the bridge, and the Nords couldn't leave their positions to fight the barbarians in hand-to-hand combat, where they were at a disadvantage.
After several rounds of attack and defense, the barbarians had left over two hundred bodies, while the Nord army had lost more than fifty men.
"Kurorin? Where are my champions?" Birrig, however, showed no intention of
joining the battle. He watched his warriors fall with a wide grin, pleased to see the weak perish. His tribe needed no weaklings.
But Birrig also knew he had to destroy Miyodenhaven to please the Dark God, and he needed to speed up.
"Boom, boom, boom." Heavy footsteps echoed.
Three two-meter-tall barbarians emerged from the army, wearing massive bullhorn helmets and full chaos armor, wielding huge maces. "Chieftain!"
"Kill them! Forward!"
The giant barbarian warriors charged towards the Nord lines at the bridgehead.
They were barbarian champion warriors! Ryan gritted his teeth. Each of these champion warriors was said to be baptized by the Dark Gods, fighting eternally under their gaze until death or recognition of their strength.
Each champion warrior was at least a peak elite!
Their massive frames and the red glow from their helmets' eyes made the soldiers shudder.
"Shoot! Aim for the big ones! Shoot at their shoulders, abdomens, and the gaps in their armor!" Nickle ordered the crossbowmen to shift their focus. At his command, the soldiers turned.
"Clink, clink." The champions' armor became riddled with arrows.
It was useless. The champions didn't slow down, instead picking up speed, charging towards the dense shield wall of the Nord army.
"Prepare for battle!" Ryan took the lead, confronting one of the champions. The clash of his warhammer against the spiked mace produced an ear-piercing sound. The barbarian champion stumbled back two steps but attacked Ryan again with unfeeling determination.
The other two champions didn't pause, charging straight at the pikemen's shield wall. The champion named Kurorin reached the pikemen and swung his massive mace down...
The sturdy shield wall shattered! Amidst the screams and splashes of water, the Nord shield wall was broken by the champions.
"Advance!" Birrig raised his massive axe. "Warriors of the Bear Tribe! Charge!"
The barbarian raiders swarmed into the Nord formation like a tide.
"Greatswordsmen! It's time to fight!" Ike raised his longsword, and the greatswordsmen followed the wandering knight, launching a countercharge at the incoming barbarians. The greatswordsmen quickly stabilized the situation, their two-handed swords reaping lives.
A brutal melee ensued. One moment, a Nord greatswordsman decapitated a raider; the next, he was cut down by another barbarian from behind, falling with a scream.
The greatswordsmen were more skilled than the raiders, but the barbarians outnumbered them several times over. After a fierce fight of just over ten minutes, the Nord army began to be pushed back.
Ryan delivered a powerful blow to a champion's wrist, causing him to drop his weapon with a scream. As the champion tried to retrieve it, Ryan didn't give him the chance. The White Wolf Knight's warhammer moved with blinding speed, smashing the champion's right hand, leaving him defenseless, then striking his head. The sound of the bullhorn helmet cracking echoed as the champion staggered back and fell.
Ryan finished him off with another blow to the head.
"Well, Nord has someone like this?" Birrig saw his champion fall without a hint of sorrow. Taking his axe, he noticed the young knight's attire and dark hair, and burst into laughter. "Ha! It's him! It's really him! I will take his head and offer it to the greatest Blood God!"
Ryan turned, seeing the Nord army faltering under the barbarian onslaught. He stopped hesitating, fighting while retreating, helping several greatswordsmen out of the melee before issuing the command.
"Retreat! Retreat! We can't hold Auhus Bridge! Fall back to Miyodenhaven!"
"Retreat!"